Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)

The Citizen of the World

London

Printed for the Author

1760-1761, 1762

"However, I found their conversation more vulgar than I could have expected from personages of such distinction: if these, thought I to myself, be Princes, they are the most stupid Princes I have ever conversed with: yet still I continued to venerate their dress; for dress has a kind of mechanical influence on the mind."

I was lately introduced into a company of the best dressed men I have seen since my arrival. Upon entering the room, I was struck with awe at the grandeur of the different dresses. That personage, thought I, in blue and gold, must be some Emperor's son; that, in green and silver, a Prince of the blood; he, in embroidered scarlet, a prime minister; all first rate noblemen, I suppose, and well looking noblemen too. I sate for some time with that uneasiness which conscious inferiority produces in the ingenuous mind, all attention to their discourse. However, I found their conversation more vulgar than I could have expected from personages of such distinction: if these, thought I to myself, be Princes, they are the most stupid Princes I have ever conversed with: yet still I continued to venerate their dress; for dress has a kind of mechanical influence on the mind.
(I, p. 225)

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First published in the Public Ledger in 1760-1761. At least 25 entries in ESTC (1762, 1769, 1774, 1775 1776, 1782, 1785, 1790, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1797, 1799, 1800).



Text from The Citizen of the World: or Letters from a Chinese Philosopher, Residing in London, to His Friends in the East. (London: Printed for the Author; and sold by J. Newbery and W. Bristow; J. Leake and W. Frederick, Bath; B. Collins, Salisbury; and A. M. Smart and Co. Reading, 1762). <Link to ECCO-TCP>

07/25/2014