From Corsica Mr Boswell repaired to Paris; and, returning to Scotland in 1766, was admitted to the bar. Soon after he published a pamphlet, under the title of Essence of the Douglas Carne; written while that great suit was depending in the Court of Session, with a view to excite the public interest in favour.of Mr Douglas. In 1769 he was married to Miss Montgomery, daughter of David Montgomery, Esq.; an accomplished lady, in whose society he en j3yed every domestic happiness. • In the year 1778 Mr Boswell was admitted into the Literary Club, which then met at the Turk's Head in Gerard Street, Soho, and of which Dr Johnson bad been an original member. Here -he had the pleasure of associating, among ethers, with Burke,Reynolds, and Garrick.
Dr Johnson had longprojected a tour to the He brides ; and Mr Boswell at last prevailed upon him, in the course of this year, 1778, to put the plan in execution, and became the companion of his journey from Edinburgh. During this excursion, they saw whatever was most remarkable in the Western High lands and Isles ; and here Mr Boswell was again at large in his natural element. Conscious of the ad vantages which he enjoyed, and aware of their value, be improved every opportunity of knowledge and re mark, and haspreserved a faithful record of all. His feelines were like those which Dante ascribes to the pilgrim, who, having paid his vows, " Long pees on the holy fine, and thinks How be shall paint it when be reaches home.." Both travellers gave the world an account of this tour. Mr Boswell's Journal was published in 1785. In the course of this work, he has given a simple and very interesting narrative of some minute cir cumstances attending the escape of Prince Charles Edward after the battle of Culloden, collected from the information of persons on the spot, and privy to his concealment ; particularly from the cele brated Flora Macdonald, whom they visited at Kingsburgh, in Sky, and from Malcolm Macleod, who had been the faithful and intelligent companion of the Wanderer's Might.
Lord Auchinleck died in 1782 ; and, a few years after (1786), Mr Boswell, giving up his law pursuits at Edmburgh, removed with his family to London, towards which, as a great emporium of literature and theatre of varied life, his inclinations had always tended. He had recently before been called to the ish bar. He did not, however, prosecute the • , but gave himself .up to his natural bent ; or society and letters. After Dr Johnson's death, in V84, he was occupied for several years in collect ing and arranging, with indefatigable diligence, the materials for a narrative, which he had long project ed, of that eminent man's life.* Besides the works which have been already men tioned, he was the author of two Letters addressed to the People being his only productions of a political character. In the first of these, which was published in 1784, he appeared as an advocate for the new administration, then recently formed. The second Letter, written in 1785, was a strenuous appeal against a measure brought forward under the sanction of the same ministry, for effecting a reform in the Court of Session in Scotland, by reducing the number of the Judges.
Mr Boswell died on the 19th June 1795. In his private character, he was loved by his friends, as well as a favourite in the circles of social life; and, if his attachments were often suddenly formed, they were not less durable on this account. Whatever he has written is favourable to virtue; and, during a course of living which naturally dissipates the mind, his moral principles remained entire, and his religi ous faith unshaken. " Few men," says his friend Sir William Forbes, in a Letter published in his Life of Dr Beattie, " possessed a stronger sense of piety, or more fervent devotion—perhaps not always suffi cient to regulate his imagination, or direct his con duct, yet still genuine, and founded both in his un derstanding and his heart." His talents would pro bably have been rated higher, if they had not been obscured by certain eccentricities of character. Yet his writings bear sufficient testimony to his natural abilities, and to the delicacy as well as aptness of his intellectual touch.. He has described himself as be ing of a temperament inclined to melancholy ; but in society he was remarkable for the gaiety of his disposition, and his life was full of activity and stir. To be distinguished was his ruling passion, and he indulged it freely. He sought those whom the world, on whatever account, held in honour ; and was de sirous of' being known as one with whom they assort ed, and who possessed their friendship. He was fond of his pedigree and family connections, and he aspired after literary fame. While some of these propensities have been common to the great and good in every age, others, it must be confessed, are more frequently harboured than avowed. Mr Bos well adopted the latter and more unusual course.} He fairly owned his passion, and, if not thus secured from iftack, had all those advantages, at least, which are gamed by meeting an enemy in the field. But, in reality, be has dealt so openly, and with such can dour, on every occasion which touches himself as well as others, that he wins not only our forgiveness but our affection, and maintains, by ingenuousness and complete truth of character, a kind of superiori ty over any person who should feel desirous of as sailing him. Nor was evidence of a substantial sort wanting to show the independence of,his mind. For, however attached to individuals of extensive influ ence, and however ambitious of exalted patronage, he was neither an instrument of' party, nor a server of the time. What he gave in attention, he received back in kindness ; and, while he associated with the learned and the philosophical, he contributed his share to the general stock of enjoyment. Of Dr Johnson's sincere attachment to him, there are many and unequivocal proofs in their correspondence.