us in chase, and which by this time had hoisted French colours, he commanded the studding-sails to be taken in, the courses to be clewed up, the maintop sail to be backed, the tompions to be taken out of the guns, and every man to repair to his quarters. While every body was busied in the performance of these orders, Strap came upon the quarterdeck, trembling, and looking aghast, and, with a voice half suppressed by fear, asked if I thought we were a match for the vessel in pursuit of us? Observing his consternation, I said, "What! are you afraid, Strap?" "Afraid!" he replied, "n-n-o; what should I be afraid of? I thank God, I have a clear conscience; but I believe it will be a bloody battle, and I wish you may not have occasion for another hand to assist you in the cockpit." I immediately perceived his drift, and making the captain acquainted with his situation, desired he might be stationed below with me and my mates. My uncle, incensed at his pusillanimity, bade me send him down instantly, that his fear might not infect the ship's company; whereupon I told the poor steward, that I had begged him for my assistant, and desired him to go down and help my mates to get ready the instruments and dressings. Notwithstanding the satisfaction he must have felt at these tidings, he affected a shyness of quitting the upper deck; and said, he hoped I did not imagine he was afraid to do his duty above board; for he believed himself as well prepared for death as any man in the ship, no disparagement to me or the captain. I was disgusted at this affectation, and, in order to punish his hypocrisy, assured him, he might take his choice either of going down to the cockpit with me, or of staying upon deck during the engagement. Alarmed at this indifference, he replied, "Well, to oblige you, I'll go down; but, remember, it is more for your sake than my own." So saying, he

disappeared in a twinkling, without waiting for an answer. By this time we could observe two tier of guns in the ship which pursued us, and which was now but two short miles astern. This discovery had an evident effect upon the sailors, who did not scruple to say, that we should be torn to pieces, and blown out of the water, and that, in case any of them should lose their precious limbs, they must go a-begging for life, for there was no provision made by the merchants for those poor souls who were maimed in their service. The captain, understanding this backwardness, ordered the crew abaft, and spoke to them thus: "My lads, I am told you hang an a-se. I have gone to sea thirty years man and boy, and never saw English sailors afraid before. Mayhap you think I want to expose you for the lucre of gain. Whosoever thinks so, thinks a damned lie, for my whole cargo is insured; so that, in case I should be taken, my loss would not be great. The enemy is stronger than we, to be sure. What then? have we not a chance for carrying away one of her masts, and so get clear of her? If we find her too hard for us, 'tis but striking at last. If any man is hurt in the engagement, I promise on the word of an honest seaman, to make him a recompense according to his loss. So now, you that are lazy, lubberly, cowardly dogs, get away, and skulk in the hold and bread room; and you that are jolly boys, stand by me, and let us give one broadside for the honour of Old England." This eloquent harangue was so well adapted to the disposition of his hearers, that one and all of them, pulling off their hats, waved them over their heads, and saluted him with three cheers; upon which he sent his boy for two large case bottles of brandy, and having treated every man with a dram, they repaired to their quarters, and waited impatiently for the word of command.

I must do my uncle the justice to say, that, in the whole of his disposition, he behaved with the utmost intrepidity, conduct, and deliberation. The enemy being very near, he ordered me to my station, and was just going to give the word for hoisting the colours, and firing, when the supposed Frenchman hauled down his white pennant, jack, and ensign, hoisted English ones, and fired a gun ahead of us. This was a joyful event to Captain Bowling, who immediately showed his colours, and fired a gun to leeward. Upon which the other ship ran alongside of us, hailed him, and giving him to know that she was an English man of war of forty guns, ordered him to hoist out his boat and come on board. This command he obeyed with the more alacrity, because, upon inquiry, he found that she was commanded by an old messmate of his, who was overjoyed to see him, detained him to dinner, and sent his barge for the supercargo and me, who were very much caressed on his account. As this commander was destined to cruise upon the French, in the latitude of Martinico, his stem and quarters were adorned with white fleur-de-lis, and the whole shell of the ship so much disguised for a decoy to the enemy, that it was no wonder my uncle did not know her, although he had sailed on board of her many years. We kept company with her four days, during which time the captains were never asunder, and then parted, our course lying different from hers.

In less than a fortnight after our separation, we made the land of Guinea, near the mouth of the river Gambia, and trading along the coast as far to the southward of the line as Angola and Bengula, in less than six months disposed of the greatest part of our cargo, and purchased four hundred negroes, my adventure having been laid out in gold dust.

Our complement being made up, we took our departure from Cape Negro, and arrived in the Rio de la Plata in six weeks, having met with nothing remarkable in our voyage, except an epidemic fever, not unlike the jail distemper, which broke out among our slaves, and carried off a good many of the ship's company; among whom I lost one of my mates, and poor Strap had well nigh given up the ghost. Having produced our passport to the Spanish governor, we were received with great courtesy, sold our slaves in a very few days, and could have put off five times the number at our own price; though we were obliged to smuggle the rest of our merchandise, consisting of European bale goods, which, however, we made shift to dispose of at a great advantage.

From Roderick Random, Chapter LXV.

OLIVER GOLDSMITH (1728-1774)

NTIL he settled in London in 1756 Goldsmith was a wan

UN

derer. He had been born and educated in Ireland; he had studied medicine at Edinburgh and Leyden; he had wandered through Europe playing the flute; and finally he had returned to London with a bogus degree of M.D. During the next two or three years he tried to earn a living as an apothecary, physician, corrector of the press, usher at the Academy, and writer for Griffith's Monthly Review. At last he decided that he could write better than he could do anything else. So he became a professional literary man. Much of his work was necessarily hack work because he was generally in straightened circumstances. Johnson sold the Vicar of Wakefield for him in order to save him from a debtor's prison. He was extravagant and impulsive and lacked the practical sense which would have made him financially successful.

Goldsmith's one ambition was to shine in the society of his time. Unfortunately, his physical appearance and his personality were such that he made an extremely poor impression upon all but his intimate friends. He was awkward and vain and spoke with a slow blundering utterance. Garrick said that "he talked like poor poll." He was, however, warm-hearted and kind. But these characteristics were not appreciated by the witty and conversationloving society of Dr. Johnson's age.

Goldsmith wrote on many subjects and used practically every form of composition. His poetry, dramas, essays, and novels are still read because of the personality of his style. Dr. Johnson's tribute to him explains this popularity. "Goldsmith was a man, who, whatever he wrote, did it better than any other man could do. He deserved a place in Westminster Abbey, and every year he lived would have deserved it better."