[1214] Published in 1760-1.
[1215] See his Epitaph in Westminster Abbey, written by Dr. Johnson.
BOSWELL.
'Qui nullum fere scribendi genus
Non tetigit,
Nullum quod tetigit non ornavit.'
_Post_, under June 22, 1776.
[1216] In allusion to this, Mr. Horace Walpole, who admired his
writings, said he was 'an inspired ideot;' and Garrick described him
as one
'----for shortness call'd Noll,
Who wrote like an angel, and
talk'd like poor Poll.'
Sir Joshua Reynolds mentioned to me that he frequently heard Goldsmith
talk warmly of the pleasure of being liked, and observe how hard it
would be if literary excellence should preclude a man from that
satisfaction, which he perceived it often did, from the envy which
attended it; and therefore Sir Joshua was convinced that he was
intentionally more absurd, in order to lessen himself in social
intercourse, trusting that his character would be sufficiently supported
by his works. If it indeed was his intention to appear absurd in
company, he was often very successful. But with due deference to Sir
Joshua's ingenuity, I think the conjecture too refined. BOSWELL.
Horace Walpole's saying of the 'inspired ideot' is recorded in Davies's
_Garrick_, ii. 151. Walpole, in his _Letters_, describes Goldsmith as 'a
changeling that has had bright gleams of parts,' (v. 458); 'a fool, the
more wearing for having some sense,' (vi. 29); 'a poor soul that had
sometimes parts, though never common sense,' (_ib_. p. 73); and 'an
idiot, with once or twice a fit of parts,' (_ib_. p. 379).
Garrick's lines--
'Here lies Nolly Goldsmith, for shortness called Noll,
Who wrote like an angel, but talked like poor Poll,'
are his imaginary epitaph on Goldsmith, which, with the others, gave
rise to _Retaliation_. Forster's _Goldsmith_, ii. 405.
[1217] Rousseau accounting for the habit he has 'de balbutier
promptement des paroles sans idées,' continues, 'je crois que voilà de
quoi faire assez comprendre comment n'étant pas un sot, j'ai cependant
souvent passé pour l'être, même chez des gens en état de bien juger....
Le parti que j'ai pris d'écrire et de me cacher est précisément celui
qui me convenait. Moi présent on n'aurait jamais su ce que je valois, on
ne l'aurait pas soupconné même.' _Les Confessions_, Livre iii. See
_post_, April 27, 1773, where Boswell admits that 'Goldsmith was often
very fortunate in his witty contests, even when he entered the lists
with Johnson himself:' and April 30, 1773, where Reynolds says of him:
'There is no man whose company is more liked.'
[1218] Northcote, a few weeks before his death, said to Mr.
Prior:--'When Goldsmith entered a room, Sir, people who did not know him
became for a moment silent from awe of his literary reputation; when he
came out again, they were riding upon his back.' Prior's _Goldsmith_, i.
440. According to Dr. Percy:--'His face was marked with strong lines of
thinking. His first appearance was not captivating; but when he grew
easy and cheerful in company, he relaxed into such a display of good
humour as soon removed every unfavourable impression.' Goldsmith's
_Misc. Works_, i. 117.
[1219] 'Dr. Goldsmith told me, he himself envied Shakespeare.' Walpole's
_Letters_, vi. 379. Boswell, later on (_post_, May 9, 1773), says:--'In
my opinion Goldsmith had not more of it [an envious disposition] than
other people have, but only talked of it freely.' See also _post_, April
12, 1778. According to Northcote, 'Sir Joshua said that Goldsmith
considered public notoriety or fame as one great parcel, to the whole of
which he laid claim, and whoever partook of any part of it, whether
dancer, singer, slight of hand man, or tumbler, deprived him of his
right.' Northcote's _Reynolds_, i. 248. See _post_, April 7, 1778, where
Johnson said that 'Goldsmith was not an agreeable companion, for he
talked always for fame;' and April 9, 1778.
[1220] Miss Hornecks, one of whom is now married to Henry Bunbury, Esq.,
and the other to Colonel Gwyn. BOSWELL.
[1221] 'Standing at the window of their hotel [in Lisle] to see a
company of soldiers in the Square, the beauty of the sisters Horneck
drew such marked admiration, that Goldsmith, heightening his drollery
with that air of solemnity so generally a point in his humour and so
often more solemnly misinterpreted, turned off from the window with the
remark that elsewhere _he_ too could have his admirers. The Jessamy
Bride, Mrs. Gwyn, was asked about the occurrence not many years ago;
remembered it as a playful jest; and said how shocked she had
subsequently been "to see it adduced in print as a proof of his envious
disposition."' Forster's _Goldsmith_, ii. 217.
[1222] Puppets.
[1223] He went home with Mr. Burke to supper; and broke his shin by
attempting to exhibit to the company how much better he could jump over
a stick than the puppets. BOSWELL. Mr. Hoole was one day in a coach with
Johnson, when 'Johnson, who delighted in rapidity of pace, and had been
speaking of Goldsmith, put his head out of one of the windows to see
they were going right, and rubbing his hands with an air of satisfaction
exclaimed:--"This man drives fast and well; were Goldsmith here now he
would tell us he could do better."' Prior's _Goldsmith_, ii. 127.
[1224] See _post_, April 9, 1773; also April 9, 1778, where Johnson
says, 'Goldsmith had no settled notions upon any subject.'
[1225] I am willing to hope that there may have been some mistake as to
this anecdote, though I had it from a Dignitary of the Church. Dr. Isaac
Goldsmith, his near relation, was Dean of Cloyne, in 1747. BOSWELL. This
note first appears in the second edition.
[1226] Mr. Welsh, in _A Bookseller of the Last Century_, p. 58, quotes
the following entry from an account-book of B. Collins of Salisbury, the
printer of the first edition of the _Vicar_:--'_Vicar of Wakefield_, 2
vols. 12mo., 1/3rd. B. Collins, Salisbury, bought of Dr. Goldsmith, the
author, October 28, 1762, £21.' Goldsmith, it should seem from this, as
Collins's third share was worth twenty guineas, was paid not sixty
pounds, but sixty guineas. Collins shared in many of the ventures of
Newbery, Goldsmith's publisher. Mr. Welsh says (_ib_. p. 61) that
Collins's accounts show 'that the first three editions resulted in a
loss.' If this was so, the booksellers must have been great bunglers,
for the book ran through three editions in six or seven months.
Forster's _Goldsmith_, i. 425.
[1227] The Traveller (price one shilling and sixpence) was published in
December 1764, and _The Vicar of Wakefield_ in March 1766. In August
1765 the fourth edition of _The Traveller_ appeared, and the ninth in
the year Goldsmith died. He received for it £21. Forster's _Goldsmith_,
i. 364, 374, 409. See _ante_, p. 193, note i.
[1228] '"Miss Burney," said Mrs. Thrale [to Dr. Johnson], "is fond of
_The Vicar of Wakefield_, and so am I. Don't you like it, Sir?" "No,
madam, it is very faulty; there is nothing of real life in it, and very
little of nature. It is a mere fanciful performance."' Mme. D'Arblay's
_Diary_, i. 83. 'There are a hundred faults in this Thing,' said
Goldsmith in the preface, 'and a hundred things might be said to prove
them beauties. But it is needless. A book may be amusing with numerous
errors, or it may be very dull without a single absurdity.' See _post_,
April 25, 1778.
[1229] _Anecdotes of Johnson_, p. 119. BOSWELL.
[1230] _Life of Johnson_, p. 420. BOSWELL.
[1231] In his imprudence he was like Savage, of whom Johnson says
(_Works_, viii. 161):--'To supply him with money was a hopeless attempt;
for no sooner did he see himself master of a sum sufficient to set him
free from care for a day, than he became profuse and luxurious.' When
Savage was 'lodging in the liberties of the Fleet, his friends sent him
every Monday a guinea, which he commonly spent before the next morning,
and trusted, after his usual manner, the remaining part of the week to
the bounty of fortune.' _Ib_. p. 170.
[1232] It may not be improper to annex here Mrs. Piozzi's account of
this transaction, in her own words, as a specimen of the extreme
inaccuracy with which all her anecdotes of Dr. Johnson are related, or
rather discoloured and distorted:--'I have forgotten the year, but it
could scarcely, I think, be later than 1765 or 1766 that he was _called
abruptly from our house after dinner_, and returning _in about three
hours_, said he had been with an enraged authour, whose landlady pressed
him for payment within doors, while the bailiffs beset him without; that
he was _drinking himself drunk_ with Madeira, to drown care, and
fretting over a novel, which, when _finished_, was to be his _whole
fortune_, but _he could not get it done for distraction_, nor could he
step out of doors to offer it for sale. Mr. Johnson, therefore, sent
away the bottle, and went to the bookseller, recommending the
performance, and _desiring some immediate relief_; which when he brought
back to the writer, _he called the 'woman of the house directly to
partake of punch, and pass their time in merriment.' Anecdotes of Dr.
Johnson_, p. 119. BOSWELL. The whole transaction took place in 1762, as
is shown, _ante_, p. 415, note 1; Johnson did not know the Thrales
till 1764.
[1233] Through Goldsmith Boswell became acquainted with Reynolds. In his
_Letter to the People of Scotland_ (p. 99), he says:--'I exhort you, my
friends and countrymen, in the words of my departed _Goldsmith_, who
gave me many nodes _Atticae_, and gave me a jewel of the finest
water--the acquaintance of Sir Joshua Reynolds.'
[1234] See _post_, July 30, 1763.
[1235] See _post_, March 20, 1776, and Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 17,
1773.
[1236] See _post_, March 15, 1776.
[1237] 'Dr. Campbell was an entertaining story-teller, which [_sic_]
sometimes he rather embellished; so that the writer of this once heard
Dr. Johnson say:--"Campbell will lie, but he never lies on paper."'
_Gent. Mag_. for 1785, p. 969.
[1238] I am inclined to think that he was misinformed as to this
circumstance. I own I am jealous for my worthy friend Dr. John Campbell.
For though Milton could without remorse absent himself from publick
worship [Johnson's _Works_, vii. 115] I cannot. On the contrary, I have
the same habitual impressions upon my mind, with those of a truely
venerable Judge, who said to Mr. Langton, 'Friend Langton, if I have not
been at church on Sunday, I do not feel myself easy.' Dr. Campbell was a
sincerely religious man. Lord Macartney, who is eminent for his variety
of knowledge, and attention to men of talents, and knew him well, told
me, that when he called on him in a morning, he found him reading a
chapter in the Greek New Testament, which he informed his Lordship was
his constant practice. The quantity of Dr. Campbell's composition is
almost incredible, and his labours brought him large profits. Dr. Joseph
Warton told me that Johnson said of him, 'He is the richest authour that
ever grazed the common of literature.' BOSWELL.
[1239] See _post_, April 7, 1778. Campbell complied with one of the
_Monita Padagogica_ of Erasmus. 'Si quem praeteribis natu grandem,
magistratum, sacerdotem, doctorem.... memento aperire caput.... Itidem
facito quum praeteribis asdem sacram.' Erasmus's _Colloquies_, ed.
1867, i. 36.
[1240] Reynolds said of Johnson:--'He was not easily imposed upon by
professions to honesty and candour; but he appeared to have little
suspicion of hypocrisy in religion.' Taylor's _Reynolds_, ii. 459.
Boswell, in one of his penitent letters, wrote to Temple on July 21,
1790:--'I am even almost inclined to think with you, that my great
oracle Johnson did allow too much credit to good principles, without
good practice.' _Letters of Boswell_, p. 327.
[1241] Campbell lived in 'the large new-built house at the
north-west-corner of Queen Square, Bloomsbury, whither, particularly on
a Sunday evening, great numbers of persons of the first eminence for
science and literature resorted for the enjoyment of conversation.'
Hawkins's _Johnson_, p. 210.
[1242] Churchill, in his first poem, _The Rosciad_ (Poems, i. 4),
mentions Johnson without any disrespect among those who were thought
of as judge.
'For Johnson some, but Johnson, it was feared,
Would be too grave; and Sterne too gay appeared.'
In The Author (ib. ii. 36), if I mistake not, he grossly alludes to the
convulsive disorder to which Johnson was subject. Attacking the
pensioners he says--the italics are his own:--
'Others, _half-palsied_ only, mutes become,
And what makes Smollett write makes Johnson dumb.'
[1243] See _post_, April 6, 1772, where Johnson called Fielding a
blockhead.
[1244] Churchill published his first poem, _The Rosciad_, in March or
April 1761 (_Gent. Mag_. xxxi. 190); _The Apology_ in May or June (_Ib_.
p. 286); _Night_ in Jan. 1762 (_Ib_. xxxii. 47); The First and Second
Parts of The Ghost in March (_ib_. p. 147); The Third Part in the autumn
(_ib_. p. 449); _The Prophecy of Famine _in Jan. 1763 (_ib_. xxxiii.
47), and _The Epistle to Hogarth_ in this month of July (_ib_. p. 363).
He wrote the fourth part of _The Ghost_, and nine more poems, and died
on Nov. 4, 1764, aged thirty-two or thirty-three.
[1245] 'Cowper had a higher opinion of Churchill than of any other
contemporary writer. "It is a great thing," he said, "to be indeed a
poet, and does not happen to more than one man in a century; but
Churchill, the great Churchill, deserved that name." He made him, more
than any other writer, his model.' Southey's _Cowper_, i. 87, 8.
[1246] Mr. Forster says that 'Churchill asked five guineas for the
manuscript of _The Rosciad_ (according to Southey, but Mr. Tooke says he
asked twenty pounds).' Finding no purchaser he brought the poem out at
his own risk. Mr. Forster continues:--'The pulpit had starved him on
forty pounds a year; the public had given him a thousand pounds in two
months.' Forster's _Essays_, ii. 226, 240. As _The Rosciad _was sold at
one shilling a copy, it seems incredible that such a gain could have
been made, even with the profits of _The Apology_ included. 'Blotting
and correcting was so much Churchill's abhorrence that I have heard from
his publisher he once energetically expressed himself, that it was like
cutting away one's own flesh.' D'Israeli's _Curiosities of Literature_,
ed. 1834, iii. 129. D'Israeli 'had heard that after a successful work he
usually precipitated the publication of another, relying on its
crudeness being passed over by the public curiosity excited by its
better brother. He called this getting double pay, for thus he secured
the sale of a hurried work.'
[1247] In the opening lines of _Gotham,_ Bk. iii, there is a passage of
great beauty and tenderness.
[1248] In 1769 I set Thornton's burlesque _Ode_. It was performed at
Ranelagh in masks, to a very crowded audience, as I was told; for I then
resided in Norfolk. BURNEY. Dr. Burney's note cannot be correct. He came
to reside in London in 1760 (_Memoirs of Dr. Burney_, i. 133) The Ode is
in the list of 'new books, published' in the _Gent. Mag_. for June 1763,
and is described as having been performed at Ranelagh.
[1249] _The Connoisseur_ was started by Thornton and Colman in 1754.
Cowper and Lloyd were contributors. Southey's _Cowper_, i. 46, 49, 65.
[1250] See _ante_, p. 350, note.
[1251] See _post_, Aug. 2, 1763, and Oct. 26, 1769.
[1252] See _post_. Sept. 20, 1777, note.
[1253] The northern bard mentioned page 421. When I asked Dr. Johnson's
permission to introduce him, he obligingly agreed; adding, however, with
a sly pleasantry, 'but he must give us none of his poetry.' It is
remarkable that Johnson and Churchill, however much they differed in
other points, agreed on this subject. See Churchill's _Journey_.
['Under dark Allegory's flimsy veil
Let Them with Ogilvie spin out a tale
Of rueful length,'
Churchill's _Poems_, ii. 329.]
It is, however, but justice to Dr. Ogilvie to observe, that his _Day of
Judgement_ has no inconsiderable share of merit. BOSWELL.
[1254] 'Johnson said:--"Goldsmith should not be for ever attempting to
_shine_ in conversation."' _Post_, April 27, 1773. See also _post_,
May 7, 1773.
[1255] Fifteen years later Lord George Germaine, Secretary of State,
asserted in a debate 'that the King "was his own Minister," which
Charles Fox took up admirably, lamenting that His Majesty "was his own
_unadvised_ Minister."' Walpole's _Journal of the Reign of George
III_, ii. 314.
[1256] 'The general story of mankind will evince that lawful and settled
authority is very seldom resisted when it is well employed.... Men are
easily kept obedient to those who have temporal dominion in their hands,
till their veneration is dissipated by such wickedness and folly as can
neither be defended nor concealed.' _The Rambler_, No. 50. See _post_,
March 31, 1772.
[1257] 'It is natural to believe ... that no writer has a more easy task
than the historian. The philosopher has the works of omniscience to
examine.... The poet trusts to his invention.... But the happy historian
has no other labour than of gathering what tradition pours down before
him, or records treasure for his use.' _The Rambler_, No. 122.
[1258] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Aug. 21, 1773.
[1259] 'Arbuthnot was a man of great comprehension, skilful in his
profession, versed in the sciences, acquainted with ancient literature,
and able to animate his mass of knowledge by a bright and active
imagination; a scholar with great brilliancy of wit; a wit, who in the
crowd of life retained and discovered a noble ardour of religious zeal.'
Johnson's _Works_, viii. 296.
[1260] Goldsmith wrote from Edinburgh in 1753:--'Shall I tire you with a
description of this unfruitful country, where I must lead you over their
hills all brown with heath, or their vallies scarce able to feed a
rabbit? Man alone seems to be the only creature who has arrived to the
natural size in this poor soil. Every part of the country presents the
same dismal landscape.' Forster's _Goldsmith_, i. 433.
[1261] See Boswell's _Hebrides_, Nov. 10, 1773.
[1262] Johnson would suffer none of his friends to fill up chasms in
conversation with remarks on the weather: 'Let us not talk of the
weather.' BURNEY.
[1263] See _ante_, p. 332.
[1264] Boswell wrote to Temple on Sept. 9, 1767:--'How unaccountable is
it that my father and I should be so ill together! He is a man of sense
and a man of worth; but from some unhappy turn in his disposition he is
much dissatisfied with a son whom you know. I write to him with warmth,
with an honest pride, wishing that he should think of me as I am; but my
letters shock him, and every expression in them is interpreted
unfavourably. To give you an instance, I send you a letter I had from
him a few days ago. How galling is it to the friend of Paoli to be
treated so! I have answered him in my own style; I will be myself.'
_Letters of Boswell_, p. 110. In the following passage in one of his
_Hypochondriacks_ he certainly describes his father. 'I knew a father
who was a violent Whig, and used to attack his son for being a Tory,
upbraiding him with being deficient in "noble sentiments of liberty,"
while at the same time he made this son live under his roof in such
bondage, that he was not only afraid to stir from home without leave,
like a child, but durst scarcely open his mouth in his father's
presence. This was sad living. Yet I would rather see such an excess of
awe than a degree of familiarity between father and son by which all
reverence is destroyed.' _London Mag_. 1781, p. 253.
[1265] Boswell, the day after this talk, wrote:--'I have had a long
letter from my father, full of affection and good counsel. Honest man!
he is now very happy: it is amazing to think how much he has had at
heart, my pursuing the road of civil life.' _Letters of Boswell_, p. 25.
[1266] Gray, says Nicholls, 'disliked all poetry in blank verse, except
Milton.' Gray's _Works_, ed. 1858, v. 36. Goldsmith, in his _Present
State of Polite Learning_ (ch. xi.), wrote in 1759:--'From a desire in
the critic of grafting the spirit of ancient languages upon the English
have proceeded of late several disagreeable instances of pedantry. Among
the number, I think, we may reckon blank verse. Nothing but the greatest
sublimity of subject can render such a measure pleasing; however, we now
see it used upon the most trivial occasions.' On the same page he speaks
of 'the tuneless flow of our blank verse.' See _post_, 1770, in Dr.
Maxwell's _Collectanea_ and the beginning of 1781, under _The Life of
Milton_, for Johnson's opinion of blank verse.
[1267] 'Johnson told me, that one day in London, when Dr. Adam Smith was
boasting of Glasgow, he turned to him and said, "Pray, Sir, have you
ever seen Brentford?'" Boswell's _Hebrides_, Oct. 29, 1773. See _post_,
April 29, 1778.
[1268] 'He advised me to read just as inclination prompted me, which
alone, he said, would do me any good; for I had better go into company
than read a set task. He said, too, that I should prescribe to myself
five hours a day, and in these hours gratify whatever literary desires
may spring up.' _Letters of Boswell_, p. 28. The Editor of these
_Letters_ compares Tranio's advice:--
'No profit grows where is no pleasure ta'en:
In brief, Sir, study what you most affect.'
_Taming of the Shrew_, act i. sc. I.
'Johnson used to say that no man read long together with a folio on his
table. "Books," said he, "that you may carry to the fire, and hold
readily in your hand, are the most useful after all."' Johnson's _Works_
(1787), xi. 197. See also _The Idler_, No. 67, and _post_, April 12,
1776, and under Sept. 22, 1777.
[1269] Wilkes, among others, had attacked him in Aug. 1762 in _The North
Briton_, Nos. xi. and xii.
[1270] When I mentioned the same idle clamour to him several years
afterwards, he said, with a smile, 'I wish my pension were twice as
large, that they might make twice as much noise.' BOSWELL.
[1271] In one thing at least he was changed. He could now indulge in the
full bent, to use his own words (_Works_, viii. l36), 'that
inquisitiveness which must always be produced in a vigorous mind, by an
absolute freedom from all pressing or domestick engagements.'
[1272] See _post_, April 13, 1773, Sept. 17 and 19, 1777, March 21,
1783, and June 9, 1784. Lord Shelburne says:--'After the Revolution the
Tory and Jacobite parties had become almost identified by their together
opposing the Court for so many years, and still more by the persecution
which they suffered in common, for it was the policy of Sir Robert
Walpole to confound them as much as possible, so as to throw the
Jacobite odium upon every man who opposed government.' Fitzmaurice's
_Shelburne_, i. 35. Lord Bolingbroke (_Works_, iii. 28) complains that
the writers on the side of the ministry 'frequently throw out that every
man is a friend to the Pretender who is not a friend of Walpole.'
[1273] See _post_, April 6, 1775
[1274] _Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides_, 3rd edit. p. 402 [Nov. 10].
BOSWELL.
[1275] Mr. Walmsley died in 1751 (_ante_, p. 81). Johnson left Lichfield
in 1737. Unless Mr. Walmsley after 1737 visited London from time to
time, he can scarcely be meant.
[1276] See _ante_, p. 336.