GOLDSMITH, OLIVER, was born in the parish of For ney, and county of Longford, in Ireland. He was the se cond son of the Rev. Charles Goldsmith, a respectable cler gyman of the established church. His early education was limited to reading, writing, and arithmetic, such as could be acquired from the schoolmaster of his native village, and might fit him for some mercantile employment. But having shewn some marks of genius, it was at length re solved to send him to the university; and accordingly, hav ing gone through the preparatory studies, he was admitted a sizes of Trinity College, Dublin, in June 1744. While here, an unfortunate quarrel with his tutor, occasioned by the imprudence of the one and the harshness of the other, blasted his hopes of distinction. He engaged in a tumult, and escaped expulsion only by making a humble confession. Nor did he atone for such follies by diligence and progress in learning. He was habitually indolent : he neither stood candidate for the usual premiums, nor did he obtain a scho larship ; and it was not till February 1749, two years after the regular time, that he was admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Having lost his father, he was taken under the protection of his uncle, the Rev. Thomas Con tarin, who had all along, indeed, shewn him the utmost kindness, and who persevered in his friendship towards him, notwithstanding the most provoking conduct on the part of young Goldsmith. He was at length, by this wor thy relative, sent to Edinburgh about the end of 1752, to study physic. His attendance on the medical classes there was very irregular ; his habits of heedlessness and folly grew upon him; and his health, as well as his finances, was greatly injured, by the dissipations in which he freely engaged. Having gone through the usual course of study, he set out for Leyden, with the consent of his uncle ; af ter having, by the generosity of two friends at college, being freed from an arrestment for debt, contracted by his thoughtlessly becoming surety for a fellow-student. At Leyden he continued for a year, studying chemistry under (=audit's, and anatomy under Albinus; but more heartily engaged in gambling, to which he was now unhappily ad dicted, than in the pursuits of science. Stripped of all his money, he determined to quit I folland, and to make the tour of Europe. I le supported himself by various means. Sometimes he had recourse to his musical skill, play ing on his flute for what the people would give him; some times his classical learning procured for him entertainment at the monasteries ; and sometimes, by engaging in those public disputations, which were maintained in the universi ties and convents, he was so successful, as to be allowed a donation of money, a dinner, and a bed for the night. In this manner he travelled through Flanders, some parts of France and Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. It was while in Switzerland, that he first cultivated his poetical talents, part of his beautiful poem the Traveller having been writ ten there, as he himself tells us. When he was in Italy, he received accounts of the death of his uncle ; and the pecuniary remittances failing him in consequence of this, he was obliged to travel homeward on foot. He landed at Dover in 1756, having spent about twelve months in this strange and adventurous peregrination. He first became usher in an academy ; then assistant in a chemist's labo ratory ; and at length commenced business as a physician, which procured for him plenty of patients, but almost no fees. In 1758, through the kindness of Dr Milner, a dis senting clergyman, lie was appointed physician to one of the factories in India. To equip him for that situation, (into which, after all, lie never entered) he composed " The Present State of Polite Litdrature in Europe." This work was printed in 1759. Before it appeared, he laboured as a contributor to the Monthly Review. His contract with the editor was favourable to Goldsmith ; but it was dissolved by mutual consent at the end of seven or eight months. His circumstances continued to be narrow. While under arrest for debt, he produced that inimitable novel, the Vicar of Wakefield, for which he received 601. On May 31st 1761, he received his first visit from the cele brated Dr Johnson. Besides correcting and revising many
publications for Mr Newberry, he wrote his Letters on English history, in 2 vols. 12mo., which have been by mistake attributed to lord Lyttleton, and other noble au thors; conducted a Lady's Magazine ; contributed to the Bee ; and produced a periodical paper called "The Ledg er." This last work was afterwards collected into 2 vols. 12mo, and entitled the citizen of the World : It is charac terised by fine sentiment and exquisite humour. But his chief attention was bestowed on the Traveller, which he brought out in 1765, on which he intended to build his poetical fame, and which did procure for him both high reputation, and considerable patronage. His charming ballad, the Hermit, recommended him to the Duchess of Northumberland. In 1764, the famous Literary Club was established ; Goldsmith was one of its first members, and continued in it till his death. In 1768, his comedy of " The Good-natured Man" was first represented at Covent Gar den, and kept possession of the stage for nine nights. And in the year following, he produced his fine and popular poem of the " Deserted Village." While preparing these pieces for the press, he undertook and completed his " Ro man History," in 2 vols. 8vo, and his " History of Eng land," in 4 vols. 8vo,—works intended for the perusal of the young, and certainly written in an interesting manner, but almost always superficial, and frequently inaccurate. The History of England was finished in two years, and lie received for it 500/. He was employed all this time in literary efforts of an occasional and inferior kind; such as prefaces, introductions, and prospectuses. It was one of these that led to the publication of the " History of the Earth and Animated Nature, a production entertaining and well written, but unfortunately abounding in errors. He also wrote a " Life of Parnell," of which Johnson speaks in terms of high approbation. In preparing his " Beauties of English Poetry," he introduced, inadvertently, an inde cent tale from Prior, which blasted the success of the se lection, as it was chiefly intended for the use of boarding schools. The life of Lord Bolingbroke, prefixed to that nobleman's Dissertations on Parties, was the production of Goldsmith's pen, though his name was not affixed to it in the first edition. When the Royal Academy was establish ed, Sir Joshua Reynolds procured for him the appointment of professor of ancient history,—an appointment without salary or trouble, but in other respects honourable and useful to him.
On the 15th March 1773, his second comedy, "The Mistakes of a Night, or She stoops to Conquer," was produced at Covent Garden, was received by the audi ence with great applause, kept possession of the stage as a stock play, and increased his literary reputation. A scurrilous paper, occasioned by his success, and inserted in a London paper, so provoked him, that he went to the editor and assaulted him; but the Doctor got himself se verely bruised in the scuffle. He was led into this quarrel by the officiousness of a pretended friend. About this time, he wrote " The Retaliation," " The Haunch of Venison," and some other small pieces, which did not appear till after his death. A great project now entered his mind ; it was " An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences." He had engaged his literary friends to assist him, and had actually prepared a prospectus of the work. But his plan was interrupted by a fever, which terminated his life on the 4th of April 1744. He was privately in terred in the Temple burial ground. A marble monument was afterwards erected to his memory in Westminster Abbey, between those of Gay and the Duke of Argyle, in the poet's corner. The inscription was written by Dr Johnson, and contains a very just though concise delinea tion of his merits. As a man, he was constitutionally kind, but exceedingly improvident, and acted according to im pulse rather than principle. As a writer, he must be re garded as standing in the very foremost rank of the British classics. In both views, simplicity may be considered as his leading characteristic. (7)