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God knows that I would have borne 203 humiliation 204, torture 205, death in any 206 shape 207, for 208 thy good 209,- that I have suffered grief, degradation 201, and hardship 211,have taught my hands again to labour, and have washed my bread with tears at 212 thy bidding 213 without a complaint 214; but to know that thou hast wrung 215 thy wife's tenderest 216 feelings, that thou hast loaded 217 my heart with a dying mother's curse, hast turned 218 my raven locks 219 to grey, and taught me, in a few months, an eternity 220 of misery 221,-and that all this wretchedness has been but to prove 222 my duty to the world-but to gratify thy vanity! What this, this it is that breaks my heart.

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a queen's homage to me when Percival has lost my esteem 224?" Ask me not to return; my mother's spectre 225 would rise 226 between us; I should despise 227 myself for 228 following the weakness 229 of my affection, and thou wouldst despise me for loving one I had ceased 230 to revere.231 No, ask me not, it cannot be. Let me remain with 232 him who pitied 233 me when I seemed most guilty.234 Farewell, my Percival, cherish 235 our child, and tell him that his mother died.236 Come father." And so saying, Griseldis resists 237 every 238 solicitation 239, and, weeping, leaves the scene.240

This dénouement is the theme 241 of all conversation; and parties 242 run high 243 for and against its moral.244 Some

203 ertragen. 204 Erniedrigung. 205 Marter, f. 206 jeder. 207 Gestalt, f. 210 Herabwürdigung.

208

zu.

215

209 Frommen, n. 213 Geheiß, n. 214 Klage. turn to grey ergrauen lassen.

foltern.

221 Schmerz, m., take the plural.

211 Noth.

216 zart. 217
17 Laden auf.

219 Rabenhaar, n., sing,

212 auf.

218 to

220 Ewigkeit.

222 beweisen. 223 gelten, with Dat.

227

228

224 Uchtung. to follow wollte ich, etc. 229 Schwachheit. 230 aufhören. 231 31 verehren. 232 bei. 233 sich erbarmen, with Gen. 234 schuldig. 235 lieben.

225 Geist. 226 sich erheben. verachten. say, if I were

the Perfect. 237 widerstehen..
238 all.
239 Flehen, n.
241 Gegenstand. 242 der Parteigeist. 343 sich lebhaft regen.

236 take

240 Bühne, f. 214 Moral, f.

little patient Griseldises of the society blame their prototype 245 for not returning, and some selfish 246 Percivals acquit 247 her, and vice versa.248 I venture 249 no opinion.

Count M. wiped 250 his eyes 251, and hoped they made it 252 behind the scenes.253 (Letters from the Baltic.)

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X. CHARACTER OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH.

THERE are few writers for whom the reader feels such personal kindness 3 as for Oliver Goldsmith; for few have so eminently possessed the magic gift of identifying themselves with their writings. We read his character

in every page9, and grow into familiar intimacy 10 with. him as 11 we read. The artless 12 benevolence that

-

beams 14 throughout 15 his works, the whimsical 16, yet amiable 17 views 18 of 19 human life and human nature,the unforced 20 humour 21, blending 22 so happily with good 23 feeling 24 and good 25 sense 26, and singularly 27 dashed 28 at 29 times with a pleasing 30 melancholy31,—e —even the very 32 nature 33 of his mellow 34, flowing 35, and softly tinted 36 style 37, all 38 seem to bespeak 39 his moral as well as his intellectual 40 qualities 41, and make us love the man at

245 Urbild, n. 250 trocknen.

liffe, f.

249

wagen.

246 selbstisch. 27 freisprechen. 248 umgekehrt.
say, to himself the eyes. sich versöhnen. 253 Cou-

251

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persönlich. Freundschaft.
6 so ganz aufgehen.

2

Grade.

5

Zauberkraft, f.

• Seite, f. innig vertraut werden. 11 indem.

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12 unerkünftelt.

18 Wohlwollen. 14 durchstrahlen. 15 überall. 16 sonderbar. 17 liebenswürdig. 18 Ansicht. 19 von, with Def. Art. 20 ungezwungen. 21 Wit, m. 24 Gefühl, n. 25 gesund.

22

23 zart.

sich vereinigen.

27 seltsam.

28 durchweben.

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the same time that 43 we admire the author.44 While the productions 45 of writers of loftier 46 pretension 47, and more sounding 48 names, are suffered 49 to moulder 50 on our shelves 51, those of Goldsmith are cherished 52 and laid in 53 our bosoms.54 We do not quote 55 them with ostentation 56, but 57 they mingle 58 with our minds 59, sweeten 60 our tempers 61, and harmonise 62 our thoughts: they put 63 us in good 64 humour 65 with 66 ourselves and with the world, and in 67 68 so doing they make us happier and better men.69

An acquaintance70 with the private 71 biography72 of Goldsmith lets 73 us into the secret 74 of his gifted 75 pages.76 We there77 discover them to be little more than transcripts 78 of his own heart, and picturings 79 of his fortunes.80 There he shows 81 himself the same kind, artless, goodhumoured 82, excursive 83, sensible 84, whimsical 85, intelligent 86 being 87 that he appears in his writings. Scarcely an adventure 88 or character is given 89 in his works that may not be traced 90 to his own parti-coloured 91 story. Many of his most ludicrous 92 scenes 93 and ridiculous 94 incidents 95 have been drawn from 96 his own blunders 97 and mischances 98; and he seems 99 really 100 to have been

43 da. 44 Autor. 45 Werk, n. 46 höher. 47 Anspruch, pl. 48 volltönend. say, we suffer lassen. 50 vermodern.

49

52 hegen. 53 legen an. 54 Herz, n, sing.

lehrsamkeit. 57 but does not here deny so

1 Bücherbrett, n. (pl.—er). 55 anführen. E6 Scheinge= much, as it continues the

discourse. 58 sich verweben. 59 Geist, sing. 60 besänftigen. 61 Ge

muth, sing.

65

62 in Einklang bringen.

› Stimmung. 66 gegen. 67 indem.

63

64 65 versehen. say, a good. 69 omit men. To say,

say, this.

die Bekanntschaft. 71 das Privatleben berücksichtigend. schreibung. 73 einlassen. Geheimniß, n. 75 geistreich.

70

72 Lebensbe=

76 Schrift.

77 darin. 78 Abschrift. 79 Schilderung. 80 Glücksfall. 81 sich erweisen herumstreifend. 84 verständig. 85 drollig.

als.

86

82 gutmüthig.

geistvoll. 87 Wesen. si bunt. 92 lustig.

lehnen, with Dat.

83

88 Abenteuer. 89 erwähnen. 90 zurückführen.

93 Auftritt, 94

lächerlich.

95

Ereigniß, n.

96 ent=

98

97 Irrthum, m. (pl.—thůmer). it seems as if every maxim had been buffeted into him.

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buffeted into 101 almost every maxim 102 imparted 103 by him for the instruction 104 of his reader.

XI. GOLDSMith's Parentage and BirthPLACE.2

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OLIVER Goldsmith was born on3 the 10th of November, 1728, at the hamlet of Pallis, or Pallasmore, county of Longford, in Ireland. He sprang from a respectable 8 but by no means a thrifty9 stock.10 Some families seem to inherit11 kindness 12 and incompetency 13, and to hand down14 virtue and poverty from generation 15 to generation. Such was the case with the Goldsmiths. They were always." according 16 to their own accounts 17, a strange 18 family; they rarely acted like other people; their hearts were in 20 the right place 21, but their heads seemed to be doing anything 22 but 23 what they ought." They were remarkable 24", says another statement 25, " for 26 their worth 27, but of no cleverness 28 in the ways of the world." Oliver Goldsmith will be found 29 faithfully 30 to inherit the virtues and weaknesses 31 of his race. 32 His father, the Rev.33 Charles Goldsmith, with hereditary 34 improvidence 35, married when very young and very poor, and starved along 36, for a number37 of years, on 38 a small country curacy 39 and the assistance of his wife's friends. His whole income 40, eked out by the produce 42 of some fields which he 101 einpauken, with Dat. 10: Grundsag. 10 vortragen. 10 Be

lehrung.

in the.

"1 erben.

16 nach.

22 aller.

23

12

nur nicht.

13

18 seltsam.

5

'Abkunft. Geburtsort, m. 3an. Dörfchen. Grafschaft, say, stammen. 7aus. achtbar. 9wohlhabend. 10 Geschlecht, n. Herzensgüte. 13 Untüchtigkeit. 14 überliefern. 15 Alter, n. 17 Aussage, sing. 20 19 figen. an. 21 Stelle. 24 berühmt. 25 Bericht, m. 26 wegen. 27 Bieder teit. say, had, as will be found, inherited. 20getreulich. 31 Schwachheit. 32 Geschlecht. 33 Prediger. 34 angeerbt. 25 Unbedachtsamkeit. 36 kümmerlich leben. 37 say, during a series Reihe, f. 38 von. 39 Landpfarre, f. 40 Einkommen. "vermehren. 42 Ertrag.

28 Geschick, n.

29

44

farmed 43, and of some occasional duties 45 performed 46 for his wife's uncle, the rector47 of an adjoining 48 parish 49, did not exceed 50 forty pounds.

"And passing 51 rich with forty pounds52 a53 year."

He inhabited an old half-rustic 54 mansion 55 that stood on a rising 56 ground 57, in a rough 58 lonely 59 part of the country, overlooking 60 a low 61 tract 62 occasionally63 flooded 64 by the river Inny. In this house Goldsmith was born, and it was a birth-place worthy 65 of a poet; for66, by all accounts, it was haunted ground.67 A tradition 68 handed down among the neighbouring 69 peasantry 70 states 71, that, in after 72 years, the house remaining for some time untenanted 73, went to decay74, the roof75 fell in76, and it became so lonely and forlorn' as to be 78 a resort 79 for the good people 80," or fairies 81, who, in Ireland 82, are supposed 83 to delight 84 in old, crazy 85, deserted 86 mansions for 87 their midnight88 revels.89 All attempts to repair 90 it were in vain; the fairies battled 91 stoutly 92 to maintain 93 possession. A large mis-shapen 94 hobgoblin 95 used to bestride 96 the house every evening with an immense 97 pair of jack-boots 98, which, in 99 his efforts 100 at 101 hard 102

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44

48 benachbart.

77

43 pachten. gelegentlich. 45 Umtsarbeit, f. verrichten. 47Oberprediger. 49 Kirchspiel, n. 50 übersteigen. 51 say, passed gelten ländlich. "Herrnhaus, n. 56 aufsteigen. 59 einsam. 60 herabsehen auf.

für. 52 sing.

57 Grund, m. 62 Landstrich).

67

say, i

53

say, the.

58 rauh.

63 zuweilen.

54

64 überschwemmen. 6.5 würdig.

61 niedrig.

66 nach.

68

Sage.

73 72 spåter. unver

y, it was not quite in order, or right there; right geheuer. 69 benachbart. ¡70 Landvolk, n. 71 melden. pachtet. 74 in Verfall gerathen. 75 Dach), n. einfallen. 77 öde. 78 say, that it was chosen as erwählen zu. 79 Aufenthalt, m.

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76

supposed in Ireland.
86 vei lassen.

"Freude haben an. 85 gebrechlich.

89

nächtlich. © Gelag, n. (pl.—e). 93 behaupten 94 mißgestaltet. Kanone, f. 199 bei.

geheuer. the im.

98

02 scharf.

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80 Völkchen, n., 83 annehmen.

87

91

wegen. ftreiten.

88 miter=

92 tapfer.

96 besteigen.

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