In the middle of May appeared his "Roman History,"* so impatiently expected by the publishers as to have been announced the preceding August. It gives us within the compass of two octavo volumes containing a thousand pages, the history of that state from the earliest period to the fall of the western empire. The preface displays sufficient humility; he disclaims all affectation of new discoveries, or ambition to compete with more laborious writers, while the preliminary advertisements in the newspapers stated it to be, "for the use of schools, and colleges." He likewise informs us, "that there are some subjects, on which a writer must decline all attempts to acquire fame, satisfied with being obscurely useful." But with these modest intimations the book soon took higher ground, and even acquired a degree of reputation beyond perhaps the expectations of the writer. It became the companion not only of the young who could not be induced to peruse more voluminous historians, but of the elder and better informed persons, who wished to grasp at knowledge with the slightest labour, or to renew what had been previously learned, in the shortest form. Books of this kind well executed, are sure to win their own way to public favour. To the applause of the multitude, he added the countenance of the critics, who in a measure anticipated the judgment of Dr. Johnson by using nearly his words in allusion to the author of the Traveller. Some pronounced it "seasonable and well timed," "an excellent digest of the Roman History," and the "most complete abridgment of the kind, for the use of gentlemen, and even of those who are more than cursory readers, that has been yet published." While others, in pointing out errors of haste, or grammar, and defects perhaps inseparable from the plan, admit "that after all, it is better for common readers to be content with the knowledge it contains, than to drudge through the voluminous works of other writers for more;" and pertinently add, "It is surely to be regretted that the author of the Traveller, one of the best poems that has appeared since those of Mr. Pope, should not apply wholly to works of imagination." The preference given to Goldsmith over Robertson as an historian by Dr. Johnson, Boswell attributes though with no sufficient cause as far as we know, to his friendship for the former, or some presumed dislike to Scotland, or Scotsmen. Robertson is no doubt an elegant author deserving of all his reputation, who however aims so much at effect in many of his details, that we are tempted to think we have before us rather the orator ambitious of displaying his eloquence, than the simple narrator of past events. He falls likewise into the error of occasionally making speeches for his characters, a practice which if countenanced by antiquity, is scarcely desirable in a modern writer; the substance of the remarks made by eminent persons long dead in particular situations may reach us, but not the • "This day is published; in two volumes 8vo, Price 10s. 6d. in boards, or 12s. bound. The Roman History; from the foundation of the city of Rome, to the destruction of the Western Empire. Written by Dr. Goldsmith. Printed for S. Baker and C. Leigh in York Street; S. Davies in Russel Street, Covent Garden; and L. Davies, in Holborn." Public Advertiser, May 18th, 1769. precise words, which can be rarely caught in a speech of length; in fact whenever we meet with such, suspicion is apt to arise that the writer may have drawn for the matter as well as the manner, upon his imagination. Goldsmith's qualities exhibit nothing of labour or pretension; he is brief, natural, and perspicuous, presenting as his chief claim to favour, that charm of ease so difficult to acquire, and which nature bestows only on the favoured few. Had he sat down to the composition of extended history by choice, instead of it being an affair of necessity, as a source of fame to be acquired not as a task to be performed, we cannot doubt from what has been accomplished, that he would have attained great eminence. On this subject Dr. Johnson has given a strong opinion in the comparison drawn between him and Robertson, which if even tinged with prejudice as his biographer insinuates, though without sufficient cause, must have some foundation in truth. We have here at least the grounds of preference stated, and may judge for ourselves of their force; yet it may be fairly inferred from the broad manner in which Goldsmith's deficiencies otherwise are asserted by the great critic on the same occasion, that there is little room for the charge of undue partiality, The conversation took place at the house of Mr. Topham Beauclerk. in April 1773. Goldsmith being mentioned, Johnson (after some further remarks) said, "Take him as a poet, his Traveller' is a very fine performance; ay, and so is his 'Deserted Village,' were it not sometimes too much the echo of his 'Traveller.' Whether indeed we take him as a poet, as a comic writer, or as an historian, he stands in the first class." Boswell. "An historian! my dear Sir, you surely will not rank his compilation of the Roman History, with the works of other historians of this age." Johnson. "Why, who are before him?"" Boswell. "Hume, Robertson, Lord Lyttleton." Johnson (his antipathy against the Scotch beginning to rise). "I have not read Hume; but doubtless Goldsmith's History is better than the verbiage of Robertson, or the foppery of Dalrymple." Boswell. "Will you not admit the superiority of Robertson, in whose history we find such penetration, such painting?" Johnson. "Sir, you must consider how that penetration, and that painting, are employed. It is not history, it is imagination. He who describes what he never saw draws from fancy. Robertson paints minds, as Sir Joshua paints faces, in a history-piece; he imagines an heroic countenance. You must look upon Robertson's work as romance, and try it by that standard. History it is not. Besides, Sir, it is the great excellence of a writer, to put into his book as much as his book will hold. Goldsmith has done this in his history. Now Robertson might have put twice as much in his book. Robertson is like a man who has packed gold in wool; the wool takes up more room than the gold. No, Sir; I always thought Robertson would be crushed with his own weight, would be buried under his own ornaments. Goldsmith tells you shortly all you want to know: Robertson detains you a great deal too long. No man will read Robertson's cumbrous detail a second time; but Goldsmith's plain narrative will please again and again. I would say to Robertson, what an old tutor of a college said to one of his pupils, Read over your compositions, and whenever you meet with a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out! Goldsmith's abridgment is better than that of Lucius Florus, or Eutropius; and I will venture to say that if you compare him with Vertot, in the same places of the Roman History, you will find that he excels Vertot. Sir, he has the art of compiling, and of saying every thing he has to say, in a pleasing manner. He is now writing a Natural History, and will make it as entertaining as a Persian tale." A translation of the Roman History into French, appeared many years ago; and in 1805, a second with some engravings, and a map after D'Anville. One proof of its immediate success was a new agreement entered into within three weeks of its appearance with the same publishers for a History of England; to extend to four volumes. The following drawn up by himself, is a copy. "MEMORANDUM. "Russel Street, Covent Garden. "It is agreed between Oliver Goldsmith, M. B. on the one hand; and Thomas Davies, bookseller, of Russell Street, Covent Garden, on the other, that Oliver Goldsmith shall write for Thomas Davies an History of England, from the birth of the British empire, to the death of George the Second, in four volumes octavo, of the size and letter of the Roman History, written by Oliver Goldsmith. The said History of England shall be written and compiled in the space of two years from the date hereof. And when the said history is written, and delivered in manuscript, the printer giving his opinion that the quantity above-mentioned is completed, that then Oliver Goldsmith shall be paid by Thomas Davies, the sum of five hundred pounds sterling, for having written and compiled the same. It is agreed also, that Oliver Goldsmith shall print his name to the said work. In witness thereof we have set our names, this 13th of June, 1769. "OLIVER GOLDSMITH. "THOMAS DAVIES." Some of his most agreeable hours at the time, were spent in the family of Captain Horneck, whose lady and daughters, in addition to great personal beauty, secured attention by their elegance and taste from several distinguished men of the time. They first met at the house of Sir Joshua Reynolds who had known Mrs. Horneck in Devonshire, of which country she was a native, when the honest simplicity of Goldsmith, his acknowledged genius and celebrity, and their attractive manners and conversation, induced the desire for greater intimacy on the part of both, which for the remainder of his life continued uninterrupted. After the marriage of one of the young ladies, with the celebrated Henry Bunbury, he became a frequent guest at their residence, Barton in Suffolk; here in agreeable society he found relief from the toils of study, and the occasional dissipations of a town life. In this family are preserved some of those familiar verses, which, written in the spirit of whim or good humour, answered the purpose of exciting a smile among those to whom they are addressed. One of these sent about this period, is a reply to an invitation to dinner at Sir George Baker's to meet the Misses Horneck, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Miss Reynolds, Angelica Kauffman, and others, and is jocularly headed, in apology for their extreme homeliness, which renders it necessary to explain what he meant to write "This is a poem ! this is a copy of verses!" It will be found in the Works, and the reader is indebted for it to Major-General Sir Henry Bunbury, Bart. Several such sportive pieces appear to have been addressed to his acquaintance, of which three or four were known to be extant about 1790, but of which all memory is lost; others of a more complimentary character, volunteered to compliment his female friends may exist, though few or none can be satisfactorily traced. Of such things it appears he kept no copies, and none were therefore found among his papers; whatever may be discovered, and we may believe that several still linger among the descendants of former friends, were preserved first from regard, and afterwards by his reputation. Among these we know was the song, now included in his Works, commencing, "Ah me! when shall I marry me?" accidentally preserved by Boswell; he was fond of the air and procured a copy from the author, who sang it himself in private companies, very agreeably. It was written for the character of Miss Hardcastle, in She Stoops to Conquer, but omitted, because Mrs. Bulkley, who performed the part, did not sing. A copy of verses, addressed to a lady going to Ranelagh, was once in the possession of Mr. Malone, but even during his life was lost in all probability irrecoverably though not by negligence; he thus alludes to them in a letter, to Bishop Percy, dated June 5th, 1802. "I have a strong recollection of having got, I know not how, some verses addressed by Goldsmith, to a lady going to Ranelagh, or going to a masquerade, and of having given them to you for insertion; but I do not find them any where." Again, July 20th, he says, "I cannot recollect what I have done with the unpublished verses of Goldsmith, nor from whom I got them. They remained for a long while folded in the Irish edition of his works, and are there no longer; so I suppose I have deposited them somewhere so safely, that I shall never find them. One often loses things in this way, by too much care."* • From Mr. Mason's collection of MS. correspondence. Several verses affiliated upon him, and supposed to be written about this time, cannot be passed over without notice, though of very questionable origin; no guarantee of authenticity can be found, and this necessarily excludes them from the Works, but the reader may not be displeased to examine their pretensions here. In the commencement of the present century, a short letter, dated from the Isle of Wight, signed with the letter D. and addressed to the Editor of a Newspaper,* introduced the following lines, as a production of Goldsmith, and they have in consequence been included in some late editions of his works, though the authority being anonymous they are not admitted into that which accompanies these volumes. "E'en have you seen, bathed in the morning dew, It shrinks, and scarcely trusts the blaze of day. "So soft, so delicate, so sweet she came, Youth's damask glow, just dawning on her cheek, Felt the fond pang, and droop'd with passion weak.;' The author of this communication being unknown, all we have to guide us is internal evidence, which if of any weight in such matters, is against its reputed origin. In the construction of the verses, there is a want of skill which Goldsmith, even in his careless moments, seldom displayed; words are introduced little better than expletives; and the free use made of epithets he not only never practised, but in his critical strictures condemned, as one of the most objectionable peculiarities of modern poetry. This may be seen in the remarks introducing his ballad in the Vicar of Wakefield, and those in the Beauties of English Poesy, prefixed to Gray's Elegy, which he characterizes as "a fine poem, but overloaded with epithets." Neither has he, as far as we know, written any thing else in the elegiac measure, excepting the stanzas on the taking of Quebec. The succeeding piece is claimed in Ireland for Goldsmith; and in England for Charles Wyndham, Earl of Egremont, who died in 1763.† Its Irish history is as follows. About the year 1769, or • "Mr. Editor, "You have my thanks for your early attention to the lines I sent you from Goldsmith, the other day. If you will be equally so by inserting another quotation you will oblige me. (Morning Chronicle, April 3, 1800.) "Yours very sincerely, "D." The previous communication alluded to, was signed "C. D" dated Porchester, and inclosed the song "Oh, Memory! thou fond intruder!" the latter word should be deceiver; but the reason of the communication does not appear, for the song had been printed in all the editions of his works, and was therefore as well known as his other printed pieces. † By a correspondent of the European Magazine, as the writer was informed by the Rev. Alexander Dyce, whose acquaintance with poetry is known to be extensive; it was thence copied into Park's "Royal and Noble Authors." On examining the Magazine, the copy was found deficient in the two first lines; so consequently is the work just mentioned into which it was introduced. |