France.

vinorum Officiorum, 1459-a letter, square like that Tour in of the Offices, perhaps the same-The Codex, by Fust and Gernsheym-Meursius, 12 v. fol.-Amadis, in French, 3 vol, fol.-CATHOLICON sine colophone, but of 1460-Two other editions', one by Augustin. de Civitate Dei, without name, date, or place, but of Fust's square letter as it seems.

"I dined with Col. Drumgould; had a pleasing afternoon.

"Some of the books of St. Germain's stand in presses from the wall, like those at Oxford.

66

Tuesday, 31st October.-I lived at the Benedictines; meagre day; soup meagre, herrings, eels, both with sauce; fried fish; lentils, tasteless in themselves-In the library; where I found Maffeus's de Historia Indicá: Promontorium flectere, to double the Cape-I parted very tenderly from the prior and Friar Wilkes.

"Maitre des Arts, 2 y.-Bacc. Theol. 3 y.Licentiate, 2 y.-Doctor Th. 2 y. in all 9 yearsFor the Doctorate three disputations, Major, Minor, Sorbonica-Several colleges suppressed, and transferred to that which was the Jesuit's College.

66

Wednesday, 1st November.-We left ParisSt. Denis, a large town: the church not very large, but the middle aisle is very lofty and awful-On the left are chapels built beyond the line of the wall, which destroyed the symmetry of the sides-The organ is higher above the pavement than I have ever seenThe gates are of brass-On the middle gate is the history of our Lord-The painted windows are hi

I have looked in vain into De Bure, Meerman, Mattaire, and other typo. graphical books, for the two editions of the "Catholicon," which Dr. Johnson mentions here, with names which I cannot make out. I read "one by Latinius, one by Boedinus." I have deposited the original MS. in the British Museum, where the curious may see it. My grateful acknowledgements are due to Mr. Planta for the trouble he was pleased to take in aiding my researches.-Bos.

WELL.

France.

Tour in storical, and said to be eminently beautiful-We were at another church belonging to a convent, of which the portal is a dome; we could not enter further, and it was almost dark.

66

Thursday, 2d November.-We came this day to Chantilly, a seat belonging to the Prince of Condé— This place is eminently beautified by all varieties of waters starting up in fountains, falling in cascades, running in streams, and spread in lakes-The water seems to be too near the house-All this water is brought from a source or river three leagues off, by an artificial canal, which for one league is carried under ground-The house is magnificent-The cabinet seems well stocked; what I remember was, the jaws of a hippopotamus, and a young hippopotamus preserved, which, however, is so small, that I doubt its reality-It seems too hairy for an abortion, and too small for a mature birth-Nothing was [preserved] in spirits; all was dry-The dog; the deer; the ant-bear with long snout-The toucan, long broad beak-The stables were of very great length-The kennel had no scents-There was a mockery of a village--The menagerie had few animals -Two faussans, or Brasilian weasels, spotted, very wild-There is a forest, and, I think, a park-I walked till I was very weary, and next morning felt my feet battered, and with pains in the toes.

"Friday, 3d November.--We came to Compeigne, a very large town, with a royal palace built round a

The writing is so bad here, that the names of several of the animals could not be deciphered without much more acquaintance with natural history than I possess. Dr. Blagden, with his usual politeness, most obligingly examined the MS. To that gentleman, and to Dr. Gray, of the British Museum, who also very readily assisted me, I beg leave to express my best thanks.-BOSWELL.

It is thus written by Johnson, from the French pronunciation of fossane. It should be observed, that the person who showed this menagerie was mistaken in supposing the fossane and the Brasilian weasel to be the same, the fossane being a different animal, and a native of Madagascar. I find them, however, upon one plate in Pennant's "Synopsis of Quadrupeds.”—BoswELL.

France.

pentagonal court-The court is raised upon vaults, Tour in and has, I suppose, an entry on one side by a gentle rise-Talk of painting-The church is not very large, but very elegant and splendid-I had at first great difficulty to walk, but motion grew continually easier -At night we came to Noyon, an episcopal cityThe cathedral is very beautiful, the pillars alternately Gothick and Corinthian-We entered a very noble parochial church-Noyon is walled, and is said to be three miles round.

"Saturday, 4th November.-We rose very early, and came through St. Quintin to Cambray, not long after three-We went to an English nunnery, to give a letter to Father Welch, the confessor, who came to visit us in the evening.

Sunday, 5th November.-We saw the Cathedral— It is very beautiful, with chapels on each side-The choir splendid-The balustrade in one part brassThe Neff very high and grand-The altar silver as far as it is seen-The vestments very splendid-At the Benedictines' church-"

Here his Journal' ends abruptly. Whether he wrote any more after this time, I know not; but probably not much, as he arrived in England about the 12th of November. These short notes of his tour, though they may seem minute taken singly, make together a considerable mass of information, and exhibit such an ardour of inquiry and acuteness of examination, as, I believe, are found in but few travellers, especially at an advanced age. They completely refute the idle notion which has been propagated, that

My worthy and ingenious friend, Mr. Andrew Lumisden, by his accurate acquaintance with France, enabled me to make out many proper names which Dr. Johnson had written indistinctly, and sometimes spelt erroneously.-Bos.

WELL.

Piozzi, p. 76.

he could not see1; and, if he had taken the trouble to revise and digest them, he undoubtedly could have expanded them into a very entertaining narrative.

[Mrs. Piozzi has preserved a few anecdotes of this tour. "Mr. Thrale loved prospects, and was mortified that his friend could not enjoy the sight of those different dispositions of wood and water, hill and valley, that travelling through England and France affords a man. But when he wished to point them out to his companion, 'Never heed such nonsense,' would be the reply: a blade of grass is always a blade of grass, whether in one country or another. Let us, if we do talk, talk about something: men and women are my subjects of inquiry; let us see how these differ from those we have left behind.'

"When we were at Rouen together, he took a great fancy to the Abbé Roffette, with whom he conversed about the destruction of the order of jesuits, and condemned it loudly, as a blow to the general power of the church, and likely to be followed with many and dangerous innovations, which might at length become fatal to religion itself, and shake even the foundation of christianity. The gentleman seemed to wonder and delight in his conversation; the talk was all in Latin, which both spoke fluently, and Dr. Johnson pronounced a long eulogium upon Milton with so much ardour, eloquence, and ingenuity, that the abbé rose from his seat and embraced him. My husband seeing them apparently so charmed with the company of each other, politely invited the abbé to

[Miss Reynolds, who knew him longer, and saw him more constantly than Mr. Boswell, says, "Dr. Johnson's sight was so very defective, that he could scarcely distinguish the face of his most intimate acquaintance at half a yard, and in general it was observable, that his critical remarks on dress, &c. were the result of very close inspection of the object, partly from curiosity, and partly from a degree of exciting admiration of his perspicuity, of which he was not a little ambitious."-Recollections. And if we may believe Baretti's account to her, on their return, his defect of sight led him into many inaccuracies.-ED.]

P. 77.

England, intending to oblige his friend; who, instead Piozzi, of thanking, reprimanded him severely before the man, for such a sudden burst of tenderness towards a person he could know nothing at all of; and thus put a sudden finish to all his own and Mr. Thrale's entertainment, from the company of the Abbé Rof

fette.

"When at Versailles the people showed us the theatre. As we stood on the stage looking at some machinery for playhouse purposes-'Now we are here, what shall we act, Dr. Johnson?-The Englishman at Paris?' 'No, no,' replied he; 'we will try to act Harry the Fifth.' His dislike of the French was well known to both nations, I believe; but he applauded the number of their books and the graces of their style. They have few sentiments,' said he, but they express them neatly; they have little 'meat too, but they dress it well.'"]

When I met him in London the following year, the account which he gave me of his French tour, was, "Sir, I have seen all the visibilities of Paris, and around it: but to have formed an acquaintance with the people there would have required more time than I could stay. I was just beginning to creep into acquaintance by means of Colonel Drumgould, a very high man, sir, head of L'Ecole Militaire, a most complete character, for he had first been a professor of rhetorick, and then became a soldier. And, sir, I was very kindly treated by the English Benedictines, and have a cell appropriated to me in their convent."

He observed, "The great in France live very magnificently, but the rest very miserably. There is no happy middle state as in England'. The shops of

[See ante, p. 274.-ED.]