Griffin upon natural history, in eight volumes, for which he was to receive a hundred guineas a volume; and in the following June he wrote an English history (for Davies) for which he was to have five hundred guineas. The English history (chiefly derived from Hume) appeared in August 1771, and he afterwards wrote a small schoolbook on the same subject, which was posthumously published. He wrote a Greek history, for which Griffin paid him 250l. in June 1773, though it was not published till two months after his death. The payments for the ‘Animated Nature’ (the ultimate title of his book on natural history) were completed in June 1772. This, like the two preceding, was posthumously published.
The hackwork had more than the usual merit from the invariable charm of Goldsmith's style. Happily, however, he found time for more permanent work. Early in 1767 he offered his ‘Good-natured Man’ to Garrick for Drury Lane. Garrick probably retained some resentment against Goldsmith, and doubted the success of the play. A proposal to refer the matter to William Whitehead only led to a quarrel. Goldsmith then offered his play to Colman for Covent Garden (July 1767). It was accepted for Christmas. Garrick in competition brought out Hugh Kelly's sentimental comedy, ‘False Delicacy,’ and Colman, who meanwhile was reconciled to Garrick, postponed Goldsmith's play till 29 Jan. 1768 (Kelly's being acted a week earlier). The reception was not entirely favourable. The scene with the bailiffs was hissed, and Goldsmith going to the club with Johnson professed to be in high spirits, but when left alone with his friend burst into tears and swore that he would never write again (Piozzi, pp. 244–6). The obnoxious scene being retrenched the play went better, and ran for ten nights. The omitted scene was replaced ‘by particular desire’ at Covent Garden, 3 March 1773 (Genest, v. 372). Goldsmith made 300l. or 400l. besides another 100l. for the copyright. The popularity of the ‘sentimental comedy’ seems to have hindered a full appreciation of Goldsmith's fun.
The next triumph of Goldsmith's genius was the ‘Deserted Village,’ published 26 May 1770, and begun two years previously. It went through five editions at once (for first editions see Notes and Queries, 5th ser. xi. 491); and the only critical question since raised has been whether it is a little better than the ‘Traveller’ or not quite so good. Both poems are elegant versions of the popular declamation of the time against luxury and depopulation. Auburn in some degree represents Lissoy, and the story of an old eviction by a General Napier was probably in Goldsmith's mind. Some of the characters are obviously his old friends. But the poem is intended to apply to England; and the attempt to turn poems into a gazetteer is generally illusory. The statement by Glover that he received a hundred guineas and returned it as too much is hardly probable.
‘She stoops to conquer’ had been written in 1771 at Hyde. It was offered to Colman in 1772. He hesitated till January 1773, when he yielded to the pressure applied by Johnson. Colman's doubts were shared by the actors, some of whom threw up their parts. It was at last performed at Covent Garden 15 March 1773. Johnson led a body of friends, including Burke and Reynolds, to the first night. Cumberland, whose inaccuracies make all his statements doubtful, says that he was of the party, and minutely describes the result (Memoirs, i. 367). In any case the success was undeniable. It answered, as Johnson said, the ‘great end of comedy, making an audience merry.’ When Goldsmith heard from Northcote (then a pupil of Reynolds) that he had laughed ‘exceedingly,’ ‘That,’ he replied, ‘is all that I require.’ The adherents of the sentimental comedy had forgotten the advantages of laughter; and the success of Goldsmith's play led to their discomfiture. It ran for twelve nights, producing 400l. or 500l. for the author, and was published with a dedication to his staunch supporter, Johnson.
During his later years Goldsmith was widely known and beloved. His most intimate friends appear to have been the Hornecks, who were Devonshire people, and known through Reynolds. The family consisted of a widowed mother, a son Charles, who was in the guards, and two daughters, Catherine, ‘Little Comedy,’ married in 1771 to Henry William Bunbury [q. v.], and Mary, ‘the Jessamy Bride,’ who became Mrs. Gwyn, gave recollections to Prior, and died in 1840. In 1770 he took a trip to Paris with Mrs. Horneck and her daughters. In 1773 his old enemy, Kenrick (probably), wrote an insulting letter to the ‘London Packet’ (24 March), signed ‘Tom Tickle,’ abusing Goldsmith as an author, and alluding insultingly to his passion for ‘the lovely H——k.’ Goldsmith went to the shop of the publisher, Evans, and struck him with a cane. Evans returned the blow; a scuffle followed, a broken lamp covered the combatants with oil, and Goldsmith was sent home in a coach. An action was threatened, which Goldsmith compromised by paying 50l. to a Welsh charity, while he relieved his feelings by writing a dignified
