" "I was glad," observed Reynolds, "to
hear Charles Fox say it was one of the finest poems in the English
language." "Why was you glad?" rejoined Langton; "you surely had no doubt
of this before." "No," interposed Johnson, decisively; "the merit of The
Traveler is so well established that Mr. Fox's praise cannot augment it,
nor his censure diminish it."
Boswell, who was absent from England at the time of the publication of The
Traveler, was astonished, on his return, to find Goldsmith, whom he had so
much undervalued, suddenly elevated almost to a par with his idol. He
accounted for it by concluding that much both of the sentiments and
expression of the poem had been derived from conversations with Johnson.
"He imitates you, sir," said this incarnation of toadyism. "Why, no, sir,"
replied Johnson, "Jack Hawksworth is one of my imitators, but not
Goldsmith. Goldy, sir, has great merit." "But, sir, he is much indebted to
you for his getting so high in the public estimation." "Why, sir, he has,
perhaps, got _sooner to it by his intimacy with me."
The poem went through several editions in the course of the first year, and
received some few additions and corrections from the author's pen.
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