BOSWELL。’LordMansfieldisnotamerelawyer。JOHNSON。’No，Sir。IneverwasinLordMansfield’scompany；butLordMansfieldwasdistinguishedattheUniversity。LordMansfield，whenhefirstcametotown，“drankchampagnewiththewits，“asPriorsays。HewasthefriendofPope。’SIRA。’Barristers，Ibelieve，arenotsoabusivenowastheywereformerly。Ifancytheyhadlesslawlongago，andsowereobligedtotaketoabuse，tofillupthetime。Nowtheyhavesuchanumberofprecedents，theyhavenooccasionforabuse。’JOHNSON。’Nay，Sir，theyhadmorelawlongagothantheyhavenow。Astoprecedents，tobesuretheywillincreaseincourseoftime；butthemoreprecedentsthereare，thelessoccasionisthereforlaw；thatistosay，thelessoccasionisthereforinvestigatingprinciples。’SIRA。’IhavebeencorrectingseveralScotchaccentsinmyfriendBoswell。Idoubt，Sir，ifanyScotchmaneverattainstoaperfectEnglishpronunciation。’JOHNSON。’Why，Sir，fewofthemdo，becausetheydonotpersevereafteracquiringacertaindegreeofit。But，Sir，therecanbenodoubtthattheymayattaintoaperfectEnglishpronunciation，iftheywill。Wefindhowneartheycometoit；andcertainly，amanwhoconquersnineteenpartsoftheScottishaccent，mayconquerthetwentieth。But，Sir，whenamanhasgotthebetterofninetenthshegrowsweary，herelaxeshisdiligence，hefindshehascorrectedhisaccentsofarasnottobedisagreeable，andhenolongerdesireshisfriendstotellhimwhenheiswrong；nordoeshechoosetobetold。Sir，whenpeoplewatchmenarrowly，andIdonotwatchmyself，theywillfindmeouttobeofaparticularcounty。Inthesamemanner，DunningmaybefoundouttobeaDevonshireman。SomostScotchmenmaybefoundout。
But，Sir，littleaberrationsareofnodisadvantage。InevercatchedMalletinaScotchaccent；andyetMallet，Isuppose，waspastfive-and-twentybeforehecametoLondon。’
Iagainvisitedhimatnight。Findinghiminaverygoodhumour，I
venturedtoleadhimtothesubjectofoursituationinafuturestate，havingmuchcuriositytoknowhisnotionsonthatpoint……
BOSWELL。’Idonotknowwhetherthereareanywell-attestedstoriesoftheappearanceofghosts。YouknowthereisafamousstoryoftheappearanceofMrs。Veal，prefixedtoDrelincourtonDeath。’JOHNSON。’Ibelieve，Sir，thatisgivenup。Ibelievethewomandeclareduponherdeath-bedthatitwasalie。’BOSWELL。