Great propriety of behaviour,
Great politeness of manners!
His eloquence was sweet, correct, and flowing;
His memory vast and exact;
His judgement strong and acute;
All which endowments, united
With the most amiable temper
And every private virtue,
Procured him, not only in his own country,
But also from foreign nations[460],
The highest marks of esteem.
In the year of our Lord 1766,
The 25th of his life,
After a long and extremely painful illness,
Which he supported with admirable patience and fortitude,
He died at Rome,
Where, notwithstanding the difference of religion,
Such extraordinary honours were paid to his memory,
As had never graced that of any other British Subject,
Since the death of Sir Philip Sidney.
The fame he left behind him is the best consolation
To his afflicted family,
And to his countrymen in this isle,
For whose benefit he had planned
Many useful improvements,
Which his fruitful genius suggested,
And his active spirit promoted,
Under the sober direction
Of a clear and enlightened understanding.
Reader, bewail our loss,
And that of all Britain.
In testimony of her love,
And as the best return she can make
To her departed son,
For the constant tenderness and affection
Which, even to his last moments,
He shewed for her,
His much afflicted mother,
The LADY MARGARET MACDONALD,
Daughter to the EARL of EGLINTOUNE,
Erected this Monument,
A.D. 1768[461]'

Dr. Johnson said, the inscription should have been in Latin, as every
thing intended to be universal and permanent should be[462].

This being a beautiful day, my spirits were cheered by the mere effect
of climate. I had felt a return of spleen during my stay at Armidale,
and had it not been that I had Dr. Johnson to contemplate, I should have
sunk into dejection; but his firmness supported me. I looked at him, as
a man whose head is turning giddy at sea looks at a rock, or any fixed
object. I wondered at his tranquillity. He said, 'Sir, when a man
retires into an island, he is to turn his thoughts entirely to another
world. He has done with this.' BOSWELL. 'It appears to me, Sir, to be
very difficult to unite a due attention to this world, and that which is
to come; for, if we engage eagerly in the affairs of life, we are apt to