[1209] Yet Smollett wrote in 1763:—'All manner of butcher's meat and poultry are extremely good in Paris. The beef is excellent.' He adds, 'I can by no means relish their cookery.' Smollett's Travels, i. 86. Horace Walpole, in 1765, wrote from Amiens on his way to Paris:—'I am almost famished for want of clean victuals, and comfortable tea, and bread and butter.' Letters, iv. 401. Goldsmith, in 1770, wrote from Paris:—'As for the meat of this country I can scarce eat it, and though we pay two good shillings an head for our dinner, I find it all so tough, that I have spent less time with my knife than my pick-tooth.' Forster's Goldsmith, ii. 219.
[1210] Walpole calls Paris 'the ugliest, beastliest town in the universe,' and describes the indelicacy of the talk of women of the first rank. Letters, iv. 435. See post, May 13, 1778, and under Aug. 29, 1783.
[1211] Madame du Boccage, according to Miss Reynolds, whose authority was Baretti. Croker's Boswell, p. 467. See post, June 25, 1784.
[1212] In Edinburgh, Johnson threw a glass of lemonade out of the window because the waiter had put the sugar into it 'with his greasy fingers.' Boswell's Hebrides, Aug. 14.
[1213] Mrs. Thrale wrote to Johnson in 1782:—'When we were in France we could form little judgement [of the spread of refinement], as our time was passed chiefly among English; yet I recollect that one fine lady, who entertained us very splendidly, put her mouth to the teapot, and blew in the spout when it did not pour freely.' Piozzi Letters, ii. 247.
[1214] That he did not continue exactly as in London is stated by Boswell himself. 'He was furnished with a Paris-made wig of handsome construction,' (Post, April 28, 1778). His Journal shews that he bought articles of dress (ante, p. 398). Hawkins (Life, p. 517) says that 'he yielded to the remonstrances of his friends so far as to dress in a suit of black and a Bourgeois wig, but resisted their importunity to wear ruffles. By a note in his diary it appears that he laid out near thirty pounds in clothes for this journey.' A story told by Foote we may believe as little as we please. 'Foote is quite impartial,' said Johnson, 'for he tells lies of everybody.' Post, under March 15, 1776.
[1215] If Johnson's Latin was understood by foreigners in France, but not in England, the explanation may be found in his Life of Milton (Works, vii. 99), where he says:—'He who travels, if he speaks Latin, may so soon learn the sounds which every native gives it, that he need make no provision before his journey; and if strangers visit us, it is their business to practise such conformity to our modes as they expect from us in their own countries.' Johnson was so sturdy an Englishman that likely enough, as he was in London, he would not alter his pronunciation to suit his Excellency's ear. In Priestley's Works, xxiii. 233, a conversation is reported in which Dr. Johnson argued for the Italian method of pronouncing Latin.
[1216] See ante, ii. 80.
[1217] As Mme. de Boufflers is mentioned in the next paragraph, Boswell no doubt, wishes to shew that the letter was addressed to her. She was the mistress of the Prince of Conti. She understood English, and was the correspondent of Hume. There was also a Marquise de Boufflers, mistress of old King Stanislaus.
[1218] In the Piozzi Letters (i. 34), this letter is dated May 16, 1771; in Boswell's first and second editions, July 16, 1771; in the third edition, July 16, 1775. In May, 1771, Johnson, so far as there is anything to shew, was in London. On July 16, both in 1771 and 1775, he was in Ashbourne. One of Hume's Letters (Private Corres., p. 283), dated April 17, 1775, shews that Mme. de Boufflers was at that time 'speaking of coming to England.'