Mrs. Piozzi (Johnsoniana).
These are the two best of Johnson’s chaffing jibes against Scotchmen. The neatness of the latter is, to my mind, spoilt by the words at the end, which I have omitted: “and—comparisons are odious, Mr. Strahan,—but God made hell.” The following may also be quoted as showing both Johnson and that clever charlatan, Wilkes, quizzing Boswell (year 1781):
Wilkes: “Pray, Boswell, how much may be got in a year by an advocate at the Scotch bar?”
Boswell: “I believe two thousand pounds.”
Wilkes: “How can it be possible to spend that money in Scotland?”
Johnson: “Why, Sir, the money may be spent in England; but there is a harder question. If one man in Scotland gets possession of two thousand pounds, what remains for all the rest of the nation?”
Many Scotchmen undoubtedly enjoy chaff against themselves and their country, and I think this was so with Boswell. It is a phase of social psychology that needs explaining.
In these jokes Johnson was, consciously or not, influenced by the fine Royalist poet, John Cleveland (1613-1658); but the latter was very much in earnest. He detested the Scotch for fighting against Charles I. His references to Scotland in The Rebel Scot are wonderfully clever:—
A land that brings in question and suspense