Grampian Club > Boswelliana

286 BOSWELLIANA.
" The beautiful Lady Wallace * said in a company that she
had had a dream, which from her way of expressing herself was
suspected to be a little wanton. She said she could not tell it
to the company. She could tell it but to one gentleman at a
time. She told it to Mr. Crosbie. ' It seems,' said I, ' you take
Mr. Crosbie to be a Joseph, that you tell your dream to him.'
A witty allusion to Joseph's character, both for interpreting
dreams and for chastity. — 11th December, 1779."
"Few characters will bear the examination of reason. You
may examine them for curiosity, as you examine bodies with a
microscope. But you will be as much disgusted with their gross
qualities. You will see them as Swift makes Gulliver see the
skins of the ladies of Brobdignag."
" A poor minister who had come to Edinburgh had his horse
arrested. He upon this gave in a petition to the Lords of
Session, praying to have his personal estate sequestrated and his
horse delivered up to him. The lords granted his petition.
George Fergussonf found fault with them for giving him his
horse. ' Come, come,' said I, ' you need not be angry ; there is
no kindness in it, for you know the proverb, ' Set a beggar on
horseback, and he'll ride to the devil.' " 1779.
" I have not an ardent love for parties of pleasure ; yet if I
am once engaged in them no man is more joyous. The difference
between me and one who is the promoter of them is like that
between a water-dog and an ordinary dog. I have no instinct
prompting me ; I never go into the water of my own accord ;
but throw me in, and you will find I swim excellently."
* Eglinton, youngest daughter of Sir WiUiam Maxwell, Bart.,
of Monreith, married, 4th September, 1773, Sir Thomas Wallace,
sixth Baronet of Craigie. Like her elder sister, Jane Duchess of
Gordon, she was celebrated for her beauty and wit.
t Son of Sir James Fergusson, Bart., of Kilkerran, George Fer-
gusson was admitted advocate in 1765. Appointed a judge in 1799
he adopted the title of Lord Hermand. He retired in 1826, and died
the following year.