of this year, while as yet the _Deserted Village_
was not quite through the press, he wrote to his brother Maurice; and
expressed himself as most anxious to hear all about the relatives from
whom he had been so long parted. He has something to say about himself
too; wishes it to be known that the King has lately been pleased to
make him Professor of Ancient History "in a Royal Academy of Painting
which he has just established;" but gives no very flourishing account
of his circumstances. "Honours to one in my situation are something
like ruffles to a man that wants a shirt." However, there is some
small legacy of fourteen or fifteen pounds left him by his uncle
Contarine, which he understands to be in the keeping of his cousin
Lawder; and to this wealth he is desirous of foregoing all claim: his
relations must settle how it may be best expended. But there is not a
reference to his literary achievements, or the position won by them;
not the slightest yielding to even a pardonable vanity; it is a
modest, affectionate letter. The only hint that Maurice Goldsmith
receives of the esteem in which his brother is held in London, is
contained in a brief mention of Johnson, Burke, and others as his
friends. "I have sent my cousin Jenny a miniature picture of myself,
as I believe it is the most acceptable present I can offer. I have
ordered it to be left for her at George Faulkenor's, folded in a
letter. The face, you well know, is ugly enough; but it is finely
painted. I will shortly also send my friends over the Shannon some
mezzotinto prints of myself, and some more of my friends here, such as
Burke, Johnson, Reynolds, and Colman. I believe I have written an
hundred letters to different friends in your country, and never
received an answer from any of them. I do not know how to account for
this, or why they are unwilling to keep up for me those regards which
I must ever retain for them." The letter winds up with an appeal for
news, news, news.

CHAPTER XV.

OCCASIONAL WRITINGS.

Some two months after the publication of the _Deserted Village_, when
its success had been well assured, Goldsmith proposed to himself the
relaxation of a little Continental tour; and he was accompanied by
three ladies, Mrs. Horneck and her two pretty daughters, who doubtless
took more charge of him than he did of them. This Mrs. Horneck, the
widow of a certain Captain Horneck, was connected with Reynolds, while
Burke was the guardian of the