siderable talent while at college;* and the still more decisive evidence of Archdeacon Kearney, formerly senior fellow of Trinity College, by which it appears, that Goldsmith obtained a premium at a Christmas examination, † a distinction which is esteemed peculiarly honourable, because it ascertains the person who receives it to be the first in literary merit; while at the other quarterly examinations, a premium is sometimes given to the second best answerer, when the person who answers best has previously obtained that honour.‡ He was also, June 15, 1747, elected an exhibitioner on the foundation of Erasmus Smyth. § The truth appears to be, that while Goldsmith's talents were not, even in those days, unappreciated, his unsettled character and idle habits prevented his obtaining those academical distinctions which are the reward of painful assiduity and continued exertion: and, after all, those who are acquainted with colleges will not, in their estimate of abilities, be disposed to attach undue importance to academical honours, which, though generally admitted as evidence of scholarship, are perhaps as frequently conferred on plodding mediocrity, as on superior talent. Several of Goldsmith's college exercises however, were much admired; especially some of his translations from Horace, which procured him the favourable notice of his superiors, and perhaps saved him from the rigorous punishment which his delinquencies merited. Upon one occasion, he was engaged in a very serious riot, which ended in the expulsion of some of his companions from the University; but he escaped with the milder punishment of a public admonition, in which he is Boswell's Life of Johnson. + Malone. § Rev. Mr Wolfen. + Ibid. note. May 25, 1747. charged with having abetted the conspiracy, and given assistance to the rioters.* In 1750, soon after he had obtained his degree, his father died; and his friends wished him to prepare for holy orders, as they had hopes of being able to provide for him in the church; but this was a destination to which he himself had always felt a decided aversion. He was prevailed upon, however, to apply for licence, but was rejected by Dr Synge, then Bishop of Elphin, ostensibly on account of his youth, though it is not improbable that the candidate's questionable reputation, and perhaps his limited acquaintance with theology, may have principally influenced the bishop's decision.† This was a disappointment rather to his friends than to Goldsmith himself, who, though he afterwards professed to admire the wisdom of his brother Henry's choice in despising fame and fortune, and retiring early to happiness and obscurity, with an income of forty pounds. a-year, seems never to have had any great inclination to follow his example. On the contrary, he loved to indulge his fancy with dreams of future greatness, which was always connected in his mind with a desire to see the world, -a passion which was with him too vague and general to admit of any specific plan, or even definite object, but which he never failed to manifest whenever an occasion offered. He had been received into the family of a neighbouring gentleman as tutor to his children; but he soon became tired of his situation, and again became a wanderer, with about thirty pounds in his pocket. As usual, he contrived in a very short time * Quod seditioni favisset et tumultuantibus opem tulisset. These are the words of the sentence, as quoted by Dr Wilson. + Such is the tradition among the clergy of the diocese. Dedication of the Traveller. to spend his slender stock of money, and, at the end of six weeks, returned to his mother's house without a penny. Of the adventures which he had met with during this excursion, he gave his friends a curious, but somewhat improbable history. According to this account, he had proceeded to Cork, with the intention of going to America, and actually paid his passage to the captain of a vessel bound thither; but the wind proving unfavourable for a day or two, he had gone to pass the interval with some friends, who had formed a party to the country, and on his return he found that the vessel had sailed. He had still some money left, with which he bought a wretched little nag, intending to return home as soon as possible. On his way, he was tempted to pay a visit to an old college acquaintance, from whom he had formerly received many pressing invitations to pass some time at his house; but from this gentleman he met with a very scurvy reception. He remained with him, however, a couple of days, and, in the meantime, became acquainted with another gentleman of the neighbourhood, who invited him to his house, where he was hospitably entertained by the owner and his two beautiful daughters, for some weeks, and at last permitted to depart with the greatest reluctance.* His friends now proposed to send him to London to study law, and the Rev. Thomas Contarine, rector of Kilmore, who was married to his aunt, and had always taken a paternal interest in young Goldsmith, undertook the expense of his studies in the Temple: but in passing through Dublin, on his way to England, the imprudent youth fell in with some sharpers, who persuaded him to stake at the gaming table the fifty pounds with which his uncle's liberality had furnished him for the expenses Mrs Hodson's Narrative. of his journey. This instance of extreme folly and, under the circumstances, ingratitude, although it had the effect of putting a stop to his journey, and of changing his future destination, did not provoke his generous benefactor to withdraw his patronage; but his mother was seriously offended at this last escapade of her prodigal son, and it was not without some difficulty that she again received him into favour, at the warm intercession of his brothers and sisters. He had already disappointed the hopes of his family with regard to two of the learned professions; it was now resolved to give him an opportunity of trying his fortune in the third; and the same kind relation, to whom he had already been so much indebted, having again assisted him with his purse, he was sent to study physic at Edinburgh College, which had at that time acquired the reputation which it still boasts, of being one of the best medical schools in Europe. This event took place in 1752, when he was in his twenty-fourth year. On the very evening of his arrival in the Scottish metropolis, he gave a curious proof of that inattention and thoughtlessness, which rendered him so unfit for the ordinary business of life. As soon as he had engaged a lodging, he sallied forth to view the curiosities of the town, telling his landlady that he would be home to supper. Having rambled about till he was tired, he began to think of retracing his steps, when he made the unpleasant discovery that he had neglected to ascertain the name of his landlady, or even that of the street in which she lived. He was now at a loss in what direction to proceed, when, by good fortune, he met the cady, or porter, whom he had employed to carry his luggage, and received from him the information required.* * Dr Percy. A change of scene and profession does not appear to have effected any remarkable change in Goldsmith's habits. At Edinburgh, as in Dublin, his unfortunate facility of temper, and his love of frolic, made him neglect his studies, and attach himself to the fellowship of the idle. He always loved applause; and as he did not care to discriminate very nicely between that which is earned by eminence in honourable attainments, and that which is freely bestowed on a master of the revels by his pot-house companions, he naturally sought the praise which could be obtained with the least effort. The lax discipline of a Scottish University, where, except at class hours, the students are exempt from college rules and the surveillance of the professors, unfortunately left him at liberty to give free indulgence to his love of dissipation; and the lectures of Monro and Cullen were forgotten in the noisy merriment of the tavern, and the worthless applause of his fellow-idlers. He associated chiefly with his own countrymen, and seems never to have regarded Scotland or its natives with much partiality. In a letter, dated September 26, 1753,* and addressed to an Irish gentleman, Mr Robert Brianton, he gives a very humorous description of Edinburgh society, such as it existed at that period; but we may be permitted to suspect that the picture is slightly overcharged, even if it be thought probable that the young student of medicine had access to the aristocratic circle which then constituted society in Edinburgh, and which his letter affects to describe. It is certain, at least, that he escaped all taint from the formal preciseness, which is said to have characterized Scottish manners at that time; for, according to his biographer, it was during his residence in the northern ́ metropolis that he acquired See his Letters. |