1772. of not making boys at the University subscribe to what they do not underEtat. 62. stand; but they ought to confider, that our Universities were founded to bring up members for the Church of England, and we must not fupply our enemies with arms from our arsenal. No, Sir, the meaning of fubfcribing is, not that they fully understand all the articles, but that they will adhere to the Church of England. Now take it in this way, and suppose that they should only fubscribe their adherence to the Church of England, there would be still the fame difficulty; for still the young men would be fubfcribing to what they do not understand. For if you should ask them, what do you mean by the Church of England? Do you know in what it differs from the Prefbyterian Church? from the Romish Church? from the Greek Church? from the Coptick Church? they could not tell you. So, Sir, it comes to the fame thing." BOSWELL. "But, Sir, would it not be fufficient to subscribe the Bible ?" JOHNSON. "Why no, Sir; for all fects will fubfcribe the Bible; nay, the Mahometans will subscribe the Bible, for the Mahometans acknowledge JESUS CHRIST, as well as Mofes, but maintain that God fent Mahomet as a stilk greater prophet than either." : I mentioned the motion to abolish the fast of the 30th of January. JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, I could have wished that it had been a temporary act, perhaps, to have expired with the century. I am against abolishing it; because that would be declaring it was wrong to establish it; but I should have no objection to make an act, continuing it for another century, and then letting it expire." He disapproved of the Royal Marriage Bill; "Because (faid he,) I would not have the people think that the validity of marriage depends on the will of man, or that the right of a King depends on the will of man. I should not have been against making the marriage of any of the royal family, without the approbation of King and Parliament, highly criminal." In the morning we had talked of old families, and the respect due to them. JOHNSON. "Sir, you have a right to that kind of respect, and are arguing for yourself. I am for fupporting the principle, and am disinterested in doing it, as I have no fuch right." BoSWELL. "Why, Sir, it is one more incitement to a man to do well." JOHNSON. "Yes, Sir, and it is a matter of opinion, very necessary to keep fociety together. What is it but opinion, by which we have a respect for authority, that prevents us, who are the rabble, from rifing up and pulling down you who are gentlemen from your places, and saying, • We will be gentlemen in our turn?' Now, Sir, that respect for authority is much more easily granted to a man whose father has had it, than to an upstart, and fo Society is more eafily fupported." BOSWELL. "Perhaps, Sir, it might be done your 1772. done by the refpect belonging to office, as among the Romans, where the dress, the toga, inspired reverence." JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, we know very little about Etat. 63. the Romans. But, surely, it is much easier to respect a man who has always had respect, than to refpect a man who we know was last year no better than ourselves, and will be no better next year. In republicks there is not a respect for authority, but a fear of power." BOSWELL. "At present, Sir, I think riches seem to gain most respect." JOHNSON. "No, Sir, riches do not gain hearty refpect; they only procure external attention. A very rich man, from low beginnings, may buy his election in a borough; but, cæteris paribus, a man of family will be preferred. People will prefer a man for whose father their fathers have voted, though they should get no more money, or even less. That shews that the respect for family is not merely fanciful, but has an actual operation. If gentlemen of family would allow the rich upstarts to spend their money profusely, which they are ready enough to do, and not vie with them in expence, the upstarts would foon be at an end, and the gentlemen would remain: but if the gentlemen will vie in expence with the upstarts, which is very foolish, they must be ruined." I gave him an account of the excellent mimickry of a friend of mine in Scotland; observing, at the same time, that fome people thought it a very mean thing. JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, it is making a very mean use of a man's powers. But to be a good mimick, requires great powers, great acuteness of obfervation, great retention of what is observed, and great pliancy of organs, to represent what is observed. I remember a lady of quality in this town, Lady who was a wonderful mimick, and used to make me laugh immoderately. I have heard she is now gone mad." BoOSWELL. "It is amazing how a mimick can not only give you the gestures and voice of a perfon whom he reprefents; but even what a perfon would say on any particular fubject." JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, you are to confider that the manner and fome particular phrafes of a person do much to impress you with an idea of him, and you are not fure that he would say what the mimick says in his character." BOSWELL. " I don't think Foote a good mimick, Sir." JOHNSON. "No, Sir; his imitations are not like. He gives you fomething different from himself, but not the character which he means to affume. He goes out of himself without going into other people. He cannot take off any perfon untess he is very strongly marked, fuch as George Faulkner. He is like a painter, who can draw the portrait of a man who has a wen upon his face, and who, therefore, is easily known. If a man hops upon one leg, Foote can hop upon one leg. But he has not that nice difcrimination which 1772. Ætat. 63. your friend seems to possess. Foote is, however, very entertaining, with a kind of conversation between wit and buffoonery." On Monday, March 23, I found him busy, preparing a fourth edition of his folio Dictionary. Mr. Peyton, one of his original amanuenfes, was writing for him. I put him in mind of a meaning of the word fide, which he had omitted, viz. relationship; as, father's side, mother's side. He inserted it. I asked him if humiliating was a good word. He said, he had seen it frequently used, but he did not know it to be legitimate English. He would not admit civilization, but only civility. With great deference to him, I thought civilization, from to civilize, better in the sense opposed to barbarity, than civility, as it is better to have a distinct word for each sense, than one word with two senses, which civility is, in his way of using it. He seemed busy about fome fort of chymical operation. I was entertained by observing how he contrived to send Mr. Peyton on an errand, without seeming to degrade him. "Mr. Peyton,- Mr. Peyton, will you be so good as to take a walk to Temple-bar? You will there see a chymist's shop; at which you will be pleased to buy for me an ounce of oil of vitriol; not fpirit of vitriol, but oil of vitriol. It will cost three half-pence." Peyton immediately went, and returned with it, and told him it cost but a penny. I then reminded him of the schoolmaster's cause, and proposed to read to him the printed papers concerning it. "No, Sir, (faid he,) I can read quicker than I can hear." So he read them to himself. After he had read for some time, we were interrupted by the entrance of Mr. Kristrom, a Swede, who was tutor to some young gentlemen in the city. He told me, that there was a very good History of Sweden, by Daline. Having at that time an intention of writing the history of that country, I asked Dr. Johnson whether one might write a history of Sweden without going thither. "Yes, Sir, (faid he,) one for common use." We talked of languages. Johnson observed, that Leibnitz had made some progress in a work, tracing all languages up to the Hebrew. "Why, Sir, (faid he,) you would not imagine that the French jour, day, is derived from the Latin dies, and yet nothing is more certain; and the intermediate steps are very clear. From dies, comes diurnus. Diu is, by inaccurate ears or inaccurate pronunciation, easily confounded with giu; then the Italians form a fubstantive of the ablative of an adjective, and thence giurno, or, as they make it, giorno; which is readily contracted into giour, or jour." He observed, that the Bohemian language was true Sclavonick. The Swede faid, it had some similarity 1772. similarity with the German. JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, to be sure, fuch parts of Sclavonia as confine with Germany, will borrow German words; and such Etat. 63. parts as confine with Tartary, will borrow Tartar words." He faid, he never had it properly ascertained that the Scotch Highlanders and the Irish understood each other. I told him that my cousin Colonel Graham, of the Royal Highlanders, whom I met at Drogheda, told me they did. JOHNSON. " Sir, if the Highlanders understood Irish, why translate the New Testament into Erse, as was done lately at Edinburgh, when there is an Irish translation?" BOSWELL. "Although the Erse and Irish are both dialects of the fame language, there may be a good deal of diversity between them, as between the different dialects in Italy. - The Swede went away, and Mr. Johnfon continued his reading of the papers. I faid, "I am afraid, Sir, it is troublesome to you." "Why, Sir, (faid he,) I do not take much delight in it; but I'll go through it." We went to the Mitre, and dined in the room where he and I first supped together. He gave me great hopes of my cause. "Sir, (faid he,) the government of a schoolmaster is somewhat of the nature of military government; that is to say, it must be arbitrary, it must be exercised by the will of one man, according to particular circumstances. You must shew fome learning upon this occasion. You must shew, that a schoolmaster has a prescriptive right to beat; and that an action of affault and battery cannot be admitted against him, unless there is some great excess, some barbarity. This man has maimed none of his boys. They are all left with the full exercise of their corporeal faculties. In our schools in England, many boys have been maimed; yet I never heard of an action against a schoolmaster on that account. Puffendorf, I think, maintains the right of a schoolmaster to beat his scholars." On Saturday, March 27, I introduced to him Sir Alexander Macdonald, with whom he had expressed a wish to be acquainted. He received him very courteoufly. Sir Alexander observed, that the Chancellors in England are chosen from views much inferiour to the office, being chosen from temporary political views. JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, in such a government as ours, no man is appointed to an office because he is the fittest for it, nor hardly in any other government; because there are so many connections and dependencies to be studied. A despotick prince may choose a man to an office, merely because he is the fittest for it. The King of Prussia may do it." SIR A. "I think, Sir, almost all great lawyers, such at least as have written upon law, have known only law, and nothing 1772. nothing else." JOHNSON. "Why no, Sir; Judge Hale was a great lawyer, and Ætat. 63. wrote upon law; and yet he knew a great many other things, and has written upon other things. Selden too." SIR A. "Very true, Sir; and Lord Bacon. But was not Lord Coke a mere lawyer?" JOHNSON. "Why, I am afraid he was; but he would have taken it very ill if you had told him so. He would have profecuted you for scandal." BOSWELL. "Lord Mansfield is not a mere lawyer." JOHNSON. "No, Sir. I never was in Lord Mansfield's company; but, Lord Mansfield was distinguished at the University. Lord Mansfield, when he came first to town, ' drank champagne with the wits,' as Prior says. He was the friend of Pope." SIR. A. "Barristers, I believe, are not fo abusive now as they were formerly. I fancy they had less law long ago, and fo were obliged to take to abuse, to fill up the time. Now they have such a number of precedents, they have no occasion for abuse." JOHNSON. "Nay, Sir, they had more law long ago than they have now. As to precedents, to be fure they will increase in course of time; but the more precedents there are, the less occasion is there for law; that is to say, the less occafion is there for investigating principles." SIR A. "I have been correcting several Scotch accents in my friend Bofwell. I doubt, Sir, if any Scotchman ever attains to a perfect English pronunciation." JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, few of them do, because they do not perfevere after acquiring a certain degree of it. But, Sir, there can be no doubt that they may attain to a perfect English pronunciation, if they will. We find how near they come to it; and certainly, a man who conquers nineteen parts of the Scottish accent, may conquer the twentieth. But, Sir, when a man has got the better of nine tenths, he grows weary, he relaxes his diligence, he finds he has corrected his accent fo far as not to be disagreeable, and he no longer defires his friends to tell him when he is wrong; nor does he choose to be told. Sir, when people watch me narrowly, and I do not watch myself, they will find me out to be of a particular county. In the fame manner, Dunning may be found out to be a Devonshire man. So most Scotchmen may be found out. But, Sir, little aberrations are of no disadvantage. I never catched Mallet in a Scotch accent; and yet Mallet, I suppose, was past five-and-twenty before he came to London." Upon another occafion I talked to him on this subject, having myself taken fome pains to improve my pronunciation, by the aid of the late Mr. Love, of Drury-lane theatre, when he was a player at Edinburgh, and also of old Mr. Sheridan. Johnfon faid to me, "Sir, your pronunciation is not offenfive." With |