OLIVER GOLDSMITH 3 LIFE AND TIMES. [BOOK in.
1763. Constitution, that the king can do no wrong: affirming his
JSt. 35. belief that what was morally false could not be politically
true; and that, as the king might, in the exercise of his regal
power, command and cause the doing of what was wrong, it
certainly might be said, in sense and in reason, that he could
do wrong: all which appeared to Boswell sensible or reason-
able proof of nothing but the speaker's vanity, and eager desire
to be conspicuous wherever he was. " As usual, he endea-
" voured, with too much eagerness, to shine."* It is added,
indeed, that his respectful attachment to Johnson was now
at its height; but no better reason is given for it, than that
his own literary reputation had not yet distinguished him so
much " as to excite a vain desire of competition with his
" great master." t In short, it is impossible not to perceive,
that, from the first hour of their acquaintance, Boswell is
impatient of Goldsmith, who appears to him very much what
the French .call un etourdi, a giddy pate; Mr. Boswell, no
doubt, feeling his own steady gravity and good sense quite
shocked by the contrast of such levity. Also, he is parti-
cular to inform us, he finds Goldsmith's person short, his
countenance coarse and vulgar, and his deportment that of
a scholar awkwardly affecting the easy gentleman.I How
who was unlucky enough to hit upon praise of Scotland for a subject. He began
by modestly remarking that there was very rich land around Edinburgh, upon
which, says Boswell, " Goldsmith, who had studied physic there, contradicted
" this, very untruly, with a sneering laugh. Disconcerted a little by this,
"Mr..0gilvie then took new grounds, where, I suppose, he thought himself
" perfectly safe; for he observed that Scotland had a great many noble wild
" prospects." " I believe, sir," said Johnson, upon this, " you have a great many.
"Norway, too, has noble wild prospects; and Lapland is remarkable for
" prodigious noble wild prospects. But, sir, let me tell you, the noblest prospect
" which a Scotchman ever sees is the high road that leads him to England."
This unexpected and pointed sally produced what Boswell calls "a roar" of
applause; and even at all this distance of time one seems to hear that hearty roar
—Goldsmith contributing to it not the least. Hoswett, ii. 208, 209.
* Bosivell, ii. 206. f Hid, ii. 194.
_t Let me add a passage from one of his later descriptions which will