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It does not seem to have been
constructed according to artificial rules, but rather to have been told
extemporaneously, without effort and without ambition; and while this very
fact has been the cause of some artistic faults and some improbabilities,
it has also given it a peculiar charm, by contrast with such purely
artificial constructions as the _Rasselas_ of Johnson.
So doubtful was the publisher, who had bought the manuscript for L60, that
he held it back for two years, until the name of the author had become
known through _The Traveller_, and was thus a guarantee for its success.
The _Vicar of Wakefield_ has also an additional value in its delineation
of manners, persons, and conditions in that day, and in its strictures
upon the English penal law, in such terms and with such suggestions as
seem a prophecy of the changes which have since taken place.

HISTORIES, AND OTHER WORKS.--Of Goldsmith's various histories it may be
said that they are of value for the clear, if superficial, presentation of
facts, and for their charm of style.


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