He had now lodgings in 22 Green Arbour Court, Old Bailey; a description of them not very flattering is to be found in an anecdote related by one of his literary friends. I called on Goldsmith at his lodgings,' said he,' in March, 1759, and found him writing his inquiry in a miserable dirty looking room, in which there was but one chair; and when from civility he resigned it to me, he was himself obliged to sit on the window. While we were conversing together, some one gently tapped at the door, and being desired to come in, a poor ragged little girl of a very becoming demeanour entered the room, and dropping a curtsey said, " My mamma sends her compliments, and begs the favour of you to lend her a chamber-pot full of coals."

This was the crisis of Goldsmith's life. From this humble and almost 23 heart-breaking situation, by the exertion of his powers, the industry of his pen, and certainly the splendour of his ta

22 An engraving of the house, illustrated by a description, was given in the European Magazine, vol. xliii. p. 7, 8. The steep flight of stairs leading from the door of his lodginghouse in Green Arbour Court to Fleet Market, were called Break Neck Steps.

23 George Langton told me, that he was present one day when Goldsmith, in a circle of good company, began with, When I lived among the beggars of Axe Lane'-every one present was well acquainted with the varied habits of Goldsmith's life, and with the naïveté of his character; but this sudden trait of simplicity could not but cause a momentary surprise.' Best's Personal Recollections, p. 76.

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lents, under great disadvantages, he rapidly rose to literary eminence, to the possession of a handsome income, and to the society and friendship of men distinguished for their rank, their talents, and their virtue: the poor unknown writer in his squalid garret was soon to be raised, by the force of his own genius, to be the companion of Burke, the friend of Johnson, and the guest of Reynolds.

In 1761, he removed from Green Arbour Court to Wine Office Court, in Fleet Street; 24 where (according to the writer of his Life) he occupied genteel apartments, received visits of ceremony, and gave entertainments to his friends. Fortune now (says one of his biographers) seemed to take notice of a man she had long neglected: the simplicity of his character, the integrity of his heart, and the merit of his productions, made his company very acceptable to a number of respectable persons.' Johnson understood and appreciated his powers, and in a conversation with Boswell asserted that Goldsmith was one of the

ner,

24 He now made his appearance in a professional manin a scarlet great coat, buttoned close under the chin, a physical wig and cane, and declined visiting many of those public places which formerly were so convenient to him in point of expense. In truth, he said, one sacrifices something for the sake of good company; for here am I shut out of several places where I used to play the fool very agreeably.' Anderson's Life, p. 207.

first men then existing as an author. It is not exactly ascertained at what time the intimacy between these great men commenced; but on the 31st May, 1761, Johnson was at supper in Goldsmith's lodgings in Wine Office Court,25 with other literary persons. Doctor Percy, who was of the party, was surprised at the great lexicographer's unusual spruceness and elegance of dress; which Johnson accounted for by saying that Goldsmith justified his disregard of cleanliness and decency by quoting his practice, and he was determined to set him a better example.'

The friendship of Johnson to any man was no common blessing; to Goldsmith it might have been beyond all value, for under that forbidding exterior was a most feeling heart, a warm and affectionate disposition, and the most unbending principles of virtue and religion. He was as kind and generous to others, as he was himself wise and prudent in the economy of life. Dr. Percy says that their connexion was cemented by almost daily association, and their friendship improved

25 Goldsmith on being visited by Johnson one day in the Temple, said to him with a little jealousy of the appearance of his accommodation,' I shall soon be in better chambers than these.' Johnson at the same time checked him, and paid him a handsome compliment, wishing that a man of his talents should be above attention to such distinctions. Sir, never mind that,' Johnson, vol. iv. p. 359.

Nil te quæsiveris extra.'

Nay,

". Bosw.

as their intercourse increased. Johnson had seen much of the world; had been a sagacious observer of mankind, and profited by his experience; from his superior age and wisdom, he was well adapted to be the friend of the young and the imprudent, and it was not long before the embarrassment of Goldsmith's circumstances called for his assistance.

Boswell says (and with truth) that Goldsmith was very generous, and when he had money 26 he gave it liberally away; in fact, his generosity

26 Among Goldsmith's pensioners was Jack Pilkington, who served the Doctor so many tricks that he despaired of getting any more money from him without coming to a masterstroke. He accordingly called on the Doctor, one morning, and running about the room in a fit of joy, said his fortune was made. 'How so, Jack?' Why the Duchess of Marlborough had a strange wish for a pair of white mice, and I commissioned a friend to get me a pair from the East Indies, and he is just arrived with two of the most beautiful animals in the world. He then lengthened his visage, by telling the Doctor all was ruined, for without two guineas he could not buy a cage to present them in. The Doctor unfortunately, as he said himself, had but half a guinea, which he offered, but Jack was not to be beat out of his scheme. He saw the Doctor's watch hanging up, and hinted that if he could spare it for a week, he could raise a few guineas on it, which he would repay. The Doctor gave him the watch, which the other took to the pawnbroker, and Goldsmith heard no more of his friend Jack, till a message came to inform him he was on his death-bed, and requesting a guinea, which was readily sent.'

might too often be called thoughtlessness. He was one of those persons to whom the good or evil of the present day is the boundary of their views, and whom no anxious cares of futurity disturb he spent his money, as he gained it, quickly; and indeed the desultory manner in which his income arrived was not conducive to

the practice of economy. He was now in distress, arrested by his landlady for the arrears of rent. Fortunately he had just finished his delightful History of the Vicar of Wakefield; a tale which, if I may without presumption speak my own opinion, I should for sweetness and simplicity of style, truth of circumstance, adherence to nature, easy change of incident, bright and clear delineation of character, apart from all violent exaggeration, and command at once of the humorous and pathetic, place among the very foremost productions of fiction. It has the truth of Richardson, without his minuteness; and the humour of Fielding, without his grossness: if it yields to Le Sage in the diversified variety of his views of life, it far excels him in the description of the domestic virtues, and the pleasing moral of the tale.

Goldsmith sent for Johnson in his distress, to raise a sum for him by the sale of his manuscript. The account given by his friend is admirably characteristic of those minds that, formed in nature's

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