James Boswell - The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson

My Dear Sir,

In every narrative, whether historical or biographical, authenticityis of the utmost consequence. Of this I have ever been so firmlypersuaded, that I inscribed a former work to that person who was thebest judge of its truth. I need not tell you I mean General Paoli;who, after his great, though unsuccessful, efforts to preserve theliberties of his country, has found an honourable asylum in Britain,where he has now lived many years the object of Royal regard andprivate respect; and whom I cannot name without expressing my verygrateful sense of the uniform kindness which he has been pleased toshew me.

The friends of Doctor Johnson can best judge, from internal evidence,whether the numerous conversations which form the most valuable partof the ensuing pages, are correctly related. To them, therefore I wishto appeal, for the accuracy of the portrait here exhibited to theworld.

As one of those who were intimately acquainted with him, you have atide to this address. You have obligingly taken the trouble to perusethe original manuscript of this tour, and can vouch for the strictfidelity of the present publication. Your literary alliance with ourmuch lamented friend, in consequence of having undertaken to renderone of his labours more complete, by your edition of Shakespeare, awork which I am confident will not disappoint the expectations of thepublick, gives you another claim. But I have a still more powerfulinducement to prefix your name to this volume, as it gives me anopportunity of letting the world know that I enjoy the honour andhappiness of your friendship; and of thus publickly testifying thesincere regard with which I am.

My dear Sir,

Your very faithful and obedient servant,
James Boswell.
London, 20 September 1785.

"He was of an admirable pregnancy of wit, and that pregnancy muchimproved by continual study from his childhood; by which he had gottensuch a promptness in expressing his mind, that his extemporal speecheswere little inferior to his premeditated writings. Many, no doubt, hadread as much and perhaps more than he; but scarce ever any concoctedhis reading into judgement as he did."Baker's Chronicle

Dr Johnson had for many years given me hopes that we should gotogether, and visit the Hebrides. Martin's Account of those islandshad impressed us with a notion that we might there contemplate asystem of life almost totally different from what we had beenaccustomed to see; and, to find simplicity and wildness, and all thecircumstances of remote time or place, so near to our native greatisland, was an object within the reach of reasonable curiosity. DrJohnson has said in his Journey, 'that he scarcely remembered how thewish to visit the Hebrides was excited'; but he told me, in summer,1763, that his father put Martin's Account into his hands when he wasvery young, and that he was much pleased with it. We reckoned therewould be some inconveniencies and hardships, and perhaps a littledanger; but these we were persuaded were magnified in the imaginationof every body. When I was at Ferney, in 1764, I mentioned our designto Voltaire. He looked at me, as if I had talked of going to the NorthPole, and said, 'You do not insist on my accompanying you?' 'No, sir.''Then I am very willing you should go.' I was not afraid that ourcurious expedition would be prevented by such apprehensions; but Idoubted that it would not be possible to prevail on Dr Johnson torelinquish, for some time, the felicity of a London life, which, to aman who can enjoy it with full intellectual relish, is apt to makeexistence in any narrower sphere seem insipid or irksome. I doubtedthat he would not be willing to come down from his elevated state ofphilosophical dignity; from a superiority of wisdom among the wise,and of learning among the learned; and from flashing his wit uponminds bright enough to reflect it.

He had disappointed my expectations so long, that I began to despair;but in spring, 1773, he talked of coming to Scotland that year with somuch firmness, that I hoped he was at last in earnest. I knew that, ifhe were once launched from the metropolis, he would go forward verywell; and I got our common friends there to assist in setting himafloat. To Mrs Thrale in particular, whose enchantment over him seldomfailed, I was much obliged. It was, 'I'll give thee a wind.' 'Thou artkind.' To attract him, we had invitations from the chiefs Macdonaldand Macleod; and, for additional aid, I wrote to Lord Elibank, DrWilliam Robertson, and Dr Beattie.

To Dr Robertson, so far as my letter concerned the present subject, Iwrote as follows:

Our friend, Mr Samuel Johnson, is in great health and spirits; and, Ido think, has a serious resolution to visit Scotland this year. Themore attraction, however, the better; and therefore, though I know hewill be happy to meet you there, it will forward the scheme, if, inyour answer to this, you express yourself concerning it with thatpower of which you are so happily possessed, and which may be sodirected as to operate strongly upon him.

His answer to that part of my letter was quite as I could have wished.
It was written with the address and persuasion of the historian of
America.

When I saw you last, you gave us some hopes that you might prevailwith Mr Johnson to make that excursion to Scotland, with theexpectation of which we have long flattered ourselves. If he couldorder matters so, as to pass some time in Edinburgh, about the closeof the summer session, and then visit some of the Highland scenes, Iam confident he would be pleased with the grand features of nature inmany parts of this country: he will meet with many persons here whorespect him, and some whom I am persuaded he will think not unworthyof his esteem. I wish he would make the experiment. He sometimescracks his jokes upon us; but he will find that we can distinguishbetween the stabs of malevolence, and 'the rebukes of the righteous,which are like excellent oil Note: Our friend Edmund Burke, whoby this time had received some pretty severe strokes from Dr Johnson,on account of the unhappy difference in their politicks, upon myrepeating this passage to him, exclaimed, 'Oil of vitriol!', andbreak not the head'. Offer my best compliments to him, and assure himthat I shall be happy to have the satisfaction of seeing him under myroof.

To Dr Beattie I wrote,

The chief intention of this letter is to inform you, that I nowseriously believe Mr Samuel Johnson will visit Scotland this year: butI wish that every power of attraction may be employed to secure ourhaving so valuable an acquisition, and therefore I hope you willwithout delay write to me what I know you think, that I may read it tothe mighty sage, with proper emphasis, before I leave London, which Imust soon. He talks of you with the same warmth that he did last year.We are to see as much of Scotland as we can, in the months of Augustand September. We shall not be long of being at Marischal CollegeNote: This, I find, is a Scotticism. I should have said, 'It willnot be long before we shall be at Marischal College.'. He isparticularly desirous of seeing some of the Western Islands.

Dr Beattie did better: ipse venit. He was, however, so polite as towave his privilege of nil mihi rescribus, and wrote from Edinburgh, asfollows:

Your very kind and agreeable favour of the 20th of April overtook mehere yesterday, after having gone to Aberdeen, which place I leftabout a week ago. I am to set out this day for London, and hope tohave the honour of paying my respects to Mr Johnson and you, about aweek or ten days hence. I shall then do what I can, to enforce thetopick you mentioned; but at present I cannot enter upon it, as I amin a very great hurry; for I intend to begin my journey within an houror two.