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    si $ e shcmld fee ? placed By the side of it in another candlestick ., The apparatus being Chtis : prepared , in came Iffillitini from his d&fly task ; ' wtefi Goldsmith immediately " taking down the bit of candle of his own manufacture ,

    challenged Willtam in the following terms , —** -William , if you will eat yonder piece of candle ( pointing to what remained oh the shelf ) J will eat this in my hand , biitit must be done together , and 1 will begin !* ' The -challenge was accepted in the presence of the other servants in the kitchen , and

    Goldsmith immediately began gnaw * ing his candle , making sad wry faces but not flinching from his task ! William beheld with astonishment the progress he was making in devouring it however nauseous * but had rib heart or stomach

    to touch his own . At last when William saw that Goldsmith had devoured alj . but the last morsel , Ae , not willing ; to be out-done , opened his month Qnd flung " his own piece idowii liis throat in a jnoment ! < This ' sudden triumph

    over his antagonist made the Jdtchen ring with laughter . Some little time" after poor Willitim £ oiald not helpeSspresshig Tils surprise to Goldsmith that he had not . done as he did , swallowjjng fio disagreeable a morsel all at once— Truly" replied

    Goldsmith , with great gravity , " pty bit of candle was no oiher tfran « a bit of very nice ^ Cheshire cheese and therefore ' Witiiani I was qhwilling tolosg ^ e reitsji of itr Another time Goldsmith wishing to have a little innocent Jnrlcr .

    nment , with William , hit on the following scheme which he accomplished . William had fallen in love with

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    a young woman who lived in the neighbourhood assefyant , and they for some time kept each qther * k Gompatiy . The' young woman

    soon 4 fter left her situation aqd \ Veftt back into Yorkshire fyer & $ tive county . But she promised $ & write to William , thougfi for sotne reason or another that promise way never fulfilled . This circunti

    stance gave him no little uneasi ness , and having so often inquired of the postman to no purpose , he had nearly sunk into despair . Goldsmith availing himselfof poor Wi / ltam * scopditiony took uponhjm to imitate a bad hand and tain *

    dite ' n letter 9 which for sentiment and expression might he taken for a real epistle from Yorkshire * This being done with exactness ( for , the lady who told me the anecdote saw it before it was ^ ent ) Go 1 , psm \ th gave it one of the . young gentlemen with the recjuest that he would deliver it next

    morning immediately after the postman had called at the house . The young gentlemen were in the habit of running towards the door whenever the postman made hi * appearance ; of course one of tha group returned from the door with

    the said letter , and gave it direct * ly to WilHam r who ' snatching it with eagerness thrust it into hit bosom , and withdrew to make himself acquainted with the contents . The substance of the epistle wa * that " she had for various

    seasons delayed writing , but had to inform him that a young man , by trade a glass-grinder , had paid hfs addresses to her—that she had not given him much

    encouragement ,, though her relations were for the match—that she however often thought of William , and he was not long oat of her mind for

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    Original Anecdotes of Dr . Goldsmith . 20 S

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1808, page 203, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2391/page/31/