41G 
OLIVER GOLDSMITH. 
wliere the young man, upon a disagreement with his preceptor, paid 
him the small part of his salary which was due, and embarked at 
Marseilles for England. 
Our wanderer was now left once more upon the world at large, and 
passed through'various difficulties in traversing the greatest part of 
France. At length, his curiosity being satisfied, he bent his course 
towards England, and arrived at Dover the beginning of winter, 1758. 
When he came to London, his cash did not amount to two livres. 
Being an entire stranger, his mind was filled with the most gloomy 
reflections. With difficulty he discovered that part of the town where 
his old acquaintance Dr. Sleigh resided. This gentleman received him 
with the warmest affection, and liberally invited him to share his 
purse till some establishment could be procured for him. 
Goldsmith, unwilling to be a burden to his friend, eagerly embraced 
an offer which was made him soon after, to assist the late Rev. Dr. 
Milner in the academy at Peckham, and acquitted himself greatly to 
the doctor’s satisfaction; but having obtained some reputation by the 
criticisms he had written in the Monthly Review, Mr. Griffith, the 
proprietor, engaged him in the compilation of it; and resolving to 
pursue the profession of an author, he returned to London, as the 
mart where abilities of every kind meet distinction and reward. 
As his finances were not in a good state, he adopted a plan of the 
strictest economy, and took lodgings in an obscure court in the Old 
Bailey, where he wrote several ingenious pieces. The late Mr. New- 
bery, who gave great encouragement to men of literary abilities, 
became a patron to him, and introduced him as one of the writers in 
the Public Ledger, in which his Citizen of the World originally ap- 
peared, under the title of Chinese Letters. His fortune now began to 
improve. The simplicity of his character, the integrity of his heart, 
and the merit of his productions, made his company very acceptable 
to a number of respectable families ; and he emerged from his shabby 
apartments in the Old Bailey to the polite air of the Temple, where 
he took handsome chambers, and lived in a genteel style. The pub- 
lication of his Traveller, and his Vicar of Wakefield, was followed by 
the performance of his comedy of the Good-natured Man at Covent 
Garden theatre, and placed him in the first rank of the poets of the 
18th century. 
Among many other persons of distinction who were desirous to 
know him, was the duke of Northumberland ; and a circumstance, that 
attended his introduction to that nobleman, shews a striking trait of 
his character. ‘*I was invited,” said the Doctor, “by my friend Mr. 
Piercy, to wait upon the duke, in consequence of the satisfaction he 
had received from the perusal of one of my productions. I dressed 
myself in the best manner I could ; and, after studying some compli- 
ments I thought necessary on such an occasion, proceeded to North- 
umberland house, and acquainted the servants that I had particu- 
lar business with his grace ; they shewed me into an antechamber, wffiere, 
after waiting some time, a gentleman very genteelly dressed made his 
appearance. Taking him for the duke, I delivered all the fine things 
I had composed, in order to compliment him on the honour he had 
done me; when, to my great astonishment, he told me I had mis- 
