English. He would not admit civilization, but only civility. With great deference to him I thought civilization, from to civilize, better, in the sense opposed to barbarity, than civility; as it is better to have a distinct word for each sense, than one word with two senses, which civility is, in his way of using it.' He seemed also to be intent on some sort of chemical operation. I was entertained by observing how he contrived to send Mr. Peyton on an errand, without seeming to degrade him :— "Mr. Peyton, Mr. Peyton, will you be so good as to take a walk to Temple-Bar? You will there see a chemist's shop, at which you will be pleased to buy for me an ounce of oil of vitriol; not spirit of vitriol, but oil of vitriol. It will cost three halfpence." Peyton immediately went, and returned with it, and told him it cost but a penny.

I then reminded him of the Schoolmaster's cause, and proposed to read to him the printed papers concerning it. “No, Sir," said he, "I can read quicker than I can hear." So he read them to himself.

After he had read for some time, we were interrupted by the entrance of Mr. Kristrom, a Swede, who was tutor to some young gentlemen in the city. He told me, that there was a

1 Civilization has been introduced into Todd's edition of the Dictionary; but he gives no older authorities than Robertson and Warton.— Lockhart.

2 of the death of this poor labourer in literature, of whom Mrs. Piozzi says that he had considerable talents, and knew many modern languages, Johnson gave himself the following pathetic account, in a letter to her :(6 1st April, 1776.

"Poor Peyton expired this morning. He probably during many years, for which he sat starving by the bed of a wife, not only useless but almost motionless, condemned by poverty to personal attendance, and by the necessity of such attendance chained down to poverty-he probably thought often how lightly he should tread the path of life without his burthen. Of this thought the admission was unavoidable, and the indulgence might be forgiven to frailty and distress. His wife died at last, and before she was buried, he was seized by a fever, and is now going to the grave.

"Such miscarriages, when they happen to those on whom many eyes are fixed, fill histories and tragedies; and tears have been shed for the sufferings, and wonder excited by the fortitude, of those who neither did nor suffered more than Peyton." Letters, vol. i., p. 312.—Croker

very good "History of Sweden" by Daline.1 Having at the time an intention of writing the history of that country, I asked Dr. Johnson whether one might write a history of Sweden without going thither. "Yes, Sir," said he, "one for common use."

We talked of languages. Johnson observed, that Leibnitz had made some progress in a work tracing all languages up to the Hebrew. "Why, Sir," said he, "you would not imagine that the French jour, day, is derived from the Latin dies, and yet nothing is more certain; and the intermediate steps are very clear. From dies, comes diurnus. Diu is, by inaccurate ears, or inaccurate pronunciation, easily confounded with giu; then the Italians form a substantive of the ablative of an adjective, and thence giurno, or as they make it, giorno: which is readily contracted into giour, or jour." He observed, that the Bohemian language was true Sclavonic. The Swede said, it had some similarity with the German. JOHNSON. “Why Sir, to be sure, such parts of Sclavonia as confine with Germany will borrow German words; and such parts as confine with Tartary will borrow Tartar words."

He said, he never had it properly ascertained that the Scotch Highlanders and the Irish understood each other. I told him

1

1 Daline, Olof, born 1708, died 1763. His best-known work is his History of the Kingdom of Sweden. Stockholm. 4 vols. 4to. 1742-1762 ; never finished. Didot's Nouvelle Biographie Générale.—Editor.

* In Mr. Anderson's Historical Sketches of the Native Irish, we find the following observations :

"The Irish and Gaelic languages are the same, and formerly what was spoken in the Highlands of Scotland was generally called Irish. Those who have attended to the subject must have observed, that the word Irish was gradually changed into Erse, denoting the language that is now generally called Gaelic." Mr. Anderson states that, when he was in Galway, in Ireland, in 1814, he found a vessel there from Lewis, one of the Hebrides, the master of which remarked to him that the people here spoke curious Gaelic, but he understood them easily, and commerce is actually carried on between the Highlanders and the Irish, through the medium of their common language.—p. 133.

My friend, Colonel Meyrick Shawe, told me from his own experience, that "were it not for the difference of pronunciation, the Irish and the Highlanders would be perfectly intelligible to each other; and even with

that my cousin, Colonel Graham, of the Royal Highlanders, whom I met at Drogheda, told me they did. JOHNSON. "Sir, if the Highlanders understood Irish, why translate the New Testament into Erse, as was lately done at Edinburgh, when there is an Irish translation?" BOSWELL. "Although the Erse and Irish are both dialects of the same language, there may be a good deal of diversity between them, as between the different dialects in Italy." The Swede went away, and Mr. Johnson continued his reading of the papers. I said, “I am afraid, Sir, it is troublesome." "Why, Sir," said he, “I do not take much delight in it; but I'll go through it."

We went to the Mitre, and dined in the room where he and I first supped together. He gave me great hopes of my cause. "Sir," said he," the government of a schoolmaster is somewhat of the nature of military government; that is to say, it must be arbitrary, it must be exercised by the will of one man, according to particular circumstances. You must show some learning upon this occasion. You must show that a schoolmaster has a prescriptive right to beat; and that an action of assault and battery cannot be admitted against him unless there is some great excess, some barbarity. This man has maimed none of his boys. They are all left with the full exercise of their corporeal faculties. In our schools in England, many boys have been maimed; yet I never heard an action against a schoolmaster on that account. Puffendorf, I think, maintains the right of a schoolmaster to beat his scholars."1

that disadvantage, they become so in a short time. The Scotch, as is natural from their position, have many Pictish and other foreign words. The Irish have no Pictish words, but many Latin.”

Sir Walter Scott also informed me, that "there is no doubt the languages are the same, and the difference in pronunciation and construction not very considerable. The Erse or Earish is the Irish; and the race called Scots came originally from Ulster."-Croker.

1 Puffendorf states that "tutors and schoolmasters have a right to the moderate use of gentle discipline over their pupils."-viii. 3-10; adding, rather superfluously, Grotius's caveat, that “it shall not extend to a power of death." In our common law courts there have been several instances of action even for over-severity: there can be no doubt of the right of action in a case of maiming.-Croker.

On Saturday, March 27, I introduced to him Sir Alexander Macdonald, with whom he had expressed a wish to be acquainted. He received him very courteously.

Sir Alexander observed, that the Chancellors in England are chosen from views much inferior to the office, being chosen from temporary political views. JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, in such a government as ours, no man is appointed to an office because he is the fittest for it, nor hardly in any other government; because there are so many connections and dependencies to be studied. A despotic prince may choose a man to an office merely because he is the fittest for it. The king of Prussia may do it." SIR A. "I think, Sir, almost all great lawyers, such at least as have written upon law, have known only law, and nothing else." JOHNSON. "Why no, Sir; Judge Hale was a great lawyer, and wrote upon law; and yet he knew at great many other things, and has written upon other things. Selden too." SIR A. "Very true, Sir; and Lord Bacon. But was not Lord Coke a mere lawyer?" JOHNSON. "Why, I am afraid he was; but he would have taken it very ill if you had told him so. He would have prosecuted you for scandal." BOSWELL. "Lord Mansfield is not a mere lawyer." JOHNSON. "No, Sir. I never was in Lord Mansfield's company; but Lord Mansfield was distinguished at the University. Lord Mansfield, when he first came to town, 'drank champagne with the wits,' as Prior says. He was the friend of Pope." SIR A. "Barristers, I believe, are not so abusive now as they were formerly. I fancy they had less law long ago, and so were obliged to take to abuse, to fill up the time. Now they have such a number of precedents, they have no occasion for abuse." JOHNSON. "Nay, Sir, they had more law long ago than they have now. As to precedents, to be sure they will increase in course of time; but the more precedents there are, the less occasion is there for law; that is to say, the less occasion is there for in

Sir Alexander succeeded his brother, Sir James Macdonald, as eighth Baronet, and was created an Irish Baron, by the title of Lord Macdonald, in 1776. The late Chief Baron of the Exchequer, Sir Archibald Macdonald, was their youngest brother.-Croker.

vestigating principles." SIR A. "I have been correcting several Scotch accents in my friend Boswell. I doubt, Sir, if any Scotchman every attains to a perfect English pronunciation." JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, few of them do, because they do not persevere after acquiring a certain degree of it. But, Sir, there can be no doubt that they may attain to a perfect English pronunciation, if they will. We find how near they come to it; and certainly, a man who conquers nineteen parts of the Scottish accent, may conquer the twentieth. But, Sir, when a man has got the better of nine-tenths, he grows weary, he relaxes his diligence, he finds he has corrected his accent so far as not to be disagreeable, and he no longer desires his friends to tell him when he is wrong; nor does he choose to be told. Sir, when people watch me narrowly, and I do not watch myself, they will find me out to be of a particular county. In the same manner, Dunning' may be found out to be a Devonshire man. So most Scotchmen may be found out. But, Sir, little aberrations are of no disadvantage. I never catched Mallet in a Scotch accent; and yet Mallet, I suppose, was past five-and-twenty before he came to London."

Upon another occasion I talked to him on this subject, having myself taken some pains to improve my pronunciation, by the aid of the late Mr. Love,' of Drury Lane theatre, when he was a player at Edinburgh, and also of old Mr. Sheridan. Johnson said to me, " Sir, your pronunciation is not offensive." With this concession I was pretty well satisfied; and let me give my countrymen of North Britain an advice not to aim at absolute perfection in this respect; not to speak High English,

1

1 John Dunning was born at Ashburton, October 18, 1731. He became one of the most successful lawyers and active politicians of his time. On the change of ministry in 1782 he was made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, through the influence of Lord Shelburne, and raised to the peerage by the title of Lord Ashburton. He died on a visit to Exmouth, August 13, 1783. Chalmers' Biogr. Dictionary.-Editor.

2 Love was an assumed name. He was the son of Mr. Dance, the architect. He resided many years at Edinburgh, as manager of the theatre; he removed, in 1762, to Drury Lane, and died in 1771. He wrote some theatrical pieces of no reputation.—Croker.