* James
Boswell of the Temple, editor of the last Variorum
Shakspeare, &c., a man of considerable learning and
admirable social qualities, died suddenly, in the prime of life, about
a fortnight before his brother Sir
Alexander. Scott was
warmly attached to them both, and the fall of the Baronet might well
give him a severe shock, for he had dined in Castle Street only two or
three days before it occurred, and the merriest tones of his voice were
still ringing in his friend’s ears when he received the fatal
intelligence. That evening was, I think, the gayest I ever spent in
Castle Street; and though Charles
Mathews was present, and in his best force, poor
Boswell’s songs, jokes, and anecdotes,
had exhibited no symptom of eclipse. It turned out that he had joined
the party whom he thus delighted, immediately after completing the last
arrangements for his duel. It may be worth while to add, that several
circumstances of his death are exactly reproduced in the duel scene of
St Ronan’s
Well. |
