without a presentation from the patron, or the leave of his presbytery, became one of the fathers of the Relief church. Of the fortunes of his other children we have not been informed. Of the character of Boston there can be but one opinion. Ardent and pious, his whole life was devoted to the promoting of the glory of God and the best interests of his fellow-men. As an author, though he has been lowered by the publication of too many posthumous works, he must yet be admitted to stand in the first class. Even the most incorrect of his pieces betray the marks of a highly original and powerful mind, and his Fourfold State of Man cannot fail to be read and admired so long as the faith of the gospel continues to be taught and learned in the language in which it is written.[1]
BOSWELL, James, the friend and biographer of Dr Samuel Johnson, was born at Edinburgh, October 29, 1740.
The Boswells, or Bosvilles, are supposed to have "come in with the Conqueror," and to have migrated to Scotland in the reign of David I. [1124-53]. The first man of the family, ascertained by genealogists, was Robert Boseville, who figured at the court of William the Lion, and became proprietor of some lands in Berwickshire. Roger de Boswell, sixth in descent from this person, lived in the reign of David II., and acquired lands in Fife. His descendant, Sir John Boswell, who flourished in the end of the fourteenth or beginning of the fifteenth century, acquired the lands of Balmuto in Fife, which was afterwards the principal title of the family. David Boswell of Balmuto, the eleventh representative of the family in succession, had, besides his heir, Alexander, who succeeded to the family estates, a son named Thomas, who became a servant of James IV., and was gifted by that monarch with the Lands of Auchinleck, in Ayrshire, which were then in the crown by recognition.[2] The charters, one of which is dated in 1504, the other in 1505, bear that the lands were granted, "pro bono et gratuito servitio nobis per dilectum nostrum familiarem Thomam Boswell impensis,"—and "pro bono servitio, et pro singular! favore quern erga ipsum Thomam gerlmus." The lands of Auchinleck had previously belonged to a family of the same name. Thomas Boswell, first of Auchinleck, married a daughter of Sir Hugh Campbell of Loudoun; and fell bravely fighting with his master at Flodden. The estimation and quality of his descendants may be exemplified by the dignity of the families into which they married in succession. The following are the fathers of their respective brides:—James Earl of Arran,
- ↑ Mr Boston's name is still held in great reverence by the people of the south of Scotland. The editor of this work well recollects two questions which, in his youth, used to pass among the boys at a town not far from Ettrick—"who was the best, and who the worst man that ever lived?"—their minds evidently reflecting only upon modern times. The answer to the first query gave, "Mr Boston, the minister of Ettrick:" the worst man, I regret to say, was the Earl of March, father of the last Duke of Queensberry, whose fame, it may be guessed, was purely local.
- ↑ Thomas Boswell is frequently mentioned in the Treasurer's books under the reign of James IV. On the 15th May, 1504, is an entry, "Item, to Thomas Boswell, he laid downe in Leith to the wife of the kingis innis, and to the boy rane the kingis hors, 18s.' 1 On the 2nd August, is the following: "Item, for twa hidis to be jakkis to Thomas Boswell and Watte Trumbull, agane the Raid of Eskdale, [an expedition against the border thieves,] 66s." On the 1st of January, 1504-5, "Item, to Thomas Boswell and Pate Sinclair to by thaim daunsing geir, 28s. Under December 31st, 1505, "Item, to 30 dosane of bellis for dansaris, delyverit to Thomas Boswell, 4l. 10s." Mr Pitcairne, from whose valuable "Collection of Criminal Trials" these extracts are made, seems to think that Thomas Boswell was a minstrel to King James: it is perhaps as probable that he was chief of the royal train of James. If such he really was, and if the biographer of Johnson had been aware of the fact, he would have perhaps considered it a reason for moderating a little his family pride—though we certainly must confess that there is not altogether wanting some analogy between the professions of Laird Thomas and Laird James.
