’DEARSIR，Icamehitherlastnight，andhope，butdonotabsolutelypromise，tobeinEdinburghonSaturday。Beattiewillnotcomesosoon。Iam，Sir，yourmosthumbleservant，’Mycomplimentstoyourlady。’
’SAM。JOHNSON。’
TOTHESAME。
’Mr。JohnsonsendshiscomplimentstoMr。Boswell，beingjustarrivedatBoyd’s——Saturdaynight。’
HisstayinScotlandwasfromthe18thofAugust，onwhichdayhearrived，tillthe22ndofNovember，whenhesetoutonhisreturntoLondon；andIbelieveninety-fourdayswereneverpassedbyanymaninamorevigorousexertion。*
*InhisJournalofaTourtotheHebrides，publishedtheyearafterJohnsondied，BoswellgivesadetailedaccountofJohnson’sconversationandadventureswithhimthroughoutthejourneyof1773。Partlyowingtotheiruninterruptedassociation，partlytothestrangenessandvariationofbackgroundandcircumstances，andpartlytoBoswell’slargerleisureduringthetourfortheelaborationofhisaccount，thejournalisevenmoreracy，picturesque，andinterestingthananyequalpartoftheLife。NoreaderwhoenjoystheLifeshouldfailtoreadtheTour——
unabridged!——ED。
HishumaneforgivingdispositionwasputtoaprettystrongtestonhisreturntoLondon，byalibertywhichMr。ThomasDavieshadtakenwithhiminhisabsence，whichwas，topublishtwovolumes，entitled，MiscellaneousandfugitivePieces，whichheadvertisedinthenews-papers，’BytheAuthouroftheRambler。’Inthiscollection，severalofDr。Johnson’sacknowledgedwritings，severalofhisanonymousperformances，andsomewhichhehadwrittenforothers，wereinserted；buttherewerealsosomeinwhichhehadnoconcernwhatever。Hewasatfirstveryangry，ashehadgoodreasontobe。But，uponconsiderationofhispoorfriend’snarrowcircumstances，andthathehadonlyalittleprofitinview，andmeantnoharm，hesoonrelented，andcontinuedhiskindnesstohimasformerly。
Inthecourseofhisself-examinationwithretrospecttothisyear，heseemstohavebeenmuchdejected；forhesays，January1，1774，’Thisyearhaspassedwithsolittleimprovement，thatIdoubtwhetherIhavenotratherimpairedthanincreasedmylearning’；andyetwehaveseenhowheREAD，andweknowhowheTALKEDduringthatperiod。
HewasnowseriouslyengagedinwritinganaccountofourtravelsintheHebrides，inconsequenceofwhichIhadthepleasureofamorefrequentcorrespondencewithhim。
’TOBENNETLANGTON，ESQ。，ATLANGTON，NEARSPILSBY，LINCOLNSHIRE。
’DEARSIR，——YouhavereasontoreproachmethatIhaveleftyourlastlettersolongunanswered，butIhadnothingparticulartosay。Chambers，youfind，isgonefar，andpoorGoldsmithisgonemuchfurther。Hediedofafever，exasperated，asIbelieve，bythefearofdistress。Hehadraisedmoneyandsquanderedit，byeveryartificeofacquisition，andfollyofexpence。Butletnothisfrailtiesberemembered；hewasaverygreatman。
’IhavejustbeguntoprintmyJourneytotheHebrides，andamleavingthepresstotakeanotherjourneyintoWales，whitherMr。
Thraleisgoing，totakepossessionof，atleast，fivehundredayear，fallentohislady。AllatStreatham，thatarealive，arewell。
’Ihaveneverrecoveredfromthelastdreadfulillness，butflattermyselfthatIgrowgraduallybetter；much，however，yetremainstomend。[Greektextomitted]。
’IfyouhavetheLatinversionofBusy，curious，thirstyfly，besokindastotranscribeandsendit；butyouneednotbeinhaste，forIshallbeIknownotwhere，foratleastfiveweeks。IwrotethefollowingtetastrickonpoorGoldsmith：——
[Greektextomitted]
’Pleasetomakemymostrespectfulcomplimentstoalltheladies，andremembermetoyoungGeorgeandhissisters。IreckonGeorgebeginstoshewapairofheels。
’Donotbesullennow，butletmefindaletterwhenIcomeback。
Iam，dearSir，youraffectionate，humbleservant，’SAM。JOHNSON。
’July5，1774。’
Inhismanuscriptdiaryofthisyear，thereisthefollowingentry：——
’Nov。27。AdventSunday。Iconsideredthatthisday，beingthebeginningoftheecclesiasticalyear，wasapropertimeforanewcourseoflife。IbegantoreadtheGreekTestamentregularlyat160verseseverySunday。ThisdayIbegantheActs。
’InthisweekIreadVirgil’sPastorals。IlearnedtorepeatthePollioandGallus。IreadcarelesslythefirstGeorgick。’
Suchevidencesofhisunceasingardour，bothfor’divineandhumanlore，’whenadvancedintohissixty-fifthyear，andnotwithstandinghismanydisturbancesfromdisease，mustmakeusatoncehonourhisspirit，andlamentthatitshouldbesogrievouslycloggedbyitsmaterialtegument。
1775：AETAT。66。]——
’MR。BOSWELLTODR。JOHNSON。
’Edinburgh，Feb。2，1775。
’……AstoMacpherson，’Iamanxioustohavefromyourselfafullandpointedaccountofwhathaspassedbetweenyouandhim。Itisconfidentlytoldhere，thatbeforeyourbookcameouthesenttoyou，toletyouknowthatheunderstoodyoumeanttodenytheauthenticityofOssian’spoems；thattheoriginalswereinhispossession；thatyoumighthaveinspectionofthem，andmighttaketheevidenceofpeopleskilledintheErselanguage；andthathehoped，afterthisfairoffer，youwouldnotbesouncandidastoassertthathehadrefusedreasonableproof。Thatyoupaidnoregardtohismessage，butpublishedyourstrongattackuponhim；
andthenhewrotealettertoyou，insuchtermsashethoughtsuitedtoonewhohadnotactedasamanofveracity。’……
WhatwordswereusedbyMr。MacphersoninhislettertothevenerableSage，Ihaveneverheard；buttheyaregenerallysaidtohavebeenofanatureverydifferentfromthelanguageofliterarycontest。Dr。Johnson’sanswerappearedinthenews-papersoftheday，andhassincebeenfrequentlyre-published；butnotwithperfectaccuracy。Igiveitasdictatedtomebyhimself，writtendowninhispresence，andauthenticatedbyanoteinhisownhandwriting，’This，Ithink，isatruecopy。’
’MR。JAMESMACPHERSON，——Ireceivedyourfoolishandimpudentletter。AnyviolenceofferedmeIshalldomybesttorepel；andwhatIcannotdoformyself，thelawshalldoforme。IhopeI
shallneverbedeterredfromdetectingwhatIthinkacheat，bythemenacesofaruffian。
’Whatwouldyouhavemeretract？Ithoughtyourbookanimposture；
Ithinkitanimposturestill。ForthisopinionIhavegivenmyreasonstothepublick，whichIheredareyoutorefute。YourrageIdefy。Yourabilities，sinceyourHomer，arenotsoformidable；
andwhatIhearofyourmorals，inclinesmetopayregardnottowhatyoushallsay，buttowhatyoushallprove。Youmayprintthisifyouwill。’
’SAM。JOHNSON。’
Mr。MacphersonlittleknewthecharacterofDr。Johnson，ifhesupposedthathecouldbeeasilyintimidated；fornomanwasevermoreremarkableforpersonalcourage。Hehad，indeed，anawefuldreadofdeath，orrather，’ofsomethingafterdeath；’andwhatrationalman，whoseriouslythinksofquittingallthathehaseverknown，andgoingintoanewandunknownstateofbeing，canbewithoutthatdread？Buthisfearwasfromreflection；hiscouragenatural。Hisfear，inthatoneinstance，wastheresultofphilosophicalandreligiousconsideration。Hefeareddeath，buthefearednothingelse，notevenwhatmightoccasiondeath。Manyinstancesofhisresolutionmaybementioned。Oneday，atMr。
Beauclerk’shouseinthecountry，whentwolargedogswerefighting，hewentuptothem，andbeatthemtilltheyseparated；
andatanothertime，whentoldofthedangertherewasthatagunmightburstifchargedwithmanyballs，heputinsixorseven，andfireditoffagainstawall。Mr。Langtontoldme，thatwhentheywereswimmingtogethernearOxford，hecautionedDr。Johnsonagainstapool，whichwasreckonedparticularlydangerous；uponwhichJohnsondirectlyswamintoit。Hetoldmehimselfthatonenighthewasattackedinthestreetbyfourmen，towhomhewouldnotyield，butkeptthemallatbay，tillthewatchcameup，andcarriedbothhimandthemtotheround-house。IntheplayhouseatLichfield，asMr。Garrickinformedme，Johnsonhavingforamomentquittedachairwhichwasplacedforhimbetweentheside-scenes，agentlemantookpossessionofit，andwhenJohnsononhisreturncivillydemandedhisseat，rudelyrefusedtogiveitup；uponwhichJohnsonlaidholdofit，andtossedhimandthechairintothepit。
Foote，whososuccessfullyrevivedtheoldcomedy，byexhibitinglivingcharacters，hadresolvedtoimitateJohnsononthestage，expectinggreatprofitsfromhisridiculeofsocelebratedaman。
Johnsonbeinginformedofhisintention，andbeingatdinneratMr。
ThomasDavies’sthebookseller，fromwhomIhadthestory，heaskedMr。Davies’whatwasthecommonpriceofanoakstick；’andbeingansweredsix-pence，’Whythen，Sir，saidhe，givemeleavetosendyourservanttopurchasemeashillingone。I’llhaveadoublequantity；forIamtoldFootemeanstotakemeoff，ashecallsit，andIamdeterminedthefellowshallnotdoitwithimpunity。DaviestookcaretoacquaintFooteofthis，whicheffectuallycheckedthewantonnessofthemimick。Mr。Macpherson’smenacesmadeJohnsonprovidehimselfwiththesameimplementofdefence；andhadhebeenattacked，Ihavenodoubtthat，oldashewas，hewouldhavemadehiscorporalprowessbefeltasmuchashisintellectual。
HisJourneytotheWesternIslandsofScotlandisamostvaluableperformance。Johnson’sgratefulacknowledgementsofkindnessesreceivedinthecourseofthistour，completelyrefutethebrutalreflectionswhichhavebeenthrownoutagainsthim，asifhehadmadeanungratefulreturn；andhisdelicacyinsparinginhisbookthosewhowefindfromhisletterstoMrs。Thralewerejustobjectsofcensure，ismuchtobeadmired。Hiscandourandamiabledispositionisconspicuousfromhisconduct，wheninformedbyMr。