The profeffors entertained us with a very good dinner. Prefent: Murifon, Shaw, Cooke, Hill, Haddo, Watson, Flint, Brown. I obferved, that I wondered to fee him eat fo well, after viewing fo many sorrowful scenes of ruined religious magnificence. 66 Why, faid he, I am not forry, after seeing these gentlemen; for they are not forry."— Murifon faid, all fcrrow was bad, as it was murmuring against the difpenfations of Providence.Johnson. "Sir, forrow is inherent in humanity. As you cannot judge two and two to be either five, or three, but certainly four, fo, when comparing a worse present state with a better which is past, you cannot but feel forrow. It is not cured by reafon, but by the incurfion of present objects, which wear out the past. You need not murmur, though you are forry."-Murifon. "But St. Paul fays, I

have learnt, in whatever ftate I am, therewith to 'be content."—Johnson. "Sir, that relates to riches and poverty; for we fee St. Paul, when he had a thorn in the flesh, prayed earnestly to have it removed, and then he could not be content”— Murifon, thus refuted, tried to be fmart, and drank to Dr. Johnson, "Long may you lecture!" -Dr. Johnson afterwards, fpeaking of his not drinking wine, faid, "The Doctor fpoke of lecturing (looking to him). I give all these lectures on

water."

He defended requiring fubfcription in those admitted. to universities, thus: "As all who come into the country muft obey the king, fo all who come into an univerfity must be of the church."

And here I muft do Dr. Johnson the juftice to contradict a very abfurd and ill-natured story, as to what

what paffed at St. Andrews. It has been circulated,
that, after grace was faid in English, in the ufual
manner, he with the greatest marks of contempt,
as if he had held it to be no grace in an university,
would not fit down till he had faid grace aloud in
Latin. This would have been an infult indeed to the
gentlemen who were entertaining us. But the truth
was precisely thus. In the courfe of converfation
at dinner, Dr. Johnson, in very good humour,
faid, "I fhould have expected to have heard a
Latin grace, among fo many learned men: we had
always a Latin grace at Oxford. I believe I can
repeat it."
Which he did, as giving the learned
men in one place a specimen of what was done by
the learned men in another place.

'

We went and faw the church, in which is Archbishop Sharp's monument. I was ftruck with the

fame kind of feelings with which the churches of Italy impreffed me. I was much pleased, to fee Dr. Johnson actually in St. Andrews, of which we had talked fo long. Profeffor Haddo was with us this afternoon, along with Dr. Watson. We looked at St. Salvador's College. The rooms for students seemed very commodious, and Dr. Johnfon faid, the chapel was the neatest place of worship he had feen. The key of the library could not be found; for it seems Profeffor Hill, who was out of town, had taken it with him. Dr. Johnfon told a joke he had heard of a monastery abroad, where the key of the library could never be found.

It was fomewhat difpiriting, to fee this ancient archiepifcopal city now fadly deferted. We faw in one of its streets a remarkable proof of liberal toleration;

E 3

ration; a nonjuring clergyman, ftrutting about in his canonicals, with a jolly countenance and a round belly, like a well-fed monk.

one was,

We observed two occupations united in the fame perfon, who had hung out two fign-posts. Upon "James Hood, White Iron Smith" (i. e. Tin-plate Worker). Upon another, "The Art of Fencing taught, by James Hood." Upon this laft were painted fome trees, and two men fencing, one of whom had hit the other in the eye, to fhew his great dexterity; fo that the art was well taught. -Johnson. "Were I ftudying here, I should go and take a leffon. I remember Hope, in his book on this art, fays, the Scotch are very good fencers."

We returned to the inn, where we had been entertained at dinner, and drank tea in company with fome of the Profeffors, of whofe civilities I beg leave to add my humble and very grateful acknow, ledgement to the honourable teftimony of Dr. Johnson, in his "Journey."

We talked of compofition, which was a favourite topick of Dr, Watfon's, who first distinguished himself by lectures on rhetorick.-Johnson " I advifed Chambers, and would advise every young man beginning to compoft, to do it as fast as he can, to get a habit of having his mind to start promptly; it is fo much more difficult to improve in speed than in accuracy."-Watfon. "I own I am for much attention to accuracy in compofing, left one fhould get bad habits of doing it in a slovenly manner."Johnson. Why, fir, you are confounding doing inaccurately with the neceffity of doing inaccurately. A man knows when his compofition is inaccurate,

and

and when he thinks fit he'll correct it. But, if a
man is accustomed to compofe flowly, and with
difficulty, upon all occafions, there is danger that
he may not compofe at all, as we do not like to do
that which is not done eafily; and, at any rate,
more time is confumed in a small matter than ought
to be."-Watson. "Dr. Hugh Blair has taken a
week to compofe a fermon."-Johnson.
"Then,
fir, that is for want of the habit of compofing
quickly, which I am infifting one fhould acquire.".
-Watfon. "Blair was not compofing all the
week, but only fuch hours as he found himself dif-
pofed for compofition."-Johnson. "Nay, fir,
unless you tell me the time he took, you tell me
nothing. If I fay I took a week to walk a mile,
and have had the gout five days, and been ill other-
wife another day, I have taken but one day. I my-
felf have compofed about forty fermons. I have
begun a fermon after dinner, and fent it off by the
post that night. I wrote forty-eight of the printed
octavo pages of the Life of Savage at a fitting; but
then I fat up all night. I have alfo written fix
fheets in a day of tranflation from the French."-
Bofwell. "We have all obferved how one man
dreffes himself flowly, and another faft."-Johnson.
"Yes, fir; it is wonderful how much time fome
people will confume in dreffing; taking up a thing
and looking at it, and laying it down, and taking
it up again. Every one should get the habit of do-
ing it quickly. I would fay to a young divine,
Here is your text; let me fee how soon you can
make a fermon.' Then I'd fay, Let me fee ow
Thus I fhould fee

much better you can make it.'
both his powers and his judgement,"

We all went to Dr. Watfon's to fupper. Mifs Sharp, great grandchild of Archbishop Sharp, was there; as was Mr. Craig, the ingenious architect. of the new town of Edinburgh, and nephew of Thomson, to whom Dr. Johnson has fince done fo much juftice, in his "Lives of the Poets."

We talked of memory, and its various modes.Johnson. Memory will play ftrange tricks. One fometimes lofes a fingle word. I once loft fugaces in the Odé Pofthume, Pofthume." I mentioned to him, that a worthy gentleman of my acquaintance actually forgot his own name.-Johnson. "Sir, that was a morbid oblivion."

Friday, 20th August.

Dr. Shaw, the profeffor of divinity, breakfasted with us. I took out my "Ogden on Prayer," and read fome of it to the company. Dr. Johnson praised him." Abernethy, (faid he,) allows only of a physical effect of prayer upon the mind, which may be produced many ways, as well as by prayer; for inftance, by meditation. Ogden goes farther. In truth, we have the confent of all nations for the efficacy of prayer, whether offered up by individuals, or by affemblies; and Revelation has told us, it will be effectual."-I faid, "Leechman feemed to incline to Abernethy's doctrine." Dr. Watfon obferved, that Leechman meant to fhew, that, even admitting no effect to be produced by prayer, refpecting the Deity, it was useful to our own minds. He had given only a part of his fyftem: Dr. Johnfon thought he fhould have given the whole.

Dr.