to injure and depress him; and his superiors, whom he attempts to imitate, will ridicule his absurd and unavailing efforts to invade what they consider as their own peculiar province.

If it may with truth be said, that a proud man defeats his own purposes, the same may, with equal certainty, be affirmed of a man who gives way to violence of temper. His angry invectives, his illiberal abuse, and his insulting language, produce very little effect on those who hear him, and who, perhaps, only smile at his infirmities; but who can describe the intolerable pangs of vexation, rage, and remorse, by which the heart of a passionate man is successively ravaged? Alas! it is himself alone for whom the storm is pent up, who is torn by its violence, and not those against whom its fury is meant to be directed.

You will, I dare say, readily agree to the truth of all this; but you will, perhaps, be at a loss to conceive what can be my reasons for applying it to you. My principal reasons for thinking you subject to these unhappy failings are very cogent; and they are of such a nature, that it is peculiarly painful for me to state them. In a word, then, I have seen those hateful propensities govern you with such irresistible power, that they have overcome the strongest and most natural principle that can be supposed to reign in the heart of a young person,— I mean the duty and affection you owe your parents. Surely it could be no common failing, no light or trivial fault of temper, that could be sufficient to counteract the warmest feelings and strongest duties of a young mind! Duties and feelings so natural and so indispensable, that we justly conclude a young person who appears to be devoid of them can scarcely possess any other valuable quality. From such grounds, then, can you think me harsh or uncharitable, if I have formed such conclusions?

I have been urged to what I have said by an earnest wish for the improvement of your character, and particularly for the amelioration of your heart. In a future letter, I shall pursue the subject, by endeavouring to give you some rules respecting the government and improvement of the understanding. hope and believe that your conduct will be such as to render any future admonitions on the subjects of this letter entirely unnecessary. I am, my dear pupil, yours affectionately, &c.

The following articles of agreement between himself and Mr Thomas Davies, the bookseller, concerning two of his publications, were drawn up by Dr Goldsmith.-B.

MEMORANDUM.

Russell Street, Covent Garden. Ir is agreed between Oliver Goldsmith, M. B. on the one hand, and Thomas Davies, bookseller, of Russell Street, Covent Garden, on the other, that Oliver Goldsmith shall write for Thomas Davies an History of England, from the birth of the British empire to the death of George the Second, in four volumes octavo, of the size and the letter of the Roman History, written by Oliver Goldsmith. The said History of England shall be written and compiled in the space of two years from the date hereof. And when the said History is written and delivered in manuscript, the printer giving his opinion that the quantity above mentioned is completed, that then Oliver Goldsmith shall be paid by Thomas Davies the sum of five hundred pounds sterling, for having written and compiled the same. It is agreed also, that Oliver Goldsmith shall print his name to the said work. In witness whereof, we have set our names this thirteenth of June, 1769.

OLIVER GOLDSMITH.
THOMAS DAVIES.

MEMORANDUM.

September 15, 1770.

It is agreed between Oliver Goldsmith, M. B. and Thomas Davies, of Covent Garden, bookseller, that Oliver Goldsmith shall abridge for Thomas Davies the book entitled "Goldsmith's Roman History," in two volumes octavo into one volume in duodecimo, so as to fit it for the use of such as will not be at the expense of that in octavo. For the abridging of the said history, and for putting his name thereto, said Thomas Davies shall pay Oliver Goldsmith fifty guineas, to be paid him on the abridgment and delivery of the copy: as witness our hands, OLIVER GOLDSMITH THOMAS DAVIES.

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