Boswelliana: The Commonplace Book of James Boswell, with a Memoir and AnnotationsBoswell, James
History
Boswelliana: The Commonplace Book of James Boswell, with a Memoir and Annotations
Boswell, James
Boswell, James, 1740-1795
After an absence of eighty-three days the travellers returned to
Edinburgh. They were complimented and entertained by Lord Elibank, Lady
Colville, Lord Hailes, Principal Robertson, and others. Mrs. Boswell,
though she did not oppose her husband taking part in the Hebridean
journey, was not reconciled to it. On his return she remarked to
him, “I have seen a bear led by a man, but I never before saw a man
led by a bear.” Boswell accepted the remark facetiously, and, in the
belief he would enjoy it, repeated it to Dr. Johnson. As might have
been expected, the lexicographer felt most keenly the allusion to his
rough manners, and he was placed in circumstances in which retort was
impossible. Removal was his only refuge, and he hastened his departure.
He left Edinburgh in the stage-coach on the 22nd November—just twelve
days after his return to the city. But he did not forget Mrs. Boswell’s
censure. For several years he alluded to her disliking him in many
letters to her husband. Writing to Boswell on the 29th January, 1774,
he sends his compliments to Mrs. Boswell, adding, “Tell her I do not
love her the less for wishing me away.” On the 5th March he wrote,
“Mrs. Boswell is a sweet lady—only she was so glad to see me go that
I have almost a mind to come again, that she may again have the same
pleasure.” In the same strain he writes to Boswell on the 27th August,
1775,—
“Of Mrs. Boswell, though she knows in her heart that she does not love
me, I am always glad to hear any good, and hope that she and the dear
little ladies will have neither sickness nor any other affliction. But
she knows that she does not care what becomes of me, and for that she
may be sure that I think her very much to blame.”
Dr. Johnson prepared his “Journey to the Hebrides” most leisurely; it
was not published till January, 1775. Boswell received a parcel of
copies, one for himself, others for persons who had shown particular
attention to the writer. In distributing the volumes he invited special
attention to an encomium upon himself in the earlier portion of the
work. Obtaining charge of several cases appealed from the Court of
Session to the House of Lords, he hastened to London to enjoy the
honours which he conceived Dr. Johnson’s eulogy must have secured him.
On the evening of Saturday, the 18th March, Boswell by the Edinburgh
diligence reached Grantham. Travelling being suspended till Monday, he
in the interval wrote a long letter to Mr. Temple. An extract follows.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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