less positive than, if he can trust his own book which he laid before me, he is able to give. But I believe it will always be found, that he who calls much for information will advance his work but slowly. "I am, however, obliged to you, dear Sir, for your endeavours to help me, and hope, that between us something will sometime be done, if not on this on some occasion. "Chambers is either married, or almost married, to Miss Wilton, a girl of sixteen, exquisitely beautiful, whom he has with his lawyer's tongue, persuaded to take her chance with him in the East.2 "We have added to the club, Charles Fox, Sir Charles Bunbury, Dr. Fordyce, and Mr. Steevens. "Return my thanks to Dr. Webster. Tell Dr. Robertson I have not much to reply to his censure of my negligence; and tell Dr. Blair, that since he has written hither what I said to him, we must now consider ourselves as even, forgive one another, and begin again. I care not how soon, for he is a very pleasing man. Pay my compliments to all my friends, and remind Lord Elibank of his promise to give me all his works. "I hope Mrs. Boswell and little Miss are well.-When shall I see them again? She is a sweet lady, only she was so glad to see me go, that I have almost a mind to come again, that she may again have the same pleasure. "Inquire if it be practicable to send a small present of a cask of porter to Dunvegan, Rasay, and Col. I would not wish to be thought forgetful of civilities. I am, Sir, your humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON. "March 5, 1774.” On the 5th of March I wrote to him, requesting his counsel whether I should this spring come to London. I stated to him on the one hand some pecuniary embarrassments, which, together with my wife's situation at that 1 A manuscript account drawn by Dr. Webster of all the parishes in Scotland, ascertaining their length, breadth, number of inhabitants, and distinguishing Protestants and Roman Catholics. This book had been transmitted to Government, and Dr. Johnson saw a copy of it in Dr. Webster's possession. B. 2 A daughter of Joseph Wilton, R.A., the sculptor. After Sir Robert Chambers's death she returned to England and died at Brighton in 1839, aged 88. Her daughter married Colonel Macdonald, the son of Flora. Croker. ADVICE TO BOSWELL 57 time, made me hesitate; and, on the other, the pleasure and improvement which my annual visit to the metropolis always afforded me; and particularly mentioned a peculiar satisfaction which I experienced in celebrating the festival of Easter in St. Paul's Cathedral; that to my fancy it appeared like going up to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover; and that the strong devotion which I felt on that occasion diffused its influence on my mind through the rest of the year. "DEAR SIR, "TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. [Not dated, but written about the 15th of March.] "I AM ashamed to think that since I received your letter I have passed so many days without answering it. "I think there is no great difficulty in resolving your doubts. The reasons for which you are inclined to visit London, are, I think, not of sufficient strength to answer the objections. That you should delight to come once a year to the fountain of intelligence and pleasure, is very natural; but both information and pleasure must be regulated by propriety. Pleasure, which cannot be obtained but by unseasonable or unsuitable expense, must always end in pain; and pleasure, which must be enjoyed at the expense of another's pain, can never be such as a worthy mind can fully delight in. "What improvement you might gain by coming to London, you may easily supply or easily compensate, by enjoining yourself some particular study at home, or opening some new avenue to information. Edinburgh is not yet exhausted; and I am sure you will find no pleasure here which can deserve either that you should anticipate any part of your future fortune, or that you should condemn yourself and your lady to penurious frugality for the rest of the year. "I need not tell you what regard you owe to Mrs. Boswell's entreaties; or how much you ought to study the happiness of her who studies yours with so much diligence, and of whose kindness you enjoy such good effects. Life cannot subsist in society but by reciprocal concessions. She permitted you to ramble last year, you must permit her now to keep you at home. "Your last reason is so serious, that I am unwilling to oppose it. Yet you must remember, that your image of worshipping once a year in a certain place, in imitation of the Jews, is but a comparison; and simile non est idem; if the annual resort to Jerusalem was a duty to the Jews, it was a duty because it was commanded; and you have no such command, therefore no such duty. It may be dangerous to receive too readily, and indulge too fondly, opinions, from which, perhaps, no pious mind is wholly disengaged, of local sanctity and local devotion. You know what strange effects they have produced over a great part of the Christian world. I am now writing, and you, when you read this, are reading under the Eye of Omnipresence. "To what degree fancy is to be admitted into religious offices, it would require much deliberation to determine. I am far from intending totally to exclude it. Fancy is a faculty bestowed by our Creator, and it is reasonable that all His gifts should be used to His glory, that all our faculties should co-operate in His worship; but they are to co-operate according to the will of Him that gave them, according to the order which His wisdom has established. As ceremonies prudential or convenient are less obligatory than positive ordinances, as bodily worship is only the token to others or ourselves of mental adoration, so Fancy is always to act in subordination to Reason. We may take Fancy for a companion, but must follow Reason as our guide. We may allow Fancy to suggest certain ideas in certain places; but Reason must always be heard, when she tells us, that those ideas and those places have no natural or necessary relation. When we enter a church we habitually recall to mind the duty of adoration, but we must not omit adoration for want of a temple; because we know, and ought to remember, that the Universal Lord is every where present; and that, therefore, to come to Iona, or to Jerusalem, though it may be useful, cannot be necessary. "Thus I have answered your letter, and have not answered it negligently. I love you too well to be careless when you are serious. "I think I shall be very diligent next week about our travels, which I have too long neglected. I am, dear Sir, your most, &c. "SAM. JOHNSON. Compliments to Madam and Miss." "THE lady who delivers this has a lawsuit, in which she desires to make use of your skill and eloquence, and she seems to think that she shall have something more of both for a recommendation from me; which, though I know how little you want any external incitement to your duty, I could not refuse her, THE JOURNEY TO THE HEBRIDES' 59 because I know that at least it will not hurt her, to tell you that I wish her well. I am, Sir, your most humble servant, "May 10, 1774.” "SAM. JOHNSON. MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. cr Edinburgh, May 12, 1774. "LORD HAILES has begged of me to offer you his best respects, and to transmit to you specimens of Annals of Scotland, from the Accession of Malcolm Kenmore to the Death of James V.,' in drawing up which, his Lordship has been engaged for some time. His Lordship writes to me thus: "It I could procure Dr. Johnson's criticisms, they would be of great use to me in the prosecution of my work, as they would be judicious and true. I have no right to ask that favour of him. If you could, it would highly oblige me.' "Dr. Blair requests you may be assured that he did not write to London what you said to him, and that neither by word nor letter has he made the least complaint of you; but on the contrary has a high respect for you, and loves you much more since he saw you in Scotland. It would both divert and please you to see his eagerness about this matter." "DEAR SIR, "TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. "Streatham, June 12, 1774. "YESTERDAY I put the first sheets of the 'Journey to the Hebrides' to the press. I have endeavoured to do you some justice in the first paragraph. It will be one volume in octavo, not thick. "It will be proper to make some presents in Scotland. You shall tell me to whom I shall give; and I have stipulated twentyfive for you to give in your own name. Some will take the present better from me, others better from you. In this, you who are to live in the place ought to direct. Consider it. Whatever you can get for my purpose send me; and make my compliments to your lady and both the young ones. "I am, Sir, your, &c. "SAM. JOHNSON." MR. BOSWELL TO DR. JOHNSON. "You do not acknowledge the receipt of the various packets which I have sent to you. Neither can I prevail with you to answer my letters, though you honour me with returns. You have said nothing to me about poor Goldsmith,1 nothing about Langton. "I have received for you, from the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge in Scotland, the following Erse books:"The New Testament;'-' Baxter's Call; 'The Confession of Faith of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster ; '-' The Mother's Catechism; 'A Gaelic and English Vocabulary.' "DEAR SIR, "TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. "I WISH you could have looked over my book before the printer, but it could not easily be. I suspect some mistakes; but as I deal, perhaps, more in notions than in facts, the matter is not great, and the second edition will be mended, if any such there be. The press will go on slowly for a time, because I am going into Wales to-morrow. "I should be very sorry if I appeared to treat such a character as Lord Hailes otherwise than with high respect. I return the sheets, to which I have done what mischief I could; and finding it so little, thought not much of sending them. The narrative is clear, lively, and short. "I have done worse to Lord Hailes than by neglecting his sheets I have run him in debt. Dr. Horne, the President of Magdalen College in Oxford, wrote to me about three months ago, that he purposed to reprint Walton's 'Lives,' and desired me to contribute to the work: my answer was, that Lord Hailes intended the same publication; and Dr. Horne has resigned it to him. His Lordship must now think seriously about it. B. 1 Dr. Goldsmith died April 4, this year. B. 2 These books Dr. Johnson presented to the Bodleian Library. 3 On the cover enclosing them, Dr. Johnson wrote, “If my delay has given any reason for supposing that I have not a very deep sense of the honour done me by asking my judgment, I am very sorry." B. |