BEAUTIES of GOLDSMITH
H alf a Crown Sewed .
SN^SNVNS\\>N ^ \
*-*
'h'/i^J
TO THE
EARL OF SHELBURNE,
MY LORD,
IOUR friendfhip for Dr. Goldfmitb
is a fufficient inducement for me to in-
fcribe his Beauties to you. In all ages,
the illuflrious and the learned have been
courted, in the highefl ftrain of panegyric,
to take the offspring of Genius under
their patronage. This I am prevented
from doing here ; for the writings from
which this cento of excellence is taken,
have long fmce found innumerable ad-
mirers in every polifhed fociety. My
fble motive for addreffing your Lordfhip,
a arifes
arifes from your efteem for the Author,
whofe moral and fentimental writings
have given birth to a volume every way
meriting your Lordfliip's countenance.
I am,
MY LORD,
With the moft perfect efteem,
Your LORDSHIP'S moft obedient
and moft devoted
humble fervant,
w. H.
London, April 23,
1782.
PREFACE.
IT is merely in compliance with cuftom I fit
down to write a Preface. Dn Goldftnith's
writings need not an eulogium at this hour :
they may be compared to the invaluable paint-
ings of Raphael-, the longer thsy are in the
world, their eftimation becomes more exten-
ftve. Time has drawn the veil of oblivion
over the works of many writers, once renowned
(if we may credit tradition) for every perfection
that captivates. Nature was certainly wanting
to enrich thofe compofitions. What {he has
had a hand in, Time reverences, and a final
diffolution can only dcftroy. How happy, then,
muft the hallowed fpirit of Goldfmith be, whofe
Beauties wear the fimple brilliancy of Nature,
and all the decorative charms of Fancy ! whofe
praife is the theme of the ingenious, from the
* Capital of Tafte and Patronage, to the cot-
tage of learned tranquillity, and which Time
will for ever regard with parental affection !
a 2 The
* London.
iv PREFACE.
The Pi&ures I have given from his Poems,
are the higheft fmifhed in the group j and the
whole fele&ion will be found, it is hoped,
meriting the attention and patronage of the
refined lovers of elegant and eftimable litera-
ture.
W. H.
THE
THE
LIFE
O F
OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.B.
TAME, the only inflexible friend of Genius, has
been fmguiarly kind to the Author whofe life I with
much pieafure fit down to give feme account of.
She has founded the praifes of her favourite to the
extremities of tafte and literary refinement. The
Court and the Cottage fhare with equal felicity
the invaluable fruits of his elegant ftudies ! The
fmalleft memorial is a beacon for the incautious
heart of virtue and fimplicity, or a balm for the
wounded foul of the comfortlefs ! Hence the lovers
of human excellence have been fedulous in efta-
blifhing our writer's reputation on the bafis oF
immortality.
GoMjmtt&l biographers have been many ; their
opinions, in feme meafitre, different ; but they all
agree that he was a man of elevated genius, un-
bounded philanthropy, and poiTeffing the milk of
human kindnefs in a fupereminent degree. J have
a 3 their
vi LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.S.
their feveral accounts before me ; and, upon an
impartial furvey, Dr. G/cwr's ftands higheft in my
eflimation. He was Goldfmitb* $ intimate friend, a
companion in many of his literary purfuits, and
liis enthufiaftic admirer ! What fuch a writer fays,
as far as relates to fafts, muft be liftened to with
more pleafure than a mere work of fiction, how-
ever elaborate, or fplendidly fet off. It gives me
pleafure to acknowledge the obligations I lie under
to this ingenious and excellent companion, for
many particulars relative to Dr. Goldfmitb. I ftiall
give his account entire, marked with double com*
" OLIVER GOLDSMITH was born at R f.
common, in Ireland, in the year 1731. His father r
*vho pofTefled a fmall eftate in that county, had
nine fons, of which Oliver was the third. He
was originally intended for the church ; and with
that view, after being well inftru&ed in the claf-
fics, was, with his brother the Rev. Htnry Goldfmitb,
placed in Trinity college, Dublin, about the latter
end of the year 1749. In this feminary of learn-
ing he continued a few years, when he took a Ba-
chelor's degree ; but his brother not being able to-
obtain any preferment after he left the college,
Oliver, by the advice of Dean Goldfmitb, of Cork,
turned his thoughts to the profeflion of phyfic,
and, after attending fome courfes of anatomy in
Dublin, proceeded to Edinburgh in the year I75t y
where he iludied the feveral branches of medicine
under
LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.S. vii
under the different ProfefTors in 'that univerfity,
which was defervedly ranked among the firft fchools
of phyfic in Europe. Hb beneficent difpofition
foon involved him in unexpected difficulties, and
he was obliged precipitately to leave Scotland, in
confequence of engaging himfelf to pay a con-
fiderable fum of money for a fellow-ftudent.
" A few days after, about the beginning of the
year 1754, he arrived at Sunderland, near Neio-r
caftle, where he was arrefted at the fuit of one
Barclay, a taylor in Edinburgh, to whom he had
given fecurity for his friend. By the good graces
of Laugblin Madam, Efq; and Dr. Sleigh, who
were then in the college, he was foon delivered
out of the hands of the bailiff, and took his paf-
fage on board a Dutch fhip to Rotterdam, where,
after a (hcrt ftay, he proceeded to JBru/e/s. He
then vifited great part of Flanders, and, after pafs-
ing fome time at Strajbourg and Lovain, where he~
obtained a degree of Bachelor in Phyfic, he accom-
panied an Englijb gentleman to Geneva.
" It is undoubtedly fa<5l, that this ingenious,,
unfortunate man, made moft part of his tour on
foot ! He had left England with very little money ;
and, being of a philofophical turn, and at that
time pofleffing a body capable of fuftaining every
fatigue, and a heart not eafily terrified at danger,
he became an enthufiaft to the defign he had formed
of feeing the manners of different countries. He
had
viii LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.S.
had fome knowledge of the French language,
and of muilc ; he played tolerably well on the
German flute ; which, from an amufement, became
at fome times the means of fubiiftence. His learn-
ing produced him an hofpitable reception at moll:
o-f the religious houfes, and his muiic made him
welcome to the peafants of Flanders and Germany.
' Whenever I approached a peafant's houfe towards
night-fall,' he ufed to fay, c I played one of my
moft merry tunes, and that generally procured me
not only a lodging, but fubfiftence for the next
djjry : but in truth,' (his conftant expreffion) ' I muft
own, whenever I attempted to entertain perfons of
a higher rank, they always thought my perform-
ance odious, and never made me any return for
my endeavours to plcafe them.'*
" On his arrival at Geneva, he was recom-
mended as a proper perfon for a travelling tutor
to a young man, who had been unexpectedly left
a confiderable fum of money by his uncle, Mr-
S . This youth, who was articled to an at-
torney, on receipt of his fortune, determined to
fee the wcrld ; and, on his engaging with his pre-
ceptor, made a provifo, that he Ihould be permitted
to govern himfelf; and our traveller foon found
his pupil underftood the art of directing in money
concerns extremely well, as avarice was his pre-
vailing paClon.
" During
LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.S. ix
" During Goldfmitb's continuance in Switzerland,
he ^ffiduoufly cultivated his poetical talent, of
which he had given fome ftriking proofs at the
college of Edinburgh. It was from hence he fent
the firft (ketch of his delightful epiiHe, called <The
Traveller, to his brother, the clergyman, in Ire-
land, who, giving up fame and fortune, had re-
tired, with an amiable wife, to happinefs and ob-
fcurity, on an income of only 40!. a year.
" From Geneva, Mr. Goldfmith and his pupil
vifited the South of France, where the young man,
upon fome difagreement with his preceptor, paid
him the fmall part of his falary which was due,
and embarked at Marfeilles for England. Our wan-
derer was left once more upon the world at large,
and paffed through a number of difficulties in tra-
verfmg the greateft part of France. At length,
his curiofity being gratified, he bent his courfe
towards England, and arrived at Denver, the begin-
ning of the winter, in the year 1758.
" His finances were fo low on his return to Eng-
land, that he with difficulty got to this metropolis,
his whole ftock of cafh amounting to no more than
a few halfpence ! An entire ftranger in London, his
mind was filled with the moft gloomy reflections,
in confequence of his embarraffed fituation ! He
applied to feveral apothecaries, in hopes of being
received in the capacity of a journeyman ; but his
broad Irijh accent, and the uncouthnefs of his ap~
pe.arance r
x LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.B.
pearance, occafioned him to meet with infult from
moft of the medicinal tribe. The next day, how-
ever, a chymift near Fijh-flreet, flruck with his
forlorn condition, and the fimplicity of his man-
ner, took him Into his laboratory, where he con-
tinued till he difcovered his old friend Dr. Sleigh
was in London. This gentleman received him with
the warmeft afFeclion, and liberally invited him to
fhare his purfe.till fome eftablimment could be pro-
cured for him. GeldJ'mith, unwilling to be a bur-
den to his friend, a fhort time after eagerly em-
braced nn offer which was made him, to afuil the
late Rev. Dlf.'Afc'&ter, in inftrufting the young gen-
tlemen at the academy at Peckbam ; and acquitted
himfelf greatly to the Do&or's fatisfacKon for a
fhort time j but, having obtained fome reputation
by the criticifms he had written in the Monthly
Review, Mr. Griffiths, the principal proprietor,
engaged him in the compilation of it ; and, re-
folving to purfue the profeflion of writing, he re-
turned to London, as the mart where abilities of
every kind were fure of meeting diftindlion and
reward. Here he determined to adopt a plan of
the ftri&eft oeconomy, and took lodgings in Green-
Ar hour-court, in the Old-Bailey, where he wrote
feveral ingenious pieces. The late Mr. Newbery,
who at that time gave great encouragement to men
of literary abilities, became a kind of patron to
crtir young author, and introduced him as one of
the writers in the Public Ledger, in which his Citi-
zen of the World originally appeared, under the .
title of ' Ckittffe Letters.'
LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.S. xi
" Fortune now feemed to take fome notice of a
man ihe had long neglected. The fimpUcity of his
character, the integrity of his heart, an-d the me-
rit of his productions, made his company very ac-
ceptable to a number of refpeclable perfons ; and
he emerged from his fhabby apartments near the
Old-Bailey to the politer air of the Temfte, where
he took handfome chambers, and lived in a gen-
teel ftyle. The publication of his ^Traveller, his
Vicar of Wakefield, and his Letters en the Hijiory of
England, was followed by the performance of his
comedy of The Good-natured Man, at Convent-garden
theatre, and placed him in the firft rank of the
poets of the prefcnt age.
" Our Doctor, as he was now univerfally called,
had a conftant levee of his diftreiTed countrymen ;
\vhofe wants, as far as he was able, he always re-
lieved ; and he has been often known to leave him-
felf even without a guinea, in order to fupply the
necefiities of others !
" Another feature in his character we cannot
help laying before the reader. Previous to the
publication of his Deferted Village, the bookfeiler
had given him a note for one hundred guineas for
the copy; which the Doctor mentioned, a few
hours after, to one of his friends, who obfervcd it
was a very great fum for fo fhort a performance.
' In truth/ replied Gold/mith, ' I think fo toe ; it
is much more than the honeft man can afford, or
the
xii LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.S.
the piece is worth ; I have not been eafy fince I
received it ; therefore I will go back and return
him his note ;' which he abfolutely did, and left
it entirely to the bookfeller to pay him according
to the profits produced by the fale of the poem,
which turned out very confiderable.
" During the laft rehearfal of his comedy, in-
titled, She Stoops to Conquer, which Mr. Caiman
had no opinion would fucceed, on the Doctor's
objecting to the repetition of one of Tony Lumpkin's
fpceches, being apprehenfive it might injure the
play, the manager with great keennefs replied,
' Pfha, my dearDo&or, do not be fearful otfquibs,
when we have been utting almoft thefe two hours
upon a barrel of gunpowder /' The piece, how-
eve r, contrary to Mr. Co/man's expectation, was
received with uncommon applaufe by the audience ;
and Goldfmitb's pride was fo hurt by the feverity
of the above obfervation, that it entirely put au
end to his friendship for the gentleman who made
it.
" Notwithftanding the great fuccefs of his pieces,
by fome of which, it is aflerted, upon good autho-
rity, he cleared iSool. in one year, his circum-
ftances were by no means in a profperous fituation !
partly owing to the liberality of his difpofition,
and partly to an unfortunate habit he had con-
tradted of gaming, the arts of which he knew very
little of, and confequently became the prey of
thofe
LIFE' OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.B. xiii
thofe who were unprincipled enough to take ad-
vantage of his ignorance.
" Juft before his death, he had formed a defigu
for executing an Univerfal Dictionary of Arts and
Sciences, the profpectus of which he actually print-
ed, and diftributed among his acquaintance. In
this work, feveral of his literary friends (particu-
larly Sir Jojbua Reynolds) Dr. John/on, Mr. Beau-
-clerc, and Mr. Garrick) had engaged to furnifh
him with articles upon different fubjecls. He had
entertained the moft fanguine expectations from
'the fuccefs of it. The undertaking, however,
did not meet with that encouragement from the
bookfellers which he had imagined it would un-
doubtedly receive ; and he ufed to lament this
circumftance almoft to the laii hour of his exiil-
" He had been for fome years afflicted, at different
times, with a violent ftrangury, which contributed
not a little to imbitter the latter part of his life ; and
which, united with the vexations he fufFered upon
other occaf:ons, brought on a kind of habitual
defpondency. In this unhappy condition he was
attacked by a nervous fever, which, being im-
properly treated, terminated in his diflblution OR
the 4th day of April, 1774, in the forty- third
year of his age. His friends, who were very nu-
merous and refpectable, had determined to bury
-kim in Weftmiufter- Abbey, where a tablet was to
b have
xiv LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, T,LZ.
have been erected to his memory. His pall was
to have been fupported by Lord Sldlurne, Lord
Lcutb, Sir Jojbua Reynolds, the Hon. Mr. Be air
clerc, Mr. Edmund Burke, and Mr. Garrick ; but,
from fome unaccountable circumitances, this de-
fign was dropped, and his remains were privately
depofited in the Temple burial-ground*.
" As to his chara&er, it is ftrongly illuftrated
by Mr. Pope 's line ;
' In wit a man, fimplicity a child.'
" The learned leifure he loved to enjoy was too
often interrupted by diflrefles which arofo- from
the opennefs of his temper, and which fometimes
threw him into loud fits of pafiion ; but this impe-
tuofity was corrected upon a moment's reflection ;
and his fervants have been known, upon thefe oc-
calions, purpofely to throw themfelves in his way,
that they might profit by it immediately after;
for he who had the good fortune to be reproved,
was certain of being rewarded for it. His difap-
pointments at other times made him peevifh and
fullen, and he has often kft a party of convivial
friends
* As there is no veftige for Grangers to diftlngui/h the phce
cf his interment, a number of his admirers have long wiihcd
for a fubfcription to be opened towards creating a tomb, or
head-ftone, at his grave- The Publiflier of this Volume,
anxious for this tribute to Genius and Friendship, will receive
fubfcriptions from any of Dr. Goldfrnitfrs friends who may Its.
. inclined to patrouife this undertaking.
LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.S. xv
friends abruptly in the evening, in order to go
Borne and brood over his misfortunes : a circum-
ftance v/hich contributed not a little to the increafe
of his malady.
" The univerfal efteem in which his poems are
held, and the repeated pleafure they give in the
perufal, is a {Inking teft of their merit. He was
a ftudious and correfl obferver of nature, happy
in the fele&ion of his images, in the choice of his
fubjcfts, and in the harmony of his verification ;
and, though his embarrafied fituation prevented
him from putting the lait hand to many of his
productions, his Hermit, his 7rtovetter s and his De-
ferted Village, bid fair to claim a place among the
moft finiilied pieces in $ssi Englift language.
'' The writer of thefe anecdotes cannot conclude
without declaring, that, as different accounts hars
been given of this ingenious man, thefe are all
founded upon facls, and collected by one who lived
&vith him upon the moft friendly footing for a great
number cf years, and who never felt any forrowr*
more fenfibly than that which was occafioned b/
his death."
Let it be turned to what theme it will, the Opi-
nion cf an elevated literary character will fucceed.
bcft with the million. Let us hear what Dr. c j>,Lr--
fo/i fays of our author, in his Life of Parndl-
afvi LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.S.
" THE Life of Dr. Parnell is a taflc which I
fhould very willingly decline, fmce it has been
lately written by Gcldfmitb, a man of fuch variety
of powers, and fuch felicity of performance, that
he always feemed to do beft that which he was
doing ; a man who had the art of being minute
without tedioufnefs, and general without confu-
f:on ; whofe language was copious without exu-
berance, exad without conftraint, and ecfy with-
out \veaknsfs.
" What fuch an author has told, who would tell
again ? I have made an abftracl from his larger
narrative ; and fhall have this gratification from
ray attempt, that it gives me an opportunity of
paying due tribute to the memory of a departed
genius."
The moft interefKng part of the account which
Mr. Da<vies has given of our author, in his Life of
Garrick, deferves the reader's attention. The lat-
ter part of it exhibits to mankind, feelings of the
firft quality in nature.
* e EvE^y thing of Gotafmltb feems to bear the
magical touch of an enchanter ; no man took lefa
pains, and yet produced fo powerful an effecl: :
the great beauty of his compofition confifts in a
clear, copious, and exprefiive ftyle.
~ Gddjmittt
LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.S. xvii.
Goldfmitb was fo fincere a man, that he could
not conceal what was uppermoft in bis mind :
fo &r from defiring to appear in the eye of the
world to the beft advantage, he took more pains
to be'eiteemed \vorfe than he was, than others do
to appear better than they are.
His difpofition of mind v/as tender and compaf-
fionate ; no 1 unhappy perfon ever foed to him for
relief, without obtaining it, if he had any thing
to give; and, rather than not relieve the diftreiTed,
he would borrow. The poor woman, with whom
he had lodged, during his obfcurity, feveral years
in Green-Arbour Court, by his death loft an ex-
cellent friend; for the Doctor often fupplied her
with food from his table, and vifited her frequently
with the fole purpofe to be kind to her. He had
his diflike, as moft men have, to particular peo^
pie, but unmixed with rancour. He, leaft of all
mankind, approved Baretti's converfation ; he
confidered him as an infolent, over-bearing fo-
reigner ; as Raretti, in his turn, thought him an
unpolifhed man, and an abfurd companion : but,
when this unhappy Italian was charged with mur-
der, and afterwards fent by Sir John Fielding to
Newgate, GoUfmith opened his purfe, and would
have given him every milling it contained ; he, at
the fame time, infilled upon going in the coach
with him to th place of his confinement."
b 3 A handfome
xviii LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M. B.
A handfome Monument was ere&ed to his Memory,
fome time fince, in Weftminfter- Alley, in the
Poets' Corner, between Gay's and the Duke of
Argyl^s, with the following Infcription, fup-
pofed to be written by Dr. John/on.
OLIVARII GOLDSMITH,
Poetae, Phyfici, Hiftorici,
Qui nullum fere fcribendi genus
non tetigit,
nullum quod tetigit non ornavit ;
five rifus eflent movendi,
five lacrimse,
effedluum potens, at lenis dominator j
ingenio fublimis, vividus, verfatilis ;
oratione grandis, nitidus, venuitus ;
Hoc monumento memoriam coluit
Sodalium amor,
Amicorum fides,
Leftorum veneratio.
Natus Hiberraa, Fornei3 Lonfordienfisj
in loco ciii nomen Pallas>
Nov. xxix, M&CCXXXJ.
Eblanae literis inftitutus,
Obiit Londini,
Apr. iv. M DCC LXXIV..
.
Tie Editor of this work will le obliged to his inge-
nious readers for an elegant Tranjlaticn of this
Epitaph.
Among
LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.S. xk
Among a variety of other pieces to this excel-
lent writer's memory, the following are the moft
diftinguifhed for poetical merit.
EPITAPH ON DR. GOLDSMITH.
By W. WOTY.
ADIEU, fweet Bard ! to each fine feeling true,
Thy virtues many, and thy foibles few;
Thofe form'd to charm e'en vicious minds and,
Thefe
With harmless mirth the focial foul to pleafe.
Another's woe thy heart could always melt,
None gave more free for none more deeply felt.
Sweet Bard, adieu \ thy own harmonious lays
Have fculptur'd out thy monument of praife ;
Yes Thefe furvive to Time's remoteft day>
While drops the bull, and boaftful tombs decay.
Reader ! if number'd in the Mufes' train,
Go tune the lyre, and imitate his ftrain ;
But if no Poet thou, reverfe the plan,
Depart in peace, and imitate the Man.
EXTRACT
xx LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.S.
EXTRACT FROM THE TEARS OF GENIUS-*
Occasioned by the Death of Dr. Gcldfmitb.
By J. S. PRATT.
THE village-bell tolls out the note of Death,
And, through the echoing air, the length'ning
found,
With dreadful paufe, reverberating deep,
Spreads the fad tidings o'er fair Auburn's vale.
There, to enjoy the fcenes her bard had prais'd
In all the fweet Simplicity of fong,
Genius, in pilgrim garb, fequefter'd fat,
And herded jocund with the harmlefs fwains :
But, when fhe heard the fate- foreboding knell,
With ftartled Hep, precipitate and fwift,
And look pathetic, full of dire prefage,
The church-way walk, befide the neighb'ring
green,
Sorrowing fhe fought ; and there, in black array,
Borne on the Shoulders of the fwains he lov'd,
She faw the boaft of Auburn mov'd along.
Touch'd at the view, her penfive breaft She Struck,
And, to the cyprefs, which incumbent hangs,
With leaning Slope, and branch irregular,
O'er the mofs'd pillars of the facred fane,
Th' briar-bound graves Shad'wing with fun'ral
gloom,
Forlorn She hied ; and there the crouding woe
{Swell'd by the parent) prefs'4 on bleeding
thought,
Big
LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, MB. xxi
Big ran the drops from her maternal eye,
Fail broke the bofom-forrow from her heart,
And pale Diftrefs fat fickly on her cheek,
As thus her plaintive elegy began :
' And, muft my children all expire ?
Shall none be left to ftrike the lyre ?
Courts Death alone a learned prize ?
Falls his fhafts only on the wife ?
Can no fit marks on earth be found,
From ufelefs thoufands fwarming round r
What crouding cyphers cram the land !
What holts of vi&ims at command !
Yet mail th' ingenious drop alone !
Shall Science grace the tyrant's throne?
Thou murd'rer of the tuneful train !
I charge thee with my children flain !
Scarce has the Sun thrice urg'd his annual tour,
Since half my race have felt thy barbarous power :
Sore haft thou thinn'd each pleafing art,
And ftruck a Mufe with every dart :
Bard, after Bard, obey'd thy flaughtering call,
'Till fcarce a Poet lives to fmg a brother's fall.
Then, let a widow'd mother pay
The tribute of a parting lay,
Tearful, infcribe the monumental ftrain,
And fpeak, aloud, her feelings, and her pain !
And, firft, farewell to thee, my fon,' fhe cried,
* Thou pride of Auburn's dale fvveet bard, fare-
well !
Long, for thy Ikke, the peafants tears mall flow,
And many a virgin-bofom heave with woe ;
Fo*
xxii LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.S.
Fofcthee mall Sorrow fadden all the fcene,
And every paftime perifh on the green ;
The flurdy Farmer fliall fufpend his tale,
The Woodmsn's ballad (hall no more regale ;
No more mall mirth each rufdc fport infpire,
But every frolic, every feat, fhal! tire.
No more d*e ev'ning gambol fiiall delight,
Nor moonfhine revels crown the vacant night ;
But groupes of Villagers, each joy forgot,
Shall form a -fad affembly round the con
Sweet Bard, farewell ! and farewell dulxru**
blifs,
The bafhful lover, and the yielded kifs :
The evening warble Philomela made,
The echoing foreft, and the whifpering {hade,
The winding brook, the bleat of brute content,
And tke blithe voice that " whittled as it went.'*
Thefe mail no longer charm the Plowman's care,
But fighs mall fill the paufes of defpair.
Goldfmitb, adieu ! the " book-learn'd Prieft'To?
thee
Shall now, in vain, poflefs his feftive gtee;
The oft-heard jell in vaiu he (hall reveal,
For now, alas i the jell he cannot feel :
But ruddy Damfels o'er thy tomb fhall bend,
And, confcious, weep for their and Virtue's friend;
The Milkmaid fhall rejeft the Shepherd's fong,
And ceafe to carol as fhe toils along :
All Auburn fhall 'bewail the fatal day,
\yjien, from their fields, their pride was fnatch'd.
And,
LIFE OP OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.S. xxiit
And even the Matron of the crefly lake,
In piteous plight, her palfied head lhall {hake,
While, all a-dovvn the furrows of her face,
Slow (hall the lingering tears each other trace.
And, oh my child, feverer woes remain
To all the houfelefs and unfhelter'd train : '
Thy fate (hall fadden many an humble gueft,
And heap frefti anguifh on the beggar's bread }
For dear wert thou to all the fons of pain.
To all that wander, forrow, or complain ;
Dear to the learned, to the fimple dear,
For daily bleflings mark'd thy virtuous year;
The rich received a moral from thy head,
And, from thy heart, the ftranger found abed:
Diflrefs came always fmiling from thy door,
For GOD had made thee agent to the poor;
Had form'd thy feelings on the nobleft plan,
To grace at once the Pact and the Man.
CONTENTS/I
CONTENTS.
A.
Page
ADVERSITY 17
Abilities 28
Affection 30
Difmterefted Adion - 87
The Country Alehoufe 93
Adulation 100
Age - 102
Attachment 104
Dr. Pn'mro/e's Addrefs to his Fellow-Prifoners in
Gratified Ambition 173
Afem, the Man-Hater . - 189
Story of Alcander and Septimim 204
B.
Benefaction '" 15
Utility of new Books _ . 42
Benefaction and Acknowledgement 108
A C. Cahu
xxvi CONTENTS.
C.
Page
Calamities . . j i
Country Clergyman - 55
Opinion relative to Children . 41
Educating Children 75
Duty of Children to Parents 58
Love of Country ^ no
The Merchant's Clerk 139
Confcience - - . r;6
The Philofophic Cobler __ ,-.
Human Curiofity . 187
Ceremony - 201
Pifture of a Critic .. 220
D.
Dependance . ^
Difquietude . . 59
Modeft Diffidence 7 o
Drefs I0 6
Diflembling , 129
Obfervations on Death 170
Magnificence of the Deity 203
E.
. ,-;-
Opinidri of the Englijb i$
Edwin and Angelina .. j 8
Reflection on the Earth 33
Rejoicing
CONTENTS. xxvii
Page
Rejoicing at the Deftru&ion of our Enemies 33
Natural Evils - . ^j
Pleafmg Expectation . . 109
Earnefl Employment ~- - 139
Charity of the Englijh - - 161
Infolence of the common Englijb to Foreigners 1 64
Pride of the Englijb . 219
F.
Faults - .. i . - 49
Royal Favour . 59
Flattery ...... . . 69
Infolence of Court Favourites 77
Eflay on Friendfhip 89
Favour * 107
Fortune the only Reprefentative of Love and
Affe&ion among the Moderns - < 222
G.
Good-Nature .1 >
Greatnefs
Generofity .
Gratitude
A 2
-xxviii CONTENTS.
Gratitude and Love -
Monarchical and Republican Government
Greatnefs
Epitaph on Da*vld Garrick
Fidelity of a Dog
Popular Glory contrafted with True Glofy
True Generofity ..
Generofity .
Miferies of Genius in various Ages, and her
Happinefs in this --
Generofity ..
H.
Hofpitality _ _
Communion with our own Hearts
Hope ; a Song .
Hope, the Lamp of Life
Happinefs ever repugnant to our Wimes
I.
Inhumanity 12
Tndependance .- . . 29
Afluming Ignorance 41
Innocence and Simplicity 99
Coa tempt of the Ignorant . 210
L Juftice
CONTENTS
Page
Juftice . _^ 2
Juftice _ 86
Knowledge . .. j^
Vices of great Kings .. . , 59
Knowledge . . 73
L.
Defigning Lovers . , ,^
Love and Gratitude . . ^i
Liberality , 32
Literature < .~.-~e. 87
Love of Life . -i. , i O ^
Revolutions of Life -124
Love i - 130
Love, Ambition, and Avarice - j- - 156
Benefits arifing from Luxury . 216
M.
Malice - ,
Dignity of Man *--- , z ~,
Memory j a Song .,. . ,
A 3 _mty
xxx CO
Dignity of Man
Life of Man
Misfortunes of the Great
thofe of the Poor
Accidental Meetings
Story of Colonel M- - 120
Tendernefs and Generofity of Engtijb Mif-
creants . - * 164
Contemplation of Celeftial Magnificence 188
N.
Judgment of Human Nature 110
O.
Obligations 72
Oftentation ' ... 133
P.
Politenefs __.
Praife
Reflexion on the Life of a Poet
Puniihmcnt i
Pride and Refentment
Epitaph upon Doftor Parnell
Uncontrouled Power
Pleafure _
Want of Prudence
C C : ' E N T S. xxxi
Page
Poverty . 85
Death, of a Phibfophcr - 88
The $<wifs Peaiant - loi
Pleafure . .. 133
Penitence ..... . 138
Legiflative Power . - 166
The Strolling Player ' 174
Allurements of Quality - 203
R.
Reputation - _ 14
Reading - ..... 74.
Retirement . - 118
Ridicule - ...... up
Repofe - - I55
Scientific Refinement . . 173
Literary Reputation - 202
Remembrance - . .- - - - 2 OA.
Pleafures of Rural Retirement ... ..... . .- 210
Reputation - - 220
S.
Story of Mifs Sylvia S
Song
The Soul
Life of a Scholar
Succefs . -.
xxxii CONTENTS.
Page
Solitude ... 48
The Country Schoolmafter 56
Sorrow - . 73
Sabinus and Olinda 94
Sympathetic Sincerity 107
The Soul 130
Study ' . 136
Pleafures of Study il.
Early Diftafte to Study not to be conquered 137
The Difabled Soldier 147
Secrecy 189
Song 217
T. *
Tenderneis 89
Tidings * 109
Entertainment in the Study of Trifles 200
U.
The common Englijh, Strangers to Urbanity 162
V.
Vice
Valfalage
Vanity
Virtue
Mifplaced Virtues
Countenance to the Vulgar
Opinion of the Genius of Voltaire
CONTENTS. xxxiii
W.
Page
Civil War 17
Ingratitude of the World . 28
Opinion of Women, with an Account of Ca-
tharina Alexo--wna, Emprefs of Ruffia 49
Wifdom and Virtue . 57
The Man of the World . 60
Converfation of a fine Woman . 73
Connexion of Wits .. . .c. 188
Youth
[ XXXV ]
BOOKS printed for G. KEARSLEY, at
No. 46, in Fleet- Sir set.
THE BEAUTIES OF
DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON,
I N T WO VOLUMES,
Price Five Shillings together, or Half a Crown
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The MONTHLY REVIEW for March, 1782, gives
the following Character of this ^ELECTION :
' The merit of Dr. fobnfon, as a moral and critical
' Writer, is fowell known, that it would be fuper-
* fluous to point it out. His great excellence,
' however, lies in deep obfervations and acute re-
* marks on men and manners, worthy both of the
' fageandthewit: with thefe he interweavesreflec-
' tions, which are admirably calculated to imprefs
* the heart with a fenfe of the beauty of Virtue, and
* the obligations of Religion. The Collector of
'his
[ xxxvi ]
c his Maxims fufficiently exprefles the defigns of
f this publication in the Title-page ; and we
* heartily vvifh it fuccefs among the Young, for
' whofe improvement and convenience, particularly
* in Schools, it feems principally intended.' Vide
the laji Monthly Review.
THE BEAUTIES OF STERNE,
THE THIRD EDITION,
In which every loofe Expreffion is carefully
omitted,
Is j uft publiftied, Price Half a Crown, with a H E A n
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And in a few Days <-jcill be Publifved, price Half a
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AND
The BEAUTIES of DR. WATTS.
THE
BEAUTIES
O F
GOLDSMITH.
STORY OF MISS SYLVIA S .
JVllSS SYLVIA S was defcended from
one of the beft families in the kingdom, and was
left- a large fortune upon her fitter's deceafe. She
had early in life been introduced into the beft com-
pany, and contra&ed a paffion for elegance and
expence. It is ufual to make the heroine of a
(lory very witty, and very beautiful ; and fuch cir-
cumftances are fo furely expe&ed, that they are
fcarce attended to. But whatever the fineft poet
could conceive of wit, or the moft celebrated
painter imagine of beauty, were excelled in the
perfections of this young lady. Her fuperiority
in both was allowed by all, who either heard, or
had feen her. She was naturally gay, generous to
a fault, good-natured to the higheft degree, affable
in converfation; and fome of her letters, and other
writings, as well in verfe as profe, would have
Ihone amongft thofe of the moft celebrated wits of
this, or any other age, had they been publifhed.
B But
^2 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
But thefe great qualifications were marked by
another, which leffened the value of them all.
She was imprudent ! But let it not be imagined,
-that her reputation or honour fuffered by her im-
prudence; I only mean, me had no knowledge of
the ufe of money; me relieved diftrefs, by putting
herfelf into the circumftances of the objed whofe
wants flie fupplied.
She was arrived at the age of nineteen, when
the croud of her lovers, and the continual repeti-
tion of new flattery, had taught her to think me
could never be forfaken, and never poor. Young
-ladies are apt to expeft a certainty of fuccefs, from
a number of lovers ; and yet I have feldom feen a
girl courted by an hundred lovers, that found an
hufband in any. Before the choice is fixed, me
has either loft her reputation, or her good fenfe j
and the lofs of either is fufficient-to conlign her to
perpetual virginity.
Among the number of this young lady's lovers,
Was the celebrated S , who, at that time, went
by the name of the good-natured man. This gen-
tleman, with talents that might have done honour
to humanity, fuffered himfelf to fall at length
into the loweft ftate of debafement. He followed
the diftates of every neweft paffion ; his love, his
pity, his generolity, and even his friendfhips, were
all in excefs : he was unable to make head againft
any of his fenfations or defires ; but they were in
general
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 3
general worthy wifhes and defires ; for he was con-
iiitutionaliy virtuous. This gentleman, who at
lail died in a gaol, was,. at that time, this lady's
envied favourite,
It is probable that he, thoaghtlefs creature ! had
no other profpeft from this amour, but that of
paffing the prefent moments agreeably. He only
courted diflipation ; but the lady's thoughts were
fixed on happinefs. At length, however, his debts
amounting to a considerable fum, he was arrefted,
and thrown into prifon. He endeavoured at firft
to conceal his fituation from his beautiful miftrefs ;
but me foon came to a knowledge of his diftrefs,
and took a fatal refolution of freeing him from
confinement by difcharging all the demands of his
creditors.
Mr. Nafi was at that time in London, and re-
prefented to the though tlefs young lady, that fuch
a meafure would effectually ruin both; that fo
warm a concern for the interefls of Mr. S ,
would, in the firft place, quite impair her fortune
in the eyes of our fex, and, what was worfe, leffen.
her reputation in thofe of her own. He added,
that thus bringing Mr. S from prifon, would
be only a temporary relief; that a mind fo gene-
rous as his, would become bankrupt under the load
of gratitude ; and, in (lead of improving in friend-
fliip or affection, he would only ftudy to avoid a
B 2 creditor
* Then Majler cf t&e Ceremonies at Bath.
4 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
creditor he could never repay : that, though fmatl
favours produce good -will, great ones deftroy
friendlhip. Thefe admonitions, however, were
difregarded ; and Ihe too late found the prudence
and truth of her advifer. In fhort, her fortune
Was by this means exhaufled ; and, with all her
attractions, {he found her acquaintance began to
difeftecm her, in proportion as ihe became poor.
In this fituation (he accepted Mr. Nafi's invita-
tion of returning to Bath. He promifed to intro-
duce her to the beft company there ; and he was
allured that her merit would do the reft. Upon
her very firft appearance, ladies of the higheft dif-
tinftion courted her friendfhip and efleem ; but a
fettled melancholy had taken pofleflion of her
mind, and no amufements that they could propofe
were fufficient to divert it. Yet {till, as if from
habit, me followed the crowd in its levities, and
frequented thofe places where all perfons endea-
vour to forget themfelves in the buftle of cere-
mony and {how.
Her beauty, her fimplicity, and her unguarded
fituation, foon drew the attention of a defigning
wretch, who at that time kept one of the Rooms
at Bath, and who thought that this lady's merit,
properly managed, might turn to good account.
This woman's name was Dame Lindfey, a creature,
who, though vicious, was in appearance fan&ified ;
and, though defigning, had feme wit and humour.
She began, by the humbleli affiduity, to ingratiate
herfelf
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 5
herfelf with Mifs S 1 ; fliewed that ihe could ba
amufmg as a companion, and, by frequent offers
of money, proved that fhe could be ufeful as a
friend. Thus, by degrees, fhe gained an entire
afcendant over this poor, thoughtlefs, defcrted
girl ; and, in lefs than one year, namely, about
1727, Mifs 5 , without ever tranfgreffing the
laws of virtue, had entirely loft her reputation.
Whenever a perfon was wanting to make up a party
for play at Dame Lindfey's, Sylvia, as me was then
familiarly called, was fent for, and was obliged to
fuffer all thofe flights, which the rich but too often
let fall upon their inferiors in point cf fortune.
In moil, even the greateft minds, the heart at
lait becomes level with the meannefs of its condi-
tion ; but in this charming girl it ftruggled hard
with adverfity, and yielded to every encroachment '
of contempt with fallen reluctance.
But though in the courfe of three years fhe was
in the very eye of public infpe&ion, yet Mr. Wocd,
the architect, avers, that he could never, by the
flrifteft obfervations, perceive her to be tainted
with any other vice, than that of fuffering herfelf
to be decoyed to the gaming-table, and, at her
own hazard, playing for the amufement and ad .
vantage of others. Her friend, Mr. Najh, there-
fore, thought proper to induce her to break off all
conneftions with Dame Lindfey, and to rent part
of Mr. PFfod's houfe, in Queen-fquare , where fhe
B 3 behaved
6 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMTTH.
behaved with the utmoft complaifance, regularity,
and virtue.
In this fituation, her deteftation of life ftill con-
tinued ; fhe found, that time would infallibly de-
prive her of part of her attractions, and that con-
tinual folicitude would impair the reft. With thefe
reflections fhe would frequently entertain herfelf,
and an old faithful maid, in the vales of Bath,
whenever the weather would permit them to walk
out. She would even fometimes ftart queftions in
company, with feeming unconcern, in order to
know, what aft of fuicidc was eafieft, and which
was attended with the fmalleft pain. When tired
with exercife, fhe generally retired to meditation ;
and ihe became habituated to early hours of fleep
and reft. But when the weather prevented her
ufual exercife, and her fleep was thus more diffi-
cult, (he made.it a rule to rife from her bed, and
walk about her chamber, till Ihe began to find an
inclination for repofe.
This cuftom made it neceflary for her to order a
burning candle to be kept all night in her room :
and the maid ufually, when fhe withdrew, locked
the chamber-door; and, pufhing the key under it
beyond reach, her miftrefs, by that conftant me-
thod, lay undifturbed till feven o'clock in the
morning ; then fhe arofe, unlocked the door, and
rang the bell, as a fignal for the maid to return.
This
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH". 7
This flate of feeming piety, regularity, and
prudence, continued for fome time, till the gay,
celebrated, toafted Mifs Sylvia was funk into an
houfekeeper to the gentleman at whofe houfe fhe
lived. She was unable to keep company, for want
of the elegancies pf drefs, that are the ufual pafs-
port among the polite ; and fhe was too haughty
to feem to want them. The fafhionable, the
amufing, and the polite, in fociety, now feldora
vifited her ; and, from being once the objecl; of
every eye, fhe was now deferted by all, and preyed
upon by the bitter reflections of her own impru-
dence.
Mr. Wood, and part of his family, were gone to
London. Mifs Syl<uia was left with the reft, as a
governefs, at Eatb. She fometimes faw Mr. Najh- y
and acknowledged the friendship of his admoni-
tions, though fhe refufed to accept any other marks
of his generofity than that of advice. Upon the clofe
of the day in which Mr. Wcod was expected to re-
turn from London, fhe exprcffed fome uneafinefs at
the difappointment of not feeing him ; took parti-
cular care to fettle the affairs of his family ; and
then, as ufual, fat down to meditation. She now caft
a retrofpeft over her paft mifconduct, and her ap-
proaching mifjery ; fhe faw, that even affluence
gave her no real happinefs, and from indigence
fhe thought nothing could be hoped but lingering
calamity. She at length conceived the fatal refo-
lution of leaving a life, in which fhe could fee no
corner
g THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
corner for comfort, and terminating a fcene of:
imprudence in fuicide.
Thus refolved, me fat down at her dining-
room window, and with cool intrepidity wrote the
following elegant lines on one of the panes of the
window :
O Death ! thou pleafmg end of human ; woe !
Thou cure for life ! Thou greateft good below !
Still may'ft thou fly the coward, and the flave,
And thy foft {lumbers only blefs the brave.
She then went into company with the moft
chearfal ferenity ; talked of indifferent fubjefts
till fupper, which me ordered to be got ready in a
little library belonging to the family. There fhe
fpent the remaining hours, preceding bed-time,
in dandling two of Mr. Wood's children on her
knees. In retiring from thence to her chamber,
fhe went into the nurfery, to take her leave of
another child, as it lay fleeping in the cradle.
Struck with the innocence of the little babe's
looks, and the confcioufnefs of her meditated
guilt, fhe could not avoid burfting into tears, and
hugging it in her arms ; fhe then bid her old fer-
vant a good night, for the firfl time fhe had ever
done fo, and went to bed as ufual.
It is probable fhe foon quitted her bed, and
was feized with an alternation of paffions, before
me
'I HE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 9
me yielded to the impulfe of defpair. She dreflld
herfelf in clean linen, and white garments of
every kind, like a bride-maid. Her gown was
pinned over her breaft, juft as a nurfe pins the
fwaddling-clothes of an infant. A pink filk gir-
dle was the inftrument with which fhe refolved to
terminate her mifery, and this was lengthened by
another made of gold thread. The end of the
former was tied with a noofe, and the latter with
three knots, at a fmall diftance from one another.
Thus prepared, fhe fat down again, and read ;
for fhe left the book open at that place, in the
ftory of Olympia, in the Orlando Furiofo of Ari-
ofto, where, by the perfidy and ingratitude of her
bofom friend, fhe was ruined, and left to the
mercy of an unpitying world. This tragical
event gave her frefh fpirits to go through her
fatal purpofe ; fo flan ding upon a ftocl, and fling*
ing the girdle, which was tied round her neck,
over a clofet-door that opened into her chamber,
fhe remained fufpended. Her weight however
broke the girdle, and the poor defpairer fell upon
the floor with fuch violence, that her fall awakened
a workman that lay in the houfe about half an
hour after two o'elock.
Recovering herfelf, fhe began to walk about
the room, as her ufual cuftom was when fhe
wanted fleep ; and the workman imagining it to
be only fome ordinary accident, again went to
fleep ^
to THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
fleep. She once more, therefore, had recourfe t
a. rtronger girdle made of filver thread ; and this
kept her fufpended till fhe died.
Her old maid continued in the morning to wait
as ufual for the ringing of the bell, and protracted
her patience, hour after hour, till two o'clock in
the afternoon ; when the workmen at length en-
tering the room through the window, found their
unfortunate miftrefs fall hanging, and quite cold.
The coroner's jury being impanelled, brought in
theirverdift, Lunacy ; and her corpfe was next night
decently buried in her father's grave, at the
charge of a female companion, with whom fhe
had for many years an inseparable intimacy.
Thus ended a female wit, a toaft, and a game
fter ; loved, admired, and forfaken ; formed for
the delight of fociety, fallen by imprudence into
an objeft of pity. Hundreds in high life la-
mented her fate, and wifhed, when too late, to
redrefs her injuries. They who once had helped
to impair her fortune, now regretted that they
afiitted in fo mean a purfuit. The little effeills
fhe had left Behind were bought up with the great-
eft avidity, by thole who defired to 'preferve fome
token of a companion that once had given them
fuch delight. The remembrance of every virtue
flic was poffefTed of was now improved by pity.
Her former follies were few, but the laic fwelled
them, to a lar^e amount. As fhe remains the
ilrongefl.
THE "BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. it
ftrongeft inftance to pofterity, that want of pru-
dence alone, almoft cancels every other virtue.
LIFE OF NASH, p. 84,
CALAMITIES.
JVlAN little knows what calamities are beyond
his patience to bear, till he tries them. As in
afcending the heights of ambition, which look
bright from below, every ftep we rife fnews us
fome new and gloomy profpecl of hidden difap-
pointment ; fo in our defcerrt from the fummits of
pleafure, though the vale of mifery below may
appear at firft dark and gloomy, yet the bufy
mind, ftill attentive to its own amufement, finds,
as we defcend, fomething to flatter and to pleafe.
Still as we approach, the darkeft objects appear to
brighten, and the mental eye becomes adapted to
its gloomy fituation.
VICAR OF WAKEFIELD, V. I. p. 199.
BOOKS.
BOOKS, while they teach us to refpefl the in-
terefts of others, often make us unmindful of our
own ; while they inftruct the youthful reader to
grafp at focial happinefs, he grows miferable in
detail, and, attentive to univerfal harmony, often
forgets that he himfelf has a part to fuftain in the
concert,
12 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
concert. I diflike therefore the philofopher who
defcribes the inconveniencies of life in fuch plea-
fing colours, that the pupil grows enamoured of
diftrefs, longs to try the charms of poverty, meets
it without dread, nor fears its inconveniencies till
he feverely feels them.
CITIZEN OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. 7
HOSPITALITY.
HOSPITALITY is one of the iirft chriftian
duties. The beaft retires to his flicker, and the
bird flies to its neft ; but helplefs man can only
find refuge from his fellow creature. The greateft
ftranger in this world was he that came to fave it.
He never had an houfe, as if willing to fee what
hofpitality was left remaining amongft us.
VIC. OF WAKEFIELD,V. I. p. 59.
INHUM ANJT'Y.
WE mould never ftrike an unneceiTary blow at
a viftim over whom providence holds the fcourge
of its refentment.
IBID. v. i. p. 6z.
GOOD-NATURE.
TO the good-natured, fubfequent diftrefs often
atones for former guilt ; and while reafon would
reprefs humanity, yet our hearts plead in the fa-
vour of the wretched.
HIST. OF ENGLAND, IN LETTERS FROM A
NOBLEMAN TO HIS SON, V. 2. p. 2OO.
.
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
KNOWLEDGE.
THE volume of nature is the book of know-
ledge ; and he becomes moft wife who makes the
moil judicious feleftion.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. I. p. 14.
OPINION OF THE ENGLISH.
THE Englifh in general feem fonder of gaining
the efteem than the love of thofe they converfe
with : this gives a formality to their amufements ;
their gayeil converfations have fomething too wife
for innocent relaxation ; though in company you
are feldom difgufted with the abfurdity of a fool,
you are feldom lifted into rapture by thofe ftrokes
of vivacity which give inftant, though not perma-
nent pleafure.
What they want, however, in gaiety, they make
up in politenefs. You fmile at hearing me praife
the Englifh for their politenefs : you who have
heard very different accounts from the miffionaries
at Pekin, who have feeii fuch a different behaviour
in their merchants and feamen at home. But I
muft ftill repeat it, the Englifh feem more polite
than any of their neighbours : their great art in
this refpeft lies in endeavouring, while they oblige,
to lefien the force of the favour. Other coun-
tries are fond of obliging a ftranger ; but feem de-
firous that he mould be fenfible of the obligation.
The Englilh confer their kindnefs with an ap-
C pearanc
14 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
pearance of indifference, and give away benefits,
with an air as if they defpifed them.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, v.i. p. 13.
REPUTATION.
.AS the reputation of books is raifed not by
their freedom from defect, but the greatnefs of
their beauties ; fo mould that of men be prized
not for their exemption from fault, but the fize of
. thofe virtuts they are poffeiTed of.
VIC. OF WAKEFIELD, V. I. p. 158.
G REATNESS.
IT is the misfortune of humanity, that we can
never know true greatnefs till that moment when
we are going to lofe it.
HIST. OF ENGLAND, V. 2. p. 266.
F A V O U R.
EVERY favour a man receives, in fome mea-
fure finks him below his dignity ; and in proportion
to the value of the benefit, or the frequency of its
acceptance, he gives up fo much of his natural
independance. He therefore, who thrives upon
the unmerited bounty of another, if he has any
fenfibility, fuffers the worft of fervitude : the
{hackled ilave may murmur without reproach, but
the humble dependant is taxed with ingratitude
upon every fymptcm of difcontent ; the one may
rave round the walls of his cell, but the other
lingers
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 15-
lingers in all the filence of mental confinements
To increafe his diftrefs, every new obligation but
adds to the former load which kept the vigorous
mind from riiing ; till at laft, elaftic no longer, it
Shapes itfelf to conflraint, and puts on habitual
fervility.
CIT. OF THE WOR-L0, V. 2. p. U?.
V 1C E.
WE are not to be furprifed that bad men want :
fhame ; they only blufh at being deteded in do-
ing good, but glory in their vices.
VIC. OF WAKEFIELD, V. I. p. l6z.
MALICE.
TO be at once merry and malicious, is the fign
of a corrupt heart* and mean undenlanding.
HIST. OF ENGLAND, V. 2. p. 36,
BE NE F A C TIO N.
IN general, the benefactions of a generous
man are but ill beftowed. His heart feldom givtfs
him leave to examine the real diftrefs of'the object
which fues for pity ; his good-nature takes the
alarm too foon, and he beflovvs -his fortune only
on apparent wretchednefs. The man naturally
frugal, on the other hand, feldom relieves ; but:
when he does, his reafon, and not his fenfations,
generally find out -the objecl. Every inftince- of
C2 his
16 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
his bounty is therefore permanent, and bears wit-
nefs to his benevolence.
JLIFE OF NASH, p. 114.
COMMUNION WITH OUR OWN HEARTS.
IF we could but learn to commune with our
own hearts, and know what noble company we can
make them, we would little regard the elegance
and fplendors cf . the wcrthlefs. Almoft all men
have been taught to call life a pafTage, and tliem-
felves the travellers. The fimilitude fall may be
improved, when we ob&rve that the good are joy-
ful and ferene, like travellers that are going to-
wards home ; the wicked but by intervals happy,_
like travellers that are going into exile.
VIC. OF WAKEFIELD, V. 2, p. 49.
VASSALAGE.
IT is perhaps one of the fevereft misfortunes of
the great, that they are, in general, obliged to
live among men whofe reaK value is leffened by
Uependance, and whofe minds are enflaved by
obligation. The humble companion may have at
firft accepted patronage with generous views ;
but foon he feels the mortifying influence of con-
fcious inferiority, by degrees finks into a flatterer,
and from flattery at laft degenerates into ftupid
veneration. To remedy this, the great often dif-
mifs their old dependants, and take new. Such
changes are falfely imputed to levity, falfehood,
THE BEAUTIES OF 'GOLD SMITH. 17
or caprice, in the patron, fmce they may be more
jtiftly afcribed to the client's gradual deteriora-
tion.
CIT. OF THE WOULD, V. 2. p. 144.
ADVERSITY.
THE greateit objeft in the univerfe, fays a cer-
tain philofophcr, is a good man ftruggling with
ad.verfity; yet there is ftill a greater, which is
the good man that comes t6 relieve it.
VIC. OF WAKEFIELD, V. 2. p. IOJ.
DE-SIGNING LOVERS.
DESIGNING lovers in the decline of life are
ever moft dangerous. Skilled in all the weak-
neffes of the fex, they feize each favourable op-
portunity, and by having lefs pafficn than youth-
ful admirers, have lefs real refpedl, and therefore
lefs timidity.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 1. p. 260,
CIVIL WAR.
CIVIL war is in itfelf terrible, but ftill more
fo when heightened by cruelty. How guilty fo-
ever men may be, it is ever the bufinefs of a fol-
dier to remember, that he is only to .fight an
enemy that oppofes him, and to fpare the fup-
pliant-
HIST. OF ENGLAND, V. 2. p. 2OO.
C POLITE-
!8 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
POLITENESS.
SOME great minds r.re only fitted to put forth
their powers in the itorm ; and the occasion is
often wanting, during a whole life, for a great ex-
ertion : but trifling opportunities of fhining, are
almoft every hour offered to the little fedulous
mind ; and a perfon thus employed, is not only
more pleafing, but more ufeful in a fiate of tran-
quil fociety.
LIFE OF NASH, p- 7j.
EDWIN AND ANGELINA.
lURN, gentle Hermit of the dale,
'And guide my lonely way
* To where yon taper cheers the vale
' With hofpitable ray :
' For here, forlorn and loft I tread,
* With fainting fleps arid flow,
Where wilds immeafurably fpread
' Seem length'ning as I go/
' Forbear, my fon,' the Hermit cries,.
' To tempt the dangerous gloom ;
* For yonder faithlefs phantom flies
' To lure thee to thy doom.
'He*?
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. ig
* Here to the hoiifelsfs child of want
' My door is open ftill ;
* And though my portion is but (cant,
' I give it with good-will.
* Then turn to-night, and freely frare
' Whate'er my cell bellows ;
' My rufhy couch, and frugal fare,
' My bleffing, and repofe.
' No flocks that range the, valley free,
' To {laughter I condemn :
' Taught by that Power that pities rtr,
' I learn to pity them.
* But from the mountain's grafiy fide
' A guiltlefs feaft I bring ;
' A fcrip with herbs and fruits fupply'd,
' And water from the fpring.
( Then, pilgrim, turn, thy cares forego;
' All earth-born cares are wrong :
* Man wants but little here below,
' Nor wants that little long. 1
Soft as the dew from Heav'n defcends,
His gentle accents fell :
The modeft ftranger lowly bends,
And follows to the cell.
20 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH;
Far in a wilder nefs obfcure
The lonely manfion lay,
A refuge to the neighbouring poor,
And ftrangers led aftray.
No ftores beneath its humble, thatch
Requir'd a mailer's care ;
The wicket op'ning with a latch
Receiv'd the harmlefs pair.
And! now, when bufy crouds retire
To take their evening reft,
The^Iermit trimm'd his little fire,
And cheer 'd his penlive gueft ;
And fpread his vegetable ftore,
And gaily preft, and fmil'd,
And, fkill'd in legendary lore,
The lingering hours beguil'd.
Around in fympathetic mirth
Its tricks the kitten tries ;
The cricket chirrups in the hearth ;
. The crackling faggot flies.
But nothing could a charm impart
To foothe the ftranger's woe ;
For grief was heavy at his heart,
And tears began to flow.
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. ZT
His riling cares the Hermit fpy'd,
With anfw'ring care oppreft :
' And whence, unhappy youth,' he cry'd,
The forrows of thy breaft ?
' From better habitations fpurn'd,
* Reluftant doft thou rove ?
* Or grieve for friendfhip unreturn'd,
' Or unregarded love ?
* Alas ! the joys that fortune brli.gs,
' Are trifiing, and decay;
* And thofe who prize the paltry things,..
' More trifling ftill than they.
e And what is Friendfhip but a name,
' A charm that lulls to fleep ;
' A made that follows wealth or fame,.
* But leaves the wretch to weep?
* And Love is ftill an emptier found,.
' The modern fair-one's jefl,
' On earth unfeen, or only found
' To warm the turtle's neit.
* For Ihame, fond youth ! thy forrows hu&,
' And fpurn the fex,' he faid :
But, while he fpoke, a rifing blufh
His love-lorn gueft betray'd.
Surpris'd
zz THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
Surpris'd he fees new beauties rife
Swift mantling to the view,
Like colours o'er the morning fkie~,
As bright, as tranfient too.
The bafhful look, the rifing breaft,-
Alternate fpread alarms ;
The lovely ftranger rtands confeft
A maid in all her charms.
And, ah ! forgive a ftranger rude,
* A wretch forlorn,' me cry'd,
Whofe feet unhallow'd thus intrude
' Where Heav'n and you refide.
' But let a maid thy pity (hare,
' Whom Love has taught to (tray ;
Who feeks for reft, but finds defpair
' Companion of her way.
My father Jiv'd befide the Tyne,
' A wealthy Lord was he ;
f And all his wealth was mark'd as mint,
' He had but only me. .
' To win me from his tender arms, -
* Unmimber'd fuitors came ;
* Who prais'd me for imputed charms, .
* And fdt or feign'd a flame.-
Each!
TE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 23
f Each hour a mercenary croud
' With richeft proffers ftrove :
c Among the reft young Edwin bow'd,
' But never talk'd of love.
' In humble fimpleft habit clad,
'No wealth or power had he :
f Wifdom and worth were alt he had ;
'But thefe were all to me.
' The bloflbm op'ning to the day,
< The dews of heav'n refin'd,
' Could nought of purity difplay,
* To emulate his mind.
* The dew, the blofibm on the tree,
' With charms inconftant mine ;
* Their charms' were his, but, woe to me !
' Their conftancy was mine :
' For ftill I try'd each fickle art,
' Importunate and vain ;
' And while his paffion touch'd my heart,
' I triumph'd in his pain j
' 'Till, quite dejected with my fcorn,
' He left me to my pride,
* And fought a folitude forlorn,
' In fecret> where he died.
But
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
' But mine the forrow, mine the fault ;
' And well my life mail pay ;
'* I'll feek the folitude he fought,
' And ftretch me where he lay
' And there forlorn, defpairing hid,
* I'll lay me down and die :
' 'Twas fo forme that Edwin did,
' And fo for him will I.'
'* Forbid it, Heaven !* the hermit cry 'd,
And clafp'd her to his breaft :
The wond'ring fair-one turn'd to chide
'Twas Edwin's felf that preft.
' Turn, Angelina, ever dear,
' My charmer, turn to fee
' Thy own, thy long-loft Edwin here,
' Reftor'd to love and thee.
'' Thus let me hold thee to my heart,
' And ev'ry care refign :
"' And mail we never, never part,
' My life my all that's mine.
'* No, never, from this hour to part,
' We'll live and love fo true ;
* The figh that rends thy confirm t heart,
' Shall break thy Edwin's too.'
VIC. OF WAKEFIELD, V. I. p. 7$.
D R'E S S,
THE BEAUTIES OP GOLDSMITH. 25
DRESS.
ALL things rare and brilliant will ever conti-
nue to be famionable, while men derive greater
advantage from opulence than virtue ; while the
means of appearing confiderable are more eafily ac-
quired than the title to be ccniidered. The firft
impreffion we generally make, arifes from our drefs ;
and this varies in conformity to our inclinations,
and the manner in which we defire to be confidered.
The modeft man, or he who would wifh to be
thought fo, def:res to (hew the fimplicity of his
mind by the plainnefs of his drefs : the vain man,
on the contrary, takes a plrafure in difplaying his
fuperiority, " and is willing to incur the fpecta-
tor's difiike, fo he does bnt excite his attention."
I! 1 ^ T . F A N I -VJ A L S , p. 99.
J U..ST ICE.
Of all virtues Juftice is the 'molt difficult to be
praftifed by a king who has a power to pardon. All
men, even tyrants themfelves, lean to mercy when
unbiased by pafiions cr intcrcit. The heart natu-
rally perfuades to forgivenefs ; and purfuing the
dictates of this pleafing deceiver, we are led to pre-
fer our private fatisfaclion to public utility. What
a thorough love for the public, what a ftrong
command over the paffions, what a finely conduct-
ed judgment muft he pofiefs, who oppofes the dic-
tates of reafon to thofe of his heart, and prefers the
D future
r.6 THE BEAUTIEIS OF GOLDSMITH.
future intereft of his people to his own immediate
fatisfaclion !
If ftill to a man's own natural biafs for tender-
nefs, we add the numerous felicitations made by a
-criminal's friends for mercy ; if we furvey a king
not only oppofing his own feelings, but reludlantly
refufing thofe he regards, and this to fatisfy the
public, whofe cries he may never hear, whofe gra-
titude he may never receive ; this furely is true
greatnefs ! Let us fancy ourfelves fora moment in
this juft old man's place, furrounded by numbers,
all foliciting the fame favour, a favour that nature
difpofes us to grant, where the inducements to
pity are laid before us in the ftrongeft light, fup-
pliants at our feet, fome ready to refent a'refufal,
none oppofing a compliance ; let us, I fay, fup-
pofe ourfelves in fuch a Situation, and I fancy we
Ihould find ourfelves more apt to act the character
of gcod-natured men than of upright magiftrates.
What contributes to raife Juftice above all other
kingly virtues is, that it is attended feldom with
a due mare of applaufe, and thofe who practife it
muft be influenced by greater motives than empty
fame. The people are generally well pleafed with
a remiilion of puniihment, and all that wears the
appearance of humanity ; it is the wife alone who
are capable ofdifcerning that impartial juftice is
the trueft mercy : they know it to be difficult, very
difficult,
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 27
difficult, at once to ccmpaiiionate, and yet con-
demn an object that pleads for tendernefs.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, p. l6o.
VANITY.
O VANITY ! thou conftr.nt deceiver, how do
all thy efforts to exalt, ferve but to fink us ! Thy
falfe colourings, like thofe employed to heighten
beauty, only feem to mend that bloom which they
contribute to deftroy.
GOOD-K ATUK.ED MAN, p. 42.
DIGNITY OF MAN,
MANKIND have ever been prone to expatiate
in the praife of human nature. The dignity of
man is a fubjecl: that has always been the favourite
theme of humanity ; they have declaimed with that
oftentation, which ufually accompanies fuch as are
fure of having a partial audience ; they have ob-
tained victories, becaufe there were none to op-
pofe. Yet, from all I have ever read or feen, men
appear more apt to err by having too high, than by-
having too defpicable an opinion of their nature ;
and by attempting to exalt their original place in
the creation, depr.efs their real value in fociety.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. 2OI.
D 2 INGRA-
28 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
INGRATITUDE OF THE WORLD.
THE ingratitude of the world can never deprive
us of the confcious happinefs of having acted with
humanity ourfeives.
GOOD-NATURED MAN, p. $2.
ABILITIES.
IN learning the ufeful part of every profefiion,
very moderate abilities will fuffice ; even if the
mind be a little balanced with ftupidity, it may in
this cafe be ufefal. Great abilities have always
been lefs ferviceable to the poileiTors than moderate
ones. Life has been compared to a race ; but the
ailufion Hill improves, by obferving that the moft
fvvift are ever the leaft manageable.
TO know one prcfeflicncnly, is enough for one
man to know ; and this ( whatever the profefTors
may tell you to the contrary) is foon learned. Be
contented, therefore, with one good employment ;
for, if you underfland two at a time, people will
give you bufmefs in neither.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 1. p. 266.
PRAISE.
PRAISE beftowed on living merit is often found
to injure the goodnefs it applauds.
HIST. OF EXG. IN LET. V. 2. p. 274.
IN D E-
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 29,
I N D E P E N D A N-. C E.
A LIFE of independance is generally a life of
virtue. It is that which fits the foul for f very ge-
nerous flight of humanity, freedom, and frtendihip.
To give mould be our pleafure ; but to receive, our
mame. Serenity, health, and affluence, attend the
defire of rifmg by labour ; mifery, repentance, and
difrefpeft, that of fucceeding by extorted benevo-
lence. The man who can thank himfelf alone for
the happinefs he enjoys, is truly blefl ; and lovely,
far more lovely, the fturdy gloom of laborious in-
digence, than, the fawning fimper. of thriving adu-
lation.
CJT. OF THE WOR.LD, V. 2. p. 14^
S ON G.
" WHEN lovely woman ftoops to folly, ,
" And finds too late that men betray,
" What charm can foothe her melancholy,
" What art can warn her guilt away ?
<c The only art her guilt to cover,
" To hide her fliame from ev'ry eye,,
" To give repentance to her lover,
" And wring his bofom is to die."
VIC. OF WAKEFIELD, V. 2. p. 5*.
D 3 AF-
30 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
AFFECTION.
WHEN men arrive at a certain flation of great-
nefs, their regards arc diffipated on too great a num-
ber of objects to feel parental affection : the ties of
nature are only ftrong with thofe who have but few
friends, or few dependants.
HTST. OF ENG. IN LET..V. I. p. 195.
GENEROSITY.
GENEROSITY properly applied will fup-
ply every other external advantage in life, but the
loye of thofe we converfe with ; it will procure
efteem and a conduct refembjting real affection ':.
but actual love is the fpontaneous production of
the mind ; no generofity can purchafe, no re-
wards increafe, nor no liberality continue it ; the
\'ery perfon who is obliged, has it not in his power
to force his lingering affections upon the object
he mould love, and voluntarily mix paffion with
gratitude.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. I,
GRATITUDE.
GRATITUDE is never conferred, but where
there have been previous endeavours to excite it;
we confider it as a debt, and our fpirits wear a
load till we have difcharged the obligation. Every
acknowledgment of gratitude is a circiimftance of
humi-
THIT BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 31
humiliation ; and fom-e are found to fubmit to .
frequent mortifications of this kind, proclaiming
what obligations they owe, merely becaufe they
think it in fome meafure cancels the debt.
I.BID, V. 2. p. 2..
LOVE AND GRATITUDE,
LOVE is the moft cafy and agreeable, and gra-
titude the moft humiliating affeftion of the mind ;
we never refleft on the man we love, without ex-
ulting in our choice, while he who has bound us
to him by benefits alone, rifes to our idea as a per-
fon to whom we have in fome meafure forfeited
our freedom. Love and gratitude are feldom
therefore found in the fame breaft without impair
ing each other ; we may tender the one or the
other fmgly to thofe we converfe with, but can-
not command both together. By attempting to in-
ereafe, we diminifli them ; the mind becomes bank .
rupt under too large obligations; all additional
benefits leffen every hope of future return, and
bar up every avenue that leads to tcndernefs.
IBID. v. 2. p. 3,
FAVOURS.
IN all our connexions with fociety, it is not
only generous, but prudent, to appear infenfible
of the value of thofe favours we beftow, and en-
deavour to make the obligation feem as flight as
poffible. Love muft be taken by ftratagem, and
32 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH;
not by open force : We fhould feem ignorant that
we oblige, and leave the mind at full liberty to
give or refufe its affections ; for conftraint may
indeed leave the receiver {till grateful, but it wiM
certainly produce difguft.
IBID. V. 2. p. 3.
LIB E R.AL IT Y.
IMPARTED fortune, and well-placed libe-
rality, may procure the benefactor good -will, may
load the perfon obliged with the fenfe of the
duty he lies under to retaliate : this is gratitude ;
and fimple gratitude, untinclured with love, is all
the return an ingenuous mind can beftow for for-
mer benefits.
I.B.I D. V. 2. p. 2.
GRATITUDE AND LOVE.
GRATITUDE and love are almoft opponte
affections ; love is often an involuntary paflion,
placed upon our companions without our confent,
and frequently conferred without our previous
efteem. We love feme men, we know not why ;
our tendernefs is naturally excited in all their
concerns ; we excufe their faults with the fame
indulgence, and approve their virtues with the
fame applaufe, with which we confider our own.
While we entertain the paflion, it pleafes us ; we
cherifh it with delight, and give it up with re-
luctance ; and love for love is all the reward we
expect or deiire.
IBID. V. 2. p. 2,
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 33
REFLECTION ON THE EARTH.
THE Enrth, gentle and indulgent, ever fub-
fervient to the wants of man, fpreads his walks
with flowers, and his table with plenty ; returns
with intereil every good committed to her care ;
and, though {he produces the poifon, fiie flill
fupplies the antidote ; though conftantly teized
more to furnifh the luxuries of man than his ne-
ceffities, yet, even to the, laft, (he continues her
kind indulgence, and, when life is over, me pi-
oufly covers his remains in her bofom.
HIST. 02 THE EARTH, p. 54,
REJOICING AT THE DESTRUCTION OF
OUR ENEMIES.
TO rejoice at the deftruftion of our enemies, is
a foible grafted upon human nature, and we muft
be permitted to indulge it : the true way of ato-
ning for fuch an ill-founded pleafure, is thus to turn
our triumph into an aft of benevolence, and to
teflify our own joy by endeavouring to banifh
anxiety from others.
Kamti, the beft and wifeft emperor that ever
filled the throne, r.fter having gained three fignal
victories over the Tartars, who had invaded his
dominions, returned to Nankin in order to enjoy
the glory of his conqueft. After he had relied for
fome days, the people, who are naturally fond of
pro-
34 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH:
proceffions, impatiently expefted the triumphal en-
try, which emperors upon fuch occafions were ac-
cuflomed to make. Their murmurs came to the
emperor's ear. He loved his people, and was will-
ing to do all in his power to fatisfy their j nil de
fires. He therefore affured them that he intended,
upon the next feafi of the Lanterns, to exhi-
bit one of the moft glorious triumphs that had ever,
been feen in China-
The people were in raptures at his condefcen-
fion ; and, on the appointed day, aflembled at the
gates of the palace with the moft eager expecta-
tions. Here they waked, for fome time, without
feeing any of thofe preparations which ufually pre
cede a pageant. The lantern, with ten thoufend
tapers, was not yet brought forth ; the fire-works,
which ufually covered the city walls, were not yet
lighted : the people once more began to murmur
at this delay ; when, i-n the midft of their impa-
tience, the palace gates flew open, and the emperor
himfelf appeared, not in fplendor or magnificence,
but in an ordinary habit, followed by the blind,
the maimed, and the ftrangers of the city, all ia
new clothes, and each carrying in his hand money
enough to fupply his neceffities for the year. The
people were at firft amazed, but foon. perceived the
wifdom of their king, who taught them, that to
make one man happy, was more truly great than
having ten thoufand captives groaning at the
wheels of his chariot.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. I. p. 89*.
BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 35
THE COUNTRY CLERGYMAN.
NEAR yonder copfe, where once the garden fmil'd,
And ftill where many a garden-flower grows wild ;
There, where a few torn flirubs the place difclofe,
The Village-Preacher's modeft manfion rofe.
A man he was, to all the country dear,
And paffing rich with forty pounds a year ;
Remote from towns he ran his godly race,
Nor e'er had chang'd, nor wifh'd to change his
place ;
Unpraclis'd he to fawn, or feek for power,
By doctrines fafhion'd to the varying hour ;
Far other aims his heart had learn'd to prize,
More ikill to raife the wretched, than to rife.
His houfe was known to all the vagrant train,
He chid their wand'rings, but reliev'd their pain:
The long-remembcr'd beggar was his gueft,
Whofe beard defcending, fwept his aged breaft :
The ruin'd fpendthrift, now no longer proud,
Claim'd kindred there, and had his claim allow'd :
The broken foldier, kindly bad to flay,
Sat by his fire, and talk'd the night away ;
Wept o'er his wounds, or, tales of forrow done, v
Shoulder' d his crutch, and fhew'd how fields were
won.
Pleas'd with his guefts, the good man learn'd to
glow,
And quite forgot their vices in their woe ;
Carelefs their merits, or their faults to fcan,
His pity gave ere charity began.
Thus
36 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride,
And even his failings lean'd to Virtue's fide ;
But in his duty prompt, at every call
He watch'd and wept, he pray'd and felt, for all ;
And, as a bird each fond endearment tries,
To tempt its new-fledg'd offspring to the flues,
He try'd each art, reprov'd each dull delay,
Allur'd to brighter worlds, and led the way.
Befu'e the bed where parting life was laid,
And forrow, guilt, and pain, by turns difmay'd,
The rev'rend champion Hood. At his control,
Defpair and anguilh fied the ftruggling foul ;
Comfort came down, the trembling wretch to raife,
And his laft falt'ring accents whifper'd praife.
At church, with meek and unaffefted grace,
His looks adcrn'd the venerable place ;
Truth from his lips prevail'd with double fway,
And fools, who came to feoff, remain'd to pray.
The fcrvice part, around the pious man,
With fteady zeal, each honeft ruilic ran ;
E'en children follovv'd with endearing wile,
And pluck'd his gown, to mare the good man's
fmile.
His ready fmile a Parent's warmth expreft,
Their welfare pleas'd him, and their cares diftreft;
To them his heart, his love, his griefs were given,
But all his ferious thoughts had reft in heaven.
As fome tall cliff, that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the ftorm,
Tho' round its brcaft the rolling clouds are fpread,
Eternal funfhine fettles on its head.
DESERTED VILLAGE, p. 8.
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 37
YOUTH.
IT has been often faid, that the feafon of youth
is the feafon of pleafures ; but this can only be
true in favage countries, where but little prepara-
tion is made for the perfection of human nature,
and where the mind has but a very fmall part in
the enjoyment. It is otherwife in thofe places
where nature is carried to the higheft pitch of re-
finement, in which this feafon of the greateft fen-
fual delight is wifely made fubfervient to the fuc-
ceeding, and more rational one of manhood.
Youth, with us, is but a fcene of preparation ; a
drama, upon the right conduft of which all fu-
ture happinefs is to depend. The youth who
follows his appetites, too foon feizes the cup, be-
fore it has received its beft ingredients ; and, by
anticipating his pleafures, robs the remaining
parts of life of their ihare ; fo that his eagernefs
only produces a manhood of imbecillity, and an
age of pain.
HIST. OF ANIMALS, p. 70.
THE SOUL.
WHEN the foul is at reft, all the features of
she vifage feem fettled in a itate of profound tran-
quillity. Their proportion, their union, and
iheir harmony, feem to mark the fweet ferenity of
the mind, and give a true information of what
pafles within. But, when the foul is excited, the
E human
^8 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
human vifage becomes a living pifture ; where the
paffions are exprefted with as much delicacy as
energy, where every motion is designed by fome
correfpondent feature, where every impreilion an-
ticipates the will, and betrays thofe hidden agita-
tions that he would often wilh to conceal.
It is particularly in the eyes that the paffions arc
painted ; and in which we may moft readily dif-
cover their beginning. The eye feems to belong
to the foul more than any other organ ; it feems to
participate of all its emotions, as well the moft
foft and tender, as the moft tumultuous and
forceful. It not only receives, but tranfmits them
by fympathy ; the obferving eye of one catches
the fecret fire from another ; and 'the paffion thus
often becomes general.
IBID. p. 81.
NATURE.
TO copy nature is a talk the moft bungling
workman is able to execute ; to feleft fuch parts
as contribute to delight, is referved only for thofe
whom accident has bleil with uncommon talents,
cr fuch as have read the Ancients with indefatiga-
ble induftry,
LIFE OF FARNELL, p. 21.
RE-
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 39
REFLECTION ON THE LIFE OF A SCHOLAR.
THE life of a fchclar feldom abounds with ad-
venture. His fame is acquired in folitude ; and
the hiftorian, who only views him at 9 diftance,
muft be content with a dry detail of aftions, by
which he is fcarce diilinguimed from the reft of
majikind. But we are fond of talking of thofe
who have given us pleafure ; not that we have any
thing important to fay, but becaufe the fubjecl is
pleafing.
LJ.FE OF PARNELL, p. I.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MONARCHICAL
AND REPUBLICAN. GOVERNMENT.
WE now are all agreed, that unlimited power
arrogated on one fide, and the tumultuous free-
dom introduced on the other, are both intolerable ;
yet, of the two, perhaps, defpotifm is fuperior.
In a republic, the number of tyrants are uncon-
troulable ; for they can fupport each other in op-
prefnon : in a monarchy, there is one object, who,
if he offends, is eafily punifliablo, becaufe rue is. but
one. The oppreffions of a monarch are generally
exerted only in the narrow fphere round him ; the
oppreflions of the governors of a republic, thjugh
not fo flagrant, are more univerfal :. the monarch
is apt to commit great enormities, but they feidom.
reach, the multitude at humble diltance from the
throne ; the republican deipot oppr.efTes the mi:'ti-
tude that lies within the circle of his influence,
E 2 fot
40 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
for he knows them : the, monarch terrifies me with
great evils, which I may never feel ; the defpot
ticlually loads me with fubmiiTions, which I rm
ccnftantly obliged to fuiiain ; and, in my opinion,
it is much better to be in danger of having my
Jiead chopped off with an axe, once in my life,
than to have my leg galled with a continual fetter.
HIST. OF ENG. IN LET. &C. V. 2. p. l8.
REFLECTION ON THE LIFE OF A POET.
A^ POET, while living, is feldoin an object
fufHciently great to attract much attention : his
real merits are known but to a few ; and thefe are
generally fparing in their praifes. When his fame
is increafed by time, it is then too late to inveiU-
gate the peculiarities of his difpofltion : the dews
of the morning are paft, and we vainly try to con-
tinue the chace by the meridian fplendour.
LIFE OF PAR NELL,, p. 3.
SUCCESS.
HAPPY if we know when to bound our fuc-
cefles ; happy if we can diflinguifh. between victo-
ries and advantages ; if we can be convinced, that
when a nation mines brighteft with conqueft, it
may then, like a waiting taper, be only haftening
to decay.
KIST. OF ENG. IN LET. &C. V. 2. p. 258.
NAT U-
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 41
NATURAL EVILS.
GOD has permitted thoufands of natural evib
to exift in the world, becaufe it is by their inter-
vention that man is capable of moral evil ; and he
has permitted that we mould be fabject to moral
evil, that we might do fomething to deferve eter-
nal happinefs, by fliewing we had re&itude to
avoid it.
HIST. OF THE EARTH, p. 2O. -
ASSUMING IGNORANCE.
ASSUMING IGNORANCE is, of all difpo-
fitions, the moft ridiculous : for, in the fame pro-
portion as the real man of wifdom is preferable to
the unletter'd ruftic, fo much is the ruftic ftipe-
rior to him, who without learning imagines him-
felf learned. It were better that fuch a man had
never read ; for. then-he might have been confcious
of his weaknefs : but the half-learned man, rely-
ing upon his ftrength, feldom perceives his wants
till he finds his deception paft a cure.
HIST, OF ENG. IN LET. &C. V. I. p. 8.
OPINION RELATIVE TO CHILDREN.
WHEN men fpeculate at liberty upon innate
ideas, or the abftra&ed diiKnftions between will
and power, they may be permitted to enjoy their
lyftems at pleafure, as they are harmlefs, although
rhf-y may be wrong : but when they alledge that
E 3 children
42 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
children are to be every day plunged in cold water,
and, whatever be their conftitution, indifcrimi-
nately inured to cold and moifture ; that they are
to be kept wet in the feet, to prevent their catch-
ing cold; and never to be corrected when young,
for fear of breaking their fpirits when old ; thefe
are fuch noxious errors, that all reasonable men
ihonld endeavour to oppofe them. Many have
been the children whom thefe opinions, begun in
fpeculation, have injured or deftroyed in practice j.
and I have feen many a little philofophical martyr,
whom I wiihed, but was unable to relieve.
HIST. OF ANIMALS, p. 66.
HOPE;
A SONG.
THE wretch condemned with Irfe to part,
Still, ftill on Hooe relies ;
And er'ry pang that rends the heart,
Bids Expectation rife.
Hope, like the glimm'ring taper's light ,
Adorns and chears the. way,
And ftill, as darker grows the night,
Emits a brighter ray.
CAPTIVITV, AN ORATORIO-
UTILITY OF NEW BOOKS.
IN proportion as fociety refines, new books muft
ever become more neceffary. Savage rufticity is
reclaimed
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. x 3
reclaimed by oral admonition alone ; but the ele-
gant excetfes of refinement are beft corrected by
the ftill voice of itudious enquiry. In a polite age,
almoft every perfon becomes a reader, aad receives
more initruftion front the prefs than the pulpit.
The preaching Bonfe may inftruft the illiterate
peafant ; but nothing lefs than the infinuating ad-
drefs of a fine writer can win its way to an heart
already relaxed in all the effeminacy of refinement.
Books are necefTary to corredl the vices of the po-
lite ; but thofe vices are ever changing, and the
antidote mould be changed accordingly, fhould
Hill be new..
Inftead, therefore, of thinking the number of
new publications too great, I could wifh it ftilL
greater, as they are the moft ufeful inftruments of
reformation Every country muft be inftru&ed
either by writers or preachers ; but as the number
of readers increafes, the number of hearers is pro-
portionably diminished, the writer becomes more
ufeful, and the preaching Bonfe lefs neceflary.
Inftead, therefore, of complaining that writers
are overpaid, when their works procure them a
bare fubfiftance, I fhould imagine it the duty of a
ftate, not only to encourage their numbers, but
their induftry. A Bonfe is rewarded with immenfe
riches for inftruftrng only a few, even of the raoft
ignorant, of the people ; and fure the poor fcholar
fhould not beg his bread, who is capable of in-*
a million.
CIT, OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. 45.
44 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
Ivl O D E S T Y.
MODESTY feldom refides in a breaft that is
not enriched with nobler virtues.
SHE STOOPS TO CONO^UER, p. 7.
HAPPINESS.
IT is impoffible to form a philofophic fyftem of
happinefs which is adapted to every condition in
life ; fince ever) 7 perfon who travels in this great
purfuit, takes a feparate road. The different co-
lours which fuit different complexions, are not
more various than the different pleafures appro-
priated to particular minds. The various feds
who have pretended to give leffons to inftrufl men
in happinefs, have defcribed their own particular
fenfations without confidering ours, have only
loaded their difciples with conftraint, without add-
ing to their real felicity.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. I. p. 184.
ENJOYMENT.
WE confider few objects with ardent attention,
but thofe which have fome connexion with our
wifhes, our pleafures, or our neceffities. A uefire
of enjoyment firft interefts our pafiions in the pur-
fuit ; points out the. objefl of inveftigation ; and
reafon then comments where fenfe has led the way.
An increafe in the number of our enjoyments,
therefore, neceflarily produces an increafe of fcien-
tific
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 45-
tific refearch ; bat in countries where almoil every
enjoyment is wanting, reafon there feems deilitute
of its great infpirer, and fpeculation is the bufmefs
of fools when it becomes its own reward.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. 37.
GREATNESS.
WHEN a man has once fecured a circle of ad-
mirers, he may be as ridiculous as he thinks pro-
per ; and it all pafTes for- elevation of fentiment,
or learned abfence. If he tranfgreffes the common
forms of breeding, rniflakes even a tea-pot for a
tobacco-box, it is faid, that his thoughts are fixed
on more important objedls : to fpeak and aft like
the reft of mankind, is to be no greater than they.
There is fomething of oddity in the very idea of
greatnefs ; for we are feldom aftonifhed at a thing
very much refembling ourfelves.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. 41.
MAN.
MAN is the lord of all the fublunary creation j
the howling favage, the winding ferpent, with all
the untameable and rebellious offspring of Nature,
are deftroyed in the conteft, or driven at a diftance
from his habitations. The extenfive and tem-
peiluous ocean, infrcad of limiting or dividing his
power, only ferves to affift his induftry, and en-
large the fphere of his enjoyments. Its billows,
and its monfters, inflead of prefenting a fcene of
terror*.
46 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
terror, only call up the courage of this little in^
trepid being; and the greateft danger that man
now fears on the deep, is from his fellow-creatures.
Indeed, when I consider the human race as Nature
has farmed them, there is but very little of the
habitable globe that feems made for them. But
when I confider them as accumulating the expe-
rience of ages, in commanding the earth, there is
nothing fo great, or fo terrible. What a poor
contemptible being is the naked favage, ftanding
on the beach of the ocean, and trembling at its
tumults ! How little capable is he of converting
its terrors into benefits ; or of faying, Behold an
element made wholly for my enjoyment ! He con-
fidexs it as an angry Deity, and pays it the homage
of fubmiffion. But it is very different when he
has exercifed his mental powers ; when he has
learned to find his own fuperiority, and to make
it fubfervient to his commands. Jt is then that
his dignity begins to appear, and that the true
Deity is juftly praifed for having been mindful of
man ; for having given him the earth for his habi-
t^tion, and the lea for an inheritance.
HIST. OF THE EARTH, p. 231,
MEMORY;
A SONG.'
O M EMORY! thou fond deceiver,
Still importunate and vain,
T,o former joys recurring ever,
And turaing all the paft to pain :
Thou,.
BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 47
Thou, like the world, th'oppreft oppreffing,
Thy fmiles increafe the wretch's woe ;
And he who wants each other bleffing,
In thee muft ever 6nd a foe.
DIGNITY OF MAN.
STRENGTH and majefty belong to the man ;
grace and foftnefs are the peculiar embellimments
of the other fex. In both, every part of their
form declares their fovereignty over other crea-
tures. Man fupports his body erel ; his attitude
is that of command ; and his face, which is turned
towards the heavens, difplays the dignity of his
ftation. The image of his foul is painted in his
vifage ; and the excellence of his nature penetrates
through the material form in which it is inclofed.
His majeftic port, his fedate and refolute ftep,
announce the ncblenefs of his rank. He touches
the earth only with his extremity, and beholds it
as if at a difdainful diftance. His arms are not
given him, as to other creatures, for pillars of
fupport ; nor does he lofe, by rendering them cal-
lous againfl the ground, that delicacy of touch
which furnifhes him with fo many of his enjoy-
ments. His hands are made for very different pur-
pofes ; to fecond every intention of his will, and
to perfeft the gifts of nature.
HIST. OF ANIMALS, p. 80.
LUXURY.
48 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
LUXURY.
LUXURY is the child of fociety alone; the
luxurious man ftands in need of a thoufand dif-
ferent artifts to furnifti out his happinefs : it is
more likely, therefore, that he fhould be a good
citizen, who is connected by motives of felf-inte-
reft with fo many, than the abftemious man, who
is united to none.
CIT. OF THE WORL0, V. I. p. $6.
SOLITUDE.
IT has been faid, that he who retires to foli-
tude, is either a beaft or an angel. The cenfure
is too fevere, and the praife unmerited. The dif-
contented being, who retires from fociety, is ge-
nerally fome good-natured man, who has begun
life without experience, and knew not how to gain
it in his intercourfe with mankind.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. IO.
LIFE OF MAN.
TKE life of man is a journey ; a journey that
muft be travelled, however bad the roads, or the
accommodation. If, in the beginning, it is found
dangerous, narrow, and difficult, it muft either
grow better in the end, or we mall by cuftom learn
to bear its inequality.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. 125.
PUNISH.
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH, 49
PUNISHMENT.
A KING, who can reign without ever punifti-
ing, is happy ; but that monarch mult certainly
be undone, who, through fear, or ill-timed lenity,
fuffers repeated guilt to efcape without notice.
When a country becomes quite illicit, punifliments
then, like the loppings in a garden, only ferve to
ftrengthen the flock, and prepare for a new harveil
of virtues.
HIST. OT ENC. IN I.ET. &C. V. I. p. 22j.
FAULTS.
THERE are fome faults fo nearly allied to ex-
cellence, that we can fcarce weed out the vice
without eradicating the virtue.
GOOD-NATURED MAK, p. 3.
OPINION OF WOMEN;
WITH AN ACCOUNT OF CATH ARINA ALEXOWNA,
EMPRESS OF RUSSIA.
1HE modeft virgin, the prudent wife, or the
careful matron, are much more ferviceable in life
than petticoated philofophers, bluftering heroines,
or virago queens. She who makes her hufband
and her children happy, who reclaims the one from
vice, and trains up the other to virtue, is a much
greater character than ladies defcribed in romance,
\vhofe whole occupation is to murder mankind with
ftiafts from their quiver or their eyes. f
F Women,
5 o THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
Women, it has been obferved, are not naturally
formed for great cares themfelves, but to foften
ours. Their tendernefs is the proper reward ibr
the dangers we undergo for their prefervation ; and
the eafe and chearfulnefs of their converfation, our
deiirable retreat from the fatigues of intenfe appli-
cation. They are confined within the narrow li-
mits of domeftic affiduity ; and when they llray
beyond them, they move beyond their fphere, and
confequently without grace.
Fame, therefore, has been very unjuftly dif-
penfed, among the female fex. Thofe who leaft
deferved to be remembered, meet our admiration
zmdapplaufe; while many, who have been an ho-
nour to humanity, are pafTed over in filence. Per-
haps no age has produced a ftronger inftance of
mifplaced fame than the prefent : the Semiramit
and the Tkaleftris of antiquity are talked of, while
a modern character, infinitely greater than either,
is ..unnoticed arid unknown.
* Catharina .4!exo-tva,:'boi-n near Derpat, a little
city in Livonia, was heir to no other inheritance
than the virtues and frugality of her parents. Her
father being dead, fhe lived with her aged mother,
in their cottage covered with ftraw; and both,
though very poor, were very contented. Here, re-
tired
* This account feems taken from the manufcript
memoirs of H. Spelman, Efq .
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 51
?ired from- the gaze of the world, by the labour of
her hands fhe fupported her parent, who was now
incapable of fupporting'hcrfelf. While Catbarina
fpun, the old woman would fit by, and read fome
book of devotion ; thus, v. hen the fatigues of th<?
day were over, both w^uld fit down contentedly
by their fire-fide, and 'enjoy the frugal meal with ;
vacant feftivity.
Though her face and pcrfon were models of per L
fefticn, yet her whole attention fecmed beftov/ed
upon her mind ; her mother taught her to read,
and an old Lutheran minifter inftrudled her in the
maxims and duties of religion. Nature had fur-
nifhed her not only with a ready, but a folid turn
of thought, not only with a ftrong, but a right un-
deritanding. Such truly female accomplifhments
procured her feveral felicitations of marriage from
the peafants of the country; but their offers were
refufed : for ihe loved her mother too tenderly to
think of a feparation.
Catbarina was fifteen when her mother died :
fhe now, therefore, left her cottage, and went to
live with the Lutheran minifter, by whom fhe had
been iaftrucled from her childhood. In his houfe
fhe refidcd, in quality of governefs to his children ;
at once reconciling in her character unerring pru-
dence with furprifing vivacity.
The old man, who regarded her as one of his
own children, had her inftructed in dancing and
F 2 mufic.
53 T>E BEAUTIES OP -GOLDSMITH.
muf-c, by the mafters who attended the reft of his.
family. Thus fhe continued to improve, till he
died ; by which accident fhe was once more re-
duced to priftine poverty. The country of Li-vo-
via was at this time wafted by war, and lay in a
moil miferable ftate of defolation. Thofe calami-
ties are ever moft heavy upon the poor ; wherefore
Catkarina, though poflefied of fo many accom-
plifhments, experienced all the miferies of hope-
lefs indigence. Provifions becoming every day
[ more fcarce, and her private ftock being entirely
exhaufted, me refolved at lait to travel to Marten-
burgh, a city of greater plenty.
With her fcanty wardrobe, packed up in a wal-
let, fhe fet out on her journey j on foot. She was
to walk through a region miferable by nature, but
rendered liill mere hideous by the Swedes and
Rujpans, who, as each happened to become mafters,
plundered it at difcreticn : but hunger had taught
her to defpife the dangers and fatigues of the way.
One evening, upon her journey, as fhe had en-
tered a cottage by the way-fide, to take up her
lodging for the night, fhe was infulted by two
Swedijh foldiers, who infilled upon qualifying her,
as they termed it, to follcvu the camp. They might,
probably, have carried their infults into violence,
had not a fubaltern officer, accidentally paffing by,
come in to her affiflance. Upon his appearing,
the foldiers immediately defifted ; but her thank-
fulnefs
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 53
iulnefs was hardly greater than her furprife, when
fhe inftantlv recollected, in her deliverer, the fon
of the Lutheran rmnifter, her former inftructor,
benefactor, and friend.
This was an happy interview for C-afkarika.
The little flock of money (he had brought frem"
home was by this time quite exhaufted ; her clothe*
were gone, piece by piece, in order to fatisfy thofcr
who had entertained her in their houfes : her gene-
rous countryman, therefore, parted with what he
could fpare, to buy her clothes, furnifhed her with :
an horfe, and gave her letters of recommendation
to Mr. Gluck, a faithful friend of his-, father's^
and Superintendant of Marienburgb.
Our beautiful ftranger had only to appear, to be
well received : me was immediately admitted into
the Superintendant's family, as governefs to his
two daughters ; and, though yet but feventeen,
ftewed herfelf capable of inftructing her fex, not
only in virtue, but politenefs. Such was her good-
fenfe and beauty, that her mailer himfelf in a fhort
time offered her his hand, which to "his great fur-
prife me thought proper to refufe. Aftuated by
a principle of gratitude, me was refolved to marry
her deliverer only, even though he had loft an arm,
and was otherwife disfigured by wounds, in the
fervice.
In order, therefore, -to prevent further felicita-
tions irom others, as foon as the officer came to
F 3 town
54 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
town upon duty, me offrrrd him her perfon, which
he accepted with tranfport ; and their nuptials
were fclemuiled as ufual. But all the lines of her
fortune were to be finking : the very day on which
they were married, the Rujpans laid fiege to Ma-
rienburgh. The unhappy foldier had now no time
to enjoy the well-earned pleafures of matrimony j
he was called off before confummation to an attack,
from which he was never after feen to return.
In the mean time, the fiege went on with fury,,
aggravated on one fide by obftinacy, on the other
by revenge. This war between the two northern
powers at that time was truly barbarous ; the in-
nocent peafant and the harmlefs virgin often fhared
the fate of the foldier in arms. Marienburgb was
taken by aflault ; and fuch was the fury of the af-
failants, that not only the garrifon, but slmoft all
the inhabitants, men, women, and children, were
put to the fword. At length, when the carnage
was pretty well over, Catharina was found hid in
an oven.
She had been hitherto poor, but ftill was free ;
fhe was now to conform to her hard fate, and learn.'
what it was to be a flave : in this fituation, how-
ever, me behaved with piety and humility ; and,
though misfortunes had abated her vivacity, yet
ihe was chearful. The fame of her merit and re-
fignation reached evert Prince Menxikoff, theRiefian
General : he defired to lee her, was ftruck with
her beauty, bought her from the foldier, her matter,,
and
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 55-;
and placed her under the direction of his own-
fifter. Here file was treated with all the refpeft
which her merit deferved, while her beauty every
day improved with her good fortune.
She had not been long in this fituation, when
Peter the Great paying the Prince a vin t, Cathartna
happened to come in with fome dry fruits, which
fhe ferved round with peculiar modefty. The
mighty monarch faw, and was ftruck with her.
beauty. He returned the next day, called for the
beautiful flave, afked her feveral queftions, and,
found her underilanding even more perfect than
her perfon.
He had been forced, when young, to marry
from motives of intereft ; he was now refolved to
marry purfuant to his own inclinations. He im-
mediately enquired the hiftory of the fair Li<vonian,
who was not yet eighteen.. He traced her through
the vale of obfcurity, through all the viciffiuides
of her fortune, and found her truly great in them,
all. The mcannefs of her birth was no obftruc-
tion to his defign ; their nuptials were folemnued.
in private ; the Prince afluring his courtiers, that
virtue alone was the propereft ladder to a throne.
We now fee Catbarina, from the low, mud-
walled cottage, Kmprels of the greateft kingdom
upon earth. The poor folitary wanderer is now
furrounded by thoufands, who find happincis in
her fmile. She, who formerly wanted a meal, is
now
56- THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH;
now capable of diffufing plenty upon whole na-
tions. To her fortune (he owed a part of this pre-
eminence, but to her virtues more.
She ever after retained thofe great qualities
which firft placed her on a throne ; and while the
extraordinary prince, her huiband, laboured for-
the reformation of his male fubjefts, fhe ftudied,
in her turn, the improvement of her own fcx. Shs*
altered their drefles, introduced mixed affcmblies,
inftituted an order of female knighthood ; and,
at length, when fhe had greatly filled all the
Nations of . emprefs, friend, wife, and mother,-
bravely died without regret, regrett- .1 by all.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 1. p. 260.
THE COUNTRY SCHOOLMASTER.
BESIDE yon' ftraggling fence that fkirts the way
With blofTom'd furze, unprofitably gay,
There, in his noify manfion, fkill'd to rule,
The Village Mafter taught his little fchool.
A man fevere he was, and ftern to view ;
I knew him well, and ev'ry truant knew :
Well had the boding tremblers learn'd to trace
The day's difafters in his morning face ;
Full well they laugh'd, with counterfeited glee,
At all his jokes, for many a joke had he ;
Full well the bufy whifper, circling round,
Convey'd the difmal tidings when he frown'd :
Yet
FHE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. $7-
Yet he was kind ; or, if fevere in aught,
The love he bore to learning was in fault :
The village all declar'd how much he knew ;
'Twas certain he could wj||e;*and cypher too ; .
Lands he could meafure, terms and tides prefage,.
And even the ftory ran that fee could gauge.
In arguing, too, the parfon own'd his fkill ;
For, e'en though vanquifh'd, he could argue flill ;
While words of learned length, and thund'ring
found,
Amaz'd the gating ruftics rang'd around ;
And {till they gaz'd, and ftill the wonder grew,.
That one fmall liead could carry all he knew.
But paft is all his fame. The very fpot,
Where many a time he triumph'd, is forgot.
DESERTED VILLAGE, p. II.
DEPENDANCE.
AMONG the many who have enforced the duty
of giving, I am furprifed there are none to incul-
cate the ignominy of receiving ; to mew, that by
every favour we accept, we in fome meafure for-
feit our native freedom, and that a ftate cf conti-
aual dependance on the generoilty of others is a
life of gradual debafement.
CIT. 0? THE WORLD, V. 2. p. 142..
WISDOM AND VIRTUE.
AVOID fuch performances where vice aflumes
the face of virtue ; feek wifdom and knowledge
without
$8 THS BEAUTIES' OF 'GOLDSMITHS
without ever thinking you have found them. A-
man is wife, while he continues in the purfuit of
wifd'otn ; but when he^ once fancies that he has
found the obje<El of hi$?enquiry, he then becomes
a fool. Learn to purfue virtue from the man that
is blind, who never makes a ftep without firft exa-
mining the ground with his flafF.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V- 2. p. 80.
MISFORTUNES OF THE GREAT cot.-*-
TRASTED WITH THOSE QF THE POOR.
THE fiighteft misfortunes of the great, the
raoft imaginary uneafineflV-, of the rich, are aggra-
vated with all the power cf eloquence, and held
up. to engage our attention and fympathetic forrow.
The poor weep unheeded, perfecuted by every
fubordinate {pecies of tyranny; and every law,
which gives others fecurity, becomes an enemy to
them.
IBID. p. 212.
PRIDE AND- RESENTMENT.
THERE are no obftrudlions more fatal to for*
tune than pride and refentment. If you mult re-
fent injuries at all, at leaft fupprefs your indigna^.
tion until you become rich, and then mew away..
The refentment of a poor man is like the efforts
of a harmlefs infeft to fling-;- it may get him
crufhed, but cannot defend him. Who values that
a,nger which is confumed only in empty menaces *
IBID. v. i. p. 267,
~THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITK. $9
ROYAL FAVOUR.
A PRUDENT ICING may have private friends,
but mould never retain a public favourite : royal
Favour Ihould mine with indifcriminate luftre,
and the monarch mould ever guard againft raifing
thofe he moft loves to the higheft preferments.
In being thus biaffed by his aftedlions, he will
probably be induced to reward talents unequal to
the burthen of affairs, or impatient of the fatigues
of application.
HIST. OF ENG. IN LET. &C. V. I. p. I 19.
VICES OF GREAT KINGS.
THE vices of conquering monarchs and great
kings are ever moft dangerous, becaufe they moft
generally produce imitation.
IBID. p. 120.
D I S QJJ I E T U D E.
IT is a melancholy confideration, that our com-
forts often produce our greateft anxieties, and that
an increafe of our pofleffions is but an inlet to
new difquietudes.
GOOD'NATURED MAN, p. 8.
THE
60 THE BEAUTIES or GOLDSMITH,
THE MAN OF THE WORLD.
A TALE.
JF you are fend of hearing balr-breadih '/capes,
my hiftory muft certainly pleafe ; for I have been
for twenty years upon the very verge of ftarving,
without ever being ftarved.
My father, the younger foh of a good family,
'was poflefled of a fmall living in the church. His
education was above his fortune, and his gene-
rofity greater than his education. Poor as he was,
he had his flatterers Hill poorer than himfelf ; for
every dinner he gave them, they returned him an
equivalent in praife ; and this was all he wanted.
The fame ambition that actuates a monarch at the
head of an army, influenced my father at the
head of his table : he told the ftory of the ivy-
tree, and that was laughed at ; he repeated the
jeft of the two fcholars and one pair of breeches,
and the company laughed at that ; but the ftory of
Taffy in the fedan chair was fure to fet the table
in a roar. Thus his pleafure increafed, in propor-
tion to the pleafure he gave : he loved all the
world, and he fancied all the world loved him.
As his fortune was but fmall, he lived up to
"the very extent of it ; he had no intentions of
leaving his children money, for that was drofs ;
he was refolved they fliould have learning, for
learning,
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 61
learning, he ufed to obierve, was better than fi!-
ver or gold. For this purpofe he undertook to
inftrucl: us himfelf; and took as much pains to
form our morals, as to improve our underftanding.
We were told that univerfal benevolence was what
firft cemented fociety : we were taught to con-
fider all the wants of mankind as our own ; to
regard the human face divine with afFeftion and
efteem : he wound us up to be mere machines of
pity, and rendered us incapable of withftanding
the flighteit impulfe made either by real or ficli-
tious diftrefs ;^ in a word, we were perfeclly in-
ilrucled in the art of giving away thoufands, be-
fore we were taught the more neceffary qualifica-
tions of getting a farthing.
I cannot avoid imagining, that, thus refined by
his leflbns out of all my fufpicion, and diverted of
even ail the little cunning which nature had given
me, I refembled, upon my firit entrance into the
bufy and infidious world, one of thofe gladiators
who were eypofed without armour in the amphi-
theatre at Rome. My father, however, who had
only feen the world on one fide-, feemed to triumph
in my fuperior diicernment ; though my whole
flock of vvifdom con lifted in being able to talk
like himfelf upon fubjecls that once were ufeful,
becaufe they were then topics of the bufy world,
but that now were utterly ufelefs, becaufe con-
nected with the bufy world no longer.
G The
62 T H E "BE ATJTIE S o F G OLD S MITH .
The firft opportunity he had of finding his ex-
Ise&ations difappointed, \ras at the very middling
: figure I made in the Univerfity: "he had flattered
himfelf that he fhould foon fee me rifing into the
foremoft rank in literary reputation, but was mor-
tified to find me utterly unnoticed and unknown.
His difappointment might have been partly afcri-
"bed to his having over-rated my talents, and partly
to my diflike of mathematical reafonings at a
time when my imagination and memory, yet un-
fatisfied, were more eager after new objects, than
def'.rous of reafoning upon thofe I knew. This
did not, however, pleafe my tutors, who obferved,
-indeed, that I xvas a little dull ; but at the fame
time allowed, that I fcemed to be very gond-na.-
tured, and had no harm in- me.
After I had reiided at college feven years, my
father died, and left me his blefling. Thus
fhoved from fhore without ill-nature to protect, or
cunning to guide, or proper ftores to fubfift me in
fo dangerous a voyage, I was obliged to embark in
the wide world at twenty- two. But, in order to
-fettle in life, my friends advifed (for they always
.advife when they begin to defpife us) they ad-
vifed me, I fay, to go into orders.
To be obliged to wear a long wig, when I liked
a fhort one, or a black coat, when I generally
dreiTed in brown, I thought was fuch a reftraint
upon my liberty, that I abfolutely rejedled the
propofal.
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 63
poropofal. A prieft in England, is not the fame-
nicrtified creature with a bonze in China ; with'
u.s, not he that fafts beft, but eats bcft, is reckon-
ed the belt liver: yet I'reieiflcd a life of luxury,.
Indolence, and eafe, from no other consideration
but that boyish one of drefs ; fo that my friends-
were now perfe&ly fatisfied I was undone ; and
yet they thought it a pity for, one who had not'
the leaf: harm .in. him, and was fo very good-
natured.
Poverty naturally begets dependance, and I was
admitted as flatterer to a great man. At fir ft I"
was furprifed, that the fituation of a flatterer at a
great man's table could be thought difagreeable ;
there was no great trouble in liftening attentively
when his lordlhip fpoke, and laughing when he
looked round for applaufe. This even good-
manners might have obliged me to perform. I
found, however, too foon, that his lordmip was
a greater dunce than myfelf ; and from that very
moment my power of flattery was at an end. I
now rather aimed at fetting him right, than at re-
ceiving his abfurdities with fubmiflion. To flatter
thofe we do not know, is an eafy talk ; but to flat-
ter our intimate acquaintances, all whofe foible: ?.re
ftrongly in our eye, is drudgery infupportable.
Every time I now opened my lips in praife, rny falf-
hood went to my confeience : his lordmip foon per
ceived me- to be unfit for fervice ; I was therefore
difcharged ; my patron at the fame time being
G 2 gra-
64 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
gracioufly pleafed to obferve, that he believed I
was tolerably good-natured, and had not the leaft
harm in me.
Difappointed in ambition, I had recourfe to
love. A young lady, who lived with her aunt,
and was poffeffed of a pretty fortune in her own
difpofal, had given me, as I fancied, fome reafons
to expeft fuccefs. The fymptoms by which I was
guided were ftriking : me had always laughed with
me at her aukward acquaintance, and at her aunt
among the number; me always obferved, that a
man of fenfe would make a better hufband than a
foci, and I as conftantly applied the obfervation
in my own favour. She continually talked in my
company of friendfhip, and the beauties of the
mind, and fpoke of Mr. Shrimp my rival's
high-heei'd {hoes' with deteftation. Thefe were
circumitances which I thought ftrongly in my fa-
vour ; fo, after refolving, and re-refolving, I had
courage enough to tell her my mind. Mifs heard
my propofal with ferenity, feeming at the fame
time to itudy the figures of her fan. Out at laft
it came. There was but one fmall objection to
complete our happinefs, which was no more than
^that he was married three months before to Mr.
Shrimp with high-heel'd fnoes ! By way of ccnfo-
lation, however, fhe obferved, that, though I was
difappointed in her, my addreiTes to her aunt
would probably kindle her into fenfibility ; as the
old lady always allowed me to be very good-na-
tured,
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 65- '
tured, and not to have the leafl fliare of h::r;n
Yet {till I had friends, numerous friends ; and
to them I was rcfolved to apply. O Friendfhip !
thou fond foother of the human breaft, to thee \ve
fly in every calamity ; to thee the wretched feck
for fuccour ; on thee the care-tired fon of mifery
fondly relies ; from thy kind affiltance the unfor-
tunate always hopes relief, and may be ever fure
of difappointment ! My firft application was
to a city fcrivener, who had frequently offered to
Tend me money, when he knew I did not want it,
I informed him, that now was the time to put his
friendfhip to the tefl ; that I wanted_to borrow a
couple of hundreds for a certain occafion, and
was refolved.to take it up from him. And pray,
Sir, cried my friend, do you want all this money?
Indeed, I never wanted it more, returned I. I ara
forry for that, cries the fcrivener, with all rny
heart ; for they who want money when they come
to borrow, will always want money when they
{Koald come to pay.
From him I flew with indignation to one of the
belt friends I had in the world, and mad.- the i..me
requeft. Indeed, Mr. Dry-bone, cries my friend,
I always thought it would come to this. You
know, Sir, I would not advife you but for your
own good ; but your conduit has hitherto been ri-
diculous in the higheit degree, and fome of your
G 3 as*
66 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
acquaintance always thought you a very filly fel-
low. Let me fee you want two hundred pounds ;
do you want only two hundred, Sir, exaftly ? To
<onfefs a truth, returned I, I ihall want three
hundred ; but then I have another friend, from
whom I can borrow the reft. Why then, replied
my friend, if you would take my advice and
you know I mould not prefame to ad vile yon but
for your own good I would recommend it to you
to borrow the whole fum from that other friend ;
and then one note will ferve for all, you know.
Poverty now began to come faft upon me ; yet,
inftead of growing more provident or cautious as
I grew poor, I became every day more indolent
and fimple. A friend was arrefted for fifty pounds ;
I was unable to extricate him, except by becom-
ing his bail. When at liberty, he fled from his
creditors, and left me to take his place.. In pri-
fon I expe&ed greater fatisfadion than I had en-
joyed at large. I hoped to converle with men in
this new world, fimple and believing like myfelf ;
but I found them as curming and as cautious as
thofe in the world I had left behind. They
fpunged up my money whilft it lafted ; borrowed
my coals, and never paid them ; and cheated me
when I played at cribbage. All this was done
becaufe they believed me to be very good-natured,
and knew that I had no harm in me.
Upon my firft entrance into this maniion, which
is to fome the abode of defpair, I felt no fenfa-
tions
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 67
tions different from thofe I experienced abroad..
J was now on one frde the door, and thofe who
were unconfined were on the other ; this was all
the difference between us. At firft, indeed, I felt
fome uneafmefs, in confidering how I fhould be
able to provide this week for the wants of the
week enfuing ; but, after fome time, if I found
myfelf fure of eating one day, I never troubled
my head how I v/as to be fupplied another. I
feized every precarious meal with the utmoft good-
humour, indulged no rants of fpleen at my fitua-
tion, never called down heaven and all the ftars
to behold me dining upon an half-penny-worth of
radifhes ; my very companions were taught to be-
lieve that I liked fallad better than mutton. I
contented myfelf with thinking, that all my life
I mould either eat white bread or brown ; cen-
tered that all that happened was bed, laughed
when I was not in pain, took the world as it went,
and read Tacitus often, for want of more books
and company.
How long I might have continued in this tor-
pid ftate of fimplkity 1 cannot tell, had I not
been roufed by feeing an old acquaintance, whom
I knew to be a prudent blockhead, preferred to a
place in the government. I now found that I had
purfued a wrong track, and that the true way of be-
ing able to relieve others, was .to aim at indepen-
dance myfelf. My immediate care, therefore, was to
leave my prefent habitation, and make an entire re-
formation
6fc THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
formation in my conduct and behaviour. For a
free, open, undefigning deportment, 1 put on
that of clofenefs, prudence and ceconomy. One
of the moft heroic actions I ever performed, and
for which I fhall praife myfelf as long as I live,
was the refufmg half a crown to an old acquaint-
ance, at the time when he wanted it, and I had
it to fpare ; for this alone I deferve to be decreed
an ovation.
I now, therefore, purfued a cnurfe of uninter-
rupted frugality, feldom wanted a dinner, and
was confequently invited to twenty. I foon be-
gan to get the character of a faving hunks that
had money.; and infenfibly grew into efteem.
Neighbours have afked my advice in the difpofal
of their daughters, and I have always taken care
not to give any. I have contracted a friendfhip
with an alderman, only by obferving, that if we
take a farthing from a thoufand pound, it will be
a thoufand pound no longer. I have been invited"
to a pawnbroker's table, by pretending to hate
gravy ; and am now actually upon treaty of mar-
riage with a rich widow, for only having obferved
that bread was rifmg. If ever I am afked a quef-
tion, whether I know it or not, inftead of an-
fwering, I only fmile, and look wife. If a cha-
rity is propofed, I go about with the hat, but put
nothing in myfelf. If a wretch fclicits my jitv,
I cbferve, that the world is filled with impoftors ;
and take a certain method of not being; deceived^
by
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 69.
by never relieving. In fhort, I now find the truefl
way of finding efteem, even from the indigcn-t, is
to give away nothing, and thus have much in our
power to gi<ve.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. I. p. 103.
EPITAPH UPON DR. PARNELL.
IHIS tomb, infcrib'd to gentlePARNELL's name>
May fpeak our gratitude^ but not his fame..
What heart but feels his fweetly-moral lay,
That leads to truth, thro' Pleafure's flow'ry way ?
Celeftiai themes confefs'd his tuneful aid ;
And Heav'n, that lent him Genius, was repaid..
Needlefs to him the tribute we beftow,.
The tranfitory breath of Fame below :
More lafting rapture from his Works fliall rife,.
While Converts thank their Poet in the fides,
FLATTERY.
THE moft favage countries understand flattery
almoft as well as tire moft polite ; fmce, to be fuf-
ficiently fervile is, perhaps, the whole of the art,
and the trucft method of pleafing.
HIST. OF ENG. IN LET. V. I. p. 27*
UNCQN-
70 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH:.
UNCONTROULED POWER.
OF all miferies that ever affefted kingdoms, an
uncontrouled power ..among the great is certainly
moft afflictive. The tyranny of a {ingle monarch
only falls upon the narrow circle round him ; the
arbitrary will of- a number of delegates falls moft
heavily upon the lower ranks of. people, who
have no redrefs.
IBID. v. i. p. 79.
MODEST DIFFIDEKCE.
THERE are attract. - in modeft diffidence,
above the force of words, /i ulent addrefs is the
genuine eloquence of fmcerity.
GOOD-NATURED MAN, p, l8.
EPITAPH ON DAVID GARRICK.
rlERE lies DAVID GARRICK; defcribe me
who can,
An abridgment of all that was pleafant in Man ;
As an Ac~lor, . confeft without rival to mine ;
As a Wit,. if .not ficft, in the very n"rft line :
Yet, with talents like thefe, and an excellent heart s
The man had his failings a dupe to his art.
l,jke an ill-judging beauty, his colours he fpread,
And beplailer'd with rouge his own natural red.
On,
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 71
On the Stage he was natural, iimple, affecting ;
'Twas only that, \vhen he was off, he was acling.
With no reafon on earth to go out of his wa;, ,
He turn'd, and he varied, fall ten times a-day :
Tlio' f:care of our hearts, yet confoundedly ikk
If they were not his own, by finefling and trick :
He call off his friends, as a huntfman his pack,
-For he knew, when he pleas'd, he could whittle
them back.
Of praife a mere glutton, he fwallow'd what cama,
And the pufF of a dunce, he miftook it for feme.;
J Till his relilh grown callous, almoft to difeafe,
Who pep.per'd the highefl, was furelt to pleafe.
But let us be candid, and fpeak out our mind,
If dunces applauded, he paid them in kind.
Ye Kenricks*, ye KcUy3\, and Woodfallsl fo
grave,
'What a commerce was yours, while you .got, and
you gave !
"How did Grub-Street re-eccho the mouts that you
rais'd,
While he was be-Rcfcius'd, and you were be*
prais'd !
But peace to his fpirit, wherever it flies,
To acl as an angel, and mix with the fides :
Thofe
* William Kenrick, L.L.D. author of FalftafPs
Wedding, &c.
f Hugh Kelly, Efq. author o/Falfe Delicacy, &c.
J Mr. William Woodfall, Printer cf the Morn-
ing Chronicle,
7^ THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
Thofe Poets, who owe their belt fame to his fkitt,
Shall {till be his flatterers, go where he will.
Old Shaksfpcare receive him, with praife and
with love,
And Eeaumonts and Bens be his Ktllys above !
F E A R.
FEAR guides more to their duty than grati-
"tude : for one man who is virtuous from the love
of virtue, from the obligation which he thinks he
lies under to the Giver of All, there are ten thou-
fund who are good only from their apprehenfions
of punifliment. Could thefe lalt be perfuaded,
as the Epicureans were, that Heaven had no thun-
ders in {tore for the villain, they would no longer
continue to acknowledge fubordination, or thank
that Being who gave them exiilence.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. I. p. 34.
OBLIGATIONS.
WERE men taught to defpife the receiving ob
ligations with the fame force of reafoning and de-
clamation that they are in ftr acted to confer them,
^ve might then fee every perfon in fociety filling
up the requifite duties of his flation with chear-
ful induftry, neither relaxed by hope, nor fullea
irom difappoinrment.
. 2. p. 142,
KNOW-
THE BEAUTIES OT GOLDSMITH, 73
KNOWLEDGE.
WHEN we rife in knowledge as the profpect
widens, the objefts of our regard become mere
obfcure ; and the unlettered peafant, whofe views
are only directed to the narrow fphere around him,
beholds nature with a finer relifh, and tafles her
bleffings with a keener appetite, than the philo-
fopher, whofe mind attempts to grafp an univerfal
fyftem.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. I. p. 152.
CONVERSATION OF A FINE WOMAN.
THERE is fomething irrefiftibly pleafing in the
converfation of a fine woman ; even though her
tongue be filent, the eloquence of her eyes teaches
wifdora. The mind fympathifes with the regu-
larity of the objecl in view, and, ftruck with ex-
ternal grace, vibrates into refpondent harmony.
IBID. v. 2. p. 205*
S O R R O W.
WE fhould feel forrow, but not fink under its
oppreffion ; the heart of a wife man mould refem-
ble a mirrour, which reflects every objeft without
being fullied by any. The wheel of fortune turn
inceffantly round, and who can fay within himf ,
t mall to-day be uppermoft ? We mould hole ;
immutable mean that lies between infenfibilit; a i
anguifh ; our attempts mould be, not to exti
H n
74 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
nature, but to reprefs it ; not to fland unmoved at
diitrefs, but endeavour to turn every difafter to
our own advantage. Our greateft glory is, not in
never falling, but in rifing every time we fall.
-CIT. OF T-HE WORLD, V.I. p. 22.
R E A D I N G.
IT is of no importance to read much, except
you be regular in your reading. If it be inter-
rupted for any confiderable time, it can never be
attended with proper improvement. There are
fonie who ftudy for one day with intenfe applica-
tion, and repofe themfelves for ten days after.
But wifdom is a coquette, and mult be courted with
unabating affiduity.
It was a'faying of the ancients, that a man never
opens a book without reaping fome advantage by
it. I fay, with them, that every book can ferve
to make us more expert, except romances ; and
thefe are no better than inftruments of debauchery.
They are dangerous ficlions, where love is the
ruling paffion.
IBID. vol. 2. p. 79.
INDOLENCE.
INDOLENCE an'umes the airs of wifdora,
and, while it tofies the cup and ball with infantine
folly, defires the world to look on, and calls the
ftupid paftime philofophy and learning.
IBID. p. 106,
THE- BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH, 75;
EDUCATING CHILDREN.
I HAVE ever found it a vain tafk to try to
make a child's learning its anrufement ; nor do T
fee what good end it would anfv/er, were it adlually
attained. The child ought to have its (hare of
play, and it will be benefited thereby ; and for-
every reafon, alfo, it ought to have its fhare of
labour. The' mind, by early labour, will be thus
actuftomed to' fatigues and fubordinr.ticn ; and
\vb.:' s cver be the pcrfonV future employment in
life, he will be better fitted to endure it : h'c will
be thus enabled to fupport the drudgeries of office
with content, or to fill up the vacancies of life
with variety. The child, therefore, mould by
times be put to its duty; and be taught to know,
that the tafk is to be done, or the punifhment to
be endured. I do not cbjeft againfl alluring it to
duty by reward ; but we well know, that the mind
will be more ftrongly Simulated by pain ; and
both may, upon fome occafions, take their turn to
operate. In this manner, a child, by playing
with' its equals abroad, and labouring with them
at fchool, will acquire more health and knowledge
than by being bred up under the wing of any ipe-
culative fyftem-maker ; and will be thus qualified
for a life of activity and obedience. It is true,
indeed, that, when educated in this manner, the
boy may not be fo eemirrgly fenfible and forward
as- one -bred up under folitary inftruction ; and,
perhaps, this early forwardnefs is more engr.p,'.n;j
H 2 than-
76 THS BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
than ufeful. It is well known, that many of thofe
chijdren who are fuch prodigies of literature before
ten, have not made an adequate progrefs to twenty*
It mould feem, that they only began learning manly
things before their time ; and, while others were
bufied in picking up that knowledge adapted to
their age and curioiity, thefe were forced upon
fubjefts unfuited to their years ; and, upon that
account alone, appearing extraordinary. The ftock
cf knowledge in both may be equal ; but with this
difference, that each is yet to learn what the other
knows.
HIST. CF ANIMALS, p. 67*
FELICITY.
VAIN,, very vain, my weary fearch to find
That blifs which only centers in the mind :
"Why have I ftray'd from pleafure and repofe,
To feek a good each government beftcws ?
In ev'ry government, though terrors reign,
Though tyrant kings, or tyrant laws reftraia,
How finall, of all that human hearts endure,
That part which laws or kings can caufe or cure T
[ Still to ourfelves in ev'ry place confign'd,
Our own felicity we make or find :
"With fecret ccurfe, which no loud ftorms annoy,
Glides the fmeoth current of domeftic joy.
TE.AVELLER, p. 50.
INSOLENCE
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 7.7
INSOLENCE OF COURT FAVOURITES.
AS, in a family, the faults and the imperti-
nence of fervants are often to be afcribed to their
matters ; fo, in a ftate, the vices and the infolence
of favourites fhould be juftly attributed to the
king who employs them.
HIST. OF ENG. IN LET. &C. V. I. p. 238.
FIDELITY OP A DOG.
OF all the beafts that graze the lawn or hunt
the foreft, a Dog is the only animal that, leaving
his fellows, attempts to cultivate the friendfhip of
man ; to man he looks, in all his neceffities, with
a fpeaking eye, for affiftance ; exerts, for him, all
the little fervice in his power, with chearfulnefs
and pleafure ; for him bears famine and fatigue
with patience and refignation : no injuries can.
abate his fidelity ; no diftrefs induce him to forfake
his benefactor : ftudious to pleafe, and fearing to
offend', he is Hill an humble, fteadfail dependant ;
and in him alone fawning is not flattery. How
unkind, then, to torture this faithful creature,
who has left the foreft to claim the protection of
man ! How ungrateful a return to the trufty ani-
mal for all its fervices !
ESSAY 13. p. 109.
H 3 PLEASURE
73 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
PLEASURE.
ALL our pleafures, though feemingly never fo
remote from fenfe, derive their origin from fome
pne of the fenfes. The moil exquiute demonflra-
tion in mathematics, or the moil pleafing difquifi-
tion in metaphyftcs, if it does not uhimately tend
to increafe fome fenfual fatisfaction, is delightful
only to fools, or to men who have by long habit
contracted a falfe idea of pleafure ; and he who
Separates fenfual and fentimental enjoyments, feek-
Ing happinefs from mind- alone, is in fact as
wretched as the naked inhabitant of the foreft,
who places all happinefs in the firit, regardlefs of
the latter. There are two extremes in this refpecl ;
the favage who fwallows down the draught of plea-
fure without ihying to refled on his happinefs.,.
and the fage who pafleth the cup while he reflects
on the conveniences of drinking.
CIT. Of THE WORLD, V- I. p. 2O.
WANT OF PRUDENCE.
WANT of prudence is too frequently the want
of virtue ; nor is there on earth a more powerful
advocate for vice than poverty.
IBID. p. 22^
DUTY OF CHILDREN TO THEIR PARENTS.
THE duty of children to their parents, a duty
which nature implants in every breaft, forms the
ftrength
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 79
ftrength of that government which has fubfifted for
time immemorial.. Filial obedience is the firft and'
greateft rcquifite of a itate ; by this we become
good fubjefts, capable of behaving with juft fub-
erdinaticn to our fuperiors, and grateful depen-
dants on heaven ; by this we become fonder of
marriage, in order to be capable of exacting obe-
dience from others in our turn : by this we become
good magiflrates ; for early fubmifiion is the trueft
leffon to thofe who would learn to rule. By this
the whole ftate may be faid to referable one family,
of which the Emperor is the proteftor, father,
and friend.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 1. p. 176.
POPULAR GLORY CONTRASTED WITH,
TRUE GLORY.
POPULAR GLORY is a perfeft coquette;
her lovers muft toil, feel every inquietude, indulge
every caprice ; and, perhaps, at laft, be jilted for
their pains. True glory, on the other hand, re-
fembles a woman of fenfc; her admirers muft play
no tricks ; they feel no great anxiety, for they are
fure, in the end, of being rewarded in proportion,
to their merit. When Swift ufed to appear in pub-
lic, he generally had the mob fhouting in his train.
" Pox take thefe fools," he would fay, " how
much joy might all this bawling give my Lord-
Mayor !"
ESSAY 8. p. 73.
L O V E.
So- THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH;,
L O V* E.
LOVE, when founded in the heart, will {hew-
itfelf in a thoufand unpremeditated Tallies of fond-
nefs ; but every cool deliberate exhibition of the.
paffion, only argues little understanding, or great'
infincerity. '
Ckoang was the fondeft hu/band, artd Han/i the
moft endearing wife, in all the kingdom of Korea :
they were a pattern of conjugal blifs; tlae inhahi-
tants of the country around faw, and envied their
felicity ; wherever Choar.g came, Hanji was fure
to -follow ; and in all the pleafures of HanJl, Cbo-
ang was admitted a partner. They walked hand
in hand wherever they appeared^ mewing every
mark of mutual fatisfacKon, embracing, killing ;
their mouths were for ever joined; and, to fpeak in
the language of anatomy, it was with them one per-
petual anaftomolis.
Their love was fo great, that it was thought no-
thing could interrupt their mutual peace ; when an
accident happened, which, in fome meafure, di-
minimed the hufband's afTurance of Ins wife's fide-
lity; for love fo refined as his, was fubjecV to a
thoufand little difquietudes-.
Happening to go one day alone among the tombs
that lay at fome diftance from his houfe, he there
perceived a lady dreffed in the deepeft mourning,
(being
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. Si-
(being cloathed all over in white) fanning the wet
clay that was raifed over one of the graves with a
large fan, which fhe held in her hand, Choang y
who had early been taught wifdom in the fchool
of Lao, was unable to affign a caufe for her pre-
fent employment ; and, coming up, civilly demand-
ed the reafon. " Alas !" replied the lady, her eyes
bathed in tears, " how is it poffible to furvive the
lofs of my hufband, who- lies buried in this grave?
He was the bcft of men, the tendereft of hufbands ;
with his dying breath he bid me never marry again
till the earth over his grave mould be dry; and
here you fee me fteadily refolving to obey his will,
and endeavouring to dry it with my fan. t have
employed two whole days in fulfilling his com-
tnands, and am determined not to marry till they
are punctually obeyed, even though his grave
ihould take up four days in drying."
Cboang, who was ftruck with the widow's beauty,,
could not, however, avoid fmiling at her hafte to
be married ; but, concealing the caufe of his mirth,
civilly invited her home ; adding, that he had a
wife who might be capable of giving her fome
confolation. As foon as he and his gueft were re-
turned, he imparted to Hanji in private what he
had feen, and could not avoid expreffing his un-
eafmefs, that fuch might be his own cafe, if his
deareft wife fuould, one day happen to furvive
him.
ftt
8z THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITHS
It is impoffible to defcribe Hanfis refentment r.t
fo unkind a fufpicion. As her paffion for him was.
not only great, but extremely delicate, fhe em-
ployed tears, anger, frowns, and exclamations, ta
chide his fufpicions ; the widow herfelf. was in-
veighed agaiaft; and Hanji declared fhe was re-
folved never to fleep under the fame roof \vith a
wretch, who, like her,- could be guilty of fucli
barefaced inconstancy. . The night was cold and
ftormy : however, the Granger was obliged to feek
another, lodging, for Choang was not difpofcd to
refift, and Hanji would have her way.
The widow had fcarce been gone an hour, u hen
an old difciple of Ckoang's, whom he had not feen
for many years, came to pay him a.vifit. He was
received with the utmoft ceremony, placed in the
moft honourable feat at/upper, .and the wine began
to circulate with great freedom. Ckoang and Hanfi
exhibited open- marks of mutual tendernefs and
unfeigned recorrciliation : nothing could equal their
apparent happinefs ; fo fond an hufband, fo obe-
dient a wifie,. few could behold without regretting
-their owir infelicity ; when, lo ! their happir.cfs
was at. once difturbed by a moft fatal accident.
Choang fell lifekfs in an apoplectic fit upon the
floor. Every method . was uded, bat in vain, for
his recovery. #*/? was at firft inconfolable for
his death : after bme hours, however,- (he found
fpirits to read his laft will. The enfuing day- i>.e
began to moralize and talk \vifdom ; the next day
(he.
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 83
Tne was able to comfort the young difciple ; and,
on the third, to ihorten a long ftory, they both
agreed to be married.
There was now no longer mourning in the apart-
'ments ; the body of Choang was now thruft into
an old coffin, and placed in one of the meaneft
rooms, there to lie unattended until the time pre-
fcribed by law for his interment. In the mean
time, Hanji, and the young diiciple, were arrayed
in the mofl magnificent habits; the bride \vore in
her nole a jewel of immenfe price, and her lover
-v/as drefTed in all the finery of his former matter,
together with a pair of artificial whifkers that
reached down to his toes. The hour of their nup-
tials was arrived ; the whole family fympathifed
with their approaching happinefs ; the apartments
were ^brightened up with lights that diffufed the
moil exquiiite perfume, and a luftre more bright
than noon-day. The lady expeded her youthful
lover in an inner apartment, with impatience ;
when his fervant approaching with terror in his
countenance, informed her, that his matter was
fallen into a fit, which would certainly be mortal,
unlefs the heart of a man lately dead, could be
obtained, and applied to his breall. She fcarce
-waited to hear the end of his ftory, when, tucking
up her clothes, me ran with a mattock in her hand
to the coffin, where Choang lay, refolving to apply
the heart of her dead hulband as a cure for the
living. She therefore ftruck the lid with the ut-
raoft violence. In a few blows the coffin flew open,
when
% THE BEAUTIES OP GOLDSMITH.
when the body, which to all appearance had been
dead, began to move. Terrified at the fight,
Hanfe dropped the mattock, and Cboang walked
out, aftonimed at his own fituation, his wife's un-
lifual magnificence, and her more amazing fur-
prife. He went among the apartments, unable to
conceive the caufe of fo much fplendour. He was
not long in fufpence, before his domeftics informed
him of every tranfaftion fince he firft became in-
/enfible. He could fcarce believe what they told
him, and went in purfuit of Hanjl herfelf, in order
to receive more certain information, or to reproach
her infidelity. But {he prevented his reproaches:
he found her weltering in blood ; for me had
ftabbed herfelf to the heart, being unable to fur-
vive her fhame and difappointment.
Choang, being a philofopher, was too wife to
make any loud lamentations ; he thought it befl to
bear his lofs with ferenity ; fo, mending up the
old coffin where he had lain himfelf, he placed his
faithlefs fpoufe in his room ; and, unwilling that
fo many nuptial preparations mould be expended in
vain, he the fame night married the widow with
the large fan.
As they both were apprifed of the foibles of each
other before-hand, they knew how to excufe them
after marriage. They lived together for many
years in great tranquillity, and not expecting rap-
tore, made a fhift to find contentment.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 1. p. 6$\
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 8$
POVERTY.
-WHERE fhall Poverty refide,
To 'fcape the prefTu-re of contiguous pride?
If to fome common's fencelefs limits itray'd,
He drives his flock to pick the fcanty blade,
Thofe fencelefs fields the fons of Wealth divide,
And ev'n the bare-worn common is deny'd.
If to fome city fped What waits him there ?
To fee profufion that he muft not (hare ;
To fee ten thoufand baleful arts combin'd
To pamper luxury, and thin mankind;
To fee thofe joys the fons of Pleafure krtow,
Extorted from his fellow-creature's woe.
Here, while the courtier glitters in brocade,
There the pale artift plies the fickly trade ;
Here, while the proud their long-drawn pomps
difplay,
There the black gibbet glooms befide the way.
The dome where Pleafure holds her midnight reign,
Here, richly deck'd, admits the gorgeous train ;
Tumultuous grandeur crowds the blazing fquare,
The rattling chariots clam, the torches glare.
Sure fcenes like thefe no troubles e'er annoy !
Sure thefe denote one univerfal joy !
Are thefe thy ferious thoughts ? Ah, turn thine
eyes
Where the poor houfelefs {hiv'ring female lies.
She once, perhaps, in village plenty blcfs'd,
Has wept at tales of innocence diftrefs'd ;
Her modeft looks the cottage might adorn,
Sweet as the primrofe peeps beneath the thorn ;
I Now
*6 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
"Now loft to all ; her friends, her virtue fled,
Near her betrayer's door me lays her head,
And, pinch'd with cold, and (hrinking from the
fhow'r,
With heavy heart deplores that lucklefs hour,
When idly firft, ambitious of the town,
She left her wheel, and robes of country brown.
DESERTED VILLAGE, p. IJ.
JUSTICE.
JUSTICE may be defined, that virtue which
impels us to give to every perfon what is his due.
Jn this extended fenfe cf the word, it comprehends
the practice of every virtue which reafon prefcribes,
or fociety fliould expeft. Our duty to our Maker,
to each other, and to ourfelves, are fully anfwered,
if we give them what we owe them. Thus juftice,
properly fpeaking, is the only virtue : and all the
left have their origin in it.
The qualities of candour, fortitude, charity,
and gcnerofity, for inftance, are not in their own
nature virtues ; and, if ever they deferve the title,
it is owing only to juftice, which impels and di-
refts them. Without fuch a moderator, candour
might become indifcretion, fortitude obftinacy,
charity imprudence, and generofity miftaken pro-
fufion,
ESSAY 6. p. 47.
DISIN-
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 87
DISINTERESTED A.CTION.
A DISINTERESTED aftion, if it be not con-
dufted by juitice, is, at beft, indifferent in its na-
ture, and not unfnequently even turns to vice,
TJie expences of fociety, of prefents, of enter-
tainments, and the other helps to chearfalncfs;,.
are adHcns merely indifferent, when not repugnant
to a better method of difpofmg of* our fuperfluities ;
but they become vicious when they obftruct or ex-
Knuft our abilities from a more virtuous difpofitien
Q/ our circumHances>
ESSAY 6. p. ,}".
TRUE GENEROSITY.
TRUE generosity is a duty as indifpenfibly ne-
cef&ry as thofe impofed upon us by law. It" is a
rule impofed upon us by reafon, which mould be
the foveieign law of a rational being. But this
generofity does not confiil: in obeying every im-
pulfe of humanity, in following blind paffion for
our guide, and impairing our circumftances by
prefent benefaclions, fo as to render, us incapable
of .future ones.
IBID. p. 48.
LITERATURE.
^/J'FATEVER be- the motives which induce
:scn to write, whether avarice, or. fame, the coun-
fry becomes moft wife and happy, in which they
I. a.. moil.
88 THE BEAUTIES o? GOLDSMITH.,
mofl ferve for inflruftors. The countries where
facerdotal inftrucUon alone is permitted, remain,
in ignorance, fuperftition, and hopelefs flavery.
In England, where there are as many new books
publimed as in all the reft of Europe together, a
ipirit of freedom and reafon reigns among the peo-
ple ; they have been often known- to aftJike fools,
they are generally found to think like men.
C I T . OF THEWORLQ, V. 2 . p. 4.? .
DEATH OF A PHILOSOPHER.
LET others beftrevv the hearfes of the great
with panegyric. When a philofcpker dies, I con-
fidcr myfelf as lofing a patron, an inflruftor, and
a friend ; I confider the wcrld as lofing one who
Height ftrve to confole her amidft the defolations
of war and ambition. Nature every day produces
in abundance men capable of filling all the requi-
fite duties of authority ; but (he is niggard in the
birth of an exalted mind, fcarcely producing in a
century a fingle genius to blefs and enlighten a
degenerate age. Prodigal in the production of
kings, governors, mandarines, chams, and cour-
tiers, fhe feems to have forgotten, for more than
three thoufand years, the manner in which fhe
once formed the brain of a Confucius ; and well it
is fhe has forgotten, when a bad world gave him.
fo very bad a reception.
IBID. v. i. p. 181.
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 89,
TENDERNESS.
TENDERNESS, without a capacity of re-
lieving, only makes the man. who feels it more-
wretched than the objecl which fues for afliftance.
C:T. OF -THE WORL-D, V. 2. p, 2I.
ESSAY ON FRIENDSHIP.
JHERE are few fubjefts which have been more.
written upon, and lefs underftood, than that of.
Friendfhip. To follow the dictates of fome, this,
virtue, inftead of being the afluager of pain, be-
comes the fource of every inconvenience. Such
fpeculatifis, by expecting too. much from friendfhip,.
uiffolve the connexion, and, by drawing the bands,
too clofely, at length break therru Almoft all our
romance and novel-writers are of this kind ; they
perfuade us to friendihips, which we find impof-
nble to faftaiH to the laft.; fo that this fweetner of
life, under proper regulations, is, by their means,,
rendered inacceffible or uneafy. It is certain, the
beft method to cultivate this virtue is by letting
it, in fome meafure, make itfelf ; a fimilitude of
minds or ftudies, and even fomedmes a diverfity
of purfuits, will produce all the pleafures that
arife from it. The current of tendernefs widens,
as it proceeds : and two men imperceptibly find
tkeir hearts warm with good- nature for each other,
I 3 when
So THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
when they were at firft only in purfuit of mirth or;
relaxation.
Friendfliip is like a debt of honour; the mo-
ment it is talked of, it lofes its real name, and
afTumes the more ungrateful form of obligation.
From hence we find, that thofe who regularly
undertake to cultivate friendfhip, find ingratitude
generally repays their endeavours. That circle of
beings, which dependance gathers round us, is al-
moft ever unfriendly ; they fecretly wifh the term
of their connexions more nearly equal ; and,
where they even have the moft virtue, are pre-
pared to referve all their affections for their pa-
tron, only in the hour of his decline. Increasing
the obligations which are laid upon fuch minds,
only increafes their burthen ; they feel themfelves
unable to repay the immenfity of their debt, and
their bankrupt hearts are taught a latent refent-
ment at the hand that it ftretched out with offers
of fervice and relief.
Plautimis was a man who thought that every
good was bought from riches ; and as he was pof-
ieiTed of great wealth, and had a mind naturally
formed for virtue, he refolved to gather a circle
of the beft men round him. Among the number
of his dependants was Mufidcrus, with a mind juft
as fond of virtue, yet not Icfs proud than his. pa-
trcn. Kis circumftances, hov/ever, were fuch as
forced him to ftoop to the good offices of his fu-
perior,
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 91
perior, and he faw himfelf daily among a number
of others loaded witK benefits and proteftatiohs of
friendftiip. Thcfe, in the ufual courfe of the
world, he thought it prudent to accept ; but, while
he gave his efteem, he could not give his heart.
A want of affection breaks out in the moft trifling .
Inilances, and Plautinxs had fkill enough to ob-
ferve the minuteft actions of the man he wifhed to
make his friend. In thefe he ever found his aim
difappointed ; for Mufidorus claimed an exchange -
of hearts, which Plautinus, folicited by a variety
of claims, could never think of beftowing.
It may be eafily fuppofed, that the referv.e of -
our poor proud man, was foon conftrued into in-
gratitude ; and fuch, indeed, in the common ac-
ceptation of the world it was. Wherever Muji>-
dorus appeared, he was remarked as the ungrate-
ful man ; he had acccepted favours, it was faid,
and had ftill the infolence to pretend to indepen-
dance. The event, however, juftified his condud.
Plauiinus, by mifplaced liberality, at length be-
came poor ; and it v/as then that Mufidoria firft .
thought of making a friend of him He flew to
the man of fallen fortune, with an offer of all he
had ; wrought under his direction with afiiduity ;
and by uniting their talents, both were at length
placed in that flate of life from which one of.
them had formerly fallen.
To
gz THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
To this ftory, taken from modern life, I fhaif
add one more, taken from a Greek writer of an-
tiquity : ' Two Jewifh foldiers, in the time of
Wefpafean, had made many campaigns together ;
and a participation of dangers,, at length, bred an
union of hearts. They were remarked through-
out the whole army, as the two friendly brothers ;
they felt and fought for each' other. Their friend-
fhip might have continued, without interruption,
till death, had not the good fortune of the one
alarmed the pride of the other, which was in his
promotion to be a Centurion under the famous
John, who headed A particular party of the Jcvv-
ilh male-contents.
From this moment their former love was con-
. verted into the moft inveterate enmity. They at-
tached themfelves to oppofite factions, and fought
each other's lives in the conflict of adverfe party.
In this manner they continued for more than two
years, vowing mutual revenge, and animated with
an unconquerable fpirit of aversion. At length,
however, that party of the Je-ivs, to which the
mean foldier belonged, joining with- the Remans,
it became victorious, and. drove John, with all
his adherents, into the Temple. Hiftory has
given us more than one picture of the dreadful,
conflagration of that fuperb edifice. The Roman.
foldiers were gathered round it } the whole Tem-
pje was in flames, and thcufands were feen: amidft
them,- within its facred circuit. It was in this
fituation
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 93,
j'ituation .of things,, that the now-fuccefsful fol-
dier faw his former, friend upon the battlements of
the higheft tower, looking round with horror, and
juft ready to be confumed v/ith flames. All his
former tendernefs now returned ; he faw the man
of his bofom juft going to perifli ; and, unable to
withftand the impulfe, he ran fpreading his arms,
and cryiug out to his friend, to leap down from
the top, and find fafety with him. The Centu-
rion from aLove heard and obeyed, and, cafting
himfelf from the top of the tower, into his fel-
low-foldier's rrms, both fell a facrifice on the
fpot ; one being era Hied to death by the weight
of his companion, and the other daflied to pieces
by the greatnefs of his fall.'
THE COUNTRY ALEHOUSE.
iN EAR yonder them, that lifts its head on high.
Where once the fign-poft caught the paffing eye,
Low lies that houfe where nut-brown draughts in-
fpir'd,
Where grey-beard Mirth and fmiling Toil retir'd ;
Where Village- Stajefmen talk'd with looks pro-
found,
And news much older than their ale went round.
Imagination fondly ftoops to trace
The parlour-fplendours of that feftive place ;
The white-wafh'd wall, the nicely-fanded floor,
The varnifh'd clojck that click'd behind the door j .
Ths
94 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH;
The cheft contriv'd a double debt to pay,
A bed by night, a cheft of draw'rs by day ;
The piftures plac'd for ornament and ufe,
The Twelve Good Rules, the Royal Game of
Goofe ;
The he;:rth, except when Winter chill'd the day,
With afpen boughs, and flowers, and fennel gay ;.
While broken tea- cups, wifely kept for mow,
Rang'd o'er-the chimney, gliften'd in a row.
Vain tranfitory fplendours ! Could not all
Reprieve the tott'ring mnnfion from its fall?
Gbfcure it finks, nor fhall it more impart
An hour's importance to the poor man's heart j-
Thither, no more, the peafant (hall repair,
To fweet oblivion of his daily care ;
No more the farmers news, the barber's tale,
No more the woodman's ballad fhall prevail j_
No more the fmith his dufky brow fhall clear,
Relax his pond'rous ftrength, and lean to hear ^
The holt himfelf no longer fhall be found
Careful to fee the mantling blifs go round ;
Nor the coy maid, half willing to be preft,
Shall kifs the cup to p;ifs it to the reft.
DESERTED VILLAGE, p. 12
SABINU-S AND O LIN DA.
1 N a fair, rich, flourishing country, whpfe cliffs
a,re wafhed by the German ocean, lived Sabinu: f
a. youth, formed by Nature to make a conqueft.
wherever!
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 95
vherever he thought proper ; but the conftancy of
his difpofition fixed him only with Olinda.
He was, indeed, fopcrior to her in fortune ; but
that defec~t on her fide was fo amply f up plied by
her merit, that none was thought more worthy of
his regards than /lie. He loved her, he was be-
loved by her ; and, in a Ihort time, by joining
hands publicly, they avowed the union of their
hearts. But, alas ! none, however fortunate,
however happy, are exempt from the fhafts of en-
vy, and the malignant effefts of ungoverned ap-
petite. .How unfafe, how deteflable are they who
have this fury for their guide ! How certainly will
it lead them from themfelves, and plunge them in
errors they would have fhuddered at, even in ap-
prehenfion ! Ariana, a lady of many amiable qua-
lities, very nearly allied to Sabznus, and highly
efteemed by him, imagined herfelf flighted, and
injurioufly treated, fince his marriage, with -Olinda.
By incautioufly fuffering this jealoufy to corrode
in her breaft, me began to give a loofe to paffion :
me forgot thofe many virtues, for which ftie had
been fo long, and fo juftly applauded. Caufe-
lefs fufpicion, and miflaken refentment, betrayed
her into all the gloom of difcontent : {he fighed
without ceafing ; the happinefs of others gave her
intolerable pain: fhe thought of nothing but re-
venge. How unlike what me was, the chearful,
the prudent, the compaflionate Ariana !
She
t>6 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
She continually laboured to diiturb an union fo
firmly, fo affectionately founded, and planned
every fcheme which ihe thought moft likely to dif-
turb it.
Fortune feemed willing to promote her unjuft
intentions ; the circumftances of Sabinus had been
long embarraffed by a tedious law-fuit, and the
court determining the caufe unexpectedly in favour
of his opponent, it funk his fortune to the loweft
pitch of penury from the higheft affluence.
From the nearnefs of relationfhip, Sabinus ex-
pected from Ariana thofe affiflances his prefent
fituation required ; but fhe was infenfible to all
liis entreaties, and the juilice of every remon-
flrance, ufclefs he Erft feparated from Olindct^
'whom fhe regarded with deteftation. Upon a
compliance with her defires in this refpeft, (he
promifed her fortune, her intereft, and her all,
mould be at his command. Sabinus was mocked
at the propofal ; he loved his wife with inexpref-
fible tendernefs, and refufed thofe offers with in-
dignation which were to be purchafed at fo high a
price : Ariana was no lefs difpleafed to find her
offers reje&ed, and gave a loofe to all that warmth
which fhe had long endeavoured to fupprefs.
Reproach generally produces recrimination ; the
quarrel rofe to fuch a height, that Sabinus was
marked for deftruction j and the very next day,
nipon
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 97
the ftrength of an old family debt, he was fent to
jail, with none but Olinda to comfort him in his
miferies. In this manfion of diftrefs they lived
tegether with resignation, and even with comfort.
She provided the frugal meal, and he read for her
while employed in the little offices of domeftic
concern. Their fellow- prifoners admired their
contentment, and whenever they had a defire of
relaxing into mirth, and enjoying thofe little
comforts that a prifon affords, S-a&imis and Olinda.
were lure to be of the party. Inftead of reproach-
ing each for their mutual wretchednefs, they both
lightened it, by bearing each a fhare of the load
impofeu by Providence. Whenever Sabinus mew-
ed the leaft concern on his dear partner's account,
fhe conjured him by the love he bore her, by
thofe tender ties which now united them for ever,
not to difcompofe himfelf : that fo long as his
oiTeclion Juried, me defied all the ills of fortune,
and every lofs of fame or friendfhip : that no
thing could make her mifcrablc, but his feem-
ing to want happinefs ; nothing pleafed but his
fympathifing with her pleafure.
A continuance in prifon foon fobbed them of the
little they had left, and famine began to make its
horrid appearance ; yet ftill was neither found to
murmur: they both looked upon their little boy,
who, infenfible of their or his own diftrefs, was play-
ing about the room with inexpreffible yet fiient an-
guiih, when a meflenger came to inform them that
K Ariana
^8 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
-Ariana -was dead ; and that her will, in favour of
a very diitant -relation, and who was now in ano-
ther country, might be eafily procured, and burnt 1 ;
in which cafe, all her large fortune would revert
-to him, as being the next heir at law.
A propofal of fo bafe a nature filled our un-
happy couple with horror ; they ordered the mef-
fenger immediately out of the room, and falling
upon each other's neck, indulged an agony of
forrow : for now even all hopes of relief were ba-
nifhed. The meffenger who made the propofal,
however, was only a fpy fent by Ariana to found
the difpofitions of a man me loved at once and
j>erfecuted.
This lady, though warped by wrong paffions,
was naturally kind, judicious and friendly. She
found that all -her attempts to make the conilancy
or the integrity of Sabinus were ineffectual : She
had, therefore, begun to reflect, and to wonder
how (he could, fo long and fo unprovoked, injure
-fuch uncommon fortitude and affection.
She had, from the next room, herfelf heard the
-reception given to the meflenger, and could not
avoid feeling all the force of fuperior virtue ;
Ihe therefore reafTumed her former goodnefs of
heart ; me came into the room with tears in her
yes, and acknowledged the feverity of her
former treatment. She beftowed her firft care in
pro-
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 99,
providing them all the neceflary fupplies, and
acknowledged them as the moft deferving heirs
of her fortune. From this moment Satinui en-
joyed an uninterrupted happinefs with Qlinda y
and both were h|ippy in the friendfhip and afiift-
ance of Arianp, who, dyin^ foon after, left them
in pcifeffion of a large eftate ; and in her lail
moments confeffed, that Virtue was the only path,
to true glory ; and that, however Innocence may
for a time be deprefled, a ftcady perfeverance will.
iu time lead it to a certain victory..
INNOCENCE AND SIMPLICITY.
MAN was born to live withuinnocence and fim-
plicity, but he has deviated from Nature ; he was
born to mare the bounties of Heaven, bat he has
monopolized them; he was born to govern the
brute creation, but he is become their tyrant. If
an epicure now fhould happen to furfeit on his laft
night's feaft, twenty animals, the next day, are to
undergo the moft exquifite tortures, in order to
provoke his appetite to another guilty meal. Hail,.
O ye fimple, honeft Bramins of the Eaft ! ye inof-
fenfive friends of all that were born to happinefs as
well as you ! You never fought a mort-lived plea-
fure from the miferies of other creatures. You
never ftudied the tormenting arts of ingenious re -
finement; you. never furfeited upon a guilty meal,
K 2. How
ioo THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
How much more purified and refined are all you*
fenfaticns than ours ! Yon diftinguifh every ele-
ment with the utmoft precifion ; a flream untafted
before is new luxury ; a change of air is a new
banquet, too refined for weftern imaginations to
conceive.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. I. p. 52.
A D U L A T I O N.
THE man who is conftantly ferved up with
adulation, muft be a firft-rate philofopher, if he can
liften without .contracting new affectations. The
opinion we form of ourfelves, is generally mea-
fured by what we hear from others ; and when they
confpire to deceive, we too readilv concur in the
delufion. Among the number of much-applmided
men in the circle of our own friends, we can re-
collect but few that have heads quite ftrong enough
to bear a loud acclamation of public praife in
their favour ; among the whole lift, we mail
fcarce find one that has not thus been made, on
Come fide cf his chara&er, a coxcomb.
tlFE OF NASH, p. 149.
THE:
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. ior
THE SWISS PEASANT.
JVlY foul, turn from them* ; turn we to furvey
Where rougher climes a nobler race difplay,
Where the bleak S*vifs their ftormy manfions tread, -
And force a chnrlifti foil for fcanty bread.
No product here the barren hills afford,
But man and fteel, the foldier and his fworcL
No vernal blooms their torpid rocks array,
But Winter ling'ring chills the lap of May -
No Zephyr fondly fues the mountain's breafi.,
But meteors glare, and Itormy glooms inveft.
Yet (till,, ev'n here, Content can fpread a charm>
Redrefs the clime, and all its rage difarm.
Though poor the Peafant's hut, his feafts though
fmall,
He fees his little lot the lot of all ;
Sees no contiguous palace rear its head
To fhame the meannefs of his humble med ;
No coftly lord the fumptuous banquet deal
To make him loath his vegetable meal ;
But calm, and bred in ignorance and toil,
Each wifti contracting, fits him to the foil.
Chearful at morn he wakes from fhort repofe,
Breads the keen air, and carrois as he goes ;
With patient angle trolls the finny deep,
Or drives his vent'rous plough-mare to the fleep ;
Or feeks the den where fno\v-tracks mark the way,
And drags the ftruggling favage into day.
K 3 , At
* From the ItalianSr
loz THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
At night returning, ev'ry labour fped,
He fits him down the monarch of a med ;
Smiles by his chearful fire, and round furveys
His children's looks, that brighten at the blaze ;:
While his lov'd partner, boaftful of her hoard,
Difplays her cleanly platter on the board :
And haply too fome pilgrim, thither led,
With many a tale repays the nightly bed.
Thus ev'ry good his native wilds impart,
Imprints the patriot paffion on his heart ;
And ev'n thofe ills, that round his manfion rife>
Enhance the blifs his fcanty fund fupplies.
Dear is that fhed to which his foul conforms,
And dear that hill which lifts him to the ftorms j
And as a child, when fearing founds moleft,
Clings clofe and clofer to the mother's breaft,
So the loud torrent, and the whirlwind's roar,
But bind him to his native mountains more.
TRAVELLER, p. IJ,
A -G E.
AGE, that IciTens the enjoyment of life, in-
creafes our defire of living. Thofe dangers, which
in the vigour of youth we had learned to defpife,
affume new terrors as we grow old. Our caution
increafing as our years increafe, fear becomes at
lift the prevailing paflion of the mind ; and the
fmall remainder of life is taken up in ufelefs ef-
forts
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 105:
forts to keep off our end, or provide for a conti-
nued exiftence.
ESSAY 14.
HOPE, THE LAMP OF LIFE.
IF 1 fhould judge of that part of life which lies
before me, by that which I have already feen, the
profpect is hideous. Experience tells me, that my
paft enjoyments have brought no real felicity;
and fenfation aflures me, that thofe I have felt are
Stronger than thofe which are yet to come. Yet
experience and fenfation in vain perfuade ; hope,
more powerful than either, dreffes out the diftant
profpeft in fancied beauty ; fome happinefs in long
perfpective ftill beckons me to purfue ; and, like
a lofing gamefter, every new difapp ointment in-
creafes my ardour to continue the game.
ESSAY 14.
LOVEoF LIFE.
WHENCE this increafed love of life, which
grows upon us with our years ? Whence comes it,
that we thus make grea-ter efforts to preferve our
exiftence, at a period when it becomes fc^rce worth
the keeping ? Is it that nature, attentive to the
prefervation of mankind, increafes cur wiflies to
live, while me leflens our enjoyments ; and, as me
robs the fenfes of every pleafure, equips imagina-
tion in the fpoil ? Life would be infupportable to
an old man, who, loaded with intimities, feared
death
no4 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
death no more than when in the vigour of man-
hood : the numberlefs calamities of decaying na-
ture, and the confcioufnefs of furviving every
pleafure, would at once induce him, with his own
hand, to terminate the fcene of mifery ; bat hap-
pily the contempt of death forfakes him at a time
when it could only be prejudicial ; and life ac-
quires an imaginary value, in proportion as its
real value is no more.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. 37.
ATTACHMENT.
V-/UR attachment to every objefl around us, in-
creafes, in general, from the length of our ac-
quaintance with it. 1 would not chufe, fays a
French philofopher, to fee an old poft pulled up,
with which I had been long acquainted. A mind
long habituated to a certain fet of objects, infen-
fihly becomes fend of feeing them ; vifits them
from habit, and parts from them with reluctance.
From hence proceeds the avarice of the old in
every kind of poffeflion. They love the world,
and all that it produces ; they love life, and all its
advantages ; not becaufe it gives them pleafure, .
but becaufe they have known it long.
CHINVANG the Chafte, afcending the throne
of China, commanded th^t all who were unjuftly
detained in prifon, during the preceding reigns,
fhouid
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH". 105-
mould be fet free. Among the number who came
to thank their deliverer on. this occafion, there ap-
peared a majeftic old man, who, falling at the em-
peror's feet, addrefled him as follows : " Great
father of China, behold a wretch, now eighty-five
years old, who was fhu-t up in a dungeon: at the
age of twenty-two. I was imprifonad, though a
ftranger to crime, or without being even con-
fronted by my accufers. I have now lived in foli-
tude and darknefs for mere than fifty years, and
am grown familiar with diftrefs. As yet dazzled
with the fplendour of that fun to which you have
rellored me, I have been wandering the ilreets, to
find fome friend that would affift, or relieve, or
remember me ; but my friends, my family, and
relations, are all dead, and I am forgotten. Per-
mit me, then, O Chinvang, to wear out the wretch-
ed remains of life in my former prifon : the walls
of my dungeon are to me more pleafmg than the
moft fplendid palace ; I have not long to live, and
mail be unhappy except I fpend the reft of my days
where my youth was pa/Ted ; in that prifon from
whence you were pleafed to releafe me*"
The old man's pafiion for confinement is fimilar
to that we all have for life. We are habituated to
the prifon, we look round with difcontent, are
difpleafed with the abode, and yet the length of
our captivity only increafes our fondnefs for the
cell. The trees we have planted, the houfes we
have built, or the poilerity we have begotten, all
ferv.e^
loo THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
ferve to bind us clofer to earth, and embitter our
parting. Life fues the young like a new acquaint-
ance ; the companion, as yet unexhaufted, is at
ence inftruclive and amufing ; its company pieafes ;
yet, for all this, it is but little regarded. To us,
who are declined in years, life appears like an old
friend ; its jefts have been anticipated in former
converfaticn ; it has no new flory to make us fmile,
ao new improvement with which to furprife ; yet.
ftill we love it ; dertitute of every agreement, ftill
we love it ; hulband the wafting treafure with in-
creafed frugality, and feel all the poignancy of
in the fatal fep&raueu.
ESSAY 1,
DRESS.
DRESS has a mechanical influence upon the-
mind, and we naturally are awed into refpefit and
efteem at the elegance of thofe whom even our
recfon would teach us to contemn.
LIFE OF NASH, p. II.
E F ER O N T E R Y.
HOW many little things do we fee, without
merit, or without friends, pufh themfelves forward
into public notice, and, by felf-advertifmg, attract
the attention of the day ! The wife defpife them ;
but the public axe not all wife- Thus they fuc*
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 107
ceed, rife upon the wing of folly, or of fafliion,
and by their fuccefs give a new fanclion to effron-
tery.
LIFE OF N A3 H, p. 14.
SYMPATHETIC SINCERITY.
THE low and timid are ever fufpicious ; but a
heart imprefTed with honourable fentiments, ex-
pedls from others fympathetic fincerity.
LIFE OF NASH, p. 72.
FAVOUR.
THERE are fome who, born without any mare
of fenfibility, receive favour after favour, and ftill
cringe for more; who accept the offer of genero-
fity with as little reluctance as the wages of merit,
and even make thanks for paft benefits an indirccl
petition for new. Such, I grant, can fuffer no
debafement from dependance, fmce they were ori-
ginally as vile as was poffible to be. Dependance
degrades only the ingenuous, but leaves the fordid
mind in priiline meannefs. In this manner, there-
fore,, long-continued generofity is miiplaced, or it
is injurious ; it either finds a man worthlefs, or it
makes him fo ; and true it is, that the perfon who
is contented to be often obliged, ought not to have
been obliged at all.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. 143.
BENE-
io8 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
BENEFACTION AND ACKNOWLEDGE-
MENT.
BENEFACTION and acknowledgement are often
injurious even to the giver as well as the receiver ;
a man can gain tut little knowledge of himfelf,
or of the world, amidft a circle of thofe whom
hope or gratitude has gathered round him ; their
unceafing humiliations muft neceflarily increafe his
comparative magnitude, for all men meafure their
own abilities by thofe of their company : thus be-
ing taught to over-rate his merit, he in reality
leilens it ; increafmg in confidence, but not in
power, his profeffions end in empty boaft, his un-
dertakings in fhameful difappointment.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. 144.
ACCIDENTAL MEETINGS.
ACCIDENTAL meetings, though they happen
every day, feldom excite our furprife but upon
fome extraordinary occafion. To what a fortuitous
concurrence do we not owe every pleafure and
convenience of our lives ! How many feeming ac-
cidents muft unite, before we can be cloathed or
fed ! The peafant muft be difpofed to labour, the
ihower muft fall, the wind fill the merchant's fail,
or numbers muft want the ufual fupply.
VIC, OF WAKEFIELD, V. 2. p. 121.
TIDINGS,
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH- 109
TIDINGS.
THE diftant founds of mufic, that catch new
fweetnefs as they vibrate through the long-drawn
valley, are not more pleafmg to the ear, than the
tidings of a far-diftant friend.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. I. p. 242.
GENEROSITY.
FEW virtues have been more praifed by mor.a-
lifts, than generofity ; every 'practical tr-~ti:e of
ethics tends to increafe our fenfibility of the di-
ftreffes of others, and to relax the grafp of i\ u
lity. Philofophers that are poor, praife it been 1 /.'-'
they are gainers by its effects ; and the opulen".
Seneca himfelf has written a treatife on benefits,
though he was known to give nothing away.
IBID. v. 2. p. 141.
PLEASING EXPECTATION.
IT has been a thoufand times obierved, and I
muft obferve it once more, that the hours we pais
with happy profpecls in view, are more p'eafiri;;
than thofe crowned with fruition. Tn :he j.r .
we cook the difh to our own appeu.c ; in t'
ter, nature cooks it for us.
VIC. OF WAKEFIELD, V. I. p. 193,
L JUDG-
i:o THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
JUDGMENT OF HUMAN NATURE.
THE Englijh are a people of good-fenfe ; and
I am the more furprifed to find them fwayed, in
their opinions, by men who often, from their very
education, are incompetent judges. Men who, bein'.j
always bred in affluence, fee the world only on
one iicie, are furely improper judges of human
nature : they may, indeed, defcribe a ceremony,
a pageant, or a ball ; but how can they pretend
to dive into the fecrets of the human heart, who
have been nurfed up only in forms, and daily be-
hold nothing but the fame infipid adulation fmiling
upon every face ? Few of them have been bred in
that beft of fchools, the fchool of adverfity ; and,
ijy what I can learn, fewer ftill have been bred in
any fchool at all.
-CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. I. p. 247.
LOVE OF C OU N T R Y.
THERE are no pleafures, fenfual or fentimen-
tal, which this city* does not produce; yet, I
know not how, I could not be content to refide
here for life. There is fomething fo feducing in
that fpot in which we firft had exiftence, that no-
thing but it can pleafe : whatever viciffitudes we
experience in life, however we toil, or wherefoever
we wander, our fatigued wifhes ftill recur to home
for tranquillity j we long to die in that fpot which
gave
THE BEAUTIES OP GOLDSMITH,. M*
srave us birth, and in that pleafing expectation,
opiate every calamity.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. 153..
DR. PRIMROSE'S ADDRESS TO HIS PEL-
LOW-PRISONERS.
THE EQjrAI, DEALINGS OF PROVIDENCE DE-
MONSTRATED WITH REC7ARD TO THE HAP-
TY AND THE MISERABLE HERE BELOW.
THAT FROM THE NATURE OF PLEASURE A N I>
P-A I N , THE WRETCHED MUST BE REPAID
THE BALANCE OF THEIR SUFFERINGS IN
THE LIFE HEREAFTER.
IV1 Y friends, my children, and fellow-fufferers,
; whcn I reflect on the diftribution of good and
evil here below, I find that much has been given
man to enjoy, yet ftill more to fuffer. Though
we mould examine the whole world, we mall not
find one man fo happy as to have nothing left to
wiih for ; but we daily fee thoufands, who, by fui-
cide, mew us they have nothing left to hope. In
this life, then, it appears that we cannot be en-
tirely bleft i but yet we may be completely mife-
rable !
Why man mould thus feel pain ; why our
wretchednefs mould be requifite in the formation
of univerfal felicity ; why, when all other fyllems
are made perfect only by the perfection of their
fubordinate parts, the great fyftem Ihould require
L.2 for.
ii2 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
for its perfection, parts that are not only fubordi-
nate to others, but imperfeft in themfelves !
Thefc are queftions that never can be explained,
and might be ufelefs if known. On this fubjeft,
Providence has thought fit to elude our curiofity,
fatisfied with granting us motives to confolation.
In this fituation, man has called in the friendly
affiftance of Philofophy ; and Heaven, feeing the
incapacity of that to confole him, has given him
the aid of Pveligion. The confolations of Philofo-
phy are very amufing, but often fallacious. It
tells us, that life is filled with comforts, if we will
but enjoy them ; and, on the other hand, that
though we unavoidably have miferies here, life is
is Ihort, and they will foon be over. Thus do
thefe ccnfolations deftroy each other ; for if life is
a place of comfort, its fhortnefs muft be mifery ;
and, if it be long, our griefs are protradled. Thus
pKilcfophy is weak ; but religion comforts in ah
higher ftrain, Man is here, it tells us, fitting up
his mind, and preparing it for another abode.
When the good man leaves the body, and is all a
glorious mind, he will find he has been making him-
felf a heaven of happinefs here ; while the wretch
that has been maimed and contaminated by his vices,
fhrinks from his body with terror, and finds that
he has anticipated the vengeance of Heaven. To
Religion, then, we muft hold, in every circum-
flance of life, for our trueit comfort; for, if al-
ready we are happy, it is a pleafure to think that
we
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. ii 3 ;
\ve can make that happinefs unending; and, if
we are miferable, it is very confoling to think that
there is a place of reft. Thus, to the fortunate.
Religion holds out a continuance o blifs ; to thu
wretched, a change from pain.
But, though Religion is very kind to all men,
it has promifed peculiar reward to the unhappy;
the fick, the naked, the houfelefs, the heavy-laden,
and the prifoner, have ever moft frequent pro-
mifes in our facred law. The Author of our Re-
ligion every where profeffes himfelf the wretch's
friend ; and, unlike the falfe ones of this world,
beftows all his carefTes upon the forlorn. The un-
thinking have cenfured this as a partiality, as a
preference without merit to deferve it ; but they
never reflect, that it is not in the power even of
Heaven itfelf to make the offer cf unceafing feli-
city as great a gift to the happy as to the mife-
rable. To the firft, eternity is but a fingle blefT-
ing, fmce, at moil, it but increafes what they al-
ready poffefs. To the latter it is a double advan-
tage ; for it diminishes their pain here, and re-
wards them with heavenly blifs hereafter.
But Providence is in another refpel kinder to
the poor than the rich ; for, as it thus makes the
life after death more defirable, fo it fmooths the paf-
fage there. The wretched have long familiarity
with every face of terror. The man of forrows
L 3 lays,
1 1 4 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
lays himfelf quietly down ; he has .no poffemons to
regret, and but few ties to flop his departure : he
feels only Nature's pang in the final feparation,
and this is no way greater than he has often faint-
ed under before ; for, after a certain degree of
pain, every new breach that death opens in the
con.litution, nature kindly covers with infenfi-
bility.
Thus Providence has given the wretched two
advantages over the happy in this life, greater fe*
licity in dying, and, in Heaven, all the fuperiority
of pleafure which arifes from contrafted enjoyment.
And this fuperiority, my friends, is no fmall ad-
vantage, and feems to be one of the pleafures of
the poor man in the parable ; for, though he was
already in Heaven, and felt all the raptures it
could give, yet it was mentioned as an audition
to his happinefs, that he had once been wretched,
-and now was comforted ; that he had known what
it was to be miferable, and now felt what it was
to be happy.
Thus, my friends, you fee Religion does what
Philofophy could never 'do : it mews the equal
dealings of Heaven to the happy and the -unhap-
py, and levels all human enjoyments to nearly the
fame ftandard. It gives to both rich and poor the
fame happinefs hereafter, and equal hopes to
afpire after it ; but if the rich have the' advantage
cf enjoying pleafure here, the poor have the end-
lefs
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 115
lefs fatisfa&ion of knowing what it was once to
be miferable, when' crowned with endlefs feli-
city hereafter ; and even though this mould be
called a fmall advantage, yet, being an eternal
one, it muft make up, by duration, what the
temporal happinefs of the great may have exceeded
by intenfenefs.
Thefe are, therefore, the confolations which
the wretched have peculiar to themfelves, and in
which they are above the reft of mankind ; in
other refpects they are below them. They who
would know the miferies of the poor, muft fee Jife
and endure it. To declaim on the temporal ad-
vantages they enjoy, is only repeating what none
either believe or praftife. The men who have the
necefTaries of living are not poor, and they who
want them muft be miferable. Yes, my friends,
we muft be miferable. No vain efforts of a re-
fined imagination can foothe the wants of nature,
can give elaftic fweetnefs to the dank vapour of a
dungeon, or eafe to the throbbings of a woe- worn
heart. Let the Philofopher from his couch of
foftnefs tell us that we can refift all thefe. Alas !
the effort by which we refift them is ftill the
greateft pain ! Death is flight, and any man may
fuftain it ; but torments are dreadful, and thefe
no man can endure.
To us, then, my friends, the promifes of hap-
pinefs in Heaven mould be peculiarly dear j for if
n6 THE KEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH*.
ur reward be in this life alone, we are then, in-
deed, of all men the moft miferable. When I
look round thefe gloomy walls, made to terrify, as
well as to confine us ; this light that only ferves
to mew the horrors of the place, thofe fhaekles
that tyranny has impofed, or crime made necef-
fary ; when I furvey thefe emaciated looks, and
hear thofe groans, O my friends, what a glo-
rious exchange would Heaven be for thefe ! To
fly through regions unconfined as air ; to baflt
in the fnnftiine of eternal blifs ; to carol over
endlefs hymns of praife ; to have no mafter to
threaten or info-It us, but the form of Goodnefs
himfelf for ever in our eyes ; when I think of thefe
things, Death becomes the mefTersger of very glad
tidings ; when I think of thefe things, his {harp-
eft arrow becomes the ftaff of my fupport ; when
I think of thefe things, what is there in life
worth having? when I think of thefe things,
what is there that {he aid not be fpurned away ?
Kings in their palaces fhould groan for fuch ad-
vantages ; but we, humbled as we are, mould
yearn for them.
And faall thefe things be ours ? Ours they will
certainly be, if we but try for them ; and, what
is a comfort, we are mat op from many tempta-
tions that would retard our purfuit. Only let us
try for them, and they will certainly be ours, and,
what is iiill a comfort, fhortly too ; for, if we
look back on part life, it appears but a very ftiort
fpan ; and, whatever we may think of the ieil of
life,
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 117
life, it will yet be found of lefs duration : as we
grow older, the days feem to grow ihorter, and our
intimacy with time ever leifens the perception of his
ftay. Then let us take comfort now, for we mail
foon be at our journey's end ; we (hall foon lay
down the heavy burthen laid by Heaven upon us ;
and though Death, the only friend of the wretched,
for a little while mocks the weary traveller with the
view, and, like his horizon, ftill flies before him j yet
the time will certainly and fhortly come, when we
mall ceafe from our toil ; when the luxurious great
ones of the world mall no more tread us to the
earth ; when we mall think with pleafure on our
fufferings below ; when we mall be furrounded
with all our friends, or fuch as deferved our friend-
mip ; when our blifs mail be unutterable, and
{till, to crown all, unending.
VIC. OF WAKEFIELD, V. 2. p. O^ k
PARTY.
PARTY entirely diftcrts the judgment, and
deilroys the tafte. When the mind is once in-
fected with this difeafe, it can only find pleafure
in what contributes to increafe the diftemper.
Like the tiger, that feldom defifts from purfuing
man after having once preyed upon human flem.,
the Reader, who has once gratified his appetite
v.'ith calumny, makes, ever after, the moll agree-
able feaft upon murdered reputation. Such Read'
era
riS THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
ers generally admire fome hair-win.-! thing, who-
wants to be thought bold man, having loft the
chara&er of a wile one. Him they dignify with
the name of Poet ; his tawdry lampoons are called
fatires ; his turbulence, is feid to be force, and his
fhrenzy fire.
DEDICATION TO THE TRAVELLER, ? 7-
RETIREMENT."
C/BIelt Retirement ! friend to life's decline,.
Retreats from care that never mull be mine,
How happy he who crowns, in {hades like theft',,
A youth of labour with an age of eafe ;
Who quits a world where ftrong temptations try,.
And, fince 'tis hard to combat, learns to fly !
For him no wretches, born to work and weep,
Explore the mine, or tempt the dang'rous deep ;.-
No furly porter ftands, in guilty ftate,
To fpurn imploring famine from the gate ;
But on he moves to meet his latter end,
Angels around befriending Virtue's friend ;
Bends to the grave with unperceiv'd decay,
While refignation gently flopes the way ;
And all his profpefts bright'ning to the laft,
His Heaven commences ere the world be part !
DESERTED VILLAGE, p. 6>.
RIDI-
THE BEAUTIES o'? GOLDSMITH. 119
RIDICULE.
RIDICULE has ever been the moft powerful
enemy of enthufiafm, and properly the only anta-
gonifL that can be oppofed to it with fuccefs. Per-
fecution only ferves to propagate new religions ;
they acquire frefh vigour beneath the executioner
and the ax, and, like fome vivacious infefts, multi-
ply by direction. It is alfo impoflible to combat
enthufiafm with reafon ; for, though it makes a
fnew of refinance, it foon eludes the pre/Ture, re-
fers you to distinctions not to be underftood, and
feelings which it cannot explain. A man who
would endeavour to fix an enthufiaft by argument,
might as v/eil attempt to fpread quickfilver with
hi;, fingers. The only way to conquer a vifionary
is to defpile him ; the ftake, the faggot, and the
difputing Doctor, in fome meafure ennoble the
opinions they are brought to oppofe ; they are?
hai mlefs againft innovating pride ; contempt alone
io truly dreadful. Hunters generally know the moft
vulnerable part of the beafts they purfue, by the
care which every animal takes to defend the fide
which is weakeft : on what fide the enthufiaft is
moft vulnerable, may be known by the care which
he takes in the beginning to work his difciples
into gravity, and guard them againft the power
of ridicule.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. 185.
INTE-
120 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
INTEGRITY.
BOTH wit and underftanding are trifles, with-
out integrity ; it is that which gives value to every
character. The ignorant peafant, without fault,
Is greater than the philofopher with many ; for
v/hat is genius or courage without an heart ?
VIC. OF WAK.EFIELD, V. I. p. 158.
STORY OF COLONEL M
the conclufion of the treaty of peace at
Utrecht, Col. M - was one of the thoughtlefs,
agreeable, gay creatures, that drew the attention
of the company at Bath. He danced and talked
with great vivacity ; and when he gamed among
the ladies, he fhewed, that his attention was em-
ployed rather upon their hearts than their fortunes.
His own fortune, however, was a trifle, when com-
pared to the elegance of his expence ; and his im-
prudence at laft was fo grfeat, that it obliged him
to fell an annuity, arifing from his commiffion, to
keep up his fplendour a little longer.
However thoughtlefs he might be, he had the
happinc-fs of gaining the affections of Mifs L - ,
whofe father defigned her a very large fortune.
This lady was courted by a nobleman of diftinc
tion ; but me refufed his addrefles, refolved upon
gratifying rather her inclinations than her avarice.
The
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 121
The intrigue went on fuccefsfully between her and
the Colonel, and they both would certainly have
been married, and been undone, had not Mr. Najh
apprifed her father of their intentions, The old
gentleman recalled his daughter from Bath, and
offered Mr. Najh a very considerable prefent, for
the care he had taken, which he refufed.
In the mean time, Col. M had an intima-
tion how his intrigue came to be difcovered ; and
by taxing Mr. Najb, found that his fufpicions were
not without foundation. A challenge was the im-
mediate confequence; which the King of Bath,
confcious of having only done his duty, thought
proper to decline. As none are permitted to wear
fwords at Bath, the Colonel found no opportunity
of gratifying his refentment, and waited with im-
patience to find Mr. Najh in town, to require
proper fatisfaclion.
During this interval, however, he found his
creditors became too importunate for him to re-
main longer at Bath ; and his finances and credit
being quite exhauited, he took the defperate refo-
lution of going over to the Dutch army in Flanders,
where he enlifted himfelf a volunteer. Here he
underwent all the fatigues of a private centind,
with the additional mifery of receiving no pay ;
and his friends in England gave out, that he was
mot at the battle of .
M In
122 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH-
In the mean time, the nobleman prefTed his pnf-
fion with ardour ; but, during the progrefs of his
amour, the young lady's father died, and left her
heirefs to a fortune of fifteen hundred a year. She
thought herfelf now difengaged from her former
paffion. An abfence of two years had in fome
meafure abated her love for the Colonel ; and the
affiduity, the merit, and real regard, of the gen-
tleman who ftill continued to folicit her, were al-
moft too powerful for her conftancy. Mr. Najb,
in the mean time, took every opportunity of en-
quiring after Col. M , and found that he had
for fome time been returned to England, but
changed his name, in order to avoid the fury of
his creditors ; and that he was entered into a com-
pany of ilrolling players, who were at that time
exhibiting at Peterborough.
He now therefore thought he owed the Colonel,
in juftice, an opportunity of promoting his for-
tune, as he had once deprived him of an occalion
of fatisfying his love. Our Beau, therefore, in-
vited the lady to be of a party to Peterborough,
and offered his own equipage, which was then one
of the moft elegant in England, to conduct her
there. The propofal being accepted, the lady,
the nobleman, and Mr. Najb, arrived in town juft
as the players were going to begin.
Col. M , who ufed every means of remain-
ing incognito, and who was too proud to make his
diftreffes
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 123
diitreffes known to any of his former acquaintance,
was now degraded into the character of Tom in
the Confcious Lovers. Mifs L was placed in
the foremoil row of the fpeftators, her lord on one
fide, and the impatient Na/b on the other, when
the unhappy youth appeared in that defpicable fi-
tuation upon the ftage. The moment he carne on,
his former miftrefs ftruck his view ; but his amaze-
ment was increafed, when he faw her fainting
away in the arms of thofe who fat behind her.
He was incapable of proceeding ; and, fcarce
knowing what he did, he fiew and caught her ia
his arms.
" Colonel," cried Najb, when they were in fome
meafure recovered, " you once thought me your
enemy, becaufe I endeavoured to prevent you both
from ruining each other ; you were then wrong,
and you have long had my forgivenefs. If you
love well enough now for matrimony, you fairly
have my confent ; and d n him, fay I, that at-
tempts to part you." Their nuptials were fo-
lemnifed foon after; and affluence added a zefr to
all their future enjoyments. Mr. Najh had the
thanks of each ; and he afterwards fpent feveral
agreeable days in that fociety wh;cJi he had con-
tributed to render happy.
LIFE OF NASH, p. 79.
M 2 REVO-
i-24 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
REVOLUTIONS OF LIFE.
THE world is like a vaft fea, mankind like a
veflel failing on its tempeRuous bofcm. Our pru-
dence is its fails, the fciences ferve us for oars,
good or bad fortune are the favourable or contrary
winds, and judgment is the rudder ; without this
laft the veffel is toffed by every billow, and will
find fhipwreck in eveiy breez,e. In a word, ob
fcurity and indigence are the parents of vigilance
and ceconomy ; vigilance and ceconomy, of riches
and honour ; riches and honour, of pride and luxu-
ry ; pride and luxury, of impurity and idlenefb j
and impurity and idlenefs again produce indigence
and obfeurity. Such are the revolutions of life.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. 80.
MISERIES OF GENIUS IN VARIOUS AGES,
AND HER HAPPINESS IN THIS.
1 HE character of a poet is in every country
the fame ; fond of enjoying the prefent, carelefs
cf the future ; his converfation that of a man of
fenfe, his aftions thofe of a fool ! Of fortitude
able to Hand unmoved at the burfting of an earth-
quake, yet of fenfibility to be affedled by the
breaking of a tea-cup. Such is his character ;
which, considered in every light, is the very oppo-
fite of that which leads to riches.
The
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 12;
The poets of the Weft are as remarkable for
their indigence as their genius ; and yet, among
the numerous hofpitals defigned to relieve the poor,
! have heard of but one creeled for the benefit of
decoyed authors. This was founded by Pope Urban
VIII. and called the retreat of the incurables;
intimating,, that it was .equally impoffiblp to re-
claim the patients, who fued for reception, from
poverty, or from poetry. To be fincere ; were I
to fend you an account of the lives of the Weftern
poets, either ancient or modern, I fancy you would
think me employed in collecting materials for an
.hiftory of human wretchednefs.
Homer is the firft poet and beggar of note among
the ancients ; he was blind, and fung his ballads
about the ftreets ; but it is obferved, that his mouth
was more frequently rilled with verfes than with
bread. Plautus, the comic poet, was better off;
he had two trades, he was a poet for his diverfion,
and helped to turn a mill in order to gain a liveli-
hood. Terence was a flave, and Eoethius died in
a. jail.
Among the Italians, Paulo Borgbefe, almoft as
good a poet as TaJJo, knew fourteen different trades,
and yet died becaufe he could get employment in
none. Taffo himfelf, who had the moft amiable
character of all poets, has often been obliged to
borrow a crown from fome friend, in order to pay
month's fubfiftence. He has left us a pretty
M 3 fonnet,
J26 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
ibnnet, addreffed to his cat, in which he begs the
light of her eyes to write by, being too poor to
afford himfelf a candle. But Bentivoglio, poor
Bentivoglio ! chiefiy demands our pity. His co-
medies will laft with the Italian- language. He
diffipated a noble fortune in adls of chanty and
benevolence ; but, falling into mifery in his old
age, was refufed to be admitted into an hofpitai
which he himfelf had erefted.
In Spain, it is feid, the great Cervantes died of
hunger ; and it is certain that the famous Camaens
ended his days in an hofpitaL
If we turn to France, we fhall there find even
flronger inftances of the ingratitude of the public.
Vaitgelas, one of the politeft writers, and one of
the honefteft men, of his time, was furnamed the
O-1B/, from his being obliged to keep within all
day, and venture out only by night, through fear
of his creditors. His laft will is very remarkable :
after having bequeathed all his worldly fubftance
to the difcharging his debts, he goes on thus :
But as there ftill may remain fome creditors un-
paid, even after all that" I have mail be difpofed
of, in fuch a cafe, it is my laft will, that my body
fhould be fold to the furgeons, to the beft advan-
tage, and that the purchafe fhould go to the dif-
charging thofe debts which I owe to fociety ; fo
that, if I could not while living, at leafc when
dead, I may be ufeful.
Cn/ande?
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 127
Caffander was one of the greateft geniuses of his
time ; yet all his merit could not procure him a
bare fubfiftence. Being by degrees driven into an
hatred of all mankind, from the little pity he found
amongft them, he even ventured at laft ungrate-
fully to impute his calamities to Providence. In
his laft agonies, when the prieft intreated him to
rely on the juftice of heaven, and afk mercy from
him that made him ; If Gad, replies he, has Jhe*wn
me no juftice 'here, tuhat reafon ha<ve I to expefl any
from him hereafter? But being anfwered, that a
fufpenfion of juftice was no argument that mould
induce us to doubt of its reality; let me intreat
you, continued his confeflbr, by all that is dear,
to be reconciled to God, your father, your maker,
and friend. No, replied the exafperated wretch,
you know the manner in which he left me to li<ve ;
(and pointing to the ftraw on which he was ftretched)
end you fee the manner in which be leai'ss me to die !
But the fufferi'ngs of the poet in other countries
is nothing when compared to his diftreiTes here :
the names of Spenfer and Otiuay, Butler and Dry-
den, are every day mentioned ss a national re-
proach ; fome of them lived in a ftate of precarious
indigence, and others literally died of hunger.
At prefent, the few poets in England no longer
depend on the Great for fubfiftence ; they have
now no other patrons but the public ; and the
public, collectively confidered, is a good and a
generous
X28 THE BEAUTIES OF GTOLDSMITH,
generous niafter. It is, indeed, too frequently
miftaken as to the merits of every candidate for
favour j but, to make amends, it is never roiitaken
l6ng. A performance, in-deed, may be forced for
a time into reputation ; but, deftitute of real me-
rit, it foon finks : time, the touchftone of what is
truly valuable, will foon difcover the fraud ; and
an author mould never arrogate to himfelf any
fhare of fuccefs, till his works have been read at
leaft ten years with fatisfcclion.
A man of letters, at prefent, \vhofe works p.re
valuable, is perfe&ly fenfible of their value. Every
polite member of the community, by buying wh?.t
he writes, contributes to reward him. The ridi-
cule, therefore, of living in a garret, might have
been wit in the laft age, but continues fuch no
longer, becaufe no longer true. A writer of real
merit, now, may eaiily he rich, if his heart be fet
only on fortune : and fcr thofe who have no merit,
it is but fit that fach mould remain in merited ob-
fcurity. He may now refufe an invitation to din-
ner, without fearing to incur his patron's difplea-
fur?, or to ftarve by remaining at home. Ke may
now venture to appear in company with juft fuch
clothes as other men generally wear, and talk,
even to princes, with all the confcious fuperiority
of wifdom. Though he cannot bo;-:f: cf fortune
here, yet he can bravely ailVrt the dignity of in-
dependence.
CIT. OF THE WORLD , V. 2. p. 8l.
DISSEM-
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 129.
DISSEMBLING.
KNOWLEDGE, wifdom, erudition, arts, and
elegance, what are they, but the mere trappings,
of the mind, if they do not ferve to increafe the
happinefs of the pofleflbr ? A mind rightly infti-
tuted in the fchool of philofophy, acquires at once
the lability of the oak, and the flexibility of the
ofier. The trueft manner of leffening our agonies,,
is to mrink from their preflure, is to confefs that
we feel them.
The fortitude of fages is but a dream ; for where
lies the merit in being infenfiblc to the ftrokes of
fortune, or in diflembling our fenfibility ? If we
are infenfible, that arifes only from an happy con-
ftitution ; that is a blefling previoufly granted by
heaven, and which no art can procure, no inftitu-
tionsimprove. If we diffemble our feelings, we
w^j^rtificially endeavour to perfuade others that
jniBve enjoy privileges which we actually do not pof-
fefs. Thus, while we endeavour to appear happy,
we feel at once all the pangs of internal mifery,.
and all the felf-reproaching confcioufnefs of en-
deavouring to deceive.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. I. p. 2O2.
THE PASSIONS.
PHILOSOPHERS have long declaimed againfl
the paffions, as being the fourcc of all our mife-
rso THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
ties. They are the fource of all our misfortunes*
I own; but they are the fource of our pleafures-
too : and every endeavour of our lives, and all the
infti.tutions of philofophy, mould tend to this,
not to difiemble an abfence of paflion, but to repel
thofe which lead to vice by thofe which direct to
virtue.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. I. p. 2O3
THE SOUL.
THE foul may be compared to a field of battle,,
where two armies are ready every moment to en-
counter j not a Jingle vice but has a more power-
ful opponent, and not one virtue but may be over-
borne by a combination of vices. Reafon guides
the bands of either hoft, nor can it fubdue one
paflion but by the affiilance of another. Thus, as
a bark, on every fide bcfet with ftorms, enjoys a
ftate of reft ; fo does the mind, when influenced
by a juft equipoife of the paffions, enjoy tran-
quillity.
IBID.
LOVE.
WHETHER love be natural or no, it cont?i-
butes to the happinefs of every fociety into which
it is introduced. All our pleafures arc ftiort, and
can only charm at intervals : love is a method of
protracting our greateft pleafure ; and furely that
gamefter, who plays the greateft Hake to the beft
advantage, will, at ths end of life, rife vi&crious.
This
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 151
This v/as the opinion'of Vanini , who affirmed that
every hour ivas loft ivhicb was not fycnt in love.
His accufers were unable to comprehend his mean-
ing ; and the poor advocate for love was burned in
flames, alas ! no way metaphorical. But w!v fvcr
advantages the individual may reap from tii. pd-
fion, fociety will certainly be refined and improved
by its introduction : all laws calculated to difcou-
rage it, tend to embrute the fpecies, and weaken
the ilate. Though it cannot plant morals in the
human breaft, it cultivates them when there : pity,,
generofity, and honour, receive a brighter polifh
from its affiftance j and a fingle amour is fufficicnt
entirely to brufh off the clown.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. 207
The fame efforts that are ufed in fome places to
fupprefs pity and other natural paffions, may have
been employed to extinguifh love. No nation,'
however unpolifhed, is remarkable for innocence,
that is not famous for that paffion : it has flourifhed
in the coldeft, as well as the warmeft regions. Even
in the fultry wilds of Southern America, the lover
is not fatisfied with pofTeffing his miftrefs's perfoa
without having her mind.
In all my Enna'j beauties bleft,
Amidft profufeon ft ill I pine ;
For tbo' foe gives me up her breaft,
Its panting tenant is not mine*.
But
* Tranjlation of a South -American 0<&.
1 3 2 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
But the effects of love are too violent to be the
refult of an artificial paffion ; nor is it in the power
of fafhion to force the conftitution into thofe
changes which we every day obferve. Several
have died of it. Few lovers are unacquainted
with the fate of the two Italian lovers, Da Cor/in
and Julia Bellamano, who, after a long feparation,
expired with pieafure in each other's arms. Such
inftances are too ftrong confirmations of the reality
x>f the paffion, and ferve to (hew that fupprefling
it is but oppofmg the natural dictates of the heart.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. 209.
ERROR.
FOR the firft time, the very belt may err; art
may perfuade, and novelty fpread out its charm.
The firft fault is the child of Simplicity ; but ever^c
other, the offspring of Guilt.
VIC. OF WAKEFIELD, V. I. p. 192.
VIRTUE.
IN a polifhed fociety, that man, though in rags,
who has the power of enforcing virtue from the
prefs, is of more real ufe than forty ftupid brach-
mans or bonzes, or guebres, though they preached
never fo often, never fo loud, or never fo long.
That man, though in rags, who is capable of de-
ceiving even indolence into wifdom, and who pro-
fefles amufement while he aims at reformation, is
more ufeful in refined fociety than twenty cardi-
nals,
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 133.
nals with all their fcarlet, and tricked out in all
the fopperies of fcholaftk finery.
IBID. V. I. p. 249.
OSTEN'TATION.
INSTEAD of regarding the great with env}%
I generally confider them with fome fhare of com-
paffion. I look upon them as a fet of gpod-na-
tured mifguided people, who are indebted to us,
and not to themfelves, for all the happinefs they
enjoy. For our pleafure, and not their own, they
fweat under a cumbcrous heap of finery ; for our
pleafure the lacquied train, the flow parading pa-
geant, with all the gravity of grandeur, moves in
review ; a Angle coat, or a fingle footman, an-
Twers all the purpofes of the molt indolent refine-
ment as well ; and thofe who have twenty, may
be faid to keep one for their own pleafure, and
the other nineteen merely for ours. So true is the"
obfervation of Confucius, That ice take greater
pains to perfuade others that -icf are happy, than in
vndea c vourln& to think Jo ourfelves.
IBID. v. I. p. 281.
PLEASURE.
THE enthufiafm of pleafure charms only by
intervals. The highefl rapture lails only for a
moment, and all the fcnfes feem fo combined, as
to be foon tired into languor by the gratilication
of any one of them. It is only among the Poets
N we
-134 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
%ve hear of men changing to one delight, when
fatiated with another. In nature, it is very dif-
ferent ; the glutton, when fated with the full
meal, is unqualified to feel the real pleafure of
drinking ; the drunkard, in turn, finds few of thofe
tranfports which lovers boaft in enjoyment ; and
the lover, when cloyed, finds a diminution of every
other appetite. Thus, after a full indulgence of
any one fenfe, the man of pleafure finds a lan-
guor in all, is placed in a chafm between part and
evpedled enjoyment, perceives an interval which
. mull be filled up. The prefent can give no fatis-
f action, becaufe he has already robbed it of every
charm. A mind thus left without immediate em-
ployment, naturally recurs to the paft or the fu-
ture : the refleftor finds that he was happy, and
knows that he cannot be fo now; he fees that he
may yet be happy, and wifhes the hour was come :
thus every period of his continuance is mifer?.ble,
except that very fhort one of immediate gratifica-
tioa. Inftead of a life of difiipation, none has
more frequent converfations with difagreeable felf
than he: his enthufiafms are but few and tran-
fient ; his appetites, like angry creditors, conti-
nually making fruitlefs demands for what he is
unable to pay ; and the greater his former plea-
fure, the more ftrong his regret, the more impa-
tient his expectations. A life of pleafure is, there-
fore, the moft unpleafmg life in the world.
Habit
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH, 135
Habit has rendered the man of bufmefs more
cool in his defires ; he finds Icfs regret for pafl
pleafures, and lefs folicitude for thofe to come.
The life he now leads, though tainted in fome
ineafure with hcpe, is yet not aifticled fo flrongly
with rec f, : i -: divided between fhort-
lived raj . anguifh. The pleafures
he has enjoyed are not fo vivid, and thofe he has
to expecl cannot confeq^uently create fo much
anxiety.
The philofopher, who extends his regard to all
mankind, mult have ftill a fmaller concern for
what has already arlecled, or may hereafter affect
himfelf ; the concerns of others make his whole
ftudy, and that ftudy is his pleafure ; and this
pleafure is continuing in its nature, becaufe it can
be changed at will, leaving but few of thefe anxi-
ous intervals which are employed in remembrance
or anticipation. The phiiofopher, by this mean?,
leads a life of almoft continued diffipaticn ; and
reflexion, which makes the uneafmcfs and mifejy
of others, ferves as a companion and inilruclor to
him.
In a word, pofitive happinefs is eonftituticnal,
tnd incapable of increr.fe ; mifery is artificial, and
generally proceeds from our folly. Philofophy
can r.dd to our happinefs in no ether manner, but
by ciinini filing our rnifcrv : it fneuld not pretend
to increafe CUT prefent frock, but make us ceco-
N 2 nomifts
136 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
nomifts of what we are poffefied of. The great
fource of calamity lies in regret or anticipation :
he, therefore, is moft wife, who thinks of ths
prefent alone, regarulcfs of the paft or the future.
This is impoffible to the man of pleafure ; it is
difficult to the man of bufmefs ; and is, in fome
meafure, attainable by" the philofopher. Happy
were we a!l born philofophers, all born with a
talent of thus diifipating our own cares, by fpread-
ing them upcn all mankind 1
IBID. v. i. p. 188.
STUDY.
KE who has begun his fortune by ftudy, will
certainly confirm it by perfeverance. The love of
books damps the pafiion fcr pleafure, and, when
this pafficn is once extinguifhed, life is then cheap-
ly fupported ; thus a man, being poffefied of more
thr.n he wants, can never be fubjeft to great difap-
pointments, and avoids all thofe meanneffes \vhich
indigence fometimes unavoidably produces.
IBID. Y. 2. p. 7K
PLEASURES OF STUDY.
THERE is unfpeakable pleafure attending the
life of a voluntary ftudent. The firft time I read
an excellent book, it is to me juil as if I had
gained a new friend. When I read over a book
I h.ive perufed before, it refembles the meeting
\\ith an old one. We ought to lay hold cf every
incident
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. ! 3 ;
incident in life for improvement, the trifling as * r ell
as the important. It is not one diamond aloue
which gives luftre to another; a common coarfe
iione is alfo employed for that purpofe. Thus I
ought to draw advantage from the infults and con-
tempt I meet with from a worthlefs fellow. His
brutality ought to induce me to felf-examination,
and corred every blemiih that may have given
rife to his calumny.
IBID. V. 2. p. 77.
EARLY DISTASTE TO STUDY NOT TO
BE CONQUERED.
WITH all the pleafures and profits which are
generally produced by learning, parents often find
it difficult to induce their children to itudy. They
often feem dragged to what wears the appearance
of application. Thus being dilatory in the begin-
ning, all future hopes of eminence are entirely
cut off. If they find thcmfelves obliged to write
two lines more polite than ordinary, their pen then
feems as heavy as a milKftone, and they fpend
ten years in turning two or three periods with,
propriety. .
Thefe perfons are moft at a lofs when a banquet
is almoft over ; the plate and the dice go iDund^
that the number of little verfes which each is
obliged to repeat, may be determined by chance.
Tjie booby, when it comes to. his turn, appears
N 3 quite
r 3 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
quite ftupid and infenfible. The company divert
themfelves with his confufion ; and fneers, winks,
and whifpers, are circulated at his expence. As
for him, he opens a pair of large heavy eyes, flares
at all about him, and even offers to join in the
laugh, without ever confidering himfelf as the
burthen of all their good-humour.
IBID. p. 78.
GRACE.
IF you would find the Goddefs of Grace, feek
her not under one form, for me afTumes a thou-
fand. Ever changing under the eye of infpeclion,
her variety, rather than her figure, is pleafing.
"In contemplating her beauty, the eye glides over
every perfection with giddy delight, and, capable
of fixing no where, is charmed with the whole.
She is now Contemplation with folenin look, again
Compafiion with humid eye; me now fparkles
with joy, foon every feature fpeaks diftrefs : her
looks at times invite our approach, at others re-
prefs our prefumptioii ; the Goddefs cannot be
properly called beautiful under any one of thefe
forms, but by combining them all, me becomes
irrcf^ftibly pleafmg.
IBID. p. 53.
PENITENCE.
THE kindnefs cf Heaven is promifed to the
penitent. Heaven, we are afTured, is much more
pleafed
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 139-
pleafed to view a repentant fmner, than many
perfons who have fupported a courfe of undevi-
uting rectitude. And this is right; for the fingle
effort by which vtc flop fhort in the down-hill patk
to perdition, is itfelf a greater exertion of virtue,
than an hundred acts of juftice.
VIC. OF WAKEFIELP, V. 2. p. 43..
EARNEST EMPLOYMENT.
EARNEST employment, if it cannot cure, at
leaft will palliate every anxiety.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. III.
THE MERCHANT'S CLERK.
IT is ufually faid by grammarians, that the life
of language is to exprefs our wants and defires ;
but men who know the world, hold, and I think
with fome fhew of reafon, that he who befl knows
how to keep his necefiities private, is the moft
likely perfon to have them redrefTed ; and that
the true ufe of fpeech is not fo much to exprefs
our wants as to conceal them.
When we reflect on the manner in which man-
kind generally confer their favours, there appears
fomething fo attractive in riches, that the large
heap generally collects from the fmaller : and the
poor find as much pleafure in increafmg the enor-
mous
i-40 THE .BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
mous mafs of' the rich, as the mifer, who owns
k, fees hsppinefs in its increafe. Nor is there
in this any thing repugnant to the laws of mora-
lity. Seneca himfelf allows, that in conferring-
beneiits, the prefent mould always be fuited to the
dignity of the receiver. Thus the rich receive
large prefents; and are thanked for accepting
them. Men of middling ftations are obliged to
be content with preients fomething lefs ; while the
beggar, who may be truly faid to want indeed,, is
well paid if a farthing rewards his warmeft feli-
citations..
Every man who has feen the world, and has had
his ups and downs in life, as the expreffion is,
muft have frequently experienced the truth of this
doctrine j and muft know, that to have much, or
to feem to have it, is the only way to have more.
O--vid finely compares a man of broken fortune to
a falling column ; the lower it. finks, the greater
is that weight it is obliged to fuftain. Thus,
when a man's circumftances are fuch that he has
no occafion to borrow, he finds numbers willing to
lend him ; but, mould his wants be fuch that
he fues for a trifle, it is two to one whether h,e
may be trufted with the fmalleft fum. A certain
young fellow, whom I knew, whenever he had
occafion to afk his friend for a guinea, ufed to
prelude his requeft as if he wanted two hundred ;
.and talked fo familiarly of large fums, that none
could ever think he wanted a fmall one. The
fine
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 14*
fame gentleman, whenever he wanted credit for a
fuit of clothes, always made the propofal in a
laced coat ; for he found by experience, that, if
he appeared fhabby on thefe occafions, his tailor
had taken an oath againft trufting ; or, what was
every whit as bad, his foreman was out of the way,
and fhould not be at home for fome time.
There can be no inducements to reveal ourywants,
except to find pity, and, by this means, relief;
but, before a poor man opens his mind in fuch
circumftances, he mould firft confider whether he
is contented to lofe the efteem of the perfon he
folicits, and whether he is willing to give up
friendfhip to excite compaffion. Pity and Friend-
fliip are paffions incompatible with each other;
and it is impoflible that both can refide in any
breaft for the fmalleft fpace, without impairing
each other. Friendmip is made up of efteem and
pleafure; Pity is compofed of forrovv and con-
tempt ; the mind may, for fome time, fluctuate
between them, but it can never entertain both at
In faft, Pity, though it may often relieve, is,
but, at beft, a fhort-lived paflion, and feldom af-
fords diftrefs more than a tranfitory afiiftance : with
fome it fcarce lafls from the firft impulfe till the
hand can be put into the pocket ; with others, it
may continue for twice that fpace ; and on fome,
of extraordinary fenfibility, I have feen it ope-
H* THE BEAUTIES CF GOLDSMITH.
rzte for half an- hour together : but ftill, lait as it
may, it generally produces but beggarly effect? ;
and where, from this motive,, we give five far-
things, from others, we give pounds. Whatever
be our feelings from the firft impulfe of diirrefs
vvhen the fame diftrefs folicits a fscond, we then
feel with c^iminimed fen.fi biiity ; and, like the rfe-
petition of an echo, every llroke becomes weaker ;
'till, at laft, our fenfations lofe all mixture of
forrow> and degenerate into downright contempt.
Thefe fpeculatietvs bring to my miad the
a very good-natured feilcw, who is r.c\v no more.
He was bred in a compting-houfe, and his father
dying juft as he was out of his time, left him an
handfcme fortune, and many friends to advife
with. The reftraint in which my friend had been
brought up, had thrown a glcom upon his tem-
per, which feme regarded. as prudence ; and, from
fuch considerations, he had every day repeated
pffers of friendmip. Such as had money, were
rady to offer, him their aiTirV'.nce that way ; and
they who had daughters, frequently, in the warmth
of affeftion, advifed him to marry. My friend,
hpv/ever, was in gooji cirgaiiiilrxr.crs ; he wanted
neither money, friends, nor a wife ; and, thcre-
fjre, raod.eftly declined their prppofals.
Some errors, however, in the management of
hjs affairs, and leveral loues in trade, fccn brought
i^rn tq a different w.\v of thinking ; and h.
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 143
laft confidered, that' it was his beft way to let his
friends know that their offers were at length ac-
ceptable. His fir ft addrefi was to a-*fcrivener, who
had formerly made him frequent offers of money
-and friendfhip, at a time when, perhaps, he knew
thofe offers would have been refufed. As a man,
therefore, confident of not being refufed, he re-
queftcd the ufe of a hundred guineas for a few
days, as he juft then had -occafion for money.
'" And pray, Sir, replied the ferivener, " do you
" want all this money?" " Want it, Sir?" fays
tli ; other, " If I did not want it, I fhould not
-" have alked it." " I am forry for that," fays the
friend ; " for thofe who want money when they
" borrow, will always want money when they
" mould come to pay. To fay the truth, Sir,
" money is money now ; and, I believe, it is all
" funk in the bottom of the fea, for my part; ha
" that has got a little, is a fool if he does not
" keep what he has got."
Not quite difconcerted by this refufal, our ad-
venturer was refolved to apply to another, who
.he knew was the very beft friend he had in the
World. The gentleman whom he now addreffed,
received, his propofal with all the affability that
could be expeded from generous friendship. " Let
" me fee you want an hundred guineas and
te pray, dear Jack, would not fifty anfwerr"
" If you have but fifty to fpare, Sir, I muft be
" con-
* A few lines here are borrowed, with a flight alte-
ration, from the Man of the World, p. 60. of this Vol*
144 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
" contented." " Fifty to fpare ! I do not fay
" that; for, I believe, I have but twenty about
*' me." c< Then I muft borrow the other thirty
tc from feme other friend." " And pray," re-
plied the friend, " would it not be the beft way
" to borrow the whole money from that other
" friend, and then one note will ferve for all, you
<c know ? You know, my dear Sir, that you need
< make no ceremony with me at any time ; you
" know I'm your friend; and, when you chufe
" a bit of dinner, or fo You, Tom! fee the
*' gentleman down. You won't forget to dine
*' with us now and then. Your very humble fer-
*' vant."
Diftreffed, but not difcouraged, at this treat
ment, he was at laft refolved to find that afliftance
from love, which he could not have from friend-
fhip. A young lady, a diflant relation by the
mother's fide, had a fortune in her own hands <;
and, as me had already made all the advances that
her fex's modeily would permit, he made his pro-
pofal with confidence. He foon, however, per-
ceived, That no bankrupt ever found the fair-one
kind. She had lately fallen deeply in love with
another, who had more money, and the whole
neighbourhood thought it would be a match.
Every day now began to ftrip my poor friend of
his former finery ; his clothes flew, piece by piece,
to the pawnbroker's, and he Teemed, at length,,
equipped in the genuine livery of misfortune. But
m
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 14$
111 he thought himfelf fecure from adlual necef-
fity ; the numberlefs invitations he had received to
dine, even after his lofies, were yet unanfwered :
he was therefore now refolved'to accept of a din-
ner, becaufe he wanted one ; and in this manner
he actually lived among his friends a whole week,
without being openly affronted. The laft place I
faw him in, was at a reverend divine's. He had>
as he fancied, juft nicked the time of dinner ; for
he came in as the cloth was laying. He took a
chair without being defired, and talked for ibms
time without being attended to. He alTured the
company, that nothing procured fo good an appe-
tite as a walk in the Park, where he bad been that
morning. He went on, and praiied the figure of
the damafk table-cloth ; talked of a feaft where he
had been the day before, but that the venifon v,\is
over-done : but all this procured him no invita-
tion. Finding, therefore, the gentleman of the
houfe infenble to all his fetches, he thought pro-
per, at laft, to retire, and mend his appetite by a
iecond walk in the Park.
You, then, O ye beggars of my acquaintance,
whether in rags or lace ; whether in Kent-ftreet or
the Mall ; whether at the Smyrna or St. Giles's ;
might I be permitted to advife as a friend, never
feem to want the favour w r hich you folicit. Apply
to every paffion but human pity for redrefs : you
may find permanent relief from vanity, from felf-
imereft, or from avarice ; but from companion
O never.
14.6 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH-.
never. The very eloquence of a poor man is dif-
gufting ; and that mouth, which is opened even by
wifdom, is feldom expe&ed to clofe without the
horrors of a petition.
To ward off the gripe of poverty, you mufl
pretend to be a ftranger to her, and fhe will at
leaft ufe you with ceremony. If you be caught
'dining upon a halfpenny porringer of peafe-foup
and potatoes, praife the wholefomenefs of your
frugal repaft : you may obferve that Dr. Ckeyns
has prefcribed peafe-broth for the gravel ; hint
that you are not one of thofe who are always
making a deity of your belly. If, again, you are
obliged to wear fiimfy fluff in the midft of winter,
be the firft to remark, that fluffs are very much
worn at Paris ; cr, if there be found feme irrepa-
rable defedls in any part of your equipage, which
cannot be concealed by ;J1 the arts of fitting crofs-
legged, coaxing, or darning, fay, that neither you
nor Sampfon Gideon were ever very fond of drefs.
If you be a philofopher, hint that Plato or Seneca.
are the taylors you choofe to employ ; afTure the
company that man ought to be content with a bare
covering; fmce what now is fo much his pride,
was formerly his fhame. In fliort, however caught,
never give out ; but afcribe to the frugality of your
cifpofition what others might be apt to attribute
to the narrownefs of your circumftances. To be
poor, and to feem poor, is a certain method never
to rife : pride in the great is hateful ; in the wife,
it
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 147
it is ridiculous ; bur beggarly pride is a rational
vanity, which I have been taught to applaud and
excufc.
ESSAY 5. p. 36.
THE DISABLED SOLDIER.
IN O observation is more common, and at the
fame time more true, than that one half of the
world are ignorant how the other half lives. The
misfortunes of the great arc held up to engage our
attention ; are enlarged upon in tones of declama-
tion ; and the world is called upon to gaze at the
noble fufFerers : the great, under the preffure of
calamity, are confcious of feveral others fympa-
thizing with their diltrefs ; and have, at once, the
comfort of admiration and pity.
There is nothing magnanimous in bearing mif-
fortunes with fortitude, when the whole world is.
looking on : men in fuch circurnftances will aft
bravely, even from motives of vanity ; but he
who, in the vale of obfcurity, can brave adverflty ;
v.ho, without friends to encourage, acquaintances
to pity, or even without hope to alleviate his mif-
fortunes, can behave with tranquillity and indif-
ference, is truly great : whether peafant or cour-
tier, he deferves admiration, and mould be held
up for our imitation r.nd refpeft.
O z While
H8 THE BEAUTIES or GOLDSMITH.
While the Highteft inconveniences of the great
are magnified into calamities, while Tragedy mouths
out their fufferings in all the ftrains of eloquence,
the miferies cf the poor are entirely difregarded j
and yet foaie of the lower ranks of people under-
go more real hardfhips in one day, than thofe of a
more exalted ftation fuffer in their whole lives. It
is inconceivable what difficulties the meanefl of our
common iailors and foldiers endure, without mur-
muring or regcet ; without pafiionately declaiming
againfi providence, or calling their fellows to be
gazers on their intrepidity. Every day is to them-
a day of mifery, and yet they entertain their hard,
fate without repining.
With what indignation do I hear an Q<vid t a.
Cicero, or a Raiutin, complain of their misfor-
tunes and hardfhips ; \vhofe greateft calamity was
that cf being unable to vifit a certain fpot of earth,
to which they had foolifhly attached an idea of
happinefs ! Their diftreffes were pleafures, com-
pared 'to what many of the adventuring poor every-
day endure without murmuring. They ate, drank,
and flept ; they had flaves to attend them, and
were fure of fubfiflence for life : while manv of
their fellow-creatures are obliged to wander with-
out a friend to comfort or aflift them, and even
without fhelter from the feverity of the feafon.
I have been led in to .theie reflections, from ac-
eldenially meeting, fome days ago, a poor fellow,
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 149
whom I knew when a boy, dreffed in a failor's
jacket, and begging at one of the outlets of the
town, with a wooden leg. I knew him to have
been honeft and induilrious when in the country,
and was curious to learn what had reduced him to
his prefent fituation ; wherefore, after giving him
what I thought proper, I defired to know the hif-
tory of his life and misfortunes, and the manner
in which he was reduced to his prefent diftrefs.
The difabled foldier, fcr fuch he was, though
dreffed in a failor's habit, fcratching his head,
and leaning on his crutch, put himfelf into an
attitude to comply with my requeil, and gave me
his hiftory, as follows.
" AS for my misfcrtune, mafter, I can't pre-
tend to have gone through any more than other
folks ; for, except the lofs of my limb, and my
being obliged to beg, I don't know any reafon,
thank Heaven, that I have to complain; there is
Bill Tibbs, of our regiment, he has loft both his
legs, and an eye to boct ; bat, thank Heaven, it
is not fo bad with me yet.
" I was born in Sbrcpjhire ; my father was a la-
bourer, and died when I was five years old ; fo I
was put upon the parifh. As lie had been a wan-
dering fort of a man, the parifhioncrs were not
able to tell to what parifh I belonged, or where I
was born ; fo they fent me to another parifh, and
that parilh fent me to a third, I thought in my
O 3 heart,
150 THE BEAUTIES or GOLDSMITH.
heart, they kept fending me about fo long, thaf
they would not let me be born in any pariih at all ;
but, at laft, however, they fixed me. I had fome
difpofition to be a fcholar, and was refolved, at
leaft, to know my letters ; but the mafter of the
work-houfe put me to bufmefs as foon as I was able
to handle a mallet; and here I lived an eafy kind
of life for five years. I only wrought ten hours in
the day, and had my meat and drink provided for
my labour. It is true, I was not fuffered to flir
out of the houfe, for fear, as they faid, I fhould
run away. But what of that? I had the liberty of
ihe whole houfe, and the yard before the door ;
and that was enough for me. 1 was then bound
out to a farmer, where I was up both early and
late; but I ate and drank well, and liked my bu
iinefs well enough, till he died, when I was obliged,
to provide for myfelf ; fo I was refolved to go feek
my fortune.
"- In this manner I went from town to town,
worked when I could get employment, and ftarved
when I could get none; when happening one day
to go through a field belonging to a .juftice of
peace, I fpied a hare crofiing the path juft before
me ; and I believe the devil put it in my head to
fling my ftick at it. Well, what will you have on't?
I killed the hare, and was bringing it away, when
the juftice himfelf met me : he called me a poacher
and a villain; and, collaring me, defired I would
give an account of myfelf. I fell upon my knees,
begged.
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 151,
begged his worfliip's pardon, and began to give a
full account of all that I knew of my breed, feed,
and generation ; but, though I gave a very true-
account, the juftice faid I could give no account;
fo I was indicled at the feffions, found guilty of '
being poor, and fent up to London to Newgate, in
order. to be tranfported as a vagabond,.
" People may fay this and that of being in jail ;
but, for my part, I found Newgate as agreeable a
place as ever I was in in all my life. I had my
belly full to eat and drink, and did no 'work at
all. This kind of life was too good to laft for
ever ; fo I was taken out of prifon, after five
months, put on board a fhip, and fent off, with
two hundred more, to the plantations. We had
but an indifferent paflage ; for, being all confined
in the hold, more than a hundred of our people
died for want of fweet air; and thofe that remain:
ed were fickly enough, God knows. When we
came a-fhore, we were fold to the planters, and I
was bound for feven years more. As I was no
fcholar, for I did not know my letters, I was
obliged to work among the negroes ; and I ferved
out my time, as in duty bound to do.
" When my time was expired, I worked my
paflage home ; and glad I was to fee Old England
again, becaufe I loved my country. I was afraid,
however, that I mould be indifted for a vagabond
once more, fo did not much care to go down into
the
1 5 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
the country, but kept about the town, and did
little jobs, when I could get them.
" I was verv happy in this manner for fome time,
till one evening, coming home from work, two
men knocked me down, and then delired me to
ftand. They belonged to a prefs-gang. I was
carried before the juftiee, and, as I could give no
account of myielf, I had my choice left, whether
to go on board a man of war, or lift for a foldier.
I chofe the latter ; and, in this poft of a gentle-
man, I ferved two campaigns in Ft Anders, was at
the battles of Val and Fontency, and received but
one wound, through the breaft here ; but the doc-
tor of our regiment foon made me well again.
" When the peace came on, I was difcharged ;
and, as I could not work, becaufe my wound was
fometimes troublefome, I lilted for a landman in
the Eaft-India company's fervice. I have -fought
the French in fix pitched battles ; and I verily be-
lieve, that, if I could read or write, our Captain
would have made me a corporal. But it was not
my good fortune to have any promotion, for I
foon fell fick, and fo got leave to return home
again, with forty pounds in my pocket. This
was at the beginning of the prefent war, and I
hoped to be fet on more, and to have the pleafure
of fpending my money ; but the government
wanted men, and fo I was prefled for a failor be-
fore ever I could fet foot on more.
" The
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 155
" The boatfwain found, as he faid, an obftU
nate fellow : he fwore he knew that I underftood
my bufinefs well, but that I ihammed Abraham^
to be idle ; but God knows, I knew nothing of
fea-bufinefs, and he beat me without confidering
what he was about. I had Hill, however, my
forty pounds, and that was fome comfort to me
under every beating ; and the money I might have
had to this day, but that our {hip was taken by
the French, and fo I loft all.
" Our crew was carried into Breft, and many
of them died, becaufe they were not ufed to live in
jail ; but, for my part, it was nothing to me, for
J was feafoned. One night, as I was afleep on
my bed of boards, with a warm blanket about me,
(for I always loved to lie well) I was awakened
by the boatfwain, who had a dark lantern in his
hand. " Jack," fays he to me, <c will you knock.
" out the French Gentry's brains ?" " I don't
" care," fays I, ftriving to keep myfelf awake,.
" if I lend a hand." " Then follow me," fays
he, " and I hope we mail do bufinefs." So up
I got, and tied my blanket, which was all the
clothes I had, about my middle, and went with
him to fight the Frenchman. I hate the French*
becaufe they are all flaves, and wear wooden ihoes.
'* Though we had no arms, one EngUjhrnan is
able to beat five French at any time; fo we went
dawn to the door, where both the centries were
polled
154 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
pofted, rn<L rn.^ing upon them, feized their arms
in a mo.-nent, and knocked them down. Prom-
inence, nine of us ran together to the quay, and
feizing the firft boat we met, got out of the har-
bour, and put to fea. We had not been here
three days before we were taken up by the Dorfct
privateer, who were glad of fo many good hr.nd ;
and we confented to run our chance. However,
we had not as much luck as we expected. In
three days we fell in with the Pompadour privateer,
of forty guns, while we had but twenty-three ; fa
to it we went, yard-arm and yard-arm. The fight
lafted for three hours, and I verily believe we
Ihould have taken the Frenchman, had we but had
fome more men left behind; but, unfortunately,
we loft all our men juft as we were going to get
the victory.
" I was once more in the power of the French ,
and, I believe, it would have gone hard with me
had I been brought back to Sre/f ; but, by good for-
tune, we were retaken by the Viper. I had almcft
forgot to tell you, that, in that engagement, I
was wounded in two places : I loft four fingers efF
the left hand, and my kg was fhot off. If I had
had the good fortune to have loft my leg and ufe
of my hand on board a king's fhip, and not a-
board a privateer, I fnoald have been intitled to
clothing and maintenance during the reft of my
Hfe ; but that was net my chance : one man is
born with a fiker fpcon in his mouth, and ano-
ther-
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 15^
ther with a wooden ladle. However, bleffed be
God ! I enjoy good health, and will, for ever,
love liberty and Old England. Liberty, property,
r.d Old England, for ever, huzza. !
Thus faying, he limped off, leaving me in ad-
miration at his intrepidity an-d content ; nor could
I avoid acknowledging, that an habitual acquaint-
ance with mifery ferves better than philofophy to
teach us to defpife it.
ESSAY 24.
REPOSE.
MEN complain of not finding a place of re-
pofe. They are in UK'- wrong ; they have it for
ieeking. What they ft; uld, indeed, complain of,
is, that the heart is an enemy to what they feek.
To themfelves, alone, mould they impute their
difcontent. They feek, within the. fhort fpan of
life, to fatisfy a thoufand defires ; each of which,
alone, is unfatiable. One month panes, and ano-
ther comes on ; the year ends, and then begins ;
but man is ftill unchanging in folly, ftill blindly
continuing in prejudice. To the wife man, every
climate and every foil is pleafmg; to fuch a man,
the melody of birds is mere ravifhing than the
harmony of a full concert ; and the tincture of
the cloud, preferable to the touch of the fineft
pencil.
CIT, OF THE WORLD, V, 2. p. 124.
CON-
156 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
CONSCIENCE.
THE pain which confcience gives the man
\vho has already done wrong, is foon got over.
Confcience is a coward ; and thofe faults it has
not ftrength enough to prevent, it feldom has
juftice enough to accafe.
VIC. OF WAKEFIELD, V. I. p. 138.
LOVE, AMBITION, AND AVARICE.
DISAPPOINTED love makes the mifery of
youth; difappointed ambition, that of manhood;
and fuccefsful avarice, that of age. Thefe three
attack us through life ; and it is our duty to ftand
upon our guard. To love, we ought to oppofe
diffipation, and endeavour to change the objeft of
the affeftions ; to ambition, the happinefs of in-
dolence and obfcurity ; and to avarice, the fear
of foon dying. Thefe are the fhields with which
we mould arm ourfelves ; and thus make every
fcene of life, if not pleafing, at leaft fupportable.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. 124.
THE PHILOSOPHIC COBLER.
J. HOUGH not very fond of feeing a pageant
myfelf, yet I am generally pleafed with being in
the crowd which fees it ; it is amufing to obferve
the
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 157
the effeft which fuch a fpeclacle has upon the va-
riety of faces ; the pleafure it excites in fome, tha
envy in others, and the wifhes it raifcs in all.
With this deiign I lately went to fee the entry of
a foreign ambafTador, refolved to make offe in the
mob, to fhout as they fhouted, to fix with ear-
neftnefs upon the fame frivolous objects, and par-.
ticipate, for a while, the pleafures and the wifhe.s
of the vulgar.
Struggling here for fome time, in order to be
firft to fee the cavalcade as it pafTed, fome one of
the crowd unluckily happened to tread upon my
moe, and tore it in fuch a manner, that I was ut-
terly unqualified to march forward with the main
body, and obliged to fall back in the rear. Thus
rendered incapable of being a fpeclator of the
fliew myfelf, I was at leaft willing to obferve the
fpectators, and limped behind like one of the in-
valids which follow the march of an army.
In this plight, as I was confidering the eagcr-
nefs that appeared on every face, how fome buftled
to get foremoft, and others contented themfelves
with taking a tranfient peep when they could j k
how fome praifed the four black fervants that
were ftuck behind one of the equipages, and fome,
the ribbons that decorated the horfes' necks in,
another; my attention was called off to an object
more extraordinary than any that I had yet feen;-
A poor Cobler fat in his flail' by .the way-fide, arul
P ' cou^
I S S THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
continued to work while the crowd pafled by,
withqut tettifying the fmalleil fhare of curiofity.
I own his want of attention excited mine; and,
as I flood in need of his affiftance, I thought it
beft to employ a Philofophic Cobler on this occa-
fion : perceiving my bufinefs, therefore, he de-
fired me to enter and fit down, took my fhoe in
his Jap, and began to mend it with his ufuai in-
difference and taciturnity.
" How, my friend," faid I to him, " can you
<f continue to work while all thofe fine things are
" paffing by your door?" " Very fine they arc,
" matter," returned the cobler, " for thofe that
" like them, to be lure ; but what are all thofe
" fine things to me? You don't know what it is
' to be a cobler, and fo much the better for your-
*' felf. Your bread is baked ; you may go and
" fee fights the whole day, and eat a warm fup-
" per when you come home at night ; but for me,
" " if I fhould run hunting after all thefe fine folk,
'* what mould I get by my journey but an appe-
" the ? and, God help me, I have too much of
" that at home already, without ftirring out for
" it. Your people who may eat four meals a day,
" and fupper at night, are but a bad example to
" fuch a one as I. No, matter, as God has call-
*' ed me into this world in order to mend old
" fhoes, I have no bufinefs with fine folk, and
" they no bufiuefs with me." I here interrupted
him with a fmile. " See this latt, matter," con-
tiftucs he, " and this hammer ; this latt and ham-
** mer
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. if 9
ff mer are the two beft friends I have in this
"world; nobody elfe will be my friend, becaufe
" I want a friend. The great folks you faw pafs
" by juit now 'have five hundred friends, becaufe
" they have no occafion for them. Now, while I
*' ftick to my good friends here, I am very con-
" tented; but, when I ever fo little run after
" fights and fine things, I begin to hate 'my "work,
" I grow fad, and have no heart to mend {hoes
" any longer."
This difcourfe only ferved to raife my curioflty
to know more of a man whom Nature had thus
formed info a 'Philofopher. I therefore infe'nil-
bly led him into an hiftory of his adventures :
'* 1 haVe lived, faicl he, a wandering life, now
'" fivs-and-fifty years, here to-day and gone to-
ft morrow ; for it was my misfortune, when
" I was young, to be fond of changing." fc Ton
" ba*ve Been a traveller t then, I frefume ?" inter-
rupted I. " I can't boaft much of travelling,'*
continued he, " for I have never left the parifii
" in which I was born but three times in my
" life, that I can remember; but then there is
" not a ftreet in the whole neighbourhood that I
" have not lived in, at fome time or another.
fe When I began to fettle, and to take to my bull-
" nefs in one ftreet, fome unforefeen misfortune,
f< or a defire of trying my luck elfewhere, has re-
" moved me, perhaps, a whole rriileaway from my
" former cuftomcrs, while fome more lucky cob-
" ler would come into my place, and make a
Pa " hand-
t6o THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
' V handfome. fortune among friends of my making:
" there was one who actually died in a ftall that
" rh.id left, worth feven pounds feven /hillings,
" all in hard gold, which he had quilted into the
*' waiftband of his breeches."
I could not but fmile at thefe migrations of a
man by the fire-fide, and continued to afk if he
had ever been married. " Ay, that I have, maf-
" ter," replied he, " for fixteen long years ; and.
" a weary life I had of it, Heaven knows. My
" wife took it into her head, that the only way to
" thrive in this world was to fave money ; fo,
" though cur comings-in was but about three
"millings a week, all that ever (he could lay her
" hands upon {he ufcd to hide away from me,
" though we were obliged to ftarve the whole
" week for it.
" The firfl three years we ufed to quarrel about
ft this every day, and I always got the better ; but
" me had a hard fpirit, and itill continued to hide
" as ufual ; fo that I was at laft tired of quarrelling,
"and getting the better; and me fcraped and
" fcraped. at pleafure, 'till I was almoft ftarved to
" death. Her condudl drove me, at laft, in de-
'" fpair to the alehoufe ; here I ufed to fit with
" people who hated home like myfelf, drank while
" I had money left, and run in fcore while any
" body would trull me ; "till at laft the landlady,
*' coming one day with a long bill when I was
" iVoiq home, and putting it into my wife's hands,
" the
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. iSt
" the length of it effe&ually broke her heart. I
" fearched the whole ft all., after Ihe was dead, for
" money ; but (he had hidden it fo effe&ually,
" that, with all my pains, . I could never find %
tf farthing.
By this time my fhoe was mended, and, fatisfy-
ing the poor artift for his trouble, and rewarding
him befides for his information, I took my leave,
and returned home to lengthen out the amufement
his converfation afforded, by communicating it to
my friend.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. I. p. 282.
CHARITY OF THE ENGLISH.
WHILE I fometimes lament the caufe of hu-
manity, and the depravity of human nature, there
now and then appear gleams of greatnefs that
ferve to relieve the eye opprefled with the hideous
profpecl, and refemble thofe cultivated fpots that
are fometimes found in the midft of an Aliatic
wildernefs. I fee many fuperior excellencies among
the Englijh, which it is not in the power of all
their follies to hide : I fee virtues which, in other
countries, are known only to a few, practifcd here
ty every rank of people.
I know not whether it proceeds from their fu-
perior opulence, that the Englijh are more chari*
table than the reft of mankind; whether, by being
poflefled of all 'the conveniencies of life them-
felves, they have more leifure to perceive the un
P 3 eafy
162 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
eafy. fituation of the diftrefled ; whatever be the
motive, they are not only the moft charitable of
any other nation, but moft judicious in diftin-
guifhing the propereft objects of compaflion.
In other countries, the giver is generally influ-
enced by the immediate impulfe of pity ; his ge-
nerofity is exerted as much to relieve his own
uneafy fenfations, as to comfort the objeft in di-
ftrefs : in England, benefactions are of a more ge-
neral nature ; fome men of fortune and univerfal
benevolence propofe the proper objects ; the wants
and the merits of the petitioners are canvafled by
the people ; neither paffion nor pity find a place
in the cool difcuflion. ; and charity is then only
exerted, when it has received the approbation of
reafon.
IBID. p. 86.
THE COMMON ENGLISH STRANGERS
TO URBANITY ;
WITH REMARKS ON THEIR PROWESS IN DIFFI-
CULTIES.
THE poor of every country are but little prone
to treat each other with tendernefs ; their own
miferies are too apt to engrofc all their pity ; and,
perhaps too, they give but little commiseration,
as they find but little from others. But, in Eng-
land, the poor treat each other, upon every occa-
iion, with more than favage animofity, and as if
they were in a ftate of open war by nature. In
China, if ;\vo porters ihould meet in a narrow
ftrcet*
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. i6>
ftreet, they would lay down their burthens, make
a thoufand excufes to each other for the accidental
interruption, and beg pardon on their knees. If
two men of the fame occupation mould meet here,
they would firft begin to fcold, an-d, at laft, to
beat each other. One would think they had mi-
feries enough refuhing from penury and labour,
not to increafe them by ill-nature among them-
felves, and fubjection to new penalties ; but fuch
confiderations never weigh with them.
But to recompenfe this ftrange abfurdity, they
are, in the main, generous, brave, and enterprifmg
They feel the flighteft injuries with a degree of
ungoverned impatience, but refift the greateft ca-
lamities with furprifmg fortitude. Thofe miferies-
under which any other people in the world would
fink, they have often mewed they were capable of
enduring : if accidently cafl upon fome defolate
coaft, their perfeverance is beyond what any other
nation is capable of fuftaining ; if imprifoned for
crimes, their efforts to efcape are greater than among
others. The peculiar ftrength of their prifons,
when compared - to thofe elfewhere, argues their
hardinefs j even th-e ftrongeft prifons I have ever
feen in other countries, would be very infufficient.
to confine the untameable fpirit of an Englijhman.
In mort, what man dares do in circumftances of
danger, an Englijkman will. His virtues feem to
fleep in the calm, and are called out only to com-
bat the kindred ftorm,
IBID. v. 2, p. iiz*
164 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
TENDERNESS AND GENEROSITY OF
ENGLISH MISCREANTS.
THE greateft eulogy of the Englijh is the gene-
rofity of their mifcreants ; the tendernefs in gene-
ral of their robbers and highwaymen. Perhaps no
people can produce inftances of the fame kind,
where the defperate mix pity with injuftice; ftill
fhew that they understand a diftinftion in crimes ;
and even, in ats of violence, have ftill fome tinc-
ture of remaining virtue. In every other country,
robbery and murder go almoil always together ;
here it feldom happens, except upon ill-judged
refiftance or purfuit. The banditti of other coun-
tries are unmerciful to a fupreme degree ; the
highwayman and robber here are generous at ieaft
to the public, and pretend even to virtues in their
intereourfe among each other. Taking, therefore,
my opinion of the Englijb from the virtues and
vices praftifed among the vulgar, they at once
prefent to a ftranger all their faults, and keep their
virtues up only for the enquiring eye of a philo-
f op her.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. IIJ.
INSOLENCE OF THE COMMON ENGLISH
TO FOREIGNERS.
FOREIGNERS are generally mocked at the
infolence of the common Englijfo, upon firft coming
among them ; they find theipielves ridiculed and
infulted
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 165
infulted in every ftr'ect ; they meet with none of
thofe trifling civilities, fo frequent elfewhere, which
are inftances of mutual good-will without previous
acquaintance ; they travel through the country,
either too ignorant or too obftinate to cultivate a
clofer acquaintance, meet every moment fomething
to excite their difguft, and return home to charac-
terife this as the region of fplecn, infolence, and
ill-nature. In Ihort, England would be the lait
place in the world I would travel to by way of
amufement, but the nrft fcr inflruction ; I would
chufe to have ethers for my acquaintance, but
Englijkmen for my friends.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 2. p. I I^..
HAPPINESS EVER REPUGNANT TO OUR
WISHES.
THE mind is ever ingenious in making its own
diftrefs. The wandering beggar, who has none to
protect, to feed, or to fhelter him, fancies com-
plete happinefs in labour and a full meal. Take
jum from rags and want, feed, clothe, and employ
him, his wifhes now rife one ftep above his ftation ;
he could be happy were he poflefied of raiment,
food, and eafe. Suppofe his v/ifhes gratified even
in thefe, his profpecls widen as he afcends : he
finds himfelf in affluence and tranquillity indeed;
but indolence foon breeds anxiety, and he defires
not only to be fre?d from pain, but to be poffefled
of pleafure : pleafure \% granted him ; and this
but opens his foul to ambition ; and ambition will
he
166 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
be fare to taint his future happinefs, either with
jealouiy, disappointment, or fatigoe.
But of all the arts of diftrefs found oat by man,
for his own torment, perhaps that of philofopkic
miiery is moft truly ridiculous ; a pafficn no where
carried to fo extravagant an excefs as in the * coun-
try where 1 now refide. It is not enough to en-
gage all the compaffion of a philofopher here, that
Jus own globe is hurrafled with wars, peftilence,
or barb, riry ; .he faall grieve for the inhabitants of
lie moon, if the iituation -of her imaginary moun-
tains happens to alter; and dread the extinftiou
of the fun, if the fpots on his forface happen to
increafe. One fhould imagine, that philofophy
was introduced to make men happy ; bot here it
ferves to make hundreds miferable.
CIT. OF TBJi WOULD, V.-2. p. 114.
LEGISLATIVE POWER.
IT were highly to be wimed, that legifktive
power would direil the law rather to reforma-
tion than feverity ; that it would appear con-
vinced, that the work of eradicating crimes, is not
by making punifhments familiar, but formidable.
Inftead of our prefent prifons, which find or make
men guilty, which inclofe wretches for the com-
mrffion of one crime, and return them, if returned
alive, fitted for the perpetration of thoufands, it
were to be wilhed we had, as in other parts of
England*
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH, 167
bur ope, places of penitence and folitude, where
the accufed might be attended by fuch as could
give them repentance if guilty, or new motives of
virtue if innocent. And this, but not the increaf-
ing punifhments, is the way to mend a flate : nor
can I avoid even queftioning the validity of that
light, which focial combinations have a/Turned, of
capitally punifhing offences of a flight nature.
In cafes of murder, their right is obvious ; as it is
the duty of us all, from the law of felf-defence,
to cut off that man who has fhewn a difregard for
the life of another. Againft fuch, all nature rifes
in arms ; but it is not fo againft him who fteals my
property. Natural law gives me no right to take
away his life, as by that the horfe he fteals is as
much his property as mine. If, then, I have any
right, it muft be from a compact made between us,
that he who deprives, the other of his horfe fhall
<lie. But this is a falfe compact ; becaufe no man
has a right to barter his life, no more than to take
it away ; as it is not his own. And, next, the
compact is inadequate, and would be fet afide,
even in a court of modern equity, as there is a
great penalty for a very trifling convenience ;
fmce it is far better that two men mould live,
than that one man mould ride. But a compact:
that is falfe between two men, is equally fo be-
tween an hundred, or an hundred thoufand ; for
as ten millions of circles can never make a fquare,
fo the united voice of myriads cannot lend the
fmalleil foundation to falfehood. It is thus that
Reafon
r63 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
Reafon fpeaks ; and untutored Nature fays the
fame thing. Savages, that are directed nearly by
natural law alone, are very tender of the lives of
each other ; they feidom ftved blood but to retaliate
former cruelty.
Our Saxon anceftors, fierce as they were in war,
had but few executions in times of peace ; and in
all commencing governments that have the print
of nature ftill ftrong upon them, fcarce any crime
is held capital.
It is among the citizens of a refined community
that penal laws, which are in the hands of the
rich, are laid upon the poor. Government, while
rt grows older, feems to acquire the morofenefs of
age ; and, as if our pofieflions were become dearer
in proportion as they increafed, as if the more
enormous our wealth the more extenfive our fears,
our pofleffions are paled with new edicts every day,
and hung round with gibbets to fcare every in-
vader.
Whether is it from the number of our penal
laws, or the licentioufnefs of our people, that this
country mould (hew more convicts in a year, than
half the dominions of Europe united ? Perhaps it
is owing to both ; for they mutually produce each
other. When by indifcriminate penal laws a na-
tion beholds the fame punifhment affixed to diffi-
znilar degrees of guilt, from perceiving no diftinc-
tion
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 169
lion in the penalty, .the people are led to lofe all
feiife of diftintlion in the crime, and this diflinc-
tion is the bulwark of all morality : thus the mul-
titude of laws produce new vices, and new vices
call for frelh reltraints-.
It were to be wifhed, then, that power, inftead
of contriving new laws to punifh vice, inftead of
drawing hard the cords of fociety till a convul-
iion come to buril them, inftead of cutting away
wretches as ufelefs, before we have tried their uti-
lity, inftead of converting correction into ven-
geance, it were to be wifhed, that we tried the
reltrictive arts of government, and made law the
proteclor, but not the tyrant of the people. We
ihould then find that creatures, whofe fouls axe
held as drois, only wanted the hand of a refiner;
we ihould then find that wretches, now ituck up
for long tortures, left luxury Ihould feel a mo-
mentary pang,^ might, if properly treated, ferve
to finew the ftate in times of danger ; that, as their
faces are like ours, their hearts are fo too; that
few minds are fo bafe as that perfeverance cannot
amend ; that a man may fee his laft crime without
dying for it ; and that very little blood will ferve
to cement our fecurity.
VIC- OF WAKEFIELD, V. 2. p. 77.
O B S E R-
i-o THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
OBSERVATIONS ON DEATH.
DEATH is not that terrible thing which we
fuppofe it to be ; it is a fpeftre which frights us at
a diftance, but which difappears when we come to
approach it more clofely. Our ideas of its terrors
are conceived in prejudice, and drefied up by fancy ;
we regard it not only as the greateil misfortune,
but alfo as an evil accompanied with the moft ex-
cruciating tortures : we have even increafed cur
apprehenfions, by reafoning on the extent of our
fufferings. It muft be dreadful, fay fome, fmce it
is fufficient to feparate the foul from the body ; it
mull be long, fmce our fufferings are proportioned
to the fuccefiion of our ideas ; and thefe being
painful, muft fucceed each other with extreme ra-
pidity. In this manner has falie philofophy la-
boured to augment the miferies of our nature,
and to aggravate that period which nature has
kindly covered with infcnfibility. Neither the
mind, nor the body, can fufTer thefe calamities;
the mind is, at that time, mofllv without ideas,;
and the body too much enfeebled to be capable of
perceivrng its pain. A very acute pain produces
either death, or fainting, which is a Hate fiirulsr
to death : the body can fuffer but to a certain de-
gree ; if the torture becomes exceffive, it deftroys
itfelf ; and the mind ceafes to perceive, when the
i>ody can no longer endure.
Im
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 171-
In this manner, exceflive pain admits of no re-
; and, wherever there are any iigns of it, \ve
may be fure that the fufrerings of the patient are
HO greater than what we ourfelves may have re-
membered to endure.
But, in the article of death, we have many in-
ftances in which the dying perfon has (hewn that
very reflection which pre-fuppofes an abfence or"
the greateft pain ; and, confequently, that pang
which ends life cannot even be fo great as thofe
which have preceded. Thus, when CJ.^irlc: XIL.
v/as {hot at the i;egc of FscderickfcaU, he was
ieen to clap hiv h^nd en the hilt of his i'.vord ;
and, although the blow was great enough to ter-
minate one of the boldeft and bravefl lives in the
world, yet it was not puinful enough to def|roy
reflection. He perceived himfelf attacked ; he
refle-Tlcd that he ought to defend himfelf, and his
body obeyed the impulfc of his mind, even in the'
lait extremity. Thus it is the prejudice of per-
fon* in health, and not the body in pain, that
makes us fuffer from the approach of death : we
have, all our lives, contracted an habit of making
out exceffive plcafures and pains ; and nothing
but repeated experience mews us 'how feldom the-
one can be fuffcrcd, or the other enjoyed, to the
atmoft. If there be any thing necefTary to con-
firm what we have faid concerning the gradual-
reflation of life, cr the infenfible approaches of
eur eftd, nothing can more effedually prove itr
Qz than.
172 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
than the uncertainty of the figns ef death. If
we confult what WinJIo-^ or Bruhier have faid upon
this fubj>l, we (hall be convinced, that between
life and death, the (hade is fo very undiftingui fri-
able, that even all the powers of art can fcarcely
determine where the one ends, and the other be-
gins. The colour cf the vifage, the warmth of
the body, the fupplenefs of the joints, are but un-
certain figns of life ftill fubfifting ; while, on the
contrary, the palenefs of the complexion, the
loidneis of the body, the ftiffhefs of the extremi-
ties, the ceflatien of all motion, and the total in-
ic nubility cf jhe parts, are but uncertain mark'-,
uf death brgun. In the fame manner, aifo, with
regard to the pulfe, and the breathing, thefe mo-
tions are cftexa fo kept under, that it is impoffible
to perceive them. By approaching a looking-
glafs to the mouth of the perfon fuppofed to be
dead, people often expect to find whether he
breathes or not ; but this is a very uncertain ex-
periment : the glafs is frequently fullied by the
vapour cf the dead men's body ; and often the
perfon is ftill alive, although the glafs is no way
tarniihed. In the fame manner, neither burning, nor
fcarifying ; neither noifes in the ears, nor pungent
fpirits applied to the noflrils, give certain figns cf
the difccntinuance of life j and there are many in-
ftances of perfons who have endured them all, and
afterwards recovered, without any external alfift-
ance, to the aftonilhment of the fpeftators. How
careful, therefore, ihculd we be, before we commit
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. i.-?
thofe who arc deareft to us to the grave, to b~ v. dl
allured of their departure! Experience, juilice,
humanity, all perfuacle us not to haflcn the fune-
rals of cur friends, but to keep their bodies un-
b'uried, until we have certain figns of their real
deceafe.
KIST. OF ANIMALS, p. 2o6.
GRATIFIED AMBITION.
GRATIFIED ambition, or irreparable cala-
mity, may produce tranfient fenfations of pleafure
cr clifircfi. Thofe ftcrms may difcompofe in pro-
portion as they are ftrong, or the mind is pliant
to their impreffion. But the foul, though at firfl
lifted up by the event, is every day operated upon
\vith diminished influence; and at length fubfides
into the level of its ufual tranquillity.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. 1. p. 185.
SCIENTIFIC REFINEMENT.
PHILOSOPHERS who have teftified fuch fur-
prife at the want of curiofity in the ignorant, feem
not to confider that they are ufually employed in
making provisions of a more important nature ;
in providing rather for the neceffities than the
amufements of life. It is not 'till our more pref-
t : iRg wants are fufficiendy fupplied, that we can.
attend to the calls of curiofity ; fo that, in every
age, fcientific refinement has been the lateft ef-
fort of human ineluftry.
UIST. OF THE EARTH, p. a.
*74 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
FOLLIES OF THE WISE.
THERE is fcmething fatisfaftory in accounts
of the follies of the wife ; they give a natural air
to the pi&ure, and reconcile us to our own.
LIFE OF PARNELL, p. 2CV
THE STROLLING PLAYER.
I AM fond of amufement, in whatever company
it is to be found ; and wit, though drefTed in rags,
is ever pleafing to me. I went fome days ago to
take a walk in Sf. James's Park, about the hour
in which company leave it to go to dinner. There
were but few in the walks, and thofe who ftaid,
feemed, by their looks, rather more willing to for-
get that they had an appetite than gain one. I
fat down on one of the benches, at the other end
cf which was feated a man in very ihabby clothes.
We continued to groan, to hem, and to cough,
r.s ufual upon fuch occafions; and, at laft, ven-
tured upon converiaticn. " I beg pardon, Sir/*
cried I, " but I think I have feen you before ;.
vour face is familiar to me." " Yes, Sir," re-
plied he, '.' I have a good familiar face, as my
friends tell me. I am as well known in every
town in England as the dromedary, or live croco-
dile.
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 175-
dile. You muft underftand, Sir, that I have been
thefe fixteen years Merry Andrew to a puppet-
mow ; laft Bartholomew fair my mafter and I quar-
relled, beat each other, and parted ; he to fell
his puppets to the pincumion-makers in Rofemary-*-
lane, and I to ftarve in St. James's Park."
"I am forry, Sir, that a perfon of your ap-
pearance mould labour under any difficulties."
" O, Sir," returned he, " my appearance is very
much at your fervice ; but, though I cannot boait
of eating much, yet there are few that are merrier:
if I had twenty thoufand a year, I mould be very
merry ; and, thank the Fates, though not worth
a groat, I am very merry ftill. If I have three-
pence in my pocket, I never refufe to be iny three-
halfpence ; and, if I have no money, I never fcorn
to be treated by any that are kind enough to pay
my reckoning. What think you, Sir, of a fteak
and a tankard ? You mail treat me now, and I
will treat you again when I find you in the Park in
love with eating, and without money to pay for
a dinner."
As I never refufe a fmall expence for the fake
of a merry companion, we inftantly adjourned to
a neighbouring alehoufe ; and, in a few moments,
had a frothing tankard, and a fmoaking fteak,
fpread on the table before us. It is impoffible to
exprefs how much the fight of fuch good cheer
improved my companion's vivacity. ' J like this
dinner.,
dinner, Sir," fays he, for three reafons : firft,
becaufe I am naturally fond of beef; fecondly,
becaufe I am hungry ; and, thirdly and' laftly,
becaufe I get it for nothing : no meat eats fo fweet
as that for which we do not pay."
He therefore now fell to, and his appetite
feemed to correfpond with his inclination. After
dinner was over, he obfcrved that the fteak was
tough ; " and yet, Sir," returns he, " bad as it
was, it feemed a rump-fteak to me. O the de-
lights of poverty and a good appetite ! We beg-
gars are the very foundlings of Nature : the rich
fhe treats like an errant ftep-mother ; they r.re
pleafed with nothing: cut a fteak from what part
you will, and it is infupportably tough ; drefs it up
with pickles, even pickles cannot procure them
an appetite. But the whole creation is filled with
good things for the beggar ; Cal<vei-t's, bntt out-
taftes champaigne, and Sedgeley's home-brewed'
excels tokay. Joy, joy, my blood ! though our
eftates lie no where, we have fortunes wherever
we go. If an inundation fweeps away half the
grounds of Cornwall, I am content ; I have no
lands there: if the flocks fink, that gives me ; no
uneaunefs ; I am no y^cu."
The fellow's vivacity, joined to his poverty, I
own, raifed my curiofity to know forhething of his
life and circumflances ; and I intreated, that he
would indulge my defire, f< That I will, Sir> ?>
faicL
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 177
fcid he, " and welcome; only let us drink to pre-
vent our fleeping; let us have another tankard
\vhile we are awake ; let us have another tankard ;
for, ah ! how charming a tankard looks when full !
" You muft know, then, that I am very welt
tlefcended : my anceftors have made fome noife in
the world; for my mother cried oyfters, and my
father beat a drum : I am told we have even had
fome trumpeters in our family. Many a noble-
man cannot fhew fo refpe&ful a genealogy : but
that is neither here nor there. As I was their only
child, my father defigned to breed me up to his
own employment, which was that of drummer
to a puppet-mew. Thus the whole employment
of my younger years was that of interpreter to
Punch and King Solomon in all his glory. But*
though my father was very fond of intruding me
in beating all the marches and points of war, I
made no very great progrefs, becaufe I naturally
had no ear for mufic ; fo, at the age of fifteen, I
went and lifted for a foldier. As 1 had ever hated
beating a drum, fo I foon found that I difliked
carrying a mufket alfo ; neither the one trade nor
the other were to my tafte, for I was by nature
fond of being a gentleman : befides, I was obliged
to obey my captain ; he has his will, I have mine,
and you have yours : now I very reafonably con-
cluded, that it was much more comfortable for a
man to obey his own will than another's.
The
ryfr THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDS.MITrT,
" The lite of a foldier foon therefore gave m<?
the fpleen : I afked leave to quit the fervice ; but r
as I was tall and ftrong, my captain thanked me
for rny kind intention, and faid, becaufe he had a
regard for me, we fhould not p-rt. I wrote to my
father a very difmal penitent letter, and defired
that he would raife money to pay for my difcharge ;,
but the good man was as fond of drinking as I was
(Sir, my fervice to you), and thofe who are fond
of drinking never pay for other people's difcharges r
in ihort, he never anfwered my letter. What could
be done ? If 1 have not money, faid I to myfelf,
to pay for my difcharge, I muft find an equivalent
fome other way; and that rouil be by running,
away. I deferted, and that anfwered my purpofc
every bit as well as if I had b.ought my difcharge.
" Well, I was now fdrly rid of my military
employment : I fold my foidier's clothes, bought
worfe, and, in order not to be overtaken, took the
moft unfrequented roads poiuble. One evening,
as I was entering a village, I perceived a man,
whom I afterwards found to be the curate of the
pariih, thrown from his horfe in a 'miry road, and
almoft fmother-ed in the mud. He defired my af-
fiftance ; I gave it, and c^rew him out with fome
difficulty. He thanked me for my trouble, and
was going off; but I folio-.ved him home, for I
loved always to have a man than-k me at his own
door. The curate aiked an hundred queftions ; as,
whofe foa I \vai- from whence I came ; and whe-
ther
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 179
ther I would be faithful ? I anfwered him greatly
to his fatisfaction ; and gave myfelf one of the beft
characters in the world for fobriety (Sir, I have
the honour of drinking your health), difcretion,
and iidelity. To make a long {lory fhort, he
wanted a fervant, and hired me With him I
lived but two months ; we did not much like eacli
other : I was fond of eating, and he gave me but
little to eat ; I loved a pretty girl, and the old
woman, my fellow-fervant, was ill-natured and
ugly. As they endeavoured to Itarve me between
them, I made a pious refolution to prevent their
committing murder : I ftole the eggs as foon as
they were laid ; I emptied every unfiniihed bottle
that I could lay my hands en ; whatever eatable
came in my way was fure to difappear : in mort,
they found I would not do ; fo I was difcharged
one morning, and paid three millings and fix-
pence for two months wages.
" While my money was getting ready, I em-
ployed myfelf in making preparations for my de-
parture : two hens were hatching in an outhoufe ;
1 went and habitually took the eggs, and, not to
feparate the parents from the children, I lodged
hens and all in my knapfack. After this piece of
frugality, I returned to receive my money ; and,
with my knapfack on my back, and a ftaff in my
hand, I bid adieu, with tears in my eyes, to my
old benefaclor. I had not gone far from the
houfe, when I heard behind me the cry of Stop
thief!
i8o THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
thief ! but this only increafed my difpatch ; it
Avould have been foolifh to ftop, as I knew the
voice could not be levelled at me. But hold I
think I pafled thofe two months at the curate's
without drinking. Come, the times are dry ; and
may this be my poifon, if ever I fpent two more
pious, ftupid months in all my life!
<c Well, after travelling fome days, whom
mould I light upon but a company of ftrolling
players? The moment I favv them at a ditlance,
my heart warmed to them ; I had a fort of natural
love for every thing of the vagabond order : they
were employed in fettling their baggage, which
had been overturned in a narrow %vay. I offered
my afliftance, which they accepted ; and we footi
became fo well acquainted, that they took me as a
iervant. This was a paradife to me; they lung,
danced, drank, eat, and travelled, all at the fame
time. By the blood of the Mirabels, I thought I
had never lived till then ; I grew as merry as a
grig, and laughed at every word that was fpokcn.
They liked me as much as I liked them ; I was a
very good figure, as you fee ; and, though I was
poor, I was not modeft.
"I love a ftraggling life above all things in the
world ; fometimes good, fometimes bad ; to be
warm to-day, and cold to-morrow; to eat when
one can get it, and drink when (the tankard is out)
it ftands before me. We arrived that evening at
Tenterden,
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. iSt
Tenterden, and took a, large room at the Greyhound-,
where we refolved to exhibit Romeo and Juliet*
with the funeral proceffion, the grave and the
garden fcene. Romeo was to be performed by a
gentleman from the Theatre-Royal in Drury-lane^
Juliet by a lady who never appeared on any ftage.
before ; and I was to fnuff the candles : all exceU
lent in our way. We had figures enough, but the
difficulty was to drefs them. The fame coat that
ferved Romeo, turned with the blue lining outwards,
ferved for his friend Mercutio : a large piece of
crape fuinced at once for Juliet's petticoat and
pall : a peftle and mort?r, from a neighbouring
apothecary's, anfwered all the purpofes of a bell;
and our landlord's own family, wrapped in white
meets, ferved to fill up the proceffion. In fhort,
there were but three figures among us that might
be faid to be drefied with any propriety : I mean,
the nurfe, the itarved apothecary, and myfelf.
Our performance gave univerfal fatisfoclion : the
whole audience were enchanted with our powers ;
and Tenter den is a town of tafle.
" There is one rule by which a ftrollifig- player
may be ever fecure of fuccefs ; that is, in our the-
atrical way of expreffing it, to make a great deal
of the character. To fpeak and aft as in comment
life, is not playing ; nor is it what people come to
fee : natural fpeaking, like fweet wine, runs glibly
over the palate, and fcarce leaves any tafte behind
it ; but being high in a part refembles vinegar,
R which
152 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
which grates upon the tafte, and one feels it while
he is drinking. To pleafe the town or country,
the way is, to cry, wring, cringe into attitudes,
mark the emphafis, flap the pockets, and labour
like one in the falling ficknefs : that is the way to
work for applaufe, that is the way to gain it.
"As we received much reputation for our {kill
on this firft exhibition, it was but natural for me
to afcribe part of the fuccefs to myfelf : I fnuffed
the candles, and, let me tell you, that, without a
candle-fnuffer, the piece would lofe half its em-
belliftiments. In this manner we continued a fort-
night, and drew tolerable houfes ; but the evening
before our intended departure, we gave out our
very beft piece, in which all our ftrength was to be
exerted. We had great expectations from this,
and even doubled our prices ; when, behold, one
of the principal adlors fell ill of a violent fever.
This was a ftroke like thunder to our little, com-
pany : they were refolved to go, in a body, to fcold
the man for falling fick at fo inconvenient a time,
and that, too, of a diforder that threatened to be
expensive : I feized the moment, and offered to aft
the part myfelf in his ftead. The cafe was defpe-
rate ; they accepted my offer ; and I accordingly
fat down, with the part in my hand and a tankard
before me (Sir, your health), and ftudied the cha-
racter, which was to be rehearfed the next day,
and played foon after.
"' I fund
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 185.
" I found my memory exceffively helped by
drinking : I learned my part with aftonifhing ra-
pidity, and bid adieu to muffing candles ever
after. I found that Nature had designed me for
more noble employments, and I was reiblved to
take her when in the humour. We got together
in order to rehearfe, and I informed my compa-
nions, mafters now no longer, of the furprifrng
change I felt within me. Let the fick man, faid
I, be under no uneafmefs to get well again ; I'll
fill his place to univerfal fatisfaclion ; he may
even die if he thinks proper ; I'll engage that he
fhall never be miffed. I rehearfed before them,
flrutted, ranted, and received applaufe. They
foon gave out that a new a&or of eminence was to
appear, and immediately all the genteel places
were befpoke. Before I afcended the ftage, how-
ever, I concluded within myfelf, that, as I brought
money to the houie, I ought to have my mare in
the profits. Gentlemen, faid I, addreffmg our
company, I don't pretend to direft you ; far be
it from me to treat you with fo much ingratitude :
you have publiihed my name in the bills, with the
utmoft good-nature; and, as affairs (land, cannot
aft without me : fo, gentlemen, to mew you my
gratitude, I expect to be paid for my afting as
much as any of you, otherwife I declare off; I'll
brandifh my fnuffers, and clip candles as ufual.
This was a very difagreeable propofal ; but they
found that it was impoffible to refufe it ; it was ir-
reJiilible, it was adamant : they confented, and I
R 2 went
184 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
went on in king Eejazet. My frowning brows,
bound with a flocking fluffed into a turban, while
en my captiv'd arms I brandifhed a jack-chain.
Nature feemed to have fitted me for the part ; I
was tall, and had a loud voice ; my very entrance
excited univerfal applaufe ; 1 looked round on the
audience with a fmile, and made a moft low and
graceful bow, for that is the rule among us. As
it was a very pan*ionate part, I invigorated my
fpiiits with three full glaffes (the tankard is al-
moft out) of brandy. By Alia f it is almoft in-
conceivable how I went through it ; Tamerlane
was but a fool to me ; though he was fometimes
loud enough too, yet I was flill louder than he :
but then, befides, I had attitudes in abundance :
in general I kept my arms folded up thus, upon
the pit of my ftomach ; it is the way at Drury-
Lane, and has always a fine effeft. The tankard
would fink to the bottom before J could get through
the whole of my merits : in fnort, I came off like
a prodigy ; and fuch was my fuccefs, that I could
ravifh the laurels even from a .firloin of beef.
The principal gentlemen and ladies of the town
came to me after the play was over, to compli-
ment me upon my fuccefs ; one praifed my voice,
another my perfon : Upon my word, fays the
'fquire's lady, he will make one of the fineft ac-
tcrs in Europe ; I fay it, and I think I am fome-
thing of a judge. Praife in the beginning is
agreeable enough, and we receive it as a favour ;
but, when it comes in great quantities, we regard
it
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 185
It only as a debt, which nothing but our merit
could extort : inftcad of thanking them, I inter-
nally applauded myfelf. We were defired to give
our piece a fecond time ; we obeyed, and I was
applauded even- more than before.
" At laft we left the town, in order to be at a
horfe-race at fome diftance from thence. I fhall
never think of Tenter den without tears of grati-
tude and refpeft. The ladies and gentlemen there,
take my word for it, are very good judges of plays
and aftors. Come, let us drink their healths, if
you pleafe, Sir. We quitted the town, I fay ;
and there was a wide difference between my
coming in and going out : I entered the town a
candle-fnufFer, and I quitted it an hero ! Such is
the world ! little to-day, and great to-morrow. T
could fay a great deal more upon that fubjeft ;
fomething truly fublime upon the ups and downs
of fortune ; but it would give us both the fpleen,,
and fo I fhall pafs it over.
" The races were ended before we arrived at
the next town, which was no fmall difappointment
to our company ; however, we were refolved to
take all we could get. I played capital charac-
ters there toe, and came off with my ufual bril-
liancy. I lincerely believe I fhould have been the
*ft aftor of Europe, had my growing merit been
properly cultivated ; -but there came an unkindly
froft which nipped me in the bud, and levelled me
R 3 once.
i86 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
once more down to the common ftandard of hu-
manity. I played Sir Harry Wildair \ all the
country ladies were charmed : if I but drew out
my fnuff-box, the whole houfe was in a roar of
rapture ; when I exercifed my cudgel, I thought
they would have fallen into convulfions.
There was here a lady who had received an edu-
cation of nine months in London ; and fhis gave
her preterrfions to tafte, which rendered her the
indifpu table miftrefs of the ceremonies wherever
fiie came. She was informed of my merits ; every
body praifed me ; yet me refufed at firft going
to fee me perform : fhe could not conceive, ftie
faid, any thing but fluff from a ftroller ; talked
fomething in praife of Carried, and amazed the
ladies with her fkill in enunciations, tones, and ca-
dences. She was at laft, however, prevailed upon
to go; and it was privately intimated to me what
a judge was to be prefent at my next exhibition :
however, no way intimidated, I came on in Sir
Harry, one hand ttuck in my breeches, and the
other in my bofom, as ufual at Drury-Lane ; but,
inftead of looking at me, I perceived the whole
audience had their eyes turned upon the lady who
had been nine months in London ; from her they
expefted the deciiion which was to fee u re the ge-
neral's truncheon in my hand, or fink me down
into a theatrical letter-carrier. I opened my fnuf|~-
box, took fnuff the lady was foleinn, and fo were
the reft. 1 broke the cudgel on alderman Smug-
gler's
BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 187
gler's back Hill gloomy, melancholy all ; the
lady groaned and mr.ugged her moulders. I at-
tempted, by laughing myfelf, to excite at leaft a
fmile ; but the devil a cheek could I perceive
wrinkled into fympathy : I found it would not do;,
all my good-humour now became forced ; my
laughter was converted into hyfteric grinning ;
and, while I pretended fpirits, my eye mewed the
agony of my heart. In fhort, the lady came with
an intention to be difpleafed, and difpleafed me
was ; my fame expired ; I am here, and (the tan-
kard is no more !".,)
ESSAY 21-
BEAUTY.
A DESIRE of becoming more beautiful than
Nature made us, is fo harmlefs a vanity, that I
not only pardon, but approve it. A defire to be
more excellent than others is what actually makes
us fo ; and, as thoufands find a livelihood in fo-
eiety by fuch appetites, none but the ignorant in-
veigh againft them.
CIT. OF THE WORLD,V. I. p. 7.
HUMAN CURIOSITY.
HUMAN curiolity, though at firit flowly ex-
cited, being at laft pofieffed of leifure for indul-
ging its propenfity, becomes one of the greateft
amufements of life, and gives higher fatisfaclions
than
iS? THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
than what even the fenfes can afford. A man of
this difpofition turns all nature into a magnificent
theatre, replete with objects of wonder and furprife,
and fitted up chiefly for his happinefs and entertain-
ment : he induftrioufly examines all things, from
the minuteft infect to the moil finiihed animal ;.
and, when his limited organs can no longer make
the difquilition, he fends out his imagination
upon new enquiries.
HIST. OF THE EARTH, p. 2>
CONNEXION OF WITS.
IN the connexion of wits, intereft has very lit-
tle mare ; they have only pleafure in view, and
can feldom find it bat among each other.
LIFE OF PARNELL, p. IO..
CONTEMPLATION OF CELESTIAL
MAGNIFICENCE.
AN ufe, hitherto not much infifled upon, that
may refult from the contemplation of celeftial
magnificence, is, that it will teach us to make an
allowance for the apparent irregularities we find
below. Whenever we can examine the works of
the Deity at a proper p oint of diilance, fo as to
take in the whole of his defign, we fee nothing
but uniformity, beauty, and precifion. The hea-
vens prefent us with a plan, which, though in-
exprefiibly magnificent, is yet regular beyond the
power of invention. Whenever, therefore, we
find
THE BEAUTIES OP GOLDSMITH. 189.
find any apparent defecls in the earth, which we
are about to confider, inftead of attempting to
reafon ourfelves into an opinion that they are
beautiful, it will be wife to fay, that we do not
behold them at the proper point of diftance, and
that our eye is laid too clofe to the objecls to take
in the regularity of their connexion. In mort,
we may conclude, that God, who is regular in his
great productions, ails with equal uniformity in
the little.
HIST. OF THE EARTH, p. 7.
SECRECY.
A POET has a right to expeft the fame fecrecy
in his friend as in his confeflbr ; the fins he difco-
vers are not divulged for punimment, but pardon.
LIFE OF PARNELL, p. ig.
AS EM, THE MAN-HATER.
ERE Tauris lifts its head above the ftorm,
and prefents nothing to the fight of the diftant
traveller, but a profpect of nodding rocks, falling
torrents, and all the variety of tremendous nature ;
on the bleak bofom of this frightful mountain,
iecluded from fociety, and detefting the ways of,
men, lived Jfem the Man-hater..
dfem.
190 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
Afem had fpent his youth with men, had marei
in their amufements, and had been taught to love
his fellow-creatures with the molt ardent affection r
but, from the tendernefs of his difpofition, he ex-
haufted all his fortune in relieving the wants of the
diflrefled. The petitioner never fued in vain ; the-
weary traveller never pafled his door : he only de-
fifted from doing good when he had no longer the
power of relieving.
From a fortune thus fpent in benevolence, he-
expe&ed a grateful return from thofe he had for-
merly relieved ; and made his application with
confidence of redrefs. The ungrateful world foon
grew weary of his importunity; for pity is but a
Ihort-lived paffion. He foon, therefore, began to
view mankind in a very different light from that
in which he had before beheld them : he perceived
a thoufand vices he had never before fufpefted to
exift : wherever he turned, ingratitude, diffimuh-
tion, and treachery, contributed to increafe his de-
teftation of them. Rcfolved therefore to continue
no longer in- a world which he hated, and which
repaid his deteftation with contempt, he retired to
this region of fterility, in order to brood over his
refentment in folitude, aud converfe with the only
honeft heart he knew ; namely, with his own.
A-CfcVC was his only ihelter from the inclemency
of the weather ; fruits gathered with difficulty frora
the mount -ill's lide, hii only food ; and his drink
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 191
was fetched with danger and toil from the head-
long torrent. In this manner he lived, fequeftered
from fociety, pafling the hours in meditation, and
fometimes exulting that -he was able to live inde-
pendently of his fellow-creatures.
At the foot of the mountain, an extenfive lake
difplayed its glaffy boibm ; redeeming, on its broad
furface, the impending horrors of the mountain.
To this capacious mirror he would fometimes de-
fcend, and, reclining on its fteep bank, caft an
eager look on the fmooth expanfe that lay before
him. " How beautiful," he often cried, " is na-
ture ! how lovely, even in her wildcft fcenes ! How
finely con trailed is the level plain that lies beneath
me, with yon awful pile that hides its tremendous
head in clouds ! But the beauty of thefe fcenes is
no way comparable with their utility ; from hence
an hundred rivers are fupplied, which diflribute
health and verdure to the various countries through
which they flow. Every part of the univerfe is
beautiful, juit, and wife, but man : vile man is a
folecifm in nature ; the only moniter in the crea-
tion. Tempeils and whirlwinds have their ufe ;
but vicious, ungrateful man is a blot in the fair
page of uuiverfal beauty. Why was I born of that
detefted fpecies, whofe vices are almoft a reproach
to the wifdom of the divine Creator ! Were men
intirely free from vice, all would be uniformity,
harmony, and order. A world of moral rectitude
ihould be the refult of a perfectly moral agent.
Why,
192 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
Why, why then, O Alia ! mull I be thus confined
in darknefs, doubt, and defpairr"-
Juft as he uttered the word Defpnk, he was go-
ing to plunge into a lake beneath him, at once to
fadsfyhis doubts, and put a period to his anxiety;
when he perceived a moft majeftic being walking
on the furface of the water, and approaching the
bank on which he flood. So unexpected an cb-
jecl at once checked his purpofe ; he Hopped, con-
templated, and fancied he faw fomething awful
and divine in his afpecl.
" Son of Adam," cried the Genius, " ftop thy
rafh purpofe ; the Father of- the Faithful has feen
thy juftice, thy integrity, thy miferies, and hath
fent me to afford and adminifter relief. Give me
thine hand, and follow, without trembling, where-
ever I (hall lead; in me behold the Genius of Con-
viction, kept by the great prophet, to turn from
their errors thofe who go aftr.iy, not from curiofity,
bat a rectitude of intention. Follow me, and be
wife."
Afem immediately defcended upon the lake, and
his guide conducted him along the furface of the
water; 'till, coming near the centre of the lake,
they both began to fink ; the waters clofed over
their heads ; they defcended feveral hundred fa-
thoms, 'till Afem, juft ready to give up his'life as
inevitably loit, found himfel-f with his celeftial
guide
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 193
guide in another world, at the bottom of the
waters, where human foot had never trod before.
His aftonifhment was beyond defcription, when he
faw a fun like that he had left, a ferene iky over
his head, and blooming verdure under his feet.
" I plainly perceive your amazement," faid the
Genius ; *' but fufpend it for a while. This
world was formed by Alia, at the requeft, and
under the infpeftion, of our great prophet, who
once entertained the fame doubts which filled your
mind when I found you, and from the confequence
of which you were fo lately refcued. The rational
inhabitants of this world are formed agreeable lo>
your own ideas ; they are abfolutely without vice.
In other refpecls it refembles your earth, but dif-
fers from it in being wholly inhabited by men who
never do wrong. If you find this world more
agreeable than that you fo lately left, you have>
free penniflion to fpend the remainder of your
days in it ; but permit me, for fome time, to at-
tend you, that I may filence your doubts, and
make you better acquainted with your company
and your new habitation."
" A world without vice ! Rational beings with-
out immorality!" cried Afcm, in a rapture; "I
thank thee, O Alia, who haft at length heard my
petitions ; this, this indeed will produce happi-
ng, extafy, and cafe. O for an immortality ! to
fpend it among men who are incapable of ingra-
S titudc,
194 T-HE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
titudc, injuitice, fraud, violence, and a thoufuud
other crimes, that render feciety mifcrable."
*' Ceafe thine acclamations," replied the Ge-
nius. " Look around thee ; reflect on every ob-
ject and action before us, and communicate to me
the refult of thine obfervations. Lead wherever
you think proper ; I fhall be your attendant and
inftructor." Afem and his companion travelled on
in filence for fome time, the former being entirely
loft in aftpnifhment j but, at laft, recovering his
former^ferenity, he could not help obferving, that
the face of the country bore a very near refern-
blance to that he had left, except that this fub-
terranean world ftill feemed to retain its primaeval
ivildnefs.
" Here," cried dfem, " I perceive animals of
prey, and others that feem only defigned for their,
iubfiftance j it is the very fame in the world over
our heads. But, had I been permitted to inftruct
our prophet, I would have removed this defect,
and formed no voracious or deftrudtive animals,
which only prey on the other parts of the crea-
tion." " Your tendernefs for inferior animals is,
I find, remar.kable," faid the Genius, fmiling.
But, with regard to meaner creatures, this world
exactly refembles the other ; and, indeed, for ob-
vious reafons : for the earth can fupport a more
confiderable number of animals, by their thus be-
coming food for each other, than if they had lived
entirely
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMFTH. i 9 $
entirely on the vegetable productions ; fo that
animals of different natures, thus formed, inftead
of leflening their multitude, fubfift in the grcatefl
number poffible. But let us haften on to the in-
habited country before us, and fee what that offers
for inftru&ion.
They foon gained the utmoft verge of the f -reii,
'iid entered the country inhabited by men without
vice; and Afem anticipated, in idea, the rational
delight he hoped to experience in fuch an innocent
Tociety. But they had fcarce left the confines of
the wood", when they beheld one of the inhabi-
tants flying with ha fly fteps, and terror in his
countenance, from an army of fquirrels that clofely
purfued hirh. " Heavens!" cried dfem, <( why
does he fly ? What can he fear from animals fo
contemptibk ?" He had fcarce fpoke, when he
perceived two dogs purfuing another of the human
fpecies, who, with equal terror and hafte, at-
tempted to avoid them. " This," cried Afcm to
his guide, " is truly furprifing ; nor can I con-
ceive the reafon for fo ftrange an aftion." " Every
fpecies of animals," replied the Genius, " has of
late grown very powerful in this country ; for the
inhabitants, at firft, thinking it unjuft to ufe ei-
ther fraud or force in deftroying them, they have
infenfibly increafed, and now frequently ravage
their harrnlofc frontiers." " But they mould have
been deftroyed," cried d/em ; ""you fee the confe-
quence of fuch neglect." " \Vhere is then that
S 2 tender-
196 T-* BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
tendernds you fo lately exprelled for fubordinate
animals?" replied the Genius, fmiling : " you
feem to h~ve forgot that branch of juftice/' " I
muft acknowledge my miftafce," returned Afem ;
" 1 am now convinced that we muft be guilty o*
tyranny and injuftice to the brute creation, if we
would enjoy the world ourfelves. But let us no
longer obferve the duty of men to thefe irrational
creatures, but furvey their connexions with one
another.'*
As they walked farther up the country, the more
he was furprifed to fee no veftiges of handfome
houfes, no cities, nor any mark of elegant defign.
His conductor perceiving his furprife, obferved,
That the inhabitants of this new world were per-
fectly content with their ancient fimplicity ; each
had an houfe, which, though homely, was fuffi-
cient to lodge his little family ; they were too
good to build houfes, which would only increafe
their own pride, and the envy of the fpeftator ;
what they built was for convenience, not for (hew.
.". At leaft, then," faid Afsm, " they have neither
architects, painters, or ftatuaries, in their fociety ;
.but thefe are idle arts, and may be fpared. How-
ever, before I fpend much more time here, you
ihould have my thanks for introducing me into
_the fociety of feme of their wifcil men : there is
icarce any pleafure to. me equal to a refined con-
verfation ; there is nothing of which 1 am fo eaa r
rnoured 25 wifdom." " Wifdom!" replied his
inftruftt*.
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 197
inftruftor, " how ridiculous ! We have no wifdom
here, for we have no occafion for it ; true wifdom
is only a knowledge of our own duty, and the
duty of others to us : but of what ufe is fuch
wifdom here ? Each intuitively performs what is
right in himfelf, and expects the fame from others.
If, .by wifdom, you ihould mean vain curiofity
and empty fpeculation, as fuch pleafures have their
origin in vanity, luxury, or avarice, we are too
good to purfue them." " All this may be right,"
fays Afem ; but, methinks, I obferve a folitary
ciifpofition prevail among the people; each family-
keeps feparately within their own precinfts, with-
out fociety, or without intercourfe." " That,
indeed, is true," replied the other; " here is no
eftablHhed fociety ; nor ihould there be any : all
focieties are made either through fear or friend-
mip ; the people we are among, are too good to fear
each ether ; and there are no motives to private
friendmip, where all are equally meritorious."
" Well, then," faid the fceptic, " as I am to
fpend my time here, if I am to have neither the
polite arts, nor wifdom, nor friendship, in fuch a
world, I mould be glad, at leaft, of an eafy com-
panion, who may tell me his thoughts, and t
whom I may communicate mine." " Arid to what
purpofe mould either do this ?" fays the Genius :
" flattery or curiofity are vicious motives, and
never allowed here ; and wifdom is out of the
queftion.'*
S 3 " Still,
r98 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
" Still, however," faid Afem, " the inhabitants
muft be happy j each is contented with his own
poffeffions, nor avaricioufly endeavours to heap up
more than is neceffary for his own fubfiftence ;.
each has, therefore, leifure to pity thofe that {land
in need of his compaffion." He had fcarce fpoken,
when his ears were affaulted with the lamentations
of a wretch who fat by the way-fide, and, in the
moft deplorable diftrefs, feemed gently to murmur
at his own mifery. Afem immediately ran to his
relief, and found him in the laft ftage of a con-
fumption. " Strange," cried the fon of Adam,
* f that men who are free from vice fhould thus
" fuffer fo much mifery without relief!" " Be
not furprifed," faid the wretch who was dying ;
* would it not be the utmoft injuftice for beings,
who have only juft fufficient to fupport themfelves,
and are content with a bare fubfi&ence, to take
It from their own mouths to put it into mine r
They never . are poffefled of a fmgle meal more
than is neceffary ; and what is barely neceflary,
cannot be difpenfed with." " They mould have
been fupplied with more than is neceffary," cried
Afem y " and yet I contradict my own opinion but
a moment before : all is doubt, perplexity, and
confufion. Even the want of ingratitude is no
virtue here, fince they never received a favour.
They have, however, another excellence, yet be-
hind ; the love of their country is ftill, I hope,
one of their darling virtues." "Peace, Afa*!**
replied the guardian, with a countenance not lefs
fevere
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 19?
fevere than beautiful, " nor forfeit all thy preten-
fions to wifdom ; the fame felfifh motives by which
we prefer our own intereft to that of others, in-
duce us to regard our country preferable to that
of another. Nothing lefs than univerfal benevo-
lence is free from vice, and that you fee is prac-
tifed here." "Strange!" cries the difappointed
pilgrim, in an agony of diftrefs ; " what fort of a
world am I now introduced to ? There is fcarce a
fmgle virtue, but that of temperance, which they
pradlife ; and in that they are no way fuperior to
the very brute creation. There is fcarce an amufe-
ment which they enjoy ; fortitude, liberality, friend-
fhip, wifdom, converfation, and love of country, all
are virtues entirely unknown here ; thus it feems,
that to be unacquainted with vice, is not to know
virtue. Take me, O my Genius, back to that
very world which I have defpifed : a world which
has Alia for its contriver, is much more wifely
formed than that which has been projected by Ma-
homet. Ingratitude, contempt, and hatred I caa
now fuffer, for perhaps I have deferved them.
When I arraigned the wifdom of Providence, I
only mewed my own ignorance ; henceforth let me
keep from vice myfelf, and pity it in others."
He had fcarce ended, when the Genius, af-
fuming an air of terrible complacency, called all
his thunders around him, and vanifhed in a whirl-
wind. Afem> aftonifhed at the terror of the fcene,
looked for his imaginary world j when, catting his
eyes
ioo THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
eyes around, he perceived himfelf in the very
fituation, and in the very place, where he firft
began to repine and defpair ; his right foot had
been juft advanced to take the fatal plunge, nor
had it been yet withdrawn ; fo inftantly did Pro-
vidence ftrike the truths juft imprinted on his foul.
He now departed from the water- fide in tranquil-
lity, and, leaving his horrid manfion, travelled
to Segejtatt, his native city ; where he diligently
applied himfelf to commerce, and put in practice
that wifdom he had learned in folitnde. The fru-
gality of a few years foon produced opulence ;
the number of his domeftics increafed ; his friends
came to him from every part of the city ; nor did
he receive them with difdain ; and a youth of mi-
fcry was concluded with an old-age of elegance,
affluence, and eafe.
ESSAY ;6.
ENTERTAINMENT IN THE STUDY OF
TRIFLES.
TO a philofopher, no circumftance, however
trifling, is too minute ; he finds inftru&ion and
entertainment in occurrences which are pafTed
over by the reft of mankind as low, trite, and in-
different ; it is from the number of thefe particu-
lars, which, to many, appear infignificant, that
kc is at laft enabled to form general conclufions.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. J. p. 1 26.
CERE-
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 201
CEREMONY.
CEREMONIES are different in every country,
but true politenefs is every where the fame.
Ceremonies, which take up fo much of our atten-
tion, are only artificial helps which ignorance af-
furnes, in order to imitate politenefs, which is the
rcfult of good fenfe and good-nature. A perfon
pofleired of thofe qualities, though he had never
feen a court, is truly agreeable ; and, if without
them, would continue a clown, though he had
been all his life a gentleman ufher.
How would a Cbinefe, bred up in the formali-
ties of an eaftern court, be regarded, mould he
carry all his good manners beyond the Great Wall?
How would an Englijhman, Ikilled in all the deco-
rums of weftern good-breeding, appear at an eaft-
ern entertainnent ? Would he not be reckoned
more fantastically favage than even his unbred
footman ?
Ceremony refembles that bafe coin which circu-
lates through a country by the royal mandate ; it
ferves every purpofe of real money at home, but
is entirely ufelefs if carried abroad ; a perfon who
fhould attempt to circulate his native trafh in ano-
ther country, would be thought either ridiculous
or culpable. He is truly well-bred who knows
when to value and when to defpife thofc national
pecu-
202 THK BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
peculiarities which are regarded by fome with io
much obfervance. A traveller of tafte at once per-
eeives that the wife are politer all the world over j
but that fools are polite only at home.
IBID- v. i. p. 163.
LITERARY REPUTATION.
EVERY writer is now convinced that he mull
be chiefly indebted to good fortune for finding
readers willing to allow him any degree of repuy-
tation. It has been remarked, that almoft every
character which has excited either attention or
pity, has owed part of its fuccefs to merit, and
part to an happy concurrence of circumftances in
its favour. Had Ccefar or Crotonvell exchanged
countries, the one might have been a ferjeant, and
the other an excifeman. So it is with wit, which
generally fucceeds 1 more from being happily ad-
drefled, than from its native poignancy. A jeft
calculated to fpread at a gaming-table, may be
received with perfeft indifference ihould it happen
to drop in a mackarel-bcat. We have all feen
dunces triumph in fome companies, where men of
real humour were difregarded, by a general com-
bination in favour of Cupidity. To drive the ob-
fervation as far as it will, go, fhould the labours of
a writer who defigns his performances for readers
of a more refined appetite, fall into tlie hands of a
devourer of compilations, what can he exped
but contempt and confuiion ? Tf his merits are to-
be
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 203.
be determined by judges who cftimate the value of
a book from its bulk, or its frontifpiece, every
rival mull acquire an eafy fuperiority, who, with
perfuafive eloquence, promifes four extraordinary
pages of letter-prefs, or three beautiful prints,
curioufly coloured from nature.
SSAY I.
ALLUREMENTS OF QUALITY.
QUALITY and title have fuch allurements,
that hundreds are ready to give up all their own
importance, to cringe, to flatter., to look little,'
and to pall every pleafure in ccnilraint, merely to
be among the great, though without the kail hopes
of improving their underftanding or fharing their
generofity : they might -be happy among their
equals ; but thofe are defpifed for company, where
they are defpifed in turn.
CIT. F TH WORLD, V. I. p. IJ2.
MAGNIFICENCE OF THE DEITY.
THOUGH we fee the greatnefs and wifdom of
the Deity in all the feeming worlds that furround
us, it is our chief concern to trace him in that
which we inhabit. The examination of the earth,
the wonders of its contrivance, the hiftory of its
advantages, or of the feeming defefts in its for-
mation, are the proper bufmefs of the Natural
Hijlorian. A defcription of this earth, its ani-
mals, 'vegetables, and minerals, is the moft delight-
ful
2tJ4 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
ful entertainment the mind can be furnifhed with,
a-; it is the moil interefting and ufeful.
HIST. OF THE EARTH, p. 6.
R E M E M B R A N C E.
TO be mindful of an abfent friend in the hour;
of mirth and feafting, when his company is leaft
wanted, flie\vs no flight degree of fincerity,
LIFE OF PARNEL, p. l8.
THE STORY OF ALCANDER AND SEP-
TIMIUS,
TAKEN FROM A BYZANTINE HISTORIAN.
ATHENS, long after the decline of the Roman
ejnpire, ftill continued the feat of learning, po-
litenefs, and wifdom. Theodoric, the Qjlrogoth,
repaired the fchools which barbarity was fuffering
to fall into decay, and continued thofc penfions to
men of learning, which avaricious governors had
monopolized.
In this city, and about this period, Alcander and
Septimixs were fellow fludents together ; the one,
the inoft fubtle reafoner of all the Lyceum ; the
other, die moil eloquent fpeaker in the academic
grove. Mutual admiration foon begot a friend-
ship. Their fortunes were nearly equal, and they
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH, -^
\vere natives of the two moil celebrated cities in
the world; for Alcand>:r was of .Athens, S^tivi;-:*
came
In this ftate of harmony they lived for fome
time together, when Alcander, after patting the
ririt part of his youth in the indolence of philo-
lophy, thought at length of entering into the
bufy world ; and, as a Hep previous to this, placed
his affections on Hy. patio., a ladyof exquiiite beauty.
The day of their intended nuptials was fixed ; the
previous ceremonies were performed ; and nothing
now remained, but her being conducted in triumph
to the apartment of the intended bridegroom.
Alcander''?, exultation in his own happinefs, t>r
being unable to enjoy any fatisfaclion without
making his friend Septimius a partner, prevailed
upon him to introduce Hypatia to his fellow-ftu
dent ; which he did with all the gaiety of a man
who found himfelf equally happy in friendinip and
love. But this was an interview fatal to the future
peace of both ; for Septimius no fooner faw her,
but he was fmitten with an involuntary pafiion ;
and, though he ufed every effort to fupprefs defires
at once fo imprudent and unjuft, the emotions of
his mind in a fhort time became fo ftrong, that
they brought on a fever, which the phyficians
judged incurable.
During this illnefs, Ahander watched him \vith
all the anxiety of fondnefs, and brought his mi-
T ftrefs
teo5 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH,
ftrefs to join in thofe amiable offices of friendfhip.
The fagacity of the phyiicians, by thefe means,
loon discovered that the caufe of their patient's
diforder was love; anddlcaxJer, bsing apprifed of
their difcovery, at length extorted a confeffion from
the reluctant dying lover.
It would but delay the narrative to defcribe the
conflict between love and friendfnip in the breaft
of Alcander on this occafioTi ; it .is enough to fay,
that the Athenians were at that time arrived at fuch
refinement in morals, that every virtue was carried
to excefs. In fhort, forgetful of his o\vn felicity,
he gave up his intended bride, in all her charms,
to the young.Romart. They were married privately
by his connivance, and this unlooked-for change
of fortune wrought as unexpected a change in the
conftitution of the now happy Septimius. In a few
days he was perfectly recovered, and fet out with
his fair partner for Rome. Here, by an exertion of
thofe talents which he was fo eminently pofleffed
of, Septktifus, in a few years, arrived at the higheft
dignities of the ftate, and \vas conltituted the city-
judge, or prajtor.
Tn the mean time. Alce.nder not only felt the pain
of being feparated from his friend and his miftrefs,
-but a profecution was alfo commenced again it him,
by the relations of Hypatia, for having bafely giveji
up his bride, as was fuggeiled, for money. His
innocence of the crime laid to his charge, and even
his eloquence in Ms own defence, were not able to
withstand
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 207
whhftand the influence of a powerful party. He
\va.s caft, anil condemned to pay an enormous fine.
However, being unable to raife fo large a fum at
the time appointed, his pofieffions were connfcated,,
he himfelf was (hipped of the habit of freedom, .
expofed as a flave in the market-place, and ibid
to the higheit bidder.
A merchant of Ttrrcc becoming his purchafer,
Aicaxjer, with ibme other companions of di'lrcfs,
was carried into that region of deiblation and fteri-
Hty.- His itated employment was to follow the
Ker.js of an imperious mailer, and his fuccefs in
hunting was all that was allowed him to fupply
his precarious fubfiftence. Every morning waked
him. to a renewal of - famine or toil, and every
change of feafcn' ferved but to aggravate his un-
fheitcrcd diftrcfs. After fome years cf bondage,
however, an opportunity of efcaping offered ; he
embraced it with ardour; fo that, travelling by
night, and lodging in caverns by day, to fhorten
a long itory, he at laft arrived in Rome. The fume
day en which Alcandtr arrived, Septimius fat ad-
miniftering juftice in the forum, whither our wan-
derer came, expecting to be inftantly known, and
publicly acknowledged, by his former friend.
Here he itcod the whole day amongft the crowd,
watching the eyes of the judge, and expecting to
bfe taken notice of; bu.t he was fo much altered by
a long fucceffion of hardi>.ips, that he continued
unnoticed among the reil ; and, in the evening,
T. 2.. when
208 THE BEAUTIES or GOLDSMITH,
when he was going up to the prstor's chair, he
was brutally repulfed by the attending lictors.
The attention of the poor is generally driven from
cne ungrateful object to another; for night com-
ing on., he now found himfelf under a neceffity of
leaking a place to lie in, and yet knew not where
to apply. All emaciated and in rags, as he was,
none of the citizens would harbour fo much wretch-
ednefs ; and fleeping in the ftreets might be at-
tended with interruption or danger : in fhort, he
was obliged to take up his lodging in one of the
tombs without the city, the ufual retreat of guilt,
poverty, and defpair. In this manfion of horror,
laying his head upon an inverted urn, he forgot
his miferies icr awhile in fleep ; and found, on
his flinty couch, more eafe than beds of down can
fupply to the guilty.
As he continued here, about midnight, two
robbers came to make this their retreat ; but, hap=.
pening to difagree about the divifion of their plun-
der, one of them (tabbed the other to the heart,
and left him weltering in blood at the entrance.
In thefe circumftances he was found next morning,
dead, at the mouth of the vault. This naturally
inducing a further enquiry, an alarm was fpread ;
the cave was examined ; and Alcandcr being found,
was immediately apprehended, and accufed of rob-
bery and murder. The circumftances ng.nnit him
were ftrong, and the wretchednefs of his appear-
ance confirmed fufpicion. Misfortune and he were
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 209
now fo long acquainted, that he at laft became re-
gardlefs of life. He detefted a world where he had
found only ingratitude, falfehood, and cruelty ;
he was determined to make no defence; and thus,
lowering with refolution, he was dragged, bound
with cords, before the tribunal of Septirr.ius. As
the proofs were pofitive againft him, and he offered
nothing in his own vindication,: the judge was pro-
ceeding to doom him to a moft cruel and ignomi-
nious death, when the attention of the multitude
was foon divided by another (JBjecT. The robber,
who had been really guilty, was apprehended fell-
ing his plunder/ and, ftruck with a panic, had
confeffed his crime. He was brought bound to
the fame tribunal, and acquitted every other pcr-
fon of any partnership in his guilt. .Alcander's in-
nocence therefore appeared, but the .fallen raflinefs
of his conduit remained a wonder to the furroand-
ing multitude ; but their aftor.ifhment was ftill fui-
ther increafed, .when they faw their judge {tart
from his tribunal to embrace.the fuppofed criminal.
Se,ptim:us recollected his friend arid former bene-
faftor, and hung upon his neck with tears of pity
and of joy. Need the fequel be related ? Meander
was acquitted ; Shared the friendfhip and honours
of the principal citizens of Rome ; lived afterwards
in- happinefs and eafc ; and left it to be engraved
on his tomb, That no circumftances are fo defpe-
rajp, which Providence may not relieve.
ESSAY 2.
T 3 CON-
zip THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
CONTEMPT OF THE IGNORANT.
THERE are fome of fuperior abilities .who re-
verence and efteem each other ; but then mutual
admiration is not fufficient to mield oft" the con-
tempt of the crowd. The wife are but few, and
they praife with a feeble voice ; the vulgar are
many, und. roar in reproaches. The truly great
feldom unite in focieties, have few meetings, no
cabals; the dunces hunt in full cry till they have
run down a reputation, and then fnarl and fight
with each other about dividing the fpoil. * Here
you may fee the compilers, and the book-anfwerers
of every month, when they have cut np fome re-
fpetlable name, moft frequently reproaching each
other with ftupidity and dullnefs ; refembling the
v,plves of the Ruffian forelt, who prey upon veni-
fc.n, or horfe-fiefh, when they ean get it; but, in
cafes of neceffity, lying in wait to devour each'
other. While they have new books to cut up,
they make a hearty meal; but if this refource
jfhould unhappily fail, then it is that critics eat up
critics, and compilers rob from compilations.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. I. p. 73.
PLEASURES OF RURAL RETIREMENT.
WlIEN I refleft on the unambitious retire-
ment in which I pafTed the earlier part of my- life
in the country, I cannot avoid feeling fome pain
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH: 2ir;
in thinking that thofe happy days re never to re-
turn. In that retreat, all nature feemed capable
of affording pleafure: I then made no. refinements
ecu happinefs, but could be pleafediwith the moll
aukward efforts of rulHc mirth ; thought crofs-
purpofes the higheft ftretch of human- wit, and
cjueftions and commands the raoft rational way of.
fpending the evening. Happy could fa charming
an illufion ftill continue! I find that age and
knowledge only contribute to 'four our difpofitions.
My prefent enjoyments may be more refined, but:
they are infinitely lefs pleafing. The pleafure the;
beft a&or gives, can- no way compare to that I
have received from a country wag who imitated a
Quaker's fermon. The munc of the fineit finger:
is diflbnance to what I felt when our old dairy-
maid fang me into tears with Johnny Armfirong 1 ^
Laft Good Night, or the Cruelty of Bar bar a Allen.
Writers of every age- have endeavoured to fhev/.
that pleafure is in us, and not in the obje&s of-
fered for our amufement. If the foul be happily,
difpofed, every thing becomes capable of afford-
ing entertainment ; and diftrefs will .almoft want a
name. Every occurrence pafles in review like the
figures of a procefiion ; fome may be aukward,,
othe'rs ill-drefled ; but none but a fool is for this
enraged with the mailer of the ceremonies.
I remember to have once feen a Have in a forti-
fication in Flanders, who appeared no way touched
with
.-12 T a E BEAUTIES o ? -GOLDSMITH. '
with his Situation. He was maimed, deformed,
and chained ; obliged to toil from the appearance
of day till night-fall ; and condemned to this for
life: yet, v.'ith all thefc circumitances of apparent
wretchednefs, he fang, would have danced but that
he wanted a leg, and appeared the merricrt, hap-
pieft man of all the garrifon. What a practical
philoff-pher was here ! An happy conltitution fup-
plied philofophy ; and, though feemingly deftitute
of wifdom, he v/as really wife. No reading- or
ri contributed to difenchant the fuiry-land
around him: every thing fr.rnithed him with an
opportunity of mirth ; and, .though fome thought
him, from his iniennbility, a fool, he was fuch an
ideot as philosophers mould wilh to imitate ; for
all philofophy is only forcing the trade of happi-
aefs, when nature feems to have denied the means.
They who, like our flave, can place themfelves
en that fide of the world in which every thing ap-
pears in a pleafmg light, will find fomething in
every occurrence to excite their good-humour.
The moft calamitous events, either to themfelves
cr others, can bring no new afHiftion ; the whole
world is to them a theatre, on which comedies
only sre aclted. All the buille of heroifm, or the
rants cf ambition,- ferve only to heighten the ab-
furdity of the fcene, aad make the humour more
poignant. They feel, in fhort, as little anguifh
at their own diftrefs, or the complaints of others,
as the undertaker, though dreffed in black, feels
forraw at a funeral,
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 21^
Of all the men I ever read of, the famous Car-
dinal de Retz poflefled this happinefs of temper in
the higheft degree. As he was a man of gallantry,
and defpifed all that wore the pedantic appearance
of philofophy, wherever pleafure was to be fold,
he was generally foremofl to raife the auflion. Be-
ing an univerfal admirer of the fair fex, when he
found one lady cruel, he generally fell in love
with another, from whom he expefted a more fa-
vourable reception : if me, too, rejected his ad-
drefles, he never thought of retiring into deferts r
or pining in hopeleis diftrefs : he perfuaded him-
felf, that, inftead of loving the lady, he only fan-
cied that he had loved her ; and fo all was well
again. When Fortune wore her angrieft look, and
he at laft fell into the power of his moft deadly
enemy, Cardinal Mazari ne, (being confined a clofe
prifoner in the caftle of Valenciennes,} he never at-
tempted to fuppcrt his diftrefs by wifdom or phi-
lofophy, for he pretented to neither. He only
laughed at himfelf and his perfecutor, and feemed
infinitely pleafed at his new fituation. In this
manfion of diftrefs, thoug-h fecluded from his
friends, though denied- all the amufements, and.
even the conveniences, of life, he ftill retained
his good-humour ;- laughed at all the little fpite of
his enemies ; and carried the jcft fo far, as to be
revenged, by writing the life of his gaoler.
All that the wifdom of the proud can teach, is
to he Stubborn or- fallen undfrmisfortur.es. Tha .
Cardinal'.;.
M4 THE BEAUTIES o? GOLDSMITH.
Cardinal's example -will inftrucl us to he merry in
circumitances of the higheil amiclion. It matttrs
not whether- our good-hirmour be conftrued by
others into infenilbility, or even ideotiim ; it is
happinefs to ourfelves, and none but a fool would
meafure his fatbfaction i>y what the world thinks
of it. For my own part, I never pafs by one of
cur prifons for debt, tha,t I do not envy that feli-
city which is ftill going forward among- thofe peo-
ple, who forget the cares of the world by being
lliut out from its ambition .-
TKe happicft filly fellow I ever kotw, wa of.
the number of thofe good-natured creatures that
tte faid to do no harm to any but themfelves.
Whenever he fell into any mifeiy, he ufuaify.
called it, Seeing Life. If his head was broke by
a chairman, or his pocket picked by a fharper, he
comforted hiuUelf by imitating the Hibernian dia-
led of the one, or the more faihicmable cant of
the other. Nothing came araifs to him. His in-
Ettention to money matters had incenfed his rather .
to fuch a degree, that all the interceilion of friends
in his favour was fruitLefs. The old gentleman
was on his death-bed. The whole family, and
Di(k among the number, gathered around him.
" I leave my feccnd fon, Andrew " faid the ex- _
piring mifer, " my whole eftate, and denre him
to be frugal." Andrew, in a forrowful tone, as
is, ufual on thefe occafions, pm-ed Heaven to pro-
long his life and heakh to enjoy it him&if. " I
recora- -
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 215
recommend Simony my third fon, to the care of
his elder brother, and leave him, befide, four thu-
fand pounds." " Ah ! father," cried Simon (in
great afiliciion, to be fure), " May Heaven give
you life and health to enjoy it yourfelf." At lair,
.turning to poor Dick, " As for you, you have al-
ways been a fad dog ; you'll never come to good ;
you'll never be rich ; I'll leave you a milling to
buy an halter." " Ah ! father," cries Dick, with-
out any emotion, " may Heaven give you life and
health to enjoy it yourfeif!" This was all the
trouble the lofs of fortune gave this thoughtlefs
imprudent creature. However, the tendernefs of
an uncle recompenfed the neglecl of a father ; and
my friend is now not only exceflively good-hu-
moured, but competently rich.
Yes, let the world cry out at a bankrupt who
appears at a ball ; at an author who laughs at the
public, which pronounces him a dunce ; at a ge-
neral who fmiles at the reproach of the vulgar, or
the lady who keeps her good-humour in fpite of
fcandal ; but fuch is the wifeft behaviour that any
of us can poffibly afi'ume ; it is certainly a better
way to oppofe calamity by diffipation, than to take
up the arms of reafon or refolution to oppcfe it :
by the firft method, we forget our miseries ; by the
laft, we only conceal them from others : by ftrug-
gling with misfortunes, we are fure to receive fome
wounds in the conflict ; but a fure method to come
off vi&orious, is by running away.
ESSAY 3.
2i6 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
BENEFITS ARISING FROM LUXURY,
THOSE philosophers, who declaim againil
luxury, have but little undcrilood its benefits ;
they feem infenfible, that to luxury we owe not
only the greatefl part of our knowledge, but even
of our virtues.
It may found fine in the mouth of a declaimer,
when he talks of fubduing our appetite?, of teach-
ing every fenfe to be content with a bare fufiiciency,
and of fupplying only the wants of nature ; but is
there not more fatisfaction in indulging thofe ap-
petites, if with innocence and fafety, than In re-
iLraining them ? Am not I better pleafed in enjoy-
ment, than in the. fullen fatisfaclion cf thinking
that I can live without enjoyment ?
The mere various our artificial necefiities, the
wider is our circle of pleafure ; for all pleafure
confifts in obviating neceffities as they rife : luxu-
ry, therefore, as it increafes our wants, increafes
our capacity for happinefs.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. I. p. 35.
In whatfoever light we confider luxury, whether
as employing a number of hands naturally too
feeble for more laborious employment ; as finding
a variety of occupation for others who might be
totally idle ; or as furnilhing out new inlets to
happinefs, without incaoaching on mutual pro-
perty :
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 217
perty ; in whatever light we regard it, we maH
have reafon to ftand up in its defence: and the
fentiment of Confucius ftill remains unftiaken ;
That we Jh'juld enjoy as many of the luxuries of life
as are confijlent nvitb our own fifty* ond the pro-
fperity of others ; and that he 'who finds out a xe=ut
pleafure, is one of the moft ufeful members of fociety.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. I. p. 37.
MODESTY.
THERE is not, perhaps, a more whimfical
figure in nature, than a man of real modefty, who
affumes an air of impudence ; who, while his
heart beats with anxiety, ftudies eafe, and affefls
good-humour. In this fituation, however, every
unexperienced writer finds himfelf. Imprefled with
the terrors of the tribunal before which he is going
to appear, his natural humour turns to pertnefs,
and for real wit he is obliged to fubftitute vivacity.
* S O N G,
Intended for Mifs HARDCASTLE, in the Comedy of
SHE STOOPS TO CONQJIER ; but, as Mrs. Bul-
keley could not fing, it was omitted.
A.H me ! when mail I marry me ?
Lovers are plenty ; but fail to relieve me :
He, fond youth, that could carry me,
Offers to love, but means to deceive me.
U Bat
* Fbii Song was communicated to the Public, fy
Mr. Bofwell, fate the Dofior's death*
zi8 THE BEAUTIES OP GOLDSMITH.
But I will rally, and combat the miner :
Not a look, not a fmile, fhall my paffion difcovcr :
She that gives all to the falfe one purfuing her,
Makes but a penitent, lofes a lover.
GENEROSITY.
GENEROSITY is the part of a foul raifed
above the vulgar. There is in it fomething of
what we admire in heroes, and praife with a degree
of rapture.
In paying his debts a man barely does his duty,
and it is an a&ion attended with no fort of glory.
Should Lyjippus fatisfy his creditors, who would
be at the pains of telling it to the world? Gene-
rofity is a virtue of a very different complexion.
It is raifed above duty, and, from its elevation,
attracts the attention and the praifes of us little
mortals below.
ESSAY 6.
MISPLACED VIRTUES.
AMONG men long converfant with books, we
too frequently find mifplaced virtues. We find
the ftudious animated with a ftrong paffion for the
great virtues, as they are miilakenly called, and
utterly forgetful of the ordinary ones. The de-
clamations of philofophy are generally rather ex-
haufted on thofe fupererogatory duties, than on
fuch as are indifpenfibly neceflary. A man, there-
fore,
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 219
fore, who has taken his idea^ of mankind from
ftudy alone, generally comes into the world with
an heart melting at every fictitious diftrefs. Thus
he is induced, by mifplaced liberality, to put him-
felf into the indigent circumftances of the perfon
he relieves.
ESSAY 6.
PRIDE OF THE E N fa. I S H. ' : .
THE Englijb feem as filent as the Japaneje t
yet vainer than the inhabitants of Siam. Conde-
fcend to addrefs them firit, and you are fure of
their acquaintance ; Hoop to flattery, and you con-
ciliate their friendfliip and efteem. They bear
hunger, cold, fatigue, and all the miferics of life,
without fhrinking ; danger only calls forth their
fortitude ; they even exult in calamity : but con-
tempt is what they cannot bear. An Englifiman
fears contempt more than death ; he often flies to
death as a refuge from its preflure, and dies when
he fancies the world has ceafed to eiteem him.
Pride feems the fource not only of their national
vices, but of their national virtues alfo. An Eng-
lijkman is taught to love his king as his friend,
but to acknowledge no other matter than the laws
which himfelf has contributed to enaft. He de-
fpifes thofe nations, who, that one may be free,
are all content to be flaves ; who firft lift a tyrant
into terror, and then Ihhnk under his power, as if
delegated from heaven. Liberty is echoed in all
U 2 their
220 TE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
their aflemblies, and thoufands might be found
ready to offer up their lives for the found, though
perhaps not one of all the number underftands its
meaning. The loweft mechanic, however, Iroks
upon it as his duty to be a watchful guardian of
his country's freedom, and often ufes a language
that might .fcem haughty, even in the mouth of
the great emperor who traces his anceftry to the
moon.
C1T. OF THE WORLD, V. I . p. IO.
REPUTATION.
THE great are folicitcus only of railing their
own reputations; while the oppofite clafs, alas!
are felicitous of bringing every reputation down
to a level with their own.
IBID. p. 75.
PICTURE OF A CRITIC.
A CRITIC is often guided by the fame motives
that direct his author. The author endeavours to
perfuade us, that he has written a good book : the
critic is equally felicitous to mew that he could
write a better, had he thought proper. A critic
is a being poflefTed of all the vanity, but not the
genius, of a fcholar ; incapable, from his native
\veaknefs, of lifting himfelf from the ground, he
applies to contiguous merit for fupport, makes the
fportive fallies of another's imagination his ferious
employment, pretends to take our feelings under
hi?
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 221
his care, teaches where to condemn, where to lay
the cmphafis of praife, and may with as much
juftice be called a man of tafte, as the Chinefe who
meafures his wifdom by the length of his nails.
If,' then , a book, fpirited or humorous, hap-
pens to appear in the republic of letters, feveraj
critics are in waiting to bid the public not tolaugk
at a fmgle line of it, for themfelves had read it ;
and they know what is moft proper to excite laugh-
ter. Other critics contradict the fulminations of
th;'_. tribunal, call them all fpiders, and affure the
public, that they ought to langh without reftraint.
Another fet are in the mean time quietly employed
in writing notes to the book, intended to mew the
particular paffages to be laughed at : when thefe
are out, others Hill there are who write notes upon
notes. Thus a fmgle new book employs not only
the paper-makers, the printers, the prefs-men, the
book binders, the hawkers, but twenty critics, and
as many compilers. In mort, the body of the
learned may be compared to a Per/tan army, where
. th< r re are many pioneers, feveral futlers, number-
lefs fcrvants, women and children in abundance^
and but few fotdiers.
CIT. OF THE WORLD, V. I. p. 75.
FORTUNE
222 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
FORTUNE THE ONLY REPRESENTATIVE
OF LOVE AND AEFECTION AMONG THE
MODERNS.
J. H E formalities, delays, and difappointments,
that precede a treaty of marriage * here, are ufually
as numerous as thofe previous to a treaty of peace.
The laws of this country are finely calculated to
promote all commerce, but the commerce between
the fexes. Their encouragements for propagating
hemp, madder, and tobacco, are indeed admira-
ble ! Marriages are the only commodity ^that meets
with difcouragement.
Yet, from the vernal foftnefs of the air, the
terdure of the fields, the tranfparency of the
ilreams, and the beauty of the women, I know
few countries more proper to invite to courtfhip.
Here Love might fport among painted lawns and
warbling groves, and revel amidft gales wafting
at once both fragrance and harmony. Yet it feems
he has forfaken the ifland ; and when a couple are
now to be married, mutual love, or an union of
minds, is the laft and moft trifling confideration*
If their goods and chattels can be brought to
unite, their fympathetic fouls are ever ready to-
guarantee the treaty. The gentleman's mort-
gaged lawn becomes enamoured of the lady's mar-
riageable grove ; the match is ftruck up ; and both
parties are pioufly in lov it according to ad of
parliament.
Thus
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 223
Thus, they \vho have forum?, are pofleffed at
leaft of fomething that is lovely; but I aclually
pity thofe who have none. I am told there was a
time, when ladies, with no other merit but youth,
virtue, and beauty, had a chance for hufbands, at
leaft amongft our clergymen and officers. The
blufh and innocence of fixteen was faid to have a
powerful influence over thefe two profeffions. But
of late, all the little traffic of bluihing, ogling,
dimpling, and fmiling, has been forbidden by an
acb in that cafe wifely made and provided. A
lady's whole cargo of fmiles, fighs, and whifpers,
is declared utterly contraband, till me arrives in
the warm latitude of twenty-two, where commo-
dities of this nature are too often found to decay.
She is then permitted to dimple and froile, when
the dimples begin to forfake her ; and, when per-
haps grown ugly, is charitably intrufted with an
unlimited ufe of her charms. Her lovers, how-
ever, by this time, have forfaken her ; the captain
has changed for another miftrefs ; the prieft him-
felf leaves her in folitude, to bewail her virginity,
and me dies even without benefit of clergy.
Thus you find the Europeans difcouraging-
love with as much earneftnefs as the rudeft favage
of Scfala, The Genius is furely now no more.
In every region there feem enemies in arms to
opprefs him. Avarice in Europe, jealoufy in Per-
Jia, ceremony in China, poverty among the Tar-
tars t and lull in Circ.aj/ui, are all prepared to op-
pofe
224. THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH.
pofe his power. The Genius is certainly bammed
from earth, though once adored under fuch a va-
riety of forms. He is no where to be found ; jmd
all that the ladies of each country can produce,
arc but a few trifling reiiques, as inftances of his.
former refidence and favour.
'* The Genius of Love," fays the Eaflern Apo-
logue, " had long reftded in the happy plains of
Abra, where every breeze was health, and every
/bund produced tranquillity. His temple at firft
was crowded, bat every age leffened the number
of his votaries, or cooled their devotion. Perceiv-
ing, therefore, his altars at length quite deferted,
he was refclved to remove to fome more propitious
region ; and he apprifed the fair fex of every
country, where he could hope for a proper recep-
tion, to affert their right to his prefence among
thefn. In return to this proclamation, emba flies
were fent from the ladies of every part of the
world to invite him, and to difplay the fuperiority
o their claims.
*' And, firft, the beauties of China appeared.
No country could compare with them for modelty,
either of look, drefs, or behaviour ; their eyes
were never lifted from the ground ; their robes, of
the moft beautiful f:lk, hid their hands, bofom,
and neck, while their faces only were left unco-
Tered. They indulged no airs that might exprefs
loofe deiire, and they fcemed to lludy only the
graces
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. tz^
graces of inanimate beauty. Their black teeth.
and plucked eye-brows were, however, alledged
by the Genius againfl them ; but he fet them en-
tirely afide, when he came to examine their little
feet.
" The beauties of Clrcajfia next made their ap-
pearance. They advanced, hand in hand, fmg-
ing the moft immodeit airs, and leading up a dance
in the moil luxurious attitudes. Their drefs was
but half a covering ; the neck, the left breafl, and
?J1 the limbs were expofed to view ; which, after
feme time, feemed rather to fatiate than inflame
defire. The lily and the rofe contended in form-
ing their complexions ; and a foft fleepinefs of
eye added irrefiftible poignance to their charms :
but their beauties were obtruded, not offered, to
their admirers ; they feemed to give, rather than
receive courtihip ; and the Genius of Love dif-
miffed them as unworthy his regard, fince they
exchanged the duties of love, and made themfelves
not the purfued, but the purfuing fex.
" The kingdom of Kajhmire next produced its
charming deputies. This happy region feemed
peculiarly fequeftered by Nature for his abode.
S^ady mountains fenced it on one fide from the
fcorching fun; and fea-born breeze?, on the other,
gave peculiar luxuriance to the air. Their com-
plexions were of a bright yellow, that appeared
trar.ip'ircnt, while the cnmfon tulip feemed
to
226 THE BEAUTIES er GOLDSMITH.
to bio/Tom on their cheeks. Their features and
limbs were delicate beyond the ftatuary's power to
exprefs ; and their teeth whiter than their own
ivory. He was almoft perfuaded to refide among
them, when, unfortunately, one of the ladies
talked of appointing his feraglio.
" In this proceffion the naked inhabitants of
Southern America would not be left behind: their
charms were found to furpafs whatever the warm-
eit imagination could conceive ; and ferved to
mew, that beauty could be perfect, even with the
feeming difadvantage of a brown complexion. But
their favage education rendered them utterly un-
qualified to make the proper ufe of their power,
and they were rejected as being incapable of uni-
ting mental with fehfual fatisfa&ion. In this man-
ner the deputies of other kingdoms had their fuits
rejected : the block beauties of Benin, and the
tawny daughters of Borneo, the women of Wida
with fcarred faces, and the hideous virgins of Ca~
fraria ; the fquab ladies of Lapland, three feet
high, and the giant fair-ones of Patagonia.
" The beauties of Europe at laft appeared ; grace
in their fteps, and fenfibility fmiling in every eye.
It was the univerfal opinion, while they were ap-
proaching, that they would prevail ; and the Ge-
nius feemed to lend them his moli favourite at-
tention. They opened their pretenfions with the
utmoft modefty ; but unfortunately, as tluir on-.-.
THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH. 227
tor proceeded, (he happened to let fall the words,
* Houfe in Town, Settlement, and Pin-money.'
Thefe feemingly harmlefs terms had inftantly a
furprifing effect : the Genius, with ungovernable
rage, buril from amidil the circle j and, waving
his youthful pinions, left this earth, and flew back
to thofe setherial manlions from whence he de-
fcended.
" The whole afiembly was ftruck with amaze-
ment; they now juftly apprehended that female
power would be no more, fince love had forfaken
them. They continued fome time thus in a ftate
of torpid defpair, when it was propofed by one
of the number, that, fmce the real Genius of Love
had left them, in order to continue their power,
they fhould fet up an idol in his ftead ; and that
the ladies of every country fhould furniih him with
what each liked beft. This propofal was inftantly
relifhed and agreed to. An idol of gold was
formed by uniting the capricious gifts of all the
afTembly, though no way refembling the departed
Genius. The ladies of China furnifhed the mon-
fter with wings ; thofe of Knjhmire fupplied him
with horns ; the dames of Europe clapped a purfe
into his hand ; and the virgins of Congo furnifhed
him with a tail. Since that time, all the vows ad-
dreffed to Love, are, in reality, paid to the idcl ;
while, as in other falfe religions, the adoration
feems molt fervent, where the heart is leaft fincere.
ESSAY 23.
COUN-
223 THE BEAUTIES OF GOLDSMITH
COUNTENANCE TO THE VULGAR.
WHATEVER may become of the higher or-
ders of mankind, who are generally pofleffed of
collateral motives to virtue, the vulgar ihnuld be
particularly regarded, whofe behaviour in civil
life is totally hinged upon their hopes and fer>r<.
Thofe who conftitute the bafis of the great fabric
of fociety, fhould be particularly regarded ; for,
in policy-as in architecture, ruin is moft fatal when
it begins from the bottom.
ESSAY 14.
OPINION OF THE GENIUS OF VOLTAIRE.
BETWEEN Voltaire and the difciples of Ccn-
fuciui there are many differences ; however, be-
ing of a different opinion does not in the leaft di-
minilh my efteem. I am not difpleafed with my
brother, becaufe he happens to aflc our father for
favours in a different manner from me- Let his
errors reft in peace ; his excellencies deferve admi-
ration : let me, with the wife, admire his wifdom ;
let the envious and the ignorant ridicule his fci-
bles ; the folly of others is ever moft ridiculous to
thofe who are themfelves moft foolilh.
IBID. p. 187.
THE END.
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