I heard a late baronet,
of some distinction in the political world in the beginning of the
present reign, observe, that 'walking the streets of Edinburgh at night
was pretty perilous, and a good deal odoriferous.' The peril is much
abated, by the care which the magistrates have taken to enforce the city
laws against throwing foul water from the windows[46]; but from the
structure of the houses in the old town, which consist of many stories,
in each of which a different family lives, and there being no covered
sewers, the ordour still continues. A zealous Scotsman would have wished
Mr. Johnson to be without one of his five senses upon this occasion. As
we marched slowly along, he grumbled in my ear, 'I smell you in the
dark[47]!' But he acknowledged that the breadth of the street, and the
loftiness of the buildings on each side made a noble appearance[48].
My wife had tea ready for him, which it is well known he delighted to
drink at all hours, particularly when sitting up late, and of which his
able defence against Mr. Jonas Hanway[49] should have obtained him a
magnificent reward from the East-India Company. He shewed much
complacency upon finding that the mistress of the house was so attentive
to his singular habit; and as no man could be more polite when he chose
to be so, his address to her was most courteous and engaging; and his
conversation soon charmed her into a forgetfulness of his external
appearance[50].
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