Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 1.djvu/319

  in his latter years. He placed both his sons at Westminster school, and afterwards in the university of Oxford, at an expense which appears to have been not altogether justified by his own circumstances.

Alexander Boswell, who was born, October 9, 1775, succeeded his father in the possession of the family estate. He was distinguished as a spirited and amiable country gentleman, and also as a literary antiquary of no inconsiderable erudition. Perhaps his taste, in the latter capacity, was greatly fostered by the possession of an excellent collection of old manuscripts and books, which was gathered together by his ancestors, and has acquired the well-known title of the "." From the stores of this collection, in 1804, Sir Walter Scott published the romance of "Sir Tristram," which is judged by its learned editor to be the earliest specimen of poetry by a Scottish writer now in existence. Besides this invaluable present to the literary world, the Auchinleck Library furnished, in 1812, the black letter original of a disputation held between John Knox and Quentin Kennedy at Maybolein 1562, which was printed at the time by Knox himself, but had latterly become so scarce, that hardly another copy, besides that in the Auchinleck Library, was known to exist Mr Boswell was at the expense of printing a fac-simile edition of this curiosity, which was accepted by the learned, as a very valuable contribution to our stock of historical literature.

The taste of Alexander Boswell was of a much manlier and more sterling character than that of his father; and instead of being alternately the active and passive cause of amusement to his friends, he shone exclusively in the former capacity. He possessed, indeed, a great fund of volatile talent, and, in particular, a most pungent vein of satire, which, while it occasionally inspired fear and dislike in those who were liable to become its objects, produced no admiration which was not also accompanied by respect. At an early period of his life, some of his poetical jeux d'esprit occasionally made a slight turmoil in that circle of Scottish society in which he moved. He sometimes also exercised his pen in that kind of familiar vernacular poetry which Burns again brought into fashion; and in the department of song-writing he certainly met with considerable success. A small volume, entitled, "Songs chiefly in the Scottish Dialect," was published by him, anonymously, in 1803, with the motto, "Nulla venenalo litera mixta joco," a motto which it would have been well for him if he had never forgot. In a brief note on the second folio of this little work, he mentioned that he was induced to lay these trivial compositions in an authentic shape before the public, because corrupted copies had previously made their appearance. The truth is, some of his songs had already acquired a wide acceptation in the public, and were almost as familiar as those of Burns. The volume also contains some English compositions, which still retain a popularity such as "Taste Life's Glad Moments," which, he tells us, he translated at Leipsig, in 1795, from the German song, "Freu't euch des Libens." Mr Boswell also appears, from various compositions in this little volume, to have had a turn for writing popular Irish songs. One or two of his attempts in that style, are replete with the grotesque character of the nation.