at the gates of convents. Having thus seen France and Italy, and having, as he asserted, obtained a doctor's degree from the University of Padua, he returned to England (penniless, of course), and after trying a half-dozen ways of getting along, settled down at his true vocation—that of a writer. At first it was all drudgery; he was not known, and had to do such odds and ends of work as the publishers would give him. Even then his great talent would have earned him a competence, but for his absolute incapacity to keep a shilling. He could not meet a beggar in the street, without emptying his own pockets. His owing the money he thus lavishly flung away made no difference to him; it gave him pleasure to give, and while he was gratifying himself, the claims of those who had trusted him were as nothing. When he went to be examined for a position as surgeon's mate, a friend lent him a suit of clothes, that he might make a respectable appearance. Meeting on his return some one who told him a tale of distress, he pawned the clothes. His whole biography bristles with such irritating anecdotes.

Goldsmith wrote several "Histories"-slight compendiums of the annals of Greece, Rome, and England, in which he did little more than translate into his own flowing language facts picked up in various quarters without much pretension to accuracy and none to research. These books were what would now be called "potboilers" productions put out merely to supply his daily needs. Yet the books are most readable, and did more to popularize the study of history and make it attractive to young people than any others written in his own age or for some generations afterward. An attempt to interest the young in science was not so commendable. In his "Animated Nature," a book on natural history, his mistakes are so glaringly absurd as to excite laughter; and putting them forth seriously, as he did, and sending them into the

world as statements of fact was little better than literary swindling.*

Beside the two principal poems we have mentioned "The Traveller" and "The Deserted Village❞— Goldsmith wrote some shorter pieces, the best of which is "Retaliation.”

Here are some beautiful lines from "The Deserted Village." The poet is speaking of the village pastor (believed to represent his father):

As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form,

Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm,
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head.

Goldsmith's "Citizen of the World" consists of a series of essays professing to be written by a learned and wellbred Chinaman who finds himself in London and writes home to his friends, in a strain of gentle satire, his impressions of English society. His novel, "The Vicar of Wakefield" was shown to Dr. Johnson while Goldsmith was locked up in his room arrested for debt by his landlady. The kindly Doctor took it out to a bookseller, and returned with sixty pounds, with which Goldsmith paid his rent, scolding his landlady heartily for having used him so ill. To such persons, a demand for the payment of a debt is either a good joke, or an insult. His comedy of "The Good-natured Man" had a fair success; while the more brilliant "She Stoops to Conquer," is a favorite to this day.

Goldsmith's chief hold on the attention of posterity lies in his one novel, "The Vicar of Wakefield." It is a simple,

* Macaulay says of him (Encyc. Brit.): "He relates, with faith and perfect gravity, all the most absurd lies which he could find about gigantic Patagonians, monkeys that preach sermons, nightingales that repeat long conversations. 'If he can tell a horse from a cow,' said Johnson, 'that is the extent of his knowledge of zoölogy.' . . . In defiance of the evidence of his own senses, he maintained obstinately, and even angrily, that he chewed his dinner by moving his upper jaw."

pastoral story, told (in the first person) by an English country vicar, and presenting the most perfect picture ever drawn of the manners and customs of rural life in those days; and at the same time it teaches an immortal lesson of piety, charity, nobility of character, purity in life, and courage under misfortune. All this is lighted up with a wealth of wit, humor, pathos and sentiment which combine with its other qualities to make the book a classic of the English tongue for all times.

His receipts, though they had been large, did not justify the extravagance of his living, and his debts pressed heavily upon him. He died of a kind of low fever, after a short illness, and was mourned alike by rich and poor.

Dr. Johnson wrote the Latin epitaph for his tomb in Westminster Abbey, a part of which has been thus translated: He left scarcely any kind of writing untouched, and touched nothing that he did not adorn. His memory is cherished by the love

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of Companions, the faithfulness of Friends, the reverence of Readers.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY MISCELLANEOUS WRITERS.

F miscellaneous writers, this century had its full share, being a period of great mental activity

and of a high condition of general cultivation. Henry Home, Lord Kames (1696-1782), a Scottish judge, wrote a work on "Elements of Criticism," which was, until the middle of this century, used as a text - book in schools. Dr. George Campbell (1719-96), a Scottish divine, wrote, beside books on theological and other subjects, a "Philosophy of Rhetoric," which is still considered a standard work. The two brothers Warton were both poets and literary critics. Joseph Warton (1722-1800), published an essay on the "Genius and Writings of Pope," taking a view of

his position as a poet which is now accepted as the correct one. Thomas Warton (1728-90) wrote an admirable "History of English Poetry," on which he was engaged for many years, and which shows scholarship, fine judgment and enormous research. In 1785, he succeeded William Whitehead as poet-laureate. Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-92), the most famous artist of his day, has a place in literature as the author of "Discourses on Painting." Gilbert White (1720-93), a clergyman, wrote "The Natural History of Selborne❞— a delightful description of the plant and animal life he found in his own parish; doing for the observation of nature what Isaac Walton had done for angling. Every object which engaged his attention he touched with a loving hand. Sir William Blackstone (1723-80), an eminent jurist, wrote "Commentaries on the Laws of England," which have the merit of being written in such clear, simple English that even those unlearned in the law can read and profit by them. An unknown writer published (1769-72) a series of sarcastic articles, reflecting severely on the government and attacking many prominent officials by name. These letters were signed "Junius," and though every effort was made to discover the offending author, his name remains a secret to this day. The preponderance of evidence points to Sir Philip Francis, a well-known politician of the time.

Edmund Burke (1730-97), the distinguished parliamentary orator and statesman, was born in Dublin, and was the son of a thriving Irish attorney. In respect to the extent and versatility of his powers, he has been compared to Francis Bacon. As a man of letters he takes a very high rank; as a patriot not even the breath of envy has ever sullied his fame. His "Reflections on the French Revolution" is a masterpiece of political wisdom. His speeches on our war of the Revolution are fervent, eloquent appeals to reason and justice, which, unfortun