To this gentleman, while yet but a stranger in town and his supplies occasionally short, Goldsmith had more than once offered the use of his purse, which Cooke at length accepted, the temptation of an evening at Marylebone or Ranelagh Gardens with several companions being irresistible; although at the moment destitute of necessary funds for the occasion. On applying to the Poet however he was told very seriously and no doubt truly, that he had not a guinea in his possession. This being considered an evasion, something like a reproach escaped the applicant, that he regretted having made such a request where notwithstanding voluntary offers of assistance there existed so little disposition to afford it. Nettled by the remark, Goldsmith as evidence of his desire to oblige, borrowed the money. In the mean time Cooke provided from another quarter, had locked his chambers and proceeded to his amusement, but returning at an early hour in the morning, found a difficulty in opening the door, which on examination proved to arise from the sum he had requested, in silver, being wrapped in paper and thrust underneath. On being thanked for this proof of sinceirty on the following day, but told that the money might as readily have fallen into strange hands as of him for whom it was meant, he characteristically replied "In truth my dear fellow I did not think of that."* On another occasion, entering a coffee-house near Temple Bar, hungry and fatigued from a journey, and ordering supper, it was no sooner brought in than by a jocular scheme, promptly but quietly devised by several of his acquaintance present, such significant looks and gestures were displayed as to lead to the belief that something was wrong; and on pressing for an explanation, the dish was pronounced to have an unsavoury odour and unfit to be eaten. Thrown off his guard by the seeming gravity of the decision, it was sent away; while a hint to the waiter from the party practising the jest, silenced his replies to the reproaches of the disappointed guest, who by several other tricks dexterously played off, was compelled to wait to a late hour for his repast. To these may be added another of later date, known also to a contemporary still living, who was then an occasional visitor at the house where it occurred. The Poet belonged to a card club that assembled at the Devil Tavern near Temple Bar, and having dined on the day of its meeting with Davies the bookseller in Covent Garden, took a hackney coach to his evening destination, paying the driver by mistake with a guinea instead of a shilling. Discovering the blunder when in the room, he mentioned it to those present with the remark, that as there was little honesty among such persons, he had no expectation of recovering it. On the next evening of meeting while full of good humour and hilarity, he was summoned by a message down stairs, when a person, seemingly a coachman, after a plausible excuse for not discovering and rectifying the error at the moment, begged to return This story was corroborated to the writer by the late Richard Sharpe, Esq. to whom Mr. Cooke told it more than once. the guinea which no doubt had been unintentionally given him the preceding week. The Doctor delighted with the occurrence, returned to the company extolling such an unusual instance of honesty, and proposing some token of reward; "for in truth," he added, "the honest man deserves it." A small sum was raised, with which he returned to the coachman and dismissed him. But some one desiring to see the returned guinea, it was discovered, as may be anticipated, to be a counterfeit, when an explosion of mirth succeeded which so disconcerted him, that an early opportunity was taken of quitting the house. It is scarcely necessary to add that the scene was got up in the spirit of tavern waggery, a man being employed by the company to personate the coachman. The same good nature, unwilling to return a negative to any request, and even his professional character of author though so rarely the owner of wealth, subjected him to deceptions of a graver kind from persons professing the cultivation of letters. Among these was a foreigner at this time in London, countenanced by the Bavarian Ambassador and others, under the name of Colonel Chevalier de Champigny, soliciting subscriptions for a History of England in French, partly translated and partly original, to be comprised in fifteen volumes at the price of seven guineas and a half, to be paid in advance. The roll of names in his subscription list which was frequently advertised in 1766,* comprised crowned heads, ambassadors, and many other persons of rank. Among these Goldsmith was solicited to be one; the honour of participating in the patronage bestowed by such persons was not to be resisted; and although long familiar with the tricks of adventurers in subscriptions, he paid the whole of the money at a time when perhaps he had not another guinea at his disposal. Another claim upon his scanty resources occurred some time afterward by the arrival in London of his nephew, Mr. William Hodson, the son of his elder sister, whose spirit displayed something of the eccentricity of the family. He was educated by his uncle the Rev. Henry Goldsmith, and entered Trinity College Dublin in February 1762.† Participating in some irregularities here towards the conclusion of his term, and unwilling to encounter parental reproach, or as some relatives assert, desirous like his uncle Oliver of seeing the world, he set out without intimating his design to any one, to pay him a visit in London, and for a time acted there as his amanuensis. Becoming tired of this These, occupying half a column of a newspaper, are too tedious to be tran scribed. Another production of this person was advertised soon afterwards.— "Supplement to the Ministry of Mr. Pitt, with an exact recapitulation of the entire conduct of that sage Politician from the 5th September 1761 when he quitted the Ministry, to the 30th July 1766 when he was created Earl of Chatham, &c. By the Chevalier Colonel Champigny (8vo. 6s.) Williams." This was said likewise to be in French and printed at Cologne. †The entry is, contrary to the usual practice, in English; and the name erroneously spelt, as is common in their own neighbourhood. "William Hudson Pens. admitted into College Feb. 1st, 1762.-Schoolmaster Mr. Goldsmith.-Tutor Dr. Hudson." occupation, he wished to go abroad, but the means were wanting; and having no taste to follow the example of his uncle by travelling the continent of Europe on foot, another project was adopted of securing a still wider sphere of observation without the necessity of incurring expense. While in Dublin he had attended anatomical lectures, induced by curiosity or desire to follow the profession of physic, though the paternal estate was sufficient in those days and on the borders of Connaught, to keep an Irish gentleman (and Irish gentlemen are said to have no taste for steady industry) from the exercise of professional occupation. The knowledge thus acquired was now turned to account; he embarked in a medical capacity in an Indiaman, made a voyage to China, and by his own account was fortunate enough while the ship remained in that country, to cure the child of an opulent Chinese of a dangerous complaint, for which among other proofs of gratitude, he received a present of a small dinner service of porcelain, part of which was shown to the writer in the family of one of his descendants. A more curious circumstance, the truth of which is attested by his daughter and others, occurred on his return to London. Having formerly incurred pecuniary obligation to one of his college friends, a Mr. Cowan, member of a respectable family in the county of Donegal, it was reclaimed on their meeting in England; but Hodson being at the moment without money, offered in discharge of the debt a lottery ticket, which was accepted. To the surprise of both parties and the mortification of the original holder, it turned up a prize of twenty thousand pounds. No portion of this large sum was it is said given him, neither did it materially benefit the receiver, who having spent part of it in a county election lost his life afterwards by the upsetting of a boat on one of the lakes in Ireland. It is believed he made a second, if not third, voyage to India, being for a few years found occasionally resident in London, where probably he practised professionally, as Mr. Cradock states in his memoirs, that Oliver some time before his death had a nephew, an apothecary residing in Newman Street. This seems so far correct, that in the tailor's account book for 1770 and 1772, more than fifty pounds charged to Hr. Hodson, " of No. 41. Newman Street," were afterwards put down to the account of his uncle, who by the same memorandum seems to have made himself accountable for apparel supplied to others. Succeeding some years afterwards to the paternal estate, he led the life of a country gentleman, his medical skill being frequently called into gratuitous exercise by the neighbouring peasantry; occasionally for health or amusement he made excursions to Portugal; was twice married; first to Miss Longworth of Creggan in Westmeath, by whom he left issue three sons and two daughters; and again to Miss Isdell, a distant relative, by whom he had two daughters.* The sons (in order to satisfy some curiosity regarding this branch of the family) were Daniel, Oliver Goldsmith, and George Longworth Hodson, of whom the second survives, occupying the family property near Athlone. The daughters were Elizabeth married to the Rev. Alexander Gunning of Alicant near Castle-Blakeney, in Mr. Hodson received credit for the possession of talents, and appears to have exercised them occasionally in poetry; one of his productions has been communicated by the Rev. John Graham, who received it from one of his daughters, and which is subjoined.* He was no great master in the art, though some of the allusions seeming to come from the heart, possess pathos; that to his uncle, if not happily introduced or so well expressed as might be wished, is not devoid of interest. The scenery described is that which adjoins the family residence, named St. John's, near Athlone. Galaway, and Catherine married to Mr. George Mecham of Athlone. By his second wife the daughters were, Jane, married to Mr. Maurice Neligan of Bellmount near Navan; and Anne, still living, widow of Mr. Edward Denniston of Coxheath, formerly Captain in the Donnegal Militia. * STANZAS. By the late William Hodson, Esq. OF ST. JOHN'S, NEAR ATHLONE. "Stern winter's rage the field deforms, Or now its gurgling torrents flow, Or battering hail, and driving snow, "On yon known hill forlorn I stand, Where yonder turrets meet my view, Now mouldering to decay, If legendary tales be true, An ancient city lay. [Here two Stanzas intervened which were forgotten by the reciter.] "And there embosom'd in the grove, Fast by yon watery waste, Late the retreat of peace and love, "There lie the relics of a sire, Whom my sad eyes beheld expire, CHAPTER XVII. Negotiation with Garrick.-Historical Writing.-Mr. Roach.-Good-natured Man. -Hugh Kelly.-Country Excursions.-Dr. Glover. In the spring of 1767, his play, to the completion of which some anxious months had been devoted, was finished; but the greater difficulty remained to introduce it to the stage. There are perhaps few writers of lively imagination and versatile powers who have not at some period of their lives wished to write for the theatre, influenced by the variety of excitements which commonly attend its representations. A successful dramatist if shorn of some former honours in our own days, still occupies a large space in the public eye, his reputation spreads more rapidly than that of any other writer, and his name, which is frequently bandied with a familiarity implying regard, forms a passport to the favour of that large class of society, who in a great metropolis find in the amusements of the theatre relaxation from the cares of life. He identifies himself not merely with the literature but with the enjoyments of the people; with one of the most social, and certainly not least intellectual, of their recreations. Like the orator, he has the gratification of witnessing his own triumphs; of seeing in the plaudits, tears, or smiles of delighted spectators, the strongest testimony to his own "And there beneath the lime-tree shade, The cold turf on her breast, Are a loved wife's sad ashes laid, And there my own shall rest. Her beauteous form consign'd to earth, That form which charm'd each eye, Her innocence and modest worth Have sought their kindred sky. "But buried in a foreign land, The tuneful Goldsmith lies, No kinsman grasp'd his stiffening hand, Consign'd to death that levels all, My uncle met his doom, And BURKE and REYNOLDS wept his full, And JOHNSON graved his tomb. "As nipping frost in luckless hour, Oft blights the blooming rose, While many a weed and baneful flower, When thoughts like these invade my mind, As winter's rage assails, Or what are clouds or howling winds, To what my bosom feels!" |