me, rolling about as he used to do when he enjoyed a joke; but he afterwards checked me. Pozz. Sir, you ought not to laugh at what I said. Sir, he who laughs at what another man says, will soon learn to laugh at that other man. Sir, you should laugh only at your own jokes; you should laugh seldom.' "We talked of a friend of ours who was a very violent politician. I said I did not like his company. Pozz. No, sir, he is not healthy; he is sore, sir; his mind is ulcerated; he has a political whitlow; sir, you cannot touch him without giving him pain. Sir, I would not talk politicks with that man; I would talk of cabbage and pease: sir, I would ask him how he got his corn in, and whether his wife was with child; but I would not talk politicks.' Bozz. ‘But perhaps, sir, he would talk of nothing else. Pozz. Then, sir, it is plain what he would do. On my very earnestly inquiring what that was, Dr. Pozz answered, Sir, he would let it alone.' “I mentioned a tradesman who had lately set up his coach. Pozz. 'He is right, sir; a man who would go on swimmingly cannot get too soon off his legs. That man keeps his coach. Now, sir, a coach is better than a chaise, sir—it is better than a chariot.' Bozz. Why, Pozz. Sir, it will hold more.' I begged he would repeat this, that I might remember it, and he complied with great good-humour. Dr. Pozz,' said I, 'you ought to keep a coach.' Pozz. Yes, sir, I ought.' Bozz. But you do not, and that has often surprised Pozz. Surprised you! There, sir, is another prejudice of absurdity. Sir, you ought to be surprised at nothing. A man that has lived half your days ought to be above all surprise. Sir, it is a rule with me never to be surprised. It is mere ignorance, you cannot guess why I do not keep a coach, and you are surprised. Now, sir, if you did know, you would not be surprised.' I said, tenderly, I hope, my dear sir, you will let me know before I leave town.' Pozz. Yes, sir, you shall know now. You shall not go to Mr. Wilkins, and to Mr. Jenkins, and to Mr. Stubbs, and say, why does not Pozz keep a coach? I will tell you myself-Sir, I can't afford it.' "We talked of drinking. I asked him whether, in the course of his long and valuable life, he had not known some men who drank more than they could bear? Pozz. Yes, sir; and then, sir, nobody could bear them. A man who is drunk, sir, is a very foolish fellow.' Bozz.' But, sir, as the poet says, "he is devoid of all care." Pozz. 'Yes, sir, he cares for nobody; he has none of the cares of life: he cannot be a merchant, sir, for he cannot write his name; he cannot be a politician, sir, for he cannot talk; he cannot be an artist, sir, for he cannot see; and yet, sir, there is science in drinking.' Bozz. 'I suppose you mean that a man ought to know what he drinks.' Pozz. No, sir, to know what one drinks is nothing; but the science consists of three parts. Now, sir, were I to drink wine, I should wish to know them all; I should wish to know when I had too little, when I had enough, and when I had too much. There is our friend ******* (mentioning a gentleman of our acquaintance); he knows when he has too little, and when he has too much, but he knows not when he has enough. Now, sir, that is the science of drinking, to know when one has enough.' "We talked this day on a variety of topics, but I find very few memorandums in my journal. On small beer, he said it was flatulent liquor. He disapproved of those who deny the utility of absolute power, and seemed to be offended with a friend of ours who would always have his eggs poached. Sign-posts, he observed, had dege. nerated within his memory; and he particularly found fault with the moral of the Beggar's Opera. I endeavoured to defend a work which had afforded me so much pleasure, but could not master that strength of mind with which he argued; and it was with great satisfaction that he communicated to me afterwards a method of curing corns by applying a piece of oiled silk. In the early history of the world, he preferred Sir Isaac Newton's Chronology; but as they gave employ ment to useful artisans, he did not dislike the large buckles then coming into use. 66 Next day we dined at the Mitre. I mentioned spirits. Pozz. Sir, there is as much evidence for the existence of spirits as against it. You may not believe it, but you cannot deny it.' I told him that my great grandmother once saw a spirit. He asked me to relate it, which I did very minutely, while he listened with profound attention. When I mentioned that the spirit once appeared in the shape of a shoulder of mutton, and another time in that of a tea-pot, he interrupted me:-Pozz. There, sir, is the point; the evidence is good, but the scheme is defective in consistency. We cannot deny that the spirit appeared in these shapes; but then we cannot reconcile them. What has a tea-pot to do with a shoulder of mutton? Neither is it a terrific object. There is nothing contemporaneous. Sir, these are objects which are not seen at the same time, nor in the same place.' Bozz. I think, sir, that old women in general are used to see ghosts.' Pozz. Yes, sir, and their conversation is full of the subject: I would have an old woman to record such conversations; their loquacity tends to minuteness.' We talked of a person who had a very bad character. Pozz. 'Sir, he is a scoundrel.' Bozz. 'I hate a scoundrel.' Pozz. ‹ There you are wrong: don't hate scoundrels. Scoundrels, sir, are useful. There are many things we cannot do without scoundrels. I would not choose to keep company with scoundrels, but something may got from them.' Bozz. Are not scoundrels generally fools?' Pozz. 'No, sir, they are not. A scoundrel must be a clever fellow; he must know many things of which a fool is ignorant. Any man may be be a fool. I think a good book might be made out of scoundrels. I would have a Biographia Flagitiosa, the Lives of Eminent Scoundrels, from the earliest accounts to the present day.' I mentioned hanging: I thought it a very awkward situation. Pozz. No, sir, hanging is not an awkward situation: it is proper, sir, that a man whose actions tend towards flagitious obliquity should appear perpendicular at last. I told him that I had lately been in company with some gentlemen, every one of whom could recollect some friend or other who had been hanged. Pozz. Yes, sir, that is the easiest way. We know those who have been hanged; we can recollect that: but we cannot number those who deserve it; it would not be decorous, ar, in a mixed company. No, sir, that is one of the few things which we are compelled to think.'' Our regard for literary property prevents our making a larger extract from the above important work. We have, however, we hope, given such passages as will tend to impress our readers with a high idea of this vast undertaking.-Note by the author. No. XI. MR. BOSWELL'S Original Dedication of the "Tour to the Hebrides." TO EDMOND MALONE, ESQ. MY DEAR SIR,-In every narrative, whether historical or biographical, authenticity is of the utmost consequence. Of this I have ever been so firmly persuaded, that I inscribed a former work to that person who was the best judge of its truth. I need not tell you I mean General Paoli; who, after his great, though unsuccessful efforts to preserve the liberties of his country, has found an honourable asylum in Britain, where he has now lived many years the object of royal regard and private respect; and whom I cannot name without expressing my very grateful sense of the uniform kindness which he has been pleased to show me. The friends of Dr. Johnson can best judge, from internal evidence, whether the numerous conversations which form the most valuable part of the ensuing pages are correctly related. To them, therefore, 1 [This alludes to the jealousy about copyright, which Mr. Boswell carried so far that he actually printed separately, and entered at Stationers' Hall, Johnson's Letter to Lord Chesterfield (vol. i. p. 249) and the Account of Johnson's Conversation with George III. at Buckingham House, (vol. ii. p. 34) to prevent his rivals making use of them.-ED.] I I VOL. V. I wish to appeal, for the accuracy of the portrait here exhibited to the world. As one of those who were intimately acquainted with him, you have a title to this address. You have obligingly taken the trouble ́ to peruse the original manuscript of this "Tour," and can vouch for the strict fidelity of the present publication. Your literary alliance with our much lamented friend, in consequence of having undertaken to render one of his labours more complete, by your edition of Shakspeare, a work which I am confident will not disappoint the expectations of the publick, gives you another claim. But I have a still more powerful inducement to prefix your name to this volume, as it gives me an opportunity of letting the world know that I enjoy the honour and happiness of your friendship; and of thus publickly testifying the sincere regard with which I am, my dear sir, your very faithful and obedient servant, JAMES BOSWELL. London, 20th September, 1785. ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION. By correcting the errours of the press in the former edition, and some inaccuracies for which the authour alone is answerable, and by supplying some additional notes, I have endeavoured to render this work more deserving of the very high honour which the publick has been pleased to show it-the whole of the first impression having been sold in a few weeks. London, 20th December, 1785. J. B. ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD EDITION. ANIMATED by the very favourable reception which two large impressions of this work have had, it has been my study to make it as perfect as I could in this edition, by correcting some inaccuracies which I discovered myself, and some which the kindness of friends or the scrutiny of adversaries pointed out. A few notes are added, of which the principal object is, to refute misrepresentation and calumny. To the animadversions in the periodical journals of criticism, and in the numerous publications to which my book has given rise, I have made no answer. Every work must stand or fall by its own merit. I cannot, however, omit this opportunity of returning thanks to a gentleman who published a "Defence" of my "Journal," and has added to the favour by communicating his name to me in a very obliging letter. It would be an idle waste of time to take any particular notice of the futile remarks, to many of which, a petty national resentment, unworthy of my countrymen, has probably given rise; remarks, which have been industriously circulated in the publick prints by shallow or envious cavillers, who have endeavoured to persuade the world that Dr. Johnson's character has been lessened by recording such various instances of his lively wit and acute judgment, on every topick that was presented to his mind. In the opinion of every person of taste and knowledge that I have conversed with, it has been greatly heightened; and I will venture to predict, that this specimen of the colloquial talents and extemporaneous effusions of my illustrious fellow-traveller will become still more valuable, when, by the lapse of time, he shall have become an ancient; when all those who can now bear testimony to the transcendent powers of his mind shall have passed away, and no other memorial of this great and good man shall remain but the following "Journal," the other anecdotes and letters preserved by his friends, and those incomparable works which have for many years been in the highest estimation, and will be read and admired as long as the English language shall be spoken or understood. London, 15th August, 1786. J. B. No. XII. A CHRONOLOGICAL CATALOGUE 1 OF THE PROSE WORKS OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. N. B. To those which he himself acknowledged is added acknowl. To those which may be fully believed to be his from internal evidence is added intern. evid. 1735. ABRIDGMENT and translation of Lobo's Voyage to Abyssinia, acknowl. I do not here include his poetical works; for, excepting his Latin translation of Pope's Messiah, his London, and his Vanity of Human Wishes, imitated from Juvenal; his Prologue on the opening of Drury-lane Theatre by Mr. Garrick, and his Irene, a Tragedy, they are very numerous, and in general short; and I have promised a complete edition of them, in which I shall, with the utmost care, ascertain their authenticity, and illustrate them with notes and various readings.-BOSWELL. [The meaning of this sentence, and particularly of the word excepting, is not very clear. Perhaps Mr. Boswell wrote, "they are not very numerous," which would be less obscure.-ED.] |