,74 



B O S W E L L. 



Boswell. which afforded hrra the highest gratification. He 

 happened, at his first entrance into the capital, to 

 form an acquaintance with Derrick, an author by- 

 profession, who was afterwards master of the cere- 

 monies, or king, (as it is termed), at Bath. Derrick 

 was a man of some literature, but had hung loose 

 about the world for some time, and was thus admi- 

 rably qtialified, by hi3 lively talents and desultory ha- 

 . bits, to introduce a stranger into all the varieties of a 

 London life. The circumstances of this visit Bos- 

 well used often to detail with that felicity, for which 

 he was always remarkable in narration, and exhibited 

 to curious a picture of the scenes he had passed 

 through, that his friend Dr Johnson advised him to 

 commit it to paper and preserve it. Notwithstand- 

 ing he was intended, by his education, for the bar, yet 

 he was himself, at this period, earnestly bent upon 

 obtaining a commission in the guards, and solicited 

 Lord Auchinleck's acquiescence ; but he returned, 

 . by his desire, into Scotland, where he received a 

 regular course of instruction in the law, and passed 

 his trials as a civilian at Edinburgh. Though stHI 

 anxious to pursue his original design, he at last re- 

 linquished it in compliance with his father's wishes, 

 and consented to go to Utrecht in 1763, to hear the 

 lectures of an eminent civilian, after which he had 

 permission to make the tour of Europe. But before 

 he quitted his native country, a circumstance took 

 place, of no small importance to himself, and, as it 

 afterwards appeared, of no small importance to the 

 public. He obtained this year an introduction to 

 Dr Johnson. He had long entertained the most en- 

 thusiastic admiration of that great man as a writer ; 

 and having learned that his powers in conversation 

 were equal to his noblest productions, he was anxi- 

 ously soUcitous for his acquaintance. From hence 

 we are to date a friendship which continued unabated 

 to the last. Boswell, who saw every day as his know- 

 ledge of Johnson increased, fresh evidences of the 

 strength of his intellect and the goodness of hia 

 heart, regarded this venerable moralist with almost 

 filial reverence ; while Johnson, whose sagacious in- 

 tuition into character, soon led him to perceive and 

 appreciate justly the fertile talents, and truly amiable 

 disposition of his young acquaintance, repaid his fer- 

 vent affection with the most cordial attachment. 

 Having continued one winter at Utrecht, during 

 which time he visited several parts of the Nether- 

 lands, he commenced his projected travels. Passing 

 from Utrecht into Germany, he pursued his route 

 through Switzerland to Geneva, whence he crossed 

 the Alps into Italy, having visited in his journey 

 Voltaire at Ferney, and Rousseau in the wilds of 

 Neufchatel. But the roost distinguished incident in 

 his tour was, his spirited expedition into Corsica, then 

 stru gg" n g against the tyranny of the Genoese. ' He 

 adopted the feelings of those brave islanders with the 

 most ardent enthusiasm, and. commenced the most 

 intimate friendship with their illustrious chief. He 

 afterwards went to Paris, from whence he returned 

 to Scotland in 176G, and soon after became an ad- 

 vocate at the Scotch bar. But, in the mean time, 

 he was by no means forgetful of the interest of that 

 gallant body of patriots whom he had left behind. 



He endeavoured to stimulate the statesmen of his BosweH. 

 own country to advocate their cause ; and he had, * v 

 on this occasion, the honour of a very interesting in- 

 terview with Lord Chatham. One particular of this 

 conversation which he has recorded, does equal ho- 

 nour to the liberality of the distinguished character 

 by whom it was said, and to the great man of whom 

 it was spoken. It may be said of Paoli, as the Car- 

 dinal de Retz said of the great Montrose, C'est tin 

 des ces homines ijit'on tie trouve plus que dans les Vies 

 de Plutarque. The celebrated Douglas cause was 

 at this time the subject of general discussion. Bos- 

 well, who had warmly adopted that opinion which 

 was afterwards established by the decision of the first 

 tribunal in Europe, justly thought that the great 

 body of readers would scarcely endure the labour of 

 extracting the real merits of the case from the volu- 

 minous mass of papers which had been printfcd on 

 that question, and he therefore compressed them into 

 a pamphlet, entitled, The Essence of the Douglas 

 Cause, which had a considerable share in procuring 

 for Mr Douglas the extensive popularity which a 

 knowledge of his claims enabled him to obtain. In 

 1768, finding that the public were not a little anxious 

 to learn the narration of him, " whom, (as Johnson 

 expressed it,) a wise and noble curiosity had led 

 where perhaps no native of this country ever was be- 

 fore," he published his Account (>f Corsica, vcith Me- 

 moirs of General Paoli. On the appearance of this 

 work, he was again gratified by an encomium from 

 Johnson's pen. " Your history is like other his- 

 tories ; but your journal is in a very high degree cuw 

 rious and delightful.* ***You express images which 

 operated strongly upon yourself, and you have im- 

 pressed them with great force upon your readers. I 

 know not whether I could name any narrative by 

 which curiosity is better excited, or better gratified." 

 This book has been translated into the German, 

 Dutch, Italian, and French languages; and his name 

 by it has nearly acquired as much celebrity on the 

 continent, as his admirable biographical work has 

 procured for him at home. 



In 1769, Mr Boswell was married to his cousin, 

 Miss Margaret Montgomery. His union with this 

 truly amiable and accomplished woman proved a 

 source of felicity to him for many years ; but he was 

 doomed to suffer the affliction of losing her in June 

 1789. Dr Johnson had long formed the plan of 

 visiting the Hebrides of Scotland in company with 

 his friend, and in 1773, though at an advanced pe- 

 riod of life, he put that plan in execution. They have 

 both published an account of their journey. In 1782 

 Lord Auchinleckdied, and Iris son succeeded to the 

 family estate in Ayrshire. The coalition ministry 

 having been driven from power in 1783, for an at- 

 tempt which Mr Boswell was convinced would have 

 been subversive of the constitution, he published a 

 pamphlet on the subject, entitled, A Letter to the 

 People of Scotland, which produced considerable 

 sensation, and for which he was complimented by 

 Mr Pitt. But he was no party man ; for, in the fol- 

 lowing year, a plan having been in agitation to re- 

 form the court of session, by the compendious mode 

 of cutting off one-third of the number of the judges, 





