There is often an element of Bohemianism where we should least expect to
find it. There is something of it in our English aristocracy, though it is
not _called_ Bohemianism here because it is not accompanied by poverty;
but the spirit that sacrifices luxury to rough travelling is, so far, the
true Bohemian spirit. In the aristocracy, however, such sacrifices are
only temporary; and a rough life accepted for a few weeks or months gives
the charm of a restored freshness to luxury on returning to it. The class
in which the higher Bohemianism has most steadily flourished is the
artistic and literary class, and here it is visible and recognizable
because there is often poverty enough to compel the choice between the
objects of the intelligent Bohemian and those of ordinary men. The early
life of Goldsmith, for example, was that of a genuine Bohemian. He had
scarcely any money, and yet he contrived to get for himself what the
intelligent Bohemian always desires, namely, leisure to read and think,
travel, and interesting conversation. When penniless and unknown he
lounged about the world thinking and observing; he travelled in Holland,
France, Switzerland, and Italy, not as people do in railway carriages, but
in leisurely intercourse with the inhabitants. Notwithstanding his poverty
he was received by the learned in different European cities, and, notably,
heard Voltaire and Diderot talk till three o'clock in the morning. So long
as he remained faithful to the true principles of Bohemianism he was happy
in his own strange and eccentric way, and all the anxieties, all the
slavery of his later years were due to his apostasy from those
principles. He no longer estimated leisure at its true value when he
allowed himself to be placed in such a situation that he was compelled to
toil like a slave in order to clear off work that had been already paid
for, such advances having been rendered necessary by expenditure on
Philistine luxuries. He no longer enjoyed humble travel but on his later
tour in France with Mrs. Horneck and her two beautiful daughters, instead
of enjoying the country in his own old simple innocent way, he allowed his
mind to be poisoned with Philistine ideas, and constantly complained of
the want of physical comfort, though he lived far more expensively than in
his youth. The new apartments, taken on the success of the "Good-natured
Man," consisted, says Irving, "of three rooms, which he furnished with
mahogany sofas, card-tables, and bookcases; with curtains, mirrors, and
Wilton carpets." At the same time he went even beyond the precept of
Polonius, for his garments were costlier than his purse could buy, and his
entertainments were so extravagant as to give pain to his acquaintances.
All this is a desertion of real Bohemian principles. Goldsmith ought to
have protected his own leisure, which, from the Bohemian point of view,
was incomparably more precious to himself than Wilton carpets and coats
"of Tyrian bloom."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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