[411] He made the same boast at St. Andrews.  See Boswell’s Hebrides, Aug. 19.  He was, I believe, speaking of his translation of Courayer’s Life of Paul Sarpi and Notes, of which some sheets were printed off. Ante, i. 135.

[412] Horace Walpole, after mentioning that George III’s mother, who died in 1772, left but L27,000 when she was reckoned worth at least L300,000, adds:—­’It is no wonder that it became the universal belief that she had wasted all on Lord Bute.  This became still more probable as he had made the purchase of the estate at Luton, at the price of L114,000, before he was visibly worth L20,000; had built a palace there, another in town, and had furnished the former in the most expensive manner, bought pictures and books, and made a vast park and lake.’ Journal of the Reign of George III, i. 19.

[413] To him Boswell dedicated his Thesis as excelsae familiae de Bute spei alterae (ante, ii. 20).  In 1775, he wrote of him:—­’He is warmly my friend and has engaged to do for me.’ Letters of Boswell, p. 186

[414] He was mistaken in this.  See ante, i. 260; also iii. 420.

[415] In England in like manner, and perhaps for the same reason, all Attorneys have been converted into Solicitors.

[416] ’There is at Edinburgh a society or corporation of errand boys, called Cawdies, who ply in the streets at night with paper lanthorns, and are very serviceable in carrying messages.’ Humphrey Clinker.  Letter of Aug. 8.

[417] Their services in this sense are noticed in the same letter.

[418]

     ’The formal process shall be turned to sport,
     And you dismissed with honour by the Court.’ 
     FRANCIS.  Horace, Satires, ii.i.86.

[419] Mr. Robertson altered this word to jocandi, he having found in Blackstone that to irritate is actionable.  BOSWELL.

[420] Quoted by Johnson, ante, ii. l97.

[421] His god-daughter.  See post May 10, 1784.

[422] See post, under Dec. 20, 1782

[423] See ante, i. 155

[424] The will of King Alfred, alluded to in this letter, from the original Saxon, in the library of Mr. Astle, has been printed at the expense of the University of Oxford.  BOSWELL.

[425] He was a surgeon in this small Norfolk town.  Dr. Burney’s Memoirs, i. 106.

[426] Burney visited Johnson first in 1758, when he was living in Gough Square. Ante, i. 328.

[427] Mme. D’Arblay says that Dr. Johnson sent them to Dr. Burney’s house, directed ‘For the Broom Gentleman.’  Dr. Burney’s Memoirs, ii. 180.