agreeable company I was obliged to Mr. Davies, and the Rev. Mr. John Ogilvie (1), who was desirous of being in company with my illustrious friend, while I, in my turn, was proud to have the honour of showing one of my countrymen upon what easy terms Johnson permitted me to live with him.

Goldsmith, as usual, endeavoured, with too much eagerness, to shine, and disputed very warmly with Johnson against the well-known maxim of the British constitution," the king can do no wrong;" affirming, that "what was morally false could not be politically true; and as the king might, in the exercise of his regal power, command and cause the doing of what was wrong, it certainly might be said, in sense and in reason, that he could do wrong." JOHNSON. "Sir, you are to consider, that in our constitution, according to its true principles, the king is the head, he is supreme; he is above every thing, and there is no power by which he can be tried. Therefore it is, Sir, that we hold the king can do no wrong; that whatever may happen to be wrong in government may not be above our reach, by being ascribed to Majesty. Redress is

When I asked

(1) The northern bard mentioned page 202. Dr. Johnson's permission to introduce him, he obligingly agreed; adding, however, with a sly pleasantry, "but he must give us none of his poetry." It is remarkable that Johnson and Churchill, however much they differed in other points, agreed on this subject. See Churchill's "Journey." It is, however, but justice to Dr. Ogilvie to observe, that his "Day of Judg ment" has no inconsiderable share of merit.-B.

Boswell's naïveté in thinking it remarkable that two persons should agree in disliking the poetry of his northern bard is amusing it might have been more remarkable if two had agreed in liking it.-C.

always to be had against oppression, by punishing the immediate agents. The king, though he should command, cannot force a judge to condemn a man unjustly; therefore it is the judge whom we prosecute and punish. Political institutions are formed upon the consideration of what will most frequently tend to the good of the whole, although now and then exceptions may occur. Thus it is better in general that a nation should have a supreme legislative power, although it may at times be abused. And then, Sir, there is this consideration, that if the abuse be enormous, Nature will rise up; and, claiming her original rights, overturn a corrupt political system." I mark this animated sentence with peculiar pleasure, as a noble instance of that truly dignified spirit of freedom which ever glowed in his heart, though he was charged with slavish tenets by superficial observers; because he was at all times indignant against that false patriotism, that pretended love of freedom, that unruly restlessness, which is inconsistent with the stable authority of any good government.

This generous sentiment, which he uttered with great fervour, struck me exceedingly, and stirred my blood to that pitch of fancied resistance, the possibility of which I am glad to keep in mind, but to which I trust I never shall be forced.

"Great abilities" said he, "are not requisite for an historian; for in historical composition all the greatest powers of the human mind are quiescent. He has facts ready to his hand; so there is no exercise of invention. Imagination is not required in

any high degree; only about as much as is used in the lower kinds of poetry. Some penetration, accuracy, and colouring, will fit a man for the task, if he can give the application which is necessary."

"Bayle's Dictionary is a very useful work for those to consult who love the biographical part of literature, which is what I love most.” (1)

Talking of the eminent writers in Queen Anne's reign, he observed, "I think Dr. Arbuthnot the first man among them. He was the most universal genius, being an excellent physician, a man of deep learning, and a man of much humour. Mr. Addison was, to be sure, a great man : his learning was not profound; but his morality, his humour, and his elegance of writing, set him very high."

Mr. Ogilvie was unlucky enough to choose for the topic of his conversation the praises of his native country. He began with saying, that there was very rich land around Edinburgh. Goldsmith, who had studied physic there, contradicted this, very untruly, with a sneering laugh. Disconcerted a little by this, Mr. Ogilvie then took new ground, where, I suppose, he thought himself perfectly safe; for he observed, that Scotland had a great many noble wild prospects. JOHNSON. "I believe, Sir, you have a great many. Norway, too, has noble wild prospects; and Lapland is remarkable for prodigious noble wild prospects. But, Sir, let me tell you, the noblest prospect which

(1) ["Somebody speaking of Bayle's manner in his Dictionary, Mr. Pope said: Ay, he is the only man that ever collected with so much judgment, and wrote with so much spirit, at the same time.'". SPENCE.]

a Scotchman ever sees, is the high road that leads him to England!" (1) This unexpected and pointed sally produced a roar of applause. After all, however, those who admire the rude grandeur of Nature cannot deny it to Caledonia.

On Saturday, July 9., I found Johnson surrounded with a numerous levée, but have not preserved any part of his conversation.

LETTER 86. TO MISS LUCY PORTER.

July 12. 1763.

"MY DEAREST Love, I had forgot my debt to poor Kitty; pray let her have the note, and do what you can for her, for she has been always very good. I will help her to a little more money if she wants

(1) Mrs. Brooke* received an answer not unlike this, when expatiating on the accumulation of sublime and beautiful objects, which form the fine prospect up the river St. Lawrence in North America: "Come, madam, (says Dr. Johnson,) confess that nothing ever equalled your pleasure in seeing that sight reversed; and finding yourself looking at the happy prospect DOWN the river St. Lawrence." The truth is, he hated to hear about prospects and views, and laying out ground, and taste in gardening :-"That was the best garden (he said), which produced most roots and fruits; and that water was most to be prized which contained most fish." He used to laugh at Shenstone most unmercifully for not caring whether there was any thing good to eat in the streams he was so fond of. Walking in a wood when it rained was, I think, the only rural image which pleased his fancy. He loved the sight of fine forest-trees, however, and detested Brighthelmstone Downs, "because it was a country so truly desolate (he said), that if one had a mind to hang one's self for desperation at being obliged to live there, it would be difficult to find a tree on which to fasten the rope." Piozzi.

*Frances Moore, wife of the Rev. Mr. Brooke, Chaplain to the Forces in Canada, whither she accompanied him. She wrote two novels called "Emily Montague," and "Lady Julia Mandeville." She afterwards pro. duced several dramatic pieces, one of which, "Rosina," still keeps the stage. She is said to have been much esteemed by Johnson. She died in 1789.-C.

it, and will write. I intend that she shall have the use of the house as long as she and I live.

"That there should not be room for me at the house is some disappointment to me, but the matter is not very great. I am sorry you have had your head filled with building ('), for many reasons. It was not necessary to settle immediately for life at any one place; you might have staid and seen more of the world. You will not have your work done, as you do not understand it, but at twice the value. You might have hired a house at half the interest of the money for which you build it, if your house cost you a thousand pounds. You might have the Palace for twenty pounds, and make forty of your thousand pounds; so in twenty years you would have saved forty [four hundred ?] pounds, and still have had your thousand. I am, dear dear, yours, &c. SAM. JOHNSON."

On the 14th we had another evening by ourselves at the Mitre. It happening to be a very rainy night, I made some common-place observations on the relaxation of nerves and depression of spirits which such weather occasioned (2); adding, however, that it was good for the vegetable creation. Johnson, who, as we have already seen, denied that the temperature of the air had any influence on the human frame, answered, with a smile of ridicule, "Why, yes, Sir, it is good for vegetables, and for the animals who eat those vegetables, and for the animals who eat those animals." (3) This observation of his

(1) Miss Porter laid out nearly one third of her legacy in building a handsome house at Lichfield.-C.

(2) Johnson would suffer none of his friends to fill up chasms in conversation with remarks on the weather: "Let us not talk of the weather."- BURNEY.

(3) [See antè, p. 89.]