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From an Original sketch by the late George Langton, Esqre

Polished by John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1835.

PART XXXIV.

BOSWELL.

No. I.-BRIEF MEMOIR OF BOSWELL, BY EDMOND MALONE, ESQ. (*)

But

JAMES BOSWELL, Esq., eldest son of Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, one of the judges in the supreme courts of session and justiciary in Scotland, was born at Edinburgh, October 29, 1740, and received his first rudiments of education in that city. He afterwards studied Civil Law in the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. During his residence in these cities, he acquired, by the society of the English gentlemen who were students in the English colleges, that remarkable predilection for their manners, which neither the force of education, nor the dulcedo of his natale solum, could ever eradicate. his most intimate acquaintance at this period was the Rev. Mr. Temple, a worthy, learned, and pious divine, whose well-written character of Gray was inserted in Johnson's Life of that poet. Mr. Boswell imbibed early the ambition of distinguishing himself by his literary talents, and had the good fortune to obtain the patronage of the late Lord Somerville. This nobleman treated him with the most flattering kindness; and Mr. Boswell ever remembered with gratitude the friendship he so long enjoyed with this worthy peer. Having always entertained an exalted idea

(*) [From Nichols's Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Cenvol. ii. p. 400.]

of the felicity of London, in the year 1760 he visited that capital; in the manners and amusements of which he found so much that was congenial to his own taste and feelings, that it became ever after his favourite residence, whither he always returned from his estate in Scotland, and from his various rambles in various parts of Europe, with increasing eagerness and delight; and we find him, nearly twenty years afterwards, condemning Scotland as too narrow a sphere, and wishing to make his chief residence in London, which he calls the great scene of ambition, instruction, and, comparatively, making his heaven upon earth. He was, doubtless, confirmed in this attachment to the metropolis by the strong predilection entertained towards it by his friend Dr. Johnson, whose sentiments on this subject Mr. Boswell details in various parts of his Life of that great man; and which are corroborated by every one, in pursuit of literary and intellectual attainments, who has enjoyed but a taste of the rich feast which that city spreads before him.

The politeness, affability, and insinuating urbanity of manners, which distinguished Mr. Boswell, introduced him into the company of many eminent and learned men, whose acquaintance and friendship he cultivated with the greatest assiduity. In truth, the esteem and approbation of learned men seems to have been one chief object of his literary ambition; and we find him so successful in pursuing his end, that he enumerated some of the greatest men in Scotland among his friends even before he left it for the first time. Notwithstanding Mr. Boswell by his education was intended for the bar, yet he was himself earnestly bent at this period upon obtaining a commission in the Guards, and solicited Lord Auchinleck's acquiescence; but returned, however, by his desire, into Scotland, where he received a regular course of instruction in the law, and passed his trials as a civilian at Edinburgh. Still, however, ambitious of displaying himself as one of "the manly hearts who guard the fair," he revisited London a second time in 1762; and various occurrences delaying the purchase of a commission, he was at length persuaded by Lord Auchinleck to relinquish his pursuit, and become an advocate at the Scotch bar. In compliance, therefore, with his father's wishes, he consented to go to

Utrecht the ensuing winter, to hear the lectures of an excellent civilian in that university; after which he had permission to make his grand tour of Europe.

In 1762 Mr. Boswell published the little poem, entitled "The Club at Newmarket, a Tale;" and the next year may be considered the most important epocha in his life, as he had the singular felicity to be introduced to Dr. Johnson. This event, so auspicious for Mr. Boswell, and so fortunate for the literary world, happened on May 16, 1763. Having afterwards continued one winter at Utrecht, during which time he visited several parts of the Netherlands, he commenced his projected travels. Passing from Utrecht into Germany, he pursued his route through Switzerland to Geneva; whence he crossed the Alps into Italy: having visited on his journey Voltaire at Ferney, and Rousseau in the wilds of Neufchatel. Mr. Boswell continued some time in Italy, where he met and associated with Lord Mountstuart, to whom he afterwards dedicated his Theses Juridicæ.

Having visited the most remarkable cities in Italy, Mr. Boswell sailed to Corsica, travelled over every part of that island, and obtained the friendship of the illustrious Pasqual de Paoli, in whose palace he resided during his stay at Corsica. He afterwards went to Paris, whence he returned to Scotland in 1766, and soon after became an advocate at the Scotch bar. The celebrated Douglas cause was at that time a subject of general discussion. Mr. Boswell published the "Essence of the Douglas Cause;" a pamphlet which contributed to procure Mr. Douglas the popularity which he at that time possessed.

In 1768, Mr. Boswell obliged the world by his "Account of Corsica, with Memoirs of General Paoli." Of this printed porformance Dr. Johnson thus expresses himself: "Your Journal is curious and delightful. I know not whether I could name any narrative by which curiosity is better excited or better gratified." This book was received with extraordinary approbation, and has been translated into the German, Dutch, Italian, and French languages. In the following winter, the theatre-royal at Edinburgh, hitherto restrained by party spirit, was opened. On this occasion Mr. Boswell was solicited by David Ross, Esq. to write a prologue. The effect of this prologue upon the audience

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