Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 05.djvu/443

 she had seen many 'a bear led by a man, she had never before seen a man led by a bear,' Johnson perceived, and frequently notices, the dislike which she endeavoured to conceal by studious politeness (Letter to Boswell, 27 Nov. 17/3, and note). His father 'harped' on his 'going over Scotland with a brute (think how shockingly erroneous!) 'and wandering to London. As Scott tells us (note on Tour to Hebrides, 6 Nov. 1773), Lord Auchinleck pronounced Jamie to be ' clean gyte ' for 'pinning himself to the tail of an auld Dominie.' Serious difficulties lay behind. Boswell seems in the main to have behaved well to his wife, though he maintained that he could 'unite little fondnesses [for other persons] with perfect conjugal love' (Letters to Temple, p. 197). But his relations to Lord Auchinleck were often strained, and Boswell complains that his father is cold to his wife, and is estranged by the stepmother's influence. His professional prospects did not improve, as Boswell was the last man to impress clients with his businesslike capacity. He tells Temple in 1775 that he had made 124l. in the last session, and he frequently consults Johnson upon legal cases in which he was concerned. But he finds the Scotch bar uncongenial (Letters to Temple, p. 198). He began in 1775 to keep terms at the Inner Temple (ib. p. 193), and in 1780 he complains that he cannot support his family (ib. p. 255). His father allowed him 300l. a year. In 1775 his father also paid off a debt of 1,000l. and threatened (though the threat was not carried out) to reduce the allowance to 200l. In 1780 Boswell had incurred another debt of 700l. or 800l. by advances to his wife's family, and was afraid to inform his father. He had by this time five children : Veronica, b. 1773; Euphemia, b. 1774; Alexander, b. 1775 ; James, b. 1778, and Elizabeth, b. 1780 ; besides two sons who died in infancy. With such demands and difficulties due to his occasional escapades, and loans to Temple, he had some grounds for the hypochondria of which — as of all his personal peculiarities — he was much given to boast. He endeavoured to be conciliatory to his father even at the cost of drinking 'a large quantity of strong beer to dull his faculties' (Letters to Temple, p. 216), but is vexed by the thought that he had given to his father 'a renunciation of his birthright,' and is thus entirely dependent on his pleasure. After a long discussion, however, in which Boswell consulted Johnson and Lord Hailes, Lord Auchinleck entailed his estate upon him, 7 Aug. 1776. (The preamble to the instrument is printed in Roger's 'Boswell,' p. 207.) Boswell wished that heirs male should be preferred, however remote ; though he graciously observes that he holds that daughters should always be treated with affection and tenderness (note upon letter from Johnson. 15 Feb. 1776). During his father's life his difficulties did not diminish, and Johnson had to protest against his borrowing money to visit London in the spring of 1782. In the autumn of the same year he came into an estate of 1,600l. a year by the death of his father, 30 Aug. 1782, and proposed to set up as a country gentleman. In December 1783 he writhes to Johnson asking for advice about resisting the unconstitutional influence of Scotch peers, and the treatment of old horses, and expressing his exultation at having been twice elected prcenea at public meetings by the gentlemen of the county. He entertained some hopes of patronage from Pitt, now coming into power, and tried to bring himself into notice by a 'Letter to the People of Scotland on the Present State of the Nation.' He attacks Fox's India Bill and celebrates the virtue of Sir John, an ancestor of Lord Lowther (created Lord Lonsdale May 1784), from whom he had some hopes of support. He sends a copy to Johnson 8 Jan. 1784, and on 17 March put out an address to the freeholders or Ayrshire (printed in Rogers's 'Boswell,' p. 133). On his way to London he heard of the dissolution of parliament, and returned to contest the county, but retired on finding that the old member would stand again. On reaching London, Boswell found Johnson in precarious health, and took an eager part in trying to obtain such an addition to his friend's pension as would enable him to pass a winter in Italy. The last meeting of the two was at a dinner at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, where the plan was discussed. Boswell startled next day for Scotland. Upon the death of Johnson, Boswell set about printing his 'Journal of the Tour to the Hebrides,' which had been frequently read by Johnson himself during their journey. Johnson had objected to the publication of this as an appendix to his own narrative, being, as Boswell thought, jealous of a partnership in fame (Letters to Temple, p. 192), or more probably fearing the ridicule which it was certain to provoke. Whilst it was going through the press, a sheet was seen by Malone, who thereupon asked for an introduction to the writer, and who revised it throughout, as he afterwards did the life of Johnson. It appeared in the spring of 1786 and reached a third edition in the same year, when Rowlandson published a series of caricatures, and Peter Pindar satirised him in caustic rhymes. A