IhavementionedJohnson’sgeneralaversiontoapun。Heonce，however，enduredoneofmine。Whenweweretalkingofanumerouscompanyinwhichhehaddistinguishedhimselfhighly，Isaid，’Sir，youwereaCODsurroundedbysmelts。Isnotthisenoughforyou？
atatimetoowhenyouwerenotFISHINGforacompliment？’Helaughedatthiswithacomplacentapprobation。OldMr。Sheridanobserved，uponmymentioningittohim，’Helikedyourcomplimentsowell，hewaswillingtotakeitwithPUNSAUCE。’Formyownpart，Ithinknoinnocentspeciesofwitorpleasantryshouldbesuppressed；andthatagoodpunmaybeadmittedamongthesmallerexcellenciesoflivelyconversation。
Mr。BurkeuniformlyshewedJohnsonthegreatestrespect；andwhenMr。Townshend，nowLordSydney，ataperiodwhenhewasconspicuousinopposition，threwoutsomereflectioninparliamentuponthegrantofapensiontoamanofsuchpoliticalprinciplesasJohnson；Mr。Burke，thoughthenofthesamepartywithMr。
Townshend，stoodwarmlyforthindefenceofhisfriend，towhom，hejustlyobserved，thepensionwasgrantedsolelyonaccountofhiseminentliterarymerit。Iamwellassured，thatMr。Townshend’sattackuponJohnsonwastheoccasionofhis’hitchinginarhyme；’
for，thatintheoriginalcopyofGoldsmith’scharacterofMr。