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8o BOSWELL'S LETTERS
ship of Paoli, who seems to have made him
free of his house :
" I felt more dignity when
I had several servants at my devotion, a large
apartment, and the convenience and state of
a coach."
It was absurd of him, no doubt, to say,
" Am I not fortunate in having something
about me that interests most people at first
sight in "
my favour ? but it seems to have
been near the truth.
" I am really the great
man now. I have had David Hume in the
forenoon, and Mr. Johnson in the afternoon."
These great men were interested somehow,
and so, one must suppose, was Miss Silverton :
" There is a Miss Silverton in the Fly with
me, an amiable creature, who has been in
France. I can unite little fondnesses with
perfect conjugal love."
There was, too, " an agreeable young widow "
who, also in a "
fly, nursed me, and supported
my lame foot on her knee."
Boswell's life in Edinburgh was not happy ;
he hated the rough society of Scotch lawyers,
and quarrelled with his father, the Laird of
Auchinleck, who seems to have been a tire-
old man. The Laird died
some, disagreeable
in 1782, and seven years later Boswell lost
his " valuable wife." His story becomes
melancholy : money troubles and family per-