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 Another Random Document on
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following verses, a parody on the bard’s “Address to the Deil,” were regarded
by Boswell without disfavour:—

“The Deil’s Answer to his verra Freend R. Burns.

“So zealous Robin, stout an’ fell,
True champion for the cause o’ hell,
Thou beats the righteous down pell mell,
Sae frank and frothy,
That o’ a seat where devils dwell,
There’s nane mair worthy.
* * * *
“Thou does as weel’s could be expectit,
O’ ane wha’s wit lay long neglectet;
Some godly folk your rhyme, I trow,
Ca’ worthless blether;
But be na feart, ye’s get your due,
When we forgather.
* * * *
“In hell when I read o’er your sang,
Where rhymes come thun’ring wi’ a bang,
Quoth I, trouth I’s see Rab or lang,
An’ that’s be seen.
Giff Nick should on me ride the stang
To Aberdeen.”

Mr. Dun’s work was still-born. In a letter to Mr. Temple, Boswell regrets that
his friend would, by his performance, be “a sad loser.”
While thus abetting the ridicule of the Ayrshire poet, Boswell’s other
enterprize was more creditable. He gave assistance in raising funds for a
monument to Dr. Johnson in Westminster Abbey. To this undertaking he thus
refers in a letter to Mr. Temple, dated the 28th November, 1789:—
“Last Sunday I dined with him (Malone), with Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir Joseph
Banks, Mr. Metcalfe, Mr. Windham, Mr. Courtenay, and young Mr. Burke, being a
select number of Dr. Johnson’s friends, to settle as to effectual measures for having a
monument erected to him in Westminster Abbey; it is to be a whole-length statue of
him, by Bacon, which will cost £600. Sir Joshua and Sir William Scott, his executors,
are to send circular letters to a number of people, of whom we make a list, as
supposing they will contribute. Several of us subscribed five guineas each, Sir Joshua
and Metcalfe ten guineas each, Courtenay and young Burke two guineas each. Will
you not be one of us, were it but for one guinea? We expect that the Bench of
Bishops will be liberal, as he was the greatest supporter of the hierarchy. That
venerable sound brings to my mind the ruffians of France, who are attempting to
destroy all order, ecclesiastical and civil. The present state of that country is an
intellectual earthquake, a whirlwind, a mad insurrection, without any immediate
cause, and therefore we see to what a horrible anarchy it tends.”
 The subject of the monument is resumed in Boswell’s letter to Mr. Temple,
dated 8th February, 1790:—
“You will have seen that Johnson’s friends have been exerting themselves for his
monument, which is to cost six hundred guineas. We have now near to £400 of the
money. Can we have no Cornish coin? I wish you could assist us in your
neighbourhood. As your character of Gray was adopted by him it would appear well if
you sent two guineas. We shall have a great dispute as to the epitaph. Flood, the
orator, though a distinguished scholar, says it should be in English, as a compliment
to Johnson’s having perpetuated our language; he has compressed his opinion in
these lines:—

“No need of Latin, or of Greek to grace

Our Johnson’s memory and inscribe his grave;
His native tongue demands this mournful space,
To pay the immortality he gave.”

Johnson’s monument in Westminster Abbey was erected in 1796 at the cost

of eleven hundred guineas; it was inscribed with a Latin epitaph composed by
Dr. Parr. Mr. Temple’s name does not appear among the subscribers.
With the entire prostration of his political and professional expectations,
Boswell relapsed into melancholy. In a letter to Mr. Temple dated 21st July he
expresses himself in this earnest manner:—
“Surely, my dear friend, there must be another world in which such beings as we
are will have our misery compensated. But is not this a state of probation? and if it
is, how awful is the consideration! I am struck with your question, ‘Have you
confidence in the Divine aid?’ In truth I am sensible that I do not sufficiently ‘try my
ways’ as the Psalmist says, and am ever almost inclined to think with you that my
great oracle Johnson did allow too much credit to good principles, without good
practice.”

In this passage Dr. Johnson’s sentiments on practical religion are strangely

perverted. Had not the great moralist warned his companion against vanity
and self-deceit, and the substitution of good intentions for the active practice
of virtue? In the autumn of 1790, Boswell’s intemperance was excessive. On
the 4th December, he wrote to Mr. Malone in these words:—

“On the day after your departure, that most friendly fellow Courtenay[97] (begging
the pardon of an M.P. for so free an epithet) called on me, and took my word and
honour that, till the 1st of March, my allowance of wine per diem should not exceed
four good glasses at dinner, and a pint after it; and this I have kept, though I have
dined with Jack Wilkes; at the London Tavern, after the launch of an Indiaman with
dear Edwards; Dilly; at home with Courtenay; Dr. Barrow; at the mess of the
Coldstream; at the Club; at Warren Hastings’; at Hawkins the Cornish member’s; and
 at home with a colonel of the guards, &c. This regulation, I assure you, is of
essential advantage in many respects.”

Like the vow under “the solemn yew” at Mamhead, the word of honour
pledged to Mr. Courtenay was soon forgotten. On the 25th February, 1791,
Boswell wrote to Mr. Malone as follows:—
“Your friendly admonition as to excess in wine has been often too applicable; but
upon this late occasion I erred on the other side. However as I am now free from my
restriction to Courtenay I shall be much upon my guard; for, to tell the truth, I did go
too deep the day before yesterday, having dined with Michael Angelo Taylor, and then
supped at the London Tavern with the stewards of the Humane Society.”

In his letter of the 4th December, Boswell affirms that his promise of
sobriety extended till the 1st of March; he reports on the 25th of February, that
the term had closed! His melancholy had returned. On the 7th of February Mr.
Temple was addressed thus:—
“Before this time you have been informed of my having had a most miserable
return of bad spirits. Not only have I had a total distaste of life, but have been
perpetually gnawed by a kind of mental fever. It is really shocking that human nature
is liable to such inexplicable distress. Oh, my friend, what can I do? * * * Your
observation in a former letter, as to time being measured not only by days and years,
but by an advancement in life, is new and striking, and is brought home to us both,
especially to me, who have obtained no advancement whatever; but let me not
harass you with my complaints.”

In his next letter to Mr. Temple, written on the 2nd of April, Boswell further
expatiates on his melancholy. He writes:—
“Your kindness to me fairly makes me shed tears. Alas! I fear that my
constitutional melancholy, which returns in such dismal fits, and is now aggravated
by the loss of my valuable wife, must prevent me from any permanent felicity in this
life. I snatch gratifications, but have no comfort, at least very little; yet your
encouraging letters make me think at times that I may yet, by God’s blessing, attain
to a portion of happiness, such as philosophy and religion concur in assuring us that
this state of progressive being allows. I get bad rest in the night, and then I brood
over all my complaints, the sickly mind which I have had from my early years—the
disappointment of my hopes of success in life—the irrevocable separation between
me and that excellent woman, who was my cousin, my friend and my wife; the
embarrassment of my affairs—the disadvantage to my children in having so wretched
a father—nay, the want of absolute certainty of being happy after death, the sure
prospect of which is frightful.”

Within a few months after sustaining that bereavement, which he still

deplored, Boswell contemplated the repair of his shattered fortunes by
contracting a second marriage. While in the North he wrote Mr. Temple in July,
1790. “I got such accounts of the lady of fortune, whose reputation you heard
something of, that I was quite determined to make no advances. Whether I
shall take any such step I doubt much. The loss I have experienced is
perpetually recurring.”
Boswell resolved closely to watch his opportunity. His letter to Mr. Temple of
the 2nd April, 1791, contains the following:—
“I am to dine with Sir William Scott, the King’s Advocate, at the Commons to-
morrow, and shall have a serious consultation with him, as he has always
encouraged me. It is to be a family party, where I am to meet Miss Bagnal (his lady’s
sister) who may probably have six or seven hundred a year. She is about seven and
twenty, and he tells me lively and gay—a Ranelagh girl—but of excellent principles,
insomuch that she reads prayers to the servants in her father’s family every Sunday
evening. ‘Let me see such a woman,’ cried I; and accordingly I am to see her. She
has refused young and fine gentlemen. ‘Bravo,’ cried I, ‘we see then what her taste
is.’ Here then I am, my Temple, my flattering self! A scheme—an adventure seizes my
fancy. Perhaps I may not like her; and what should I do with such a companion,
unless she should really take a particular liking to me, which is surely not probable;
and, as I am conscious of my distempered mind, could I honestly persuade her to
unite her fate with mine. As to my daughters, did I see a rational prospect of so good
a scheme, I should not neglect it on their account, though I should certainly be
liberal to them.”

Miss Bagnal’s name does not reappear. But he informs Mr. Temple on the
22nd of August that his matrimonial plans were still active:—
“You must know,” he writes, “I have had several matrimonial schemes of late. I
shall amuse you with them from Auchinleck. One was Miss Milles, daughter of the
late Dean of Exeter, a most agreeable woman ‘d’un certain âge,’ and with a fortune of
£10,000; she has left town for the summer. It was no small circumstance that she
said to me, ‘Mr. Temple is a charming man.’”

The progress of Boswell’s magnum opus has been traced to the 4th
December, 1790. On the 12th of that month the author wrote to Mr. Temple:—
“My work has met with a delay for a little while—not a whole day, however—by an
unaccountable neglect in having paper enough in readiness. I have now before me p.
256. My utmost wish is to come forth on Shrove Tuesday (8th March).”

Mr. Malone was now in Ireland, and Boswell, in reporting to him the
progress of his undertaking, also communicated the miserable details of his
private embarrassments. In a letter to Mr. Malone, dated the 18th January,
1791, he writes thus:—
“I have been so disturbed by sad money matters that my mind has been quite
fretful; £500 which I borrowed and lent to a first cousin, an unlucky captain of an
Indiaman, were due on the 15th to a merchant in the city. I could not possibly raise
 that sum, and was apprehensive of being hardly used. He, however, indulged me
with an allowance to make partial payments, £150 in two months, £150 in eight
months, and the remainder, with the interests, in eighteen months. How I am to
manage I am at a loss, and I know you cannot help me. So this, upon my honour, is
no hint. I am really tempted to accept of the £1000 for my life of Johnson. Yet it
would go to my heart to sell it at a price which I think much too low. Let me struggle
and hope. I cannot be out on Shrove Tuesday as I flattered myself. P. 376 of Vol. II.
is ordered for the press, and I expect another proof to-night. But I have yet near 200
pages of copy, besides letters, and the death, which is not yet written.”

Writing to Mr. Malone on the 29th January, Boswell makes these deplorable
revelations:—
“I have for some weeks had the most woeful return of melancholy, insomuch that
I have not only had no relish of anything, but a continual uneasiness and all the
prospect before me for the rest of life has seemed gloomy and hopeless. The state of
my affairs is exceedingly embarrassed. I mentioned to you that the £500 which I
borrowed several years ago and lent to a first cousin, an unfortunate India captain,
must now be paid; £150 on the 18th of March, £150 on the 18th October, and £257
15s. 6d. on the 18th July, 1792. This debt presses upon my mind, and it is uncertain
if I shall ever get a shilling of it again. The clear money on which I can reckon out of
my estate is scarcely £900 a year. What can I do? My grave brother urges me to quit
London and live at my seat in the country, where he thinks that I might be able to
save so as gradually to relieve myself. But, alas! I should be absolutely miserable. In
the meantime such are my projects and sanguine expectations, that you know I
purchased an estate which was given long ago to a younger son of our family, and
came to be sold last autumn, and paid for it £2500, £1500 of which I borrow upon
itself by a mortgage. But the remaining £1000 I cannot conceive a possibility of
raising, but by the mode of annuity which is I believe a very heavy disadvantage. I
own it was imprudent in me to make a clear purchase at a time when I was sadly
straitened, but if I had missed the opportunity it never again would have occurred,
and I should have been vexed to see an ancient appanage, a piece of, as it were, the
flesh and blood of the family in the hands of a stranger. And now that I have made
the purchase I should feel myself quite despicable should I give it up. In this
situation, then, my dear sir, would it not be wise in me to accept 1000 guineas for my
Life of Johnson, supposing the person who made the offer should now stand to it,
which I fear may not be the case; for two volumes may be considered as a
disadvantageous circumstance. Could I indeed raise £1000 upon the credit of the
work, I should incline to game, as Sir Joshua says, because it may produce double
the money, though Steevens kindly tells me that I have over printed, and that the
curiosity about Johnson is now only in our own circle. Pray decide for me; and if, as I
suppose, you are for my taking the offer inform me with whom I am to treat. In my
present state of spirits I am all timidity. Your absence has been a severe shake to
me. I am at present quite at a loss what to do.... I have now desired to have but one
compositor. Indeed, I go sluggishly and comfortlessly about my work. As I pass your
door I cast many a longing look.... We had a numerous club on Tuesday; I in the
chair, quoting Homer and Fielding, &c. to the astonishment of Jo. Warton, who with
Langton and Seward eat a plain bit with me in my new house last Saturday.”
 On the 10th February, Boswell informed Mr. Malone that he had invested
£16 8s. in a lottery ticket, and that instead of obtaining £5000 had drawn a
blank. He proceeds:—
“Oh, could I but get a few thousands, what a difference would it make upon my
state of mind, which is harassed by thinking of my debts! I am anxious to have your
determination as to my magnum opus. I am very unwilling to part with the property
of it, and certainly would not, if I could but get credit for £1000 for three or four
years. Could you not assist me in that way, on the security of the book, and of an
assignment to one half of my rents, £700, which, upon my honour, are always due,
and would be forthcoming in the case of my decease. I will not sell till I have your
answer as to this.”

Mr. Malone did not reply. On the 25th Boswell made a new proposal. After
referring to a severe attack of melancholy which had lately oppressed him, he
proceeds:—
“I am in a distressing perplexity how to decide as to the property of my book. You
must know that I am certainly informed that a certain person, who delights in
mischief, has been depreciating it, so that I fear the sale of it may be very dubious.
Two quartos and two guineas sound in an alarming manner. I believe in my present
frame I should accept even of £500, for I suspect that were I now to talk to
Robinson, I should find him not disposed to give £1000. Did he absolutely offer it, or
did he only express himself so as that you concluded he would give it? The pressing
circumstance is that I must lay down £1000 by the 1st of May on account of the
purchase of land, which my old family enthusiasm urged me to make. You, I doubt
not, have full confidence in my honesty. May I then ask you if you could venture to
join with me in a bond for that sum, as then I would take my chance, and as Sir
Joshua says, Game with my book? Upon my honour, your telling me that you cannot
comply with what I propose will not in the least surprise me, or make any manner of
difference as to my opinion of your friendship. I mean to ask Sir Joshua if he will
join; for, indeed, I should be vexed to sell my magnum opus for a great deal less
than its intrinsic value. I meant to publish on Shrove Tuesday, but if I can get out
within the month of March I shall be satisfied.”

Sir Joshua Reynolds and Mr. Malone both declined pecuniary responsibility,
but Boswell was nevertheless relieved from his embarrassments. He obtained
in Scotland a loan of £600 on the credit of his rents, and Dilly and Baldwin
made an advance on the credit of his book. Writing to Mr. Malone on the 8th
March, he excuses that gentleman’s unwillingness to incur monetary risk, and
elated in having overcome the pressure of his creditors, he resolves to keep
the property of his book, “believing that he should not repent it.” There is a
new grievance:—
“You would observe,” he writes, “some stupid lines on Mr. Burke in the ‘Oracle’ by
Mr. Boswell. I instantly wrote to Mr. Burke, expressing my indignation at such
impertinence, and had next morning a most obliging answer. Sir William Scott told
 me I could have no legal redress. So I went civilly to Bell, and he promised to
mention handsomely that James Boswell, Esq., was not the author of the lines. The
note, however, on the subject, was a second impertinence. But I can do nothing. I
wish Fox, in his bill upon libels, would make a heavy penalty the consequence of
forging any person’s name to any composition, which in reality such a trick amounts
to.”

Four days after conveying to Mr. Malone the tidings of his his deliverance
from pecuniary troubles, Boswell condoles with his friend, in his lottery ticket
having drawn a blank, since had a prize turned up, he would have expected
the accommodation of a loan! He proceeds:—
“As it is, I shall, as I wrote to you, be enabled to weather my difficulties for some
time; but I am still in great anxiety about the sale of my book. I find so many people
shake their heads at the two quartos and two guineas. Courtenay is clear that I
should sound Robinson and accept of a thousand guineas, if he will give that sum.
Meantime, the title-page must be made as good as may be. It appears to me that
mentioning his studies, works, conversations, and letters, is not sufficient; and I
would suggest comprehending an account, in chronological order, of his studies,
works, friendships, acquaintances, and other particulars; his conversation with
eminent men; a series of his letters to various persons; also several original pieces of
his compositions never before published. The whole, &c. You will probably be able to
assist me in expressing my idea and arranging the parts. In the advertisement I
intend to mention the letter to Lord Chesterfield, and perhaps the interview with the
King, and the names of the correspondents, in alphabetical order.... Do you know
that my bad spirits are returned upon me to a certain degree; and such is the sickly
fondness for change of place, and imagination of relief, that I sometimes think you
are happier by being in Dublin, than one is in this great metropolis, where hardly any
man cares for another. I am persuaded I should relish your Irish dinners very much. I
have at length got chambers in the Temple, in the very staircase where Johnson
lived, and when my magnum opus is fairly launched, then shall I make a trial.”

In his letter to Mr. Temple of the 2nd April, Boswell refers to his
forthcoming work in these terms:—
“My ‘Life of Johnson’ is at last drawing to a close. I am correcting the last sheet....
I really hope to publish it on the 25th current.... I am at present in such bad spirits
that I have every fear concerning it—that I may get no profit, nay, may lose—that
the public may be disappointed, and think that I have done it poorly—that I may
make many enemies, and even have quarrels. But, perhaps, the very reverse of all
this may happen.”

Boswell adds in reference to his professional aspirations:—

“When my book is launched I shall, if I am alone and in tolerable health and
spirits, have some furniture put into my chambers in the Temple, and force myself to
sit there some hours a day, and to attend regularly in Westminster Hall. The
 chambers cost me £20 yearly, and I may reckon furniture and a lad to attend them
occasionally £20 more. I doubt whether I shall get fees equal to the expense.”
On the 19th April, Boswell thus wrote to his friend Mr. Dempster:—
“We must not entirely lose sight of one another, or rather, we must not suffer ‘out
of sight out of mind’ to be applicable to two such old friends, who have always lived
pleasantly together, though of principles directly opposite.... I some time ago
resigned my Recordership of Carlisle. I perceived that no advantage would accrue
from it. I could satisfy you in conversation that I was right. The melancholy event of
losing my valuable wife will, I fear, never allow me to have real comfort. You cannot
imagine how it hangs upon my spirits; yet I can talk and write, and, in short, force
myself to a wonderful degree. I enclose you a poem which I have published upon a
subject on which I never heard your sentiments, but I could lay my life you are one
of the pretty theorists; however, you will have candour enough to allow that I have
worked well. I have a good house in Great Portland Street. My two eldest daughters
live with me; my youngest is at a boarding-school at Chelsea; my eldest son is at
Eton; my second at Westminster. I am sadly straitened in my circumstances; I can
but exist as to expense; but they are so good to me here that I have a full share of
the metropolitan advantages.
“My magnum opus, the ‘Life of Dr. Johnson,’ in two volumes, quarto, is to be
published on Monday, 16th May. It is too great a book to be given in presents, as I
gave my ‘Tour,’ so you must not expect one, though you yourself form a part of its
multifarious contents. I really think it will be the most entertaining collection that has
appeared in this age. When it is fairly launched, I mean to stick close to Westminster
Hall, and it will be truly kind if you recommend me appeals or causes of any sort.”

Boswell’s poem on the Slave-trade, to which he refers, was either at once

withdrawn from circulation, or was, on his decease, suppressed by his family.
It is unknown to bibliographers. The “Life of Johnson,” in two quarto volumes,
was issued about the middle of May from the publishing house of Mr. Charles
Dilly. The title-page, which the author had laboured to render attractive, was
thus inscribed:—
“The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D., comprehending an Account of his Studies and
numerous Works, in chronological order; a series of his Epistolary Correspondence
and Conversations with many eminent persons; and various Original Pieces of his
composition, never before published. The whole exhibiting a view of literature and
literary men in Great Britain, for more than half a century, during which he
flourished, in two volumes, by James Boswell, Esq. 2 vols., 4to. London: Printed by
Thomas Baldwin for Charles Dilly, in the Poultry, 1791.”

The following passages from the Dedication to Sir Joshua Reynolds are
characteristic of the writer:—
“If there be a pleasure in celebrating the distinguished merit of a contemporary
mixed with a certain degree of vanity not altogether inexcusable in appearing fully
sensible of it, where can I find one in complimenting whom I can with more general
approbation gratify those feelings.” Referring to his Tour to the Hebrides, the author
 proceeds: “In one respect this work will in some passages be different from the
former. In my ‘Tour’ I was almost unboundedly open in my communications; and
from my eagerness to display the wonderful fertility and readiness of Johnson’s wit,
freely showed to the world its dexterity even when I was myself the object of it. I
trusted that I should be liberally understood as knowing very well what I was about,
and by no means as simply unconscious of the pointed effects of the satire. I own
indeed that I was arrogant enough to suppose that the tenor of the rest of the book
would sufficiently guard me against such a strange imputation. But it seems I judged
too well of the world; for, though I could scarcely believe it, I have been undoubtedly
informed that many persons especially in distant quarters, not penetrating enough
into Johnson’s character, so as to understand his mode of treating his friends, have
arraigned my judgment instead of seeing that I was sensible of all that they could
observe. It is related of the great Dr. Clarke that when, in one of his leisure hours, he
was unbending himself with a few friends in the most playful and frolicksome
manner, he observed Beau Nash approaching, upon which he suddenly stopped. ‘My
boys (said he) let us be grave; here comes a fool.’ The world, my friend, I have found
to be a great fool, as to that particular on which it has become necessary to speak
very plainly. I have therefore in this work been more reserved; and though I tell
nothing but the truth, I have still kept in my mind that the whole truth is not always
to be exposed. This, however, I have managed so as to occasion no diminution of the
pleasure which my book should afford, though malignity may sometimes be
disappointed of its gratifications.”

In this manner Boswell disposes of Dr. Wolcott and the other satirists who
had made merry at his “Tour.” Though published at the price of two guineas,
the success of the “Life” was immediate. It was eagerly sought after, and
everywhere read. Even those who were indifferent about Johnson, and who
despised his biographer, added the work to their library, and were amused by
its chit chat.[98] Writing to Mr. Temple on the 22nd August, Boswell reported
that twelve hundred copies were in circulation, and that he expected that the
entire impression of seventeen hundred copies would be sold before
Christmas. By the success of his work he was induced to cherish renovated
hope; he again dreamed of professional employment. In his letter to Mr.
Temple of the 22nd August he writes:—
“I have gone the full round of the Home Circuit, to which I have returned, finding
it much more pleasant; and though I did not get a single brief do not repent of the
expense, as I am showing myself desirous of business and imbibing legal
knowledge.”

On the 22nd November he informed Mr. Temple that he kept chambers

open in the Temple; and attended in Westminster Hall; but had not the least
prospect of business.
After attending Westminster Hall for two years Boswell was employed in a
case of appeal to the House of Peers. He had no other brief. In the autumn of
1791 he resided several weeks at Auchinleck. Returning to London in
November he thus reported himself to his friend at Mamhead:—
“I had a very unhappy time in Ayrshire. My house at Auchinleck seemed deserted
and melancholy; and it brought upon my mind, with unusual force, the recollection of
my having lost my dear and valuable wife. My London spirits were soon exhausted; I
sank into languor and gloom; I found myself very unfit to transact business with my
tenants, or, indeed, with anybody. To escape from what I felt at Auchinleck I visited a
good deal, but alas! I could not escape from myself: in short, you may see that I was
exceedingly ill. I hoped to be restored when I got to London, but my depression of
spirits has continued, and still, though I go into jovial scenes, I feel no pleasure in
existence, except the mere gratification of the senses. Oh, my friend, this is sad. I
have imagined that I was quite unable to write a letter.... My spirits have been still
more sunk by seeing Sir Joshua Reynolds almost as low as myself. He has for more
than two months past had a pain in his blind eye, the effect of which has been to
occasion a weakness in the other, and he broods over the dismal apprehension of
becoming quite blind.... I force myself to be a great deal with him, to do what is in
my power to amuse him.... This is a desponding, querulous letter, which I have
wished these several weeks to write. Pray try to do me some good.”

Boswell’s correspondence with Mr. Temple in 1792 has, one short note
excepted, not been preserved. It is probable that most of his spare hours were
devoted to the revision of his “Life of Johnson,” of which the second edition
appeared in the following year.
In October, 1792, the parish of Auchinleck became vacant by the death of
Mr. Dun. Though upholding as part of his patriotic creed, that with negroes
abroad the unlanded population at home should be denied political or other
privileges, Boswell was not unwilling to obtain acceptance with the common
people. As patron of Auchinleck parish he assured the parishioners that he
would consult their wishes in planting the vacant cure. On this subject he thus
communicated with Mr. Temple on the 26th February, 1793:—
“I am within a few hours of setting out for Auchinleck, honest David having
secured me a place in the Carlisle coach to Ferry Bridge that I may have an
opportunity to stop should I be too much fatigued. It is quite right that I should now
go down. The choice of a minister to a worthy parish is a matter of very great
importance, and I cannot be sure of the real wishes of the people without being
present. Only think, Temple, how serious a duty I am about to discharge! I, James
Boswell, Esq.—you know what vanity that name includes—I have promised to come
down on purpose, and his honour’s goodness is gratefully acknowledged. Besides, I
have several matters of consequence to my estate to adjust; and though the journey
will no doubt be uncomfortable, and my being alone in that house where once I was
so happy, be dreary in a woeful degree, the consciousness of duty, and being busy,
will I hope support me. I shall write to you, my friend, from my seat. I am to be
there only about three weeks.”
 Soon after his arrival in Ayrshire, Boswell presented to the vacant living Mr.
John Lindsay, a probationer from Edinburgh. The appointment was not
distasteful to the parishioners. Returning to the metropolis he issued, in July,
the second edition of his “Life of Johnson,” in three octavo volumes; it
contained “eight sheets of additional matter,” and was improved otherwise. In
the Advertisement he wrote as follows:—
“It seems to me in my moments of self-complacency, that this extensive
biographical work, however inferior in the nature, may in one respect be assimilated
to the ‘Odyssey.’ Amidst a thousand entertaining and instructive episodes, the hero is
never long out of sight, for they are all in some degree connected with him; and he,
in the whole course of the history, is exhibited by the author for the best advantage
of his readers:

‘Quid virtus et quid sapientia possit,

Utile proposuit nobis exemplar Ulyssem.’

Should there be any cold-blooded or morose mortals who really dislike this book I
will give them a story to apply. When the great Duke of Marlborough, accompanied
by Lord Cadogan, was one day reconnoitring the army in Flanders, a heavy rain came
on and they both called for their cloaks. Lord Cadogan’s servant, a good-humoured,
alert lad, brought his lordship’s in a minute; the Duke’s servant, a lazy, sulky dog,
was so sluggish that his Grace, being wet to the skin, reproved him, and had for an
answer, with a grunt, ‘I came as fast as I could;’ upon which the Duke calmly said,
‘Cadogan! I would not for a thousand pounds have that fellow’s temper.’”
“There are some men I believe, who have, or think they have, a very small share
of vanity. Such may speak of their literary fame in a decorous style of diffidence; but
I confess that I am so formed by nature and by habit that to restrain the expression
of delight on having obtained such fame, to me would be truly painful. Why, then,
should I suppress it? Why, out of the ‘abundance of the heart,’ should I not speak?
Let me then mention, with a warm but no insolent exultation, that I have been
regaled with spontaneous praise of my work by many and various persons eminent
for their rank, learning, talents, and accomplishments, much of which praise I leave
under their hands to be reposited in my archives at Auchinleck. An honourable and
reverend friend, speaking of the favourable reception of my volume, even in the
circles of fashion and elegance, said to me, ‘You have made them all talk Johnson.’
Yes, I may add, I have Johnsonized the land; and I trust they will not only talk, but
think Johnson.”

No sooner was the second edition of his work on the publisher’s shelves
than Boswell was again involved in the meshes of dissipation. Sauntering forth,
quite drunk, he was knocked down and robbed. Some weeks after the event
he communicated with Mr. Temple as follows:—
“Behold my hand! The robbery is only of a few shillings, but the cut on my head
and bruises on my arms were sad things, and confined me to my bed in pain and
fever and helplessness, as a child many days. By means of surgeon Earle and
apothecary Devaynes, I am now, I thank God, pretty well. This, however, shall be a
 crisis in my life. I trust I shall henceforth be a sober, regular man. Indeed, my
indulgence in wine has, of late years especially, been excessive. You remember what
Lord Eliot said, nay, what you, I am sorry to think, have seen. Your suggestion as to
my being carried off in a state of intoxication is awful. I thank you for it, my dear
friend. It impressed me much, I assure you.”

In a letter to Mr. Temple, dated 31st May, 1794, Boswell again expresses
his appreciation of his friend’s remonstrances:—
“I thank you sincerely for your friendly admonition on my frailty in indulging so
much in wine. I do resolve anew to be upon my guard, as I am sensible how very
pernicious as well as disreputable such a habit is. How miserably have I yielded to it
in various years. Recollect what General Paoli said to you—recollect what happened
to Berwick.”

A constitution naturally robust had been severely taxed. Boswell imbibed

liquor of all sorts, and like other dissipated persons, fell into bouts of drinking.
When he partially abstained, he unconsciously prepared himself for inebriate
practices of a more aggravated character. At length he became a victim to
these social excesses. Early in the spring of 1795, Mr. Temple, junior, then an
inmate of Boswell’s house, wrote to his father: “A few nights ago Mr. Boswell
returned from the Literary Club quite weak and languid.” Such is our first
intimation of an illness, which terminated fatally. About the beginning of April
he commenced a letter to Mr. Temple in these words:—“My dear Temple,—I
would fain write to you in my own hand, but really cannot.” Boswell dropped
the pen, which was taken up by his son James, who thus wrote to his
dictation:—
“Alas, my friend, what a state is this! My son James is to write for me what
remains of this letter, and I am to dictate. The pain which continued for so many
weeks was very severe indeed, and when it went off I thought myself quite well; but
I soon felt a conviction that I was by no means as I should be—so exceedingly weak,
as my miserable attempt to write to you affords a full proof. All, then, that can be
said is, that I must wait with patience.”

After referring to Mr. Temple’s own indisposition, Boswell concludes by

representing himself as “a good deal stronger,” and subscribing himself “here
and hereafter” his correspondent’s “affectionate friend.” A postscript, added by
James Boswell, jun., informed Mr. Temple that his father was ignorant of his
“dangerous situation.” The letter was kept up, and another addition, dated 8th
April, represented the patient as “in a state of extraordinary pain and
weakness,” but as “having a good deal recovered.”
The improvement was temporary. After a few days Boswell suffered a
relapse. On the 17th April, his younger son wrote to Mr. Temple as follows:—
 “My father desires me to tell you that on Tuesday evening he was taken ill with a
fever, attended with a severe shivering and violent headache, disorder in his stomach
and throwing up; he has been close confined to bed ever since. He thinks himself
better to-day, but cannot conjecture when he shall recover. His affection for you
remains the same. You will receive a long and full letter from him.”

On the 4th of May, David Boswell communicated to Mr. Temple that his
brother was in “the most imminent danger.” On the 18th of the same month,
James Boswell, jun., reported that his father was “considerably worse,” and
that there were “little or no hopes of his recovery.” Next day David Boswell
reported to Mr. Temple that the end had come:—
“I have now,” he writes, “the painful task of informing you that my dear brother
expired this morning at two o’clock: we have both lost a kind and affectionate friend,
and I shall never have such another. He has suffered a great deal during his illness,
which has lasted five weeks, but not much in his last moments.”

Boswell died in his house in Great Portland Street, on the 19th May, 1795.
He had reached his fifty-fifth year. In the June number of the Gentleman’s
Magazine his friends, Messrs. Courtenay and Malone, presented estimates of
his character. Mr. Courtenay wrote thus:—
“Good nature was highly predominant in his character. He appeared to entertain
sentiments of benevolence to all mankind, and it does not seem to me that he ever
did or could injure any human being intentionally. His conversational talents were
always pleasing and often fascinating. He was a Johnson in everything but manner;
and there were few of Dr. Johnson’s friends that were not very ready to dispense
with that. His attachment to the Doctor for so long a period was a meritorious
perseverance in the desire of knowledge.” Admitting that his social habits had
shortened his life, Mr. Courtenay adds,—“As his belief in Revelation was unshaken,
and his religious impressions were deep and recurring frequently, let us hope that he
has now attained that state from which imperfection and calamity are alike
excluded.”

From the misrepresentations of a journalist Mr. Malone vindicated the

memory of his friend in these words:—
“The most important misrepresentation is that Mr. Boswell was convivial without
being social or friendly,—a falsehood which all who knew him intimately can
peremptorily contradict. He had not only an inexhaustible fund of good humour and
good nature, but was extremely warm in his attachments, and as ready to exert
himself for his friends as any man.” After claiming for Boswell “considerable
intellectual powers,” he concludes,—“He will long be regretted by a wide circle of
friends, to whom his good qualities and social talents always made his company a
valuable accession; and by none more sincerely than by the present vindicator of his
fame.”
 In the same number of the Gentleman’s Magazine, a correspondent,
subscribing himself “M. Green,” states that Boswell contemplated the
publication of a quarto volume, to be embellished with plates on the
controversy occasioned by the Beggar’s Opera. “With this particular view,” he
adds, “he lately paid several visits to the present truly humane ‘governor of
Newgate,’ as he ordinarily styled Mr. Kirby.”
In a subsequent number of the Gentleman’s Magazine, Mr. Temple, under
the signature of “Biographicus,” denied a statement by Mr. Malone that Boswell
was of a melancholy temperament; he maintained that he was quite otherwise
prior to his attachment to Dr. Johnson. J. B. R., another writer in the same
magazine, remarked that the deceased “had many failings and many virtues
and many amiable qualities, which predominated over the frailties incident to
human nature.”
Boswell’s Will, written with his own hand, and bearing date 28th May, 1785,
was found in his repositories. It is now printed for the first time.[99] Had it
earlier been made public the testator might have encountered “less obloquy,”
and obtained greater praise. Seldom has Scottish landlord evinced greater
consideration for his tenantry and domestics. The document is as follows:—
“I James Boswell Esquire of Auchinleck having already settled everything
concerning my Landed Estate so far as is in my power as an heir of Entail, so that my
mind is quiet respecting my dear wife and children, do now when in perfect
soundness of mind but under the apprehension of some danger to my life which
however may prove a false alarm, thus make my last Will and Testament containing
also clauses of another nature which I desire may be valid and effectual. I resign my
soul to God my almighty and most merciful Father trusting that it will be redeemed
by the awfull and mysterious Sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ and admitted to
endless felicity in heaven. I request that my body may be interred in the family burial
place in the church of Auchinleck. I appoint my much valued spouse Mrs. Margaret
Montgomerie and my worthy friend Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo, Baronet, to be my
Executors and in case of the death of either of them the office shall devolve solely to
the survivor. And whereas my honoured and pious grand mother Lady Elizabeth
Boswell devised to the heir succeeding to the barrony of Auchinleck from generation
to generation the Ebony Cabinet and the dressing plate of silver gilt, which belonged
to her mother Veronica, Countess of Kincardine, leaving it however optional to her
son my father that entail thereof or not as he should think fit, and he having
neglected to do so, whereby the said Ebony Cabinet and dressing plate are now at
my free disposal, I do by these presents dispose the same to the heir succeeding to
the barrony of Auchinleck from generation to generation. And I declare that it shall
not be in the power of any such heir to alienate or impignorate the same on any
account whatever. And I do hereby dispose to the said heirs of Entail in their order,
all lands and heritages belonging to me, in fee simple, after payment of my debts,
but under this provision, that in case any of them shall alienate the said Ebony
Cabinet and dressing plate, the person so alienating shall forfeit the sum of One
Thousand Pounds sterling, which shall be paid to the next heir succeeding by entail.
And I declare that the heir of Entail first succeeding to these my unentailed lands,
shall within six months after his succession thereto execute a deed of Entail thereof
to the same series of heirs with that in the Entail executed by my Father and me,
which if he fails to do they shall then go to the next heir of Entail, and it is also an
express condition that he shall divest himself of the field thereof and reserve only his
life-rent. I mean this to apply to the said first succeeding heir. Furthermore as my
late honoured Father made a very curious collection of the classics and other books,
which it is desireable should be preserved for ever in the family of Auchinleck, I do
by these presents dispose to the successive heirs of Entail of the barrony of
Auchinleck” [here there is a word torn off] “Greek and Latin books, as also all
manuscripts of whatever kind, lying in the house of Auchinleck, under the same
conditions and under the same forfeiture as I have mentioned with regard to the
Ebony Cabinet and dressing plate, and all my other moveable Estate or Executory I
leave equally among my other children, the furniture in the house of Auchinleck to be
valued by two sworn appreazers, and the heir to keep it at that value and pay the
same to my younger children, excepting however all my pictures which I dispose to
the said successive heirs of Entail under the same conditions and forfeiture as above
mentioned, and excepting also the furniture in my house at Edinburgh which I
bequeath to my dear wife. I bequeath one hundred pounds sterling to my dear
brother Thomas David Boswell Esquire banker in London, to purchase a piece of
plate to keep in remembrance of me in his family and to my dear brother Lieutenant
John Boswell being a batchelor, I bequeath Fifty Guineas to purchase a ring or
whatever other thing he may like best to keep for my sake. To my friends the
Reverend Mr. Temple in Cornwall, John Johnston Esquire of Grange, Sir John Dick
Baronet, Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo, Baronet, Captain John Macbryde of the Royal
Navy, and Mr. Charles Dilly of London, bookseller, Alexander Fairlie of Fairlie, Esq. and
Edmund Malone Esq. of the kingdom of Ireland, The Hon. Colonel James Stewart and
George Dempster Esquire, I bequeath each a gold mourning ring, and I hereby leave
to the said Sir William Forbes, the Reverend Mr. Temple and Edmund Malone Esquire
all my manuscripts of my own composition, and all my letters from various persons to
be published for the benefit of my younger children, as they shall decide, that is to
say they are to have a discretionary power to publish more or less. I leave to Mr.
James Bruce my overseer Twenty Pounds yearly during his life and if he shall
continue to reside at Auchinleck I leave to him the house he now possesses with his
meal and all other perquisites. And to Mrs. Bell Bruce my housekeeper I leave Ten
pounds yearly during her life with two pecks of meal weekly in case of her not liveing
in the family of Auchinleck. Lastly, as there are upon the estate of Auchinleck several
tenants whose families have possessed their farms for many generations, I do by
these presents grant leases for nineteen years and their respective lifetimes of their
present farms to John Templeton in Hopland, James Murdoch in Blackstown
commonly called the Raw, James Peden in Old Byre, William Samson in Mill of
Auchinleck, John Hird in Hirdstown, William Murdoch in Willocks town, and to any of
the sons of the late James Caldow in Stivenstown whom the ministers and elders of
Auchinleck shall approve of, a lease of that farm in the above terms, the rents to be
fixed by two men to be mutually chosen by the laird of Auchinleck for the time and
each tenant. I also grant a lease in the like terms to Andrew Dalrymple in Mains of
Auchinleck, my Baron officer. And I do beseech all the succeeding heirs of Entail to
be kind to the Tenants and not to turn out old possessors to get a little more rent.
And in case my nomination of Tutors and Curators to my children being written upon
 unstamped paper should not be valid, I here again constitute and appoint my dear
wife, Mrs. Margaret Montgomerie and my worthy friend Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo,
or the survivor of them, to the said office with all usual powers and with the
recommendations contained in the said unstamped deed. In witness whereof, these
presents written with my own hand (of which I consent to the registration in the
books of Council and Session that they may have full effect and thereto constitute
my procurators) are subscribed by me at London this twenty eight day of May, One
thousand Seven hundred and Eighty five, before these witnesses Mr. Edward Dilly
bookseller there, and Mr. John Normaville his clerk. (signed) James Boswell. Chs.
Dilly witness, John Normaville witness.”

The three persons nominated as literary executors did not meet, and the
entire business of the trust was administered by Sir William Forbes, Bart., who
appointed as his law agent Robert Boswell, writer to the signet, cousin german
of the deceased. By that gentleman’s advice, Boswell’s manuscripts were left
to the disposal of his family; and it is believed that the whole were
immediately destroyed. The Commonplace Book escaped, having been
incidentally sold among the printed books.
The following inventory of Boswell’s moveable effects, presented for
registration in the Commissariat Register is not without interest:
“In the first place there pertained and belonged to the said defunct at the time
aforesaid of his death, the articles aftermentioned of the values underwritten,
whereof the Executor herein gives up in inventary the sum of Twenty Shillings
sterling of the value of each article viz., Imprimis Four hundred and eighty three
pounds fourteen shillings as the amount of sales of furniture books pictures &c. in
the defunct’s house in London. Item, Five hundred and Seventy six pounds eight
shillings and two pence as the value of furniture in the house of Auchinleck estimated
by two sworn appraisers. Item, One hundred and five pounds as the value of silver
plate at Auchinleck exclusive of the family plate devised to the heir estimated at or
near the bullion value. Item, One hundred pounds supposed about the value of the
books at Auchinleck per catalogue in the hands of the Executor exclusive of Greek
and Latin classics and manuscripts there, also left to the heir. Item, Seventy seven
pounds three shillings as the value of cattle and stocking at Auchinleck per estimate
in the hands of the Executor. Item, Three hundred pounds as the value of the
remaining copies of the Life of Dr. Johnson written by the defunct and sold to Mr.
Dilly bookseller. And One hundred pounds as the supposed value of manuscripts left
by the defunct.
“In the second place there was indebted and owing to the said defunct at the time
aforesaid of his death, the sums of money after mentioned for the reasons after
specified, viz., One Pound sterling part of the sum of Ninety Seven Pounds eight
shillings and Eleven pence sterling being a balance of cash in the hands of Mr
Thomas David Boswell brother to the defunct per accompt. Item, One pound sterling,
part of the sum of Ninety one pounds sixteen shillings and six pence being a claim Mr
Alexander Boswell the heir for cash advanced to him by Mr Thomas David Boswell at
the time of the defunct’s death and credited to Mr Thomas David Boswell in his
account with the Executor. Item, One pound Sterling part of the sum of Two hundred
 and twenty five pounds fourteen shillings and three pence as arrears of rent of the
estate of Auchinleck for accounts transmitted by the factor. Item, One pound sterling
part of the sum of Nine hundred and forty two pounds six shillings and seven pence
sterling as the claim against the heirs of said estate under the Entail act for three
fourths of the defunct’s expenditure in improving the Entailed estate bearing interest
from Martinmas seventeen hundred and ninety five. Item, One pound sterling, part
of the sum of nine hundred and fifty pounds sterling as half a year’s rent of said
estate due to the Executor by law for the year Seventeen hundred and ninety five,
being the year in which the defunct died per rental furnished by the factor. Item, one
Pound sterling part of the sum of forty two pounds nine shillings and one penny
being a balance of account due by Mr Dilly, bookseller. Item, One pound sterling, part
of the sum of six hundred and eighty four pounds sixteen shillings and eight pence
being debt due by Captn Bruce Boswell of Calcutta of Principal and Interest paid to
the Executor since the defunct’s death. Item, One pound sterling, part of the sum of
one hundred and ninety five pounds sterling being a balance of debt due by the
Trustees of the late Mr Johnston of Grange, as stated by the defunct in a holograph
view of his affairs made out by him, as at the first day of January Seventeen hundred
and ninety five. And One pound sterling, part of the sum of seven hundred pounds
sterling and upwards of debts due from various turnpike roads in Ayrshire for money
advanced by the late Lord Auchinleck.”

In the terms of his Will, Boswell’s remains were conveyed to Auchinleck,

and there deposited in the family vault. Robert Boswell proposed that a
memorial tablet should be placed at his grave and offered the following
metrical inscription:—
“Here Boswell lies! drop o’er his tomb a tear,
Let no malignant tongue pursue him here;
Bury his failings in the silent grave,
And from unfriendly hands his memory save.
Record the praise he purchased, let his name
Mount on the wings of literary fame,
And to his honour say,—‘Here Boswell lies,
Whose pleasing pen adorned the good and wise,
Whose memory down the stream of time shall flow
Far as famed Johnson’s or Paoli’s go!’”

Robert Boswell’s proposal was not entertained, and the preceding epitaph
was found among his papers after his own decease many years subsequently.
By his descendants the memory of Johnson’s biographer has not been
honoured, yet the family of Boswell, with a pedigree dating from the Conquest,
cannot point to a more distinguished kinsman.
The marriage of persons nearly related by blood is apt to engender cerebral
weakness in the offspring. The first-born of cousins-german, James Boswell
suffered from an imperfect and morbid organization. Mr. Carlyle’s analysis of
his mental condition we cordially accept, “The highest [quality],” writes Mr.
Carlyle, “lay side by side with the lowest, not morally combined with it and
spiritually transfiguring it, but tumbling in half-mechanical juxtaposition with it;
and from time to time, as the mad alternative chanced, irradiating it, or
eclipsed by it.” Around his intellectual nature hovered a dark cloud, while there
was light within; the cloud was malformation or disease, but the morbid
element did not extinguish the internal fire. Boswell’s perceptive power was of
the highest order; he could retain and reproduce scenes and conversations
with the naturalness of reality. A literary Pre-Raffaelite, his observation was
acute in proportion as his reflective powers waned or slept; what he saw and
heard he set forth forcibly and without embellishment. The assertion of Lord
Macaulay that the “Life of Johnson” was due to the author’s weakness requires
no serious refutation. Boswell produced the best biography in the language,
because he was the best fitted for the task. Like the astronomer who points his
telescope to the heavens in a darkened room, he concentrated his mental
energies on the objects of his reverence, and with photographic accuracy
depicted all that he surveyed. In proportion as he failed to develop his own
intellectual nature, he succeeded in delineating the intellectual character of
others. A mirror true and transparent lay under the opaque cloud, and
reflected outward what a healthier intellect had appropriated and transfused. If
in respect of mental phenomena the figure is admissible—the reflective faculty
which is ordinarily concave and thereby receptive, was in the mind of Boswell
convex and radiating outwards. The cords which fettered his understanding
braced his perception and nerved his memory. He showed strength in
weakness. The dry rod budded. The grey ruin was mantled by the green ivy.
The fool prates unconscious of his folly; the maniac is happy in his chain.
Boswell was conscious of his weakness,—hence his habitual melancholy. To Mr.
Temple he early spoke of madness existing in his family, and afterwards
described himself as partially insane. In his journal he compares his head to a
tavern usurped by low punch drinkers, whom he could not displace. Such an
unhappy consciousness might have led to reckless perversity, or hopeless
inaptitude. In Boswell it stimulated to untiring effort, life-long energy. His
vanity and vacillation and rashness were attendant on a distempered brain—
his literary achievements were the result of a successful conflict with
constitutional disorder.
Boswell lived at a period when social excesses, especially in North Britain,
prevailed greatly. Into these excesses he fell, but he freely acknowledged his
errors, and sincerely repented. Ambitious of personal honour, he nevertheless
promoted sedulously the interests of others. A fervid patriot, he was an
obliging neighbour, a generous companion, and an unfailing friend. He
exercised an abundant hospitality. Angry at times he was easily reconciled, and
hastened to forgive. His religious views, long unfixed, were never wholly
obscured; he passed through the ordeals of credulity and scepticism, and at
length returning to his old moorings, determined to know nothing but a
Saviour crucified. In his Will, prepared within the retirement of his closet, he
made this record of his trust,—“I resign my soul to God, my almighty and most
merciful Father, trusting that it will be redeemed by the awful and mysterious
sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, and admitted to eternal felicity in heaven.”
Dr. Johnson, who knew his weaknesses, commended his piety, and Sir William
Forbes, another enlightened judge of human character, has borne concerning
him this testimony:—
“I have known few men who possessed a stronger sense of piety, or more fervent
devotion (tinctured no doubt with some little share of superstition, which had
probably been in some degree fostered by his habits of intimacy with Dr. Johnson),
perhaps not always sufficient to regulate his imagination or direct his conduct, yet
still genuine, and founded both in his understanding and his heart.”[100]

Of Boswell’s personal aspects, the full length portrait by Langton, engraved

for this volume, is understood to convey a correct representation. Rather
above the middle height, and inclined to corpulency, he walked with a stately
gait, and in his costume observed the latest fashion. He had a large head, and
wore a powdered wig; his prominent but well set features beamed with
perpetual good humour. “It was impossible,” remarked a contemporary, “to
look in his face without being moved by the comicality which always reigned
upon it.”[101] He talked much and with rapidity, but his observant faculty was
not apparent to those who only met him in society.
Boswell left two sons and three daughters; James, the younger son,
entered Brazenose College, Oxford, of which he was elected a fellow upon the
Vinerian foundation. He was afterwards called to the English Bar, and became
a Commissioner of Bankruptcy. An accomplished scholar and of industrious
habits, he was by Mr. Malone appointed his literary executor. Under his care
appeared Mr. Malone’s enlarged edition of Shakespeare, completed in 1821, in
twenty-one octavo volumes. In the first volume he defended, in an able and
ingenious essay, Mr. Malone’s reputation from an attack made on his
statements and opinions by a writer of eminence. He inherited his father’s
bonhommie and love of sociality. He died unmarried in the Middle Temple,
London, on the 24th February, 1822, aged forty-three; his remains were
deposited in the Temple Church. By his elder brother his death was lamented
in these lines,—
“There is a pang when kindred spirits part,
And cold philosophy we must disown;
There is a thrilling spot in every heart,
For pulses beat not from a heart of stone.
 “Boswell, th’ allotted earth has closed on thee,
Thy mild but generous warmth has passed away:
A finer spirit never death set free,
And now the friend we honour’d is but clay.

“His was the triumph of the heart and mind,

His was the lot which few are blessed to know:
More proved, more valued—fervent, yet so kind,
He never lost one friend, nor found one foe.”

Alexander Boswell, the biographer’s elder son, succeeded to the family

estate. He studied at Westminster School, and the University of Oxford; and,
after making the tour of Europe settled at Auchinleck. A lover of historical and
antiquarian learning, he established a private printing-press, and reproduced
many rare tracts preserved in the family library. Early devoted to poetical
composition, he published several volumes of poetry and song. His poems
abound in drollery, but are generally fragmentary. Of his songs, “Jenny’s
Bawbee,” “Jenny Dang the Weaver,” “The Lass o’ Isla,” and “Bannocks o’ Barley
Meal,” have long been popular. To public affairs he devoted no inconsiderable
attention. He was in the Conservative interest elected M.P. for Ayrshire, and
became Colonel of the Yeomanry Cavalry, in the same county. He originated
the proposal of erecting a public monument to the poet Burns, on the banks of
the Doon, and raised £2,000 on behalf of the undertaking. In 1821 his
patriotism and public enterprise were rewarded by a Baronetcy. His career
terminated under painful circumstances. Indulging a tendency to sarcasm, he
published in a Glasgow newspaper a severe pasquinade against Mr. James
Stuart, younger of Dunearn, a leader of the liberal party at Edinburgh.
Challenged by Mr. Stuart to mortal combat, he accepted the cartel, and the
parties met at Auchtertool, Fifeshire. Sir Alexander fell, the bullet from his
opponent’s pistol having entered the middle of the right clavicle, which it
severely fractured. He lingered till the following day. His death took place on
the 27th March, 1822, and his remains were interred at Auchinleck. In the
following verses, John Goldie, an Ayrshire poet, celebrated his obsequies:—
“O! heard you the trumpet sound sad on the gale,
O! heard you the voice of weeping and wail?
O! saw you the horsemen in gallant array,
As in sorrow and silence they moved on their way.

“The people’s deep wailing, the trumpet’s shrill tone,

Were the breathings of sorrow for him that is gone;
And yon dark plumes of death that did mournfully wave,
Deck’d the bier that bore on their lov’d chief to the grave.
 “When the train of lone mourners arrived at the path,
That leads to the desolate mansions of death,
O! marked you each horseman lean sad on his sword,
When the corse slowly passed of the chief he adored.

“And mark’d you each manly heart heave with a sigh;

And mark’d you the tear-drop that gush’d in each eye
Of those who were robed in the garments of woe,
When they saw him in Death’s dreary mansion laid low.

“Thy halls, Auchinleck! are all desolate now,

Aye! roll on in sorrow, in solitude flow;
For low lies thy bard who so sweetly did sing,—
Thy chieftain so true to his country and king.”[102]

Sir Alexander married in November, 1799, Grace, fifth daughter of Thomas

Cumming, banker, Edinburgh, representative of the ancient family of Erenside.
By this marriage he became father of one son and three daughters. Grace
Theresa, the eldest daughter, married Sir William Francis Eliott, Bart., of Stobs,
and became mother of the present baronet, with other issue. Grace Jane died
in childhood, and Margaret Emily, the youngest daughter, is wife of Major-
General Vassall, and resides at Balhary, Perthshire. James, only son of Sir
Alexander Boswell, was born in December, 1806. He studied at Brazenose
College, Oxford, and after succeeding to Auchinleck resided chiefly on his
estate. In 1830 he espoused his cousin, Jessie Jane, elder daughter of Sir
James Montgomery Cunningham, Bart., of Corsehill; of which marriage were
born two daughters. In 1850, Sir James Boswell instituted a legal process to
prove the invalidity of the Auchinleck entail. He was opposed by Thomas
Alexander Boswell, of Crawley Grange, next heir-male, but it was held by the
judges that as the material word “irredeemably” was written upon an erasure,
the entail was inoperative.[103] Relieved from the settlement of 1776, Sir
James Boswell bequeathed Auchinleck to his two daughters as co-heiresses.
Sir James died in 1857 when the baronetcy became extinct. Julia, his elder
daughter, married George Mounsey, solicitor, Carlisle, some time mayor of that
city. Emily Harriet, the younger daughter, married in 1873, the Hon. Richard
Wogan Talbot, eldest son of Lord Talbot de Malahide.
The biographer’s three daughters were Veronica, Euphemia, and Elizabeth.
Veronica, the eldest, survived her father only four months; she died of
consumption on the 26th September, 1795, aged twenty-three. Euphemia, the
second daughter, inherited her father’s literary tastes, combined, unhappily,
with cerebral weakness. Leaving the protection of her family she fixed her
abode in London, resolved on supporting herself as an operatic writer. She
composed an Opera for Drury Lane Theatre, which, according to her narrative,
was accepted by the manager, and was being prepared for the stage, when
the theatre was in 1809 destroyed by fire. Thereafter, she made eleemosynary
appeals by private letters and public advertisements. She entreated pecuniary
aid from the Lord Chancellor Eldon, the Earl of Moira, Lord Lonsdale, and Lord
Sidmouth. On the death of the Princess Amelia, in 1810, she composed a
“Soliloquy,” which she forwarded to the Prince Regent, in the belief that she
would be rewarded by a pension on the Civil List. From private lodgings in
Northumberland street she in 1811 despatched a missive, setting forth that
being “neglected by those bound by the ties of blood to cherish her,” she had
“pledged her pianoforte,—though a composer is as much at a loss for an
instrument as a carpenter without his tools.” In another letter of the same year
she writes, “If dragged to a jail, which must be my fate, I shudder at it, and
implore your aid.”
“Let me not suffer Otway’s fate,
When Nelly’s[104] tears were sent too late:
Where Genius pierced through darkest gloom,
Though hungry Death has marked his tomb.”

The charge of neglect preferred against her relatives by this unhappy

gentlewoman having obtained some credit, we have instituted on the subject a
careful inquiry. Euphemia Boswell, we find, was the victim of a diseased
imagination. By her relatives she was regarded with affectionate solicitude,
while they severely suffered from her painful hallucinations and groundless
complaints. She died about the age of sixty. In her Will she expressed a desire
that her remains should be deposited in Westminster, Abbey near the grave of
Dr. Johnson. She was buried elsewhere. She composed a small work which she
dedicated to Bishop Porteous; no copy has been found.
Elizabeth, the biographer’s youngest daughter, married 23rd December,
1799, her second cousin, William Boswell, advocate, who became Sheriff of
Berwickshire. Of this marriage were born three sons and one daughter. Robert
Cramond, the eldest son, died in 1821, shortly after being admitted advocate.
James Paoli, second son, joined the army, and died in India in 1820; Bruce,
the third son, also joined the army, and attained the rank of Colonel. The
daughter, Elizabeth Margaret Montgomery, married November, 1849, John
Williams, of H.E.I.C’s. Civil Service, Bombay, who died in 1853. Mrs. Elizabeth
Boswell died 1st January, 1814; her husband in January, 1841. On the death of
Thomas Alexander Boswell, son of the biographer’s brother, Thomas David, in
March, 1852,[105] the fine estates of Crawley Grange, Buckinghamshire,[106]
and Astwood, Berkshire, together worth nearly £2,000 per annum, became
possessed by Colonel Bruce Boswell, who dying in October, 1856, was
succeeded by his sister, who survives. Mrs. Williams was mother of twin sons,
who died in infancy; her only surviving child, Elizabeth Anne, was married in
1860 to the Rev. Charles Cumberlye, who assumed the name of Ware on the
death of his grand-uncle, Mr. Samuel Ware. Mr. Cumberlye Ware died in May,
1870, and his widow in March, 1871. Their family consist of one son and three
daughters. The son, Charles Edward Ware, is precluded by a family settlement
from succeeding to the maternal property, and the heiress of Crawley Grange
is Edith Caroline, his eldest sister, who, on succession, will assume the name of
Boswell. The two younger daughters, Elizabeth Mary and Catherine Augusta,
retain the family name of Cumberlye.
William Boswell, Advocate and Sheriff of Berwickshire, who married the
youngest daughter of the biographer, was eldest of four sons of Robert
Boswell, the biographer’s cousin-german, and law agent under his will. This
gentleman was born at Auchinleck House, on the 19th January, 1740; his
father was Dr. John Boswell, younger brother of Lord Auchinleck, and his
mother, Anne, daughter of Robert Cramond, of Auldbar, Forfarshire. Robert
Boswell was a writer to the signet, in Edinburgh; he subsequently held office
as Lyon Depute, and latterly removed to London. Possessed of literary tastes
and unflagging industry, he qualified himself to read the Scriptures in the
original tongues. He composed hymns, some of which were after his decease
printed for private circulation. His metrical epitaph on his cousin, the
biographer, has been quoted. Eminently pious, he exhorted publicly. He died at
London in April, 1804, in his 65th year.
Alexander Boswell, writer to the Signet, second son of Robert Boswell, was
father of the Rev. Robert Bruce Boswell, chaplain to the Honourable East India
Company and minister of St. James’s church, Calcutta.[107] The son of that
reverend gentleman, John Alexander Corrie Boswell, held an appointment in
the Honourable East India Company’s Madras Civil Service; he died some years
ago. His son, Henry St. George Boswell, now resident in London, is male
representative of the house of Boswell of Auchinleck. John James, third son of
Robert Boswell, was admitted advocate, but afterwards became a physician,
and entered the medical service of the Honourable East India Company; he
latterly sought practice in Edinburgh, where he died in August, 1839. Major
John James Boswell, his only surviving son, commands the 2nd Regiment of
Punjaub Infantry, at Dera Ghazee Khan, in India. John Campbell, fourth son of
Robert Boswell, was a physician in India; he died at Penang, s. p. in October,
1841. Miss Charlotte Maria Tucker, granddaughter of Robert Boswell, is under
her nom de plume, A. L. O. E., well known for her valuable contributions to
religious literature.
Concerning James Boswell’s maternal ancestors, a few particulars may be
acceptable. Charles Erskine, of Alva, son of the Hon. Charles Erskine, fifth son
of John, seventh Earl of Mar, was created a baronet of Nova Scotia on the 30th
April, 1666. Charles, his third son, was a lord of session, with the judicial
designation of Lord Tinwald, and was father of James Erskine, a lord of
session, by the title of Lord Alva. Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Erskine, Bart.,
grandson of the first baronet, was many years M.P. for the Anstruther burghs;
he composed the popular song, “The Garb of Old Gaul.” He died in 1765, and
was succeeded in the baronetcy by James, his eldest son, who assumed the
surname of St. Clair, and on the death of his uncle, Alexander Wedderburn,
first Earl of Rosslyn in 1805, became the second Earl.
Colonel John Erskine, a younger son of the Hon. Sir Charles Erskine, first
baronet of Alva, and brother of Lord Tinwald, married Euphemia, daughter of
William Cochrane, of Ochiltree, of the noble house of Dundonald, and his wife
Lady Mary Bruce, eldest daughter of the second Earl of Kincardine. Two
daughters of this marriage became memorable. Euphemia, the younger, was
the first wife of Lord Auchinleck, and mother of James Boswell, who by
maternal descent was great-great-grandson of John, seventh Earl of Mar.
Mary, eldest daughter of Colonel John Erskine, married in 1739 the Rev.
Alexander Webster, D.D., minister of the Tolbooth Church, Edinburgh.
Connected with this marriage is a romantic incident. Prior to his settlement at
Edinburgh Dr. Webster was minister of Culross, Perthshire. Mary Erskine
resided in that parish with her aunt Lady Preston, wife of Sir George Preston,
Bart., of Valleyfield. A young gentleman of the neighbourhood was attracted by
her charms, but being unsuccessful in his addresses, begged Dr. Webster to
intercede on his behalf. The Doctor consented, and waiting on Miss Erskine,
pled his friend’s cause with energy. The lady listened patiently but expressed a
decided negative. “Had you spoken as well for yourself,” she added, “I might
have answered differently.” To his friend Dr. Webster reported the particulars of
the interview, and soon afterwards presented himself at Valleyfield to plead his
own suit. The lady complied, but her relations consented with reluctance. The
marriage took place on the 13th June, 1737; Miss Erskine possessing a dowry
of £4,000. Elated by his good fortune Dr. Webster celebrated his helpmate in a
song, which, published in the Scots Magazine for November, 1747, became
popular. It commenced thus,—
“O how could I venture to love one like thee,
And you not despise a poor conquest like me?
On lords, thy admirers, could look wi’ disdain,
And knew I was naething, yet pitied my pain?
You said while they teased you with nonsense and dress,
‘When real the passion, the vanity’s less,’
You saw through that silence which others despise,
And while beaux we’re a-talking read love in my eyes.”
 Through his successful wooing Dr. Webster was led to devise the Ministers’
Widows Fund, so as to raise the social status of his clerical brethren. In 1755
the first enumeration of the people of Scotland was conducted under his
superintendence. He proposed the enlargement of the city of Edinburgh by the
erection of the new town. In the Highlands and islands he promoted
agricultural improvement. By his wife he was energetically aided in works of
active benevolence. He died in 1784, having survived his helpmate eighteen
years.
BOSWELLIANA.
 BOSWELLIANA.

“My father had all along so firm, so dry a mind, that religious
principles, however carefully inculcated by his father and mother,
and however constantly they remained on the surface, never
incorporated with his thoughts, never penetrated into the seat of his
affections. They were a dead range, not a quickset hedge. The fence
had a good appearance enough, and was sufficiently strong; but it
never flourished in green luxuriance, never blossomed, never bore
fruit. The ground within, however, produced plentiful crops of useful
exertions as a judge, and improvements as a landed laird gentleman.
And let it be considered that there may be a fine fence round barren,
unprofitable land.”
24th Sept., 1780.

“Maclaurin[108] maintained that bashfulness was the compound

effect of vanity and sensibility.[109] Nichols contended that it was
quite corporeal, for the same man will be at one time bashful, and at
another time quite easy. ‘That is,’ said Maclaurin, ‘he has at one time
a higher notion of himself than at another.’ ‘No,’ said Nichols, ‘it is a
trick which the nerves play to the imagination.’”
23rd Sept., 1780.
 “My friend Johnston[110] advised me to have our family crest, a
hawk, cut upon a pebble which I found on the channel of the Lugar,
which runs by Auchinleck. Said he, ‘Let him perch on his native
stone.’”
22nd Sept., 1780.

“It is not unusual for men who have no real freindship(sic) nor
principle to have at the same time so sanguine an opinion of their
own abilities, that they imagine they can impose on others as if they
were children. They will do them an essential injury, and at the same
time try to persuade them that they have done only what was fair
and right. They are like determined rogues, who first rob, and then
blindfold you that you may not pursue them.”
24th Sept., 1780.

“Nichols said one should never dispute with a woman, for she
has not understanding enough to be convinced; at least, never will
own herself in the wrong, and always will be angry with you.”
22nd Sept., 1780.

“Nichols said he liked better to converse with women than with

men of the greatest sense and knowledge. He owned he could gain
no acquisition to his intellectual stock from them, but they diverted
and cheered him. I said he had them like housemaids to sweep the
cobwebs from his mind and give it a polish.”
22nd Sept., 1780.

“A man who wishes just to be easy will always avoid those

subjects which he has discovered are hard and puzzling. Nay, he will
not even take the trouble to make the selection, but like a luxurious
indolent eater, wherever he finds any piece in the least degree tough
he will let it alone.”
23rd Sept., 1780.
 “Nichols said that a man of the ton, as the phrase is,—of high
breeding, and fashionable air, has at first an irresistible superiority
over plain men, others who have not such superficial advantages. He
has a shake of the head which frightens you, but when you are once
used to him you laugh at the shake.”
23rd Sept., 1780.

“In winter 1779, after Scotland had been exhausted by raising

new levies, Sir William Augustus Cunningham[111] boasted in the
House of Commons that 20,000 men might yet be raised in that
country and never be missed, either from manufactures or
agriculture. The Hon. Henry Ershire[112] said he believed it was true.
But they must be raised from the churchyards.”
From himself.

“A ludicrous recruiting advertisement was given about in

Edinburgh in 1778, inviting, amongst many other denominations, all
man midwives to join the King’s standard (repair to the drumhead
and acquire glory). Mrs. Dundas, of Melville,[113] pleasantly asked if
Dr. Young, the most eminent practitioner in midwifery, would enlist.
‘No, madam,’ said the Hon. Henry Erskine, ‘he has already right to as
great a title as he could acquire in the army.’ ‘Ay,’ said she, ‘what is
that?’ ‘Madam,’ said he, ‘the deliverer of his country.’”
From himself.

“In 1780 there was published at Edinburgh an account of Lord

George Gordon,[114] with his head. He was then in the Tower for
high treason. Harry Erskine said, ‘The next thing we shall have will
he an account of Lord George Gordon without his head.’”
I was present.
 “When Boswell was introduced to Mr. Samuel Johnson, who had
a very great antipathy at the Scotch, ‘Mr. Johnson,’ said he, ‘I come
from Scotland, but I can’t help it.’ ‘Sir,’ said Johnson, ‘that I find is
what a very great many of your countrymen cannot help.’”[115]

“Lord Eglintoune[116] said that the hearts of the ladies were like
a looking-glass, which will reflect an image of the object that is
present, but retains no trace of what is absent.”
I was present.

“Doctor Blair[117] asked Macpherson[118] why he lived in

England, as he certainly could not be fond of John Bull. ‘Sir’, said he,
‘I hate John Bull, but I love his daughters.’”
Doctor Blair.

“Boswell was walking with some ladies at Ranelagh, when a large

young woman passed by. ‘That lady,’ said Boswell, ‘has a great deal
of beauty; it cannot, indeed, well be exprest, but it may be felt.’”

“Lady Fanny Montgomerie[119] met with a very handsome

woman in the highlands of Scotland, who had so much simplicity of
manner that she had never seen herself but in the water. Lady Fanny
showed her a little pocket mirror, which gave her a clear view of her
own face, and asked her if she ever had seen anything so
handsome. ‘Madam,’ said she, ‘by your asking that question I should
imagine that your ladyship had never seen such a glass as this.’”
Lord Eglintoune.

“Boswell was talking away one evening in St. James’s Park with
much vanity. Said his friend Temple, ‘We have heard of many kinds
of hobby-horses, but, Boswell, you ride upon yourself.’”
 “A stupid fellow was declaiming against that kind of raillery called
roasting, and was saying, I am sure I have a great deal of good
nature; I never roast any. ‘Why, sir,’ said Boswell, ‘you are an
exceedingly good-natured man, to be sure; but I can give you a
better reason for your never roasting any. Sir, you never roast any,
because you have got no fire.’”

“A keen Scott (sic) [Dr. Ogilvie][120] was standing up for his

country, and boasting that it had a great many noble wild prospects.
‘Sir,’ said Mr. Samuel Johnson, ‘I believe you have a great many
noble wild prospects. Norway, too, has got some prospects; and
Lapland is remarkable for prodigious noble wild prospects. But, sir, I
believe the noblest prospect that a Scotchman ever sees is the road
which leads him to England.’”
I was present.

“When the Duke de Nivernais was sent ambassador from France

to England, at the first inn in Britain he was charged a most
extravagant bill. The people of the house being asked how they
could use him so ill when he was a stranger, they replied that was
the very reason; for as they chose to observe Scripture rules, ‘He
was a stranger,’ said they, ‘and we took him in.’”
Captain Temple.[121]

“Boswell asked Mr. Samuel Johnson what was best to teach a

gentleman’s children first. ‘Why, sir,’ said he, ‘there is no matter what
you teach them first. It matters no more than which leg you put first
into your bretches (sic). Sir, you may stand disputing which you shall
put in first, but in the meantime your legs are bare. No matter which
you put in first so that you put ’em both in, and then you have your
bretches on. Sir, while you think which of two things to teach a child
first, another boy, in the common course, has learnt both.’”
I was present.
 “Mr. Samuel Johnson doubted much of the authenticity of the
poems of Ossian. Doctor Blair asked him if he thought any man
could describe these barbarous manners so well if he had not lived
at the time and seen them. ‘Any man, sir,’ replied Mr. Johnson,—‘any
man, woman, or child might have done it.’”
Doctor Blair.

“Boswell was praising the English highly, and saying they were a
fine open people. ‘Oh,——,’ said Macpherson, ‘an open people! their
mouths, indeed, are open to gluttony to fill their belly, but I know of
no other openness they have.’”
I was present.

“Boswell was telling Mr. Samuel Johnson how Macpherson railed

at all established systems. ‘So would he tumble in a hog-stye,’ said
Mr. Johnson, ‘as long as you look at him and cry to him to come out;
but let him alone, never mind him, and he’ll soon give it over.’”

“Hall,[122] the author of ‘Crazy Tales,’ said he could not bear

David Hume for being such a monarchical dog. ‘Is it not shocking,’
said he, ‘that a fellow who does not believefear in God, should
believefear in a king?’”
Mr. Dempster.[123]

“Mr. Samuel Johnson, after being acquainted with Lord

Chesterfield, said, ‘I see now what this man is. I thought he had
been a lord among wits, but I find he is only a wit among lords.’”
Doctor Robertson.[124]

“Mr. Samuel Johnson was once at Windsor, and dined with the
mayor. But the fellow (said he) not content with feeding my body,
thought he must feed my mind too, and so he told me a long story
how he had sent three criminals to the plantations. Tired to death
with his nonsense, ‘I wish (to God),’ said Johnson, ‘that I was the
fourth.’”
Mr. Sheridan.[125]

“A bishop was flattering Sir Robert Walpole[126] egregiously. A

gentleman asked him how he could bear such fulsome stuff. ‘Sir,’
said he, ‘if you were as severely scourged in the House of Commons
as I am, you would be glad of any dog to lick your sores.’”
Mr. Dempster.

“An officer on the recruiting service made his regular returns to

the regiment, in which he said that he had as yet got none, but that
he had a man of six foot two in his eye. ‘All nonsense!’ said the
colonel; ‘recall him immediately. He has had that fellow in his eye
these six years.’”
Captain Webster.[127]

“Lord Chesterfield told a half-pay lieutenant that he would bring

him back to full pay in the same rank. ‘My lord,’ said he, ‘I detest the
name of lieutenant so much that I would not be made Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland.’”
A Stranger.

“Boswell said that a man is reckoned a wise man rather for what
he does not say than for what he says. Perhaps upon the whole
Limbertongue speaks a greater quantity of good sense than Manly
does. But Limbertongue gives you such floods of frivolous nonsense
that his sense is quite drowned. Manly gives you unmixed good
sense only. Manly will always be thought the wisest man of the two.”
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