He was proceeding in this strain, earnestly to dissuade me from an imprudence of which I am seldom guilty, when an old man, who still had about him the remnants of tattered finery, implored our compassion. He assured us that he was no common beggar, but forced into the shameful profession, to support a dying wife, and five hungry children. Being prepossessed against such falsehoods, his story had not the least influence upon me; but it was quite otherwise with the man in black; I could see it visibly operate upon his countenance, and effectually interrupt his harangue. I could easily perceive that his heart burned to relieve the five starving children, but he seemed ashamed to discover his weakness to me. While he thus hesitated between compassion and pride, I pretended to look another way, and he seized the opportunity of giving the poor petitioner a piece of silver, bidding him at the same time, in order that I should hear, go work for his bread, and not tease passengers with such impertinent falsehoods for the future. _The Bee_ In addition, Goldsmith produced a great mass of hack-work, most of which is worthless as historical and scientific fact, but all of which is enlightened with the grace of his style and personality. Some of these works are _An Inquiry into the Present State of Polite Learning in Europe_ (1759), his first published book; _The History of England_ (1762); and _The History of Earth and Animated Nature_, a kind of text-book on natural history, which was unfinished when he died. =5. Summary.= Goldsmith’s work is so varied and important that it is necessary to summarize briefly. The following are its main features: (_a_) _Variety._ In his projected Latin epitaph on Goldsmith, Johnson gives prominence to the statement that Goldsmith touched on nearly every type of writing and adorned them all: Qui nullum fere scribendi genus Non tetigit, Nullum quod tetigit non ornavit. (_b_) Its _high quality_ is also apparent. In matters of knowledge Goldsmith was deficient, but in grace, charm, and amiable good-humor he is in the first flight of our writers. (_c_) As a _transitional poet_ he is worthy of careful observation. In the mechanics of poetry--such as meter, rhyme, and rhetorical devices--he follows the older tradition; but in his broad humanity of outlook, in his sympathetic treatment of natural scenes, and in the simplicity of his humor and pathos he is of the coming age. OTHER TRANSITIONAL POETS