« SIR JOSHUA.—I was glad to hear Charles Fox say, it was one of the finest poems in the English language. « LANGTON.—Why were you glad? You surely had no doubt of it before. « DR JOHNSON.-No: the merit of the «Traveller," is so well established, that Mr Fox's praise cannot augment it, nor his censure diminish it. « SIR JOSHUA.—But his friends may suspect they had too great a partiality for him. « JOHNSON.-Nay, sir, it cannot be so; for the partiality of his friends was always against him.>> Goldsmith, however, was not permitted to enjoy the fame he had acquired without experiencing also the detraction that generally attends successful genius. The envy of some and the jealousy of others, especially among the minor candidates for poetical fame, was speedily awakened by the applause bestowed on his poem. Unable to deny the merit of the performance, they strove to detract from the merit of its author, by ascribing the chief part of it to the friendly muse of Dr Johnson. This question has since been finally settled. In the year 1783, Dr Johnson, at the request of Mr Boswell, marked with a pencil all the lines he had furnished, which are only line 420th, To stop too fearful, and too faint to go; and the concluding ten lines, except the last couplet but one, printed in italic. How small of all that human hearts endure, That part which laws or kings can cause or cure; Our own felicity we make or find; With secret course, which no loud storms annoy, The lifted axe, the agonizing wheel, Luke's iron crown, and Damien's bed of steel,' To men remote from power but rarely known, 1 Goldsmith in this couplet mentions Luke as a person well known, and superficial Johnson added, « these are all of which I can be sure." They bear indeed but a very trifling proportion to the whole, which consists of four hundred and thirty-eight verses. The truth in this case seems to be, that the report had its origin in the avowed fact of the poem having been submitted to Johnson's friendly revision before it was sent to the press. Goldsmith, though now universally known and admired, and enabled to look forward to independence at home, appears still to have retained a strong tincture of his original roving disposition. He had long entertained a design of penetrating into the interior parts of Asia, to investigate the remains of ancient grandeur, learning, and manners; and when Lord Bute became prime minister at the accession of George the Third, this desire was more strongly excited by the hope of obtaining some portion of the royal bounty, then so liberally dispensed by that nobleman in pensions and benefactions to men of learning and genius. That he might be enabled to execute this favourite project, he resolved on making a direct application to the premier for pecuniary assistance, and the sanction of Government; but, the better to ensure success, he previously drew up and published in the Public Ledger, an ingenious essay on the subject, in which the advantages of such a mission were stated with much ability and eloquence. Our poor author, however, was then but little known, and not having distinguished himself by any popular literary effort, his petition or memorial was thrown aside unnoticed or neglected. Perhaps it was fortunate for literature that it so happened. Goldsmith, with all his genius and taste as a writer, was but little versed in the arts; and it is extremely questionable whether he was qualified to accomplish the readers have passed it over quite smoothly; while those of more attention have been as much perplexed by Luke, as by Lydiat in « The Vanity of Human Wishes.» The truth is, that Goldsmith himself was in a mistake. In the « Respublica Hungarica,» there is an account of a desperate rebellion in the year 1514, headed by two brothers of the name of Zeck, George and Luke. When it was quelled, George, and not Luke, was punished, by his head being encircled with a red-hot iron crown : « Corona candescente ferreâ coronatur.» The same severity of torture was exercised on the Earl of Athol, one of the murderers of James I. of Scotland. task which he had proposed to himself. The opinion of his friend, Dr Johnson, who so well knew and appreciated the extent of his acquirements, may be given as decisive of such a question. In a conversation with Mr Boswell, the latter remarked, that our author « had long a visionary project of some time or other going to Aleppo, when his circumstances should be easier, in order to acquire a knowledge, as far as might be, of any arts peculiar to the East, and introduce them into Britain;"> to which Johnson rejoined, « of all men, Goldsmith is most unfit to go out on such an inquiry; for he is yet ignorant of such arts as we ourselves already possess, and consequently could not know what would be accessions to our present stock of mechanical knowledge: sir, he would bring home a grinding-barrow, and think he had furnished a wonderful improvement." Goldsmith, however, seems never to have been conscious of the deficiency of his own powers for such an undertaking. His passion for travel was never extinguished; and notwithstanding the neglect with which his application for ministerial patronage had been treated, his design of penetrating to the East frequently revived. Even after the publication of the « Traveller," as formerly remarked, though engaged in several literary undertakings, this design was still predominant; and had it not been for his characteristic simplicity or carelessness, or perhaps his propensity to practical blundering, an opportunity was now thrown in his way that might have enabled him to fulfil his most sanguine expectations. Among the distinguished characters of the day which the merit of the «Traveller » had attached to its author, either as patrons or friends, Lord Nugent (afterwards Earl of Clare) was conspicuous in point of rank; and his lordship, not satisfied with his own personal notice and friendship, warmly recommended him to his friends in power, particularly to the Earl (afterwards Duke) of Northumberland, then lord-lieutenant of Ireland. That nobleman, on the recommendation of Lord Nugent, had read several of Goldsmith's productions, and being charmed with the elegance of their style, expressed a desire to extend his patronage to their author. After his lordship's re turn from Ireland, in 1765, he communicated his intentions to Dr Percy, who was related to the family of Northumberland, and by his means an interview took place between the poet and the peer. Of this visit to his lordship, Goldsmith used to give the following account: << I was invited by my friend Percy to wait upon the duke, in consequence of the satisfaction he had received from the perusal of one of my productions. I dressed myself in the best manner I could, and, after studying some compliments I thought necessary on such an occasion, proceeded to Northumberland-house, and acquainted the servants that I had particular business with the duke. They showed me into an ante-chamber, where, after waiting some time, a gentleman very elegantly dressed made his appearance. Taking him for the duke, I delivered all the fine things I had composed, in order to compliment him on the honour he had done me; when, to my great astonishment, he told me I had mistaken him for his master, who would see me immediately. At that instant the duke came into the apartment, and I was so confounded on the occasion, that I wanted words barely sufficient to express the sense I entertained of the duke's politeness, and went away exceedingly chagrined at the blunder I had committed.>> In the embarrassment which ensued from this awkward mistake, our author's eastern project, for which he had intended to have solicited his lordship's patronage, was totally forgotten, and the visit appears to have been concluded without even a hint as to this great object of his wishes. Sir John Hawkins, in his « Life of Dr Johnson," has noticed and commented on the circumstances attending this interview, with peevishness and ill-humour. « Having one day," says he, « a call to wait on the late Duke, then Earl of Northumberland, I found Goldsmith waiting for an audience in an outer room: 1 asked him what had brought him there; he told me, an invitation from his lordship. I made my business as short as I could, and as a reason, mentioned that Dr Goldsmith was waiting without. The earl asked me if I was acquainted with him? I told him I was, adding what I thought was likely to recommend him. I retired, and stayed in the outer room to take him home. Upon his coming out, I asked him the result of this conversation. << His lordship," said he, « told me he had read my poem, meaning the 'Traveller,' and was much delighted with it; that he was going lord-lieutenant to Ireland, and that, hearing I was a native of that country, he should be glad to do me any kindness." « And what did you answer," asked I, « to this gracious offer?"-" Why," said he, « I could say nothing but that I had a brother there, a clergyman, that stood in need of help: as for myself, I have no dependence on the promises of great men; look to the booksellers for support; they are my best friends, and I am not inclined to forsake them for others.»- Thus,» continues Sir John, «did this idiot in the affairs of the world trifle with his fortunes, and put back the hand that was held out to assist him!»—In a worldly point of view, the conduct of Goldsmith on this occasion was undoubtedly absurd; but those who have generous dispositions will be pleased with such a characteristic instance of his well-known simplicity and goodness of heart. A benevolent mind will discover in the recommendation of a brother, to the exclusion of himself, a degree of disinterestedness, which, as it is seldom to be met with, is the more to be admired. Though Goldsmith thus lost the only good opportunity that had offered for obtaining Government patronage for his intended eastern expedition, it must be admitted, to the honour of the Duke of Northumberland, that when the plan was afterwards explained to him at a distant period, he expressed his regret that he had not been made acquainted with it earlier; for he could at once have placed the poet on the Irish establishment, with a sufficient salary to enable him to prosecute his researches, and would have taken care to have had it continued to him during the whole period of his travels. From this time our poet, though he sometimes talked of his plan, appears to have for ever relinquished the design of travelling into Asia. Independent of every consideration of interest or ambition, the introduction of Goldsmith to a nobleman of such high rank as the Earl of Northumberland, was a circumstance sufficiently |
