Fletcher.' In addition to the works before mentioned, Shelley is the author of Queen Mab, Alastor, Prometheus Unbound, the tragedy of The Cenci, and a volume of posthumous poems.
OLIVER GOLDSMITH.
Oliver Goldsmith, the son of a clergyman, was, according to some
writers, born in 1729, at Elphin, in Roscommon, Ireland; but, according
to the inscription on his monument, at Fernes, in the province of Leinster,
on the 29th of November, 1731. After having acquired the rudiments of
education at a private school, he was, in June, 1744, admitted a sizer of
Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated B. A., in 1749, but did not
display remarkable abilities in the course of his academical studies.
Being destined for the medical profession, he attended some courses of
anatomy in Dublin; and, in 1751, entered the University of Edinburgh,
where he studied medicine under the different professors. His thoughtless,
though generous, disposition, soon involved him in difficulties; and in order
to avoid arrest for the debt of a friend, for which he had made himself
responsible, he was obliged to quit Scotland abruptly. He arrived at Sunderland
in the early part of 1754, when his person was secured, but, being
released, through the friendship of Dr. Sleigh, he sailed to Rotterdam;
and, after visiting great part of Flanders, proceeded to Louvain, where
he remained some time, at the expense of his uncle, and took his degree of
bachelor in physic. Hence, it is said, with only one clean shirt, and no
money in his pocket, he set out on foot for Geneva, which he reached by a
circuitous route, in the course of which he supported himself by his abilities,
musical and classical. 'My learning,' he says, 'procured me a favorable
reception at most of the religious houses I visited, and whenever I
approached a peasant's house, I played one of my most merry tunes, and
that generally procured me not only a lodging, but subsistence for the next
day; this, however, was not the case with the rich, who generally despised
both me and my music.'
On his arrival at Geneva, he was appointed tutor and traveling companion to a young gentleman of fortune, with whom he continued until they entered the south of France, where, in consequence of a disagreement, they parted. Goldsmith, however, did not turn his steps homeward, till he had still further gratified his passion for travel, although he was obliged to resort to his flute, as before, for lodging and subsistence. The death of his uncle, during our author's stay abroad, had reduced him to these exigencies, and on his arrival in London, in the winter of 1758, a few half-*pence constituted the whole of his finances. In this extremity, he applied for employment to the apothecaries, but his awkward appearance, and broad Irish accent, were much against him; and it was only from motives of humanity, that a chemist, at length, consented to take him into his service. Hearing, however, that his old friend, Dr. Sleigh, was in London, he paid him a visit, and accepted an asylum in his house, but soon afterwards left it, for an ushership at the Rev. Dr. Milner's academy at Peckham. In this situation he did not remain long; for, having obtained some reputation from criticisms he had written in The Monthly Review, he entered into an engagement with the proprietor, and, coming to London, took lodgings near the Old Bailey, and commenced authorship as a pro
