up to town,
found Goldsmith in a most despondent condition; and also hints that
the unhappy author was trying to conceal the true state of affairs. "I
believe," says Cradock, "he died miserable, and that his friends were
not entirely aware of his distress."

And yet it was during this closing period of anxiety, despondency, and
gloomy foreboding, that the brilliant and humorous lines of
_Retaliation_ were written--that last scintillation of the bright and
happy genius that was soon to be extinguished for ever. The most
varied accounts have been given of the origin of this _jeu d'esprit_;
and even Garrick's, which was meant to supersede and correct all
others, is self-contradictory. For according to this version of the
story, which was found among the Garrick papers, and which is printed
in Mr. Cunningham's edition of Goldsmith's works, the whole thing
arose out of Goldsmith and Garrick resolving one evening at the St.
James's Coffee House to write each other's epitaph. Garrick's
well-known couplet was instantly produced:

"Here lies Nolly Goldsmith, for shortness called Noll,
Who wrote like an angel, but talked like poor Poll."

Goldsmith, according to Garrick, either would not or could not retort
at the moment; "but went to work, and some weeks after produced the
following printed poem, called _Retaliation_." But Garrick himself
goes on to say, "The following poems in manuscript were written by
several of the gentlemen on purpose to provoke the Doctor to an
answer, which came forth at last with great credit to him in
_Retaliation_." The most probable version of the story, which may be
pieced together from various sources, is that at the coffee-house
named this business of writing comic epitaphs was started some evening
or other by the whole company; that Goldsmith and Garrick pitted
themselves against each other; that thereafter Goldsmith began as
occasion served to write similar squibs about his friends, which were
shown about as they were written; that thereupon those gentlemen, not
to be behindhand, composed more elaborate pieces in proof of their
wit; and that, finally, Goldsmith resolved to bind these fugitive
lines of his together in a poem, which he left unfinished, and which,
under the name of _Retaliation_, was published after his death. This
hypothetical account receives some confirmation from the fact that the
scheme of the poem and its component parts do not fit together well;
the introduction