GOLDSMITHS' COMPANY 



3590 



GOLD STICK 



Goldsmith. Dr. Johnson reading the MS. of The Vicar of Wakefleld. Recognizing 

 its merits, he sold it for 60, and thus helped the author to pay his debts 



From the picture by E. M. Ward, B.A. 



grave, not precisely known, and 

 there is a cenotaph to him in West- 

 minster Abbey with an inscription 

 by Johnson. 



As a poet Goldsmith will always 

 command a high place. Though 

 under the influence of the school of 



1762, but originally issued serially 

 in The Public jedger. The Letters 

 professed to be from the hand of a 

 Chinese philosopher on a visit to 

 England, and contain much divert- 

 ing comment on contemporary life 

 and manners. By this time Gold- 

 smith had written a great deal for 

 various periodicals, including The 

 British Magazine, started by Smol- 

 lett, the novelist, with whom Gold- 

 smith was on very friendly terms. 

 He had also published a book, An 

 Inquiry into the State of Polite 

 Learning in Europe, which had a 

 favourable reception. In 1761 

 Goldsmith became friendly with 

 Dr. Johnson, and was soon a regu- 

 lar member of the Johnsonian 

 circle, which included Burke, Rey- 

 nolds, and Garrick. 



Fortune, long so unpropitious, 

 now began to smile on him. He had 

 a steady income from his hack 

 work, while his more worthy efforts 

 were not altogether unremunera- 

 tive. In 1764 appeared The Travel- 

 ler, which in Johnson's opinion 

 gave Goldsmith a high place in 

 English literature. This was fol- 

 lowed by that inimitable story,The 

 Vicar of Wakefield (1766), and The 

 Deserted Village (1770), one of the 

 most charming of English poems. 

 He also essayed writing for the 

 stage with The Good Natured Man 

 (1768) and She Stoops to Conquer 

 (1774), successful on its production 

 and a favourite to this day. His 

 last piece of work was the satirical 

 poem Retaliation, written shortly 

 before his death. Notwithstanding 

 the comparative affluence of his 

 later years, he died in London, 

 April 4, 1774, 2,000 in debt. A 

 memorial in the Temple church- 

 yard marks the whereabouts of his 



Goldsmith. Slab marking approxi- 

 mately where Oliver Goldsmith was 

 buried, near the Temple Church, 

 London 



Pope, he shows a humanity and 

 brqadth of feeling not usually asso- 

 ciated with that school. His prose 

 is marked by sim- 

 plicity, clarity and 

 singular charm. 

 The Vicar of 

 Wakefield, n o t - 

 withstanding i t s 

 faults of c o ii- 

 struction, shows 

 great skill in 

 characterisation 

 and is a notable 

 landmark in 

 the evolution of 

 the novel. P e r- 

 sonally Goldsmith 

 was one of the 

 least favoured 

 of men, shy, 



awkward, and sadly marked by 

 smallpox. See English Literature. 



J. McBain 



Bibliography. Lives, J. Prior, 

 1837 ; W. Irving, 1849 ; J. Forster, 

 (3th ed. 1877; W. Black, 1878; 

 A. Dobson, 1888. 



Goldsmiths' Company. Fifth 

 of the twelve great London city 

 livery companies. The first of its 15 

 charters was 

 granted in 1327, 

 20 years after a 

 statute of Ed- 

 ward I had vested 

 in the company 

 the right of as- 

 say. Gregory de 

 llokesley, lord Soldsmiths' 

 mayor 1275-81 Co^any arms 

 and 1285, and master 01 all the 

 king's mints throughout England, 

 was a member, as were Sir Nicholas 

 Farindon and Sir Francis Child, and 

 the company had a chapel, dedi- 

 cated to S. Dunstan, in S. Paul's 

 Cathedral. The first hall, in Foster 

 Lane, E.G., was built about 1407, 

 was destroyed in the Great Fire, 

 and rebuilt by Wren. The existing 

 hall was opened in 1835. In the 

 court room is a small altar of Diana, 

 found when the foundations were 

 being made. 



The company assays plate, its 

 hall mark being a leopard's head, 

 keeps the pyx (q.v.), built and en- 

 dowed a technical institute at New 

 Cross, 1891, at a cost of 85,000, and 

 acts as guardian to many charities 

 and scholastic foundations. The 

 corporate income is estimated at 

 43,000 and the trust income at 

 16,000. See Hall Mark ; consult 

 Memorials of the Goldsmiths' Com- 

 pany, ed. W. S. Prideaux, 1896. 



Gold Stick. British court 

 official. In England the appoint- 

 ment is held in turn by the colonels 

 of the regiments of household 

 cavalry, each of whom is in waiting 

 for a month at a time. The captain- 

 general of the Royal Company of 

 Archers is Gold Stick for Scotland. 

 The officer in waiting walks behind 

 the sovereign on state occasions. 



Goldsmiths' Company. Hall of the Company in which 

 hall marks are placed on gold and silver plate 



