Le vicaire de Wakefield Author:Oliver Goldsmith Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE VICARi OF WAKEFIELD. ADVERTISEMENT PREFIXED TO THE ORIGINAL EDITION OF THE VICAR OF YVAKEFIELU. There are a hundred faults in this thing, and a ... more »hundred things might be said to prove them beauties. But it is needless2. A book maybe amusingwith numerous errors, or it may be very dull without a single absurdity. The hero of this piece ' unites in himself the three greatest characters upon earth — he is a priest, a husbandman, and the father of a family. He is drawn as ready to teach, and ready to obey — as simple in affluence, and majestic in adversity. In this age of opulence and refinement, whom can such a character please? Such as2 are fond of high life3 will turn with disdain from the simplicity of his country fire-side; such as mistake ribaldry for humour will find no wit in his harmless conversation; and such as have been taught to deride religion will laugh at one whose chief stores of comfort are drawn from futurity. I. The yicar. On appelle en feneral, en France, le roman e Goldsmith le Vicaire do Wakefield. C'est unc traduction que 1'usage a, pour ainsi dire, consacree. Mais il faut remar— quer que les denominations de vicar ct de vicaire n'indiquent pas la meme position dans la hierarchic de 1'Eglise anglicime et dans celle de 1'Eglise catho- liqoe. On appelle en Angleterre vicar le prltre qui est a la tete d'une paroisse; tandis que le vi- caire, en France, est celui qui remplit des fonctions eccle'sias- tiques sous un superieur. Ainsi vicar correspond rait a cure; tandis que vicaire se rendrait en anglais par curate. 2. Needltss, in utile. De need, besoin, et d less. Less, comparatif de little, s'ajoute aux noms comme particule privative dans la formation des adjectifs. A less est opposee la particuleywJ, de full, plein. Ainsi : needless, in...« less