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HE DEFIANCE,
TUA V t’SO LADY.
* -fyrv ?evi 1. tfm’l dare.
11* ‘>t ■vn r'»'cnre-
A. trucb ii.vtm prapare
' „n.th my fFeoce.
Th- ” r\. 5 inlhre r< -p* tto 'mw« f
Y<* j» r h r ’ Im* I’i'e,
At f* l>y off print', hold*— gr* wo,
I cLailrrg* jcu to fmilc.
Trr m?rey mufit"i»t liofom move,
IfowrVr »"r»i> 0 fticlr w’H,
Ard »hu«. liy paid • i « me, you prove,
That y- u tc an ange! (till.
Cn txvo beautiful .'inters unhappily
drowned in the Sea.
V' l »» tr- • li«* f »Vrf» rc*c» new it due ?
She gave on* Ftitu, and have taken two.
Imitated by a School-bay.
Ah ’ tel' me now, ungenerous wave,
What think* to thee are due ?
One Ftnui, it is true yru gave ;
But you have taken two.
YROMTHK I'D! T FOLtO.
MEMOIRS OF
oltvfr got D-vrrn, m. n.
Continued front No. V.
i* i ti<TK rr\l!v tindt rstood, (hat
in thr h’lMorv «'( his PhiLnopV’ck
Vagabond (Vicar of Wakefield,
than. \x )he has related many
<)i h ; * rwn adven'ures, and that
wh-*n on his pedestiiau tour thro’
Flanders nnd France, as he had
some knowledge of mnsick, he
turnrd what had (formerly been his
jmiiv ment into a present means
of subsistence. “ ! passed (says
he) the harmless peasants
of Flanders, and among such ol
the French as were poor enough
to be very merry ; for I ever
them found sprighly in proporoion
to their wants. Whenever I ,p.
pmac.hrd a peasant’s home to
wards nightfall, I played on the
German flute one cf mv most mer.
ry tunes, and that procured me
not only a lodging, biit subsis
tence for the next day* I once
or twice attempted 10 play for
people of fashion ; but they al
ways thought mv performance o*
dious, and never rewarded me,
even with a trifle. This was to
me the more extraordinary ; as
whenever I used in better davs to
play for company, when playing
was my amusement, my tnusick
never failed to throw them into
raptures, and the ladies especi
ally ; but as it was now my only
means, ii was received with con
tempt : a proof how ready (he
world is to underrate those tal
ents by which a man is suppor
ted !” At the different monaster
ies in his tour, especially those
of his own nation, his learning I
generally procured him tempora
ry entertainment ; and- thus he I
made his way to Switzerland, in
which country he first cultivated
bis poetical talents with any par
ticular effect ; for here we find
be wrote about two hundred lines
of his “ Traveller •”
The story which has commonly
been told, of his having ncted a3
travelling tutor to a young miser,
is now thought to have been too
hastily adopted from the aforesaid
History of a Pn'dosophick Vaga
bond, and never to have been the
real situation of the suthour of
that history. From Switzerland
Goldsmith proceeded to Padau,
where de stayed six months, and
is bv some supposed to have there
taken his degree of Bachelor of
Physick ; though others are of o
pinion that if ever really took any
n-cdical degree abroad, it was at
Louvain.*
After visiting all the northern
part of Italy , he travelled, still on
foot, through France ; and, em
barking at Calais ; lauded at Do
ver in the summer of lrjb, un
known, as he supposed, to a sin
gle individual, and with not a
guinea in his pocket.
1116 first endeavours were, to *
procure employment as an usher (
in some school , but the want of 1
a recommendation as to character
and ability rendered his efforts for
■onae time fruitless ; and how he
subsisted is not easy to guess.
At length, however,' it appears,
he procured an ushuer’s place ■
but in what part the school was
1° *769, it it certain, he wn admitted
M. H. at Coord, whichunivcrfity he vifued
•a February, iu company with Dr, Johuiun. 1
situated, or bow long he continu
ed in it we do not learn ; though
we may f-om some idea of The
uncr ngrnialitv of the place to his
mind, from the following passape
in the PhilotopliitV Vagabond :
“ ! have been an usher at a board
ing school, and may I die but I
would rather bean under turnkey
in Newgate. I was up early and
late 5 I was browbeat by the mas*
trr, hated for my ugly face by
mv mistress, worried bv the boys
within, and never permitted to stir
out to meet civility abroad.”
W ben in a fit of disgust he had
Quitted this academy, his pecuui*
ary necessities soon became pres
sing ; to relieve whiclf he applied
'o several apothecaries and chy
mists for employment as a jour
neyman ; but here his thread
bare appearance, awkward man
ners, and the want of a recom
mendation operated sorely’ to his
prejudice ;* till at last achy mist
near Fishstreet-hill, probably mo
ved bv compassion, gave him cm.
ployment in his laboratory, where
he continued till he learned that
his old friend Dr. Sleigh of Edin
burgh, wi.s in town s on him (who
had, an we have seen formerly re
lieved him from embarrassment)
Goldsmith waited, was kindly re*
ceive.l, and invited to share his
pulse during his continuance in
London.
This timely assistance enabled
ourauthour to commence medi
cal practice at Bankside in South
wark, whence he afterwards re
moved to the neighbourhood of
the Temple ; his success as a phy
sician is not known, but bis in
come was very small ; for as he
used to say, he got very few fees,
though he had abundance of pa
tients. Some addition, however,
he uow began to derive from the
efforts oi Ins pen j and it appears,
that he was for a while wuh the
celebrated Samuel Richardson as
corrector of the press.
About this time he renewed his
acquaintance, .with one of the
young physicians whom he had
known at Edinbugh: This wa3 a
son of ths Ke v . Doctor John Mil
ner, a dissenting minister, who
kept a classical school of eminence
at Peckham in Smrv. Mr. Mil
ner observing Goldsmith’s uncer- )
tain mode oi living, invited him to
take the charge of his father’s
school, the Doctor then being con
lined by illness: to this he con
sented ; and Doctor Milner, in
return, promised to exert his in
terest w iih the India D iftetors, j
to procure for him some medical
eftabliffiment m the Company’s
service. This promtfe he faith
fully performed, and Goldsmith
was actually appointed phylici
an to one of the fattors in India
in *758. It appears, however,
(hat our author never availed
hitnfelf of this pofl,t but con
tinued in Dr. Milner’s Acade.
my ; and in this very year fold
to Mr. Edward Dilly, for twen
ty guineas, “ The Memoirs of a
Vrotcjlant condemned to the G al
lies of France for his religion.
Written by himfclf. Tranjlated
from the Original , ju/l publijhed
at the H ague, by James Wil
lington, 2 vols. 12 mo.
Toward the latter end of 1758,
Goldlmith happened to dine at
Dr. Milner’s table with Mr.
Ralph Griffiths, the proprietor
of The Monthly review, who \
invited him to write articles oT
criticiun for that refpefclable
publication, on the terms of a
liberal (alary, besides board and
lodging. By a written agree
ment this engagement was to
lad lor a year ; but at the end
of (even or eight months it was
diflolved by mutual consent, Sc
• In a letter, dated Dec* 17J7, lie write.
I tbu» At London, you may catily imagine
■ what difficulties I had to encounter; with*
• cut friends, recommendations, money, or ini
j pudeuce : and that in a country where be
ing born an IrilTiman was futlicient to keep
me unemployed. Many iti such circum
ft.mtes, would have had recourse to the
friar’* cotd, or the fuicide'a haltar. But
with all my follies I had principle to refill
the one and resolution to combat the other."
f 1 hough, it is certain that, in contem
plation of "oirt<- to India, he circulated Pro
pofal* to priir ui luhlcription, “ An b-Jjay cn
ibt Prcftnt Skill j■ 'Tift j&J Liierutun in £u- I
rest," as a mean- of defraying the expence*
of bis fitting out for the voyage,
Goldsmith took a mifcrable a
partment in Green-Arbor court.
Linlc O'd Baily.* In this
wretched hovel our author com
peeled his 44 Enquiry into the
present State of Pilite literature
in Europe ,” which was publish.
<*d in i 759, bv Dodfley, and
was well received. In October
of the lame year, he began
“ The Bte ,” a weekly publica
lion, which terminated a*, the
eighth number. About this
time also he contributed some
articles to Tht Critical Review,
one of which (wc believe ate
view of Ovid’s Epistles, transla
ted into Enolifli verse by a Mr.
Barrett, mailer of ti e Grammar
School at Afhford in Kent”)
introduced him to the acquain.
tance of Dr. Smollef, who was
then Editor of the Bdtifh Maga
zine ; and for that work Gold,
fniith wrote moll of thole 44 Es.
says,” which were afterwards
collefted aod published in a se
parate volume. By I)r. Smol
lett too, he was re commended
to some refpeftable bookfellcrs,
particularly to Mr, John New.
berv, who well deierved the
eulogium beftowxd by Wabur
ton on the trade in general, as
one of 44 the bell judges & moll
liberal rewarders of literary me.
rit.” By Mr. Newbery, Gold,
fmiih was engaged at a Diary of
too/, a year to write for the
Public Ledger, a series of peri
odical papers. Thcfe he called
“ Chintfe Letters j” and they
were afterwards coiletlcd in two
vols—under the title of 44 The
Citizen of the World.” It was
soon after this that he commen.
ced his acquaintance with Dr.
Johnson.
The important engagement
with Newbery, for a hundred
pounds a year, encouraged
Goldlmiib to defeend Break,
neck fleps,t r.nd to hire a decen
apartment in Wine. Office-court
Fleet direct. Here he dropped
the humble Mijier , and dubbed
himfelf Do£l>, Gold fmiih. Here
also he put the finifhing hand t<>
his excellent novel called 44 The
Vtcar cf Wakefield," but was.
when he had done, extremely
cmbarrafTcd in his circumftan.
ces, dunned by his landlady for
arrears of rent, and not daring
to Itir abroad for fear of arrell :
in fad, fire herlelf at length had
him a» retied; he then summon.
ed resolution to fend a uidlagc
to Di. johnfon, Hating that he
was in gieat dill refs, end beging
that he would come to him as
soon as pollible. lohnfon sent
him a guinea and promiled to
follow almost immediately. —
When he ariivcd, he found
Go'dfinith in a violent paffton
with the woman of the houfc,
butconfoling himfelf as well as
he could with a bottle of Ma.
deira, which he had already
purchased with part of the gui
nea. Johnson, corking the
bott'e, delired Goldsmith would
be calm, and conlider what way
1 he could extricate himfelf. The \
latter then produced his novel as
ready for the press. The Doer
looked into it, law its merit, Sc
went away with it to Mr. New. ,
bery, who gave him 60/. for it;
with this sum he returned to
«
Goldsmith, w ho, with many j
invetlives, paid his landlady her j
rent. Newbery, however, ieems
not to have been very languine
in his hopes of this novel, for he
kept the MS by him near 3 years
unprinted; his ready purchale j
of it, probably was in the way
of a benefaction to its diflreffed |
author, rather than under any
• An Engraving of the house, iiluArated
by a defcriptiou, w»» given in the European
Magazine, Vol xiiii.pp. 7, 8.
+A ijteep flight ot flair* (commonly so terra*
1 ed) lead.tg from the door of hi» lodging
houte in Grecn-Aibour-coun to fleet-mar
ket.
idea of profit by the public®,
tion.
Eatly in the year 1769 Go.d
smith removed to lodgings at
Canonbury-Houle, Iflington,
where he compiled (everal works
for Mr. Newbery ; among
which were, 44 The Art of P or
try,” 2 vols. 12 mo. ; a “ Life
0} Xajh ” and a Hiftory of
England, in a Series of Letters
from a Xcbltman to his Son.
this latter book was for along
lime attributed to George lord
L ytdeton.
I n the following year he took
chambers on the upper flory of
the Library flair-cafe in the In
ner Temple, and began to live
in a genteel flyle. Still, howe
ver, he was little known, except
among the bookfellcrs, till the
year 17G5, when he produced
his Poem called “ Traveller ;
or A Yrofpetiof Society which
had obtained high commenda
tion from Dr. Johnson, who
declared, “ that there had not
been so fine a Poem since the
time of Pope ; yet such was
Goldsmiths diffidence, that tho !
he had completed it some years
before, he had not courage e
nough to publish, till urged to
it by Johnson’s fudged ions.—
This poem heightened his lite
rarv character with the bookfeL
lers, and introduced him to fe
veral persons of superior rank
and talents, as Lord Nugent
(afterwards Earl of Clare,) Mr.
Burke, Sir Joshua Reynolds,
Dr. N ugent, Mr- Bcrrnet Lang- j
ton, Mr. Topham Beauclerc, '
&c. and he was eletlcd one of
the fir ft members of “The Lite,
rary Club,” which had bcenjull
ittflituted by johnfon, Burke,
and Sir Joshua, and met at the
Lurk’s Head, Gerard street,
Soho, every Friday evening.
His pathetick ballad of 44 The
Hermit which was also pub
lished in 1765, recommended
him to the Countels (afterwards
Duchess) of Noithuir.berland,’
who v.'as a generous patroneis
of mirit. In the following year
hts 44 Vicar of Wakefield ” was
printed and univei faily read and
admired.
His reputation being now
fairly dlimated as a novelrft, a
poet, and a critick. Goldsmith
turned his thoughts to the dra
ma, and let about his comedy
called. 14 The Good natured Man”
This he firfl offered to Garrick,
who, alter a long fluctuation
between doubt and encourage
ment, at length declined bring
ing it forward at Drury-lane the.
atre ; it was therefore take#* to
Covent-garden, accepted by
Mr. Colman, and prefcnied for
the firft time on the 29th of Jan*
uary 1768. It was acted nine
times ; and by the profits of the
author’s three third-nights, with
he sale of the copy right, a clear
500 1 was produced.
With this, and some money
which he had refer ved out of the
produce of a 44 Roman Hifiory,”
! in 2 vols. Bvo. and other works
■
he was enabled to defeend from
his attick (lory in the Inner
Temple, and purchase for 400/.
| and iurnilh elegantly, a spacious
set of chambers on the firfl
floor, at No. 2, Brick court,
1 Middle Temple,
j On the ellablifhment of the
' Royal Academy, 1769, Sir
Joshua Reynolds recommended
Gotdfmith to his Majelty for the
Honorary Piofefforfhip of His
• tory, which was graciously con
! ferred on hitn. In the follow*
j mg year he produced that high
iy fimfhed poem, called 44 The
Dcjeried Village.” Previous to
its publication, we are told, the
bookleller (Mr. Griffin, of Ca.
tharine iireet, Strand) had given
htm a note of a hundred gui.
neas for the copy. This ctr. J
eamtUMe Goldsmith me*';''™;/
e d Coon afterwards to a friend,
who observed that it was a large
sum for so small a performance.
“In truth, ’Replied Goldlmith,
« [ think so too; it is near five a
(hillings a coplet, which is much
more than the honed man can
afford, and, indeed, more than j
any modern poetry is worth.—• #
I have not been easy fmce I re. *,
ceived it ; I will therefore go
back, and return him his note ;
which he accordingly did : but
the sale was so rapid, that the
book lei lor soon paid him the
hundred guineas, with proper
acknowledgments for the gene- l
roffity of his conduth
Soon after the appearance of
the Defertcd Village, our an.
thor paid a tribute to the memo, j
ry of Dr. Varnell, in a Tift *
prefixed to a new edition of hi*
“ Poems on several occafions.’*
In the year 1771, he produced
his u lliflory of England from
the earue[l times to the death of
George II" in 4 vois. Bvo. for
which Mr. Thomas Davies, the
bookfellcr, paid him 50of.
The £3rl of Lifburne, one
day at a dinner of the Royal A.
cademicians, lamented to Gold,
smith that he should neglcft the
Muses to compile histories and
write novels, instead of penning
poetry, with which he was sure
to charm his readers. “My
Lord,” replied our author, “ in
courting the Muses I should
Itatve; but by my other labor*
| I eat, drink, wear good clothes*
1 and enjoy the luxuries of life.’*
Goldsmith had, besides hi*
tegular works, much of the o
iher hufinefs of an author by «
profeffian ; such as penning
Prefaces and Introductions to
the books of other writers; fomc
of these have been publilhed
among his prose works; but,
no doubt, many remain at this
day unknown.
His lecond dramatic effort,
being fa comedy called u She
Stoops to Conquer ; or The mis
takes of a Night," was fir ft pre
sented at Covent-garden theatre*
March 15, 1773, and received
with an applause fully adequate
to the auahor’s sanguine hopes,
and contrary to the expetiati
-0113 of Mr. Colman, who had
not consented to receive the
piece, but at the earnest Sc i cite*
rated inftancesof many frineds*
W hat was called lentimenlal
comedy had at that time got an
unaccountable hold of the pub*
li r taste : Kelly \yas fubferving
this unbritifh propensity by his -
“ False Delicacy,” &c. and
Goldsmith’s piece (which was
designed by him to bring back
the town to a reliff* of humor)
being certainly in the opposite
extreme, and hardly any thing
else than a farce of five afls in
stead of two, Colman, and his
aftors from him, had predeftin.
ed the play to condemnation :
when, therefore, towards the
conclusion of the firft perform,
ance, the author expressed some
apprehension left some of the
jokes put in the mouth of Tony
Lumkin should not be relished
by the audience, the Manager,
who had been in fear through
the whole piece, replied, “ D —n
it Doflor, don’t be terrified at
a fouio; why, we have been
fitting these two hours on a bar
rel of gunpowder-” Gold
smith’s pride was so much hurt
at this remark, that the friend
fhip which had till then fubfifU
ed between him and Colman,
was thenceforth annihilated.
Blanks of all kinds executed at
ihefhorteil notice at this
Offic.