sions, or heard them dwelt upon by their acquaintance who had participated in their enjoyment. The party, which seldom consisted of more than four or five persons, chiefly connected with literature, the legal or medical prefessions, always assembled at his chambers to a remarkably plentiful and rather expensive breakfast; and when finished, he had usually some poor women in attendance to whom the fragments were consigned. On one occasion a wealthy city acquaintance not remarkable for elegance of mind or manners, who observed this liberality, said with some degree of freedom, "Why, Doctor, you must be a rich man; I cannot afford to do this." "It is not wealth, my dear sir," was the reply of the Doctor willing to rebuke without offending his guest, "but inclination. I have only to suppose that a few more friends than usual have been of our party, and then it amounts to the sarne thing."

One of the number not unfrequently, was an amanuensis occasionally in his employment still remembered and familiarly known as "Peter Barlow," a person offering some peculiarities of manner, and thence an object of wit to several friends of the Poet. He always wore the same dress, never gave more than a certain sum, a trifle, for his dinner, but insisted upon paying this punctually; and as the expense of the repast always exceeded considerably the stipulated amount he chose to contribute, his employer paid the difference; the peculiarities of "Peter" affording in return, a fund of amusement to the party. One of their frequent retreats was the well-known Chelsea Bun-house.

Another of these persons, selected chiefly for his facetious qualities, was an humble dependant on literature named Glover, who having been educated for the medical profession usually received the appellation of Doctor. He had relinquished it however for the stage, and while performing at Cork, being accidentally taken into a house where lay the body of a malefactor just executed, he was induced to attempt to restore life, and to the astonishment of perhaps himself as much as the friends of the criminal, succeeded. His fame rapidly spread, he had again recourse to his original calling, though with less success than was expected, from the success of his experiment as restorer of the apparently dead, and ultimately proceeding to London, found between physic and writing for the booksellers, a scanty subsistence. Goldsmith formed then a leading object of interest to all similar adventurers from Ireland; he was easy of access, his nature, particularly to those who sought his good offices, unsuspicious, his purse open to demands upon it, and his vanity perhaps flattered by having a levee of needy authors at his breakfast table, soliciting advice upon literary projects, and pouring out their admiration in return for his fare and his counsel. Among these he soon found a place, being taken into some degree of favour; and as the following idea of the company, and of the claims thereby engendered on the patron, is said to be written by him, though anonymously, we have no reason to doubt its accuracy: "Our Doctor, as Goldsmith was now universally called, had a constant levee of his distressed countrymen, whose wants as far as he was able, he always relieved; and he

has been often known to leave himself without a guinea, in order to supply the necessities of others."

Glover, who as a teller of stories amused the frequenters of the Globe and Devil Taverns, and thence, as his own finances seldom permitted such disbursements, had his reckoning commonly paid by the visiters, was not a man of sufficient talents to profit by opportunities and furnish any new or striking views of Goldsmith. It may be doubted whether he was so intimate as he said, or that he did not forfeit by misconduct further claim to consideration; for in an early copy of Retaliation G, which was probably meant for him, stood where Woodfall's name now stands. He wrote a short biography of his patron, published after his death, which is defective in facts, as well as in anecdote; several of the latter he recalled to memory afterwards in conversation, but any higher effort was beyond his powers. It requires a clever man to speak instructively of clever men; he must be qualified to analyze mind, or to estimate character; for it will be observed that of the numbers that chance to know a man of genius, how few there are, when they tell any thing, who have more than his foibles and frailties to tell.

A few of his anecdotes, as they were also known to others, were doubtless true, some certainly more questionable, and others probably the mere coinage of imagination, but his powers of mimicry, it appears added greatly to their effect. "Besides being a great humorist," says Sir William Beechey, in a communication by which the writer is obliged, "the stories related by Glover of his acquaintance were told so well, with a humour so peculiar, and with such a knowledge of their customary phrases and manner in conversation, that none who ventured to repeat them could hope to produce equal effect. He usually selected their peculiarities for illustration; thus of Goldsmith, Foote, Garrick, Colman, Sterne whom he professed to have known, and others, he gave a vivid representation in voice, gesture, and phraseology, so as to produce universal mirth."

Goldsmith, according to this person, when his reputation became high sought a kind of privacy in his country walks, desiring to be taken out of frequented neighbourhoods so as not to be recognised; and on one occasion expressed displeasure to the person who accompanied him, for proceeding through a village where the latter happened to be known. Pride could scarcely be the object here as was insinuated, whatever wish he might otherwise have for temporary concealment.

Another story from the same quarter is still more improbable.

Having extended their walk, for Glover was as he said with him, from the Kilburn road through West End to Hampstead, Goldsmith who had dined, felt fatigued in descending the hill homeward, and observing a cottage with the window open where the inmates were at tea, remarked to his companion, "I should be glad to be of the party." "That can be immediately accomplished," was the reply; "allow me to introduce you." Without hesitation, Glover, who really knew nothing of the parties, entered the house with an air of familiarity followed by the unconscious Poet, made his way to the

room, shook hands cordially with the owner who rose to receive him, but fixing his eyes upon what he conceived the most good-natured countenance in company, muttered some indistinct words of recognition, and instantly commenced a jocular story invented for the occasion, of an amusing adventure on the road. This he followed by others of a similar kind, so as to produce the effect intended, that of persuading the master of the house they were intimate with his guests, and the guests that they were friends of the host; an hour was thus pleasantly spent, tea was offered and accepted, and with the same affectation of familiarity and good humour they withdrew. Some misgivings of the trick had in the meantime arisen in the mind of Goldsmith, who the moment he quitted the house, inquired whether any of the party were really known to his companion, who replied with as little ceremony that he had never seen one of them before. The mortification of the former, who attributed their escape from summary ejectment by force only to his own person being known, was extreme; and a wish was expressed to return and apologize for the jest. From this he was persuaded by his companion remarking, "Doctor, we are unknown; you quite as much as I; if you return and tell the story, it will be in the newspapers to-morrow; nay, upon recollection, I remember in one of their offices the face of that squinting fellow who sat in the corner as if he was treasuring up my stories for future use, and we shall be sure of being exposed; let us therefore keep our own counsel." The skill with which this tale of his own assurance was told by Glover, the repetition of the dialogues, and the descriptions of the occasional embarrassments and surprise of Goldsmith during the adventure, formed no inconsiderable part of the humour of the story.

His carelessness of money according to the same authority, and of which there was little doubt, exhibited an unusual, if not ostentatious negligence. Whenever a sum was procured and the most pressing demands paid, the remainder was thrown by in an open drawer, to be disbursed either by himself or his servant, as occasion required. When a friend once called at an earlier hour than usual, the bill of the laundress chanced to lie on the table for payment, and the footman received orders to "pay the poor woman." A sum of moment happened to be in the drawer from which the domestic after turning it over with seeming care, though evidently no adept at calculation, took the amount, and the remainder was replaced. The visiter, who had observed the proceeding, at length inquired whether as a matter of prudence it was right to place such a temptation in the way of a person in his station of life, who in some unhappy moment might he tempted to abuse his trust. The only reply was, with an expression of surprise, "What, my dear friend, do you take Dennis for a thief?"

This servant in whom he reposed great confidence, was some time afterwards taken extremely ill, to the great regret of his master, and the case requiring surgical aid, Mr. (now Sir William) Blizard,*

Since this was written Sir William has expired,.at a very advanced age.

whom he had met at the table of Doctor Grant, in Fenchurch Street, and who had just commenced practice, was called in. Sir William informs the writer that he was obliged to perform the operation for empyema, that is, to make an opening into the cavity of the chest, for the dislodgment of matter accumulated there in consequence of previous inflammation; the result was successful, and excited a degree of attention highly advantageous to the reputation of the then young surgeon,

CHAPTER XVIII.

Anecdotes.-Gentleman's Journal.-Epilogue to "The Sister."-Agreement for History of Animated Nature.-Roman History.-Agreement for History of England. Acquaintance with Mr. Bunbury and Family,-Verses Attributed to Him. Appointed Professor of History to Royal Academy.-Maurice Goldsmith.

In the summer of 1768, in order to have leisure to proceed with the History of Rome, free from the interruptions common to a residence in town, he took a cottage near Edgeware, in the vicinity of Canons, in conjunction with Mr. Bott, the gentleman already mentioned whose chambers adjoined his own. This abode though small, possessed a good garden, and had been occupied as a country retreat by a shoemaker of wealth in Piccadilly, who having expended some trouble and money in its decoration, was thence called by new tenants "The Shoemaker's Paradise." Here he and his friends. found air and retirement, and the distance being no more than eight miles from town, occasional engagements to dinner there were still indulged, and the usual dinner hour being then four o'clock, or earlier; and in the evening they found it agreeable to return to their retreat.

This appears to have been a work of occasional peril when his companion, who drove a gig, happened to indulge too freely in the pleasures of the table. There is a letter still extant, written by the Poet to this gentleman some time subsequently, in reply to a letter of invitation to visit him in the Isle of Wight, in which there is allusion to one of their escapes. It commences with acknowledgments to Bott, to whom he was under frequent pecuniary obligations, for assistance rendered in a moment of difficulty, as he could now sit down in his chambers in safety without the terrors of arrest hanging momentarily over his head; and proceeds to recall a scene they had experienced together in driving at night down the Edgeware Road, when his companion having driven against a post to the imminent danger of their necks, sturdily maintained that he was in the centre of the road.

An anonymous writer in one of the useful minor publications of the day, states another of his temporary residences to have been a

*

* Mirror vol. xix. p. 147.

small wooden cottage, on the north side of the Edgeware Road, about a mile from Paddington, near what is called Kilburn Priory. No authority however is adduced for this statement; nor is it probable, since the cottage seems too small to contain besides the family, an inmate in the character of a lodger. The same account states that here was written "Animated Nature;" it is therefore probably confounded with the farm-house at Hyde, of which notice will be taken hereafter.

Among several Irish acquaintance settled in London, was a Mr. Seguin, a mercantile man of some literary tastes, who having taken country lodgings for his family in the vicinity of this residence, frequently visited and was visited by its occupant. A considerable intimacy it appears existed between him and this gentleman, to two of whose children he stood godfather; and from a surviving member of the family in Dublin, a few slight notices of his habits have been gleaned from parental recollection.

While in London, they dined with him on several occasions, in the Temple, and met at different periods Bickerstaffe, Kelly, Dr. Percy, a variety of authors of minor note, and on one occasion Dr. Johnson, who was invited in order to gratify two others of his Irish friends, a Mr. and Mrs. Pollard, of Castle Pollard, who having heard so much of the celebrated moralist, were very desirous to see him before they quitted the English metropolis. Goldsmith was enabled to gratify their curiosity, but impressed a preliminary caution on the strangers present to talk only on such subjects, Irish matters for instance, as they perfectly understood, and above all, when he had begun to talk, not to interrupt him. This was punctually obeyed; Johnson proved to be in good humour, and the day passed off pleas antly. These entertainments he gave in an expensive manner, but was so little disposed personally to what is called high living, that his constant supper, as they had opportunities of observing, and did not forget to tell in Ireland, was boiled milk.

The impression handed down in this family of his personal demeanour is that he was a very guileless, or as it is phrased in the sister country, an innocent man; cheerful and playful in society where he was known; fond of conversation, music, or any amusement going forward. One of the accomplishments on which he prided himself was dancing, but in going through a minuet with Mrs. Seguin, his manner once excited her risibility as well as that of the more juvenile spectators, in an uncontrollable manner, which however was borne by him with great good humour. He amused them with several Irish songs; and one of his chief favourites was the Scotch ballad of Johnny Armstrong. He unbent without reserve to the level of whoever were his companions. In all their youthful diversions, he took such interest as to become rather a leader than merely a participator, and joined in such as were most familiar; whether blind man's buff, romping, forfeits, or the more trivial games at cards in which by affecting to cheat, or showing an eagerness to win, his companions were always rendered very mirthful and boisterous. With associates of a still more juvenile class, he did not