Reynolds and he were at this time the guests of Dr.Mudge,the celebrated surgeon,and now physician of that place,not more distinguished for quickness of parts and variety of knowledge,than loved and esteemed for his amiable manners;and here Johnson formed an acquaintance with Dr.Mudge's father,that very eminent divine,the Reverend Zachariah Mudge,Prebendary of Exeter,who was idolised in the west,both for his excellence as a preacher and the uniform perfect propriety of his private conduct.He preached a sermon purposely that Johnson might hear him;and we shall see afterwards that Johnson honoured his memory by drawing his character.While Johnson was at Plymouth,he saw a great many of its inhabitants,and was not sparing of his very entertaining conversation.It was here that he made that frank and truly original confession,that 'ignorance,pure ignorance,'was the cause of a wrong definition in his Dictionary of the word pastern,to the no small surprise of the Lady who put the question to him;who having the most profound reverence for his character,so as almost to suppose him endowed with infallibility,expected to hear an explanation (of what,to be sure,seemed strange to a common reader,)drawn from some deep-learned source with which she was unacquainted.
Sir Joshua Reynolds,to whom I was obliged for my information concerning this excursion,mentions a very characteristical anecdote of Johnson while at Plymouth.Having observed that in consequence of the Dock-yard a new town had arisen about two miles off as a rival to the old;and knowing from his sagacity,and just observation of human nature,that it is certain if a man hates at all,he will hate his next neighbour;he concluded that this new and rising town could not but excite the envy and jealousy of the old,in which conjecture he was very soon confirmed;he therefore set himself resolutely on the side of the old town,the established town,in which his lot was cast,considering it as a kind of duty to stand by it.He accordingly entered warmly into its interests,and upon every occasion talked of the dockers,as the inhabitants of the new town were called,as upstarts and aliens.Plymouth is very plentifully supplied with water by a river brought into it from a great distance,which is so abundant that it runs to waste in the town.The Dock,or New-town,being totally destitute of water,petitioned Plymouth that a small portion of the conduit might be permitted to go to them,and this was now under consideration.Johnson,affecting to entertain the passions of the place,was violent in opposition;and,half-laughing at himself for his pretended zeal where he had no concern,exclaimed,'No,no!Iam against the dockers;I am a Plymouth man.Rogues!let them die of thirst.They shall not have a drop!'
1763:AETAT.54.]--This is to me a memorable year;for in it I had the happiness to obtain the acquaintance of that extraordinary man whose memoirs I am now writing;an acquaintance which I shall ever esteem as one of the most fortunate circumstances in my life.
Though then but two-and-twenty,I had for several years read his works with delight and instruction,and had the highest reverence for their authour,which had grown up in my fancy into a kind of mysterious veneration,by figuring to myself a state of solemn elevated abstraction,in which I supposed him to live in the immense metropolis of London.Mr.Gentleman,a native of Ireland,who passed some years in Scotland as a player,and as an instructor in the English language,a man whose talents and worth were depressed by misfortunes,had given me a representation of the figure and manner of DICTIONARY JOHNSON!as he was then generally called;and during my first visit to London,which was for three months in 1760,Mr.Derrick the poet,who was Gentleman's friend and countryman,flattered me with hopes that he would introduce me to Johnson,an honour of which I was very ambitious.But he never found an opportunity;which made me doubt that he had promised to do what was not in his power;till Johnson some years afterwards told me,'Derrick,Sir,might very well have introduced you.I had a kindness for Derrick,and am sorry he is dead.'
In the summer of 1761Mr.Thomas Sheridan was at Edinburgh,and delivered lectures upon the English Language and Publick Speaking to large and respectable audiences.I was often in his company,and heard him frequently expatiate upon Johnson's extraordinary knowledge,talents,and virtues,repeat his pointed sayings,describe his particularities,and boast of his being his guest sometimes till two or three in the morning.At his house I hoped to have many opportunities of seeing the sage,as Mr.Sheridan obligingly assured me I should not be disappointed.
When I returned to London in the end of 1762,to my surprise and regret I found an irreconcilable difference had taken place between Johnson and Sheridan.A pension of two hundred pounds a year had been given to Sheridan.Johnson,who,as has been already mentioned,thought slightingly of Sheridan's art,upon hearing that he was also pensioned,exclaimed,'What!have they given HIM a pension?Then it is time for me to give up mine.'
Johnson complained that a man who disliked him repeated his sarcasm to Mr.Sheridan,without telling him what followed,which was,that after a pause he added,'However,I am glad that Mr.Sheridan has a pension,for he is a very good man.'Sheridan could never forgive this hasty contemptuous expression.It rankled in his mind;and though I informed him of all that Johnson said,and that he would be very glad to meet him amicably,he positively declined repeated offers which I made,and once went off abruptly from a house where he and I were engaged to dine,because he was told that Dr.Johnson was to be there.