aroused the poet from his meditations. A young countryman, all
hope and health, had briskly announced his advent. This comer was not
one to wait without and need a bidding for his entrance. Oliver could
not hide himself completely. He was tracked down at last, and by none
other than his younger brother Charles. To the youth the emaciated
apparition of poor Oliver was indeed astounding. Charles had pictured
him already a prosperous and influential man of letters, who had but
to raise and wave his hand to confer work, wealth, and position, and
the possibilities of fame upon anyone whom he might lovingly patronise
and befriend. Imagine the disappointment.

"All in good time, my dear boy," said Oliver. "I shall be richer
by-and-by. Besides, you see, I am not in positive want. Addison, let
me tell you, wrote his poem of 'The Campaign' in a garret in the
Haymarket, three storeys high, and you see I am not come to that yet,
for I have only reached the second storey."

Some days later, just as suddenly as he had come, the younger brother
vanished. He had brought Oliver a breath of the old home. Charles made
his way to Jamaica, in all likelihood as a common sailor, and proved a
rover to the last. Darker shadows were to fall upon poor Noll through
still deeper experience of deprivation, misadventure and despair. The
days of doubt were passed at last, and in the end successes were
achieved in every sphere, unrivalled alike in their sublime heights
and vast variety.

CHAPTER V

"THE CITIZEN OF THE WORLD"

Goldsmith's first victory was the _Inquiry into the State of Polite
Learning_.

The _Inquiry_ was written at a time when its author had suffered from
the tyranny and the mercilessness of booksellers. This explains his
onslaught upon this then ungenerous craft. Injury had been heaped on
insult. Disappointment and despair were tearing and gnawing at the
poor man's heart. The demon imp of petty poverty first starved him and
then laughed at his insufficing fare, reduced him to rags and
ridiculed his wretchedness.

The _Inquiry_ was published by Dodsley. Upon this work the poor author
placed all his hopes, and was not disappointed. He had sailed his
little boat to the sea at last. The hardships, however, that he had
passed through held to the end their sway upon his heart.

The _Inquiry_ was for its author the first triumphant advance. Its
consequences had their obverse aspect. The criticism of actor-managers
drew fo