better told in a letter to Mrs. Thrale. _Piozzi Letters_,
i. 112.

[1135] Mr. Orme, one of the ablest historians of this age, is of the
same opinion. He said to me, 'There are in that book thoughts, which, by
long revolution in the great mind of Johnson, have been formed and
polished--like pebbles rolled in the ocean.' BOSWELL. See _ante_, ii.
300, and iii. 284.

[1136] See _ante_, iii. 301.

[1137] Johnson (_Works_, ix. 158) mentions 'a national combination so
invidious that their friends cannot defend it.' See _ante_, ii.
307, 311.

[1138] See _ante_, p. 269, note 1.

[1139] Every reader will, I am sure, join with me in warm admiration of
the truly patriotic writer of this letter. I know not which most to
applaud--that good sense and liberality of mind, which could see and
admit the defects of his native country, to which no man is a more
zealous friend:--or that candour, which induced him to give just praise
to the minister whom he honestly and strenuously opposed. BOSWELL.

[1140] The original MS. is now in my possession. BOSWELL.

[1141] The passage that gave offence was as follows:--'Mr. Macleod is
the proprietor of the islands of Raasay, Rona, and Fladda, and possesses
an extensive district in Sky. The estate has not during four hundred
years gained or lost a single acre. He acknowledges Macleod of Dunvegan
as his chief, though his ancestors have formerly disputed the
pre-eminence.' First edition, p. 132. The second edition was not
published till the year after Johnson's death. In it the passage remains
unchanged. To it the following note was prefixed: 'Strand, Oct. 26,
1785. Since this work was printed off, the publisher, having been
informed that the author some years ago had promised the Laird of Raasay
to correct in a future edition a passage concerning him, thinks it a
justice due to that gentleman to insert here the advertisement relative
to this matter, which was published by Dr. Johnson's desire in the
Edinburgh newspapers in the year 1775, and which has been lately
reprinted in Mr. Boswell's _Tour to the Hebrides_.' (It is not unlikely
that the publication of Boswell's _Tour_ occasioned a fresh demand for
Johnson's _Journey_.) In later editions all the words after 'a single
acre' are silently struck out. Johnson's _Works_, ix. 55. See
_ante_, ii. 382.

[1142] Rasay was highly gratified, and afterwards visited and dined with
Dr. Johnson at his house in London. BOSWELL. Johnson wrote on May 12,