134 An Erse song. [August 27. Johnson,) one of the songs of Ossian.' He then repeated these lines: 'Verse sweetens toil, however rude the sound. 'Verse softens toil, however rude the sound; Contemplation. London: Printed for R. Dodsley in Pall - mall, and The author's name is not on the title-page. In the Brit. Mus. Cata. the poem is entered under its title. Mr. Nichols (Lit. Illus. v. 183) says that the author was the Rev. Richard Gifford [not Giffard] of Balliol College, Oxford. He adds that 'Mr. Gifford mentioned to him with much satisfaction the fact that Johnson quoted the poem in his Dictionary. It was there very likely that Boswell had seen the lines. They are quoted under wheel (with changes made perhaps intentionally by Johnson), as follows: 'Verse sweetens care however rude the sound; All at her work the village maiden sings; Contemplation, which was published two years after Gray's Elegy, was suggested by it. The rising, not the parting day, is described. The following verse precedes the one quoted by Johnson :— Ev'n from the straw-roofed cot the note of joy Flows full and frequent, as the village-fair, Chanting some rural ditty soothes her care.' Bacon, in his Essay Of Vicissitude of Things (No. 58), says :-'It is not good to look too long upon these turning wheels of vicissitude lest we become giddy.' This may have suggested Gifford's last two lines. Reflections on a Grave, &c. (ante, ii. 29), published in 1766, and perhaps written in part by Johnson, has a line borrowed from this poem :— These all the hapless state of mortals show The sad vicissitude of things below.' Cowper, Table-Talk, ed. 1786, i. 165, writes of 'The sweet vicissitudes of day and night.' The following elegant version of these lines by Mr. A. T. Barton, Fel I thought August 27.] Mr. Kenneth M'Aulay. 135 I thought I had heard these lines before. JOHNSON. 'I fancy not, Sir; for they are in a detached poem, the name of which I do not remember, written by one Giffard, a parson.' I expected Mr. Kenneth M'Aulay', the minister of Calder, who published the history of St. Kilda', a book which Dr. Johnson liked, would have met us here, as I had written to him from Aberdeen. But I received a letter from him, telling me that he could not leave home, as he was to administer the sacrament the following Sunday, and earnestly requesting to see us at his manse. 'We'll go,' said Dr. Johnson; which we accordingly did. Mrs. M'Aulay received us, and told us her husband was in the church distributing tokens. We arrived between twelve and one o'clock, and it was near three before he came to us. Dr. Johnson thanked him for his book, and said, 'it was a very pretty piece of topography.' M'Aulay did not seem much to mind the compliment. From his conversation, Dr. Johnson was persuaded that he had not written the book which goes under his name. I myself always suspected so; and I have been told it was written by the learned Dr. John M'Pherson of Sky', from the materials collected by M'Aulay. low and Tutor of Johnson's own College, will please the classical reader : Musa levat duros, quamvis rudis ore, labores; Inter opus cantat rustica Pyrrha suum; Non aliter nostris sortibus ire vices. 'He was the brother of the Rev. John M'Aulay (post, Oct. 25), the grandfather of Lord Macaulay. * See ante, ii. 58. 3 In Scotland, there is a great deal of preparation before administering the sacrament. The minister of the parish examines the people as to their fitness, and to those of whom he approves gives. little pieces of tin, stamped with the name of the parish, as tokens, which they must produce before receiving it. This is a species of priestly power, and sometimes may be abused. I remember a lawsuit brought by a person against his parish minister, for refusing him admission to that sacred ordinance. Boswell. See post, Sept. 13 and 28. Dr. Johnson 136 Castle of Calder. [August 27. Dr. Johnson said privately to me, 'There is a combination in it of which M'Aulay is not capable'.' However, he was exceedingly hospitable; and, as he obligingly promised us a route for our Tour through the Western Isles, we agreed to stay with him all night. After dinner, we walked to the old castle of Calder (pronounced Cawder), the Thane of Cawdor's seat. I was sorry that my friend, this 'prosperous gentleman',' was not there. The old tower must be of great antiquity". There is a drawbridge- what has been a moat,- and an ancient court. There is a hawthorn-tree, which rises like a wooden pillar through the rooms of the castle; for, by a strange conceit, the walls have been built round it. The thickness of the walls, the small slaunting windows, and a great iron door at the entrance on the second story as you ascend the stairs, all indicate the rude times in which this castle was erected. There were here some large venerable trees. I was afraid of a quarrel between Dr. Johnson and Mr. M'Aulay, who talked slightingly of the lower English clergy. The Doctor gave him a frowning look, and said, 'This is a day of novelties; I have seen old trees in Scotland, and I have heard the English clergy treated with disrespect'.' I dreaded that a whole evening at Calder manse would be heavy; however, Mr. Grant, an intelligent and well-bred minister in the neighbourhood, was there, and assisted us by his conversation. Dr. Johnson, talking of hereditary occupations in the Highlands, said, 'There is no harm in such a custom as this; but it is wrong to enforce it, and oblige a man 1 Mr. Trevelyan (Life of Macaulay, ed. 1877, i. 6) says:-Johnson pronounced that Mr. Macaulay was not competent to have written the book that went by his name; a decision which, to those who happen to have read the work, will give a very poor notion of my ancestor's abilities.' 2 3 'The thane of Cawdor lives, A prosperous gentleman.' Macbeth, act. i. sc. 3. According to Murray's Handbook, ed. 1867, p. 308, no part of the castle is older than the fifteenth century. * See post, Nov. 5. to August 27.] Creeds and confessions. 137 to be a taylor or a smith, because his father has been one.' This custom, however, is not peculiar to our Highlands; it is well known that in India a similar practice prevails. Mr. M'Aulay began a rhapsody against creeds and confessions. Dr. Johnson shewed, that what he called imposition, was only a voluntary declaration of agreement in certain articles of faith, which a church has a right to require, just as any other society can insist on certain rules being observed by its members. Nobody is compelled to be of the church, as nobody is compelled to enter into a society.' This was a very clear and just view of the subject: but, M'Aulay could not be driven out of his track. Dr. Johnson said, 'Sir, you are a bigot to laxness.' Mr. M'Aulay and I laid the map of Scotland before us; and he pointed out a route for us from Inverness, by Fort Augustus, to Glenelg, Sky, Mull, Icolmkill, Lorn, and Inverary, which I wrote down. As my father was to begin the northern circuit about the 18th of September, it was necessary for us either to make our tour with great expedition, so as to get to Auchinleck before he set out, or to protract it, so as not to be there till his return, which would be about the 10th of October. By M'Aulay's calculation, we were not to land in Lorn till the 20th of September. I thought that the interruptions by bad days, or by occasional excursions, might make it ten days later; and. I thought too, that we might perhaps go to Benbecula, and visit Clanranald, which would take a week of itself. Dr. Johnson went up with Mr. Grant to the library, which consisted of a tolerable collection; but the Doctor thought it rather a lady's library, with some Latin books in it by chance, than the library of a clergyman. It had only two of the Latin fathers, and one of the Greek fathers in Latin. I doubted whether Dr. Johnson would be present at a Presbyterian prayer. I told Mr. M'Aulay so, and said that the Doctor might sit in the library while we were at family worship. Mr. M'Aulay said, he would omit it, rather than give Dr. Johnson offence: but I would by no means agree that an 138 Family worship. [August 27. an excess of politeness, even to so great a man, should prevent what I esteem as one of the best pious regulations. I know nothing more beneficial, more comfortable, more agreeable, than that the little societies of each family should regularly assemble, and unite in praise and prayer to our heavenly Father, from whom we daily receive so much good, and may hope for more in a higher state of existence. I mentioned to Dr. Johnson the over-delicate scrupulosity of our host. He said, he had no objection to hear the prayer. This was a pleasing surprise to me; for he refused to go and hear Principal Robertson' preach. 'I will hear him, (said he,) if he will get up into a tree and preach; but I will not give a sanction, by my presence, to a Presbyterian assembly'.' Mr. Grant having prayed, Dr. Johnson said, his prayer was a very good one; but objected to his not having introduced the Lord's Prayer. He told us, that an Italian of some note in London said once to him, 'We have in our service a prayer called the Pater Noster, which is a very fine composition. I wonder who is the author of it.' A singular instance of ignorance in a man of some literature and general inquiry'! The historian. Ante, p. 45. See ante, iii. 382, and post, Nov. 7. See post, Oct. 27. Baretti was the Italian. Boswell disliked him (ante, ii. 112 note), and perhaps therefore described him merely as ‘a man of some literature.' Baretti complained to Malone that 'the story as told gave an unfair representation of him.' He had, he said, 'observed to Johnson that the petition lead us not into temptation ought rather to be addressed to the tempter of mankind than a benevolent Creator. "Pray, Sir," said Johnson, "do you know who was the author of the Lord's Prayer?" Baretti, who did not wish to get into any serious dispute and who appears to be an Infidel, by way of putting an end to the conversation, only replied:—“Oh, Sir, you know by our religion (Roman Catholic) we are not permitted to read the Scriptures. You can't therefore expect an answer. Prior's Malone, p. 399. Sir Joshua Reynolds, on hearing this from Malone, said:-'This turn which Baretti now gives to the matter was an after-thought; for he once said SATURDAY, |