HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. [211 



burgh on the 18th August. In the course of his tour he visited 

 the Universities of Edinburgh, St. Andrews, Aberdeen, and Glas- 

 gow, and after having enjoyed all the romantic beauties of the He- 

 brides, he returned to the Scottish capital in November. Like most 

 patriotic Englishmen at that period, he had an aversion for* the 

 Scotch on account of their time-serving and assiduous endeavours 

 to grasp at places under Government. This aversion he took no 

 pains to conceal, and it may account for the coldness of his reception 

 in some parts of Scotland. But his " Tour" is an instructive per- 

 formance, and contains numerous and orignal remarks on men and 

 manners, philosophical reflections, and passages of superlative 

 beauty and sublimity. The defects in the domestic arrangements, ac- 

 commodations, and want of cleanliness among the people, were not 

 described by him for the purpose of censure but improvement ; and 

 it must be a wretched national pride indeed, which will cling to its 

 errors, and persevere in ignorance, because a man of genius from 

 another country has pointed them out. Every honest Scotchman 

 should be grateful to Dr. Johnson for having mentioned inconveni- 

 encies which a little ingenuity and industry might remove. 



Mr. Boswell wrote an entertaining Journal during this tour with 

 his friend, in which he recorded with manly impartiality the Doctor's 

 real sentiments on various subjects. On the first night of their ar- 

 rival in Edinburgh, as they walked up High-street arm in arm, 

 Boswell said, " Well now, Doctor, we are at last in Scotland/' 

 ' Yes, Sir/ cried the Doctor, ' I smell it in the dark/ The Doctor 

 lost his oak stick in the isle of Mull ; he suspected his guide had 

 stolen it, but Boswell endeavoured to persuade him that it would be 

 restored to him again. " No, Sir," says Johnson, " it is not to be 

 expected that any man in Mull who has got it, will part with it, 

 consider the value of such a piece of timber here .'" 



On his return to London, a Scotch resident in the metropolis 

 asked him with a firm tone of voice, what he thought of his coun- 

 try ? " That it is a very vile country, to be sure, Sir/' said the 

 Doctor. ' Well Sir/ said the other, somewhat mortified, ' God 

 made it/ " Certainly he did/' replied Johnson, " but we must 

 always remember that he made it for Scotchmen." At this time 

 " Ossian's Poems," published by Macpherson, excited much contro- 

 versy in the literary world, and Dr. Johnson, always the friend to 

 veracity, made frequent inquiries during his tour in Scotland 

 respecting the authenticity of the work ; but he could get no in- 

 formation of the original poems, and from the erasive answers 



