His criticism, however, was
commonly just; what he thought he thought rightly; and his remarks were
recommended by his coolness and candour.' See _ante_, iv. 9, 63.

[855] 'She was the only interpreter of Erse poetry that I could ever
find.' Johnson's _Works_, ix. 134. See _ante_, p. 241.

[856] 'After a journey difficult and tedious, over rocks naked and
valleys untracked, through a country of barrenness and solitude, we
came, almost in the dark, to the sea-side, weary and dejected, having
met with nothing but waters falling from the mountains that could raise
any image of delight.' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 170. 'It is natural, in
traversing this gloom of desolation, to inquire, whether something may
not be done to give nature a more cheerful face.' Johnson's _Works_,
ix. 136.

[857] _Ante_, p. 19.

[858] See _ante_, i. 521.

[859] See _ante_, p. 212.

[860] Sir William Blackstone says, in his _Commentaries_, that 'he
cannot find that ever this custom prevailed in England;' and therefore
he is of opinion that it could not have given rise to _Borough-English_.
BOSWELL. 'I cannot learn that ever this custom prevailed in England,
though it certainly did in Scotland (under the name of _mercketa_ or
_marcheta_), till abolished by Malcolm III.' _Commentaries_, ed. 1778,
ii. 83. Sir H. Maine, in his _Early History of Institutions_, p. 222,
writes:--'Other authors, as Blackstone tells us, explained it ["Borough
English"] by a supposed right of the Seigneur or lord, now very
generally regarded as apocryphal, which raised a presumption of the
eldest son's illegitimacy.'

[861] 'Macquarry was used to demand a sheep, for which he now takes a
crown, by that inattention to the uncertain proportion between the value
and the denomination of money, which has brought much disorder into
Europe. A sheep has always the same power of supplying human wants, but
a crown will bring, at one time more, at another less'. Johnson's
_Works_, ix. 139.

[862] 'The house and the furniture are not always nicely suited. We were
driven once, by missing a passage, to the hut of a gentleman, where,
after a very liberal supper, when I was conducted to my chamber, I found
an elegant bed of Indian cotton, spread with fine sheets. The
accommodation was flattering; I undressed myself, and felt my feet in
the mire. The bed stood upon the bare earth, which a long course of rain
had softened to a puddle.' _Works_, ix. 98.

[863] Inchkenneth is a most beaut