416 Johnson on the Origin of Evil. [Oct. 28. convey us in the evening to Cameron, the seat of Commissary Smollet'. Our satisfaction of finding ourselves again in a comfortable carriage was very great. We had a pleasing conviction of the commodiousness of civilization, and heartily laughed at the ravings of those absurd visionaries who have attempted to persuade us of the superior advantages of a state of nature. Mr. Smollet was a man of considerable learning, with abundance of animal spirits; so that he was a very good companion for Dr. Johnson, who said to me, 'We have had more solid talk here than at any place where we have been.' I remember Dr. Johnson gave us this evening an able and eloquent discourse on the Origin of Evil, and on the consistency of moral evil with the power and goodness of GOD. He shewed us how it arose from our free agency, an extinction of which would be a still greater evil than any we experience. I know not that he said any thing absolutely new, but he said a great deal wonderfully well; and perceiving us to be delighted and satisfied, he concluded his harangue with an air of benevolent triumph over an objection which has distressed many worthy minds: This then is the answer to the question, Пlo@εν TO KAKOV?' Mrs. Smollet whispered me, that it was the best sermon she had ever heard. Much do I upbraid myself for having neglected to preserve it. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28. Mr. Smollet pleased Dr. Johnson, by producing a collection of news-papers in the time of the Usurpation, from which it appeared that all sorts of crimes were very frequent during that horrible anarchy. By the side of the high road 'A very little above the source of the Leven, on the lake, stands the house of Cameron, belonging to Mr. Smollett, so embosomed in an oak wood that we did not see it till we were within fifty yards of the door.' Humphry Clinker, Letter of Aug. 28. ' Boswell himself was at times one of 'those absurd visionaries.' Ante, ii. 83. See ante, p. 133. to Oct. 28.] Dr. Smollett's epitaph. 417 to Glasgow, at some distance from his house, he had erected a pillar to the memory of his ingenious kinsman, Dr. Smollet; and he consulted Dr. Johnson as to an inscription for it. Lord Kames, who, though he had a great store of knowledge, with much ingenuity, and uncommon activity of mind, was no profound scholar, had it seems recommended an English inscription'. Dr. Johnson treated this with great contempt, saying, 'An English inscription would be a disgrace to Dr. Smollet';' and, in answer to what Lord Kames had urged, as to the advantage of its being in English, because it would be generally understood, I observed, that all to whom Dr. Smollet's merit could be an object of respect and imitation, would understand it as well in Latin; and that surely it was not meant for the Highland drovers, or other such people, who pass and repass that way. We were then shewn a Latin inscription, proposed for this monument. Dr. Johnson sat down with an ardent and liberal earnestness to revise it, and greatly improved it by several additions and variations. I unfortunately did not take a copy of it, as it originally stood; but I have happily preserved every fragment of what Dr. Johnson wrote:Quisquis ades, viator3, Vel mente felix, vel studiis cultus, Immorare paululum memoriæ Viri iis virtutibus Quas in homine et cive Et laudes, et imiteris, M. D. 'Lord Kames wrote one, which is published in Chambers's Traditions of Edinburgh, ed. 1825, i. 280. In it he bids the traveller to 'indulge the hope of a Monumental Pillar.' See ante, iii. 97, and v. 175. 'This address does not offend against the rule that Johnson lays down in his Essay on Epitaphs (Works, v. 263), where he says:-'It is improper to address the epitaph to the passenger.' The impropriety consists in such an address in a church. He however did break through his rule in his epitaph in Streatham Church on Mr. Thrale, where he says:-'Abi viator.' Ib. i. 154. V.-27 Postquam Amoris eheu! inane monumentum, Quas primis infans vagitibus personuit, In Humphry Clinker (Letter of Aug. 28), which was published a few months before Smollett's death, is his Ode on Leven-Water. The epitaph which has been inscribed on the pillar erected on the banks of the Leven, in honour of Dr. Smollett, is as follows. The part which was written by Dr. Johnson, it appears, has been altered; whether for the better, the reader will judge. The alterations are distinguished by Italicks. Siste viator! Si lepores ingeniique venam benignam, Immorare paululum memoriæ Anno ætatis 51, Eheu! quam procul a patria! Tali tantoque viro, patrueli suo, Se potius tradidisse decuit, Hanc Columnam, Amoris, eheu! inane monumentum We Oct. 28.] Johnson's wonderful memory. 419 We had this morning a singular proof of Dr. Johnson's quick and retentive memory. Hay's translation of Martial was lying in a window. I said, I thought it was pretty well done, and shewed him a particular epigram, I think, of ten, but am certain of eight, lines. He read it, and tossed away the book, saying-'No, it is not pretty well.' As I persisted in my opinion, he said, 'Why, Sir, the original is thus,'—(and he repeated it) and this man's translation is thus,'—and then he repeated that also, exactly, though he had never seen it before, and read it over only once, and that too, without any intention of getting it by heart'. Here a post-chaise, which I had ordered from Glasgow, came for us, and we drove on in high spirits. We stopped at Dunbarton, and though the approach to the castle there is very steep, Dr. Johnson ascended it with alacrity, and surveyed all that was to be seen. During the whole of our Tour he shewed uncommon spirit, could not bear to be treated like an old or infirm man, and was very unwilling to accept of any assistance, insomuch that, at our landing at In ipsis Leviniæ ripis, Quas versiculis sub exitu vitæ illustratas Hoc quidem honore, Non modo defuncti memoriæ, Verum etiam exemplo, prospectum esse; Aliis enim, si modo digni sint, Idem erit virtutis præmium! BOSWELL. 'Baretti told Malone that, having proposed to teach Johnson Italian, they went over a few stanzas of Ariosto, and Johnson then grew weary. Some years afterwards Baretti said he would give him another lesson, but added, “I suppose you have forgotten what we read before." "Who forgets, Sir?" said Johnson, and immediately repeated three or four stanzas of the poem.' Baretti took down the book to see if it had been lately opened, but the leaves were covered with dust. Prior's Malone, p. 160. Johnson had learnt to translate Italian before he knew Baretti. Ante, i. 124, 180. For other instances of his memory, see ante, i. 46, 56; iii. 361, notę 1; and iv. 119, note 3. Icolmkill, 420 Glasgow and Brentford. [Oct. 29. Icolmkill, when Sir Allan M'Lean and I submitted to be carried on men's shoulders from the boat to the shore, as it could not be brought quite close to land, he sprang into the sea, and waded vigorously out. On our arrival at the Saracen's Head Inn, at Glasgow, I was made happy by good accounts from home; and Dr, Johnson, who had not received a single letter since we left Aberdeen', found here a great many, the perusal of which entertained him much. He enjoyed in imagination the comforts which we could now command, and seemed to be in high glee. I remember, he put a leg up on each side of the grate, and said, with a mock solemnity, by way of soliloquy, but loud enough for me to hear it, 'Here am I, an ENGLISH man, sitting by a coal fire.' FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29. The professors' of the University being informed of our arrival, Dr. Stevenson, Dr. Reid', and Mr. Anderson breakfasted with us. Mr. Anderson accompanied us while Dr. Johnson viewed this beautiful city. He had told me, that one day in London, when Dr. Adam Smith was boasting of it, he turned to him and said, Pray, Sir, have you ever seen Brentford'!' This was surely a strong instance of his impatience, and spirit of contradiction. I put him in mind of it to-day, while he expressed his admiration of the elegant 'For sixty-eight days he received no letter-from August 21 (ante, p. 95) to October 28. 2 Among these professors might possibly have been either Burke or Hume had not a Mr. Clow been the successful competitor in 1751 as the successor to Adam Smith in the chair of logic. Mr. Clow has acquired a curious title to fame, from the greatness of the man to whom he succeeded, and of those over whom he was triumphant.' J. H. Burton's Hume, i. 351. 'Dr. Reid, the author of the Inquiry into the Human Mind, had in 1763 succeeded Adam Smith as Professor of Moral Philosophy. Dugald Stewart was his pupil the winter before Johnson's visit. Stewart's Reid, ed. 1802, p. 38. • See ante, iv. 214. buildings, |