The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1922-08-17


ny James Boswell fdlied hY
clement shorter In ten volumes
Printed for dabs.e. Wells by
Doubleday. Page a ca.
TN 1901 there was published IN
Edinburgh a thin volume In
auario called AN ole to Tras.
edy" and described on the ,lile page
az tho work Of "a Gentleman Of
Scotland" that has become one OF
the rareat books In the world II
was the FIRST OF nve books TO be- pub
ashcd by the youth of ,eeniy VINO
was ia author, and tho fact Of its
anonymity IL testimony 10 wha, may
be- said TO have becomo the great rule
ot his later life. that what he did
aas OF moro Importance than him
self This rare book .lndicaics two
other qualities Of ita author. his love
u fun and bis seeming vanity, for II
ls dedicated TO James Boswell, Esq.'
The klndllcst and most affecilonate
hloEraphcr OF the immortal "Bozzy"
that has ever written Of him says Of
this Joke OF the dedication;
but one asks. was the reader sup
posed TO discover the IostY Boswell,
I fancy. did not greatly care ono
way or the other. lie had given the
reader a hint that he was up 10
mischief. for he wrote IN the dcdi-
raiory letter. I make no doubt. Sir.
but you consider me as your very
good friend. although some people -
and those. too. not destitute Of Wis
lom-will not fcruplc to inslnpa'e
the contrary II the reader were
sharp wiitcd enough TO detect tho
lmposture he would certainly spread
the news OF his discovery and With
4 the famo OF the young author. but
II he missed the point Boswell would
be no loser. for he would then lie
regarded ms the poets patron. In
either case. 1t might be hoped, people
would talk about James Boswell.
Perhaps. on the whole. he preferred
the reputation OF patron 10 that OF
poet. FOR he was ever ambitious 10
be deemed a Meccnas-a sufficiently
rare ambition In a youth OF twenty
summers Indeed. he had already
appeared IN this role His friend.
Francis Gentleman. an actor Of Glas-
gov. had published an edition Of the
well known tragedy OF 'Oroonoco' in
the previous year. and had dedicated
Il to Boswell: the young man has
been suspected. not without reason.
VI having written the dedIcatory
verses himself. II Is clcar
that .3oswe'fs ambition was peculiar
lie desired 10 be known as the asso-
clate Of authors. The glory. TO his
way OF thinking. is to move In the
world OF literary men. to know what
Is going ON and In time. perhaps to
lecome an influence in the lives of
.hcsc great ones. II was his amh-
zion to shine but he preferred to
shine In a reflected light. Many
gears after relative remarked. lie
preferred being a Snowman to keep
'ng a shop of his own"
Writing thus 127 years after Bos-
wells death. Professor Chauncey
Brewster Tinker In his young Bos-
well" could make this kindly and. as
IS demonstrated. accurate judgment
Of Roswells career with certainty
james Boswell did move in the
world of literary men"-in fact, In
the highest, he did become an in
nuence in the lives Of these great
ones and he did shine in a reflected
light. But his own illumination
proved TO be of extraordinary brill
liancy. The rays Of his genius as
writer first began to glow In his
twenty-cighth year, when he pub
lished AN Account Of Corsica. with
Memoirs of General Paoli" (ln 1853;
they reached still great briliance
with the publication Of "A journal OF
the Tour to the Hebrides" (ln 1850,
and they achieved their immortal
effugence in 1891, when his life of
Samuel Johnson appeared on May l6.
Whatever Boswers ambition was to
shine in a reflected light (and the
title of his first real volume. with its
incorporated memoirs of General
Paoli, would seem to indicate this to
be true) 1t is a matter of record that
his journal like Account of Corsica"
was the part of it that made the
most profound impression. And
there was no reflected light about
his Tour to the Hebrldes." His
narrative completely eclipsed that
account written by DR.. Johnson of
which Boswell was the source and
handspring.
II.
With the appearance of the Tour
to the Hebrides" England was awak-
ened to the fact that something new
In the way of personal memoirs had
appeared on its literary horizon.
Nothing like it had ever been read"
says Professor Tinker. ut became
at once a standard Of indiscretion.
To compare it with the Autobiography
ical revelations made in our own day
by the wife of a former Prime Min
lister of Great Britain would be to
addlica q feeble parallel Boswell