ry that
follows--a story that stands at the beginning
of the long and constantly broadening current
of modern literature for children. While it has
generally been attributed to Goldsmith, no
positive evidence of his authorship has been
discovered. It was published at a time when he
was in the employ of John Newbery, the London
publisher, who issued many books for children.
We know that Goldsmith helped with the _Mother
Goose's Melody_ and other projects of Newbery,
and there are many reasons for supposing that
the general attribution of _Goody Two-Shoes_ to
him may be correct. Charles Welsh, who edited
the best recent edition for schools, says it
"will always deserve a place among the classics
of childhood for its literary merit, the purity
and loftiness of its tone, and its sound sense,
while the whimsical, confidential, affectionate
style which the author employs, makes it
attractive even to children who have long since
passed the spelling-book stage." The version
that follows has been shortened by the omission
of passages that have less importance for the
modern child than they may have had for that of
the eighteenth century. The story is thus
rendered more compact, and contains nothing to
draw attention away from the fine qualities
mentioned above. The quaint phrasing of the
title, in itself one of the proofs of
Goldsmith's authorship, furnishes a good
comment on the meaning of the story: "The
history of little Goody Two-Shoes/otherwise
called Mrs. Margery Two-Shoes/the means by
which she acquired her learning and wisdom, and
in consequence thereof her estate; set forth at
large for the benefit of those/

Who from a state of Rags and Care,
And having Shoes but half a Pair;
Their Fortune and their fame would fix,
And gallop in a Coach and Six."

[For the benefit of those who may overlook the
point, it may be explained that "Mrs." was
formerly used as a term of dignified courtesy
applied to both married and unmarried women.]

THE RENOWNED HISTORY OF LITTLE GOODY TWO-SHOES

ASCRIBED TO OLIVER GOLDSMITH

All the world must allow that Two-Shoes was not her re