story. From the rustic conviviality of the inn at Ballymahon, and the figure he cut there, it is surmised that he took some hints in after life for his picturing of Tony Lumpkin lording it among his uncouth associates.

In company with one of the small gentry of the neighbourhood, he used to make excursions on foot, sometimes shooting, sometimes fishing or hunting the otter in the river Inny, sometimes strolling along its banks and playing on the flute. Among other of his rustic accomplishments, he became adroit at throwing the sledge, a favourite feat of activity and strength in Ireland.

Notwithstanding all these accomplishments and this rural popularity, his friends began to shake their heads and shrug their shoulders when they spoke of him, and his brother Henry noted with anything but satisfaction his frequent visits to the club at Ballymahon. It was determined that it was high time for him to strike out some course of life; and his uncle Contarine, and others of his relatives, urged him to prepare for holy orders. Goldsmith had a settled repugnance to a clerical life. This has been ascribed by some to conscientious scruples, not considering himself of a temper and frame of mind for such a sacred office; others attributed it to his roving propensities, and his desire to visit foreign countries; he himself gives a whimsical objection in his biography of the "Man in Black :" "to be obliged to wear a long wig when I liked a short one, or a black coat when I generally dressed in brown, I thought was such a restraint upon my liberty that I absolutely rejected the proposal."

Whimsical as it may seem, dress did in fact form an obstacle to his entrance into the church. Throughout life he had a passion for arraying his sturdy but somewhat awkward little person in gay colours; and when, in compliance with the persuasions of his uncle Contarine, he at length presented himself before the Bishop of Elphin for ordination, he appeared luminously arrayed in scarlet breeches! He was rejected by the bishop; some say for want of sufficient studious preparation; others from accounts which had reached the bish. of his irregularities at college; but others shrewdly suspect that the scarlet breeches was the fundamental objection.

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Through the influence of his uncle Contarine he was now received as tutor in the family of a gentleman of the neighbourhood, where he remained about a year. The situation was not to his taste: there was a dependance, and a degree of servility in it that his spirit could not brook; add to this, he had received his salary, had more money in his pocket than he had ever earned before, and now his wandering propensity and his desire to see the world got the upper hand. Whatever was the real motive, he suddenly relinquished his charge, procured a good horse, and, with thirty pounds in his pocket, made his second sally into the world.

The worthy niece and housekeeper of the hero of La Mancha could not have been more surprised and dismayed at one of the Don's clandestine expeditions, than were the mother and friends of Goldsmith when they heard of his mysterious departure. Weeks elapsed, and nothing was seen or heard of him. It was feared that he had left the

country on one of his wandering freaks, and his poor mother was reduced almost to despair, wher one day he arrived at her door almost as forlorn in plight as the prodigal son. Of his thirty pounds not a shilling was left; and, instead of the goodly steed on which he had issued forth on his errantry, he was mounted on a sorry little pony which he had nicknamed Fiddle-back. As soon as his mother was well assured of his safety, she rated him soundly for his inconsiderate conduct. His brothers and sisters, who were tenderly attached to him, interfered, and succeeded in mollifying her ire; and whatever lurking anger the good dame might have, was no doubt effectually vanquished by the following whimsical narrative which he drew up of his adventures.

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"MY DEAR MOTHER:

"If you will sit down and calmly listen to what say, you shall be fully resolved in every one of those many questions you have asked me. I went to Cork and converted my horse, which you prize so much higher than Fiddle-back, into cash, took my passage in a ship bound for America, and, at the same time, paid the captain for my freight and all the other expenses of my voyage. But it so happened that the wind did not answer for three weeks; and you know, mother, that I could not command the elements. My misfortune was, that, when the wind served, I happened to be with a party in the country, and my friend the captain never inquired after me, but set sail with as much indifference as if I had been on board. The remainder of my time I employed in the city and its

er virons, viewing everything curious, and you know no one can starve while he has money in his pocket. "Reduced, however, to my last two guineas, I began to think of my dear mother and friends whom I had left behind me, and so bought that generous beast Fiddle-back, and bade adieu to Cork with only five shillings in my pocket. This, to be sure, was but a scanty allowance for man and horse towards a journey of above a hundred miles; but I did not despair, for I knew I must find friends on he road.

"I recollected particularly an old and faithful acquaintance I made at college, who had often and arnestly pressed me to spend a summer with him, ind he lived but eight miles from Cork. This circumstance of vicinity he would expatiate on to me with peculiar emphasis. We shall,' says he, 'enjoy the delights of both city and country, and you shall command my stable and my purse.

"However, upon the way I met a poor woman all in tears, who told me her husband had been arrested for a debt he was not able to pay, and that his eight children must now starve, bereaved as they were of his industry, which had been their only support. I thought myself at home, being not far from my good friend's house, and therefore parted with a moiety of all my store; and pray, mother, ought I not to have given her the other half crown, for what she got would be of little use to her? However, I soon arrived at the mansion of my affectionate friend, guarded by the vigilance of a huge mastiff, who flew at me and would have torn me to pieces but for the assistance of a woman, whose countenance was not less grim than that

of the dog; yet she with great humanity relieved me from the jaws of this Cerberus, and was prevailed on to carry up my name to her master.

"Without suffering me to wait long, my old friend, who was then recovering from a severe fit of sickness, came down in his nightcap, nightgown, and slippers, and embraced me with the most cordial welcome, showed me in, and, after giving me a history of his indisposition, assured me that he considered himself peculiarly fortunate in having under his roof the man he most loved on the earth, and whose stay with him must, above all things, contribute to perfect his recovery. I now repented sorely I had not given the poor woman the other half crown, as I thought all my bills of humanity would be punctually answered by this worthy man. I revealed to him my whole soul; I opened to him all my distresses; and freely owned that I had but one half crown in my pocket; but that now, like a ship after weathering out the storm, I considered myself secure in a safe and hospitable harbour. He made no answer, but walked about the room, rubbing his hands as one in deep study. This I imputed to the sympathetic feelings of a tender heart, which increased my esteem for him, and, as that increased, I gave the most favourable interpretation to his silence. I construed it into delicacy of sentiment, as if he dreaded to wound my pride by expressing his commiseration in words, leaving his generous conduct to speak for itself.

"It now approached six o'clock in the evening; and as I had eaten no breakfast, and as my spirits were raised, my appetite for dinner grew uncommonly keen. At length the old woman came into