Speaking of Huguenots and ships: Interesting book....I may have posted this before... "The Huguenot Galley slave", Autobiography of a French Protestant Condemned to the Galleys for the Sake of his religion, by Jean Marteilhe, University Press of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii. ISBN: 1-4102-0108-2, 2002, Reprinted from the 1867 edition, www.universitypressofthepacific.com Some notes on the author/translator: ------------------------------- Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith was born November 10, 1730 in Kilkenny West, County Westmeath, Ireland. Around the time of his birth, his family moved into a considerable home in Lissoy, where Goldsmith spent his childhood. As the son of an Anglo-Irish clergyman, he grew up the fifth of seven children. He attended schools in Elphin, Athlone, and Edgeworthstown and at seven years of age contracted small pox. This is said to be the reason why he was considered such an awkward boy. Goldsmith remained awkward throughout life and with such harsh facial features that not even Sir Joshua Reynolds could soften them with his compassionate brushstrokes. Between 1749 and 1750 it is believed that Goldsmith lived idly at home, and in 1750 he prepared to take holy orders. He was rejected, however, by the Bishop of Elphin, so Goldsmith left Ireland to study medicine in Edinburgh. Though his father was now dead, several of Goldsmith’s relatives had undertaken to support him in his pursuit of a medical degree (Britannica). In 1756 he arrived in London worn out and destitute. Here, he came to be known as Dr. Goldsmith—Doctor being the courtesy title for one who held the Bachelor of Medicine—but he took no degree while at Edinburgh nor, so far as anyone knows, during the two-year period when, despite meagre funds, he somehow managed to make his way through Europe (Britannica). While in London, Goldsmith worked as an apothecary’s assistant, school usher physician, and a hack writer—reviewing, translating, and compiling. It remains amazing that this young Irish vagabond, unknown, uncouth, relatively unlearned, and unreliable, was yet able within a few years to climb from obscurity to mix with aristocrats and the intellectual elite of London (Britannica). Such a rise was possible because Goldsmith had one quality, soon noticed by booksellers and the public, that his fellow literary hacks did not possess—the gift of a graceful, lively and readable writing style (Britannica). As of 1757 Goldsmith was working under Ralph Griffiths as an editor for the Monthly Review and also as a proofreader for a local printer. In February of 1758 Goldsmith published a two-volume translation of The Memoirs of a Protestant, Condemned to the Galleys of France for His Religion by Jean Marteilhe, under the pseudonym of ‘James Willington’. From 1759-1761 various writings by Goldsmith appeared in several British publications. Some of these publications include Busy Body, the Ladies’ Magazine, the Critical Review and Smollett’s British Magazine (Jeffares 13). Late in his life, Goldsmith buried himself deeper and deeper in debt and his earnings as an author became too limited, allegedly due to gambling. Goldsmith died April 4, 1774 in London of fever and kidney trouble. His epitaph, furnished by Samuel Johnson, reads: "Oliver Goldsmith: A Poet, Naturalist, and Historian, who left scarcely any style of writing untouched, and touched nothing that he did not adorn. Of all the passions, whether smiles were to move or tears, a powerful yet gentle master. In genius, vivid versatile, sublime. In style, clear, elevated, elegant."