mother of the late and present earl. I assured him, he would find himself amply recompensed for the trouble; and he yielded to my solicitations, though with some unwillingness. We were well mounted, and had not many miles to ride. He talked of the attention that is necessary in order to distribute our charity judiciously. "If thoughtlessly done, we may neglect the most deserving objects; and, as every man has but a certain proportion to give, if it is lavished upon those who first present themselves, there may be nothing left for such as have a better claim. A man should first relieve those who are nearly connected with him, by whatever tie; and then, if he has anything to spare, may extend his bounty to a wider circle.

As we passed very near the castle of Dundonald, which was one of the many residences of the kings of Scotland, and in which Robert the Second lived and died, Dr. Johnson wished to survey it particularly. It stands on a beautiful rising ground, which is seen at a great distance on several quarters, and from whence there is an extensive prospect of the rich district of Cuninghame, the western sea, the Isle of Arran, and a part of the northern coast of Ireland. It has long been unroofed; and, though of considerable size, we could not, by any power of imagination, figure it as having been a suitable habitation for majesty. Dr. Johnson, to irritate my old Scottish enthusiasm, was very jocular on the homely accommodation of "King Bob," and roared and laughed till the ruins echoed.

Lady Eglintoune, though she was now in her eighty-fifth year, and had lived in the retirement of the country for almost half a century, was still a very agreeable woman. She was of the noble house of Kennedy, and had all the elevation which the consciousness of such birth inspires. Her figure was majestic, her manners high-bred, her reading extensive, and her conversation elegant. She had been the admiration of the gay circles of life, and the patroness of poets. Dr. Johnson was delighted with his reception here. Her principles in church and state were congenial with his. She knew all his merit, and had heard much of him from her son, Earl Alexander, who loved to cultivate the acquaintance of men of talents in every department.

All who knew his lordship, will allow that his understanding and accomplishments were of no ordinary rate. From the gay habits which he had early acquired, he spent too much of his time with men, and in pursuits far beneath such a mind as his. He afterwards became sensible of it, and turned his thoughts to objects of importance; but was cut off in the prime of his life. I cannot speak, but with emotions of the most affectionate regret, of one, in whose company many of my early days were passed, and to whose kindness I was much indebted.

bOften must I have occasion to upbraid myself, that, soon after our return to the main-land, I allowed indolence to prevail over me so much, as to shrink from the labour of continuing my Journal with the same minuteness as before; sheltering myself in the thought that we had done with the Hebrides, and not considering that Dr. Johnson's Memorabilia were likely to be more valuable when we were restored to a more polished society. Much has thus been irrecoverably lost.

In the course of our conversation this day, it came out that Lady Eglintoune was married the year before Dr. Johnson was born, upon which she graciously said to him that she might have been his mother, and that she now adopted him; and, when we were going away, she embraced him, saying, "My dear son, farewell!" My friend was much pleased with this day's entertainment, and owned that I had done well to force him out.*

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2.

We were now in a country not only of saddles and bridles," but of post-chaises; and, having ordered one from Kilmarnock, we got to Auchinleck before dinner.

my

My father was not quite a year and a half older than Dr. Johnson; but his conscientious discharge of his laborious duty as a judge in Scotland, where the law proceedings are almost all in writing a severe complaint which ended in his death-and the loss of mother, a woman of almost unexampled piety and goodness, had, before this time, in some degree affected his spirits, and rendered him less disposed to exert his faculties; for he had originally a very strong mind and cheerful temper. He assured me, he never had felt one moment of what is called low spirits, or uneasiness, without a real cause. He had a great many good stories, which he told uncommonly well, and he was remarkable for "humour, incolumi gravitate,” as Lord Monboddo used to characterise it. His age, his office, and his character, had long given him an acknowledged claim to great

"

Lady Eglintoune was the daughter of Sir Archibald Kennedy of Culzean. S She lived seven years after the date of the above visit, dying in 1780 at the great age of ninety-one. Her charms were commemorated by Allan Ramsay, Hamilton of Bangour, and other lesser poets. She was the most celebrated beauty of that period. Even at eighty-four Johnson said she had "little reason to accuse time of depredations on her beauty." Her fine complexion was a source of mystery and envy. "As her secret may be of service to modern beauties,” says Mr. Chambers, "I shall, in kindness to the sex, divulge it: she never used paint, but washed her face periodically with sow's milk!" ("Traditions of Edinburgh.") Her son, Earl Alexander, the early patron of Boswell, was, as is well known, shot by Murgo Campbell, whose gun he attempted to wrest from him under the impression that Campbell was a poacher. This unhappy occurrence took place in 1769.-ED.

attention, in whatever company he was; and he could ill brook any diminution of it. He was as sanguine a Whig and Presbyterian as Dr. Johnson was a Tory and Church of England man; and as he had not much leisure to be informed of Dr. Johnson's great merits by reading his works, he had a partial and unfavourable notion of him, founded on his supposed political tenets, which were so discordant to his own, that, instead of speaking of him with that respect to which he was entitled, he used to call him "a Jacobite fellow." Knowing all this, I should not have ventured to bring them together, had not my father, out of kindness to me, desired me to invite Dr. Johnson to his house.

I was very anxious that all should be well, and begged of my friend to avoid three topics, as to which they differed very widelyWhiggism, Presbyterianism, and-Sir John Pringle. He said, courteously, "I shall certainly not talk on subjects which I am told are disagreeable to a gentleman under whose roof I am; especially, I shall not do so to your father."

Our first day went off very smoothly. It rained, and we could not get out; but my father showed Dr. Johnson his library, which, in curious editions of the Greek and Roman classics, is, I suppose, not excelled by any private collection in Great Britain. My father had studied at Leyden, and been very intimate with the Gronovii and other learned men there. He was a sound scholar, and, in particular, had collated manuscripts and different editions of " Anacreon,” and others of the Greek lyric poets, with great care; so that my friend and he had much matter for conversation, without touching on the fatal topics of difference.

Dr. Johnson found here Baxter's "Anacreon," which he told me he had long inquired for in vain, and began to suspect there was no such book. Baxter was the keen antagonist of Barnes. His life is in the "Biographia Britannica." My father has written many notes on this book, and Dr. Johnson and I talked of having it reprinted.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3.

It rained all day, and gave Dr. Johnson an impression of that incommodiousness of climate in the west, of which he has taken notice in his "Journey;" but, being well accommodated, and furnished with variety of books, he was not dissatisfied.

Some gentlemen of the neighbourhood came to visit my father; but there was little conversation. One of them asked Dr. Johnson how he liked the Highlands. The question seemed to irritate him, for he answered, "How, sir, can you ask me what obliges me to speak unfavourably of a country where I have been hospitably enter

tained? Who can like the Highlands ?—I like the inhabitants very well." The gentleman asked no more questions.*

66

66

Let me now make up for the present neglect by again gleaning from the past. At Lord Monboddo's, after the conversation upon the decrease of learning in England, his lordship mentioned Hermes," by Mr. Harris of Salisbury, as the work of a living author, for whom he had a great respect. Dr. Johnson said nothing at the time, but, when we were in our post-chaise, he told me he thought Harris а coxcomb." This he said of him, not as a man, but as an author; and I give his opinions of men and books faithfully, whether they agree with my own or not. I do admit, that there always appeared to me something of affectation in Mr. Harris's manner of writing-something of a habit of clothing plain thoughts in analytic and categorical formality; but all his writings are imbued with learning, and all breathe that philanthropy and amiable disposition which distinguished him as a man.†

At another time, during our Tour, he drew the character of a rapacious Highland chief with the strength of Theophrastus or la Bruyere, concluding with these words: "Sir, he has no more the soul of a chief, than an attorney who has twenty houses in a street and considers how much he can make by them."

He this day, when we were by ourselves, observed, how common it was for people to talk from books-to retail the sentiments of others and not their own; in short, to converse without any originality of thinking. He was pleased to say, "You and I do not talk from

books."

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4.

I was glad to have at length a very fine day, on which I could show Dr. Johnson the Place of my family, which he has honoured with so much attention in his "Journey." He is, however, mistaken

* "It is said that being asked how he liked his entertainment in the Highlands, he answered, "The sauce to everything was the benevolence of the inhabitants. I love the people better than the country." ("Scots Magazine," November, 1773.)-ED.

+ This gentleman, though devoted to the study of grammar and dialectics, was not so absorbed in it as to be without a sense of pleasantry, or to be offended at his favourite topics being treated lightly. I one day met him in the street, as I was hastening to the House of Lords, and told him I was sorry I could not stop, being rather too late to attend an appeal of the Duke of Hamilton against Douglas. "I thought," said he, "their contest had been over long ago." I answered, "The contest concerning Douglas's filiation was over long ago; but the contest now is, who shall have the estate." Then, assuming the air of "an ancient sage philosopher," I pro. ceeded thus: "Were I to predicate concerning him, I should say, the contest formerly was, What is he? The contest now is, What has he?"-"Right," replied Mr. Harris, smiling; "you have done with quality, and have got into quantity."-BoswELL.

in thinking that the Celtic name, Auchinleck, has no relation to the natural appearance of it. I believe every Celtic name of a place will be found very descriptive. Auchinleck does not signify a stony field, as he has said, but a field of flag stones; and this place has a number of rocks, which abound in strata of that kind. The “sullen dignity of the old castle," as he has forcibly expressed it, delighted him exceedingly. On one side of the rock on which its ruins stand, runs the river Lugar, which is here of considerable breadth, and is bordered by other high rocks, shaded with wood. On the other side runs å brook, skirted in the same manner, but on a smaller scale. I cannot figure a more romantic scene.

I felt myself elated here, and expatiated to my illustrious Mentor on the antiquity and honourable alliances of my family, and on the merits of its founder, Thomas Boswell, who was highly favoured by his sovereign, James IV. of Scotland, and fell with him at the battle of Flodden-field; and in the glow of what, I am sensible, will, in a commercial age, be considered as genealogical enthusiasm, did not omit to mention what I was sure my friend would not think lightly of my relation to the royal personage, whose liberality, on his accession to the throne, had given him comfort and independence. I have, in a former page, acknowledged my pride of ancient blood, in which I was encouraged by Dr. Johnson.* My readers, therefore, will not be surprised at my having indulged it on this occasion.

Not far from the old castle is a spot of consecrated earth, on which may be traced the foundations of an ancient chapel, dedicated to St. Vincent, and where in old times "was the place of graves" for the family. It grieves me to think that the remains of sanctity

The "ancient blood" of our author would have boiled with indignation could he have foreseen that his grandson was to set aside the deed of entail attaching the family estate of Auchinleck to heirs male. The correspondence between Johnson and Boswell on this subject will be found in the "Life of Johnson," under date of 1776. The deed was drawn up by Lord Auchinleck, signed, tested, and placed in publica custodia, where it remained undisturbed from the year 1777 down to the summer of 1851. On examination, it was found that the deed was invalid. By the law of Scotland, confirmed by numerous decisions in the Scottish and English Courts, when a word of any importance in a deed of entail is written on an erasure, without being authenticated in the testing or prohibiting clause, the effect is fatal to the object of the deed, by rendering it improbative. The Auchinleck deed was in this position. In the clause prohibiting the right of sale, the word redeemable had at first been written instead of irredeemable. An erasure was made, and the five letters "irred" were written on this erasure, and no notice of the circumstance was contained in the testing clause. This was held by the Scottish Judges to be a fatal objection; and Sir James Boswell, the proprietor, will be entitled to sell the estate or to make a new disposition of it in order to provide for his children, who are all daughters. Thus vanishes the succession of heirs male. The blunder of a copying-clerk has annulled the deed, so anxiously concocted, that was to gratify family pride, and carry down to distant generations the name of Boswell of Auchinleck!-ED.