pected that he was fretting with chagrin and envy at the
singular honour Doctor Johnson had lately enjoyed. At length the
frankness and simplicity of his natural character prevailed. He
sprang from the sofa, advanced to Johnson, and, in a kind of flutter,
from imagining himself in the situation which he had just been hearing
described, exclaimed, 'Well, you acquitted yourself in this
conversation better than I should have done; for I should have bowed
and stammered through the whole of it.'" It is obvious enough that the
only part of this anecdote which is quite worthy of credence is the
actual phrase used by Goldsmith, which is full of his customary
generosity and self-depreciation. All those "suspicions" of his envy
of his friend may safely be discarded, for they are mere guesswork;
even though it might have been natural enough for a man like
Goldsmith, conscious of his singular and original genius, to measure
himself against Johnson, who was merely a man of keen perception and
shrewd reasoning, and to compare the deference paid to Johnson with
the scant courtesy shown to himself.

As a matter of fact, the Prologue was written by Dr. Johnson; and the
now complete comedy was, after some little arrangement of personal
differences between Goldsmith and Garrick, very kindly undertaken by
Reynolds, submitted for Garrick's approval. But nothing came of
Reynolds's intervention. Perhaps Goldsmith resented Garrick's airs of
patronage towards a poor devil of an author; perhaps Garrick was
surprised by the manner in which well-intentioned criticisms were
taken; at all events, after a good deal of shilly-shallying, the play
was taken out of Garrick's hands. Fortunately, a project was just at
this moment on foot for starting the rival theatre in Covent Garden,
under the management of George Colman; and to Colman Goldsmith's play
was forthwith consigned. The play was accepted; but it was a long time
before it was produced; and in that interval it may fairly be presumed
the _res angusta domi_ of Goldsmith did not become any more free and
generous than before. It was in this interval that the elder Newbery
died; Goldsmith had one patron the less. Another patron who offered
himself was civilly bowed to the door. This is an incident in
Goldsmith's career which, like his interview with the Earl of
Northumberland, should ever be remembered in his honour. The
Government of the day were desirous of enlisting on their behalf the
services o