Mr. Prior (_Life of Goldsmith_, vol. i. p. 387.) gives the copy of a
receipt dated March 5, 1762, for three guineas paid by Newbery to
Goldsmith for a pamphlet respecting the Cock Lane ghost, and suggests
that a pamphlet advertised in the _Public Advertiser_ of February 22,
1762, under the title of--
"The Mystery Revealed, containing a Series of Transactions and
Authentic Memorials respecting the Supposed Cock Lane Ghost.
Printed for W. Bristow in St. Paul's Church Yard;"
but which Mr. Prior had not been able to meet with, might possibly be
the pamphlet purchased by Newbery, as he had occasional connexion with
Bristow, his neighbour.
I have a copy of the pamphlet in question which indeed, as far as I can
find, is the only one published at the time which can at all answer to
the description of the one sold by Newbery. On a careful examination I
am disposed to attribute it to Goldsmith. It contains thirty-four pages,
and gives a full narrative of this extraordinary imposture. The
beginning and conclusion, though evidently written in haste, are not
without marks of Goldsmith's serious and playful manner. The amount paid
seems to agree with Newbery's general scale of remuneration to
Goldsmith, the length of the pamphlet being considered; and the types
employed appear to be similar to those used in some of Newbery's
publications at the same period. On the whole I consider that in a new
edition of Goldsmith's works this pamphlet, which is additionally
interesting, as a record of a famous imposture, ought to find a place.