Prior
reprinted
it in 1837 ('Works', iv.
Oliver Goldsmith
But Johnson
also wrote a Latin one, which he gave to Boswell. (Birkbeck Hill's
'Life', 1887, iv. 54. )
l. 1. -----
"gentle Parnell's Name". Mitford compares Pope on
Parnell ['Epistle to Harley', 1. iv]:--
With softest manners, gentlest Arts adorn'd.
Pope published Parnell's 'Poems' in 1722, and his sending them
to Harley, Earl of Oxford, after the latter's disgrace and
retirement, was the occasion of the foregoing epistle, from
which the following lines respecting Parnell may also be cited:--
For him, thou oft hast bid the World attend,
Fond to forget the statesman in the friend;
For SWIFT and him despis'd the farce of state,
The sober follies of the wise and great;
Dext'rous the craving, fawning crowd to quit,
And pleas'd to 'scape from Flattery to Wit.
l. 3. -----
"his sweetly-moral lay". Cf. 'The Hermit', the 'Hymn to
Contentment', the 'Night Piece on Death' -- which Goldsmith
certainly recalled in his own 'City Night-Piece'. Of the
last-named Goldsmith says ('Life of Parnell', 1770, p. xxxii),
not without an obvious side-stroke at Gray's too-popular
'Elegy', that it 'deserves every praise, and I should suppose
with very little amendment, might be made to surpass all those
night pieces and church yard scenes that have since appeared. '
This is certainly (as Longfellow sings) to
. . . . . rustling hear in every breeze
The laurels of Miltiades.
Of Parnell, Hume wrote ('Essays', 1770, i. 244) that 'after the
fiftieth reading; [he] is as fresh as at the first. ' But Gray
(speaking -- it should be explained -- of a dubious volume of
his posthumous works) said: 'Parnell is the dung-hill of Irish
Grub Street' (Gosse's Gray's 'Works', 1884, ii. 372). Meanwhile,
it is his fate to-day to be mainly remembered by three words
(not always attributed to him) in a couplet from what Johnson
styled 'perhaps the meanest' of his performances, the 'Elegy --
to an Old Beauty':--
And all that's madly wild, or oddly gay,
We call it only 'pretty Fanny's way'.
THE CLOWN'S REPLY.
This, though dated 'Edinburgh 1753,' was first printed in 'Poems
and Plays', 1777, p. 79.
l. 1. -----
"John Trott" is a name for a clown or commonplace
character. Miss Burney ('Diary', 1904, i. 222) says of Dr.
Delap:-- 'As to his person and appearance, they are much in the
'John-trot' style. ' Foote, Chesterfield, and Walpole use the
phrase; Fielding Scotticizes it into 'John Trott-Plaid, Esq. ';
and Bolingbroke employs it as a pseudonym.
l. 6. -----
"I shall ne'er see your graces". 'I shall never see a
Goose again without thinking on Mr. 'Neverout',' -- says the
'brilliant Miss Notable' in Swift's 'Polite Conversation', 1738,
p. 156.
EPITAPH ON EDWARD PURDON.
The occasion of this quatrain, first published as Goldsmith's* in 'Poems
and Plays', 1777, p. 79, is to be found in Forster's 'Life and Times of
Oliver Goldsmith', 1871, ii. 60. Purdon died on March 27, 1767
('Gentleman's Magazine', April, 1767, p. 192). '"Dr. Goldsmith made this
epitaph," says William Ballantyne [the author of 'Mackliniana'], "in his
way from his chambers in the Temple to the Wednesday evening's club at
the Globe. 'I think he will never come back', I believe he said. I was
sitting by him, and he repeated it more than twice. 'I think he will
never come back. "' Purdon had been at Trinity College, Dublin, with
Goldsmith; he had subsequently been a foot soldier; ultimately he became
a 'bookseller's hack. ' He wrote an anonymous letter to Garrick in 1759,
and translated the 'Henriade' of Voltaire. This translation Goldsmith is
supposed to have revised, and his own life of Voltaire was to have
accompanied it, though finally the Memoir and Translation seem to have
appeared separately. (Cf. prefatory note to 'Memoirs of M. de Voltaire'
in Gibbs's 'Works of Oliver Goldsmith', 1885, iv. 2. )
[footnote] *It had previously appeared as an extempore by a
correspondent in the 'Weekly Magazine', Edin. , August 12, 1773 ('Notes
and Queries', February 14, 1880).
Forster says further, in a note, 'The original. . . is the epitaph on "La
Mort du Sieur Etienne":--
Il est au bout de ses travaux,
Il a passe, le Sieur Etienne;
En ce monde il eut tant des maux
Qu'on ne croit pas qu'il revienne.
With this perhaps Goldsmith was familiar, and had therefore less scruple
in laying felonious hands on the epigram in the 'Miscellanies' (Swift,
xiii. 372):--
Well, then, poor G___ lies underground!
So there's an end of honest Jack.
So little justice here he found,
'Tis ten to one he'll ne'er come back. '
Mr. Forster's 'felonious hands' recalls a passage in Goldsmith's 'Life
of Parnell', 1770, in which, although himself an habitual sinner in this
way, he comments gravely upon the practice of plagiarism:-- 'It was the
fashion with the wits of the last age, to conceal the places from whence
they took their hints or their subjects. A trifling acknowledgment would
have made that lawful prize, which may now be considered as plunder' (p.
xxxii).
EPILOGUE FOR LEE LEWES'S BENEFIT.
This benefit took place at Covent Garden on May 7, 1773, the pieces
performed being Rowe's 'Lady Jane Grey', and a popular pantomimic
after-piece by Theobald, called 'Harlequin Sorcerer', Charles Lee Lewes
(1740-1803) was the original 'Young Marlow' of 'She Stoops to Conquer'.
When that part was thrown up by 'Gentleman' Smith, Shuter, the 'Mr.
Hardcastle' of the comedy, suggested Lewes, who was the harlequin of the
theatre, as a substitute, and the choice proved an admirable one.
Goldsmith was highly pleased with his performance, and in consequence
wrote for him this epilogue. It was first printed by Evans, 1780, i.
112-4.
l. 9. -----
"in thy black aspect", i. e. the half-mask of harlequin,
in which character the Epilogue was spoken.
l. 18. -----
"rosined lightning", stage-lightning, in which rosin is
an ingredient.
EPILOGUE INTENDED FOR 'SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER. '
This epilogue was first printed at pp. 82-6, vol. ii, of the
'Miscellaneous Works of' 1801. Bolton Corney says it had been given to
Percy by Goldsmith. It is evidently the 'quarrelling Epilogue' referred
to in the following letter from Goldsmith to Cradock ('Miscellaneous
Memoirs', 1826, i. 225-6):--
'MY DEAR SIR,
The Play ['She Stoops to Conquer'] has met with a success much beyond
your expectations or mine. I thank you sincerely for your Epilogue,
which, however could not be used, but with your permission, shall be
printed*. The story in short is this; Murphy sent me rather the outline
of an Epilogue than an Epilogue, which was to be sung by Mrs. Catley,
and which she approved. Mrs. Bulkley hearing this, insisted on throwing
up her part, unless according to the custom of the theatre, she were
permitted to speak the Epilogue. In this embarrassment I thought of
making a quarrelling Epilogue between Catley and her, debating who
should speak the Epilogue, but then Mrs. Catley refused, after I had
taken the trouble of drawing it out. I was then at a loss indeed; an
Epilogue was to be made, and for none but Mrs. Bulkley. I made one, and
Colman thought it too bad to be spoken; I was obliged therefore to try a
fourth time, and I made a very mawkish thing, as you'll shortly see.
Such is the history of my Stage adventures, and which I have at last
done with. I cannot help saying that I am very sick of the stage; and
though I believe I shall get three tolerable benefits, yet I shall upon
the whole be a loser, even in a pecuniary light; my ease and comfort I
certainly lost while it was in agitation.
I am, my dear Cradock,
Your obliged, and obedient servant,
OLIVER GOLDSMITH
P. S. -- Present my most humble respects to Mrs. Cradock. '
[footnote] *It is so printed with the note -- 'This came too late to be
Spoken. '
According to Prior ('Miscellaneous Works', 1837, iv. 154), Goldsmith's
friend, Dr. Farr, had a copy of this epilogue which still, when Prior
wrote, remained in that gentleman's family.
l. 21. -----
"Who mump their passion", i. e. grimace their passion.
l. 31. -----
"ye macaroni train". The Macaronies were the foplings,
fribbles, or beaux of Goldsmith's day. Walpole refers to them as
early as 1764; but their flourishing time was 1770-3, when the
print-shops, and especially Matthew Darly's in the Strand, No.
39, swarmed with satirical designs of which they were the
subject. Selwyn, March -- many well-known names -- are found in
their ranks. Richard Cosway figured as 'The Macaroni Painter';
Angelica Kauffmann as 'The Paintress of Maccaroni's'; Thrale as
'The Southwark Macaroni. ' Another caricature ('The Fluttering
Macaroni') contains a portrait of Miss Catley, the singing
actress of the present epilogue; while Charles Horneck, the
brother of 'The Jessamy Bride' (see p. 251, l. 14) is twice
satirized as 'The Martial Macaroni' and 'The Military Macaroni. '
The name, as may be guessed, comes from the Italian dish first
made fashionable by the 'Macaroni Club,' being afterwards
applied by extension to 'the younger and gayer part of our
nobility and gentry, who, at the same time that they gave in to
the luxuries of eating, went equally into the extravagancies of
dress. ' ('Macaroni and Theatrical Magazine', Oct. 1772. ) Cf. Sir
Benjamin Backbite's later epigram in 'The School for Scandal',
1777, Act ii, Sc. 2:--
Sure never was seen two such beautiful ponies;
Other horses are clowns, but these 'macaronies':
To give them this title I'm sure can't be wrong,
Their legs are so slim and their tails are so long.
l. 36. -----
"Their hands are only lent to the Heinel". See note to
l. 28, p. 85.
EPILOGUE INTENDED FOR 'SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER. '
This epilogue, given by Goldsmith to Dr. Percy in MS. , was first
published in the 'Miscellaneous Works' of 1801, ii. 87-8, as 'An
Epilogue intended for Mrs. Bulkley'. Percy did not remember for what
play it was intended; but it is plainly (see note to l. 40) the second
epilogue for 'She Stoops to Conquer' referred to in the letter printed
in this volume.
l. 1. -----
"There is a place, so Ariosto sings". 'The poet
alludes to the thirty-fourth canto of 'The Orlando furioso'.
Ariosto, as translated by Mr. Stewart Rose, observes of the
'lunar world';
There thou wilt find, if thou wilt thither post,
Whatever thou on earth beneath hast lost.
Astolpho undertakes the journey; discovers a portion of his
own sense; and, in an ample flask, the lost wits of Orlando. '
(Bolton Corney. ) Cf. also 'Rape of the Lock',
Canto v, ll. 113-14:
Some thought it mounted to the Lunar sphere,
Since all things lost on earth are treasur'd there.
Lord Chesterfield also refers to the 'happy extravagancy'
of Astolpho's journey in his 'Letters', 1774, i. 557.
l. 9. -----
"at Foote's Alone". 'Foote's' was the Little Theatre in
the Haymarket, where, in February, 1773, he brought out what he
described as a 'Primitive Puppet Show,' based upon the Italian
Fantoccini, and presenting a burlesque sentimental Comedy called
'The Handsome Housemaid; or, Piety in Pattens', which did as
much as 'She Stoops' to laugh false sentiment away. Foote warned
his audience that they would not discover 'much wit or humour'
in the piece, since 'his brother writers had all agreed that it
was highly improper, and beneath the dignity of a mixed
assembly, to show any signs of joyful satisfaction; and that
creating a laugh was forcing the higher order of an audience to
a vulgar and mean use of their muscles' -- for which reason, he
explained, he had, like them, given up the sensual for the
sentimental style. And thereupon followed the story of a maid of
low degree who, 'by the mere effects of morality and virtue,
raised herself [like Richardson's 'Pamela'], to riches and
honours. ' The public, who for some time had acquiesced in the
new order of things under the belief that it tended to the
reformation of the stage, and who were beginning to weary of the
'moral essay thrown into dialogue,' which had for some time
supplanted humorous situation, promptly came round under the
influence of Foote's Aristophanic ridicule, and the 'comedie
larmoyante' received an appreciable check. Goldsmith himself had
prepared the way in a paper contributed to the 'Westminster
Magazine' for December, 1772 (vol. I. p. 4), with the title of
'An Essay on the Theatre; or, A Comparison between Laughing and
Sentimental Comedy. ' The specific reference in the Prologue is
to the fact that Foote gave morning performances of 'The
Handsome Housemaid'. There was one, for instance, on Saturday,
March 6, 1773.
l. 27. -----
"The Mohawk". This particular species of the genus
'rake' belongs more to Swift's than Goldsmith's time, though the
race is eternal. There is an account of the 'Mohock Club' in
'Spectator', No. 324. See also 'Spectator', No. 347; Gay's
'Trivia', 1716, Book iii. p. 74; Swift's 'Journal to Stella',
March 8 and 26, 1712; and the 'Wentworth Papers', 1883, pp.
277-8.
l. 40. -----
"Still stoops among the low to copy nature". This line,
one would think, should have helped to convince Percy that the
epilogue was intended for 'She Stoops to Conquer', and for no
other play.
THE CAPTIVITY.
The Oratorio of the 'Captivity' was written in 1764; but never set to
music. It was first printed in 1820 at pp. 451-70 of vol. ii of the
octavo edition of the 'Miscellaneous Works' issued by the trade in that
year.
Prior reprinted it in 1837 ('Works', iv. Pp. 79-95) from the
'original manuscript' in Mr. Murray's possession; and Cunningham again
in 1854 ('Works', i. pp. 63-76). It is here reproduced from Prior. James
Dodsley, who bought the MS. for Newbery and himself, gave Goldsmith ten
guineas. Murray's copy was the one made for Dodsley, October 31, 1764;
the one printed in 1820, that made for Newbery. The latter, which once
belonged to the autograph collector, William Upcott, was in the market
in 1887.
l. 23. -----
Act i. This song had been published in the first
edition of 'The Haunch of Venison', 1776, with the second stanza
varied thus:--
Thou, like the world, th' opprest oppressing,
Thy smiles increase the wretch's woe'
And he who wants each other blessing,
In thee must ever find a foe.
l. 33. -----
Act ii. This song also had appeared in the first edition
of 'The Haunch of Venison', 1776, in a different form:--
The Wretch condemn'd with life to part,
Still, still on Hope relies;
And ev'ry pang that rends the heart,
Bids Expectation rise.
Hope, like the glim'ring taper's light,
Adorns and chears the way;
And still, as darker grows the night,
Emits a brighter ray.
Mitford, who printed 'The Captivity' from Newbery's version,
records a number of 'first thoughts' afterwards altered or
improved by the author in his MS. Modern editors have not
reproduced them, and their example has been followed here. 'The
Captivity' is not, in any sense, one of Goldsmith's important
efforts.
VERSES IN REPLY TO AN INVITATION TO DINNER.
These were first published in the 'Miscellaneous Works' of 1837, iv.
132-3, having been communicated to the editor by Major-General Sir H. E.
Bunbury, Bart. , the son of Henry William Bunbury, the well-known comic
artist, and husband of Catherine Horneck, the 'Little Comedy' to whom
Goldsmith refers. Dr. Baker, to whose house the poet was invited, was
Dr. (afterwards Sir George) Baker, 1722-1809. He was Sir Joshua's
doctor; and in 1776 became physician to George III, whom he attended
during his illness of 1788-9. He is often mentioned by Fanny Burney and
Hannah More.
l. 11. -----
"Horneck", i. e. Mrs. Hannah Horneck -- the 'Plymouth
Beauty' -- widow of Captain Kane William Horneck, grandson of
Dr. Anthony Horneck of the Savoy, mentioned in Evelyn's 'Diary',
for whose 'Happy Ascetick', 1724, Hogarth designed a
frontispiece. Mrs. Horneck died in 1803. Like Sir Joshua, the
Hornecks came from Devonshire; and through him, had made the
acquaintance of Goldsmith.
"Nesbitt". Mr. Nesbitt was the husband of one of Mr. Thrale's
handsome sisters. He was a member of the Devonshire Club, and
twice (1759-61) sat to Reynolds, with whom he was intimate. He
died in 1779, and his widow married a Mr. Scott.
l. 13. -----
"Kauffmann". Angelica Kauffmann, the artist, 1741-1807.
She had come to London in 1766. At the close of 1767 she had
been cajoled into a marriage with an impostor, Count de Horn,
and had separated from him in 1768. In 1769 she painted a 'weak
and uncharacteristic' portrait of Reynolds for Mr. Parker of
Saltram (afterwards Baron Boringdon), which is now in the
possession of the Earl of Morley. It was exhibited at the Royal
Academy in the winter of 1876, and is the portrait referred to
at l. 44 below.
l. 14. -----
"the Jessamy Bride". This was Goldsmith's pet-name for
Mary, the elder Miss Horneck. After Goldsmith's death she
married Colonel F. E. Gwyn (1779). She survived until 1840. 'Her
own picture with a turban,' painted by Reynolds, was left to her
in his will ('Works' by Malone, 2nd ed. , 1798, p. cxviii). She
was also painted by Romney and Hoppner. 'Jessamy,' or 'jessimy,'
with its suggestion of jasmine flowers, seems in
eighteenth-century parlance to have stood for 'dandified,'
'superfine,' 'delicate,' and the whole name was probably coined
after the model of some of the titles to Darly's prints, then
common in all the shops.
l. 16. -----
"The Reynoldses two", i. e. Sir Joshua and his sister,
Miss Reynolds.
l. 17. -----
"Little Comedy's face". 'Little Comedy' was Goldsmith's
name for the younger Miss Horneck, Catherine, and already
engaged to H. W. Bunbury ('v. supra'), to whom she was married
in 1771. She died in 1799, and had also been painted by
Reynolds.
l. 18. -----
"the Captain in lace". This was Charles Horneck, Mrs.
Horneck's son, an officer in the Foot-guards. He afterwards
became a general, and died in 1804. (See note, p. 247, l. 31. )
l. 44. -----
"to-day's Advertiser". The lines referred to are said
by Prior to have been as follows:--
While fair Angelica, with matchless grace,
Paints Conway's lovely form and Stanhope's face;
Our hearts to beauty willing homage pay,
We praise, admire, and gaze our souls away.
But when the likeness she hath done for thee,
O Reynolds! with astonishment we see,
Forced to submit, with all our pride we own,
Such strength, such harmony, excell'd by none,
And thou art rivall'd by thyself alone.
They probably appeared in the newspaper at some date between
1769, when the picture was painted, and August 1771, when
'Little Comedy' was married, after which time Goldsmith would
scarcely speak of her except as 'Mrs. Bunbury' (see p. 132, l.
15).
LETTER IN PROSE AND VERSE TO MRS. BUNBURY.
This letter, which contains some of the brightest and easiest of
Goldsmith's familiar verses, was addressed to Mrs. Bunbury (the 'Little
Comedy' of the 'Verses in Reply to an Invitation to Dinner', pp. 250-2),
in answer to a rhymed summons on her part to spend Christmas at Great
Barton in Suffolk, the family seat of the Bunburys. It was first printed
by Prior in the 'Miscellaneous Works' of 1837, iv. 148-51, and again in
1838 in Sir Henry Bunbury's 'Correspondence of Sir Thomas Hanmer,
Bart. ', pp. 379-83. The text of the latter issue is here followed. When
Prior published the verses, they were assigned to the year 1772; in the
'Hanmer Correspondence' it is stated that they were 'probably written in
1773 or 1774. '
P. 130. -----
"your spring velvet coat". Goldsmith's pronounced
taste in dress, and his good-natured simplicity, made his
costume a fertile subject for playful raillery, -- sometimes,
for rather discreditable practical jokes. (See next note. )
P. 131. -----
"a wig, that is modish and gay". 'He always wore a
wig' -- said the 'Jessamy Bride' in her reminiscences to Prior
-- '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 to seriously 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' (Prior's
'Life', 1837, ii. 378-9).
P. 131. -----
"Naso contemnere adunco". Cf. Horace, 'Sat'. i. 6. 5:--
naso suspendis adunco
Ignotos,
and Martial, 'Ep'. i. 4. 6:--
Et pueri nasum Rhinocerotis habent.
l. 2. -----
"Loo", i. e. Lanctre- or Lanterloo, a popular
eighteenth-century game, in which 'Pam', l. 6, the knave of
clubs, is the highest card. Cf. Pope, 'Rape of the Lock', 1714,
iii. 61:--
Ev'n might 'Pam', that Kings and Queens o'erthrew,
And mow'd down armies in the fights of Lu;
and Colman's epilogue to 'The School for Scandal', 1777:--
And at backgammon mortify my soul,
That pants for 'loo', or flutters at a vole?
l. 17. -----
"Miss Horneck". Miss Mary Horneck, the 'Jessamy Bride'
('vide' note, p. 251, l. 14).
l. 36. -----
"Fielding". Sir John Fielding, d. 1780, Henry
Fielding's blind half-brother, who succeeded him as a Justice of
the Peace for the City and Liberties of Westminster. He was
knighted in 1761. There are two portraits of him by Nathaniel
Hone.
l. 40. -----
"by quinto Elizabeth, Death without Clergy". Legal
authorities affirm that the Act quoted should be 8 Eliz. cap.
iv, under which those who stole more than twelvepence 'privately
from a man's person' were debarred from benefit of clergy. But
'quint. Eliz. ' must have offered some special attraction to
poets, since Pope also refers to it in the 'Satires and
Epistles', i. 147-8:--
Consult the Statute: 'quart'. I think, it is,
'Edwardi sext. ' or 'prim. et quint. Eliz. '
l. 44. -----
"With bunches of fennel, and nosegays before 'em". This
was a custom dating from the fearful jail fever of 1750, which
carried off, not only prisoners, but a judge (Mr. Justice Abney)
'and many jurymen and witnesses. ' 'From that time up to this day
[i. e. 1855] it has been usual to place sweet-smelling herbs in
the prisoner's dock, to prevent infection. ' (Lawrence's 'Life of
Henry Fielding', 1855, p. 296. ) The close observation of
Cruikshank has not neglected this detail in the Old Bailey plate
of 'The Drunkard's Children', 1848, v.
l. 45. -----
"mobs". The mob was a loose undress or 'deshabille',
sometimes a hood. 'When we poor souls had presented ourselves
with a contrition suitable to our worthlessness, some pretty
young ladies in 'mobs', popped in here and there about the
church. ' ('Guardian', No. 65, May 26, 1713. ) Cf. also Addison's
'Fine Lady's Diary' ('Spectator', No. 323); 'Went in our 'Mobbs'
to the Dumb Man' (Duncan Campbell).
l. 50. -----
"yon solemn-faced". Cf.
also wrote a Latin one, which he gave to Boswell. (Birkbeck Hill's
'Life', 1887, iv. 54. )
l. 1. -----
"gentle Parnell's Name". Mitford compares Pope on
Parnell ['Epistle to Harley', 1. iv]:--
With softest manners, gentlest Arts adorn'd.
Pope published Parnell's 'Poems' in 1722, and his sending them
to Harley, Earl of Oxford, after the latter's disgrace and
retirement, was the occasion of the foregoing epistle, from
which the following lines respecting Parnell may also be cited:--
For him, thou oft hast bid the World attend,
Fond to forget the statesman in the friend;
For SWIFT and him despis'd the farce of state,
The sober follies of the wise and great;
Dext'rous the craving, fawning crowd to quit,
And pleas'd to 'scape from Flattery to Wit.
l. 3. -----
"his sweetly-moral lay". Cf. 'The Hermit', the 'Hymn to
Contentment', the 'Night Piece on Death' -- which Goldsmith
certainly recalled in his own 'City Night-Piece'. Of the
last-named Goldsmith says ('Life of Parnell', 1770, p. xxxii),
not without an obvious side-stroke at Gray's too-popular
'Elegy', that it 'deserves every praise, and I should suppose
with very little amendment, might be made to surpass all those
night pieces and church yard scenes that have since appeared. '
This is certainly (as Longfellow sings) to
. . . . . rustling hear in every breeze
The laurels of Miltiades.
Of Parnell, Hume wrote ('Essays', 1770, i. 244) that 'after the
fiftieth reading; [he] is as fresh as at the first. ' But Gray
(speaking -- it should be explained -- of a dubious volume of
his posthumous works) said: 'Parnell is the dung-hill of Irish
Grub Street' (Gosse's Gray's 'Works', 1884, ii. 372). Meanwhile,
it is his fate to-day to be mainly remembered by three words
(not always attributed to him) in a couplet from what Johnson
styled 'perhaps the meanest' of his performances, the 'Elegy --
to an Old Beauty':--
And all that's madly wild, or oddly gay,
We call it only 'pretty Fanny's way'.
THE CLOWN'S REPLY.
This, though dated 'Edinburgh 1753,' was first printed in 'Poems
and Plays', 1777, p. 79.
l. 1. -----
"John Trott" is a name for a clown or commonplace
character. Miss Burney ('Diary', 1904, i. 222) says of Dr.
Delap:-- 'As to his person and appearance, they are much in the
'John-trot' style. ' Foote, Chesterfield, and Walpole use the
phrase; Fielding Scotticizes it into 'John Trott-Plaid, Esq. ';
and Bolingbroke employs it as a pseudonym.
l. 6. -----
"I shall ne'er see your graces". 'I shall never see a
Goose again without thinking on Mr. 'Neverout',' -- says the
'brilliant Miss Notable' in Swift's 'Polite Conversation', 1738,
p. 156.
EPITAPH ON EDWARD PURDON.
The occasion of this quatrain, first published as Goldsmith's* in 'Poems
and Plays', 1777, p. 79, is to be found in Forster's 'Life and Times of
Oliver Goldsmith', 1871, ii. 60. Purdon died on March 27, 1767
('Gentleman's Magazine', April, 1767, p. 192). '"Dr. Goldsmith made this
epitaph," says William Ballantyne [the author of 'Mackliniana'], "in his
way from his chambers in the Temple to the Wednesday evening's club at
the Globe. 'I think he will never come back', I believe he said. I was
sitting by him, and he repeated it more than twice. 'I think he will
never come back. "' Purdon had been at Trinity College, Dublin, with
Goldsmith; he had subsequently been a foot soldier; ultimately he became
a 'bookseller's hack. ' He wrote an anonymous letter to Garrick in 1759,
and translated the 'Henriade' of Voltaire. This translation Goldsmith is
supposed to have revised, and his own life of Voltaire was to have
accompanied it, though finally the Memoir and Translation seem to have
appeared separately. (Cf. prefatory note to 'Memoirs of M. de Voltaire'
in Gibbs's 'Works of Oliver Goldsmith', 1885, iv. 2. )
[footnote] *It had previously appeared as an extempore by a
correspondent in the 'Weekly Magazine', Edin. , August 12, 1773 ('Notes
and Queries', February 14, 1880).
Forster says further, in a note, 'The original. . . is the epitaph on "La
Mort du Sieur Etienne":--
Il est au bout de ses travaux,
Il a passe, le Sieur Etienne;
En ce monde il eut tant des maux
Qu'on ne croit pas qu'il revienne.
With this perhaps Goldsmith was familiar, and had therefore less scruple
in laying felonious hands on the epigram in the 'Miscellanies' (Swift,
xiii. 372):--
Well, then, poor G___ lies underground!
So there's an end of honest Jack.
So little justice here he found,
'Tis ten to one he'll ne'er come back. '
Mr. Forster's 'felonious hands' recalls a passage in Goldsmith's 'Life
of Parnell', 1770, in which, although himself an habitual sinner in this
way, he comments gravely upon the practice of plagiarism:-- 'It was the
fashion with the wits of the last age, to conceal the places from whence
they took their hints or their subjects. A trifling acknowledgment would
have made that lawful prize, which may now be considered as plunder' (p.
xxxii).
EPILOGUE FOR LEE LEWES'S BENEFIT.
This benefit took place at Covent Garden on May 7, 1773, the pieces
performed being Rowe's 'Lady Jane Grey', and a popular pantomimic
after-piece by Theobald, called 'Harlequin Sorcerer', Charles Lee Lewes
(1740-1803) was the original 'Young Marlow' of 'She Stoops to Conquer'.
When that part was thrown up by 'Gentleman' Smith, Shuter, the 'Mr.
Hardcastle' of the comedy, suggested Lewes, who was the harlequin of the
theatre, as a substitute, and the choice proved an admirable one.
Goldsmith was highly pleased with his performance, and in consequence
wrote for him this epilogue. It was first printed by Evans, 1780, i.
112-4.
l. 9. -----
"in thy black aspect", i. e. the half-mask of harlequin,
in which character the Epilogue was spoken.
l. 18. -----
"rosined lightning", stage-lightning, in which rosin is
an ingredient.
EPILOGUE INTENDED FOR 'SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER. '
This epilogue was first printed at pp. 82-6, vol. ii, of the
'Miscellaneous Works of' 1801. Bolton Corney says it had been given to
Percy by Goldsmith. It is evidently the 'quarrelling Epilogue' referred
to in the following letter from Goldsmith to Cradock ('Miscellaneous
Memoirs', 1826, i. 225-6):--
'MY DEAR SIR,
The Play ['She Stoops to Conquer'] has met with a success much beyond
your expectations or mine. I thank you sincerely for your Epilogue,
which, however could not be used, but with your permission, shall be
printed*. The story in short is this; Murphy sent me rather the outline
of an Epilogue than an Epilogue, which was to be sung by Mrs. Catley,
and which she approved. Mrs. Bulkley hearing this, insisted on throwing
up her part, unless according to the custom of the theatre, she were
permitted to speak the Epilogue. In this embarrassment I thought of
making a quarrelling Epilogue between Catley and her, debating who
should speak the Epilogue, but then Mrs. Catley refused, after I had
taken the trouble of drawing it out. I was then at a loss indeed; an
Epilogue was to be made, and for none but Mrs. Bulkley. I made one, and
Colman thought it too bad to be spoken; I was obliged therefore to try a
fourth time, and I made a very mawkish thing, as you'll shortly see.
Such is the history of my Stage adventures, and which I have at last
done with. I cannot help saying that I am very sick of the stage; and
though I believe I shall get three tolerable benefits, yet I shall upon
the whole be a loser, even in a pecuniary light; my ease and comfort I
certainly lost while it was in agitation.
I am, my dear Cradock,
Your obliged, and obedient servant,
OLIVER GOLDSMITH
P. S. -- Present my most humble respects to Mrs. Cradock. '
[footnote] *It is so printed with the note -- 'This came too late to be
Spoken. '
According to Prior ('Miscellaneous Works', 1837, iv. 154), Goldsmith's
friend, Dr. Farr, had a copy of this epilogue which still, when Prior
wrote, remained in that gentleman's family.
l. 21. -----
"Who mump their passion", i. e. grimace their passion.
l. 31. -----
"ye macaroni train". The Macaronies were the foplings,
fribbles, or beaux of Goldsmith's day. Walpole refers to them as
early as 1764; but their flourishing time was 1770-3, when the
print-shops, and especially Matthew Darly's in the Strand, No.
39, swarmed with satirical designs of which they were the
subject. Selwyn, March -- many well-known names -- are found in
their ranks. Richard Cosway figured as 'The Macaroni Painter';
Angelica Kauffmann as 'The Paintress of Maccaroni's'; Thrale as
'The Southwark Macaroni. ' Another caricature ('The Fluttering
Macaroni') contains a portrait of Miss Catley, the singing
actress of the present epilogue; while Charles Horneck, the
brother of 'The Jessamy Bride' (see p. 251, l. 14) is twice
satirized as 'The Martial Macaroni' and 'The Military Macaroni. '
The name, as may be guessed, comes from the Italian dish first
made fashionable by the 'Macaroni Club,' being afterwards
applied by extension to 'the younger and gayer part of our
nobility and gentry, who, at the same time that they gave in to
the luxuries of eating, went equally into the extravagancies of
dress. ' ('Macaroni and Theatrical Magazine', Oct. 1772. ) Cf. Sir
Benjamin Backbite's later epigram in 'The School for Scandal',
1777, Act ii, Sc. 2:--
Sure never was seen two such beautiful ponies;
Other horses are clowns, but these 'macaronies':
To give them this title I'm sure can't be wrong,
Their legs are so slim and their tails are so long.
l. 36. -----
"Their hands are only lent to the Heinel". See note to
l. 28, p. 85.
EPILOGUE INTENDED FOR 'SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER. '
This epilogue, given by Goldsmith to Dr. Percy in MS. , was first
published in the 'Miscellaneous Works' of 1801, ii. 87-8, as 'An
Epilogue intended for Mrs. Bulkley'. Percy did not remember for what
play it was intended; but it is plainly (see note to l. 40) the second
epilogue for 'She Stoops to Conquer' referred to in the letter printed
in this volume.
l. 1. -----
"There is a place, so Ariosto sings". 'The poet
alludes to the thirty-fourth canto of 'The Orlando furioso'.
Ariosto, as translated by Mr. Stewart Rose, observes of the
'lunar world';
There thou wilt find, if thou wilt thither post,
Whatever thou on earth beneath hast lost.
Astolpho undertakes the journey; discovers a portion of his
own sense; and, in an ample flask, the lost wits of Orlando. '
(Bolton Corney. ) Cf. also 'Rape of the Lock',
Canto v, ll. 113-14:
Some thought it mounted to the Lunar sphere,
Since all things lost on earth are treasur'd there.
Lord Chesterfield also refers to the 'happy extravagancy'
of Astolpho's journey in his 'Letters', 1774, i. 557.
l. 9. -----
"at Foote's Alone". 'Foote's' was the Little Theatre in
the Haymarket, where, in February, 1773, he brought out what he
described as a 'Primitive Puppet Show,' based upon the Italian
Fantoccini, and presenting a burlesque sentimental Comedy called
'The Handsome Housemaid; or, Piety in Pattens', which did as
much as 'She Stoops' to laugh false sentiment away. Foote warned
his audience that they would not discover 'much wit or humour'
in the piece, since 'his brother writers had all agreed that it
was highly improper, and beneath the dignity of a mixed
assembly, to show any signs of joyful satisfaction; and that
creating a laugh was forcing the higher order of an audience to
a vulgar and mean use of their muscles' -- for which reason, he
explained, he had, like them, given up the sensual for the
sentimental style. And thereupon followed the story of a maid of
low degree who, 'by the mere effects of morality and virtue,
raised herself [like Richardson's 'Pamela'], to riches and
honours. ' The public, who for some time had acquiesced in the
new order of things under the belief that it tended to the
reformation of the stage, and who were beginning to weary of the
'moral essay thrown into dialogue,' which had for some time
supplanted humorous situation, promptly came round under the
influence of Foote's Aristophanic ridicule, and the 'comedie
larmoyante' received an appreciable check. Goldsmith himself had
prepared the way in a paper contributed to the 'Westminster
Magazine' for December, 1772 (vol. I. p. 4), with the title of
'An Essay on the Theatre; or, A Comparison between Laughing and
Sentimental Comedy. ' The specific reference in the Prologue is
to the fact that Foote gave morning performances of 'The
Handsome Housemaid'. There was one, for instance, on Saturday,
March 6, 1773.
l. 27. -----
"The Mohawk". This particular species of the genus
'rake' belongs more to Swift's than Goldsmith's time, though the
race is eternal. There is an account of the 'Mohock Club' in
'Spectator', No. 324. See also 'Spectator', No. 347; Gay's
'Trivia', 1716, Book iii. p. 74; Swift's 'Journal to Stella',
March 8 and 26, 1712; and the 'Wentworth Papers', 1883, pp.
277-8.
l. 40. -----
"Still stoops among the low to copy nature". This line,
one would think, should have helped to convince Percy that the
epilogue was intended for 'She Stoops to Conquer', and for no
other play.
THE CAPTIVITY.
The Oratorio of the 'Captivity' was written in 1764; but never set to
music. It was first printed in 1820 at pp. 451-70 of vol. ii of the
octavo edition of the 'Miscellaneous Works' issued by the trade in that
year.
Prior reprinted it in 1837 ('Works', iv. Pp. 79-95) from the
'original manuscript' in Mr. Murray's possession; and Cunningham again
in 1854 ('Works', i. pp. 63-76). It is here reproduced from Prior. James
Dodsley, who bought the MS. for Newbery and himself, gave Goldsmith ten
guineas. Murray's copy was the one made for Dodsley, October 31, 1764;
the one printed in 1820, that made for Newbery. The latter, which once
belonged to the autograph collector, William Upcott, was in the market
in 1887.
l. 23. -----
Act i. This song had been published in the first
edition of 'The Haunch of Venison', 1776, with the second stanza
varied thus:--
Thou, like the world, th' opprest oppressing,
Thy smiles increase the wretch's woe'
And he who wants each other blessing,
In thee must ever find a foe.
l. 33. -----
Act ii. This song also had appeared in the first edition
of 'The Haunch of Venison', 1776, in a different form:--
The Wretch condemn'd with life to part,
Still, still on Hope relies;
And ev'ry pang that rends the heart,
Bids Expectation rise.
Hope, like the glim'ring taper's light,
Adorns and chears the way;
And still, as darker grows the night,
Emits a brighter ray.
Mitford, who printed 'The Captivity' from Newbery's version,
records a number of 'first thoughts' afterwards altered or
improved by the author in his MS. Modern editors have not
reproduced them, and their example has been followed here. 'The
Captivity' is not, in any sense, one of Goldsmith's important
efforts.
VERSES IN REPLY TO AN INVITATION TO DINNER.
These were first published in the 'Miscellaneous Works' of 1837, iv.
132-3, having been communicated to the editor by Major-General Sir H. E.
Bunbury, Bart. , the son of Henry William Bunbury, the well-known comic
artist, and husband of Catherine Horneck, the 'Little Comedy' to whom
Goldsmith refers. Dr. Baker, to whose house the poet was invited, was
Dr. (afterwards Sir George) Baker, 1722-1809. He was Sir Joshua's
doctor; and in 1776 became physician to George III, whom he attended
during his illness of 1788-9. He is often mentioned by Fanny Burney and
Hannah More.
l. 11. -----
"Horneck", i. e. Mrs. Hannah Horneck -- the 'Plymouth
Beauty' -- widow of Captain Kane William Horneck, grandson of
Dr. Anthony Horneck of the Savoy, mentioned in Evelyn's 'Diary',
for whose 'Happy Ascetick', 1724, Hogarth designed a
frontispiece. Mrs. Horneck died in 1803. Like Sir Joshua, the
Hornecks came from Devonshire; and through him, had made the
acquaintance of Goldsmith.
"Nesbitt". Mr. Nesbitt was the husband of one of Mr. Thrale's
handsome sisters. He was a member of the Devonshire Club, and
twice (1759-61) sat to Reynolds, with whom he was intimate. He
died in 1779, and his widow married a Mr. Scott.
l. 13. -----
"Kauffmann". Angelica Kauffmann, the artist, 1741-1807.
She had come to London in 1766. At the close of 1767 she had
been cajoled into a marriage with an impostor, Count de Horn,
and had separated from him in 1768. In 1769 she painted a 'weak
and uncharacteristic' portrait of Reynolds for Mr. Parker of
Saltram (afterwards Baron Boringdon), which is now in the
possession of the Earl of Morley. It was exhibited at the Royal
Academy in the winter of 1876, and is the portrait referred to
at l. 44 below.
l. 14. -----
"the Jessamy Bride". This was Goldsmith's pet-name for
Mary, the elder Miss Horneck. After Goldsmith's death she
married Colonel F. E. Gwyn (1779). She survived until 1840. 'Her
own picture with a turban,' painted by Reynolds, was left to her
in his will ('Works' by Malone, 2nd ed. , 1798, p. cxviii). She
was also painted by Romney and Hoppner. 'Jessamy,' or 'jessimy,'
with its suggestion of jasmine flowers, seems in
eighteenth-century parlance to have stood for 'dandified,'
'superfine,' 'delicate,' and the whole name was probably coined
after the model of some of the titles to Darly's prints, then
common in all the shops.
l. 16. -----
"The Reynoldses two", i. e. Sir Joshua and his sister,
Miss Reynolds.
l. 17. -----
"Little Comedy's face". 'Little Comedy' was Goldsmith's
name for the younger Miss Horneck, Catherine, and already
engaged to H. W. Bunbury ('v. supra'), to whom she was married
in 1771. She died in 1799, and had also been painted by
Reynolds.
l. 18. -----
"the Captain in lace". This was Charles Horneck, Mrs.
Horneck's son, an officer in the Foot-guards. He afterwards
became a general, and died in 1804. (See note, p. 247, l. 31. )
l. 44. -----
"to-day's Advertiser". The lines referred to are said
by Prior to have been as follows:--
While fair Angelica, with matchless grace,
Paints Conway's lovely form and Stanhope's face;
Our hearts to beauty willing homage pay,
We praise, admire, and gaze our souls away.
But when the likeness she hath done for thee,
O Reynolds! with astonishment we see,
Forced to submit, with all our pride we own,
Such strength, such harmony, excell'd by none,
And thou art rivall'd by thyself alone.
They probably appeared in the newspaper at some date between
1769, when the picture was painted, and August 1771, when
'Little Comedy' was married, after which time Goldsmith would
scarcely speak of her except as 'Mrs. Bunbury' (see p. 132, l.
15).
LETTER IN PROSE AND VERSE TO MRS. BUNBURY.
This letter, which contains some of the brightest and easiest of
Goldsmith's familiar verses, was addressed to Mrs. Bunbury (the 'Little
Comedy' of the 'Verses in Reply to an Invitation to Dinner', pp. 250-2),
in answer to a rhymed summons on her part to spend Christmas at Great
Barton in Suffolk, the family seat of the Bunburys. It was first printed
by Prior in the 'Miscellaneous Works' of 1837, iv. 148-51, and again in
1838 in Sir Henry Bunbury's 'Correspondence of Sir Thomas Hanmer,
Bart. ', pp. 379-83. The text of the latter issue is here followed. When
Prior published the verses, they were assigned to the year 1772; in the
'Hanmer Correspondence' it is stated that they were 'probably written in
1773 or 1774. '
P. 130. -----
"your spring velvet coat". Goldsmith's pronounced
taste in dress, and his good-natured simplicity, made his
costume a fertile subject for playful raillery, -- sometimes,
for rather discreditable practical jokes. (See next note. )
P. 131. -----
"a wig, that is modish and gay". 'He always wore a
wig' -- said the 'Jessamy Bride' in her reminiscences to Prior
-- '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 to seriously 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' (Prior's
'Life', 1837, ii. 378-9).
P. 131. -----
"Naso contemnere adunco". Cf. Horace, 'Sat'. i. 6. 5:--
naso suspendis adunco
Ignotos,
and Martial, 'Ep'. i. 4. 6:--
Et pueri nasum Rhinocerotis habent.
l. 2. -----
"Loo", i. e. Lanctre- or Lanterloo, a popular
eighteenth-century game, in which 'Pam', l. 6, the knave of
clubs, is the highest card. Cf. Pope, 'Rape of the Lock', 1714,
iii. 61:--
Ev'n might 'Pam', that Kings and Queens o'erthrew,
And mow'd down armies in the fights of Lu;
and Colman's epilogue to 'The School for Scandal', 1777:--
And at backgammon mortify my soul,
That pants for 'loo', or flutters at a vole?
l. 17. -----
"Miss Horneck". Miss Mary Horneck, the 'Jessamy Bride'
('vide' note, p. 251, l. 14).
l. 36. -----
"Fielding". Sir John Fielding, d. 1780, Henry
Fielding's blind half-brother, who succeeded him as a Justice of
the Peace for the City and Liberties of Westminster. He was
knighted in 1761. There are two portraits of him by Nathaniel
Hone.
l. 40. -----
"by quinto Elizabeth, Death without Clergy". Legal
authorities affirm that the Act quoted should be 8 Eliz. cap.
iv, under which those who stole more than twelvepence 'privately
from a man's person' were debarred from benefit of clergy. But
'quint. Eliz. ' must have offered some special attraction to
poets, since Pope also refers to it in the 'Satires and
Epistles', i. 147-8:--
Consult the Statute: 'quart'. I think, it is,
'Edwardi sext. ' or 'prim. et quint. Eliz. '
l. 44. -----
"With bunches of fennel, and nosegays before 'em". This
was a custom dating from the fearful jail fever of 1750, which
carried off, not only prisoners, but a judge (Mr. Justice Abney)
'and many jurymen and witnesses. ' 'From that time up to this day
[i. e. 1855] it has been usual to place sweet-smelling herbs in
the prisoner's dock, to prevent infection. ' (Lawrence's 'Life of
Henry Fielding', 1855, p. 296. ) The close observation of
Cruikshank has not neglected this detail in the Old Bailey plate
of 'The Drunkard's Children', 1848, v.
l. 45. -----
"mobs". The mob was a loose undress or 'deshabille',
sometimes a hood. 'When we poor souls had presented ourselves
with a contrition suitable to our worthlessness, some pretty
young ladies in 'mobs', popped in here and there about the
church. ' ('Guardian', No. 65, May 26, 1713. ) Cf. also Addison's
'Fine Lady's Diary' ('Spectator', No. 323); 'Went in our 'Mobbs'
to the Dumb Man' (Duncan Campbell).
l. 50. -----
"yon solemn-faced". Cf.
