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196 MEMOIR OF JAMES BOSWELL.
being "neglected by those bound by the ties of blood to cherish
her," she liad " pledged her pianoforte, — though a composer is as
much at a loss for an instrument as a carpenter without his
tools." In another letter of the same year she writes, " If
dragged to a jail, which must be my fate, I shudder at it, and
implore your aid."
" Let me not suffer Otway's fate,
When Nelly's * tears were sent too late :
Where Genius pierced through darkest gloom,
Though hungry Death has marked his tomb."
The charge of neglect preferred against her relatives by this
unhappy gentlewoman having obtained some credit, we have
instituted on the subject a careful inquiry. Euphemia BosweU,
we find, was the victim of a diseased imagination. By her
relatives she was regarded with affectionate solicitude, while they
severely suffered from her painful hallucinations and groundless
complaints. She died about the age of sixty. In her Will she
expressed a desire that her remains should be deposited in West-
minster, Abbey near the grave of Dr. Johnson. She was buried
elsewhere. She composed a small work which she dedicated to
Bishop Porteous ; no copy has been found.
Elizabeth, the biographer's youngest daughter, married 23rd
December, 1799, her second cousin, William BosweU, advocate,
who became Sheriff of Berwickshire. Of this marriage were
born three sons and one daughter. Eobert Cramond, the eldest
son, died in 1821, shortly after being admitted advocate. James
Paoli, second son, joined the army, and died in India in 1820 ;
Bruce, the third son, also joined the army, and attained the rank
of Colonel. The daughter, Elizabeth Margaret Montgomery,
* The celebrated Nell Grwynne. who is believed to have trans-
mitted a benefaction to the starving poet, which did not reach till
after his decease.