THE GOOD-NATURED MAN

PREFACE

WHEN I undertook to write a comedy, I confess I was strongly prepossessed in favor of the poets of the last age,1 and strove to imitate them. The term, genteel comedy, was then unknown amongst us, and little more was desired by an audience, than nature and humor, in whatever walks of life they were most conspicuous. The author of the following scenes never imagined that more would be expected of him, and therefore to delineate character has been his principal aim. Those who know anything of composition, are sensible that, in pursuing humor, it will sometimes lead us into the recesses of the mean; I was even tempted to look for it in the master of a sponging-house; 2 but in deference to the public taste, grown of late, perhaps, too delicate, the scene of the bailiffs was retrenched in the representation. In deference also to the judgment of a few friends, who think in a particular way, the scene is here restored. The author submits it to the reader in his closet; and hopes that too much refinement will not banish humor and character from ours, as it has already done from the French theatre. Indeed, the French comedy is now become so very elevated and sentimental, that it has not only banished humor and Molière from the stage, but it has banished all spectators too.

Upon the whole, the author returns his thanks to the public for the favorable reception which the Good-Natured Man has met with; and to Mr. Colman in particular, for his kindness to it. It may not also be improper to assure any, who shall hereafter write for the theatre, that merit, or supposed merit, will ever be a sufficient passport to his protection.

1 poets of the last age: In Letter xl of The Citizen of the World Goldsmith states the grounds of his preference for the "poets of the last age." Here "poets " includes "dramatists."

2 sponging-house: A victualing house where prisoners for debt were kept pending settlement.

to Mr. Colman ... for his kindness: Here Goldsmith can hardly be sincere, as it is well known he felt little gratitude to Colman.

PROLOGUE1

WRITTEN BY DR. JOHNSON, SPOKEN BY MR. BENSLEY.2

PRESS'D by the load of life, the weary mind
Surveys the general toil of human kind;
With cool submission joins the laboring train,
And social sorrow loses half its pain:
Our anxious bard, without complaint, may share
This bustling season's epidemic care,
Like Cæsar's pilot,3 dignified by fate,

Toss'd in one common storm with all the great;
Distress'd alike, the statesman and the wit,
When one a borough courts, and one the pit.
The busy candidates for power and fame,
Have hopes, and fears, and wishes, just the same;
Disabled both to combat, or to fly,

Must hear all taunts, and hear without reply.
Uncheck'd, on both loud rabbles vent their rage,
As mongrels bay the lion in a cage.

1 Prologue: This prologue, which reveals unusual melancholy, was the only piece of Johnson's work given to the public in 1768. As first printed the fifth line read "our little bard," but at Goldsmith's request these words were changed. Writers of prologues were not always complimentary. So Garrick refers to an author's play as "his poetic brat." (Prologue to Eugenia.)

2 Mr. Bensley: Robert Bensley (1738-1817) was given his first engagement by Garrick at Drury Lane in 1765. He then went over to Covent Garden. His Iago and Malvolio were said to be very good.

3 Cæsar's pilot: The reference is to a story told by Plutarch of Cæsar's voyage across the Adriatic before making battle with Pompey.

Th' offended burgess hoards his angry tale, For that blest year when all that vote may rail; Their schemes of spite the poet's foes dismiss, Till that glad night when all that hate may hiss. "This day the powder'd curls and golden coat," Says swelling Crispin,1 "begg'd a cobbler's vote." "This night, our wit," the pert apprentice cries, "Lies at my feet - I hiss him, and he dies."

The great, 't is true, can charm th' electing tribe;
The bard may supplicate, but cannot bribe.
Yet, judged by those whose voices ne'er were sold,
He feels no want of ill-persuading gold;

But, confident of praise, if praise be due,
Trusts without fear, to merit, and to you.

1 Crispin: A Christian martyr of Rome who became the patron saint of shoemakers. The term is here synonymous with "shoemaker."

THE GOOD-NATURED MAN

ACT THE FIRST

Scene, AN APARTMENT IN YOUNG HONEYWOOD'S HOUSE. Enter Sir William Honeywood and Jarvis.

Sir William. Good Jarvis, make no apologies for this honest bluntness. Fidelity like yours is the best excuse for every freedom.

Jarvis. I can't help being blunt, and being very angry, too, when I hear you talk of disinheriting so good, so worthy a young gentleman as your nephew, my master. All the world loves him.1

Sir William. Say rather, that he loves all the world; that is his fault.

Jarvis. I am sure there is no part of it more dear to him than you are, though he has not seen you since he was a child.

Sir William. What signifies this affection to me, or how can I be proud of a place in a heart where every sharper and coxcomb find an easy entrance?

Jarvis. I grant you that he is rather too goodnatured; that he's too much every man's man; that he laughs this minute with one, and cries the next with another; but whose instructions may he thank for all this?

Sir William. Not mine, sure? My letters to him

1 All the world loves him: In Mr. Burchell's account of the character of Sir William Thornhill in The Vicar of Wakefield (chap. iii), similar sentiments are expressed.