THE

LIFE

OF

OLIVER GOLDSMITH, M.B.

FROM

A VARIETY OF ORIGINAL SOURCES.

BY

JAMES PRIOR,

FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES; MEMBER OF THE

ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY;

AUTHOR OF THE LIFE OF BURKE, ETC.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

LONDON:

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.

MDCCCXXXVII.

ΤΟ

HIS GRACE,

THE DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND,

K.G.

&c. &c. &c.

MY LORD DUKE,

THE following pages, and the new and more perfect edition of the Miscellaneous Works of Goldsmith, which will immediately succeed them, originated during your Administration of the Irish Government, at the time when circumstances afforded me the honour of an introduction to your Grace; and to you they are now appropriately inscribed. An Earl of Northumberland was the first to offer assistance and patronage to the Poet; and for the amusement of his Countess, the beautiful bal