our Poet's prospects were therefore necessarily of an humbler kind. He was sent to the village school to learn little more than those common rudiments of education which are now familiar even to the poor. The school was under the care of a person who, to fit him for his employment, had been quartermaster in the army during the wars of Queen Anne: he used to recount to his little flock of scholars the marvellous adventures of a soldier's life; gave them narratives of his various travels, his exploits, and his dangers;

'Shoulder'd his crutch, and show'd how fields were won.'

When, in the subsequent periods of his life, our Poet often evinced a strong passion for travelling, and when his wild wandering propensities broke out, it has been conjectured that these unsettled habits and visionary plans may have been produced by the impressions left on his youthful mind of the eccentric character and romantic

4 He was a Scotchman, his name "Delap." In 1811 his grandson was living in the original cottage.' v. Newell's ed. p. 78. I should have observed that Eliza Delap, who was a parishioner of mine, and died at the age of about ninety, often told me she was the first who put a book into Goldsmith's hand; by which she meant that she taught him his letters. She was allied to him, and kept a little school.' v. Dr. Strean's Letter to the Rev. Ed. Mangin, p. 144. Dr. Strean was successor to Henry Goldsmith in the cure of the parish at the salary of forty pounds a year.

However that

histories of his old schoolmaster. may be, it would appear that Oliver was a boy of singular habits of mind, and distinguished for an odd, irregular application of his early talents." It is said, that he did not much resemble the other children of the same age; that he was sometimes very grave and thoughtful, at others gay and frolicsome even to extravagance and excess; but, through all the caprices and imperfections of the boy, a strong vein of early genius was seen to rise. Poeta nascitur: before he was eight years old, he scribbled verses on scraps of paper, and then committed them to the flames. His early attempts at rhyme afforded amusement to his father's family; manifest gleams of opening genius were displayed, and the after time spent at the university was less marked with indications of his dawning talents than the period which he passed at his humble village school.

Though it was the intention of his parents to bring Oliver up to trade, his mother, perceiving the natural superiority of his genius, used all her

5 He was considered by his contemporaries and schoolfellows, with whom I have often conversed upon the subject, as a stupid, heavy blockhead, little better than a fool, whom every one made fun of; but his corporeal powers differed widely from this apparent state of mind, for he was remarkably active and athletic, of which he gave proofs in all exercises among his playmates, and eminently in ball-playing, which he was very fond of, and practised whenever he could.'

A. Strean's Letter, p. 149.

influence to rescue him from a situation so much beneath him, and, after great exertion, succeeded in persuading his father to give him a learned education. Yet there was much to be overcome before these maternal wishes could be accomplished. His father's income was very small, his family numerous. Henry's education had been expensive, yet the affection of the parents yielded, as the boy's attachment to study more and more displayed itself; and at length Oliver was placed under the care of the Rev. Mr. Griffin, the master of the school at Elphin. He was boarded in the house of his uncle, John Goldsmith, Esq. of Ballyoughle, near Elphin, where his wit, his talents, and his good disposition made him a favourite.

The earliest specimen of Oliver's poetry is given in Dr. Percy's narrative at this period of our Poet's life. It was directed in spleen against a village Orpheus, who had likened him to Æsop dancing.

Our herald hath proclaimed this saying,

See Æsop dancing, and his monkey playing.'

This smart repartee, in which poetry gained the victory over music, procured him great applause. It may now be fairly presumed, that he was a clever, quick, if not a studious boy; and his friends determined that he should be sent to the university. Some of them handsomely contributed to

the expense, and the names of Mr. Green and Mr. Contorine are mentioned as standing forward, the kind and early patrons of his youth. As a preliminary step, Oliver was sent to Athlone school, under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. Campbell. Having stayed there two years, till his master left his situation, he passed under the care of the Rev. Patrick Hughes, at Edgeworth Town, in the county of Longford, where he remained till he went to the university. His progress here is said to have been great; his master is described as a very enlightened and kind-hearted man, enjoying the affection of his scholars, and particularly of the young Poet, who ever after spoke of him with gratitude. Before he left this school, a circumstance is said to have taken place, which afterwards suggested to him the plot of his amusing comedy, 'She Stoops to Conquer.' He mistook a gentleman's house for an inn; and showed, if the story is true, an odd abstraction of mind, very unusual at so early an age, or a singular simplicity in not discovering a trick that had been played on him.

6 Mr. Contorine was descended from the noble family of the Contorini at Venice. His ancestor, having married a nun, was obliged to fly with her to France, where she died. He then came to England, and at Chester met with a young lady of the name of Chaloner, whom he married. He afterwards conformed to the established church, and obtained preferments in the diocese of Elphin.

At the age of fifteen, he was sent to the university of Dublin; and on the 11th of June, 1744, he was admitted a Sizer of Trinity College under the Rev. Theaker Wilder, one of the fellows. The choice was unfortunate. Our Poet's disposition is represented as thoughtless and eccentric, his conduct irregular and wild; while the temper of the tutor was irritable, and even vindictive. Hence perpetual quarrels arose, which disgusted the boy with learning, made him gloomy and morose, and even drove him into a willing exile. Oliver imprudently gave a dance and supper at his rooms to some young friends of both sexes: this was of course contrary to the college discipline. His tutor heard of it, burst in upon the young offenders in the midst of their enjoyment, and inflicted personal castigation on the offending host. Oliver considered himself deeply disgraced; his high spirit could not brook so

7 Mr. Mangin believes that Goldsmith remained at Listroy till he went, at the age of sixteen, in 1744, to Trinity College, Dublin; that he afterwards returned, and assisted his brother in his school, till he was nineteen, at which time he went to Edinburgh, occasionally going to Dublin to keep his terms, the usual custom with those young men whose friends were unable to support their constant residence at college. While living at Listroy, he was considered by his old friends as a prodigy of learning and knowledge, and flattered his own vanity by going constantly in an evening to the Pidgeons,' where he received the respect and homage of the villagers; and he at length spent so many hours there as to incur the strong remonstrance from his brother.' Rev. R. H. Newell's ed. p. 80.