Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 1.djvu/310

 he wished. Owing, however, (as is understood,) to the backwardness of Lord Auchinleck to enforce his claims, his patrons put him off from time to time, till he was again obliged to return to Scotland. At length, in the spring of 1763, a compromise was made between the father and his son, the latter agreeing to relinquish his favourite project, and resume the study of the civil law for one winter at Utrecht, with the view of ultimately entering the legal profession, on the condition that, after the completion of his studies, he should be permitted to make what was then called "the grand tour."

Boswell set out for this purpose early in 1763; and, according to the recollection of an ancient inhabitant of Glasgow, his appearance, in riding through that city, on his way from Auchinleck, was as follows:—"A cocked hat, a brown wig, brown coat, made in the court fashion, red vest, corduroy small clothes, and long military-looking boots. He was on horseback, with his servant at a most aristocratic distance behind, and presented a fine specimen of the Scottish country gentleman of that day."—''Edin. Lit. Jour..'' ii, 327.

In Boswell's previous visits to London, he had never had the good fortune to make the acquaintance of Dr Samuel Johnson. He had now that pleasure. On the 16th of May, as he himself takes care to inform us, while sitting in the back-shop of Thomas Davies, the bookseller, No. 8, Russell-street, Covent Garden, Johnson came in, and Boswell was introduced, by Davies, as a young gentleman "from Scotland." Owing to the antipathy of the lexicographer to that country, his conversation with Boswell was not at first of so cordial a description as at all to predicate the remarkable friendship they afterwards formed. Boswell, however, by the vivacity of his conversation, soon beguiled the doctor of his prejudices; and their intimacy was confirmed by a visit which he soon after paid to Johnson at his apartments in the Temple. During the few months which Boswell spent in town before setting out for Utrecht, he applied himself assiduously to cultivate this friendship, taking apartments in the Temple in order that he might be the oftener in the company of the great man. Even at this early period, he began that practice of noting down the conversation of Johnson, which eventually enabled him to compose such a splendid monument to their common memory.

He set out for Ulrecht, in August 1763, and, after studying for the winter under the celebrated civilian Trotz, proceeded, according to the compact with his father, upon the tour of Europe. In company with the Earl Marischal, whose acquaintance he had formed, he travelled through Switzerland and Germany, visiting Voltaire at Ferney, and Rousseau in the wilds of Neufchatel; men whom his regard for the principles of religion might have taught him to avoid, if his itch for the acquaintance of noted characters == one of the most remarkable features of his character—had not forced him into their presence. Ho afterwards crossed the Alps, and spent some time in visiting the principal cities in Italy. Here he formed an acquaintance with Lord Mountstuart, the eldest son of the Earl of Bute; to whom he afterwards dedicated his law thesis on being admitted to the bar.

At this time, the inhabitants of the small island of Corsica were engaged in their famous struggle for liberty, against the Genoese, and Pasquale de Paoli, their heroic leader, was, for the time, one of the most noted men in Europe. Boswell, struck by an irrepressible curiosity regarding this person, sailed to Corsica, in autumn 1765, and introduced himself to Paoli at his palace, by means of a letter from Rousseau. He was received with much distinction and kindness, and noted down a good deal of the very striking conversation of the Corsican chief. After a residence of some weeks in the island, during which he made himself acquainted with all its natural and moral features, he returned through