There is now a long gap in the letters to his family, only in fact
broken by two communications, one to his nephew Henry dated 7 June,
1768, condoling with him on the death of his father the Revd. Henry,
and the other to his own brother Maurice despatched about January,
1770, in response to the latter’s request for financial assistance.
The first of these two letters has only just come to light, having been
recently purchased through a dealer who got it from Nova Scotia by Mr.
William Harris Arnold of Nutley, New Jersey, U.S.A., to whose kindness
I owe a transcript of it. It is a letter of deep feeling at the death
of his brother, and contains a promise to help the nephew if possible.
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.