penetration and that painting are employed, It is not history, it is imagination. He who describes what he never faw draws from fancy. Robertfon paints minds as Sir Joshua paints faces in a hiftory-piece; he imagines an heroic countenance. You must look upon Ro¬ bertson's work as romance, and try it by that ftandard. Hiftory it is not. Befides, Sir, it is the great excellence of a writer to put into his book as much as his book will hold, Goldsmith has done this in his Hiftory. Now Robertfon might have put twice as much into his book, Robertfon is like a man who has packed gold in wool; the wool takes up more room than the gold. No, Sir; I always thought Robertfon would be crushed by his own weight, would be buried under his own. ornaments. Goldsmith tells you shortly all you want to know; Robertson detains you a great deal too long. No man will read Robertfon's cumbrous detail a fecond time; but Goldsmith's plain narrative will please again and again. I would fay to Robertson what an old tutor of a college faid to one of his pupils: 'Read over your compofitions, and wherever you meet with a paffage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out.' Goldsmith's Abridgement is better than that of Lucius Florus or Eutropius; and I will venture to say,

that

that if you compare him with Vertot, in the fame places of the Roman Hiftory, you will find that he excels Vertot. Sir, he has the art of compiling, and of saying every think he has to fay in a pleafing manner. He is now writing a Natural History, and will make it as entertaining as a Perfian Tale."

Dr. Goldsmith's play, She Stoops to Conquer,' being mentioned, Johnfon faid, "I know of no comedy for many years that has fo much exhilarated an audience, that has answered fo much the great end of comedy, making an audience merry."

Johnson obferved, that it was long before Goldsmith's merit came to be acknowledged.That he once complained to him, in ludicrous terms of diftrefs, "Whenever I write any thing, the public make a point to know nothing about it;" but that his Traveller' brought him into high reputation.-MR. LANGTON. "There is not one bad line in that poem; not one of Dry den's carelefs verfes."-SIR JOSHUA. "I was glad to hear Charles Fox fay it was one of the fineft poems in the English language.”— LANGTON. "Why was you glad? You furely had no doubt of this before."-JOHNSON. "No; the merit of The Traveller' is fo well establifhed, that Mr. Fox's praife cannot augment it, nor his cenfure diminish it."-SIR JOSHUA, "But

. "But his friends may fufpect they had a too great partiality for him."-7. Nay, Sir, the partiality of his friends was always against him. It was with difficulty we could give him a hearing. Goldsmith had no fettled notions upon any fubject; fo he talked always at random. It feemed to be his intention to blurt out whatever was in his mind, and fee what would become of it. He was angry too when catched in an abfurdity; but it did not prevent him from falling into another the next minute. I remember Chamier, after talking with him for fome time, faid, 'Well, I do believe he wrote this poem himself; and, let me tell you, that is believing a great deal.' Chamier once asked him what he meant by flow, the last word in the first line of The Traveller,'

Remote, unfriended, melancholy, flow,'

Did he mean tardinefs of locomotion? Goldsmith, who would fay fomething without confideration, answered, 'Yes.' I was fitting by, and faid, 'No, Sir; you do not mean tardiness of locomotion; you mean that fluggishness of mind which comes upon a man in folitude.' Chamier believed then that I had written the line, as much as if he had feen me write it. Goldfmith, however, was a man who, whatever he wrote, did it better than any other man

could

could do. He deferved a place in WestminsterAbbey, and every year he lived would have deferved it better. He had, indeed, been at no pains to fill his mind with knowledge. He tranfplanted it from one place to another; and it did not fettle in his mind; fo he could not tell what was in his own books."

"Goldfmith (he faid) referred every thing to vanity; his virtues and his vices too were from that motive. He was not a focial man. He never exchanged mind with you."

Goldfmith had long a vifionary project, that fome time or other, when his circumftances fhould be eafier, he would go to Aleppo, in order to acquire a knowledge, as far as might be, of any arts peculiar to the Eaft, and introduce them into Britain. When, this was talked of in Dr. Johnson's company, he faid, "Of all men Goldfmith is the moft unfit to go out upon fuch an enquiry; for he is utterly ignorant of fuch arts as we already poffefs, and confequently could not know what would be acceffions to our prefent flock of mechanical knowledge. Sir, he would bring home a grindingbarrow, which you fee in every street in London, and think that he had furnished a wonderful improvement."

Of Goldfmith he on fome other occafion faid, "He was not an agreeable companion, for he talked

talked always for fame. A man who does fo never can be pleafing. The man who talks to unburden his mind is the man to delight you. An eminent friend of ours is not fo agreeable as the variety of his knowledge would otherwife make him, because he talks partly from oftentation. Goldsmith too was very envious." Mr. B. defended him, by obferving that he owned it frankly upon all occafions.-7. “Sir, you are enforcing the charge. He had fo much envy that he could not conceal it. He was fo full of it that he overflowed. He talked of it to be fure often enough. Now, Sir, what a man avows, he is not ashamed to think; though many a man thinks what he is afhamed to avow. We are all envious naturally; but by checking envy we get the better of it. So we are all thieves naturally; a child always tries to get at what it wants the nearest way; by good inftruction and good habits this is cured, till a man has not even an inclination to feize what is another's; has no struggle with himself about it."

He faid, "Goldfmith's Life of Parnell is poor; not that it is poorly written, but that he had poor materials; for nobody can write the life of a man, but those who have ate and drunk and lived in focial intercourfe with him."