XXn. PR9FAT011Y XMOiR

His celebrated pla J of She StOQps tp Cmupur^. was' G61d^tnith*s next work of impprtance. If it be die
object of Comedj. to make an audience laugh, Johnson ^

, sa^s th^t itxWBS better obtained bj this -play thaii bj
^any other of the period, Lee Lewes was, for the fii^t
time, pi*odaced iri a speaking character, .as young Mar* <
low , and is , therefore , entitled •to record his own -re*
coltectidns CQnccrhing the piece*'

^ » The 'first night of its performance, ^Coldsmith,
instead of being at the Theatre, was /bund sauntering^
between seven and. eiglit o'clock, in the .Mall, St
James s Park; £lnd it was on the remonstrance of a
friend; who told him ,how useful his presence might
be m making some sudden alterations wbich^ might be
found nedessary in the^piec^,* that he was preyailed <

' on to go to the "I'he^tre. He entered the stage-door
just in ihe middle of the 'fiAh act , when there was a
hiss at the improbability Qf Mrs., Hardca§de supposing
herself fprj-y iniles off^ though on her own. grounds,
and near the house. ,Whats that?' 'says the Doctor,
terrified at the sound- ,|*shaw, Doctor,' says Colmab,
^ho, was standing by the side of the scene, , don't be
fearful oi squibs , when we hare been sitting almost
these two hours upon, a barrel of gunpowder.' ,

»In the Life of JQr. Goldxmith^ prefixed to his
Works ^ the above reply of Colmans is said to ha^
happened at the last rehearsal of the piece, but the

'fact was (I had it from the Doctor 'himself) as 1 have
stated, and he nerer forgave it to Colman to the last
hour of I his * life* «. It may be. here noticed , that the
leading inoident of. the piece was borrowed from a
blunder of the, author himself, who, while travelling
in Ireland, actually mistook a gentleman's residence for
an Inn*

It must b6 dwned, that however hind,, amiable,
and benevolent, Goldsmith shewad himstlf to his ooa*
,temporari0A % more especially to s^eb at needed his as* *



TO OOLDSMITH*






iiistaiice, he had no mall portion of the jealoar and,
irritable spirit proper to the literary pro'fesiion. 