1772.

Etat. 63.

can hop upon one leg. But he has not that nice difcrimination which your friend feems to poffefs. Foote is, however, very entertaining, with a kind of converfation between wit and buffoonery."

On Monday, March 23, I found him bufy, preparing a fourth edition of his folio Dictionary. Mr. Peyton, one of his original amanuenfes, was writing for him. I put him in mind of a meaning of the word fide, which he had omitted, viz. relationship; as, father's fide, mother's fide. He inferted it. I asked him if humiliating was a good word. He faid, he had feen it frequently used, but he did not know it to be legitimate English. He would not admit civilization, but only civility. With great deference to him, I thought civilization, from to civilize, better in the fenfe opposed to barbarity, than civility, as it is better to have a diftinct word for each fense, than one word with two senses, which civility is, in his way of ufing it.

He feemed alfo to be intent on fome fort of chymical operation. I was entertained by obferving how he contrived to fend Mr, Peyton on an errand, without feeming to degrade him. "Mr. Peyton, Mr. Peyton, will you be fo good as to take a walk to Temple-Bar? You will there fee a chymift's fhop; at which you will be pleased to buy for me an ounce of oil of vitriol; not fpirit of vitriol, but oil of vitriol. It will coft three half-pence.' Peyton immediately went, and returned with it, and told him it coft but a penny.

"1

I then reminded him of the schoolmafter's cause, and proposed to read to him the printed papers concerning it, "No, Sir, (faid he,) I can read

quicker

quicker than I can hear." So he read them to himself.

After he had read for fome time, we were interrupted by the enterance of Mr. Kriftrom, a Swede, who was tutor to fome young gentlemen in the city. He told me, that there was a very good History of Sweden, by Daline, Having at that time an intention of writing the hiftory of that country, I asked Dr, Johnson whether one might write a history of Sweden, without going thither, "Yes, Sir, (faid he,) one for common use.'

1772.

Ætat. 63.

We talked of languages. Johnfon observed, that Leibnitz had made fome progrefs in a work, tracing all languages up to the Hebrew, "Why, Sir, (faid he,) you would not imagine that the French jour, day, is derived from the Latin dies, and yet nothing is more certain; and the intermediate steps are very clear. From dies, comes diurnus. Diu is, by inaccurate ears, or inaccurate pronunciation, eafily confounded with giu; then the Italians form a fubftantive of the ablative of an adjective, and thence giurno, or, as they make it giorno; which is readily contracted into giour, or jour." He obferved, that the Bohemian language was true Sclavonick. The Swede faid, it had fome fimilarity with the German. JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, to be fure, fuch parts of Sclavonia aş confine with Germany, will borrow German words; and fuch parts as confine with Tartary, will borrow Tartar words."

He said, he never had it properly ascertained that the Scotch Highlanders and the Irish underderstood each other, I told him that my coufin

Colonel

Graham, of the Royal Highlanders, whom I met at Drogheda, told me they did. JOHNSON. "Sir, if the Highlanders understood Irish, why tranflate the New Teftament into Erfe, as was done lately at Edinburgh, when there is an Irish translation ?" BOSWELL. Although the Erfe and Irish are both dialects of the fame language, there may be a good deal of diverfity between them, as between the different dialects in Italy."-The Swede went away, and Mr. Johnfon continued his reading of the papers. I faid "I am afraid, Sir, it is troublefome." "Why, Sir, (faid he,) I do not take much delight in it; but I'll go through it."

We went to the Mitre, and dined in the room where he and I first fupped together. He gave me great hopes of my cause. "Sir, (faid he,) the government of a fchoolmafter is fomewhat of the nature of military government; that is to fay, it must be arbitrary, it must be exercised by the will of one man, according to particular circumftances. You must fhow fome learning upon this occafion. You muft fhow, that a schoolmaster has a prefcriptive right to beat; and that an action of affault and battery cannot be admitted against him, unless there is fome great excefs, fome barbarity, This man has maimed none of his boys. They are all left with the full exercife of their corporeal faculties. In our schools in England, many boys have been maimed; yet I never heard of an action against a schoolmaster on that account. Puffendorff, I think, maintains the right of a schoolmaster to beat his scholars."

1772.

On Saturday, March 27, I introduced to him Sir Alexander Macdonald, with whom he had ex- Etat. 63. preffed a wish to be acquainted. He received him very courteously.

Sir Alexander obferved, that the Chancellors in England are chofen from views much inferiour to the office, being chofen from temporary political views. JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, in fuch a government as ours, no man is appointed to an office because he is the fitteft for it, nor hardly in any other government; because there are fo many connections and dependencies to be studied. A. defpotick prince may choose a man to an office, merely because he is the fitteft for it. The King of Pruffia may do it." SIR A. "I think, Sir, almost all great lawyers, fuch at least as have written upon law, have known only law, and nothing elfe." JOHNSON. "Why no, Sir; Judge Hale was a great lawyer, and wrote upon law; and yet he knew a great many other things, and has written upon other things. Selden too." SIR A. "Very true, Sir; and Lord Bacon. But was not Lord Coke a mere lawyer?" JOHNSON. "Why, I am afraid he was; but he would have taken it very ill if you had told him fo. He would have profecuted you for fcandal." BoSWELL. "Lord Mansfield is not a mere lawyer." JOHNSON. "No, Sir. I never was in Lord Mansfield's company; but, Lord Mansfield was diftinguished at the Univerfity. Lord Mansfield, when he first came to town, 'drank champagne with the wits,' as Prior fays. He was the friend of Pope." "Barristers, I believe, are not so abusive

SIR A.

now as

they

1772. they were formerly. I fancy they had lefs law long Etat. 63. ago, and fo were obliged to take to abuse, to fill up the time. Now they have fuch a number of precedents, they have no occafion for abufe." JOHNSON. "Nay, Sir, they had more law long ago than they have now. As to precedents, to be fure they will increase in courfe of time; but the more precedents there are, the lefs occafion is there for law; that is to fay, the lefs occafion is there for investigating principles." SIR A. "I have been correcting several Scotch accents in my friend Bofwell. I doubt, Sir, if any Scotchman ever attains to a perfect English pronunciation." JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, few of them do, because they do not persevere after acquiring a certain degree of it. But, Sir, there can be no doubt that they may attain to a perfect English pronunciation, if they will. We find how near they come to it; and certainly, a man who conquers nineteen parts of the Scottish accent, may conquer the twentieth. But, Sir, when a man has got the better of nine tenths, he grows weary, he relaxes his diligencé, he finds he has corrected his accent fo far as not to be disagreeable, and he no longer defires his friends to tell him when he is wrong; nor does he choose to be told. Sir, when people watch me narrowly, and I do not watch myself, they will find me out to be of a particular county. In the fame manner, Dunning may be found out to be a Devonshire man. So moft Scotchmen may be found out. But, Sir, little aberrations are of no difadvantage. I never catched Mallet in a Scotch accent; and yet