k his life
Goldsmith was not in London, and not even in England. He was in Paris.
The idea that had he encountered Chatterton it could hardly have
failed to be to the advantage, and possibly the redemption, and the
whole rescue of that young spirit, is not a charming conjecture that
has only flattery for its foundation. Oliver Goldsmith was one who
must perforce befriend the destitute. He could not let any hopeless
heart still keep its despair unmarked and not alleviated, if soothing
could prove possible. In the year 1772, a youth named Macdonald, of
Irish lineage, through the sudden death of his elder brother, found
himself friendless and alone in London, and wandering, dejected and
despairing, in the Temple Gardens. Thus, too, Chatterton might have
strayed in an even greater loneliness. The ages of these youths were
the same.

"Providence," writes Macdonald, "directed me to the Temple Gardens. I
threw myself on a seat, and willing to forget my miseries for a
moment, drew out a book. I had not been there long when a gentleman
strolling about passed near me, and observing, addressed me: 'Sir, you
seem studious. I hope you find this a favourable place.' Conversation
ensued. I told him my history. He gave me his address, and desired me
to call soon."

Goldsmith received him in the kindest manner. Macdonald became his
amanuensis. Goldsmith treated the young man throughout with unfailing
tenderness and sympathy and almost fatherly kindness and solicitude.

CHAPTER VIII

CONSUMMATE COMEDY

In 1771 Goldsmith was full of hope for that capital essay in comedy,
_She Stoops to Conquer_. Two years passed before he could obtain its
definite acceptance. He found his manager not in Garrick, as one might
have anticipated, but again in Colman. The pretty piece appeared at
Covent Garden. Tried as Goldsmith had been ere _The Good-natured Man_
was produced, the negotiations and delays about _She Stoops to
Conquer_ were not less torturing. Colman kept the manuscript in his
hands for months and months without coming to any decision. The
playwright's letters to the manager are absolute supplications.
Humiliation appears the very discipline of genius. At one time the
manuscript was actually recalled by its author and despatched to
Garrick. Before it had really come under his consideration, which very
likely might have been just as obtuse, Johnson intervened. To send it
to Garrick, in his opinion, would be tantamount to an ackno