Richland beacon., 1880-07-31

was intimate with all the literary lions
of the day. and Monday night would
always find him with the rest of the
Literary Club at the Turks Head"
What would not some of us give for the
privilege of passing one night in their
midst, Of becoming. for the time. one of
themselves to sit at the same table and
drink out of the same bowl with John
son and his great disciples? But as
such thing may not be, we must draw
upon our imagination for a picture Of
the scene as it was and dull must be
the imagination of him who cannot con-
jure up glowing portrait. Let us look
at them as they sit in their room at the
Turks Head. At the head of the table
sits the ponderous, rough-spoken, but
withal manly, Dr.. johnson Near him
sits Goldsmiths llustrious countryman,
Edmund Burke, destined to become the
first statesman of Europe. and ut that
time the only man in England able to
test Johnson's power of argument to the
utmost, but who modestly admitted that
he was content to have "runR the bel"
to the great Doctor. Farther down the
table sits Magnanimous Goldsmith,
the Gooseberry Fool" as he terms him
self, his ugly face lighted up with pleasure
and interest. The argument wakes warm,
and impulsive "Noll ventures to inter-
fere, when he is silenced by a cutting
remark from the sarcastic Beauclerc,
who is in turn roared down by the
"Doctor," while Sir Joshua Reynolds
books from behind his spectacles re-
proachfully upon Goldsmith, who has
thus interrupted the conversation in
which he was 30 much interested. At
last, each worn out by the force Of the
others genius. the giants separate. and
the company disperses for the night to
meet again, when the same programme
will be gone through. Latterly, their
meetings were held in another room in
st. James Coffee House, and here Gar
rick was often one of the company.
Garrick, of whom Goldsmith wrote,
that
He cast OF his friends, q o huntsmsn his pack,
For he knew when he pleased he could whistle them
back.
It was at one of these meetings that
Garrick by one of his witty remarks
wounded Goldsmith's feelings. Where
upon he retired to his room, wrote that
brilliant poem Retaliation" which
added 80 much to his reputation Is a
poet. These meetings were bright
spots in Goldsmith's checkered career,
but they were soon darkened by days of
privation and suffering, which were fin
ally ended by his death on the 4th of
April, 1774.
Several persons have written biog-
raphies of Goldsmith, but perhaps the
best, certainly the fairest, is the one
written by our own gifted countryman,
Washington Irving. Macaulay has also
written of him, but it is written with an
unfriendly pen, and it Is better that his
work should be forgotten, since it gives
us bad impression of one of whom ev-
cry other writer spoke so well. Friend
ly or unfriendly, however, as his critics
and biographers may be, they still agree
that, as a writer, he has few equals: in
teresting, and without the vulgarity
and ooarseness of Smollet, and
other authors of that period. Whether
it was in prose or in poetry, he was as he
said of Garrick, "n not first, in the
first line." More than . century has
passed since he was laid to rest in the
Temple burial grounds, and his writings
still stand as models of English compo-
sition. As . man he was the embodi-
ment of many faults and virtues, the
virtues, let us hope, far outweighing the
faults. Garrick wrote of him as q
"scholar, rake, gamester, dupe, Christian
! and poet"
Scholar and poet he was, as his writ
ings abundantly testify. Gamester he
undoubtedly was, and sorely did he suf-
fer for it. Dupe, too, he was Of his own
passions and inclinations, and that he
was q Christian few who have read his
works will lie prepared to deny. Gar
rick might have added that he was an
Irishman. His improvidence, which was
only equaled by his generosity his
light-heartedness. which even the dircst
misfortune could not destroy; and,
lastly, the brilliancy Of his genius, all
bear witness that he was son of the
country whose children were ever brill
liant and unfortunate. Had he been a
man Of stronger will, and capable Of
overcoming his love of dissipation, he
would have left name behind him even
greater than it is, but as it is he was,
undoubtedly. great man. Dr.. John
son asserts it. and other writer's agree
with him. A statue at the gate OF
the college he entered as a
"charity scholar" and a monument