This Enquiry was first published in April 1759, in a duodecimo volume of 200 pages, price 2s. 6d., sewed. "The second edition, revised and corrected," as the title-page sets forth, appeared in July 1774, three months after Goldsmith's death. It was printed for J. Dodsley. The text of this reprint is that of the second edition compared with the first. All the omitted passages, and many of the original readings of the amended paragraphs I have preserved in notes, for the purpose, chiefly, of showing what were Goldsmith's opinions in 1759, when young and unknown, contrasted with his maturer notions, when the world was more with him than it had been, fifteen years before. CONTENTS. The Polite Learning of England and France incapable of Comparison. In the second edition (1774) erroneously described as Chapters 7 and 8. 2 Chapter 7 of the first edition (1759); omitted in the second (1774). AN ENQUIRY, &c. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. IT has been so long the practice to represent literature as declining, that every renewal of this complaint now comes with diminished influence. The public has been so often excited by a false alarm, that at present the nearer we approach the threatened period of decay, the more our security increases. It will now probably be said, that taking the decay of genius for granted, as I do, argues either resentment or partiality. The writer, possessed of fame, it may be asserted, is willing to enjoy it without a rival, by lessening every competitor; or, if unsuccessful, he is desirous to turn upon others the contempt which is levelled at himself; and being convicted at the bar of literary justice, hopes for pardon by accusing every brother of the same profession. Sensible of this, I am at a loss where to find an apology for persisting to arraign the merit of the age; for joining in a cry which the judicious have long since left to be kept up by the vulgar; and for adopting the sentiments of the multitude, in a performance that at best can please only a few. Complaints of our degeneracy in literature as well as in morals, I own, have been frequently exhibited of late; but seem to be enforced more with the ardour of devious declamation, than the calmness of deliberate enquiry. The dullest critic, who strives at a reputation for delicacy, by showing he cannot be pleased, may pathetically assure us, that our taste is upon the decline; may consign every modern performance to oblivion, and bequeath nothing to posterity except the labours of our ancestors, or his own. Such general invective, however, conveys no instruction; all it teaches is, that the writer dislikes an age by which he is probably disregarded. The manner of being useful on the subject would be, to point out the symptoms, to investigate the causes, and direct to the remedies of the approaching decay. This is a subject hitherto unattempted in criticism; perhaps it is the only subject in which criticism can be useful.' How far the writer is equal to such an undertaking the reader must determine; yet perhaps his observations may be just, though his manner of expressing them should only serve as an example of the errors he undertakes to reprove.3 Novelty, however, is not permitted to usurp the place of reason; it may attend, but shall not conduct the enquiry. But it should be observed, that the more original any performance is, the more it is liable to deviate; for cautious stupidity is always in the right.' Here, in the first edition, occurs:-"To mark out, therefore, the corruptions that have found way into the republic of letters, to attempt the rescuing of genius from the shackles of pedantry and criticism, to distinguish the decay naturally consequent on an age like ours, grown old in literature, from every erroneous innovation which admits a remedy, to take a view of those societies which profess the advancement of polite learning, and by a mutual opposition of their excellencies and defects, to attempt the improvement of each, is the design of this essay." 2 Instead of "yet perhaps," the first edition has:-"But this may be asserted without the imputation of vanity, that he enters the lists with no disappointments to bias his judgment, nor will he ever reprove but with a desire to reform. The defects of his execution may be compensated by the usefulness of his design; and his " &c. 3 Here, in the first edition, we read, commencing a new sentence :-"If the present Enquiry were a topic of speculative curiosity, calculated to fill up a few vacant moments in literary indolence, I should think my labour ill-bestowed. To rank in the same despicable class with the dissertations, ænigmas, problems, and other periodical com pilations, with which even idleness is dosed at present, is by no means my ambition. True learning and morality are closely connected; to improve the head will sensibly influence the heart, a deficiency of taste and a corruption of manners are sometimes found mutually to produce each other. "Dissenting from received opinions may frequently render this essay liable to correction, yet the reader may be assured that a passion for singularity never gives rise to the error. Novelty is not permitted." 4 The first edition adds :-"In literature as in commerce, the value of the acquisition is generally proportioned to the hazard of the adventure. I shall think, |