174 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2ndS. N06I., Feb. 28.'6'?. 



" Friddy — A very scanty dinner, and pretended there- 

 fore to be ill, that by avoiding to eat I might leave some- 

 thing like enough for my poor wife and the children. 1 



told my wife what I had done with the shilling ; the ex- 

 cellent creature instead of blaming me for the action, 

 blessed the goodness of my heart, and burst into tears. 



Mem. never to contradict her as long as 1 live 



for the mind that can argue like her's, though it may 

 deviate from the more rigid sentiments of prudence, is 

 even amiable for its indiscretion, and in every lapse from 

 the severity of oeconomy, performs an act of virtue, supe- 

 rior to the value of a kingdom. 



"Saturday — Wrote a sermon, which on Sunday I 

 preached at four different parish churches, and came home 

 excessively weary, and excessively hungry ; no more 

 money tlian two-pence halfpenny in the house; but see 

 the goodness of God! the strolling player whom I had 

 relieved was a man of fortune, who accidentally heard 

 that I was as humane as I was indigent, and from a 

 generous eccentricity of temper, wanted to do me an 

 essential piece of service : I had not been an hour at home 

 Avhen he came in, and declaring himself my friend, put a 

 fifty pound note into my hand, and the next daj' pre- 

 sented me with a living of three hundred pounds a year." 



Since the foregoing was in type my attention 

 Las been called to the fact that the Leaves from 

 the Journal of a Poor Vicar in Wiltshire is re- 

 printed in The Gem (Nelson, Edinburgh, 1849), 

 where it commences "Dec. 15, 1764," and ends 

 " Jan. 16, 1765." The first page contains the fol- 

 lowing : 



"Note by the Author. — Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield 

 appeared in London about 1772. This fact is mentioned, 

 because it may be that that accomplished writer took the 

 idea of his excellent work from the fragment of the 

 Journal of a Vicar in Wiltshire, which had been pub- 

 lished in the British Magazine in 1766." 



At the end of the Journal in The Gem is the 

 following : 



" Note. — To another translation of this tale, published 

 with several others, the translator has appended the fol- 

 lowing fragment, which he found in the Boston Chronicle 

 of 1766, reprinted from the British Magazine, which is 

 mentioned in the Introductory note." 



Then follows the extract which I have already 

 given. 



In consequence of this information farther 

 search has been made into this literary question. 

 The result is the ascertaining that the Vicar of 

 Wakefield, published in March, 1766, is made 

 known to the public in the April Number of the 

 British Magazine of 1766, pp. 177, &c., and en- 

 titled " The Vicar of Wakefield. A Tale. Sup- 

 posed to be written by Himself." A digest of the 

 work is given, followed by a quotation from the 

 history of " A Philosophical Vagabond," which is 

 continued in the May number. 



In the December number of the British Maga- 

 zine, 1766, pp. 623-4., is the "Journal of the 

 Wiltshire Curate," without any editorial note or 

 comment. 



The question may now arise whether the 

 "Journal of a Wiltshire Curate" was or was not 

 the production of Oliver Goldsmith, more espe- 



cially as it is well known he was a contributor to 

 the British Magazine, the principal editor of which 

 was Dr. Smollett. Neither Percy nor Malone, 

 nor Forster nor Cunningham, have stated the titles 

 of the articles contributed by Goldsmith, so that 

 after all the "Journal of a Wiltshire Curate" may 

 be his production, perhaps the germ of his Vicar 

 of Wakefield, but not published till after that 

 work. In vol. i. p. 425. of the British Magazine 

 is an anonymous article, " The History of Miss 

 Stanton," which Prior attributes to Oliver Gold- 

 smith. I may farther add " The Journal of the 

 Wiltshire Curate " also appeared in the Gentle- 

 man's Magazine of Jan. 1767, p. 27. 



William J. Thoms. 



GENERAL COUNCILS. 



(2'>'» S. iii. 69.) 



Herbert will doubtless find the number of 

 General Councils stated difierently by different 

 authors, according as they belong to the Anglican, 

 Greek, or Roman Communion, — each of these 

 Churches recognising a different number of 

 General Councils. 



The Anglican Church, in common with the an- 

 cient Universal Church, acknowledges but six 

 oecumenical councils, viz. : — 



A.r>. 

 i. Nice ----- 325 

 ii. Constantinople, i. - - - 381 



iii. Ephesus ... - 431 



iv. Chalcedon - - - . - 451 



v. Constantinople, ii. - - - 553 



vi. Constantinople, iii. ... G80 



" These," says Mr. Palmer {Treatise on the Church, 

 vol. ii. p. 141.) " are the only synods which the Universal 

 Church has ever received and approved as oecumenical." 



The Greek Church reckons eight General 

 Councils : — 



AD. 



vii. Nice, ii. - - - - 787 



viii. Constantinople, iv. - - - 869 



The Roman Church terms the first Council of 

 Lateran an oecumenical council, and acknow- 

 ledges on the whole twenty General Councils : in 

 addition to those above, they are as follows : — 



A.D. 



ix. Lateran, i. - - - 1123 



x. Lateran, ii. ... 1139 



xi. Lateran, iii. ... II79 



xii. Lateran, iv. - - - 12X5 



xiii. Lj'ons, i. - - - - 1245 



xiv. Lyons, ii. - - - - 1274 



XV. Vienne ... - 1811 



xvi. Constance ... ]414 



xvii. Basle . _ . - 1431 



xviii. Florence - - - - 1439 



xix. Lateran, v. - - - 1512 



XX. Trent ..... 1546 



With regard to the authority of these Councils, 

 I conclude they rest for authority on that of the 



