The Vicar of Wakefield

- By Oliver Goldsmith
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Anglo-Irish writer (1728–1774) This article is about the 18th-century Irish writer. For the 19th-century Canadian poet, see Oliver Goldsmith (Canadian poet). For the British eyewear company, see Oliver Goldsmith (company). Oliver GoldsmithPortrait 1769–70 by Joshua ReynoldsBorn(1728-11-10)10 November 1728Either Ballymahon, County Longford, Kingdom of Ireland, or Elphin, County Roscommon, Kingdom of IrelandDied4 April 1774(1774-04-04) (aged 45)London, EnglandResting placeTemple Church, LondonOccupationPlaywright, poet, busker, apothecary's assistantLanguageEnglishEducationTrinity College, Dublin (B.A., 1749)University of Edinburgh (M.D., 1755)Literary movementThe ClubNotable works The Vicar of Wakefield "The Deserted Village" The Good-Natur'd Man She Stoops to Conquer Signature Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was a well-known Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, noted for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), his pastoral poem The Deserted Village (1770), and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man (1768) and She Stoops to Conquer (1771, first performed in 1773). He is thought by some to have written the classic children's tale The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes (1765). Early life[edit] This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Goldsmith's birth date and year are not known with certainty. According to the Library of Congress authority file, he told a biographer that he was born on 10 November 1728. The location of his birthplace is also uncertain. He was born either in the townland of Pallas, near Ballymahon, County Longford, Ireland, where his father was the Anglican curate of the parish of Forgney, or at the residence of his maternal grandparents, at the Smith Hill House near Elphin in County Roscommon, where his grandfather Oliver Jones was a clergyman and master of the Elphin diocesan school, and where Oliver studied.[1] When Goldsmith was two years old, his father was appointed the rector of the parish of "Kilkenny West" in County Westmeath. The family moved to the parsonage at Lissoy, between Athlone and Ballymahon, and continued to live there until his father's death in 1747. In 1744, Goldsmith went up to Trinity College, Dublin. His tutor was Theaker Wilder. Neglecting his studies in theology and law, he fell to the bottom of his class. In 1747, along with four other undergraduates, he was expelled for a riot in which they attempted to storm the Marshalsea Prison.[2] He was graduated in 1749 as a Bachelor of Arts, but without the discipline or distinction that might have gained him entry to a profession in the church or the law. His education seemed to have given him mainly a taste for fine clothes, playing cards, singing Irish airs, and playing the flute. He lived for a short time with his mother, tried various professions without success, studied medicine desultorily at the University of Edinburgh from 1752 to 1755, and set out on a walking tour of Flanders, France, Switzerland, and Northern Italy, living by his wits (busking with his flute). A literary party at Sir Joshua Reynolds's.[3] Left to right: James Boswell, Samuel Johnson, Joshua Reynolds, David Garrick, Edmund Burke, Pasquale Paoli, Charles Burney, a servant (possibly Francis Barber), Thomas Warton, Oliver Goldsmith. (select a detail of the image for more information) Career[edit] He settled in London in 1756, where he briefly held various jobs, including an apothecary's assistant and an usher of a school. Perennially in debt and addicted to gambling, Goldsmith produced a massive output as a hack writer on Grub Street[4][5][6][7] for the publishers of London, but his few painstaking works earned him the company of Samuel Johnson, with whom he was a founding member of "The Club". There, through fellow Club member Edmund Burke, he made the acquaintance of Sir George Savile, who would later arrange a job for him at Thornhill Grammar School. The combination of his literary work and his dissolute lifestyle led Horace Walpole to give him the epithet "inspired idiot". During this period he used the pseudonym "James Willington" (the name of a fellow student at Trinity) to publish his 1758 translation of the autobiography of the Huguenot Jean Marteilhe. Portrayal[edit] In his Life, Washington Irving states that Goldsmith was between 5'4" and 5'6" in height, not heavily built but quite muscular and with rather plain features. In character he had a lively sense of fun, was totally guileless, and never happier than when in the light-hearted company of children. The money that he sporadically earned was often frittered away or happily given away to the next good cause that presented itself so that any financial security tended to be fleeting and short-lived. Goldsmith's talents were unreservedly recognised by Samuel Johnson, whose patronage – somewhat resented by Boswell – aided his eventual recognition in the literary world and the world of drama. Goldsmith was described by contemporaries as prone to envy, a congenial but impetuous and disorganised personality who once planned to emigrate to America but failed because he missed his ship. At some point around this time he worked at Thornhill Grammar School, later basing Squire Thornhill (in The Vicar of Wakefield) on his benefactor Sir George Savile and certainly spending time with eminent scientist Rev. John Mitchell, whom he probably knew from London. Mitchell sorely missed good company, which Goldsmith naturally provided in spades. Thomas De Quincey wrote of him "All the motion of Goldsmith's nature moved in the direction of the true, the natural, the sweet, the gentle".[8] A plaque to Oliver Goldsmith at the Temple Church in London, where he was buried. Death[edit] Goldsmith's premature death in 1774 may have been partly due to his own misdiagnosis of a kidney infection. He was buried in Temple Church in London. The inscription reads; "HERE LIES/OLIVER GOLDSMITH". A monument was originally raised to him at the site of his burial, but it was destroyed in an air raid in 1941. A monument to him survives in the centre of Ballymahon, also in Westminster Abbey with an epitaph written by Samuel Johnson. "Oliver Goldsmith: A Poet, Naturalist, and Historian, who left scarcely any style of writing untouched, and touched nothing that he did not adorn. Of all the passions, whether smiles were to move or tears, a powerful yet gentle master. In genius, vivid, versatile, sublime. In style, clear, elevated, elegant." Epitaph written by Dr. Johnson, translated from the original Latin. Legacy[edit] Among his papers was found the prospectus of an encyclopedia, to be called the Universal dictionary of the arts and sciences. He wished this to be the British equivalent of the Encyclopédie and it was to include comprehensive articles by Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke, Adam Smith, Edward Gibbon, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir William Jones, Fox and Dr. Burney. The project, however, was not realised due to Goldsmith's death.[9] Works[edit] See also: The Vicar of Wakefield, The Good-Natur'd Man, The Traveller (poem), and She Stoops to Conquer The Citizen of the World[edit] In 1760 Goldsmith began to publish a series of letters in the Public Ledger under the title The Citizen of the World. Purportedly written by a Chinese traveller in England by the name of Lien Chi, they used this fictional outsider's perspective to comment ironically and at times moralistically on British society and manners. It was inspired by the earlier essay series Persian Letters by Montesquieu. The Hermit[edit] Goldsmith wrote this 160-line romantic ballad in 1765. The hero and heroine are Edwin, a youth without wealth or power, and Angelina, the daughter of a lord "beside the Tyne". Angelina spurns many wooers, but refuses to make plain her love for young Edwin. "Quite dejected with my scorn", Edwin disappears and becomes a hermit. One day, Angelina turns up at his cell in boy's clothes and, not recognising him, tells him her story. Edwin then reveals his true identity, and the lovers never part again. The poem is notable for its interesting portrayal of a hermit, who is fond of the natural world and his wilderness solitude but maintains a gentle, sympathetic demeanor toward other people. In keeping with eremitical tradition, however, Edwin the Hermit claims to "spurn the [opposite] sex". This poem appears under the title of "A Ballad" sung by the character of Mr. Burchell in Chapter 8 of Goldsmith's novel, The Vicar of Wakefield.[10] The Deserted Village[edit] Main article: The Deserted Village In the 1760s Goldsmith witnessed the demolition of an ancient village and destruction of its farms to clear land to become a wealthy man's garden. His poem The Deserted Village, published in 1770, expresses a fear that the destruction of villages and the conversion of land from productive agriculture to ornamental landscape gardens would ruin the peasantry.[11] Other works[edit] Account of the Augustan Age in England (1759) The Life of Richard Nash (Beau Nash) (1762) The History of England, from the Earliest Times to the Death of George II in 4 volumes (1771) Dr. Goldsmith's Roman History Abridged by Himself for the Use of Schools (1772)[12] An History of the Earth and Animated Nature (1774) The Complete Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith (1887), edited by Austin Dobson The Poems and Plays of Oliver Goldsmith (Frederick Warne and Co., 1889) The Grumbler: An Adaptation (1931), edited by Alice I. Perry Wood[13] Goldsmith has sometimes been credited with writing the classic children's tale The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes, though this cannot be proved.[14] Religious beliefs[edit] Goldsmith was an Anglican,[15] and famously said "as I take my shoes from the shoemaker, and my coat from the taylor, so I take my religion from the priest."[16] Thomas Hurst wrote that Goldsmith "recognised with joy the existence and perfections of a Deity. For the Christian revelation also, he was always understood to have a profound respect – knowing that it was the source of our best hopes and noblest expectations".[17] Memorials concerning Oliver Goldsmith[edit] A statue of Goldsmith at Trinity College, Dublin Goldsmith lived in Kingsbury, now in north-west London, between 1771 and 1774: Oliver Goldsmith Primary School, Goldsmith Lane, and Goldsmith Avenue there are named after him. Goldsmith Road, the Oliver Goldsmith Estate and Oliver Goldsmith Primary School, all in Peckham, are named after him.[18] The Oliver Goldsmith Summer School is held every June Bank Holiday at Ballymahon with poetry and creative readings being held at Goldsmith's birthplace in nearby Pallas, Forgney. A statue of him by J. H. Foley stands at the Front Arch of Trinity College, Dublin (see image). A statue of him stands in a limestone cell at the ruin of his birthplace in Pallas, Forgney, Ballymahon, County Longford. The statue is a copy of the Foley statue that stands outside Trinity college, Dublin and is the focus point of the annual Oliver Goldsmith Summer School. His name has been given to a new lecture theatre and student accommodation on the Trinity College campus: Goldsmith Hall. Auburn, Alabama, and Auburn University were named for the first line in Goldsmith's poem: "Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain." Auburn is still referred to as the 'loveliest village on the plain.' Auburn in Sydney was also named for "Sweet Auburn". There is a statue in Ballymahon County Longford outside the town library by Irish Sculptor Éamonn O' Doherty (1939–2011) which was unveiled in 1999. London Underground locomotive number 16 (used on the Metropolitan line of the London Underground until 1962) was named Oliver Goldsmith. Longford based band Goldsmith are named after the famous writer. Athlone Institute of Technology library is named the Goldsmith Library In 1870, Goldsmith Street in Phibsborough was renamed after Oliver Goldsmith[19] Goldsmith Street in the 'Poets' Corner' area of Elwood, Melbourne is named after Oliver Goldsmith.[20] Auburn Hill in Stoneybatter, Dublin is named after the fictional town of Auburn from his poem The Deserted Village.[19] In popular culture[edit] His life was dramatised in the 1940 Australian radio play A Citizen of the World. Two characters in the 1951 comedy The Lavender Hill Mob quote the same line from Goldsmith's poem "The Traveller" – a subtle joke, because the film's plot involves the recasting of stolen gold. During the opening credits of the SKY One adaptation of Sir Terry Pratchett's Christmas-like story "The Hogfather", a portrait of Goldsmith is shown as part of a hall of memorials to those "inhumed" by the "Ankh-Morpork Assassins' Guild". In the 1925 novel The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham, the last words of the poem An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog, "The dog it was that died", are the dying words of bacteriologist Walter Fane, one of the primary characters in the novel. And using the title "Elegy for a Mad Dog" is an episode of Marcus Welby, M.D. (1971, Season 2, Episode 21). In the Nabokov novel Pale Fire, a central character's house is situated between "Goldsworth" (the name of an estate) and "Wordsmith University". Crossing these two names yields the names of the poets Wordsworth and Goldsmith; one of the narrators refers to this as the "witty exchange of syllables invoking the two masters of the heroic couplet."[21] In the play Marx in Soho by Howard Zinn, Marx makes a reference to Goldsmith's poem The Deserted Village.[22] In The Waste Land, T. S. Eliot parodies Goldsmith's song When lovely woman stoops to folly.[23] The characters of 'Edwin' and 'Angelina' in Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury were a reference to Goldsmith's poem The Hermit.[24] References[edit] ^ "History". Sligo Grammar School. ^ Craig, Maurice (1952). Dublin 1650–1860. Allen Figgis & Co. Ltd. p. 184. ^ 'A literary party at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, D. George Thompson, published by Owen Bailey, after James William Edmund Doyle, published 1 October 1851 ^ "Brothers of the Quill: Oliver Goldsmith in Grub Street by Norma Clarke review". irishtimes.com. Retrieved 25 March 2018. ^ Mullan, John (11 February 2017). "Brothers of the Quill: Oliver Goldsmith in Grub Street by Norma Clarke – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 March 2018. ^ "Oliver Goldsmith: the most fascinating bore in literature". spectator.co.uk. The Spectator. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2018. ^ Dublin, Trinity Writers, Trinity College. "Oliver Goldsmith". www.tcd.ie. Retrieved 25 March 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) ^ De Quincey Writings (ed) James Thomas Fields 1850–1855 ^ Collison Robert Lewis. Encyclopaedias: their history throughout the ages; a bibliographical guide with extensive historical notes to the general encyclopaedias issued throughout the world from 350 B.C. to the present day. New York, Hafner, 1966 p. 109 ^ Dyachok, Tatyana (2012). Oliver Goldsmith's works in the sociocultural context of the Enlightenment. Master's dissertation, Belarusian State University. pp. 341–342 ^ Rowley, Trevor (1978). Villages in the Landscape. Archaeology in the Field Series. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-460-04166-9. ^ Dr. Goldsmith's Roman History Abridged by Himself for the Use of Schools, London: S. Baker & al., 1772 ^ "Oliver Goldsmith – British and Irish Literature – Oxford Bibliographies – obo". www.oxfordbibliographies.com. Retrieved 12 December 2019. ^ "The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes". The British Library. n.d. Retrieved 11 April 2023. ^ "After Rowan: The Coherence and Future of Anglicanism". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 3 April 2012. ^ "The Samuel Johnson Sound Bite Page: Quotes on Oliver Goldsmith". ^ Evans, John (1993). "Goldsmith and Religion". Goldsmith. p. 23. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-23093-8_5. ISBN 978-1-349-23095-2. ^ Oliver Goldsmith Primary School website. ^ a b Christopher Teeling M 'Cready (25 March 1892). "Dublin Street Names, Dated and Explained …". Hodges. Retrieved 25 March 2018 – via Internet Archive. ^ "Walking Tours of Melbourne: Elwood Poetry Walk". ^ Nabokov, Vladimir (1989). Pale Fire (1st ed.). Vintage International. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-679-72342-4. ^ Marx in Soho, Howard Zinn 1999, South End Press ^ Eliot, T. S., Collected Poems 1909–1935, Faber 1936, p. 70. ^ Glinert, Ed (2006). The Complete Gilbert and Sullivan. England: Penguin Classics. p. 779. ISBN 0-713-99860-1. Further reading[edit] Austin Dobson, Henry (Editor) The Complete Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith, ISBN 1-58827-277-X Campbell, Gordon (ed.), Oliver Goldsmith (Everyman's Poetry Series), ISBN 0-460-87827-1 Connellan, J.A., Oliver Goldsmith of Elphin, Published for the Goldsmith Society (1935) Forster, John, The life and times of Oliver Goldsmith, Published by: Ward, Lock and Co (London, New York, 1848) Goldsmith, Oliver, The Letters of Oliver Goldsmith (Edited by Michael Griffin and David O'Shaughnessy) ISBN 978-1107093539 Goldsmith, Oliver, The Vicar of Wakefield, ISBN 0-19-283940-3 Goldsmith, Oliver, She Stoops to Conquer, ISBN 0-486-26867-5 Irving, Washington, Life of Oliver Goldsmith, ISBN 1-58963-236-2 Prior, James, Life of Goldsmith, two volumes (London: John Murray, 1837) at the Internet Archive Rousseau, George (1974), Goldsmith: The Critical Heritage. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. ISBN 0-7100-7720-3 External links[edit] Wikiquote has quotations related to Oliver Goldsmith. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oliver Goldsmith. Wikisource has original works by or about:Oliver Goldsmith Library resources about Oliver Goldsmith Online books Resources in your library Resources in other libraries By Oliver Goldsmith Online books Resources in your library Resources in other libraries Oliver Goldsmith at the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA) Works by Oliver Goldsmith in eBook form at Standard Ebooks Works by Oliver Goldsmith at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Oliver Goldsmith at Internet Archive Works by Oliver Goldsmith at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks) Essays by Oliver Goldsmith at Quotidiana.org The Deserted Village UNCG American Publishers' Trade Bindings: The Deserted Village Oliver Goldsmith: A Biography by Washington Irving from Project Gutenberg Goldsmith (English Men of Letters series) by William Black from Project Gutenberg An Essay on the Theatre; or, A Comparison Between Laughing and Sentimental Comedy Goldsmith Hall – student accommodation and lecture theatre, Trinity College, Dublin. Information on Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith Resource http://www.olivergoldsmithfestival.com The Goldsmith International Literary Festival] Info on the Festival held annually in Goldsmith's Home County Poems and essays, Oliver Goldsmith, 1839, (William Smith, London) Oliver Goldsmith at Find a Grave vteIrish poetryTopics Irish poetry Aisling Dán Díreach Metrical Dindshenchas Irish syllabic poetry Kildare Poems Filí Chief Ollam of Ireland Irish bardic poetry Contention of the bards Irish Literary Revival Weaver Poets An Gúm Táin Bó Cúailnge PoetsBardic Mael Ísu Ua Brolcháin Muircheartach Ó Cobhthaigh Gilla Mo Dutu Úa Caiside Baothghalach Mór Mac Aodhagáin Giolla Brighde Mac Con Midhe Gofraidh Fionn Ó Dálaigh Flann mac Lonáin Donnchadh Mór Ó Dálaigh Lochlann Óg Ó Dálaigh Fear Flatha Ó Gnímh Mathghamhain Ó hIfearnáin Cormac Mac Con Midhe Eoghan Carrach Ó Siadhail Fear Feasa Ó'n Cháinte Tadhg Olltach Ó an Cháinte Eochaidh Ó hÉoghusa Proinsias Ó Doibhlin Tarlach Rua Mac Dónaill Gilla Cómáin mac Gilla Samthainde Tadhg Dall Ó hÚigínn Niníne Éces Colmán of Cloyne Cináed ua hArtacáin Muireadhach Albanach Ó Dálaigh Cearbhall Óg Ó Dálaigh Máeleoin Bódur Ó Maolconaire Diarmaid Mac an Bhaird Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh Dallán Forgaill Óengus of Tallaght Sedulius Scottus Saint Dungal Maol Sheachluinn na n-Uirsgéal Ó hÚigínn Philip Ó Duibhgeannain 15th/16th century Tomás Ó Cobhthaigh 17th century Dáibhí Ó Bruadair Piaras Feiritéar Donnchadh Mac an Caoilfhiaclaigh Aogán Ó Rathaille 18th century Aogán Ó Rathaille Brian Merriman Jonathan Swift Oliver Goldsmith John Hewitt 19th century Thomas Moore Charles Gavan Duffy James Clarence Mangan Samuel Ferguson William Allingham Douglas Hyde James Henry Antoine Ó Raifteiri Aeneas Coffey Robert Dwyer Joyce Thomas Davis Speranza Katharine Tynan Edward Walsh Oscar Wilde 20th century James Joyce Patrick Pearse Joseph Plunkett Thomas MacDonagh Francis Ledwidge Padraic Colum F. 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CHAPTER 1
The description of the family of Wakefield; in which a kindred likeness prevails as well of minds as of persons I was ever of opinion, that the honest man who married and brought up a large family, did more service than he who continued single, and only talked of population. From this motive, I had scarce taken orders a year before I began to think seriously of matrimony, and chose my wife as she did her wedding gown, not for a fine glossy surfaces but such qualities as would wear well. To do her justice, she was a good-natured notable woman; and as for breeding, there were few country ladies who could shew more. She could read any English book without much spelling, but for pickling, preserving, and cookery, none could excel her. She prided herself also upon being an excellent contriver in house-keeping; tho' I could never find that we grew richer with all her contrivances. However, we loved each other tenderly, and our fondness encreased as we grew old. There was in fact nothing that could make us angry with the world or each other. We had an elegant house, situated in a fine country, and a good neighbourhood. The year was spent in moral or rural amusements; in visiting our rich neighbours, and relieving such as were poor. We had no revolutions to fear, nor fatigues to undergo; all our adventures were by the fire-side, and all our migrations from the blue bed to the brown.
As we lived near the road, we often had the traveller or stranger visit us to taste our gooseberry wine, for which we had great reputation; and I profess with the veracity of an historian, that I never knew one of them find fault with it. Our cousins too, even to the fortieth remove, all remembered their affinity, without any help from the Herald's office, and came very frequently to see us. Some of them did us no great honour by these claims of kindred; as we had the blind, the maimed, and the halt amongst the number. However, my wife always insisted that as they were the same flesh and blood, they should sit with us at the same table. So that if we had not, very rich, we generally had very happy friends about us; for this remark will hold good thro' life, that the poorer the guest, the better pleased he ever is with being treated: and as some men gaze with admiration at the colours of a tulip, or the wing of a butterfly, so I was by nature an admirer of happy human faces. However, when any one of our relations was found to be a person of very bad character, a troublesome guest, or one we desired to get rid of, upon his leaving my house, I ever took care to lend him a riding coat, or a pair of boots, or sometimes an horse of small value, and I always had the satisfaction of finding he never came back to return them. By this the house was cleared of such as we did not like; but never was the family of Wakefield known to turn the traveller or the poor dependent out of doors.
Thus we lived several years in a state of much happiness, not but that we sometimes had those little rubs which Providence sends to enhance the value of its favours. My orchard was often robbed by school-boys, and my wife's custards plundered by the cats or the children. The 'Squire would sometimes fall asleep in the most pathetic parts of my sermon, or his lady return my wife's civilities at church with a mutilated curtesy. But we soon got over the uneasiness caused by such accidents, and usually in three or four days began to wonder how they vext us.
My children, the offspring of temperance, as they were educated without softness, so they were at once well formed and healthy; my sons hardy and active, my daughters beautiful and blooming. When I stood in the midst of the little circle, which promised to be the supports of my declining age, I could not avoid repeating the famous story of Count Abensberg, who, in Henry II's progress through Germany, while other courtiers came with their treasures, brought his thirty-two children, and presented them to his sovereign as the most valuable offering he had to bestow. In this manner, though I had but six, I considered them as a very valuable present made to my country, and consequently looked upon it as my debtor. Our eldest son was named George, after his uncle, who left us ten thousand pounds. Our second child, a girl, I intended to call after her aunt Grissel; but my wife, who during her pregnancy had been reading romances, insisted upon her being called Olivia. In less than another year we had another daughter, and now I was determined that Grissel should be her name; but a rich relation taking a fancy to stand godmother, the girl was, by her directions, called Sophia; so that we had two romantic names in the family; but I solemnly protest I had no hand in it. Moses was our next, and after an interval of twelve years, we had two sons more.
It would be fruitless to deny my exultation when I saw my little ones about me; but the vanity and the satisfaction of my wife were even greater than mine. When our visitors would say, 'Well, upon my word, Mrs Primrose, you have the finest children in the whole country.'-'Ay, neighbour,' she would answer, 'they are as heaven made them, handsome enough, if they be good enough; for handsome is that handsome does.' And then she would bid the girls hold up their heads; who, to conceal nothing, were certainly very handsome. Mere outside is so very trifling a circumstance with me, that I should scarce have remembered to mention it, had it not been a general topic of conversation in the country. Olivia, now about eighteen, had that luxuriancy of beauty with which painters generally draw Hebe; open, sprightly, and commanding. Sophia's features were not so striking at first; but often did more certain execution; for they were soft, modest, and alluring. The one vanquished by a single blow, the other by efforts successfully repeated.
The temper of a woman is generally formed from the turn of her features, at least it was so with my daughters. Olivia wished for many lovers, Sophia to secure one. Olivia was often affected from too great a desire to please. Sophia even represt excellence from her fears to offend. The one entertained me with her vivacity when I was gay, the other with her sense when I was serious. But these qualities were never carried to excess in either, and I have often seen them exchange characters for a whole day together. A suit of mourning has transformed my coquet into a prude, and a new set of ribbands has given her younger sister more than natural vivacity. My eldest son George was bred at Oxford, as I intended him for one of the learned professions. My second boy Moses, whom I designed for business, received a sort of a miscellaneous education at home. But it is needless to attempt describing the particular characters of young people that had seen but very little of the world. In short, a family likeness prevailed through all, and properly speaking, they had but one character, that of being all equally generous, credulous, simple, and inoffensive.

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Word Lists:

Prude : a person who is or claims to be easily shocked by matters relating to sex or nudity

Vivacity : (especially in a woman) the quality of being attractively lively and animated

Custard : a dessert or sweet sauce made with milk, eggs, and sugar.

Veracity : conformity to facts; accuracy

Maim : wound or injure (someone) so that part of the body is permanently damaged

Alluring : powerfully and mysteriously attractive or fascinating; seductive

Sprightly : (especially of an old person) lively; full of energy

Kindred : one's family and relations.

Likeness : the fact or quality of being alike; resemblance

Glossy : shiny and smooth

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Additional Information:

Rating: Words in the Passage: 1274 Unique Words: 548 Sentences: 47
Noun: 288 Conjunction: 138 Adverb: 87 Interjection: 2
Adjective: 97 Pronoun: 152 Verb: 215 Preposition: 145
Letter Count: 5,565 Sentiment: Positive Tone: Conversational Difficult Words: 287
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