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Article ANECDOTES OF DR. GOLDSMITH. ← Page 6 of 8 →
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Anecdotes Of Dr. Goldsmith.
and a ballad-singer happening to sing his favourite air of " Sally Salisbury" under the window , he exclaimed with some passion , " How miserably this woman sings ! " " Pray , Doctor , " says he lady of the house , " could you do it better ? " "Yes , madam , " said he , " and the company shall be judges . " He instantly began ; ivhen singing with some ear-and no inconsiderable degree of pathos
, he obtained the universal suffrages of the company . Such were the peculiarities of Goldsmith , which only served as little foils to his talents and moral character . Of the former the public has long since judged ; and of the latter , those who knew him best can best speak in his praise . He was so humane in his disposition , that his last guinea was the general boundary of his
munificence . He had two or three poor authors always as pensioners , beside several widows and poor housekeepers ; and when he had no money to give the latter , he always sent them away with shirts or old clothes , and sometimes with the whole contents of the breakfasttable ; saj'ing , with a smile of satisfaction after they were gone , " Now let me onl I have eat a much heartier breakfast
y suppose than usual , and I ' m nothing out of pocket . " He was always ready to do services to his friends and acquaintance by recommendations , & c . and as he lived latterly much with the great world , and was much respected , he very often succeeded , and felt his best reward in the gratification of doing well .
Dr . Johnson knew him early and whilst he was struggling with his poverty , and always spoke as respectfully of his heart as of his talents . Goldsmith in some respects conciliated this good opinion by almost never contradicting him , and Johnson in return laughed at his oddities . Goldsmith in excuse for this Used to say , " There ' s no chance in arguing with such a man ; for , like the Tartar horsey if he does not conquer you in fronthis kick from behind is sure to
, be fatal . " In his pleasantries before Johnson , however , he had less restraint , and used to say and do many things cum privikgio . As an instance of this , whilst they were at supper one night iete ~ a-tete at the King ' s Head , Holborn , on rumps and kidneys , Johnson observed , "Sir , these ramps are pretty little things , but then a man must eat a great many of them before he fills his belly . " " Aye ,
but , " says Goldsmith , " how many of these would reach to the moon ? " "To the moon ! aye , Goldy , I fear that exceeds your calculation . " "Not at all , Sir , " says Goldsmith , " I think I could tell . " " Pray then , Sir , let us hear . " " Why one if it was long enough . " Johnson growled at this reply for some time , but at last recollecting himself" WellSirI have deserved it ; I should not
, , , have provoked so foolish art answer by so foolish a question ;" In summing up the whole of our Poet ' s character , we cannot better accomplish it than in the two following portraits of him ( one in t'erse and the other in prose ) , written by an intimate friend immediatel y after his decease ^ and . which were both esteemed faithftd likenesses : ^
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Anecdotes Of Dr. Goldsmith.
and a ballad-singer happening to sing his favourite air of " Sally Salisbury" under the window , he exclaimed with some passion , " How miserably this woman sings ! " " Pray , Doctor , " says he lady of the house , " could you do it better ? " "Yes , madam , " said he , " and the company shall be judges . " He instantly began ; ivhen singing with some ear-and no inconsiderable degree of pathos
, he obtained the universal suffrages of the company . Such were the peculiarities of Goldsmith , which only served as little foils to his talents and moral character . Of the former the public has long since judged ; and of the latter , those who knew him best can best speak in his praise . He was so humane in his disposition , that his last guinea was the general boundary of his
munificence . He had two or three poor authors always as pensioners , beside several widows and poor housekeepers ; and when he had no money to give the latter , he always sent them away with shirts or old clothes , and sometimes with the whole contents of the breakfasttable ; saj'ing , with a smile of satisfaction after they were gone , " Now let me onl I have eat a much heartier breakfast
y suppose than usual , and I ' m nothing out of pocket . " He was always ready to do services to his friends and acquaintance by recommendations , & c . and as he lived latterly much with the great world , and was much respected , he very often succeeded , and felt his best reward in the gratification of doing well .
Dr . Johnson knew him early and whilst he was struggling with his poverty , and always spoke as respectfully of his heart as of his talents . Goldsmith in some respects conciliated this good opinion by almost never contradicting him , and Johnson in return laughed at his oddities . Goldsmith in excuse for this Used to say , " There ' s no chance in arguing with such a man ; for , like the Tartar horsey if he does not conquer you in fronthis kick from behind is sure to
, be fatal . " In his pleasantries before Johnson , however , he had less restraint , and used to say and do many things cum privikgio . As an instance of this , whilst they were at supper one night iete ~ a-tete at the King ' s Head , Holborn , on rumps and kidneys , Johnson observed , "Sir , these ramps are pretty little things , but then a man must eat a great many of them before he fills his belly . " " Aye ,
but , " says Goldsmith , " how many of these would reach to the moon ? " "To the moon ! aye , Goldy , I fear that exceeds your calculation . " "Not at all , Sir , " says Goldsmith , " I think I could tell . " " Pray then , Sir , let us hear . " " Why one if it was long enough . " Johnson growled at this reply for some time , but at last recollecting himself" WellSirI have deserved it ; I should not
, , , have provoked so foolish art answer by so foolish a question ;" In summing up the whole of our Poet ' s character , we cannot better accomplish it than in the two following portraits of him ( one in t'erse and the other in prose ) , written by an intimate friend immediatel y after his decease ^ and . which were both esteemed faithftd likenesses : ^