This truly great man appeared to be full of sense and thought; well-mannered, and perfectly unpretending; but studiously wrapped up in his own purposes and pursuits; and apparently under a pressure of mental fatigue when called upon to speak, or stimulated to deliberate, upon any other.
The opportunity which thus powerfully had been prepared of promotion for the Doctor’s son, occurred early in the voyage. Mr. Shanks, the second lieutenant of the Discovery, was taken ill at the Cape of Good Hope, and obliged to leave the ship. “In his place,” Captain Cooke wrote to Lord Sandwich, “I have appointed Mr. Burney, whom I have found very deserving.”
DOCTOR GOLDSMITH.
Dr. Goldsmith, now in the meridian of his late-earned, but most deserved prosperity, was projecting an English Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, upon the model of the French Encyclopædia. Sir Joshua Reynolds was to take the department of painting; Mr. Garrick, that of acting; Dr. Johnson, that of ethics: and no other class was yet nominated, when Dr. Burney was applied to for that of music, through the medium of Mr. Garrick.
Justly gratified by a call to make one in so select a band, Dr. Burney willingly assented; and immediately drew up the article “Musician;” which he read to Mr. Garrick; from whom it received warm plaudits.
The satisfaction of Dr. Goldsmith in this acquisition to his forces, will be seen by the ensuing letter to Mr. Garrick; by whom it was enclosed, with the following words, to Dr. Burney.
“June 11, 1773.
“My dear Doctor,
“I have sent you a letter from Dr. Goldsmith. He is proud to have your name among the elect.
“Love to all your fair ones.
“Ever yours,
“D. Garrick.”
To David Garrick, Esq.
“Temple, Jan. 10, 1773.
“Dear Sir,
“To be thought of by you, obliges me; to be served by you, still more. It makes me very happy to find that Dr. Burney thinks my scheme of a Dictionary useful; still more [Pg 273] that he will be so kind as to adorn it with any thing of his own. I beg you, also, will accept my gratitude for procuring me so valuable an acquisition.
“I am,
“Dear Sir,
“Your most affectionate servant,
“Oliver Goldsmith.”