lly on Goldsmith,
for the manager seems to have withdrawn in despair; while all the
Johnson confraternity were determined to do what they could for
Goldsmith on the opening night. That was the 15th of March, 1773. His
friends invited the author to dinner as a prelude to the play; Dr.
Johnson was in the chair; there was plenty of gaiety. But this means
of keeping up the anxious author's spirits was not very successful.
Goldsmith's mouth, we are told by Reynolds, became so parched "from
the agitation of his mind, that he was unable to swallow a single
mouthful." Moreover, he could not face the ordeal of sitting through
the play; when his friends left the tavern and betook themselves to
the theatre, he went away by himself; and was subsequently found
walking in St. James's Park. The friend who discovered him there,
persuaded him that his presence in the theatre might be useful in case
of an emergency; and ultimately got him to accompany him to Covent
Garden. When Goldsmith reached the theatre, the fifth act had been
begun.

Oddly enough, the first thing he heard on entering the stage-door was
a hiss. The story goes that the poor author was dreadfully frightened;
and that in answer to a hurried question, Colman exclaimed, "Psha!
Doctor, don't be afraid of a squib, when we have been sitting these
two hours on a barrel of gunpowder." If this was meant as a hoax, it
was a cruel one; if meant seriously, it was untrue. For the piece had
turned out a great hit. From beginning to end of the performance the
audience were in a roar of laughter; and the single hiss that
Goldsmith unluckily heard was so markedly exceptional, that it became
the talk of the town, and was variously attributed to one or other of
Goldsmith's rivals. Colman, too, suffered at the hands of the wits for
his gloomy and falsified predictions; and had, indeed, to beg
Goldsmith to intercede for him. It is a great pity that Boswell was
not in London at this time; for then we might have had a description
of the supper that naturally would follow the play, and of Goldsmith's
demeanour under this new success. Besides the gratification, moreover,
of his choice of materials being approved by the public, there was
the material benefit accruing to him from the three "author's nights."
These are supposed to have produced nearly five hundred pounds--a
substantial sum in those days.

Boswell did not come to London till the second of April following; and
the first mention