genteel apartments, received visits of ceremony, and gave entertainments to his friends. Fortune now (says one of his biographers) seemed to take notice of a man she had long neglected; the simplicity of his character, the integrity of his heart, and the merit of his productions, made his company very acceptable to a number of respectable persons.' Johnson understood and appreciated his powers, and, in a conversation with Boswell, asserted that Goldsmith was one of the first men then existing as an author.' It is not exactly ascertained at what time the intimacy between these great men commenced; but on the 31st May, 1761, Johnson was at supper in Goldsmith's lodgings in Wine Office Court,25 with other literary persons. Dr. Percy, who was of the party, was surprised at the great lexicographer's unusual spruceness and elegance of dress; which Johnson accounted for by saying that Goldsmith justified his disregard of cleanliness expense. In truth, he said, one sacrifices something for the sake of good company; for here am I shut out of several places where I used to play the fool very agreeably.' — Anderson's Life, p. 207.

25 Goldsmith, on being visited by Johnson one day in the Temple, said to him, with a little jealousy of the appearance of his accommodation, 'I shall soon be in better chambers than these.' Johnson at the same time checked him, and paid him a handsome compliment, wishing that a man of his talents should be above attention to such distinctions. Nay, sir, never mind that, "Nil te quæsiveris extra." -v. Bosw. Johnson, vol. iv. p. 359.

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and decency by quoting his practice, and he was determined to set him a better example.'

The friendship of Johnson to any man was no common blessing; to Goldsmith it might have been beyond all value, for under that forbidding exterior was a most feeling heart, a warm and affectionate disposition, and the most unbending principles of virtue and religion. He was as kind and generous to others, as he was himself wise and prudent in the economy of life. Dr. Percy says that their connexion was cemented by almost daily association, and their friendship improved as their intercourse increased. Johnson had seen much of the world, had been a sagacious observer of mankind, and profited by his experience; from his superior age and wisdom, he was well adapted to be the friend of the young and the imprudent; and it was not long before the embarrassment of Goldsmith's circumstances called for his assistance.

Boswell says (and with truth) that Goldsmith was very generous, and when he had money 26 he

26 Amongst Goldsmith's pensioners was Jack Pilkington, who served the Doctor so many tricks that he despaired of getting any more money from him without coming to a masterstroke. He accordingly called on the Doctor one morning, and, running about the room in a fit of joy, said his fortune was made. How so, Jack?' Why, the Duchess of Marlborough had a strange wish for a pair of white mice, and I commissioned a friend to get me a pair from the East Indies, and he is just arrived with two of the most beautiful animals in the world.'

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gave it liberally away; in fact, his generosity might too often be called thoughtlessness. He was one of those persons to whom the good or evil of the present day is the boundary of their views, and whom no anxious cares of futurity disturb he spent his money, as he gained it, quickly; and, indeed, the desultory manner in which his income arrived was not conducive to the practice of economy. He was now in distress, arrested by his landlady for the arrears of rent. Fortunately he had just finished his delightful History of the Vicar of Wakefield; a tale which, if I may without presumption speak my own opinion, I should for sweetness and simplicity of style, truth of circumstance, adherence to nature, easy change of incident, bright and clear delineation of character, apart from all violent exaggeration, and command at once of the humorous and pathetic, place among the very foremost productions of fiction. It has the truth

He then lengthened his visage, by telling the Doctor all was ruined, for without two guineas he could not buy a cage to present them in. The Doctor unfortunately, as he said himself, had but half a guinea, which he offered; but Jack was not to be beat out of his scheme. He saw the Doctor's watch hanging up, and hinted that if he could spare it for a week he could raise a few guineas on it, which he would repay. The Doctor gave him the watch, which the other took to the pawnbroker; and Goldsmith heard no more of his friend Jack, till a message came to inform him he was on his death-bed, and requesting a guinea, which was readily sent.

of Richardson, without his minuteness; and the humour of Fielding, without his grossness: if it yields to Le Sage in the diversified variety of his views of life, it far excels him in the description of the domestic virtues, and the pleasing moral of the tale.

Goldsmith sent for Johnson in his distress, to raise a sum for him by the sale of his manuscript. The account given by his friend is admirably characteristic of those minds that, formed in ‘nature's happier hour,' nothing can permanently depress. Johnson sent him a guinea, and promised to be with him directly.27 27 When he arrived, he found that Goldsmith had purchased a bottle of Madeira with the money, and was regaling himself in his sorrow. Johnson wisely corked up the bottle, bid him be calm, went out and sold the novel 28 for £60 to Newbery; and Gold

27 This story has been related with singular inaccuracy by Mrs. Piozzi, in her Anecdotes of Johnson, p. 119; and still more so by the Rev. Edmund Mangin, in his Essay on Light Reading, p. 134. It has been remarked that it has been told by Boswell (v. Life, i. 360), by Mrs. Piozzi (Anecd. p. 119), and by Cumberland (v. Life, p. 273), all from Johnson's own relation, and all differently, so difficult it is to come at the truth.

28 I do not love a man who is zealous for nothing.'When I was a young man, being anxious to distinguish myself, I was perpetually starting new propositions; but I soon gave this over, for I found that generally what was new was false.' These two passages Goldsmith expunged from his Bosw. Johnson, vol. iv. p. 245; vol. i. p. 454.

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smith, when he had paid his rent, rated his landlady soundly for using him so ill. I suppose the bookseller was induced to purchase the manuscript partly from the recommendation of Johnson; for he was doubtful of its success, and kept it by him till Goldsmith's reputation, firmly established and widely extended by the Traveller,' ensured a profitable sale.

This accidental circumstance produced a further acquaintance between Goldsmith and Newbery. In 1763 the Poet was in lodgings in Canonbury House, Islington, revising and correcting different publications, particularly the Art of Poetry, 2 vols. 12mo; a Life of Beau Nash; the Chinese Letters, a work highly, and, I think, most justly, praised by his biographer, for a nice perception and a delicate delineation of life and manners, for its wit and humour, and for touching the vices and follies of the day with the most playful and diverting satire; to this, I would add mention of the pure and graceful style in which his observations are conveyed. Soon after this, or early in 1764, he collected and published his fugitive pieces, under the title of Essays. They also were justly popular, for Goldsmith has written nothing that may not be read with delight: a native grace, an innate delicacy of taste, is seen in the selection of his language and the harmony of his style. May I say, without offence, that I am inclined to prefer it to that of Addison;