In the Vicar of Wakefield Goldsmith drew for us a picture of quiet, fireside family life such as no one before, or perhaps since, has drawn.  Yet he himself was a homeless man.  Since a boy of sixteen he had been a wanderer, a lonely vagabond, dwelling beneath strange roofs.  But it was the memory of his childish days that made it possible for him to write such a book, and in learning to know and love gentle Dr. Primrose we learn to know Oliver’s father, Charles Goldsmith.

Chapter LXXI GOLDSMITH—­“THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD”

“I CHOSE my wife,” says Dr. Primrose in the beginning of the book, “as she did her wedding gown, not for a fine, glossy surface, but such qualities as would wear well.  To do her justice, she was a good-natured, notable woman; and as for breeding, there were few county ladies who could show more.  She could read any English book without much spelling; but for pickling, preserving, and cooking, none could excel her.  She prided herself also upon being an excellent contriver in housekeeping; though I could never find that we grew richer with her contrivances.”

Of his children he says, “Our eldest son was named George, after his uncle, who left us ten thousand pounds.  Our second child, a girl, I intended to call, after her aunt, Grissel; but my wife, who had been reading romances, insisted upon her being called Olivia.  In less than another year we had another daughter, and now I was determined that Grissel should be her name; but a rich relation taking a fancy to stand god-mother, the girl was by her direction called Sophia; so that we had two romantic names in the family; but I solemnly protest I had no hand in it.  Moses was our next; and, after an interval of twelve years, we had two sons more.”  These two youngest boys were called Dick and Bill.

This is the family we learn to know in the “Vicar.”  When the story opens Olivia is just eighteen, Sophia seventeen, and they are both very beautiful girls.  At first Dr. Primrose is well off and lives comfortably in a fine house, but before the story goes far he loses all his money, and is obliged to go with his family to a poor living in another part of the country.  Here, instead of their handsome house, they have a tiny four-roomed cottage, with whitewashed walls and thatched roof, for a home.  It is a very quiet country life which they have now to live, and yet when you come to read the book you will find that quite a number of exciting things happen to them.

The dear doctor soon settles down to his changed life, but his wife and her beautiful daughters try hard to be as fine as they were before, and as grand, if not grander, than their neighbors.  This desire leads to not a few of their adventures.  Among other things they decide to have their portraits painted.  This is how Dr. Primrose tells of it:  “My wife and daughters happening to return a visit to neighbour Flamborough’s, found that family had lately got their pictures drawn by a limner, who travelled the country, and took likenesses for fifteen shillings a-head.  As this family and ours had long a sort of rivalry in point of taste, our spirit took the alarm at this stolen march upon us; and, notwithstanding all I could say, and I said much, it was resolved that we should have our pictures done too.