“Just what I had so much wished to avoid! I have been crushed in the
very onset.”
I could make him no answer, for Dr. Johnson immediately called him off,
and harangued and attacked him with a vehemence and continuity that
quite concerned both Mrs. Thrale and myself, and that made Mr. Pepys,
at last, resolutely silent, however called upon. This now grew more
unpleasant than ever; till Mr. Cator, having some time studied his book,
exclaimed--
“What I am now going to say, as I have not yet read the 'Life of Lord
Lyttelton' quite through, must be considered as being only said aside,
because what I am going to say--”
“I wish, sir,” cried Mrs. Thrale, “it had been all said aside; here is
too much about it, indeed, and I should be very glad to hear no more of
it.”
This speech, which she made with great spirit and dignity, had an
admirable effect. Everybody was silenced. Mr. Cator, thus interrupted
in the midst of his proposition, looked quite amazed; Mr. Pepys was much
gratified by the interference; and Dr. Johnson, after a pause, said--
“Well, madam, you shall hear no more of it; yet I will defend myself in
every part and in every atom!”
And from this time the subject was wholly dropped. This dear violent
doctor was conscious he had been wrong, and therefore he most candidly
bore the reproof....
When the leave-taking time arrived, Dr. Johnson called to Mr. Pepys
to shake hands, an invitation which was most coldly and forcibly
accepted.[139]