Poems, plays and essays, by Oliver Goldsmith, M.B., with a critical dissertation on his poetry, by John Aikin, M.D., and an introductory essays, by Henry T. Tuckerman, esq.

XVi INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.
records this remarkable tour; and there are few more striking
instances of the available worth of talent. Unlike the bards
of old, he won not his way to shelter and hospitality by appealing to national feeling; for the lands through which he roamed
were not his own, and the lay of the last minstrel had long
since died away in oblivion. But he gained the ready kindness of the peasantry by playing the flute, as they danced in
the intervals of toil; and won the favor of the learned by successful disputation at the convents and universities - a method
of rewarding talent which was extensively practised in Europe
at that period. Thus, solely befriended by his wits, the roving
poet rambled over the continent, and, notwithstanding the vicissitudes incident to so precarious a mode of seeing the world,
to a mind like his, there was ample compensation in the superior opportunities for observation thus afforded. He mingled
frankly with the people, and saw things as they were. The
scenery which environed him flitted not before his senses, like
the shifting scenes of a panorama, but became familiar to his
eye under the changing aspects of time and season. IManners
and customs he quietly studied, with the advantage of sufficient
opportunity to institute just comparisons and draw fair inferences. In short, Goldsmith was no tyro in the philosophy of
travel; and, although the course he pursued was dictated by
necessity, its superior results are abundantly evidenced throughout his works. We have, indeed, no formal narrative of his
journeyings; but what is better, there is scarcely a page thrown
off; to supply the pressing wants of the moment, which is not
enriched by some pleasing reminiscence or sensible thought,
garnered from the recollection and scenes of that long pilgarimage. Nor did he fail to embody the prominent impressions of
so interesting an epoch of his checkered life, in a more en