Goldsmith remained unmoved upon a sopha at some
distance, affecting not to join in the least in the eager curiosity
of the company. He assigned as a reason for his gloom and seeming
inattention, that he apprehended Johnson had relinquished his purpose of
furnishing him with a Prologue to his play, with the hopes of which he
had been flattered; but it was strongly suspected that he was fretting
with chagrin and envy at the singular honour Dr. Johnson had lately
enjoyed. At length, the frankness and simplicity of his natural
character prevailed. He sprung from the sopha, 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.'
His diary affords no light as to his employment at this time. He passed
three months at Lichfield; and I cannot omit an affecting and solemn
scene there, as related by himself:--
'Sunday, Oct.
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