could be procured for him. Goldfmith, unwilling to be a burden to his friend, a fhort time after eagerly embraced an offer which was made him to affift the late Rev. Dr. Milner, in inftructing the young gentlemen at the academy at Peckham; and acquitted himself greatly to the Doctor's fatisfaction for a fhort time; but, having obtained fome reputation by the criticisms he had written in the Monthly Review, Mr. Griffith, the principal proprietor, engaged him in the compilation of it; and refolving to pursue the profeffion of writing, he returned to London, as the mart where abilities of every kind were fure of meeting diftinction and reward. Here he determined to adopt a plan of the strictest economy, and, at the close of the year 1759, took lodgings in GreenArbour-court, in the Old Bailey, where he wrote several ingenious pieces. The late Mr. Newbery, who, at that time gave great encouragement to men of literary abilities, became a kind of patron to our young author, and introduced him as one of the writers in the Public Ledger, in which his Citizen of the World originally appeared, under the title of Chinese Letters.'

Fortune now feemed to take fome notice of a man fhe had long neglected.

The fimplicity of his character, the integrity of his heart, and the merit of his productions, made his company very acceptable to a number of respectable perfons; and, about the middle of the year 1762, he emerged from his mean apartments near the Old Bailey, to the politer air of the Temple, where he took hand fome chambers, and lived in a genteel ftyle. Among many other perfons of diftinction who were defirous to know him, was the Duke of Northumberland; and the circumftance that attended his introduction to that nobleman, is worthy of being related, in order to fhew a ftriking trait

in his character. "I was invited," faid the Doctor, "by 66 my friend Percy, to wait upon the Duke, in confe

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quence 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 neceffary on fuch an occafion,

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proceeded on to Northumberland-house, and acquaint"ed the fervants that I had particular business with his "Grace. They fhewed me into an antichamber, where, "after waiting fome time, a gentleman very elegantly "dreffed made his appearance: taking him for the Duke, I "delivered all the fine things I had compofed, 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 fee me immediately. "At that inftant the Duke came into the apartment, "and I was fo confounded on the occafion, that I wanted "words barely fufficient to exprefs the fenfe I enter"tained of the Duke's politenefs, and went away exceed"ingly chagrined at the blunder I had committed."

The Doctor, at the time of this vifit, was much embar raffed in his circumftances-but, vain of the honour done him, was continually mentioning it. One of the ingenious executors of the law, a bailiff, who had a writ against him, determined to turn this circumftance to his own advantage: he wrote him a letter, that he was steward to a nobleman who was charmed with reading his laft production, and had ordered him to defire the Doctor to appoint a place where he might have the honour of meeting him, to conduct him to his Lordship. The vanity of poor Goldfmith immediately fwallowed the bait; he appointed the British Coffee-house, to which he was accompanied by his friend Mr. Hamilton, the printer of the Critical Review, who in vain remonftrated on the

fingularity of the application. On entering the coffeeroom, the bailiff paid his respects to the Doctor, and defired that he might have the honour of immediately attending him. They had scarce entered Pall-mall, in their way to his Lordship, when the bailiff produced his writ. Mr. Hamilton generously paid the money, and redeemed the Doctor from captivity.

The publication of his Traveller, his Vicar of Wakefield, and his Hiftory of England, was followed by the performance of his comedy of The Good-natured Man at CoventGarden Theatre, and placed him in the first rank of the poets of the prefent age.

Our Doctor, as he was now univerfally called, had a conftant levee of his diftreffed countrymen, whose wants, as far as he was able, he always relieved; and he has often been known to leave himself even without a guinea, in order to fupply the neceffities of others.

Another feature in his character we cannot help laying before the reader. Previous to the publication of his Deferted Village, the bookfeller had given him a note for one hundred guineas for the copy, which the Doctor mentioned, a few hours after, to one of his friends, who obferved it was a very great fum for fo fhort a performance. "In truth," replied Goldfmith, "I think so too; "it is much more than the honeft man can afford, or the

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piece is worth; I have not been easy fince I received "it; I will therefore go back and return him his note :" which he actually did, and left it entirely to the bookfeller to pay him according to the profits produced by the fale of the poem, which turned out very confiderable.

The Doctor did not, however, reap a profit from his poetical labours equal to thofe of his profe. The Earl of Lisburne, whofe claffical tafte is well known, one day at a dinner of the Royal Academicians, lamented to the Doctor his

neglecting the muses, and enquired of him why he forfook poetry, in which he was fure of charming his readers, to compile hiftories, and write novels? The Doctor replied, "My Lord, by courting the muses, I shall starve; but by 66 my other labours, I eat, drink, have good clothes, and "enjoy the luxuries of life."

During the last rehearsal of his comedy, intituled, She Stoops to Conquer, which Mr. Colman thought would not fucceed, on the Doctor's objecting to the repetition of one of Tony Lumpkin's speeches, being apprehensive it might injure the play, the manager, with great keenness replied, "Pfha, my dear Doctor, do not be fearful of "Squibs, when we have been fitting almost these two "hours upon a barrel of gunpowder." The piece, neverthelefs, contrary to Mr. Colman's expectation, was received with uncommon applaufe by the audience; and Goldfmith's pride was fo hurt by the feverity of the above observation, that it entirely put an end to his friendship for the gentleman who made it.

The laft work of this ingenious Author, was An Hiftory of the Earth and Animated Nature, in 8 vols. 8vo-for which production his bookseller paid him 850l. The Doctor, who seems to have confidered attentively the works of the feveral authors who have wrote on this fubject, profeffes to have had a tafte rather claffical than fcientific, and it was in the ftudy of the claffics that he first caught the defire of attaining a knowledge of nature. Pliny first infpired him, and he refolved to translate that agreeable writer, and, by the help of a commentary, to make his tranflation acceptable to the public. The appearance of Mr. Buffon's work, however, induced the Doctor to change his plan, and instead of tranflating an ancient writer, he refolved to imitate the laft and best of the modern, who had written on natural hiftory.

Notwithstanding the great fuccefs of his pieces-by fome of which, it is afferted, upon good authority, that he cleared 1800l. in one year his circumstances were by no means in a prosperous situation! partly owing to the liberality of his disposition, and partly to an unfortunate habit he had contracted of gaming, with the arts of which he was very little acquainted, and confequently became the prey of those who were unprincipled enough to take advantage of his ignorance.

Juft before his death, he had formed a defign for executing an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, the Profpectus of which he actually printed and distributed among his acquaintance. In this work, feveral of his literary friends (particularly Sir Joshua Reynolds, Dr. Johnson, and Mr. Garrick) had promised to affift, and to furnish him with articles upon different fubjects. He had entertained the most fanguine expectations from the fuccefs of it. The undertaking, however, did not meet with that encouragement from the bookfellers which he had imagined it would undoubtedly receive; and he ufed to lament this circumstance almost to the last hour of his exiftence.

He had been for fome years afflicted, at different times, with a violent ftranguary, which contributed not a little to imbitter the latter part of his life; and which, united with the vexations he suffered on other occafions, brought on a kind of habitual despondency. In this unhappy condition he was attacked by a nervous fever, which terminated in his diffolution, on the 4th day of April 1774, in the 45th year of his age.

His friends, who were very numerous and respectable, had determined to bury him in Westminster-abbey: His pall was to have been fupported by Lord Shelburne, Lord Louth, Sir Joshua Reynolds, the Hon. Mr. Beauclerc,