Goldsmith English Men of Letters Series

Meanwhile, to return to his literary work, the _Citizen of the World_ had grown out of his contributions to the _Public Ledger_, a daily newspaper started by Mr. Newbery, anothe...

The pecuniary success of _She Stoops to Conquer_ did but little to relieve Goldsmith from those financial embarrassments which were now weighing heavily on his mind. And now he...

The _Vicar of Wakefield_, considered structurally, follows the lines of the Book of Job. You take a good man, overwhelm him with successive misfortunes, show the pure flame of h...

But it is time to return to the literary performances that gained for this uncouth Irishman so great an amount of consideration from the first men of his time. The engagement wi...

During the period that now ensued, and amid much quarrelling with Griffiths and hack-writing for the _Critical Review_, Goldsmith managed to get his _Enquiry into the Present St...

The appearance of the _Good-natured Man_ ushered in a halcyon period in Goldsmith's life. The _Traveller_ and the _Vicar_ had gained for him only reputation: this new comedy put...

Here ensued a very dark period in his life. He was alone in London, without friends, without money, without introductions; his appearance was the reverse of prepossessing; and,...

But the writing of smart verses could not keep Dr. Goldsmith alive, more especially as dinner-parties, Ranelagh masquerades, and similar diversions pressed heavily on his financ...

Amid much miscellaneous work, mostly of the compilation order, the play of the _Good-natured Man_ began to assume concrete form; insomuch that Johnson, always the friend of this...

It was no doubt owing to Newbery that Goldsmith, after his return to London, was induced to abandon, temporarily or altogether, his apartments in Wine Office Court, and take lod...

But Goldsmith was not in any hurry to acquire either wealth or fame. He had a happy knack of enjoying the present hour--especially when there were one or two boon companions wit...

The Goldsmiths were of English descent; Goldsmith's father was a Protestant clergyman in a poor little village in the county of Longford; and when Oliver, one of several childre...

Some two months after the publication of the _Deserted Village_, when its success had been well assured, Goldsmith proposed to himself the relaxation of a little Continental tou...

This poem of the _Traveller_, the fruit of much secret labour and the consummation of the hopes of many years, was lying completed in Goldsmith's desk when the incident of the a...

The foregoing extracts will sufficiently show what were the chief characteristics of Goldsmith's writing at this time--the grace and ease of style, a gentle and sometimes pathet...

"Innocently to amuse the imagination in this dream of life is wisdom." So wrote Oliver Goldsmith; and surely among those who have earned the world's gratitude by this ministrati...

But one pecuniary result of this growing fame was a joint offer on the part of Griffin and Newbery of £20 for a selection from his printed essays; and this selection was forthwi...