CHAP. ix.J THE ABREST AND WHAT PRECEDED IT.
it that escaped to the public while he lived were two songs; 1764,
in which Ms own sorrows and hope seemed as legibly written m^
as those of the Israelitish women.
" To the last moment of liis breath.
On Hope the wretch relies,
And even the pang preceding death
Bids Expectation rise.
" Hope, like the gleaming taper's light,
Adorns and cheers our way,
And still as darker grows the night
Emits a brighter ray." *
The night was very dark round Goldsmith just now, yet
the ray was shining steadily too. In few of the years of his
life have we more decisive evidence of struggles and distress
than in this of 1764 ; in none did he accomplish so much for
an enduring fame. But it is a year very difficult to describe
with any accuracy of detail. "We have little to guide us beyond
the occasional memoranda of publishers and the accounts of
Mrs. Elizabeth Fleming. To the Islington lodging he
returned at the^ beginning of April (having paid rent for
the retention of " the room," meanwhile, at the rate of about
three shillings a week); and his expenses to the end of June
are contained in his landlady's bill. They seem to argue
fewer enjoyments, and less credit with Mrs. Fleming. No
dinners or teas are thrown into the bargain. The sixpence
for " sassafras " (a humble decoction which the poet does not
seeni to have despised, now dealt in by apothecaries chiefly)
is always carefully charged. The loans are only four, and of
moderate amount; a shilling to "pay the laundress," and
ten-pence, one and two-pence, and sixpence " in cash."
There are none of the old entries for port wine. Two-pence,
* See Nichols's Illustrations, vii. 24-5, and.post, Book iv. chap. xiii. The verses
above quoted are from the original manuscript of the oratorio. The song as appended
to The Haunch of Venison, &c. (1776), will be found in Miscell. Worlcs, iv. 120-1.