f
poetry disappears in the prose of a too palpably proclaimed
philosophy. This poem from a pure heart, and these lines from a
loving life, enlighten, but do not tease the mind. There is a prayer
in the words,

"Teach erring man to spurn the rage of gain,
Teach him that states of native strength possest,
Though very poor, may still be very blest."

This poem, and also and not less _The Traveller_, although it is a
tale of wandering, beyond all else, reveal the light and the love of
the home.

CHAPTER III

"THE TRAVELLER"

At the University of Edinburgh, Goldsmith became a more earnest
student. He was certainly not without the higher aspirations of the
sublime profession to which circumstance and necessity rather than
aptitude or inclination had called him. Whilst it may be questioned
whether he ever had the poetic imagination of the physician, he never
allowed the honour in which he held the vocation to lessen, and never
lost the satisfaction he himself cherished through his association
with this calling. To the last he was proud of being--or as his
cynical critic might say, of counting himself--a doctor. In Scotland
he worked harder, studied chemistry with intelligence, and evinced
considerable ability. He viewed with ardour his prospective work in
life, and was keenly interested in the medical system and the surgical
processes of that period. As a student he was respected. He became a
conspicuous member of the Medical Society. It is needless, however, to
add that his studies were not so strenuous as to make his mood at any
time monastic, compelling him to live heedless of passing pleasures
and delightful days, or forgetful of his fellow-men.

Goldsmith had been very poor in Dublin. He was not rich in Edinburgh,
but he was welcomed in the refined circles of both University and
civic society. He discovered his place amongst graceful and gracious
women and high-minded and cultured men, and then, all at once, amid
all his new-found success and happiness, he unexpectedly closed his
medical career at the University and left not less suddenly than he
had come. Nothing could be more abrupt than his departure. Rumour has
it that, with chaotic benevolence, he had become security for one of
his fellow-students for a considerable sum of money on account of a
tailor's bill. Here we have the prototype of "the good-natured man."

[Illustration:
_Rischgitz Collection._]
GOLDSMITH AS A YOUNG MAN.