New-York tribune., 1911-02-12
OLIVER GOLDSMITH
An Irish Study of His Character
and Life.
THE LIFE OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH. By
Frank Frankfort Moore With nine
illustrations. Svo, PIP. vi, 492. r.. T..
Dutton & Co

ldlhlOfI MooIt. " lNh
illustrations Svo. PIP. vi, 492. F.. r.
Dutton * Co.
Mr.. Moore begins this sympathetic
readable life of Oliver Goldsmith with
chapter on the Ireland Of his day, which
sounds the keynote of the work. for IL
is as a typical Irshman Of that period
that he would have us see his hero. All
his shortcomings. and they were many,
when studied in this light. assume an
attractive, and certainly an generating,
aspect-his improvidence, his love OF
gambling, his unbounded generosity,
which borrowed recklessly In order 10
lend indscriminately, the altogether in
excusable mrddle he made of the busi-
ness of living, all this becomes part Of
his Celtic temperament" along with his
simple credulity. his unworldiness, which
was far from other worldlness. the
many lovable traits that have made him
the best loved of English poets. He is
eighteenth century poets. we ven
crate Dryden. we admire Pope, we esteem
Young. we quote Gray, we neglect Ihom-
son, we ignore Johnson we tolerate Cowper.
come TO consider the whole question or the
place occupied by English poets In the
affection of their readers we are ied 10
wonder if the position of Goldsmith is not
absolutely unique.
oliver Goldsmith was an Irishman or
his time to the core, his Anglo-SaXon
ancestry Notwithstanding. Mr.. Moore
insists upon our remembering this TO the
end of the story Fully as important is
il. according to him, and he does not
allow us to forget this either, that Bos-
we'll was a Scotchman. He. indeed. is
the villain of this biography, unmasked
in a special introduction filled with much
vigorous writing. 1t is not merely that
he was toadying little man. forcing his
way into the tolerant, emi-contemptuous
company Of great ones; it is not merely
thai he had not grain of humor-many
of the Englshmen with whom Gold
G nth associated shared that lack. Mi
Noc~e insists: il is most of all for MS
malignant, persistent and ingenious mis-
representation Of the Irishman. for his
Internal design to harm his reputation
with posterty for his envious hatred OF
him that Mr. Moore pillories Boswell, and
prosecutes him from page to page with
the discovery of inconsistencies in his
picture of Goldsmith with what we know
of hin: from other sources, and even
from Jchnson's lips himself as reported
BY his admiring biographer Boswell,
Mr.. Moore holds, was not above tam
pering with the Jovian pronouncements
of his idol IN order TO crafty his spite
and. for that matter, the Johnson who
used the butt of tie pistol when it
missed fire is much in evidence, too.
Neither does Garrick fare well at Mr..
Moore's hands, Garrick, whose insatia-
BILE thirst for adulation the unwordly
Goldsmith neglected to slake one re-
members the great actors 'Noll, who
wrote like an angel, but talked like poor
poll" Here Mr.. Moore brings forward
His theory of the Englishman's inability
to understand Irish humor in explana-
ton Of the accusations brought against
Goldsmith as a conversationalist:
But quite apart from those questions of
malice and wilful inaccuracy on Boswell 5
part there was about Goldsmith something
which Boswell was constitutlonally in
capable of understanding, and which puZ-
zled a good many of the people in the
same circle of observers and recorders.
. The most perpleXing of all forms Of
national humor were those which belonged
10 Ireland in the eighteenth century, and
which are not yet extinct in many parts of
the island. one of these was termed the
Irish bull. This was one form of
Irish humor with which Goldsmith was
fully acquainted. and he passed it of upon
a good many Englishmen, and for his
pains got the reputation of being a fool.
But there is still another form of
Irish humor of which Goldsmith was a
master. 1t consists In the delivery Of an
ironical comment so subtle as 10 mystify
an audience. and. in the case of an aver
age English audience. to have them rather
inclined 10 believe that it was meant in all
seriousness. This, we think must
be- accepted as an explanation Of how
while some people thought him delightfully."-