[1125] 'It may be doubted whether before the Union any man between Edinburgh and England had ever set a tree.' Johnson's Works, ix. 8.
[1126] See ante, p. 69.
[1127] Lord Balmerino's estate was forfeited to the Crown on his conviction for high treason in 1746 (ante, i. 180).
[1128] 'I know not that I ever heard the wind so loud in any other place; and Mr. Boswell observed that its noise was all its own, for there were no trees to increase it.' Johnson's Works, ix. 122. See ante, p. 304.
[1129] See ante, ii. 300.
[1130] 'Strong reasons for incredulity will readily occur. This faculty of seeing things out of sight is local and commonly useless. It is a breach of the common order of things, without any visible reason or perceptible benefit.' Johnson's Works, ix. 106.
[1131] 'To the confidence of these objections it may be replied... that second sight is only wonderful because it is rare, for, considered in itself, it involves no more difficulty than dreams.' Ib.
[1132] The fossilist of last century is the geologist of this. Neither term is in Johnson's Dictionary, but Johnson in his Journey (Works, ix. 43) speaks of 'Mr. Janes the fossilist.'
[1133] Ib. p. 157.
[1134] Ib. p. 6. I do not see anything silly in the story. It is however better told in a letter to Mrs. Thrale. Piozzi Letters, i. 112.