fir. He can always diftrefs him for the money; as no man borrows, who is able to pay on demand quite conveniently."

We dined at Elgin, and faw the noble ruins of the cathedral. Though it rained much, Dr. Johnfon examined them with a moft patient attention. He could not here feel any abhorrence at the Scottish reformers, for he had been told by Lord Hailes, that it was deftroyed before the Reformation, by the Lord of Badenoch *, who had a quarrel with the bifhop. The bishop's houfe, and thofe of the other clergy, which are ftill pretty entire, do not seem to have been proportioned to the magnificence of the cathedral, which has been of great extent, and had very fine carved work. The ground within the walls of the cathedral is employed as a burying-place. The family of Gordon have their vault here; but it has nothing grand.

We paffed Gordon Castle+ this forenoon, which has a princely appearance. Fochabers, the neighbouring village, is a poor place, many of the houses being ruinous; but it is remarkable, they have in general

*NOTE, by Lord Hailes.

"The cathedral of Elgin was burnt by the Lord of Badenoch, because the Bishop of Moray had pronounced an award not to his liking. The indemnification that the fee obtained, was, that the Lord of Badenoch ftood for three days bare footed at the great gate of the cathedral. The story is in the Chartulary of Elgin."

† I am not sure whether the duke was at home. But, not having the honour of being much known to his grace, I could not have prefumed to enter his caftle, though to introduce even fo celebrated a ftranger. We were at any rate in a hurry to get forward to the wildnefs which we came to fee. Perhaps, if this noble family had ftill preferved that fequeftered magnificence which they maintained when catholicks, correfponding with the Grand Duke of Tuscany, wę might have been induced to have procured proper letters of introduc tion, and devoted fome time to the contemplation of venerable fuper ftitious ftate.

general orchards well stored with apple-trees. Elgin has what in England are called piazzas, that run in It must many places on each fide of the street. have been a much better place formerly. Probably it had piazzas all along the town, as I have seen at Bologna. I approved much of fuch ftructures in a town, on account of their conveniency in wet weather. Dr. Johnfon difapproved of them, "because (said he) it makes the under ftory of a house very dark, which greatly over-balances the conveniency, when it is confidered how small a part of the year it rains; how few are usually in the street at fuch times; that many who are might as well be at home; and the little that people fuffer, fuppofing them to be as much wet as they commonly are in walking a street."

We farea but ill at our inn here; and Dr. Johnfon faid, this was the first time he had seen a dinner in Scotland that he could not eat.

In the afternoon, we drove over the very heath where Macbeth met the witches, according to tra dition, Dr. Johnson again folemnly repeated

How far is't called to Fores? What are thefe,
So wither'd, and fo wild in their attire ? -
That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth,
And yet are on't?

He repeated a good deal more of Macbeth. His recitation was grand and affecting, and, as Sir Joshua Reynolds has obferved to me, had no more tone than it should have: it was the better for it. He then parodied the All-bail of the witches to Macbeth, addreffing himself to me. I had purchased some land called Dalblair; and, as in Scotland it is euf

tomary to distinguish landed men by the name of their eftates, I had thus two titles, Dalblair and Young Auchinleck. So my friend, in imitation of

All hail Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!

condefcended to amufe himself with uttering

All hail Dalblair! hail to thee, Laird of Auchinleck!

We got to Fores at night, and found an admirable inn, in which Dr. Johnson was pleased to meet with a landlord who styled himself "Wine-Cooper, from LONDON."

Friday, 27th Auguft.

It was dark when we came to Fores laft night; fo we did not fee what is called King Duncan's monument. I shall now mark fome gleanings of Dr. Johnson's conversation. I fpoke of Leonidas, and faid there were fome good paffages in it. Johnson. "Why, you must feek for them."-He. faid, Paul Whitehead's Manners was a poor performance. Speaking of Derrick, he told me "he had a kindness for him, and had often faid, that if his letters had been written by one of a more established name, they would have been thought very pretty letters."

This morning I introduced the subject of the origin of evil.-Johnson. "Moral evil is occafioned by free will, which implies choice between good and evil. With all the evil that there is, there is no man but would rather be a free agent, than a mere machine without the evil; and what is best

for

for each individual, must be beft for the whole. If a man would rather be the machine, I cannot argue with him. He is a different being from me." -Bofwell. "A man, as a machine, may have agreeable sensations; for inftance, he may have pleasure in mufick."-Johnson, "No, fir, he cannot have pleasure in mufick; at least no power of producing mufick; for he who can produce musick may let it alone: he who can play upon a fiddle may break it fuch a man is not a machine." This reafoning fatisfied me. It is certain, there cannot be a free agent, unless there is the power of being evil as well as good. We must take the inherent poffibilities of things into confideration, in our reasonings or conjectures concerning the works of Gon.

We came to Nairn to breakfast. Though a county town and a royal burgh, it is a miferable place. Over the room where we fat, a girl was spinning wool with a great wheel, and finging an Erfe fong: "I'll warrant you, (faid Dr. Johnfon,) one of the fongs of Offian." He then repeated these lines

" Verse sweetens toil, however rude the found.
"All at her work the village maiden fings;
"Nor, while fhe turns the giddy wheel around,
"Revolves the fad viciffitude of things."

I thought I had heard these lines before.-Johnson. "I fancy not, fir; for they are in a detached poem, the name of which I do not remember, written by one Giffard, a parfon."

I expected Mr. Kenneth M'Aulay, the minister of Calder, who published the hiftory of St. Kilda, a book which Dr. Johnfon liked, would have met

us

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 facrament the following Sunday, and earnestly requefting to fee us at his manfe. "We'll go," faid Dr. Johnfon; which we accordingly did. Mrs. M'Aulay received us, and told us her husband was in the church diftributing 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 faid "it was a very pretty piece of topography." M'Aulay did not feem much to mind the compliment. From his converfation, Dr. Johnfon was perfuaded that he had not written the book which goes under his name. I myself always fufpected fo; and I have been told it was written by the learned Dr. John McPherson of Sky, from the materials collected by M'Aulay. Dr. Johnfon faid privately to me, "There is a combination in it of which M'Aulay is not capable." However, he was exceedingly hofpitable; and, as he obligingly promiled us a route for our Tour through the Western Ifles, we agreed to stay with him all night.

After dinner, we walked to the old caftle of Calder, (pronounced Cawder) the Thane of Cawdor's feat. I was forry that I was forry that my friend, this "profperous

In Scotland, there is a great deal of preparation before adminiftering the facrament. The minifter of the parish examines the people as to their fitness, and to thofe of whom he approves gives little pieces of tin, ftamped with the name of the parish, as tokens, which they muft produce before receiving it. This is a fpecies of prieftly power, and fometimes may be abused. I remember a lawfuit brought by a perfon against his parish minifter, for refufing him admiffion to that facred ordinance.