"Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona Nocte, carent quia vate sacro.” They whose inferiour exertions are recorded, as serving to explain or illustrate the sayings of such men, may be proud of being thus associated, and having their names carried down to posterity, by being appended to an illustrious character. Before I quit this subject, I think it proper to say, that I have suppressed every thing that I thought could really hurt any one Second Edition.-Line 9: "I quit this subject" altered to "I conclude." Ibid. On line 10, this note:-" Having found, on a revision of the first edition of this work, that, notwithstanding my best care, a few observations had escaped me, which arose from the instant impression, the publication of which might perhaps be considered as passing the bounds of a strict decorum, I immediately ordered that they should be omitted in the subsequent editions. I was pleased to find that they did not amount in the whole to a page. If any of the same kind are yet left, it is owing to inadvertence alone, no man being more unwilling to give pain to others than I am." Third Edition.-Add to this note: "A contemptible scribbler, of whom I have learned no more than that, after having disgraced and deserted the clerical character, he picks up in London a scanty livelihood by scurrilous lampoons under a feigned name, has impudently and falsely asserted that the passages omitted were defamatory, and that the omission was not voluntary, but compulsory. The last insinuation I took the trouble publickly to disprove; yet, like one of Pope's dunces, he persevered in the lie o'erthrown.' As to the charge of defamation, there is an obvious and certain mode of refuting it. Any person who thinks it worth while to compare one edition with the other, will find that the passages omitted were not in the least degree of that nature, but exactly such as I have represented them in the former part of this note, the hasty effusion of momentary feelings, which the delicacy of politeness should have suppressed." 1" Mr. Urban," wrote Mr. Boswell to the editor of the Gentleman's Magazine, on March 9, 1786-"It having been asserted in a late scurrilous publication that some passages relating to a noble lord, which appeared in the first edition of my 'Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides,' were omitted in the second edition of that work, in consequence of a letter from his lordship, I think myself called upon to declare that that assertion is false. "In a note, p. 527, of my second edition, I mentioned that 'having found, on a revision of this work, that, notwithstanding my best care, a few observations had escaped me which arose from the instant impression, the publication of which might, perhaps, be considered as passing the bounds of a strict decorum, I immediately ordered that they should be omitted in the present edition.' "I did not then think it necessary to be more explicit. But as I now find that I have been misunderstood by some, and grossly misrepresented by others, I think it proper to add that soon after the publication of the first edition of my work, from the motive above mentioned alone, without any application from any person whatever, I ordered twenty-six lines relative to the noble lord to be omitted in the second edition, for the loss of which I trust twenty-two additional pages are a sufficient compensation; and this was the sole alteration that was made in my book relative to that nobleman; nor was any application made to me by the nobleman alluded to, at any time to quote any alteration in my journal. "To any serious criticism or ludicrous banter to which my journal shall be liable, I shall never object, but receive both the one and the other with perfect good humour; but I cannot suffer a malignant and injurious falsehood to pass uncontradicted. "Yours, &c., "JAMES BOSWELL.' now living. With respect to what is related, I thought it my duty to "extenuate nothing, nor set down aught in malice ;" and with those lighter strokes of Dr. Johnson's satire, proceeding from a warmth and quickness of imagination, not from any malevolence of heart, and which, on account of their excellence, could not be omitted, I trust that they who are the object of them have good sense and good temper enough not to be displeased. name" of Peter Pindar. He wrote "an Epistle to James Boswell, Esq.," in which he indicated the various incidents of the Tour, referring, in foot-notes, to the proper pages. The passage alluded to by Mr. Boswell compensated for its offensive character, by a prophecy curiously fulfilled : "Thou curious scrapmonger shalt live in song, When death hath stilled the rattle of thy tongue; Let Lord M'Donald threat thy breech to kick, And o'er thy shrinking shoulders shake his stick.' In a note on these lines it is stated that a "letter of severe remonstrance" was sent to Mr. Boswell; but though this was not literally true, there can be little doubt but that the displeasure of Lord Macdonald had been in some way conveyed to him. That Boswell was nervously anxious to propitiate him is shown by the introduction in the Appendix to the second edition of Lord Macdonald's very indifferent Latin ode. I am indebted to Lord Houghton for the "Memoir of James Boswell," published by the Grampian Club, and which has reached me with the last sheet of this edition. It includes the memoir by Dr. Rogers, and the Boswelliana, a portion only of which has hitherto been made public. Some passages in the latter are interesting, as showing the original shape in which Boswell jotted down the remarks of his great friend. Thus in the Boswelliana, Dr. Blair asked Johnson, if he thought any man could describe barbarous manners so well if he had not lived at the time and seen them. 66 Any man, sir," replied Mr. Johnson," any man, woman, or child, might have done it." In the "Life" it runs, 66 Johnson replied, Yes, sir, many men, many women, and many children.' Mr. Samuel Johnson said, 'Sherry cannot abide me, for I always ask him, "Pray, sir, what do you propose to do?"" .... talking of his enthusiasm for the advancement of education, 'Sir,' said Mr. Johnson, it won't do. He cannot carry through the scheme. He is like a man attempting to stride the English Channel. Sir, the cause bears no proportion to the effect. It is setting up a candie at Whitechapel, to give light at Westminster.'"-Boswelliana. In the "Life," these passages run: "Sheridan cannot bear me. I bring his declamation to a point. I ask him a plain question, What do you mean to teach? Besides, Sir, what influence can Mr. Sheridan have upon the language of this great country by his narrow exertions? Sir, it is burning a farthing candle at Dover to show light at Calais." These passages are interesting as opening up the question as to the process adopted by Boswell in his office of reporter. It is evident that what he set down were merely catch-words and sentences which later were to set his memory at work: the lines given in italics being evidently thus furnished. But what are we to say of the substitution of Dover and Calais for Whitechapel and Westminster-for the emendation of "teach" for " do," and the like? As the rough draught was of course nearer the date of the conversation, the Whitechapel version seems to have been the original one, and two such opposite objects of comparison could hardly have been confounded. Beiure the Grampian Club volume had I have only to add, that I shall ever reflect with great pleasure on a Tour which has been the means of preserving so much of the enlightened and instructive conversation of one whose virtues will, I hope, ever be an object of imitation, and whose powers of mind were so extraordinary, that ages may revolve before such a man shall again appear. been published, the Rev. Mr. Elwin, to whom I have been so much indebted in these inquiries, had expressed his belief to me, that the success of Boswell's reports had been owing not only to their general accuracy, but to the wonderful tact of the author in selecting the essence of a conversation, or even of a particular declaration, putting aside as surplusage all repetitions, or what might amount to a less forcible statement of what had gone before. This critical view is completely sustained by the rough notes in these Boswelliana-the present instance is a specimen where several passages are dropped out; viz. "Sir, it won't do. He cannot carry through the scheme. He is like a man attempting to stride the English Channel. Sir, the cause bears no proportion to the effect." It is evident that Boswell saw that these passages did not represent the vigorous style of his friend, and that he thought he must have misapprehended or misreported him. "Striding the English Channel" was not at all in point, and it may then have flashed upon him that Johnson had used this illustration (of the Channel) in connection with the candle. Some such process as this may have been adopted, and I find that the other passages have all been treated after the same principle. This amounts to an intellectual operation, and is very different from the vulgar idea of Boswell's being a 66 mere shorthand reporter." THE END. Second Edition. APPENDIX. No. I. In justice to the ingenious Dr. BLACKLOCK, I publish the following letter from him, [which did not come to my hands till this edition was nearly printed off (Third Edition),] relative to a passage in p. 225. DEAR SIR, TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. AVING lately had the pleasure of reading your account of the HAVING Jately had the plk with Dr. Samuel Johnson to the Western Isles, I take the liberty of transmitting my ideas of the conversation which happened between the doctor and myself concerning Lexicography and Poetry, which, as it is a little different from the delineation exhibited in the former edition of your Journal, cannot, I hope, be unacceptable; particularly since I have been informed that a second edition of that work is now in contemplation, if not in execution: and I am still more strongly tempted to encourage that hope, from considering that, if every one concerned in the conversations related, were to send you what they can recollect of these colloquial entertainments, many curious and interesting particulars might be recovered, which the most assiduous attention could not observe, nor the most tenacious memory retain. A little reflection, sir, will convince you, that there is not an axiom in Euclid more intuitive nor more evident than the doctor's assertion that poetry was of much easier execution than lexicography. Any mind therefore endowed with common sense, must have been extremely absent from itself, if it discovered the least astonishment from hearing that a poem might be written with much more facility than the same quantity of a dictionary. The real cause of my surprise was what appeared to me much more paradoxical, that he could write a sheet of dictionary with as much pleasure as a sheet of poetry. He acknowledged, indeed, that the latter was much easier than the former. For in the one case, books and a desk were requisite; in the other, you might compose when lying in bed, or walking in the fields, &c. He did not, however, descend to explain, nor to this moment can I comprehend, how the labours of a mere Philologist, in the most refined sense of that term, could give equal pleasure with the exercise of a mind replete with elevated conceptions and pathetic ideas, while taste, fancy, and intellect were deeply enamoured of nature, and in full exertion. You may likewise, perhaps, remember, that when I complained of the ground which Scepticism in religion and morals was continually gaining, it did not appear to be on my own account, as my private opinions upon these important subjects had long been inflexibly determined. What I then deplored, and still deplore, was the unhappy influence which that gloomy hesitation had, not only upon particular characters, but even upon life in general; as being equally the bane of action in our present state, and of such consolations as we might derive from the hopes of a future. I have the pleasure of remaining with sincere esteem and respect, Dear Sir, Your most obedient humble servant, Edinburgh, Nov. 12, 1785. THOMAS BLACKLOCK. I am very happy to find that Dr. Blacklock's apparent uneasiness on the subject of Scepticism was not on his own account, (as I supposed) but from a benevolent concern for the happiness of mankind. With respect, however, to the question concerning poetry, and composing a dictionary, I am confident that my state of Dr. Johnson's position is accurate. One may misconceive the motive by which a person is induced to discuss a particular topick (as in the case of Dr. Blacklock's speaking of Scepticism); but an assertion, like that made by Dr. Johnson, cannot be easily mistaken. And indeed it seems not very probable, that he who so pathetically laments the drudgery to which the unhappy lexicographer is doomed, and is known to have written his splendid imitation of Juvenal with astonishing rapidity, should have had as much pleasure in writing a sheet of a dictionary as a sheet of poetry." Nor can I concur with the ingenious writer of the foregoing letter, in thinking it an axiom as evident as any in Euclid, that, "poetry is of easier execution than lexicography." I have no doubt that Bailey, and the "mighty blunderbuss of law," Jacob, wrote ten pages of their respective Dictionaries with more ease than they could have written five pages of poetry. If this book should again be reprinted, I shall, with the utmost |