1771. the last three years they had met more frequently than at any previous time, at Mr. Beauclerc's, Lord Clare's, and Sir Et. 43. Joshua's; and where there is anything to suggest mutual esteem, the more men know of each other the more they will wish to know. Thus, courtesies and good-nature had freely passed between them; and hints of promise and acceptance for a new comedy would appear to have been interchanged, for we find Hoadly warning Garrick soon after against “giving "in" to Doctor Goldsmith's ridiculosity.* What was lately written in the country (little better than a rough draught at present, it is probable) is for Covent Garden; but he thinks he has so far succeeded as to feel yet greater confidence in the same direction, and something of an understanding for a future dramatic venture at Drury Lane seems certainly to have been agreed to. A new and strong link between them was supplied by the family Goldsmith is about to visit; for Garrick was Bunbury's most familiar friend, and a leader in all the sports at Barton. 66 What Goldsmith's ways and habits used to be there, a survivor of that happy circle lived to be still talking about not many years ago. "Come now let us play the fool a 'little," was his ordinary invitation to mirth; and he took part in every social game. Tricks were played upon his dress, upon his smart black silk coat and expensive pair of ruffles, above all upon his wig, which the valets as well as the guests at Barton seem to have thought a quizzical property; yet all this he suffered with imperturbable good humour, He sung comic songs with great taste and fun; he was inventive in garden buildings and operations, over which he blundered amazingly; and if there was a piece of water in * Garrick Correspondence, i. 583. "Cradock, I am determined to come down into the country, and make some 1771. Æt. 43. any part of the grounds, he commonly managed to tumble into it.* Such were the recollections of those days; with the not stay with you, and I will build you an ice-house." "Indeed, my dear Doctor, you will not; you have got the strangest notion in the world of making amends "to your friends wherever you go; I hope, if you favour me with a visit, you will "consider that your own company is the best recompence." "Well," says Goldsmith, "that is civilly enough expressed, but I should like to build you an ice"house; I have built two already: they are perfect, and this should be a pattern "to all your county." Cradock's Memoirs, i. 231. * These are the reminiscences of Mrs. Gwyn, the Jessamy Bride, as related twenty years ago. "Some difference of opinion," she says, having arisen with "Lord Harrington respecting the depth of a pond, the poet remarked that it was "not so deep but that, if anything valuable was to be found at the bottom, he "would not hesitate to pick it up. His lordship, after some banter, threw in a "guinea; Goldsmith, not to be outdone in this kind of bravado, in attempting to "fulfil his promise without getting wet, accidentally fell in, to the amusement of "all present, but persevered, brought out the money, and kept it, remarking that "he had abundant objects on whom to bestow any further proofs of his lordship's "whim or bounty." Prior, ii. 379. She said also that at cards, which was commonly a round game, and the stake small, he was always the most noisy; affected great eagerness to win; and teased his opponents of the gentler sex with continual jest and banter on their want of spirit in not risking the hazards of the game. But one of his most favourite enjoyments was to romp with children, when he threw off all reserve, and seemed one of the most joyous of the group. His simplicity of manners, she continued, made him occasionally the object of tricks of the jocular kind to other visitors of the house. Being at all times gay in dress, he generally made his appearance at the breakfast table in a smart black silk coat with an expensive pair of ruffles; this coat, however, some one contrived to soil, and it was sent to be cleansed; but, either by accident or more probably design, the day after it came home the sleeves appeared daubed with paint, and this was hardly discovered when the ruffles also, to his great mortification, were produced irretrievably disfigured. "He always wore a wig, a peculiarity which those who judge of his appearance only "from the fine poetical head of Reynolds would not suspect; and on one occasion some person contrived seriously to injure this important adjunct to dress. It was the only one he had in the country, and the misfortune seemed irreparable "until the services of Mr. Bunbury's valet were called in, who, however, performed "his functions so indifferently, that poor Goldsmith's appearance became the "signal for a general smile. His benevolence was unquestionable, and his countenance bore every trace of it. He was a very plain man, but had he been "much more so, it was impossible not to love and respect his goodness of heart, "which broke out upon every occasion. Nobody that knew him intimately could "avoid admiring and loving his good qualities. They accused him of envy, but "it certainly was not envy in the usual sense of that word. . . . One of the means "by which he amused us was his songs, chiefly of the comic kind, which were sung with some taste and humour; several, I believe, were of his own compo"sition, and I regret that I neither have copies, which might have been readily "procured from him at the time, nor do I remember their names. . . . . I am sure," .... unimportant addition, that everybody in that circle respected, admired, and loved him. His fondness for flowers was a passion, which he was left to indulge without restraint; here, at Lord Clare's, at Bennet Langton's, and at Beauclerc's. Thus, when Beau tells Lord Charlemont a couple of years hence, that if he won't come to London, the club shall be sent to Ireland to drive him out of that country in self-defence, the terrors of his threat are, that Johnson shall spoil his books, Goldsmith pull his flowers, and (for a quite intolerable climax) Boswell talk to him!* But most at the card-table does Goldsmith seem to have spread contagious mirth: affecting nothing of the rigour of the game (whether it was loo or any other), playing in wild defiance of the chances, laughing at all advice, staking preposterously, and losing always as much as the moderate pool could absorb. With fascinating pleasantry he has himself described all this, in answer to one of Mrs. Bunbury's invitations to Barton, wherein she had playfully counselled him to come to their Christmas party in his smart spring velvet coat, to bring a wig that he might dance with the haymakers in, and above all to follow her and her sister's advice in playing loo. His reply, perhaps the most amusing and characteristic of all his letters, was published ten years ago by Sir Henry Bunbury. Between the mock gravity of its beginning and the farcical broad mirth of its close, flash forth the finest humour, the nicest compliments, and the most sprightly touches of character. "MADAM, I read your letter with all that allowance which critical adds the Jessamy Bride, reiterating her former impression as to certain imputations against him, (see ante, 247) "that on many occasions, from the peculiar manner of "his humour, and assumed frown of countenance, what was often uttered in jest, was mistaken by those who did not know him, for earnest." Hardy's Life of Lord Charlemont, 178. 1771. Et. 43. 1771. Et. 43. "candour could require, but after all find so much to object to, and so "much to raise my indignation, that I cannot help giving it a serious answer. "I am not so ignorant, Madam, as not to see there are many sarcasms "contained in it, and solecisms also. (Solecism is a word that comes "from the town of Soleis in Attica, among the Greeks, built by Solon, "and applied as we use the word Kidderminster for curtains from a "town also of that name,-but this is learning you have no taste for !) "I say, Madam, there are many sarcasms in it, and solecisms also. "But not to seem an ill-natured critic, I'll take leave to quote your own words, and give you my remarks upon them as they occur. "begin as follows: 'I hope my good Doctor, you soon will be here, And your spring-velvet coat very smart will appear, To open our ball the first day of the year.' You "Pray, Madam, where did you ever find the epithet 'good,' applied "to the title of Doctor? Had you called me 'learned Doctor,' or "grave Doctor,' or 'noble Doctor,' it might be allowable, because they belong to the profession. But, not to cavil at trifles, you talk of my "spring-velvet coat,' and advise me to wear it the first day in the 'year, that is, in the middle of winter!-a spring-velvet coat in the "middle of winter!!! That would be a solecism indeed! and yet to "increase the inconsistence, in another part of your letter you call me a beau. Now, on one side or other, you must be wrong. If I am a beau, I can never think of wearing a spring-velvet in winter: and if "I am not a beau, why then, that explains itself. But let me go on to "your two next strange lines: 66 66 'And bring with you a wig, that is modish and gay, To dance with the girls that are makers of hay.' "The absurdity of making hay at Christmas you yourself seem "sensible of: you say your sister will laugh; and so indeed she well 'may! The Latins have an expression for a contemptuous kind of "laughter, 'naso contemnere adunco;' that is, to laugh with a crooked 66 nose. She may laugh at you in the manner of the antients if she "thinks fit. But now I come to the most extraordinary of all extra66 ordinary propositions, which is, to take your and your sister's advice "in playing at loo. The presumption of the offer raises my indignation beyond the bounds of prose; it inspires me at once with verse and "resentment. I take advice! and from whom? You shall hear. "First let me suppose, what may shortly be true, I lay down my stake, apparently cool, While the harpies about me all pocket the pool. I fret in my gizzard, yet, cautious and sly, I wish all my friends may be bolder than I : "Tis in vain that I flatter the brave and the bold: All play their own way, and they think me an ass,— 'What does Mrs. Bunbury?'-'I, Sir? I pass.' 'Pray what does Miss Horneck? take courage, come do,' 'Who, I? let me see, Sir, why I must pass too.' Mr. Bunbury frets, and I fret like the devil, I venture at all,-while my avarice regards The whole pool as my own-' Come give me five cards.' Thus foil'd in my courage, on all sides perplext, I ask for advice from the lady that's next : 'Pray, Ma'am, be so good as to give your advice; 'Don't you think the best way is to venture for 't twice?' 'I advise,' cries the lady, 'to try it, I own. "Ah! the Doctor is loo'd! Come, Doctor, put down.' Thus, playing, and playing, I still grow more eager, And so bold, and so bold, I'm at last a bold beggar. Now, ladies, I ask, if law-matters you're skilled in, Whether crimes such as yours should not come before Fielding: For giving advice that is not worth a straw, May well be call'd picking of pockets in law; And picking of pockets, with which I now charge ye, Is, by quinto Elizabeth, Death without Clergy. VOL. II. Y 1771. Et. 43. |