They met and supped together every Friday evening at the Turk's Head, in Gerrard Street, Soho; and are said by Boswell to have commenced their meetings in 1764, but the gentleman who contributed this account, thinks it was not quite so early.

At the beginning of the year 1768, the number of the attending or efficient members was reduced to EIGHT; for Mr. Beauclerk, who had been attracted by more fashionable clubs, had for some time past forsaken this; and Sir John Hawkins, having offended the company by some disrespectful treatment of Burke, sent a letter to excuse his future attendance, as being inconsistent with the early hours adopted in his family.

Upon this the club agreed to elect a supply of new members, and to increase their number to twelve. Of which every new member was to be elected by ballot, and one black ball was sufficient for exclusion.

Mr. Beauclerk then desired to be restored to the Society, and the following three new members were introduced on Monday evening, February 15th, 1768. Sir Robert Chambers, Dr. Percy, and the late George Colman.

The club continued its regular meetings every Monday evening till December, 1772, when it was altered to Friday evening and two vacancies having been occasioned by deaths, they were supplied on March 12, 1773, by the earl of Charlemont and David Garrick. Two other such vacancies occurring soon after, they were filled on April 2d, by Mr. (afterwards Sir William) Jones, and on April 30th by Mr. Boswell, both in 1773. The number was still limited to

TWELVE.

On Friday, March 4th, 1774, three new members were added to the club, viz. the Hon. Charles Fox, VOL. I.

G

Sir Charles Bunbury, and Dr. George Fordyce: and the same evening was elected George Steevens, Esq.

These are believed to be pretty exact annals of the club down to the death of Dr. Goldsmith; but either then, or soon after, the number was increased to thirty; and in 1775, instead of supping once a week, they resolved to dine together once a fortnight during the sitting of Parliament: and now they dine every other Tuesday, at Parsloe's, in St. James'-street.

The number has been gradually increased to thirtyfive, and is at present limited to forty *.

* The following LIST is believed to contain the names of all that had been Members of this Club in 1797.

Lord Ashburton, dec.
Sir Joseph Banks, K. B.
The Marquis of Bath, dec.
Dr. Barnard, Bishop of Limer-
ick,

Mr. Topham Beauclerk, dec.
Sir Charles Blagden,
Mr. Boswell, dec.

Sir Charles Bunbury,
Rt. Hon. Edmund Burke, dec.
Richard Burke, (his son) dec.
Dr. Burney,

Sir Robert Chambers, dec.
Mr. Chamier, dec.

The Earl of Charlemont, dec.
George Colman, dec.

Mr. Courtenay,

Dr. Goldsmith, dec.

Sir Wm. Hamilton, K.B. dec.
Sir John Hawkins, dec.
Dr. Hinchliffe, Bishop of Pe-
terborough, dec.

Dr. Johnson, dec.
Sir Wm. Jones, dec.
Mr. Langton, dec.
The Duke of Leeds, dec.
Earl Lucan, dec.
Earl M'Cartney,
Mr. Malone,

Dr. Marlay, Bishop of Water-
ford, dec.

Dr. Nugent, dec.

Hon. Frederick North,

The Earl of Upper Ossory,

Dr. Douglas, Bishop of Salis- Visc. Palmerston,

In the year 1765, Dr. Goldsmith printed his beautiful ballad of the HERMIT; which he at first inscribed to the Countess of Northumberland, who had shown a partiality for poems of this kind, by patronizing the "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry," published in the same year. In that collection is a little tale, intitled, "The Friar of Orders Grey;" in which the circumstances of the story bearing some resemblance to those in Goldsmith's Hermit, the Doctor, who was always in a state of war with the inferior scribblers, was afterwards taxed with having taken his ballad from that in the Reliques. On this he published a letter in the St. James's Chronicle, June, 1767*, wherein he justly vindicated the priority of his own poem; but in asserting that the plan of the other was taken from his, (in nothing else have they the most distant resemblance,) and in reporting the conversation on this subject, his memory must have failed him; for the story in them both was evidently taken from a very ancient ballad in that collection, beginning thus, "Gentle Heardsman," &c. (Vol. II. No. 14,) as any one will be convinced who will but compare them. This Dr. Goldsmith had seen and admired long before it was printed, and how well he had imitated some parts of it, will appear by examining the following stanzas:

FROM THE OLD BALLAD.

And grew soe coy and nice to please,
As women's lookes are often soe,

Earl Spencer,

Mr George Steevens, dec.

Mr. Agmemdesham Vesey, dec.

Dr. Warren, dec.

Rev. Dr. Joseph Warton, dec.
Rev. Thomas Warton, dec.
Rt. Hon. W. Windham.

*This may be seen prefixed to the ballad in this edition, vol. ii,

He might not kisse, nor hand forscothe,
Unless I willed him so to doe.

Thus being wearyed with delayes,
To see I pittyed not his greeffe, ·
He gott him to a secrett place,

And there he dyed without releeffc.

And for his sake these weeds I weare,
And sacrifice my tender age:
And every day I'll beg my bread,
To undergoe this pilgrimage.

Thus every day I fast and pray,
And ever will doe till I die;
And gett me to some secret place,
For soe did hee, and soe will I.

FROM THE HERMIT.

For still I try'd each fickle art,
Importunate and vain ;

And while his passion touch'd my heart,

I triumph'd in his pain.

Till quite dejected by my scorn,

He left me to my pride;
And sought a solitude forlorn,

In secret, where he dy'd.

But mine the sorrow, mine the fault,
And well my life shall pay ;

I'll seek the solitude he sought,
And stretch me where he lay.

And there forlorn, despairing hid,
I'll lay me down and die :
'Twas so for me that Edwin did,
And so for him will I.

The edition of the Hermit given in these volumes, contains an additional stanza * never before printed;

*

It is now the thirtieth stanza, beginning thus

And when beside me, &c.

for which the reader is indebted to Richard Archdal, Esq. late a member of the Irish parliament, to whom it was presented by the author himself.

From Dr. Goldsmith's success as a critic, a novelist, and a moral poet, he was afterwards encouraged to court the Dramatic Muse, and he composed his comedy, “The Good-Natured Man." This he first offered to Garrick, who, after a long fluctuation between doubt and encouragement, with his usual uncertainty, at length declined receiving it for his theatre of Drury-lane; and it was at last produced at Covent-Garden, where it was represented for the first time, January 29, 1768. It kept possession of the stage for nine nights, but was not judged by the author's friends, to have had all the success it deserved. Boswell relates, that Johnson praised Goldsmith's "Good-Natured Man," and said it was the best comedy that had appeared since "The Provoked Husband;" and that there had not been of late any such character exhibited on the stage as Croaker. I observed, continues Boswell, it was the Suspirious of his Rambler. He said, Goldsmith had owned he had borrowed it from thence *.

But while he was composing this comedy, and preparing afterwards to take a more successful flight in his fine poem of "The Deserted Village," which was published in 1769, he wrote for present support at the instance of the booksellers, and for the instruction chiefly of young readers, a series of histories, which he never considered as conducive to his fame. These were, his "Roman History," in two vols. 8vo. chiefly compiled from Livy; and afterwards an

* Life of Johnson. VOL. II. p. 48.