The Family Letters of Oliver Goldsmith: A Paper Read Before the Bibliographical Society, October 15th, 1917Clarke, Ernest
General
The Family Letters of Oliver Goldsmith: A Paper Read Before the Bibliographical Society, October 15th, 1917
Clarke, Ernest
Goldsmith, Oliver, 1730?-1774
The second letter to Maurice Goldsmith--the last of the series on which
I propose to comment--makes over to him a legacy of £15 which Uncle
Contarine had left to Oliver in his will, and regrets his inability to
help Maurice further. “I am not fond of thinking of the necessities of
those I love, when it is so very little in my power to help them. I am
sorry to find you are still every way unprovided for, and what adds to
my uneasiness is that I have received a letter from my sister Johnson
by which I learn that she is pretty much in the same circumstances.” It
is true that the King has made him Professor of Ancient History to the
newly established Royal Academy of Arts (1768), “but there is no salary
annexed, and I took it rather as a compliment to the institution than
any benefit to myself. Honours to one in my situation are something
like ruffles to a man that wants a shirt.” Oliver sends kind messages
to members of the family, and asks specifically for particulars about
them. “A sheet of paper occasionally filled with news of this kind
would make me very happy and would keep you nearer my mind. As it is
my dear brother believe me to be Yours most affectionately, Oliver
Goldsmith.”
The remaining letters printed in the Percy Memoir do not concern
Goldsmith’s family, but it may be mentioned incidentally that they are
all in the bundle of Goldsmithiana left by the Bishop. They are (1) a
letter to Sir Joshua Reynolds written from France in 1770 when Oliver
acted as escort to Mrs. Horneck and her two charming daughters the
Jessamy Bride and Little Comedy. (2) A letter by Goldsmith to Bennet
Langton dated 7 September, 1771 (with, it may be added, the letter
from Langton--not printed in the Memoir--to which it is a reply). (3)
Letters to Goldsmith from General Oglethorp (no date), Thomas Paine
(21 December, 1772), John Oakman (a begging letter in verse, dated 27
March, 1773), and other miscellanea.
MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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