[Illustration: JOHN GAY

_From a sketch by Sir Godfrey Kneller in the National Portrait Gallery. Photo by Emery Walker Ltd. _]

LIFE AND LETTERS OF

JOHN GAY(1685-1732)

AUTHOR OF "THE BEGGAR'S OPERA" BY LEWIS MELVILLE

PUBLISHED IN LONDON BY DANIEL O'CONNOR, NINETY GREAT RUSSELL STREET, W. C. I: 1921

BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY. 

THE THACKERAY COUNTRY. 

SOME ASPECTS OF THACKERAY. 

VICTORIAN NOVELISTS. 

THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF LAURENCE STERNE. 

THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF WILLIAM BECKFORD OF FONTHILL. 

 * * * * *

THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF WILLIAM COBBETT. 

THE BERRY PAPERS: Being the Life and Letters of Mary and Agnes Berry. 

THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF PHILIP DUKE OF WHARTON. 

THE FIRST GEORGE. 

"FARMER GEORGE. "

"THE FIRST GENTLEMAN OF EUROPE. "

AN INJURED QUEEN: CAROLINE OF BRUNSWICK. 

THE BEAUX OF THE REGENCY. 

SOME ECCENTRICS AND A WOMAN. 

THE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE. 

THE WINDHAM PAPERS. With an Introduction by the Earl of Rosebery, K. G. 

THE WELLESLEY PAPERS. 

BATH UNDER BEAU NASH. 

BRIGHTON: ITS FOLLIES, ITS FASHIONS, AND ITS HISTORY. 

ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS. 

To GEORGE MAIR

PREFACE

John Gay was a considerable figure in the literary and social circlesof his day. He was loved by Pope; Swift cared for him more than forany other man, and the letter in which Pope conveyed to him the sadtidings of Gay's death bears the endorsement: "On my dear friend Mr. Gay's death. Received December 15th [1732], but not read till the20th, by an impulse foreboding some misfortune. " Gay was on intimateterms with Arbuthnot and Lord Burlington, and Henrietta Howard, LadySuffolk, was devoted to him and consulted him in the matter of hermatrimonial troubles. He was the _protégé_ of the Duke and Duchess ofQueensberry. His "Fables" and "The Beggar's Opera" have becomeclassics; his play "Polly" made history. Though he persistentlyregarded himself as neglected by the gods, it is nevertheless a factthat the fates were unusually kind to him. A Cabinet Minister made hima present of South Sea stock; Walpole appointed him a Commissioner ofLotteries; he was granted an apartment in Whitehall; Queen Carolineoffered him a sinecure post in her Household. Because he thought Gayill-used, the greatest man of letters of the century quarrelled withLady Suffolk; for the same reason a Duchess insulted the King andwiped the dust of the Court from her shoes, and a Duke threw up hisemployment under the Crown. All his friends placed their purses andtheir houses at Gay's disposal, and competed for the pleasure of hiscompany. Never was there a man of letters so petted and pampered. 

It is somewhat strange that there should be no biography of a man sowell-known and so much beloved. It is true that no sooner was thebreath out of his body than Curll published a "Life. " "Curll (who isone of the new horrors of death) has been writing letters to everybodyfor memoirs of his (Gay's) life, " Arbuthnot wrote to Swift, January13th, 1733: "I was for sending him some, which I am sure might havebeen made entertaining, by which I should have attained two ends atonce, published truth and got a rascal whipped for it. I wasover-ruled in this. "[1] Curll obtained no assistance from Gay'sfriends, and his book, issued in 1733, is at once inadequate andunreliable. Of Curll, at whose hands so many of Gay's friends hadsuffered, the poet had written in the "Epistle to the Right HonourablePaul Methuen, Esquire":--

 Were Prior, Congreve, Swift, and Pope unknown, Poor slander-selling Curll would be undone. 

Of some slight biographical value is the "Account of the Life andWritings of the Author, " prefixed to the volume of "Plays Written by Mr. Gay, " published 1760; but there is little fresh information in the"Brief Memoir" by the Rev. William (afterwards Archdeacon) Coxe, whichappeared in 1797. More valuable is the biographical sketch by Gay'snephew, the Rev. Joseph Baller, prefixed to "Gay's Chair" (1820); butthe standard authorities on Gay's life are Mr. Austin Dobson("Dictionary of National Biography, " Vol. XXI. , 1890) and Mr. JohnUnderwood ("Introductory Memoir" to the "Poems of John Gay" in the"Muses' Library, " 1893). 

Among Gay's correspondents were Pope, Swift, Lady Suffolk, Arbuthnot, the Duchess of Queensberry, Oxford, Congreve, Parnell, Cleland, Carylland Jacob Tonson, the publisher. Unpublished letters to Caryll andTonson, and to and from Lady Suffolk, are in the British Museum; letterswhich have appeared in print are to be found in the correspondence ofPope, Swift, and Lady Suffolk, in Nichols' "Literary Anecdotes of theEighteenth Century, " and in the Historical Commission's Report on theMSS. Of the Marquis of Bath. Biographical information is also to befound, as well as in the works mentioned above, in Gribble's "Memorialsof Barnstaple, " Mrs. Delany's "Autobiography, " Hervey's "Memoirs, "Colley Cibber's "Apology, " and Spence's "Anecdotes"; in the works andbiographies of Pope, Swift, Steele, Addison, and Aaron Hill; incontemporary publications such as "A Key to 'The What D'ye Call It, '" "AComplete Key to the New Farce 'Three Hours After Marriage, '" JosephGay's "The Confederates"; and in numerous works dealing with dramaticproductions and dramatic literature. A bibliography is printed in the"Cambridge History of English Literature" (Vol. IX. , pp. 480-481; 1912);and a more detailed bibliography is being compiled by Mr. Ernest L. Gay, Boston, Mass. , U. S. A. , who has informed the present writer that he "hascollected about five hundred editions of Gay's works, and also over fivehundred playbills of his plays, running from the middle of theeighteenth century to the middle of the nineteenth century. " The mostvaluable criticisms of Gay as a man of letters are by Johnson in the"Lives of the Poets" and Thackeray in the "English Humourists of theEighteenth Century. " An interesting article on Gay by Mr. H. M. Paullappeared in the _Fortnightly Review_, June, 1912. 

I am much indebted for assistance given to me during the preparation ofthis work by Sydney Harper, Esq. , of Barnstaple, the happy possessor ofGay's chair; Professor J. Douglas Brude, of the University of Tennessee;C. J. Stammers, Esq. ; and Ernest L. Gay, Esq. , of Boston, Mass. , U. S. A. Iam especially grateful to W. H. Grattan Flood, Esq. , Mus. D. , who hasgenerously sent me his notes on the sources of the tunes in "TheBeggar's Opera, " which are printed in the Appendix to this volume. Theextracts from Gay's poetical works in this volume have been taken, bypermission of the publishers, Messrs. George Routledge and Sons, Ltd. , from the "Poems of John Gay, " edited by Mr. John Underwood, in "TheMuses' Library. " Mr. John Murray has kindly allowed me to quotecorrespondence to and from Gay printed in the standard edition of Pope'sworks, edited by the late Rev. Whitwell Elwin and Professor Courthope, and published by him. 

LEWIS MELVILLE. LONDON, _April_, 1921. 

[Footnote 1: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVIII, p. 65. ]

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

PREFACE vii

I. --EARLY YEARS 1

II. --GAY COMMENCES AUTHOR 7

III. --"RURAL SPORTS"--"THE FAN"--"THE WIFE OFBATH"--ETC. 18

IV. --"THE SHEPHERD'S WEEK"--"A LETTER TO A LADY" 24

V. --"THE WHAT D'YE CALL IT"--"AN EPISTLE TO THERIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF BURLINGTON"--"TRIVIA, OR, THE ART OF WALKING THE STREETS OFLONDON"--"THREE HOURS AFTER MARRIAGE" 36

VI. --"POEMS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS"--GAY INVESTSHIS EARNINGS IN THE SOUTH SEA COMPANY--THESOUTH SEA "BUBBLE" BREAKS, AND GAY LOSES ALLHIS MONEY--APPOINTED A COMMISSIONER OF THESTATE LOTTERY--LORD LINCOLN GIVES HIM ANAPARTMENT IN WHITEHALL--AT TUNBRIDGEWELLS--CORRESPONDENCE WITH MRS. HOWARD 50

VII. --"THE CAPTIVES"--THE FIRST SERIES OF"FABLES"--GAY AND THE COURT--POPE, SWIFT ANDMRS. HOWARD 65

VIII. --"THE BEGGAR'S OPERA" 78

IX. --"POLLY" 92

X. --CORRESPONDENCE (1729) 105

XI. --CORRESPONDENCE (1730) 115

XII. --CORRESPONDENCE (1731) 126

XIII. --DEATH 133

APPENDIX:--I. --NOTES ON THE SOURCES OF THE TONES OF"THE BEGGAR'S OPERA, " by W. H. GRATTANFLOOD, Mus. D. 150

II. --A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE CORRESPONDENCEOF JOHN GAY 156

III. --PROGRAMME OF THE REVIVAL OF "THE BEGGAR'SOPERA, " LYRIC THEATRE; HAMMERSMITH, JUNE 7th, 1920 162

INDEX 163

CHAPTER I

1685-1706

EARLY YEARS

The Gays were an old family, who settled in Devonshire when Gilbert leGay, through his marriage with the daughter and heiress of Curtoyse, came into possession of the manor of Goldsworthy, in Parkham. This theyheld until 1630, when it passed out of their hands to the Coffins. [1]Subsequently they were associated with the parish of Frittelstock, nearGreat Torrington. In the Parish Registers of Barnstaple the name appearsfrom time to time: in 1544 is recorded the death of Richard Gaye, andlater of John Gaye, "gentill man, " and Johans Gay. From other sources itis known that Richard Gay was Mayor of the town in 1533, and Anthony Gayin 1638. [2] The records of the family have not been preserved, but atsome time early in the seventeenth century there was at Frittelstock oneJohn Gay, whose second son, William, was the father of the poet. 

William Gay resided at Barnstaple, and since he lived in a large house, called the Red Cross, at the corner of Joy Street, facing HollandStreet, it is reasonable to assume that he was in easy circumstances. Hemarried a daughter of Jonathan Hanmer, the leading Nonconformist divineof the town, and by her had five children. The first-born was a girl, who died in 1685; then came Katherine, born in 1676, who marriedAnthony Baller, whose son Joseph issued in 1820 the slim volume bearingthe title of "Gay's Chair";[3]in 1778, Jonathan; and three years later, Joanna, who married John Fortescue--possibly a relation of WilliamFortescue, afterwards Master of the Rolls, who is still remembered as afriend of Pope. The youngest child was John, the subject of this memoir, stated by his earlier biographers to have been born in 1688, but nowknown, from an entry in the Barnstaple Parish Register, to have beenbaptised in the Old Church on September 16th, 1685. 

Mrs. Gay died in 1694, her husband a year later; and the custody of thefour surviving orphaned children devolved upon their uncles. WilliamGay's brothers were John and Richard, who resided at Frittelstock;James, Rector of Meeth; and Thomas, who lived at Barnstaple. Mrs. Gay'sonly brother was John Hanmer, who succeeded to his father's pastoraloffice among the Congregational or Independent Dissenters at Barnstaple. Jonathan, the elder son of William Gay, who inherited the familyproperty, was intended for the Church, but "severe studies not wellsuiting his natural genius, he betook himself to military pursuits, "[4]and, probably about the time of his father's death, entered the army. Who took charge of the two girls is not known; but it is on record thatJohn, after his father's death, and then in his tenth year, went to liveat Barnstaple with his paternal uncle, Thomas Gay. It is interesting tonote that in 1882, "among the pieces of timber carted away from theBarnstaple Parish Church [which was then undergoing restoration] hasbeen found a portion of a pew, with the name 'John Gay, ' and the date, 1695, cut upon it.... No other John Gay appears in the ParishRegister. "[5]

Gay attended the Free Grammar School at Barnstaple, and among hisschoolfellows there with whom he cemented an enduring friendship, wereWilliam Fortescue, to whom reference has been made above, and AaronHill. [6] William Raynor was the headmaster when Gay first went to theGrammar School, but soon he removed to Tiverton, and was succeeded bythe Rev. Robert Luck. Luck subsequently claimed that Gay's dramaticinstincts were developed by taking part in the amateur theatricalspromoted by him, and when in April, 1736, he published a volume ofverse, he wrote, in his dedication to the Duke of Queensberry. [7] Gay'spatron and friend:--

 "O Queensberry! could happy Gay This offering to thee bring, ''Tis he, my Lord' (he'd smiling say), 'Who taught your Gay to sing. '"

These lines suggest that an intimacy between Gay and Luck existed longafter their relations as pupil and master had ceased, but it is doubtfulif this was the case. It is certainly improbable that the lad saw muchof the pedagogue when he returned to Barnstaple for a while as the guestof the Rev. John Hanmer, since Luck was a bitter opponent of theDissenters and in open antagonism to John Hanmer. 

How long Gay remained at the Grammar School is not known. There are, indeed, no records upon which to base a narrative of his early years. Itis, however, generally accepted that, on leaving school, he wasapprenticed to a silk-mercer in London. This was not so unaccountable aproceeding then as appears to-day, for we know from Gibbon's "Memoirs"that "our most respectable families have not disdained thecounting-house, or even the shop;... And in England, as well as in theItalian commonwealths, heralds have been compelled to declare thatgentility is not degraded by the exercise of trade": for example, thehistorian's great grandfather, son of a country gentleman, became alinen-draper in Leadenhall Street. 

Gay had no taste for trade, and did not long remain in this employment. According to one authority, "he grew so fond of reading and study thathe frequently neglected to exert himself in putting oft silks andvelvets to the ladies";[8] while his nephew, the Rev. Joseph Bailer, says: "Young Gay, not being able to bear the confinement of a shop, soonfelt a remarkable depression of spirits, and consequent decline ofhealth; he was, therefore, obliged to quit that situation, and retire toBarnstaple, in the hope of receiving benefit from his native air. "[9] Nodoubt the mercer was willing enough to cancel the indentures of anapprentice so unsatisfactory as Gay probably was. Anyhow, Gay returnedto Barnstaple, and stayed awhile with his maternal uncle, the Rev. JohnHanmer. 

It has been said that it was during this visit to Barnstaple that Gaybegan to write verses; and as most men who take to poetry began todabble in ink in their youth, this statement may well be accepted. Only, so far no bibliographer has traced any of these early writings. Some poems, said to have been written by him in these days have beenprinted in the volume to which reference has already been made, "Gay'sChair: Poems never before printed, written by John Gay.... With aSketch of his Life from the MSS. Of the Rev. Joseph Bailer, hisnephew. Edited by Henry Lee ... 1820, " but the authenticity of thesecannot definitely be accepted. A chair, said to have been the propertyof Gay at Barnstaple, was sold early in the nineteenth century toHenry Lee, who sent it to be repaired. "On taking out the drawer infront, which was somewhat broken, " so runs the story, "I found at theback part of the chair a concealed drawer, ingeniously fastened with asmall wooden bolt;... It was full of manuscript papers, some of whichappeared to have slipped over, as I found them stuck to the bottom orseat of the chair. "[10] The poems in question are: "The Ladies'Petition to the Honorable the House of Commons, " the longest and mostambitious of the pieces; "To Miss Jane Scott, " "Prediction, ""Comparisons, " "Absence, " "Fable, " "Congratulation to a Newly-marriedPair, " "A Devonshire Hill, " "Letter to a Young Lady, " and "To MyChair. " Of this small collection, Mr. John Underhill, who includes itin his admirable edition of Gay's poems in the "Muses' Library, "writes: "The evidence in support of their authenticity is (1) the factthat they were found in a chair which was always spoken of by Gay's'immediate descendants' as 'having been the property of the poet, andwhich, as his favourite easy chair, he highly valued'; and (2) that'The Ladies' Petition' was printed nearly _verbatim_ from a manuscriptin the handwriting of the poet ... If really Gay's, they [the verses]may, we think, a great many of them, be safely regarded as theproduction of his youth, written, perhaps, during the somewhatextended visit to Devonshire which preceded his introduction to theliterary world of Pope. The least doubtful piece, 'The Ladies'Petition' was probably 'thrown off' upon the occasion of his visit toExeter in 1715. "

If the verses are genuine, they have such biographical interest as isafforded by an allusion to a youthful love-affair. There are lines "ToMiss Jane Scott":--

 The Welsh girl is pretty. The English girl fair, The Irish deem'd witty, The French _débonnaire_;

 Though all may invite me, I'd value them not; The charms that delight me I find in a SCOT. 

It is presumedly to the same young lady he was referring in the verseswritten probably shortly after he returned to London after his visit toDevonshire:--

 ABSENCE. 

 Augustus, frowning, gave command. And Ovid left his native land; From Julia, as an exile sent. He long with barb'rous Goths was pent. 

 So fortune frown'd on me, and I was driven From friends, from home, from Jane, and happy Devon! And Jane, sore grieved when from me torn away;-- loved her sorrow, though I wish'd her--GAY. 

That another girl there was may be gathered from the "Letter to a YoungLady, " who was not so devoted as Jane Scott, for the poet writes:

 Begging you will not mock his sighing. And keep him thus whole years a-dying! "Whole years!"--Excuse my freely speaking. Such tortures, why a month--a week in? Caress, or kill him quite in one day, Obliging thus your servant, JOHN GAY. 

[Footnote 1: Risdon: _Survey of Devon_ (1811), p. 243. ]

[Footnote 2: Gribble: _Memorials of Devonshire_. ]

[Footnote 3: _Gay's Chair_, p. 12. ]

[Footnote 4: _Gay's Chair_, p. 13. ]

[Footnote 5: _Notes and Queries_, N. S. VI, 488, December 16th, 1882, from the _North Devon Herald_ of December 7th. ]

[Footnote 6: Aaron Hill (1685-1750), dramatist and journalist. ]

[Footnote 7: Charles Douglas, third Duke of Queensbury and second Dukeof Dover (1698-1777), married Catherine, second daughter of Henry Hyde, Earl of Clarendon and Rochester. ]

[Footnote 8: Ayre: _Pope_, pp. 11, 97. ]

[Footnote 9: _Gay's Chair_, p. 13. ]

[Footnote 10: _Gay's Chair_, p. 5. ]

CHAPTER II

1706-1712

GAY COMMENCES AUTHOR

Gay's health was improved by his stay in his native town, and presentlyhe returned to London, where, according to the family tradition, he"lived for some time as a private gentleman. "[1] Mr. Austin Dobson haspointed out that this is "a statement scarcely reconcilable with theopening in life his friends had found for him";[2] but it may be urgedagainst this view that Gay and his sisters had each a smallpatrimony. [3] If it is assumed that he returned to the metropolis afterhe came of age in September, 1706, he may have been possessed of a sumof money, small, no doubt, but sufficient to provide him with thenecessaries of life for some little time. When his brother, Jonathan, who had been promoted lieutenant at Cologne by Marlborough, under whomhe served at Hochstadt and elsewhere, and captain by Queen Anne, committed suicide in 1709, after a quarrel with his colonel, John mayhave inherited some further share of the paternal estate. 

When Gay was one-and-twenty, ginger was hot in his mouth. Wine, woman, and song appealed to him. It is not on record that he had anylove-affair, save those indicated in the verses in "Gay's Chair"; butthe indelicacy of many passages in his writings suggests that he wasrather intimately acquainted with the bagnios of the town. No man whosesense of decency had not been denied could possibly have written theverses "To a Young Lady, with some Lamphreys, " and this, even aftermaking allowance for the freedom of the early eighteenth century. Hecertainly frequented the coffee-houses of Covent Garden and Pall Mall. Also, he roamed about the metropolis, and became learned in the highwaysand byways, north and south, and east and west--a knowledge which boreexcellent fruit in "Trivia. "

 But I, who ne'er was bless'd by Fortune's hand, Nor brighten'd plough-shares in paternal land. Long in the noisy town have been immured, Respired its smoke, and all its cares endured. Where news and politics divide mankind, And schemes of state involve th' uneasy mind. [4]

Gay was then, as ever, a great eater. "As the French philosopher usedto prove his existence by _cogito, ergo sum_, " Congreve wrote to Popelong after, "the greatest proof of Gay's existence is _edit, ergoest_. "[5] He ate in excess always, and not infrequently drank toomuch, and for exercise had no liking, though he was not averse from aramble around London streets. As the years passed, he became fat, butfound comfort in the fact that some of his intimates were yet morecorpulent. To this, he made humorous reference in "Mr. Pope's Welcomefrom Greece":--

 And wondering Maine so fat, with laughing eyes, (Gay, Maine and Cheney, [6] boon companions dear, Gay fat, Maine fatter, and Cheney huge of size). 

Gay had a passion for finery. To this foible Pope, in the early days ofhis acquaintance with the young man, made reference in a letter toSwift, December 8th, 1713: "One Mr. Gay, an unhappy youth, who writespastorals during the time of Divine Service, whose case is the moredeplorable, as he hath miserably lavished away all that silver he shouldhave reserved for his soul's health, in buttons and loops for hiscoat. " Gay was not only well aware of this weakness, but he deplored it, though he could never contrive to overcome it. He made allusion to it insome lines known as the "Epigrammatical Petition, " addressed to LordOxford, [7] in June, 1714, and also in the prologue to "The Shepherd'sWeek":--

 I sold my sheep and lambkins too, For silver loops and garments blue: My boxen hautboy sweet of sound, For lace that edged mine hat around; For Lightfoot and my scrip I got A gorgeous sword, and eke a knot. 

Gay now renewed his acquaintance with his old schoolfellow, AaronHill, who, it is said, though on doubtful authority, employed him asan amanuensis when setting on foot the project of answering questionsin a paper, styled the _British Apollo, or, Curious Amusements for theIngenious_. [8] The first number of this publication appeared on March13th, 1708, and it was issued on Wednesdays and Fridays until March16th, 1711. Gay referred to it in his pamphlet, "The Present State ofWit, " published in May 1711: "Upon a review of my letter, I find Ihave quite forgotten the _British Apollo_, which might possibly havehappened from its having of late retreated out of this end of the towninto the country, where I am informed, however, that it stillrecommends itself by deciding wagers at cards and giving good adviceto shopkeepers and their apprentices. " Whether or no Gay evercontributed to the _British Apollo_, it seems likely that it wasthrough the good offices of Hill that in May, 1708, Gay's poem, "Wine, " was published by William Keble at the Black-Spread-eagle inWestminster Hall, who, about the same time, brought out a translationby Nahum Tate, the Poet Laureate, and Hill, of a portion of thethirteenth book of Ovid's "Metamorphoses. "

"Wine, " a subject on which Gay, even at the age of twenty-two, couldwrite with some authority, secured a sufficient popularity to be paidthe doubtful compliment of piracy in 1709, by Henry Hill, ofBlackfriars, on whom presently the author neatly revenged himself in hisverses, "On a Miscellany of Poems to Bernard Lintott, " by the followingreference:--

 While neat old Elzevir is reckon'd better Than Pirate Hill's brown sheets and scurvy letter. 

This blank-verse poem, which may have been suggested by John Philips'"Cider, " published in 1708, is written in the mock-heroic strain, andalthough it has no particular value, shows some sense of humorousexaggeration, of which Gay was presently to show himself a master. 

 Of happiness terrestrial, and the source Whence human pleasures flow, sing, Heavenly Muse, Of sparkling juices, of th' enlivening grape, Whose quick'ning taste adds vigour to the soul. Whose sov'reign power revives decaying Nature, And thaws the frozen blood of hoary age, A kindly warmth diffusing--youthful fires Gild his dim eyes, and paint with ruddy hue His wrinkled visage, ghastly wan before-- Cordial restorative to mortal man, With copious hand by bounteous gods bestow'd. 

These are the opening lines. The concluding passage describing thetippling revellers leaving the tavern suggests, as has more than oncebeen pointed out, the hand that afterwards wrote "Trivia. "

 Thus we the winged hours in harmless mirth And joys unsullied pass, till humid night Has half her race perform'd; now all abroad Is hush'd and silent, now the rumbling noise Of coach or cart, or smoky link-boy's call Is heard--but universal Silence reigns: When we in merry plight, airy and gay. Surprised to find the hours so swiftly fly. With hasty knock, or twang of pendent cord. Alarm the drowsy youth from slumb'ring nod; Startled he flies, and stumbles o'er the stairs Erroneous, and with busy knuckles plies His yet clung eyelids, and with stagg'ring reel Enters confused, and muttering asks our wills; When we with liberal hand the score discharge, And homeward each his course with steady step Unerring steers, of cares and coin bereft. 

So far as is known, Gay preserved a profound silence for three yearsafter his publication of "Wine, " and then, on May 3rd, 1711, appearedfrom his pen, "The Present State of Wit, in a Letter to a Friend inthe Country, " sold at the reasonable price of three-pence. Thisattracted the attention of Swift. "Dr. Freind[9] ... Pulled out atwo-penny pamphlet just published, called 'The State of Wit', givingthe characters of all the papers that have come out of late, " he wrotein the "Journal to Stella, " May 12: "The author seems to be a Whig, yet he speaks very highly of a paper called the _Examiner_, and saysthe supposed author of it is Dr. Swift. But, above all things, hepraises the _Tatlers_ and _Spectators_, and I believe Steele andAddison were privy to the printing of it. Thus is one treated by theimpudent dogs. " In this unambitious little sketch, as the author putsit, he gives "the histories and characters of all our periodicalpapers, whether monthly, weekly or diurnal, " and it is, therefore, ofvalue to the student of the early days of English journalism. Heclaimed to write without political bias: "I shall only promise that, as you know, I never cared one farthing either for Whig or Tory, so Ishall consider our writers purely as they are such, without anyrespect to which party they belong. " In "The Present State of Wit"most of the better-known periodical writers are introduced. Dr. William King is mentioned, not he who was the Archbishop of Dublin, nor he who was the Principal of St. Mary Hall, Oxford, but he of whomit was said that he "could write verses in a tavern three hours afterhe could not speak, " who was the author of the "Art of Cookery" andthe "Art of Love, " and who in 1709 had fluttered the scientificdovecotes by parodying the "Philosophical Transactions" in the _UsefulTransactions in Philosophy and Other Sorts of Learning_, of which, however, only three numbers were issued. John Ozell was pilloried asthe author of the _Monthly Amusement_, which was not, as the titlesuggests, a periodical, but was merely a title invented to summarisehis frequent appearances in print. "It is generally some French novelor play, indifferently translated, it is more or less taken notice of, as the original piece is more or less agreeable. " Defoe takes hisplace in the gallery as the editor and principal contributor to theweekly _Poor Review_, that is, the _Weekly Review_ (which waspublished weekly from February 19th, 1704, until 1712) which, saysGay, "is quite exhausted and grown so very contemptible, that thoughhe has provoked all his brothers of the quill round, none of them willenter into a controversy with him. "

The periodical publications of the day are passed under review: the_Observer_, founded in 1702 by John Tutchin, and after his death fiveyears later, conducted by George Ridpath, editor of the _Flying Post_, until 1712, when it had almost entirely ceased to please, and wasfinally extinguished by the Stamp Tax; the weekly _Examiner_, set upin August, 1710, in opposition to the Whig _Taller_, numbering amongits contributors Dr. King, St. John, Prior, Atterbury, and Freind, andmanaged by Swift from No. 14 (October 26th, 1710); the _WhigExaminer_, the first issue of which appeared on September 14th, 1710, its five numbers being written by Addison; the _Medley_, another Whigpaper, which ran from August, 1710, to August, 1711, and was edited byArthur Mainwaring, with the assistance of Steele, Oldmixon, andAnthony Henley (a wit and a man of fortune, to whom Garth dedicated"The Dispensary, " and who distinguished himself by describing Swift as"a beast for ever after the order of Melchisedec"). The _Tatter_, which appeared three times a week from April 12th, 1709, to January2nd, 1711, was of course mentioned, and well-deserved tributes werepaid to Steele and Addison. Of Addison he wrote with appreciation, butbriefly: "This is that excellent friend to whom Mr. Steele owes somuch, and who refuses to have his pen set before those pieces whichthe greatest pens in England would be proud to own. Indeed, they couldhardly add to this gentleman's reputation, whose works in Latin andEnglish poetry long since convinced the world that he was the greatestmaster in Europe of those two languages. " Of Steele, Gay wrote atgreater length: "To give you my own thoughts of this gentleman'swritings, I shall, in the first place, observe that there is a nobledifference between him and all the rest of our polite and gallantauthors. The latter have endeavoured to please the age by falling inwith them, and encourage them in their fashionable views and falsenotion of things. It would have been a jest, some time since, for aman to have asserted that anything witty could be said in praise of amarried state, or that devotion and virtue were any way necessary tothe character of a fine gentleman. Bickerstaff ventured to tell thetown that they were a parcel of fops, fools and coquettes; but in sucha manner as even pleased them, and made them more than half-inclinedto believe that he spoke truth. Instead of complying with the falsesentiments and vicious tastes of the age--either in morality, criticism, or good breeding--he has boldly assured them that they werealtogether in the wrong; and commanded them, with an authority whichperfectly well became him, to surrender themselves to his argumentsfor virtue and good sense. It is incredible to conceive the effect hiswritings have had on the town; how many thousand follies they haveeither quite banished, or given a very great check to! how muchcountenance they have added to virtue and religion! how many peoplethey have rendered happy, by showing them it was their own fault ifthey were not so! and, lastly, how entirely they have convinced ouryoung fops and young fellows of the value and advantages of learning!He has indeed rescued it out of the hands of pedants and fools, anddiscovered the true method of making it amicable and lovely to allmankind. In the dress he gives it, it is a welcome guest at tea-tablesand assemblies, and is relished and caressed by the merchants on the'Change. Accordingly there is not a lady at Court, nor a banker inLombard Street who is not verily persuaded that Captain Steele is thegreatest scholar and best casuist of any man in England. Lastly, hiswritings have set all our wits and men of letters on a new way ofthinking, of which they had little or no notion before: and, althoughwe cannot say that any of them have come up to the beauties of theoriginal, I think we may venture to affirm, that every one of themwrites and thinks much more justly than they did some time since. "

Gay's agreeable personality secured him many friends. Not later than thespring of 1711 he made the acquaintance of Henry Cromwell, whom he laterdescribed as "the honest hatless Cromwell with red breeches, " by whom hewas introduced to Pope, who was at this time a member of Addison'scircle, and generally recognised as a rising man of letters. Popeevidently liked Gay, who was his senior by nearly three years, but wasas a child in worldly wisdom. On July 15th, 1711, Pope wrote toCromwell, "Pray give my service to all my friends, and to Mr. Gay inparticular";[10] and again, nine days later, addressing the samecorrespondent, he said: "My humble services, too, to Mr. Gay, of whosepaper ['The Present State of Wit'] I have made mention to [Erasmus]Lewis. "[11] Gay, ever anxious to please those whom he liked and, perhaps, especially those who might be of use to him, when writing theverses, "On a Miscellany of Poems to Bernard Lintott" (which appeared inthat publisher's _Miscellany_ issued in May, 1712), eagerly tookadvantage to ingratiate himself with a number of people, in so far as hecould do this by means of compliments. Gay tells the publisher that ifhe will only choose his authors from "the successful bards" praised bythe author, then "praise with profit shall reward thy pains"; and--

 So long shall live thy praise in books of fame, And Tonson yield to Lintott's lofty name;

but, since an author should not praise one publisher at the expense ofanother, he has already had a kindly word for that more celebratedpublisher, Jacob Tonson--"Jacob's mighty name. " It may be mentioned inpassing that Gay's "Poems on Several Occasions" bear the joint imprintof Lintott and Tonson. Gay waxed eloquent in these verses, whenwriting of the other contributors to the _Miscellany_, and bestowedpraise upon his brother-poets in no measured quantity:--

 Where Buckingham will condescend to give That honour'd piece to distant times must live; When noble Sheffield strikes the trembling strings, The little loves rejoice and clap their wings. Anacreon lives, they cry, th' harmonious swain } Retunes the lyre, and tries his wonted strain, } 'Tis he, --our lost Anacreon lives again. } But when th' illustrious poet soars above The sportive revels of the god of love, Like Maro's muse he takes a loftier flight, And towers beyond the wond'ring Cupid's sight. 

 If thou wouldst have thy volume stand the test, And of all others be reputed best, Let Congreve teach the list'ning groves to mourn, As when he wept o'er fair Pastora's urn. [12]

 Let Prior's muse with soft'ning accents move, Soft as the strain of constant Emma's love: Or let his fancy choose some jovial theme. As when he told Hans Carvel's jealous dream; Prior th' admiring reader entertains, With Chaucer's humour, and with Spenser's strains. [13]

 Waller in Granville lives; when Mira sings With Waller's hands he strikes the sounding strings. With sprightly turns his noble genius shines, And manly sense adorns his easy lines. 

 On Addison's sweet lays attention waits, And silence guards the place while he repeats; His muse alike on ev'ry subject charms, Whether she paints the god of love, or arms: In him pathetic Ovid sings again, And Homer's "Iliad" shines in his "Campaign. " Whenever Garth shall raise his sprightly song, Sense flows in easy numbers from his tongue; Great Phoebus in his learned son we see, Alike in physic, as in poetry. 

 When Pope's harmonious muse with pleasure roves, Amidst the plains, the murm'ring streams and groves. Attentive Echo, pleased to hear his songs, Thro' the glad shade each warbling note prolongs; His various numbers charm our ravish'd ears, } His steady judgment far out-shoots his years, } And early in the youth the god appears. }

It was in reference to these complimentary lines (which Pope saw inmanuscript) that, on December 21st, 1711, Pope wrote to Cromwell: "Iwill willingly return Mr. Gay my thanks for the favour of his poem, andin particular for his kind mention of me. "[14] That letter isinteresting also as being the last exchanged between Pope and his oldfriend; and it is instructive, as showing how the acquaintance betweenthe poets was already ripening, that Pope turned to Gay in his distressat the defection of his earlier friend. "Our friend, Mr. Cromwell, too, has been silent all this year. I believe he has been displeased at someor other of my freedoms, which I very innocently take, and most withthose I think my friends, " he wrote to Gay on November 13th, 1712. "Butthis I know nothing of; perhaps he may have opened to you, and if I knowyou right, you are of a temper to cement friendships, and not to dividethem. I really very much love Mr. Cromwell, and have a true affectionfor yourself, which, if I had any interest in the world, or power withthose who have, I should not be long without manifesting to you. "[15]

If Pope had lost the friendship of Henry Cromwell, he was certainlyanxious to strengthen the bond that was beginning to be forged betweenhimself and Gay, to whom he wrote again: "I desire you will not, eitherout of modesty, or a vicious distrust of another's value for you--thosetwo eternal foes to merit--imagine that your letters and conversationare not always welcome to me. There is no man more entirely fond ofgood-nature or ingenuity than myself, and I have seen too much of thesequalities in Mr. Gay to be anything less than his most affectionatefriend and real servant. "[16] That the intimacy between the poets waxedapace is evident, for when Pope wrote "A Farewell to London in the year1715, " the concluding stanza was:--

 Adieu to all but Gay alone. Whose soul, sincere and free. Loves all mankind, but flatters none. And so may starve with me. 

[Footnote 1: _Gay's Chair_, p. 13. ]

[Footnote 2: _Dictionary of National Biography. _]

[Footnote 3: _Gay's Chair. _]

[Footnote 4: _Rural Sports_. ]

[Footnote 5: Spence: _Anecdotes_ (ed. Singer), p. 13. ]

[Footnote 6: George Cheyne (1671-1743), physician, practised first atLondon, and then at Bath. ]

[Footnote 7: "The Epigrammatical Petition" is printed on p. 29 of thiswork, ]

[Footnote 8: "_Key to 'Three Hours after Marriage_, '" p. 7. ]

[Footnote 9: John Freind (1675-1728), physician. ]

[Footnote 10: Pope: _Works_ (ed. Elwin and Courthope), VI, p. 123. ]

[Footnote 11: _Ibid_. , VI, p. 124. ]

[Footnote 12: A reference to "The Mourning Muse of Alexis: A PastoralLamentary on the Death of Queen Mary. " In this piece the Queen is spokenof as "Pastora. "]

[Footnote 13: The references are to "Henry and Emma" and "Hans Carvel. "]

[Footnote 14: Pope: _Works_ (ed. Elwin and Courthope), VI, p. 130. ]

[Footnote 15: Pope: _Works_ (ed. Elwin and Courthope), VII, p. 408. ]

[Footnote 16: _Ibid_. , VII, p. 409. ]

CHAPTER III

1713

"RURAL SPORTS, " "THE FAN, " "THE WIFE OF BATH, " ETC. 

There has been preserved a letter written by Aaron Hill to RichardSavage, June 23rd, 1766, which contains information concerning thelife of the poet during the next two years. "I would willingly satisfythe curiosity of your friend, in relation to Mr. Gay, if it were noteasy to get much further information than I am able to give, from Mr. Budgell or Mr. Pope; to the first of whom, the beginning of his lifewas best known, and to the last, its afternoon and evening, " Hillwrote. "As to your question, whether Mr. Gay was ever a domestic ofthe Duchess of Monmouth, I can answer it in the affirmative; he washer secretary about the year 1713, and continued so, till he went overto Hanover, in the beginning of the following year, with LordClarendon, who was sent thither by Queen Anne. At his return, upon thedeath of that Queen, all his hopes became withered, but Mr. Pope (whoyou know, is an excellent planter) revived and invigorated his bays, and indeed, very generously supported him, in some more _solid_improvements; for remember a letter, wherein he invited him, with avery impoetical warmth that, so long as he himself had a shilling, Mr. Gay should be welcome to sixpence of it, nay, to eightpence, if hecould but contrive to live on a groat. "[1]

It is now happily possible to elaborate the information given in thisletter. Owing to the kindly offices of one or other of his friends, Gay had secured the appointment of domestic secretary to the Duchessof Monmouth. Anne Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch in her own right, hadin 1663 married the Duke of Monmouth. He was executed for high treasonin 1683, and three years later his widow married Charles, third BaronCornwallis. Though she had not long mourned her first husband, she didnot forget that he was on his father's side of the blood royal, and tothe end of her days she preserved a regal state, which, however, didnot make her unpopular at Court. "The Princess, " wrote Lady Cowper, "loved her mightily, and certainly no woman of her years ever deservedit so well. She had all the life and fire of youth, and it wasmarvellous to see that the many afflictions she had suffered had nottouched her wit and good nature, but at upwards of three-score she hadboth in their full perfection. " Upon this appointment Dr. Johnsoncommented: "By quitting a shop for such service Gay might gainleisure, but he certainly advanced little on the boast ofindependence. " As has been seen, however, there was an interval ofseveral years between Gay's apprenticeship and his taking up thisposition as the Duchess's amanuensis--for it is doubtful if he everattained to an office more responsible than this--he secured board andlodging, a little pocket money, and no doubt ample leisure. It wasnecessary for Gay to earn his livelihood, for he had spent hispatrimony, and the earnings of his pen were as yet negligible. Indeed, the situation was almost ideal for an impecunious young man ofletters. Anyhow, Gay was delighted, and Pope not less so. "It has beenmy good fortune within this month past to hear more things that havepleased me than, I think, in all my time besides, " Pope wrote to Gay, December 24th, 1712; "but nothing, upon my word, has been so homefelta satisfaction as the news you tell me of yourself; and you are not inthe least mistaken when you congratulate me upon your own goodsuccess, for I have more people out of whom to be happy, than anyill-natured man can boast of. " Pope, now well aware of Gay's naturalindolence, was careful in this same letter to urge him to devotehimself to literary labours in his leisure hours. "I shall see youthis winter with much greater pleasure than I could the last, and Ihope as much of your time as your Duchess will allow you to spare toany friend will not be thought lost upon one who is as much so as anyman, " he added. "I must also put you in mind, though you are nowsecretary to this lady, you are likewise secretary to nine otherladies, and are to write sometimes for them too. He who is forced tolive wholly upon those ladies' favours is indeed in as precarious acondition as any who does what Chaucer says for subsistence; but theyare very agreeable companions, like other ladies, when a man onlypasses a night or so with them at his leisure, and away. "[2]

Gay, the most amiable of men, never resented advice, perhaps becausehe so rarely followed it. In this case, however, he was surprisinglyamenable. During the short time he was in the service of the Duchessof Monmouth, he drove his quill with some assiduity, and, indeed, atthis period of his life he, who was presently distinguished as thelaziest of men, worked diligently. 

Before joining the household of the Duchess, he had written "RuralSports: A Georgic, " and this was published on January 13th, 1713, byJacob Tonson, with an inscription to Pope:--

 You, who the sweets of rural life have known, Despise th' ungrateful hurry of the town; In Windsor groves your easy hours employ, And, undisturb'd, yourself and Muse enjoy. 

During 1713 Gay wrote such trifles as papers on "Reproof and Flattery, "and "Dress, " which were printed in the _Guardian_ on March 24th andSeptember 21st respectively; and some verses, "Panthea, " "Araminta, " "AThought on Eternity, " and "A Contemplation on Night, " which appeared inSteele's "Poetical Miscellany. " A more ambitious work was "The Fan, "which had occupied him during the earlier part of the year. He wasgreatly interested in its composition, and corresponded with Pope whileit was being written. "I am very much recreated and refreshed with thenews of the advancement of 'The Fan, ' which I doubt not will delight theeye and sense of the fair, as long as that agreeable machine shall playin the hands of posterity, " Pope wrote to him, August 23rd, 1713: "I amglad your Fan is mounted so soon, but I would have you varnish and glazeit at your leisure, and polish the sticks as much as you can. You maythen cause it to be borne in the hands of both sexes, no less in Britainthan it is in China, where it is ordinary for a mandarin to fan himselfcool after a debate, and a statesman to hide his face with it when hetells a grave lie. "[3] Again, on October 23rd, Pope wrote: "I shall gointo the country about a month hence, and shall then desire to takealong with me your poem of 'The Fan. '" The most ambitious as yet ofGay's writings, there are few to-day, however, who will question thejudgment of Mr. Austin Dobson, "one of his least successful efforts, and, though touched by Pope, now unreadable. "

Gay had thus early a leaning to the theatre, where presently he was toscore one of his greatest successes, and he wrote "The Wife of Bath, "which was produced at Drury Lane on May 12th, 1713. Steele gave it a"puff preliminary" in No. 50 of the _Guardian_ (May 8th). 

Gay was now become known as a man of letters, and had made many friends. Johnson says: "Gay was the general favourite of the whole association ofwits; but they regarded him as a playfellow rather than as a partner, and treated him with more fondness than respect. "[4] There is some truthin this view, but of the affection he inspired there is no doubt. Toknow him was to love him. Wherein exactly lay his charm it is not easynow to say; but his gentle good-nature and his utter helplessness seemsto have appealed to those of sterner mould. The extracts already givenfrom Pope's correspondence show the affection with which he was inspiredfor his brother of the pen. Pope took him so completely under hismassive wing that he remarked later, "they would call him one of my_éleves_. "[5] Pope accepted the position, and introduced him to hiscircle. He made him known to Swift, and that great man loved him as heloved no other man; and to Parnell, Arbuthnot, Ford--the "joyous Ford"of "Mr. Pope's Welcome from Greece"--and Bolingbroke, in all of whom heinspired an affection, which endured through life. Parnell and Popewrote jointly to him, and while in 1714 Pope was still addressing him as"Dear Mr. Gay, " Parnell had already thrown aside all formality andgreeted him as "Dear Gay. " His old schoolfellow, William Fortescue, cleaved to him, and they were in such constant communication that whenPope wanted to see Fortescue, it was to Gay he appealed to arrange ameeting. The terms on which Gay was with the set is shown in Pope'sletter to him, written from Binfield, May 4th, 1714: "Pray give, withthe utmost fidelity and esteem, my hearty service to the Dean, Dr. Arbuthnot, Mr. Ford, and to Mr. Fortescue. Let them also know atButton's that I am mindful of them. "[6] Erasmus Lewis Gay knew now, andCaryll too, and the rest of the small literary set, who, with gusto, made him welcome among them. Indeed, when the "Memoirs of Scriblerus"were in contemplation, and, indeed, begun in 1713, Gay, thencomparatively unknown, was invited to take a hand in the compositionwith the greatest men of the day. "The design of the Memoirs ofScriblerus was to have ridiculed all the false tastes in learning, undera character of a man of capacity enough, that had dipped into every artand science, but injudiciously in each, " we have been told. "It wasbegun by a club of some of the greatest wits of the age. Lord Oxford, the Bishop of Rochester, Mr. Pope, Congreve, Arbuthnot, Swift, andothers. Gay often held the pen; and Addison liked it well enough, andwas not disinclined to come in to it. "[7] It does not transpire whetherGay had at this time met Swift, but that soon after they were incorrespondence, appears from a letter from Pope to Swift, June 18th, 1714: "I shall translate Homer by the by. Mr. Gay has acquainted youwith what progress I have made in it. I cannot name Mr. Gay without allthe acknowledgments which I shall owe you, on his account. "[8]

[Footnote 1: Hill: _Works_ (ed. 1754), I, p. 325. ]

[Footnote 2: Pope: _Works_ (ed. Elwin and Courthope), VII, p. 409. ]

[Footnote 3: Pope: _Works_ (ed. Elwin and Courthope), VII, p. 412. ]

[Footnote 4: Johnson: _Lives of the Poets_ (ed. Hill), III, p. 268. ]

[Footnote 5: Spence: _Anecdotes_ (ed. Singer), p. 145. ]

[Footnote 6: Pope: _Works_ (ed. Elwin and Courthope), VII, p. 415. ]

[Footnote 7: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVI, p. 123. ]

[Footnote 8: Spence: _Anecdotes_ (ed. Singer), p. 10. ]

CHAPTER IV

1714

"THE SHEPHERD'S WEEK, " "A LETTER TO A LADY. "

The outstanding literary event in Gay's career in 1714 was the pastoral, "The Shepherd's Week, " which was published by R. Burleigh on April 15th, which contained a "Proeme to the Courteous Reader, " and a "Prologue tothe Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Bolingbroke, " which was, in fact, a dedication:--

 Lo, I who erst beneath a tree Sung Bumkinet and Bowzybee, And Blouzelind and Marian bright, In apron blue or apron white, Now write my sonnets in a book, For my good lord of Bolingbroke. 

The author then states that he had heard of the Queen's illness and howthe skill of Arbuthnot had restored her to health:--

 A skilful leech (so God him speed) They said had wrought this blessed deed, This leech Arbuthnot was yclept, Who many a night not once had slept; But watch'd our gracious Sov'reign still: For who could rest when she was ill? O may'st thou henceforth sweetly sleep! Shear, swains, oh shear your softest sheep To swell his couch; for well I ween, He saved the realm who saved his Queen. 

 Quoth I, please God, I'll his with glee To court, this Arbuthnot to see. 

Such loyalty, of course, the hardest heart must touch, but loyalty inthis case had its reward, and the journey to Court was well worth thepains:--

 There saw I ladies all a-row Before their Queen in seemly show. No more I'll sing Buxoma brown, Like goldfinch in her Sunday gown; Nor Clumsilis, nor Marian bright, Nor damsel that Hobnelia hight. But Lansdown fresh as flowers of May, And Berkely lady blithe and gay, And Anglesea, whose speech exceeds The voice of pipe or oaten reeds; And blooming Hyde, with eyes so rare, And Montague beyond compare. Such ladies fair wou'd I depaint In roundelay or sonnet quaint. 

But charming as were these ladies, there was still a better sight instore for the visitor:--

 There saw I St. John, sweet of mien. Full steadfast both to Church and Queen. With whose fair name I'll deck my strain, St. John, right courteous to the swain. 

 For thus he told me on a day, Trim are thy sonnets, gentle Gay, And certes, mirth it were to see Thy joyous madrigals twice three, With preface meet and notes profound. Imprinted fair, and well y-bound. All suddenly then home I sped, And did ev'n as my Lord had said. 

It was not Bolingbroke who inspired the pastorals, though he acceptedthe dedication. The true history of the origin of "The Shepherd's Week"is well set out by Mr. Underhill. "These pastorals, it should beexplained, were written at the instigation of Pope, " he has written. "The sixth volume of Tonson's 'Miscellany' had concluded with Pope'sPastorals and begun with those of Ambrose Philips. A few years after itspublication a writer in the _Guardian_[1] (probably Tickell[2])discussed the Pastoral in a series of papers, and gave the mostextravagant praise to Philips. 'Theocritus, ' he remarked, 'left hisdominions to Virgil; Virgil left his to his son Spenser; and Spenser wassucceeded by his eldest born, Philips. ' Pope was not mentioned, and heset himself to redress the injustice by a device of characteristicsubtlety. He wrote a sixth paper, in which he continued to illustratethe true principles of pastoral poetry from Philips' practice, but insuch a way as to show the judicious reader by the examples given eitherthe absurdity of Philips or the superior merit of Pope. The article wasanonymously or pseudonymously forwarded to the _Guardian_, and was indue course published. Philips was furious, and providing himself with abirch rod, threatened to flog Pope. The latter, not content with hisingenious revenge, prevailed upon his friend Gay to continue the warfareand to burlesque Philips' performances in a series of realisticrepresentations of country life. "[3] Gay entered into the sport withjoy--it was a game after his own heart, and one for which his talent wasparticularly fitted. He begins his "Proeme to the Gentle Reader" with amost palpable hit: "Great marvel hath it been (and that not unworthily)to diverse worthy wits, that in this our island of Britain, in all raresciences so greatly abounding, more especially in all kinds of poesiehighly flourishing, no poet (though other ways of notable cunning inroundelays) hath hit on the right simple eclogue after this true ancientguise of Theocritus, before this mine attempt. Other Poet travelling inthis plain highway of Pastoral I know none. " Presently comes an attackbut little disguised on Philips: "Thou will not find my shepherdessesidly piping on oaten reeds, but milking the kine, tying up the sheaves, or if the hogs are astray driving them to their styes. My shepherdgathereth none other nosegays but what are the growth of our own fields, he sleepeth not under myrtle shades, but under a hedge, nor doth hevigilantly defend his flocks from wolves, because there are none, asmaister Spenser well observeth:--

 Well is known that since the Saxon King Never was wolf seen, many or some, Nor in all Kent nor in Christendom. "

Yet a third extract from this satirical "Proeme" must be given, andthis in connection with the language of these eclogues: "Thatprincipally, courteous reader, whereof I would have thee to beadvertised (seeing I depart from the vulgar usage) is touching thelanguage of my shepherds; which is soothly to say, such as is neitherspoken by the country maiden or the courtly dame; nay, not only such asin the present times is not uttered, but was never uttered in timespast; and, if I judge aright, will never be uttered in times future. Ithaving too much of the country to be fit for the court, too much of thecourt to be fit for the country; too much of the language of old timesto be fit for the present, too much of the present to have been fit forthe old, and too much of both to be fit for any time to come. Grantedalso it is, that in this my language, I seem unto myself, as a Londonmason, who calculateth his work for a term of years, when he buildethwith old material upon a ground-rent that is not his own, which soonturneth to rubbish and ruins. For this point, no reason can I allege, only deep learned examples having led me thereunto. "

All this is pretty fooling; but Gay, who in the beginning intended "TheShepherd's Week" to be merely a burlesque, according to the suggestionof Pope, was carried away by his interest in the subject-matter, andproduced a poem of undoubted value as a picture of rural life in his ownday. With it he won approval as an original poet in his own day, andthree centuries after critics still write in praise of it. 

"These Pastorals were originally intended, I suppose, as a burlesque onthose of Philips'; but, perhaps without designing it, Gay has hit thetrue spirit of pastoral poetry, " Goldsmith said; and Dr. Johnson wrote:"The effect of reality of truth became conspicuous, even when theintention was to show them grovelling and degraded. These pastoralsbecame popular, and were read with delight, as just representations ofrural manners and occupations, by those who had no interest in therivalry of the poets, nor knowledge of the critical disputes. "[4]Southey, too, had a kind word to say: "In attempting the burlesque Gaycopied nature, and his unexpected success might have taught hiscontemporaries a better taste. Few poets seem to have possessed so quickand observing an eye"[5]; and, coming to the present critics, Mr. AustinDobson utters commendation: "The object went far beyond its avowedobject of ridicule, and Gay's eclogues abound with interesting folk-loreand closely studied rural pictures. "[6]

With all his unworldliness Gay always had an eager, if not very keen, eye on the main chance, and finding himself surrounded by men ofinfluence, he not unnaturally, in a day when men of letters often foundtheir reward in Government places or in sinecures, looked to hisacquaintances to further his interests. Great Britain was at this timerepresented at the Court of Hanover by a Mission which was from 1709 incharge of the Secretary, J. D'Alais, except when Special Missions weredispatched. Lord Rivers was Minister Plenipotentiary in 1710, and ThomasHarley went there as Ambassador Extraordinary in July, 1712, and againin the following February. Henry Paget, first Lord Burton, was appointedAmbassador in April, 1714, but resigned before he set forth, and LordClarendon was nominated in his stead. 

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 London, June 8th, 1714. 

"Since you went out of town, my Lord Clarendon was appointedEnvoy-Extraordinary to Hanover in the room of Mr. Paget, and by makinguse of those friends, which I entirely owe to you, he has accepted mefor his Secretary. This day, by appointment, I met his Lordship at Mr. Secretary Bromley's office; he then ordered me to be ready by Saturday. I am quite off from the Duchess of Monmouth. Mr. Lewis was very ready toserve me upon this occasion, as were Dr. Arbuthnot and Mr. Ford. I amevery day attending my Lord Treasurer [Oxford] for his bounty, in orderto set me out, which he has promised me upon the following petition, which I sent him by Dr. Arbuthnot:--

 I'm no more to converse with the swains, But go where fine folk resort: One can live without money on plains. But never without it at Court. 

 If, when with the swains I did gambol, I array'd me in silver and blue: When abroad, and in Courts, I shall ramble, Pray, my Lord, how much money will do?

We had the honour of the Treasurer's company last Saturday, when we satupon Scriblerus. Pope is in town and has brought with him the first bookof Homer. I am this evening to be at Mr. Lewis's with [Dr. BenjaminPratt] the Provost [of Dublin College], Mr. Ford, Parnell, and Pope. "

"It is thought my Lord Clarendon will make but a short stay at Hanover. If it was possible that any recommendation could be procured to make memore distinguished than ordinary, during my stay at that Court, I shouldthink myself very happy if you could contrive any method to prosecuteit, for I am told that their civilities very rarely descend so low as tothe Secretary. I have all the reason in the world to acknowledge this aswholly owing to you. And the many favours I have received from you, purely out of your love for doing good, assures me you will not forgetme during my absence. As for myself, whether I am at home or abroad, gratitude will always put me in mind of the man to whom I owe so manybenefits. "[7]

 * * * * *

These tidings were confirmed to Swift by Arbuthnot, who wrote from St. James's on June 12th: "You know that Gay goes to Hanover, and my LordTreasurer has promised to equip him. Monday is the day of departure, andhe is now dancing attendance for money to buy him shoes, stockings, andlinen. The Duchess [of Monmouth] has turned him off, which I am afraidwill make the poor man's condition worse instead of better. "[8] AsArbuthnot reported fourteen days later, Gay received a hundred poundsfrom the Treasury, and "went away a happy man. "[9] Lord Clarendon, whose mission it was formally to offer to the Elector George Lewis thecondolences of Queen Anne on the death of his aged mother, the ElectressSophia, the heiress-presumptive to the British throne, who had passedaway on June 8th, 1714, arrived at Hanover on July 16th. 

Despite Gay's forebodings, the civilities of the Court of Hanover didhappily "descend so low as to the Secretary. " That he was presented tothe royal circle and held converse with the highest in the land, isclear from a sentence in a letter from Arbuthnot to Swift, August 13th, 1714: "I have a letter from Gay, just before the Queen's death. Is henot a true poet, who had not one of his own books to give to thePrincess that asked for one?"[10] Here it was that Gay first made theacquaintance of Henrietta Howard, afterwards Countess of Suffolk, withwhom he was presently on a footing of intimate friendship. 

JOHN GAY TO DR. ARBUTHNOT. 

 Hanover, August 16th, 1714. 

"You remember, I suppose, that I was to write you abundance of lettersfrom Hanover; but as one of the most distinguished qualities of apublician is secrecy, you must not expect from me any arcanas of state. There is another thing that is necessary to establish the character of apolitician, which is to seem always to be full of affairs of State; toknow the consultations of the Cabinet Council when at the same time hispolitics are collected from newspapers. Which of these two causes mysecrecy is owing to I leave you to determine. There is yet one thingmore that is extremely necessary for a foreign minister, which he can nomore be without than an artisan without his tools; I mean the terms ofhis art. I call it an art or a science because I think the King ofFrance has established an academy to instruct the young Machiavelians ofhis country in the deep and profound science of politics. To the end Imight be qualified for an employment of this nature, and not only bequalified myself, but (to speak in the style of Sir John Falstaff) bethe cause of qualification in others, I have made it my business to readmemoirs, treatises, etc. And as a dictionary of law-terms is thoughtnecessary for young beginners, so I thought a dictionary of terms ofState would be no less useful for young politicians. The terms ofpolitics being not so numerous as to swell into a volume, especially intimes of peace (for in times of war all the terms of fortifications areincluded), I thought fit to extract them in the same manner for thebenefit of young practitioners as a famous author has compiled hislearned treatise of the law, called the 'Doctor and Student. ' I have notmade any great progress in this piece; but, however, I will give you aspecimen of it, which will make you in the same manner a judge of thedesign and nature of this treatise. 

"_Politician_: What are the necessary tools for a Prince to work with?

"_Student_: Ministers of State. 

"_Politician_: What are the two great qualities of a Minister ofState?

"_Student_: Secrecy and despatch. 

"_Politician_: Into how many parts are the Ministers of State divided?

"_Student_: Into two. First, Ministers of State at home; secondly, Ministers of State abroad, who are called Foreign Ministers. 

"_Politician_: Very right. Now as I design you for the latter of theseemployments I shall waive saying anything about the first of these. What are the different degrees of Foreign Ministers?

"_Student_: The different degrees of Foreign Ministers are as follows:First, Plenipotentiaries; second, Ambassadors-Extraordinary; third, Ambassadors in ordinary; fourth, Envoys-Extraordinary; fifth, Envoys-in-ordinary; sixth, Residents; seventh, Consuls; and eighth, Secretaries. 

"_Politician_: How is a Foreign Minister to be known?

"_Student_: By his credentials. 

"_Politician_: When are a Foreign Minister's credentials to bedelivered?

"_Student_: Upon his first admission into the presence of the Princeto whom he is sent, otherwise called his first audience. 

"_Politician_: How many kinds of audience are there?

"_Student_: Two, which are called a public audience and a privateaudience. 

"_Politician_: What should a Foreign Minister's behaviour be when hehas his first audience?

"_Student_: He should bow profoundly, speak deliberately, and wearboth sides of his long periwig before, etc. 

"By these few questions and answers you may be able to make somejudgment of the usefulness of this politic treatise. Wicquefort, it istrue, can never be sufficiently admired for his elaborate treatise ofthe conduct of an Ambassador in all his negotiations; but I designthis only as a compendium, or the Ambassador's Manual, or _vademecum. _

"I have writ so far of this letter, and do not know who to send it to;but I have now determined to send it either to Dr. Arbuthnot, the Deanof St. Patrick's, or to both. My Lord Clarendon is very much approved ofat Court, and I believe is not dissatisfied with his reception. We havenot very much variety of divisions; what we did yesterday and to-day weshall do to-morrow, which is to go to Court and walk in the gardens atHerrenhausen. If I write any more my letter will be just like mydiversion, the same thing over and over again. "[11]

Lord Clarendon stayed at Hanover even a shorter time than he hadexpected. On July 30th Lord Oxford was dismissed, and the white staffwas given to the Duke of Shrewsbury, one of whose first acts was torecall the Tory Ambassador. Two days later Queen Anne died, and theElector George Lewis succeeded to her throne under the style of GeorgeI. Lord Clarendon returned at once to England, and with him came Gay, saddened by the blasting of his hopes of advancement. 

He was welcomed back by his friends, and received in particular anenthusiastic greeting from Pope, who wrote on September 23rd: "Welcometo your native soil! Welcome to your friend! Thrice welcome to me!whether returned in glory, blessed with Court interest, the love andfamiliarity of the great, and filled with agreeable hopes, or melancholywith dejection, contemplative of the changes of fortune, and doubtfulfor the future--whether returned a triumphant Whig or a desponding Tory, equally all hail! equally beloved and welcome to me! If happy, I am toshare in your elevation; if unhappy, you have still a warm corner in myheart and a retreat at Binfield in the worst of times at your service. "In this same letter Pope, always anxious to assist Gay, added: "Pardonme if I add a word of advice in the practical way. Write something onthe King, or Prince or Princess. On whatever foot you may be with theCourt, this can do no harm. "[12]

 * * * * *

The change of Government having dashed to the ground his hopes ofadvancement in the diplomatic service, Gay thought that he could not dobetter than follow Pope's suggestion. Like the majority of men ofletters of his day, and not having the independence of spirit of Swiftand Pope, he hungered after a patron--a Minister might be good, butMinisters go out of office, and a member of the reigning family would bebetter. Remembering the kindly welcome given him at Hanover by the royallady who was now Princess of Wales, he had indulged in a dream that aplace would be offered him in her household. "Poor Gay is much where hewas, only out of the Duchess [of Monmouth]'s family and service, "Arbuthnot wrote to Swift, October 19th, 1714. "He has some confidence inthe Princess and Countess of Picborough; I wish it may be significant tohim. I advised him to make a poem upon the Princess before she cameover, describing her to the English ladies; for it seems that thePrincess does not dislike that. (She is really a person that I believewill give great content to everybody). But Gay was in such a grovellingcondition as to the affairs of this world, that his Muse would not stoopto visit him. "[13]

No proposal, however, being made to him, Gay, following the advice ofPope and Arbuthnot, proceeded to remind the new Court of his existence, and in November published "A Letter to a Lady, occasioned by the arrivalof Her Royal Highness "--the "Lady" being, it is generally assumed, Mrs. Howard. In these verses he gave the assurance that he had desired theelements to arrange for the Princess an agreeable passage to England:--

 My strains with Carolina's name I grace. The lovely parent of our royal race. Breathe soft, ye winds, ye waves in silence sleep; Let prosp'rous breezes wanton o'er the deep, Swell the white sails, and with the streamers play, To waft her gently o'er the wat'ry way. 

With true poetic exaggeration he extolled Caroline's virtues, and then, so that there should be no excuse for misunderstanding, said in plainterms that he had desired a post at Court, and made it perfectly clearthat he was still prepared to accept such employment, if so be as it wascoupled with suitable remuneration:--

 Since all my schemes were baulk'd, my last resort, I left the Muses to frequent the Court; Pensive each night, from room to room I walk'd, To one I bow'd, and with another talk'd; Inquir'd what news, or such a lady's name, And did the next day, and the next, the same. Places I found, were daily giv'n away, And yet no friendly _Gazette_ mention'd Gay. 

Gay's protestations of delight at the accession to the throne of theHouse of Hanover would probably have been regarded as more sincere if, unfortunately, he had not a few months before dedicated "The Shepherd'sWeek" to Bolingbroke. His very outspoken hint in the "Letter to a Lady"was ignored; but Caroline, who liked eulogy as much as anyone, receivedhim kindly; and when in February, 1715, he produced "The What D'ye CallIt" at Drury Lane Theatre, she and her consort attended the firstperformance. But still, no place was found for him at Court. "Tell me, "Swift asked him so much later as 1723, "are you not under original sinby the dedication of your Eclogue to Lord Bolingbroke?"

[Footnote 1: _The Guardian_, No. 32; April 17th, 1713. ]

[Footnote 2: Dr. Johnson in his "Lives of the Poets" attributes theauthorship to Steele (_Works_, ed. Hill), III, p. 269. ]

[Footnote 3: Introductory Memoir by John Underhill, in his edition ofthe _Poems of John Gay_ ("The Muses' Library"), I, xxxi. ]

[Footnote 4: _Works_ (ed. Hill), III, p. 269. ]

[Footnote 5: _Specimens_, I, p. 298. ]

[Footnote 6: _Dictionary of National Biography_, article, Gay. ]

[Footnote 7: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVI, p. 113. ]

[Footnote 8: _Ibid_. , XVI, p. 117. ]

[Footnote 9: _Ibid_. , XVI, p. 123. ]

[Footnote 10: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVI, p. 193. ]

[Footnote 11: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVI, p. 204. ]

[Footnote 12: Pope: _Works_ (ed. Elwin and Courthope), VII, p. 415. ]

[Footnote 13: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVI, p. 213. ]

CHAPTER V

1715-1719

 "The What D'ye Call It"--An Epistle to the Right Honourable the Earl of Burlington--"Trivia, or, The Art of Walking the Streets of London"--"Three Hours After Marriage. "

Undismayed by the failure of his first play, "The Wife of Bath, " Gaymade another bid for theatrical success with "The What D'ye Call It, "which was performed at Drury Lane Theatre in February, 1715, andpublished in March of that year. In the preface Gay wrote: "I have notcalled it a tragedy, comedy, pastoral, or farce, but left the nameentirely undetermined in the doubtful appellation of 'The What D'ye CallIt' ... But I added to it 'A Tragi-Comi-Pastoral Farce, ' as it containedall these several kinds of drama. " Pope saw the play and wrote about itto Congreve, March 19th, 1715: "The farce of 'The What D'ye Call It' hasoccasioned many different speculations in the town, some looking upon itas a mere jest upon the tragic poets, others as a satire upon the latewar. Mr. Cromwell, hearing none of the words, and seeing the action tobe tragical, was much astonished to find the audience laugh, and saysthe Prince and Princess [of Wales] must doubtless be under no lessamazement on the same account. Several Templars and others of the morevociferous kind of critics went with a resolution to hiss, and confessedthey were forced to laugh so much that they forgot the design they camewith. The Court in general has come in a very particular manner into thejest, and the three nights, notwithstanding two of them were Courtnights, were distinguished by very full audiences of the first quality. The common people of the pit and gallery received it at first with greatgravity and sedateness, and some few with tears; but after the third daythey also took the hint, and have ever since been very loud in theirclaps. There are still sober men who cannot be of the general opinion, but the laughers are so much the majority that one or two critics seemeddetermined to undeceive the town at their proper cost, by writingdissertations against it to encourage them in this laudable design. Itis resolved a preface shall be prefixed to the farce, in vindication ofthe nature and dignity of this new way of writing. "[1] The fact is that, as Johnson put it, "the images were comic and the action grave, " andthere were many mock-heroic passages which parodied tragedies, includingAddison's "Cato" and Otway's "Venice Preserved, " well-known in that day. Also it contained several ballads, of which perhaps the best is "'Twaswhen the seas were roaring" (Act II. , Scene 8). 

"The What D'ye Call It" was not a piece of much value, but it pleasedthe audience, and Gay was highly delighted. "Now my benefit night isover, it should be my first care to return my thanks to those to whom Iam mostly obliged, and the civilities I have always received from you, and upon this occasion too, claims this acknowledgment, " the authorwrote to Caryll on March 3rd: "'The What D'ye Call It' met with moresuccess than could be expected from a thing so out of the common tasteof the town. It has been played already five nights, and the galleries, who did not know at first what to make of it, now enter thoroughly intothe humour, and it seems to please in general better than at first. Theparts in general were not so well played as I could have wished, and inparticular the part of Filbert, to speak in the style of the FrenchGazette. Penkethman did wonders; Mrs. Bicknell performed miraculously, and there was much honour gained by Miss Younger, though she was but aparish child. "[2] Filbert was played by Johnson, Jonas Dock byPenkethman, Joyce ("Peascod's daughter, left upon the parish") by MissYounger, and Kitty by Mrs. Bicknell, mentioned by the author in "Mr. Pope's Welcome from Greece":--

 And frolic Bicknell, and her sister young. 

The welcome given by the public to the play brought in its train someannoyance to the author: "I find success, even in the most trivialthings, raises the indignation of scribblers, " he wrote to Parnell onMarch 18th, "for I, for my 'What D'ye Call It' could neither escape thefury of Mr. Burnet or the German doctor. Then, where will rage end whenHomer is to be translated? Let Zoilus hasten to your friend'sassistance, and envious criticism shall be no more. "[3] A more bitingattack than that of Thomas Burnet's _Grumbler_ (No. 1, February 14th, 1715) or that of Philip Horneck in "The High German Doctor" was the "Keyto 'The What D'ye Call It, '" written by the actor Griffin incollaboration with Lewis Theobald. About this Gay wrote to Caryll inApril: "There is a sixpenny criticism lately published upon the tragedyof 'The What D'ye Call It, ' wherein he with much judgment and learningcalls me a blockhead and Mr. Pope a knave. His grand charge is against'The Pilgrim's Progress' being read, which, he says, is directlylevelled at Cato's reading Plato. To back this censure he goes on totell you that 'The Pilgrim's Progress' being mentioned to be the eighthedition makes the reflection evident, the tragedy of 'Cato' being justeight times printed. He has also endeavoured to show that everyparticular passage of the play alludes to some fine part of the tragedy, which he says I have injudiciously and profanely abused. "[4]

Still, Gay could really afford to laugh at those who attacked orparodied him, for the play brought him, if not fame, at leastnotoriety. It also brought him some much-needed money. Pope told Caryllin March that Gay "will have made about £100 out of this farce"; and itis known that for the publishing rights Lintott gave him on February14th £16 2s. 6d. 

Gay, now a popular dramatist as well as an intimate friend of many ofthe leading men in literary circles, became known to people of highsocial rank, who, like his brethren of the pen, took him up and made apet of him. In the summer of 1715 Lord Burlington, the "generousBurlington" of "Mr. Pope's Welcome from Greece, " invited him toaccompany him to Devonshire, and Gay repaid the compliment by describinghis "Visit to Exeter" in a poetical "Epistle to the Right Honourable theEarl of Burlington, " the first lines of which are:--

 While you, my Lord, bid stately piles ascend, Or in your Chiswick bowers enjoy your friend; Where Pope unloads the boughs within his reach, The purple vine, blue plum, and blushing peach; I journey far. --You know fat bards might tire. And, mounted, sent me forth your trusty squire. 

During his stay in Devonshire Gay began the composition of "Trivia, orThe Art of Walking the Streets of London. " It was to this that Pope madeallusion when writing to Caryll, January 10th, 1716: "Gay's poem [is]just on the brink of the press, which we have had the interest toprocure him subscription of a guinea a book to a tolerable number. Ibelieve it may be worth £150 to him on the whole. "[5] In addition to thesubscriptions, Gay received from Lintott £43 for the copyright of thebook, the copies of which were sold to the public at one shilling andsixpence each; and as, with humorous exaggeration, Arbuthnot wrote toParnell: "Gay has got as much money by his 'Art of Walking the Streets'that he is ready to set up his equipage; he is just going to the bank tonegotiate some exchange bills. "[6] The "Advertisement" prefaced to thepoem runs:--

"The world, I believe, will take so little notice of me that I need nottake much of it. The critics may see by this poem that I walk on foot, which probably may save me from their envy. I should be sorry to raisethat passion in men whom I am so much obliged to, since they allowed mean honour hitherto only shown to better writers: that of denying me tobe author of my own works. I am sensible this must be done in puregenerosity; because whoever writ them, provided they did not themselves, they are still in the same condition. Gentlemen, if there be any thingin this poem good enough to displease you, and if it be any advantage toyou to ascribe it to some person of greater merit, I shall acquaint youfor your comfort, that among many other obligations, I owe several hintsof it to Dr. Swift. And if you will so far continue your favour as towrite against it, I beg you to oblige me in accepting the followingmotto:--

 --Non tu, in triviis, indocte, solebas Stridenti miserum stipula disperdere carmen?"

Whether Swift gave any direct assistance is doubtful. Mr. AustinDobson thinks that it is not improbable that "Trivia" was actuallysuggested by the "Morning" and "City Shower" which Swift hadpreviously contributed to Steele's _Tatler_. Probably these are amongthe "several hints" which Gay had in mind. 

"Trivia" was published on January 26th, 1716, and was the oneoutstanding feature in the year in the biography of Gay. In thefollowing March 26th there appeared a volume of "Court Poems, "published by J. Roberts, who advertised them as from the pen of Pope, though the preface makes the authorship doubtful between Pope, Gay, and a Lady of quality, who was Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. To thevolume Lady Mary Wortley Montagu contributed "The Drawing Room, " Pope"The Basset Table, " and Gay "The Toilet. " This last has beenattributed to Lady Mary, and it has actually been printed among herpoems; but, according to Pope, it is "almost wholly Gay's, " therebeing "only five or six lines in it by that lady. "

In 1716 Gay paid a second visit to Devonshire, and during the year hecomposed the "sober eclogue, " "The Espousal, " which probably arose outof a suggestion of Swift. "There is an ingenious Quaker[7] in thistown, who writes verses to his mistress, not very correct, but in astrain purely what a poetical Quaker should do, commending her looksand habit, etc. " Swift wrote to Pope on August 30th, 1716: "It gave mea hint that a set of Quaker pastorals might succeed if our friend Gaycould fancy it, and I think it a fruitful subject. Pray hear what hesays. I believe farther, the pastoral ridicule is not exhausted, andthat a porter, footman, or chairman's pastoral might do well; or whatthink you of a Newgate pastoral, among the whores and thievesthere?"[8] This letter is of especial importance in the biography ofGay, as it may well have sown in his mind the seed of "The Beggar'sOpera. "

About this time Gay was labouring on another play, "Three Hours AfterMarriage, " which he wrote in collaboration with Pope and Arbuthnot. Itis a sorry piece of work, and unworthy of any one, much less of thethree distinguished men associated in the authorship. In the Epilogueit is written:--

 Join then your voices, be the play excused For once, though no one living is abused;

but as a matter of fact one purpose of the play was, as Dr. Johnsonsaid, "to bring into contempt Dr. Woodward, the fossilist, a man notreally or justly contemptible. " Woodward was the author of a "History ofFossils, " and his name survives in the Woodwardian Professorship ofGeology at Cambridge. He was introduced as Dr. Cornelius in "MartinScriblerus":--

 Who nature's treasures would explore, Her mysteries and arcana know. Must high as lofty Newton soar, Must stoop as delving Woodward low. 

The bridegroom in the play is called Fossile, and there was no mistakingthe intention. Dr. Woodward had many friends, and these made known theirdisgust in the most unmistakable manner when "Three Hours AfterMarriage" was produced on January 16th, 1717, at Drury Lane Theatre. Itran for seven nights. "It had the fate which such outrages deserved, "Dr. Johnson has written; "the scene in which Woodward was directly andapparently ridiculed by the introduction of a mummy and a crocodile, disgusted the audience, and the performance was driven off the stagewith general condemnation. "[9] The farce was not only dull, it wasvulgar. And the geologist (played by Johnson) was not the only personintroduced for the purpose of ridicule. Dennis was brought in as SirTremendous, and it was believed that Phoebe Clinket (played by Mrs. Bicknell) was intended for Anne Finch, Countess of Winchelsea, who, saysMr. Austin Dobson, "was alleged to have spoken contemptuously of Gay. "Of this farce, Mr. Dobson writes: "It is perhaps fairer to say that hebore the blame, than that he is justly charged with its errors oftaste"; and it is very probable that, while Gay generously acceptedresponsibility, Pope and Arbuthnot were equally culpable. "Too late Isee, and confess myself mistaken in relation to the comedy; yet I do notthink had I followed your advice and only introduced the mummy, that theabsence of the crocodile had saved it, " Gay wrote to Pope. "I cannothelp laughing myself (though the vulgar do not consider it was designedto look ridiculous) to think how the poor monster and mummy were dashedat their reception; and when the cry was loudest I thought that if thething had been written by another I should have deemed the town in somemeasure mistaken; and, as to your apprehension that this may do usfuture injury, do not think it; the Doctor [Arbuthnot] has a morevaluable name than can be hurt by anything of this nature, and yours isdoubly safe. I will, if any shame there be, take it all to myself, asindeed I ought, the notion being first mine, and never heartily approvedof by you.... I beg of you not to suffer this, or anything else, to hurtyour health. As I have publicly said that I was assisted by two friends, I shall still continue in the same story, professing obstinate silenceabout Dr. Arbuthnot and yourself. "[10]

The publication in book form of "Three Hours After Marriage" by Lintott, who paid £16 2s. 6d. For the copyright, a few days after the production, did nothing to arrest the torrent of abuse. "Gay's play, among the rest, has cost much time and long suffering to stem a tide of malice andparty, that certain authors have raised against it, " Pope wrote toParnell. Amongst those foremost among the attackers was Addison, whoperhaps had not forgotten or forgiven the parody of some of the lines inhis play "Cato, " which was introduced by Gay in "The What D'ye Call It. "Gay, the most easy-going of men, was always stirred by criticism, and inthis case he, with unusual energy, sat down to reply to his detractors. "Mr. Addison and his friends had exclaimed so much against Gay's 'ThreeHours After Marriage' for obscenities, that it provoked him to write 'ALetter from a Lady in the City to a Lady in the Country' on thatsubject, " so runs a passage in Spence's Anecdotes of Pope. "In it hequoted the passages which had been most exclaimed against, and opposedother passages to them from Addison's and Steele's plays. These wereaggravated in the same manner that they served his, and appeared worse. Had it been published it would have made Addison appear ridiculous, which he could bear as little as any man. I therefore prevailed uponGay not to print it, and have the manuscript now by me. "[11] In Spence'sAnecdotes there is another passage bearing on the same matter: "Afortnight before Addison's death, [12] Lord Warwick [13] came to Gay andpressed him in a very particular manner 'to go and see Mr. Addison, 'which he had not done for a great while. Gay went, and found Addison ina very weak way. He received him in the kindest manner and told him, 'that he had desired this visit to beg his pardon, that he had injuredhim greatly, but that if he lived he should find that he would make itup to him. ' Gay, on his going to Hanover, had great reason to hope forsome good preferment; but all his views came to nothing. It is notimpossible but that Mr. Addison might prevent them, from his thinkingGay too well with some of the great men of the former Ministry. He didnot at all explain himself, in which he had injured him, and Gay couldnot guess at anything else in which he could have injured him soconsiderably. "[14] It seems, however, more probable that Addison reallyhad in mind the part he had taken in connection with "Three Hours AfterMarriage. " Two critical publications, "A Complete Key to 'Three HoursAfter Marriage, '" and "A Letter to John Gay, Concerning his late Farce, entitled a Comedy, " annoyed Gay; while Pope, too, and, in a minordegree, Arbuthnot, were attacked for their share in the farce. JohnDurand Breval, writing over the signature of Joseph Gay, published in1717 "The Confederates: A Farce, " in which he introduced a humorouscaricature print of Pope, Gay and Arbuthnot, so that, says ProfessorCourthope, "Pope, at the height of his fame, found himself credited, though he seems to have had little to do with it, with the pastpaternity of a condemned play. "[15] Another incident, recorded byProfessor Courthope, further angered Pope: "While he was still sore atthe mishap, Colley Cibber, playing in 'The Rehearsal, ' happened to makean impromptu allusion to the unlucky farce, saying that he had intendedto introduce the two kings of Brentford, 'one of them in the shape of amummy, and t'other in that of a crocodile. ' The audience laughed, butPope, who was in the house, appeared (according to Cibber's account)behind the scenes and abused the actor in unmeasured terms for hisimpertinence. Cibber's only reply was to assure the enraged poet that, so long as the play was acted, he should never fail to repeat the samewords. He kept his promise, thus committing the first of that series ofoffences which, in the poet's vindictive memory, marked him down forelevation to the throne of Dulness which was rendered vacant by thedeposition of King Tibbald. "[16] There is a rumour that Gay, in revengefor Cibber's banter of "Three Hours After Marriage, " personallychastised the actor-dramatist, [17] but there is nothing definitely knownabout this. Anyhow, Gay was so irritated by the failure of this playthat he did not produce anything at a theatre during the next sevenyears. 

How Gay managed to exist through the three years after the production of"Three Hours After Marriage" is one of the stumbling blocks for thebiographer. Of literary achievement during this period his life wasbarren. It is true that when he was abroad or in the country he was aguest, but even with this his expenses must have amounted to something. As he earned nothing by his pen, unless his friends provided him withmoney as well as giving him hospitality, it looks as if some relativemust have died and left him a small sum. "As for Gay, " Pope wrote toCaryll, June 7th, 1717, "he is just on the wing for Aix-la-Chapelle, with Mr. Pulteney, the late Secretary (at War). "[18] Pulteney who hadresigned office when there was a split in the Ministry, had in December, 1714, married a very beautiful woman, Anne Maria Gumley, daughter of awealthy glass manufacturer. With them Gay went abroad for some months, and perhaps the solution of the problem above stated, is that while hewent nominally as their guest, he was actually paid a salary ascompanion or secretary. 

It is evident from Gay's "Epistle to the Right Honourable WilliamPulteney, Esq. " (published in 1717) that the party stayed some while atParis, for therein is an account of that city, an account in which theauthor betrays a sad insularity; and he was certainly at Aix inNovember. "I should not forget to acknowledge your letter sent from Aix. You told me that writing was not good with the waters, and I find since, you are of my opinion, that it is as bad without the waters. But, Ifancy, it is not writing, but thinking, that is so bad with the waters;and then you might write without any manner of prejudice if you writelike our brother poets of these days. " Pope wrote to him on November8th: "... That Duchess [of Hamilton], [19] Lord Warwick, Lord Stanhope, Mrs. Bellenden, Mrs. Lepell, and I cannot tell who else, had yourletters ... I would send my services to Mr. Pulteney, but that he is outat Court, and make some compliment to Mrs. Pulteney, if she was not aWhig. "[20]

From this letter it is evident that Gay was becoming well known infashionable circles, and it is also clear that he had friends in theCourt circle. "Gay is well at Court, and more than ever in the way ofbeing served than ever.... Gay dines daily with the Maids of Honour, "Pope had written to Martha Blount in December, 1716; and Gay, who wouldrather have had a place in the Household with nothing to do and noresponsibility than anything else in the world, was not the man torefrain from endeavouring to improve the occasion. Mrs. Howard he hadfirst met at Hanover, and in London contrived to turn theacquaintanceship into friendship. Knowing Gay's character and hisambition, it is probably doing him no injustice to say that he was firstdrawn to the lady by the belief that she might further his aims. However, it is only fair to say that he soon came to like her forherself, and long after he was convinced that she could be of no serviceto him he remained a very loyal and intimate friend. He was takenentirely into her confidence, as will presently be seen, and she evencalled him in to assist her when she was conducting an elaborate andstilted epistolatory flirtation with Lord Peterborough. It was mostprobably she who introduced him to Mrs. Bellenden, Mrs. Lepell, and theother ladies of the Court. Of Mrs. Howard and Gay, Dr. Johnson wrote:"Diligent court was paid to Mrs. Howard, afterwards Countess of Suffolk, who was much beloved by the King and Queen, to engage her interest forhis promotion; but solicitations, verses, and flatteries were thrownaway; the lady heard them and did nothing. " This, however, is manifestlyunfair, for it is now known that Mrs. Howard's influence was negligible. 

To the ladies of the Court and others of Pope's friends, Gay paidtribute in "Mr. Pope's Welcome from Greece":--

 What lady's that to whom he gently bends? Who knows her not? Ah, those are Wortley's eyes. How art thou honour'd, number'd with her friends; For she distinguishes the good and wise. The sweet-tongued Murray near her side attends: Now to my heart the glance of Howard flies; Now Hervey, fair of face, I mark full well With thee, youth's youngest daughter, sweet Lepell. 

 I see two lovely sisters hand in hand, The fair-hair'd Martha and Teresa brown; Madge Bellenden, the tallest of the land; And smiling Mary, soft and fair as down. Yonder I see the cheerful Duchess stand, For friendship, zeal, and blithesome humours known: Whence that loud shout in such a hearty strain? Why all the Hamiltons are in her train. See next the decent Scudamore advance With Winchelsea, still meditating song, With her perhaps Miss Howe came there by chance. Nor knows with whom, nor why she comes along. 

Gay was now on intimate terms with Lord Harcourt, whom he presentlyintroduced into "Mr. Pope's Welcome from Greece":--

 Harcourt I see, for eloquence renown'd, The mouth of justice, oracle of law! Another Simon is beside him found, Another Simon like as straw to straw;

and early in 1718 he visited him, first at Cockthorpe and then atStanton Harcourt, at which latter seat Pope was staying, working on thefifth volume of the "Iliad. " In the following year Gay again crossed theChannel, possibly for the second time with the Pulteneys, but the onlyrecord of this trip is to be found in the following letter:--

JOHN GAY TO THE HON. MRS. HOWARD. 

 Dijon, September 8th, 1719. 

"If it be absolutely necessary that I make an apology for my notwriting, I must give you an account of very bad physicians, and a feverwhich I had at Spa, that confined me for a month; but I do not see thatI need make the least excuse, or that I can find any reason for writingto you at all; for can you believe that I would wish to converse withyou if it were not for the pleasure to hear you talk again? Then whyshould I write to you when there is no possibility of receiving ananswer? I have been looking everywhere since I came into France to findout some object that might take you from my thoughts, that my journeymight seem less tedious; but since nothing could ever do it in England Ican much less expect it in France. 

"I am rambling from place to place. In about a month I hope to be atParis, and in the next month to be in England, and the next minute tosee you. I am now at Dijon in Burgundy, where last night, at anordinary, I was surprised by a question from an English gentleman whom Ihad never seen before; hearing my name, he asked me if I had anyrelation or acquaintance with _myself_, and when I told him I knew nosuch person, he assured me that he was an intimate acquaintance of Mr. Gay's of London. There was a Scotch gentleman, who all supper time wasteaching some French gentlemen the force and propriety of the Englishlanguage; and, what is seen very commonly, a young English gentlemanwith a Jacobite governor. A French marquis drove an Abbé from the tableby railing against the vast riches of the Church, and another marquis, who squinted, endeavoured to explain transubstantiation: 'That a thingmight not be what it really appeared to be, my eyes, ' says he, 'mayconvince you. I _seem_ at present to be looking on you; but, on thecontrary, I see quite on the other side of the table. ' I do not believethat this argument converted one of the heretics present, for all that Ilearned by him was, that to believe transubstantiation it is necessarynot to see the thing you seem to look at. 

"So much I have observed on the conversation and manners of the_people_. As for the _animals_ of the country, it abounds with bugs, which are exceedingly familiar with strangers; and as for _plants_, garlick seems to be the favourite production of the country, thoughfor my own part I think the vine preferable to it. When I publish mytravels at large I shall be more particular; in order to which, to-morrow I set out for Lyons, from thence to Montpelier, and so toParis; and soon after I shall pray that the winds may be favourable, Imean, to bring you from Richmond to London, or me from London toRichmond; so prays, etc. , JOHN GAY. 

"I beg you, madam, to assure Miss Lepell and Miss Bellenden, that I amtheir humble servant. "[21]

[Footnote 1: Pope: _Works_ (ed. Elwin and Courthope), IV, p. 412. ]

[Footnote 2: Pope: _Works_ (ed. Elwin and Courthope), VI, p. 223. ]

[Footnote 3: _Ibid_. , VII, p. 455. ]

[Footnote 4: _Ibid_. , VI, p. 227. ]

[Footnote 5: Pope: _Works_ (ed. Elwin and Courthope), VI, p. 237. ]

[Footnote 6: Pope: _Works_ (ed. Elwin and Courthope), VII, p. 460. ]

[Footnote 7: George Rooke, a Dublin linendraper. ]

[Footnote 8: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVI, p. 251. ]

[Footnote 9: Johnson: _Works_ (ed. Hill), II, p. 271. ]

[Footnote 10: Pope: _Works_ (ed. Elwin and Courthope), VII, p. 418. ]

[Footnote 11: Spence: _Anecdotes_ (ed. Singer), p. 202. ]

[Footnote 12: Addison died on June 17th, 1719. ]

[Footnote 13: Stepson of Addison. ]

[Footnote 14: Spence: _Anecdotes_ (ed. Singer), p. 149. ]

[Footnote 15: _Life of Pope_, p. 126. ]

[Footnote 16: _Life of Pope_, p. 126. ]

[Footnote 17: Cibber's _Apology_ (ed. Lowe). ]

[Footnote 18: Pope: _Works_ (ed. Elwin and Courthope), VI, p. 244. ]

[Footnote 19: Daughter of Lord Gerard, widow of the Duke of Hamilton, who in 1712 was killed in a duel with Lord Mohun. ]

[Footnote 20: Pope: Works (ed. Elwin and Courthope) VII. P. 420. ]

[Footnote 21: _B. M. _, Add MSS. , 22626, f. 22. ]

CHAPTER VI

1720

 "Poems on Several Occasions"--Gay Invests His Earnings in the South Sea Company--The South Sea "Bubble" Breaks, and Gay Loses all His Money--Appointed a Commissioner of the State Lottery--Lord Lincoln Gives Him an Apartment in Whitehall--At Tunbridge Wells--Correspondence with Mrs. Howard. 

Gay in 1720 was in his thirty-fifth year, and he had commenced authorsome twelve years before this date. During this period his output hadbeen very small, and his success not conspicuous. As a dramatist he hadbeen a complete failure--his first play, "The Wife of Bath, " wasstill-born, and the others, "The What D'ye Call It" and "Three HoursAfter Marriage, " had practically been hooted off the stage, and hadbrought him in their train a considerable degree of unpopularity. Of hispoems, the only ones of any marked merit were "The Shepherd's Week, " and"Trivia, " and even these were unambitious, though not without merit. Gaynow bethought him of collecting his poems, published and unpublished, and they were issued in two quarto volumes early in 1720, with the jointimprint of Jacob Tonson and his old publisher, Bernard Lintott, and witha frontispiece by William Kent. 

The "Poems on Several Occasions, " as the collection was styled, wereissued by subscription. His friends supported him admirably. LordBurlington and Lord Chandos each put down his name for fifty copies, Lord Bathurst for ten copies; in all Gay made more than £1, 000 by thepublication. To this success he alluded in his "Epistle to the RightHonourable Paul Methuen, Esq. "[1]

 Yet there are ways for authors to be great; Write ranc'rous libels to reform the State; Or if you choose more sun and readier ways, Spatter a minister with fulsome praise: Launch out with freedom, flatter him enough; Fear not, all men are dedication-proof. Be bolder yet, you must go farther still, Dip deep in gall thy mercenary quill. He who his pen in party quarrels draws, Lists an hired bravo to support the cause; He must indulge his patron's hate and spleen, And stab the fame of those he ne'er has seen. Why then should authors mourn their desp'rate case? Be brave, do this, and then demand a place. Why art thou poor? exert the gifts to rise, And vanish tim'rous virtue from thy eyes. 

 All this seems modern preface, where we're told That wit is praised, but hungry lives and cold: Against th' ungrateful age these authors roar, And fancy learning starves because they're poor. Yet why should learning hope success at Court? Why should our patriots virtue's cause support? Why to true merit should they have regard? They know that virtue is its own reward. Yet let me not of grievances complain. Who (though the meanest of the Muse's train) Can boast subscriptions to my humble lays, And mingle profit with my little praise. 

What to do with the thousand pounds--a sum certainly far larger than anyof which he had ever been possessed--Gay had not the slightest idea. Hehad just enough wisdom to consult his friends. Erasmus Lewis, a prudentman of affairs, advised him to invest it in the Funds and live upon theinterest; Arbuthnot advised him to put his faith in Providence and liveupon the capital; Swift and Pope, who understood him best, advised himto purchase an annuity. Bewildered by these divergent counsels, he didnone of these things. Just when he was confronted with the necessity ofmaking up his mind, Pope's friend, James Craggs the younger, of whom hewrote in "Mr. Pope's Welcome from Greece":--

 Bold, generous Craggs, whose heart was ne'er disguised, made him a present of some stock of the South Sea Company, at the sametime, no doubt, telling him that in all probability it would rise invalue. Here was a chance, dear to the heart of this hunter aftersinecures, of getting something for nothing--or next to nothing. Withhis thousand pounds he purchased more South Sea stock. At what price Gaybought it is impossible to say, but it is not unlikely that Craggs'present was made in April, 1720, when the first money-subscription wasissued at the price of £300 for each £100 stock. The poet's good fortunewas at this moment in the ascendant. A mania for speculation burst overthe town, and everybody bought and sold South Sea stock. In July it wasquoted at £1, 000. If Gay had then sold out he would have realised a sumin the neighbourhood of £20, 000. His friends implored him to contenthimself with this handsome profit, but in vain. As Dr. Johnson put it, "he dreamed of dignity and splendour, and could not bear to obstruct hisown fortune. "[2] He who a few months ago had been practically penniless, could not now bring himself to be satisfied with an income of about athousand a year. Realising that it was impossible entirely to overcomehis obduracy, his friends then begged him at least to sell so much aswould produce even a hundred a year in the Funds, "which, " Fenton saidto him, "will make you sure of a clean shirt and a shoulder of muttonevery day. " Gay was not to be moved from his resolve to become a greatcapitalist. Arguments were of no avail. The wilful man finally had hisway. Almost from the moment he refused to yield to his friends'entreaties the price of South Sea stock declined rapidly. The "Bubble"burst, and in October South Sea stock was unsaleable at any price. Gaylost not only his profit but his capital, and was again reduced topenury. 

Gay spoke his mind about the "Bubble" in "A Panegyrical Epistle to Mr. Thomas Snow, Goldsmith, near Temple Bar: Occasioned by his Buying andSelling of the Third Subscriptions, taken in by the Directors of theSouth Sea Company, at a thousand per cent, " which was published byLintott in 1721:--

 O thou, whose penetrative wisdom found The South-Sea rocks and shelves, where thousands drown'd, When credit sunk, and commerce gasping lay, Thou stood'st; nor sent one bill unpaid away. When not a guinea chink'd on Martin's boards, And Atwill's self was drain'd of all his hoards, Thou stood'st (an Indian king in size and hue) Thy unexhausted shop was our Peru. 

 Why did 'Change-Alley waste thy precious hours, Among the fools who gaped for golden showers? No wonder if we found some poets there, Who live on fancy, and can feed on air; No wonder they were caught by South-Sea schemes Who ne'er enjoy'd a guinea but in dreams; No wonder they their third subscription sold, For millions of imaginary gold: No wonder that their fancies wild can frame } Strange reasons, that a thing is still the same, } Tho' changed throughout in substance and in name. } But you (whose judgment scorns poetic flights) With contracts furnish boys for paper kites. 

One of the immediate results of the disaster was Gay's inability tofulfil his obligations to one of the publishers of his "Poems on SeveralOccasions":--

JOHN GAY TO JACOB TONSON. 

 Friday morning [_circa_ October, 1720]. 

"Sir, --I received your letter with the accounts of the books you haddelivered. I have not seen Mr. Lintott's account, but shall take thefirst opportunity to call on him. I cannot think your letter consists ofthe utmost civility, in five lines to press me twice to make up myaccount just at a time when it is impracticable to sell out of thestocks in which my fortune is engaged. Between Mr. Lintott and you thegreatest part of the money is received, and I imagine you have asufficient number of books in your hands for the security of the rest. To go to the strictness of the matter, I own my note engages me to makethe whole payment in the beginning of September. Had it been in mypower, I had not given you occasion to send to me, for I can assure youI am as impatient and uneasy to pay the money I owe, as some men are toreceive it, and it is no small mortification to refuse you so reasonablea request, which is that I may no longer be obliged to you. "[3]

 * * * * *

The loss of his fortune was, of course, a very severe blow to Gay, butas ever, his friends gathered round him. Instead of being angry with himfor his folly--but no one of his friends was ever angry with him--theylooked upon him, and treated him, just as a spoilt child who haddisobediently tried to get over a hedge and had scratched himself in theendeavour. They put their heads together to find "something" for him. Gay, of course, was not easy to deal with; it was difficult to make himlisten to reason. He could not be brought to believe that it was not hisdue to receive something for nothing. He had been secretary to LordClarendon's brief Mission to Hanover; why had not diplomacy something tooffer him? The Princess of Wales had asked for a copy of a set of hisverses; was there no place for him at Court? He had praised members ofthe Royal Family in verse; was there somewhere--somehow--a sinecure inthe Household for him? It seems that Gay really could not understand theposition. Could not Mrs. Howard do something in his interest? Could notthe friends of Pope do aught to secure that little post? Or LordBurlington, or Lord Bathurst, or William Pulteney, or some one of therest? He became petulant, and it is a tribute to his charm that not oneof these persons was ever disgusted with him, but continued to feed him, keep him, and pet him, and made their friends and their friends' friendsdo likewise. In fact, this delightful, whimsical, helpless creatureleant upon all who were stronger, and each one upon whom he leant lovedhim to his dying day. 

Gay's health, which was never robust, gave way under his bitterdisappointment, and in 1721 he went in the early autumn to Bath, whereMrs. Bradshaw wrote to Mrs. Howard, September 19th: "He is always withthe Duchess of Queensberry. " In the following year he was again ill, andwent again to recuperate at the Somersetshire watering place. 

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 London, December 22nd, 1722. 

"After every post-day, for these eight or nine years, I have beentroubled with an uneasiness of spirit, and at last I have resolved toget rid of it and write to you. I do not deserve you should think sowell of me as I really deserve, for I have not professed to you that Ilove you as much as ever I did; but you are the only person of myacquaintance, almost, that does not know it. Whomever I see that comesfrom Ireland, the first question I ask is after your health ... I thinkof you very often; nobody wishes you better, or longs more to see you... I was there [at Bath] for near eleven weeks for a colic that I havebeen troubled with of late; but have not found all the benefit Iexpected ... I lodge at present at Burlington House, and have receivedmany civilities from many great men, but very few real benefits. Theywonder at each other for not providing for me, and I wonder at them all. Experience has given me some knowledge of them, so that I can say, thatit is not in their power to disappoint me. "[4]

This was certainly ungrateful of Gay, but allowance may perhaps be madefor him on the ground that he was, as Coxe has written, "of a sanguinedisposition, was easily raised and as easily depressed. He mistook theusual civilities of persons of distinction for offers of assistance, andargued from the common promises of a Court certain preferment. " Heaccordingly always suffered from mortification, about which he was proneto discourse. This was a foible well known to his friends, and even Popecould not refrain from gently chaffing him: "I wish you joy of the birthof the young Prince, [5] because he is the only prince we have from whomyou have had no expectations and no disappointments. "[6]

DEAN SWIFT TO JOHN GAY. 

 Dublin, January 8th, 1723. 

"Although I care not to talk to you as a divine, yet I hope you have notbeen the author of your colic. Do you drink bad wine or keep badcompany?... I am heartily sorry you have any dealings with that uglydistemper, and I believe our friend Arbuthnot will recommend you totemperance and exercise ... 

"I am extremely glad he [Pope] is not in your case of needing greatmen's favour, and could heartily wish that you were in his. 

"I have been considering why poets have such ill success in making theircourt, since they are allowed to be the greatest and best of allflatterers. The defect is, that they flatter only in print or inwriting, but not by word of mouth; they will give things under theirhand which they make a conscience of speaking. Besides, they are toolibertine to haunt antechambers, too poor to bribe porters and footmen, and too proud to cringe to second-hand favourites in a great family. 

"Tell me, are you not under original sin by the dedication of yourEclogues to Lord Bolingbroke?

"I am an ill judge at this distance, and besides am, for my case, utterly ignorant of the commonest things that pass in the world; but ifall Courts have a sameness in them (as the parsons phrase it), thingsmay be as they were in my time, when all employments went toParliament-men's friends, who had been useful in elections, and therewas always a huge list of names in arrears at the Treasury, which wouldat least take up your seven years' expedient to discharge even one-half. 

"I am of opinion, if you will not be offended, that the surest coursewould be to get your friend [Lord Burlington] who lodgeth in your houseto recommend you to the next Chief Governor who comes over here, for agood civil employment, or to be one of his secretaries, which yourParliament-men are fond enough of, when there is no room at home. Thewine is good and reasonable; you may dine twice a week at theDeanery-house; there is a set of company in this town sufficient for oneman; folks will admire you, because they have read you, and read of you;and a good employment will make you live tolerably in London, orsumptuously here; or, if you divide between both places, it will be foryour health. "[7]

 * * * * *

Gay's friends, who had persistently been on the look-out to help him, atlast met with some small measure of success. "I am obliged to you foryour advice, as I have been formerly for your assistance in introducingme into business, " Gay wrote to Swift from London, February 3rd, 1723. "I shall this year be Commissioner of the State Lottery, which will beworth to me a hundred and fifty pounds. And I am not without hopes thatI have friends that will think of some better and more certain provisionfor me. "[8] In addition to this post, the Earl of Lincoln was persuadedto give him an apartment in Whitehall. The Commissionship and theresidence to some small extent soothed Gay's ruffled vanity, and werebeyond question convenient. 

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 London, February 3rd, 1723. 

"As for the reigning amusements of the town, it is entirely music; realfiddles, bass-viols and hautboys; not poetical harps, lyres and reeds. There's nobody allowed to say, I sing, but an eunuch or an Italianwoman. Everybody is grown now as great a judge of music, as they were inyour time of poetry, and folks that could not distinguish one tune fromanother now daily dispute about the different styles of Handel, Bononcine, and Attilio. People have now forgot Homer and Virgil andCæsar, or at least they have lost their ranks. For in London andWestminster, in all polite conversations, Senesino is daily voted to bethe greatest man that ever lived. 

"Mr. Congreve I see often; he always mentions you with the strongestexpressions of esteem and friendship. He labours still under the sameaffliction as to his sight and gout; but in his intervals of health hehas not lost anything of his cheerful temper. I passed all the lastseason with him at Bath, and I have great reason to value myself uponhis friendship, for I am sure he sincerely wishes me well. Pope has justnow embarked himself in another great undertaking as an author, for oflate he has talked only as a gardener. He has engaged to translate theOdyssey in three years, I believe rather out of a prospect of gain thaninclination, for I am persuaded he bore his part in the loss of theSouth Sea. I supped about a fortnight ago with Lord Bathurst and Lewisat Dr. Arbuthnot's. "[9]

 * * * * *

During the summer of 1723 Gay, still troubled with the colic, went toTunbridge Wells, where he carried on a vigorous correspondence with Mrs. Howard. 

THE HON. MRS. HOWARD TO JOHN GAY. 

 Richmond Lodge, July 5th, 1723. 

"I was very sorry to hear, when I returned from Greenwich, that you hadbeen at Richmond the same day; but I really thought you would haveordered your affairs in such a manner that I should have seen you beforeyou went to Tunbridge. I dare say you are now with your friends, but notwith one who more sincerely wishes to see you easy and happy than I do;if my power was equal to theirs the matter should soon be determined. 

"I am glad to hear you frequent the church. You cannot fail of beingoften put in mind of the great virtue of patience, and how necessarythat may be for you to practise I leave to your own experience. Iapplaud your prudence (for I hope it is entirely owing to it) that youhave no money at Tunbridge. It is easier to avoid the means oftemptation than to resist them when the power is in our own hands.... 

"The place you are in has strangely filled your head with cures andphysicians; but (take my word for it) many a fine lady has gone there todrink the waters without being sick, and many a man has complained ofthe loss of his heart who has had it in his own possession. I desire youwill keep yours, for I shall not be very fond of a friend without one, and I have a great mind you should be in the number of mine. "

JOHN GAY TO THE HON. MRS HOWARD. 

 Tunbridge Wells, July 12th, 1723. 

"The next pleasure to seeing you is hearing from you, and when I hearyou succeed in your wishes I succeed in mine--so I will not say a wordmore of the house. 

"We have a young lady, Mary Jennings, here that is very particular inher desires. I have known some ladies who, if ever they prayed andwere sure their prayers would prevail, would ask an equipage, a title, a husband or matadores; but this lady, who is but seventeen and hasbut thirty thousand pounds, places all her wishes in a pot of goodale. When her friends, for the sake of her shape and complexion, woulddissuade her from it, she answers, with the truest sincerity, that bythe loss of shape and complexion she can only lose a husband, but thatale is her passion. I have not as yet drank with her, though I mustown I cannot help being fond of a lady who has so little disguise ofher practice, either in her words or appearance. If to show you loveher you must drink with her she has chosen an ill place for followers, for she is forbid with the waters. Her shape is not very unlike abarrel, and I would describe her eyes, if I could look over theagreeable swellings of her cheeks, in which the rose predominates; norcan I perceive the least of the lily in her whole countenance. You seewhat £30, 000 can do, for without that I could never have discoveredall these agreeable particularities. In short, she is the _ortolan_, or rather _wheat-ear_, of the place, for she is entirely a lump offat; and the form of the universe itself is scarce more beautiful, forher figure is almost circular. After I have said all this, I believeit will be in vain for me to declare I am not in love, and I am afraidthat I have showed some imprudence in talking upon this subject, sinceyou have declared that you like a friend that has a heart in hisdisposal. I assure you I am not mercenary and that £30, 000 have nothalf so much power with me as the woman I love. "

THE HON. MRS. HOWARD TO JOHN GAY. 

 Richmond Lodge, July 22nd, 1723. 

"I have taken some days to consider of your _wheat-ear_, but I find Ican no more approve of your having a passion for that, than I did ofyour turning parson. But if ever you will take the one, I insist uponyour taking the other; they ought not to be parted; they were madefrom the beginning for each other. But I do not forbid you to get thebest intelligence of the ways, manners and customs of this wonderful_phenomène_, how it supports the disappointment of bad ale, and whatare the consequences to the full enjoyment of her luxury? I have somethoughts of taking a hint from the ladies of your acquaintance whopray for matadores, and turn devotees for luck at ombre, for I havealready lost above £100 since I came to Richmond. 

"I do not like to have you too passionately fond of everything thathas no disguise. I (that am grown old in Courts) can assure yousincerity is so very unthriving that I can never give consent that youshould practise it, excepting to three or four people that I think maydeserve it, of which number I am. I am resolved that you shall open anew scene of behaviour next winter and begin to pay in coin your debtsof fair promises. I have some thoughts of giving you a few loose hintsfor a satire, and if you manage it right, and not indulge that foolishgood-nature of yours, I do not question but I shall see you in goodemployment before Christmas. "

JOHN GAY TO THE HON. MRS. HOWARD. 

 Tunbridge Wells, August, 1723. 

"I have long wished to be able to put in practice that valuable worldlyqualification of being insincere. One of my chief reasons is that I hateto be particular, and I think if a man cannot conform to the customs ofthe world, he is not fit to be encouraged or to live in it. I know that, if one would be agreeable to men of dignity one must study to imitatethem, and I know which way they get money and places. I cannot indeedwonder that the talents requisite for a great statesman are so scarce inthe world, since so many of those who possess them are every month cutoff in the prime of their life at the Old Bailey. 

"Another observation I have made upon courtiers is that if you have anyfriendship with any particular one, you must be entirely governed by hisfriendship and resentments, not your own; you are not only to flatterhim but those that he flatters, and, if he chances to take a fancy toany man whom you know that he knows to have the talents of a statesman, you are immediately to think both of them men of the most exact honour. In short, you must think nothing dishonest or dishonourable that isrequired of you, because, if you know the world, you must know that nostatesman has or ever will require anything of you that is dishonest ordishonourable. 

"Then you must suppose that all statesmen, and your friend in particular(for statesmen's friends have always seemed to think so) have been, are, and always will be guided by strict justice, and are quite void ofpartiality and resentment. You are to believe that he never did or canpropose any wrong thing, for whoever has it in his power to dissent froma statesman, in any one particular, is not capable of his friendship. This last word, friendship, I have been forced to make use of severaltimes, though I know that I speak improperly, for it has never beenallowed a Court term. This is some part of a Court creed, though it isimpossible to fix all the articles, for as men of dignity believe onething one day and another the next, so you must daily change your faithand opinion; therefore the mood to please these wonderful and mighty menis never to declare in the morning what you believe until your friendhas declared what he believes--for one mistake this way is utterdestruction. 

"I hope these few reflections will convince you that I know something ofthe art of pleasing great men. I have strictly examined most favouritesthat I have known, and think I judge right, that almost all of them havepractised most of these rules on their way to preferment. I cannotwonder that great men require all this from their creatures, since mostof them have practised it themselves, or else they had never arrived totheir dignities. 

"As to your advice that you give me in relation to preaching andmarrying and ale, I like it extremely, for this lady [Mary Jennings]must be born to be a parson's wife, and I never will think of marryingher till I have preached my first sermon. She was last night at aprivate ball--so private that not one man knew it till it was over, sothat Mrs. Carr was disturbed at her lodgings by only a dozen ladies, whodanced together without the least scandal. 

"I fancy I shall not stay here much longer, though what will become ofme I know not, for I have not, and fear never shall have, a will of myown. "

THE HON. MRS. HOWARD TO JOHN GAY. 

 August, 1723. 

"After you have told me that you hate writing letters, it would be veryungrateful not to thank you for so many as you have written for me. Acting contrary to one's inclinations, for the service of those onelikes, is a strong proof of friendship; yet, as it is painful, it oughtnever to be exacted but in case of great necessity. As such I look uponthat correspondence in which I have engaged you. 

"Perhaps you think I treat you very oddly, that while I own myselfafraid of a man of wit [Lord Peterborough] and make that a pretence toask your assistance, I can write to you myself without any concern; butdo me justice and believe it is that I think it requires something morethan wit to deserve esteem. So it is less uneasy for me to write to youthan to the other, for I should fancy I purchased the letters I received(though very witty) at too great an expense, if at the least hazard ofhaving my real answers exposed. 

"The enclosed[10] will discover that I did not make use of everyargument with which you had furnished me; but I had a reason, of which Iam not at this time disposed to make you a judge. Conquest is the lastthing a woman cares to resign; but I should be very sorry to have you inthe desperate state of my _Knight-errant_. No! I would spare you, outof self-interest, to secure to me those I have made by your assistance. "

THE HON. MRS. HOWARD TO JOHN GAY. 

 August 22nd [1723]. 

"I am very much pleased to find you are of my opinion. I have alwaysthought that the man who will be nothing but a man of wit oftenerdisobliges than entertains the company. There is nothing tries ourpatience more than that person who arrogantly is ever showing hissuperiority over the company he is engaged in. He and his fate I thinkvery like the woman whose whole ambition is only to be handsome. _She_is in continual care about her own charms and neglects the world; and_he_ is always endeavouring to be more witty than all the world, whichmakes them both disagreeable companions. 

"The warmth with which I attack wit will, I am afraid, be thought toproceed from the same motive which makes the old and ugly attack theyoung and handsome; but if you examine well all those of the characterI have mentioned you will find they are generally but pretenders toeither wit or beauty, and in justification of myself I can say, andthat with great sincerity, I respect wit with judgment, and beautywith humility, whenever I meet it. 

"I have sent the enclosed[11] and desire an answer. I make no moreapologies, for I take you to be in earnest; but if you can talk ofsincerity without having it, I am glad it is in my power to punishyou, for sincerity is not only the favourite expression of myknight-errant, but it is my darling virtue. 

"If I agree with you, that wit is very seldom to be found insincerity, it is because I think neither wit nor sincerity is oftenfound; but daily experience shows us it is want of wit, and not toomuch, makes people insincere. "

[Footnote 1: Paul Methuen (1672-1757), diplomatist; Comptroller of theHousehold 1720-1725; K. B. , 1725. ]

[Footnote 2: _Lives of the Poets_ (ed. Hill), III, p. 273. ]

[Footnote 3: _B. M. _, Add. MSS. , 28275, f. 8. ]

[Footnote 4: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVI, p. 385. ]

[Footnote 5: George William, born November 2nd, 1717, died February 6th, 1722. ]

[Footnote 6: _Works_ (ed. Elwin and Courthope), VII, p. 422. ]

[Footnote 7: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVI, 390. ]

[Footnote 8: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVI, p. 398. ]

[Footnote 9: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVI, p. 297. ]

[Footnote 10: Probably a letter from Lord Peterborough to Mrs. Howard. ]

[Footnote 11: Probably a copy of a letter from Mrs. Howard to LordPeterborough]. 

CHAPTER VII

1724-1727

 "THE CAPTIVES"--THE FIRST SERIES OF "FABLES"--GAY AND THE COURT--POPE, SWIFT AND MRS. HOWARD. 

During 1723 Gay wrote a tragedy, "The Captives, " which at the end of theyear he read to the royal circle at Leicester House. "When the hourcame, " Johnson has recorded, "he saw the Princess [of Wales] and herladies all in expectation, and, advancing with reverence, too great forany other attention, stumbled at a stool, and, falling forward, threwdown a weighty Japanese screen. The Princess started, the ladiesscreamed, and poor Gay, after all the disturbance, was still to read hisplay. "[1] "The Captives" was produced at Drury Lane Theatre in January, 1724, and according to the _Biographica Dramatica_ was "acted ninenights with great applause, " the third, or author's night, being by thecommand of the Prince and Princess of Wales. According, however, toFenton, "Gay's play had no success. I am told he gave thirty guineas tohave it acted on the fifth night. "[2] When it was published, Gayprefaced it with the following dedication:--

TO HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS OF WALES. 

"Madam, "The honour I received from your Royal Highness in being permitted toread this play to you before it was acted, made me more happy than anyother success that could have happened to me. If it had the good fortuneto gain your Royal Highness's approbation, I have often been reflectingto what to impute it, and I think it must have been the catastrophe ofthe fall, the rewarding virtue and the relieving the distressed. Forthat could not fail to give some pleasure in fiction, which, it isplain, gives you the greatest in reality, or else your Royal Highnesswould not (as you always have done) make it your daily practice. 

"I am, Madam, "Your Royal Highness's most dutifuland most humbly devoted servant, "JOHN GAY. "

Of what Gay did, or where he went during 1724, next to nothing is known. Presumably he spent most of his time in his apartment at Whitehall, eating much and drinking more than was good for him, and, to judge byresults, writing nothing. The only trace of him during 1724 is in thefollowing letter:--

JOHN GAY TO THE HON. MRS. HOWARD. 

 [Bath, 1724. ]

"Since I came to the Bath I have written three letters; the first toyou, the second to Mr. Pope, and the third to Mr. Fortescue. Every postgives me fresh mortification, for I am forgot by everybody. Dr. Arbuthnot and his brother went away this morning, and intend to seeOxford on their way to London. The talk of the Bath is the marriage ofLord Somerville and Mrs. Rolt. She left the Bath yesterday. He continueshere but is to go away to-day or to-morrow; but as opinions differ Icannot decide whether they are married or no. Lord Essex gives a privateball in Hamson's great room to Mrs. Pelham this evening, so that in allprobabilities some odd bodies being left out, we shall soon have thepleasure of being divided into fractions. I shall return to London withLord Scarborough, who hath not as yet fixed his time of leaving theBath. Lord Fitzwilliam this morning had an account that a ticket of hiswas come up £500. Lady Fitzwilliam wonders she has not heard from you, and has so little resolution that she cannot resist buttered rolls atbreakfast, though she knows they prejudice her health. 

"If you will write to me you will make me cheerful and happy, withoutwhich I am told the waters will have no good effect. Pray have someregard to my health, for my life is in your service. "

 * * * * *

There is no mention of Gay during the first nine months of the year1724, after which it has been possible to gather scant information. Apparently, encouraged by the kindly interest displayed by the Princessof Wales, Gay, still obsessed with his desire for a place, wentfrequently to Court. "I hear nothing of our friend Gay, but I find theCourt keep him at hard meat. I advised him to come over here with aLord-Lieutenant, "[3] Swift wrote to Pope, September 29th, 1725. To thisPope replied on October 15th: "Our friend Gay is used as the friends ofTories are by Whigs, and generally by Tories too. Because he had humourhe was supposed to have dealt with Dr. Swift; in like manner as whenanyone had learning formerly, he was thought to have dealt with thedevil. He puts his whole trust at Court in that lady whom I described toyou. "[4] "That lady, " presumably was Mrs. Howard. But Gay, unable tosecure the interest of the politicians, and getting weary of waiting onhis friends, suddenly bethought himself of making a direct appeal toroyalty. "Gay is writing tales for Prince William, "[5] Pope wrote toSwift on December 10th. "Mr. Philips[6] will take this very ill for tworeasons, one that he thinks all childish things belong to him, and theother because he will take it ill to be taught that one may write thingsto a child without being childish. " Than which last few prettiercompliments have been paid to Gay. 

Though they had long been in correspondence, Swift and Gay had not yetmet. Swift, of course, had often in his mind a visit to London--headmitted the temptation, but resisted it. "I was three years reconcilingmyself to the scene, and the business to which fortune had condemned me, and stupidity was what I had recourse to, "[7] he had written to Gay fromDublin, January 8th, 1723. "Besides, what a figure should I make inLondon, while my friends are in poverty, exile, distress, orimprisonment, and my enemies with rods of iron?" At last, however, inMarch, 1726, he did come to London, and he was the guest of Gay, whom hesubsequently referred to as "my landlord at Whitehall. " He saw much ofGay. "I have lived these two months past for the most part in thecountry, either at Twickenham with Mr. Pope, or rambling with him andMr. Gay for a fortnight together. Yesterday Lord Bolingbroke and Mr. Congreve made up five at dinner at Twickenham, "[8] Swift wrote toTickell from London on July 7th. Like the rest, Swift came to love Gaydearly, and Gay was no whit less attracted to the great man, whopromised on his next visit to stay again in Whitehall. "My landlord, " hewrote in a letter addressed jointly to Pope and Gay, October 15th, 1726, "who treats me with kindness and domesticity, and says that he is layingin a double stock of wine. "[9] Swift had been introduced to Mrs. Howard--it may be by Gay--and she too wished to entertain him. "I hopeyou will get your house and wine ready, to which Mr. Gay and I are tohave access when you are at Court; for, as to Mr. Pope, he is not worthconsidering on such occasions, "[10] he wrote to her from Dublin, February 1st, 1727. 

Gay had become more and more on good terms with the Duke and Duchess ofQueensberry, especially with the Duchess, who treated him as a sort ofpet lap-dog. "Since I wrote last, " Gay told Swift in a letter datedSeptember 16th, 1726, "I have been always upon the ramble. I have beenin Oxfordshire with the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry, and atPetersham, and wheresoever they would carry me; but as they will go toWiltshire[11] without me on Tuesday next, for two or three months, Ibelieve I shall then have finished my travels for this year, and shallnot go further from London than now and then to Twickenham. "[12] It wasas well that Gay remained in London, else probably his "Fables" wouldnever have appeared. Gay, who had begun to compose the "Fables" in 1725, was, according to the habit of the man, not to be hurried. "I have oflate been very much out of order with a slight fever, which I am not yetquite free from, " he wrote to Swift in October, 1726. "If the engraverskeep their word with me I shall be able to publish my poems soon afterChristmas. " But of course the engravers did not keep their word. Swift, a more energetic person, became almost fractious at the repeated delaysin the publication, and wrote to Pope on November 17th: "How comes Gayto be so tedious? Another man can publish fifty thousand lies soonerthan he can publish fifty fables. "[13] And still there were delays. "MyFables are printed, " he told Swift on February 18th, 1727; "but I cannotget my plates finished, which hinders the publication. I expect nothingand am likely to get nothing. "[14] At last, in the spring, the volumeappeared, with the imprint of J. Tonson and J. Watts, and with thisdedication: "To His Highness William Duke of Cumberland these newFables, invented for his amusement, are humbly dedicated by HisHighness's most faithful and most obedient servant, John Gay. "

 * * * * *

Gay, of course, expected some reward for this courtier-like attention tothe son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the poet and hisfriends again believed that his future was assured when they heard thatHer Royal Highness had said, or at least was reported to have said, thatshe should "take up the hare"--an allusion to the "Fable" of "The Hareand Many Friends":--

 A Hare who in a civil way, Complied with ev'ry thing, like Gay, Was known by all the bestial train, Who haunt the wood, or graze the plain. Her care was never to offend. And ev'ry creature was her friend. 

On June 12th, 1727, George I. Died, and Gay felt sure that at last thehour had struck when the "place" so long and diligently sought, would bebestowed on him. The new Queen did not, indeed, forget him; she did whatin his eyes was far worse, she offered him the sinecure post ofGentleman Usher to the Princess Louisa, [15] then two years old, with asalary of £200 a year. Gay's disappointment was bitter, and for a personusually so placid, his indignation tremendous. What ground for hope hehad had, he, as Dr. Johnson has said, "had doubtless magnified with allthe wild expectation and vanity, "[16] "The Queen's family is at lastsettled, " Gay wrote bitterly to Swift on October 22nd, "and in the listI was appointed Gentleman Usher to the Princess Louisa, the youngestPrincess, which, upon account that I am so far advanced in life, I haddeclined accepting, and have endeavoured, in the best manner I could, tomake my excuses by a letter to her Majesty. So now all my expectationsare vanished and I have no prospect, but in depending wholly uponmyself and my own conduct. As I am used to disappointments I can bearthem, but as I can have no more hopes I can no more be disappointed, sothat I am in a blessed condition. "[17] Pope, than whom no man loved Gaybetter, could not bring himself to sympathise with his irate brotherpoet. 

ALEXANDER POPE TO JOHN GAY. 

 October 6th, 1727. 

"I have many years ago magnified, in my own mind, and repeated to you, aninth beatitude, added to the eight in the Scripture: "Blessed is he whoexpects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed. I could find in myheart to congratulate you on this happy dismission from all Courtdependance. I dare say I shall find you the better and the honester manfor it many years hence; very probably the healthfuller, and thecheerfuller into the bargain. You are happily rid of many cursedceremonies, as well as of many ill and vicious habits, of which few orno men escape the infection, who are hackneyed and trammelled in theways of a Court. Princes, indeed, and Peers (the lackies of Princes) andLadies (the fools of Peers) will smile on you the less; but men of worthand real friends will look on you the better. There is a thing, the onlything which kings and queens cannot give you, for they have it not togive--liberty, which is worth all they have, and which as yet Englishmenneed not ask from their hands. You will enjoy that, and your ownintegrity, and the satisfactory consciousness of having not merited suchgraces from Courts as are bestowed only on the mean, servile, flattering, interested and undeserving. The only steps to the favour ofthe great are such complacencies, such compliances, such distantdecorums, as delude them in their vanities, or engage them in theirpassions. He is their greatest favourite who is the falsest; and when aman, by such vile graduations arrives at the height of grandeur andpower, he is then at best but in a circumstance to be hated, and in acondition to be hanged for serving their ends. So many a Minister hasfound it. "

"I can only add a plain uncourtly speech, " Pope wrote again to Gay tendays later. "While you are nobody's servant you may be anybody's friend, and, as such, I embrace you in all conditions of life. While I have ashilling you shall have sixpence, nay, eightpence, if I can contrive tolive upon a groat. " But if Pope took the matter calmly, Swift, on theother hand, completely lost his temper and wrote as if voluntaryattendance at Court made it obligatory upon the Queen to provide for thecourtier. 

DEAN SWIFT TO JOHN GAY. 

 Dublin, November 27th, 1727. 

"I entirely approve your refusal of that employment, and your writing tothe Queen. I am perfectly confident you have a firm enemy in theMinistry. God forgive him, but not till he puts himself in a state to beforgiven. Upon reasoning with myself, I should hope they are gone toofar to discard you quite, and that they will give you something; which, although much less than they ought, will be (as far as it is worth)better circumstantiated; and since you already just live, a middlinghelp will make you just tolerable. Your lateness in life (as you so sooncall it) might be improper to begin the world with, but almost theeldest men may hope to see changes in a Court. A Minister is alwaysseventy; you are thirty years younger; and consider, Cromwell did notbegin to appear till he was older than you. "[18]

 * * * * *

Swift could not forgive the Court for the offer, Mrs. Howard for notexerting her influence to get a better post for her protégé. "I desiremy humble service to Lord Oxford, Lord Bathurst, and particularly toMiss Blount, but to no lady at Court. God bless you for being a greaterdupe than I. I love that character too myself, but I want your charity, "he wrote to Pope, August 11th, 1729; but Pope replying on October 9thsaid: "The Court lady[19] I have a good opinion of. Yet I have treatedher more negligently than you would do, because you will like to see theinside of a Court, which I do not ... After all, that lady means to dogood and does no harm, which is a vast deal for a courtier. "

 * * * * *

More than once Swift took up his pen to avenge his friend for the slightthat he considered had been passed upon him. In "A Libel on the Rev. Mr. Delany and His Excellency Lord Cartaret, " he wrote in 1729:--

 Thus Gay, the hare with many friends. Twice seven long years the Court attends; Who, under tales conveying truth, To virtue form'd a princely youth; Who paid his courtship with the crowd, As far as modest pride allow'd; Rejects a servile usher's place, And leaves St. James's in disgrace. 

Two years later he returned to the attack in "An Epistle to Mr. Gay ":--

 How could you, Gay, disgrace the Muse's train, To serve a tasteless Court twelve years in vain! Fain would I think our female friend sincere, Till Bob, [20] the poet's foe, possess'd her ear. Did female virtue e'er so high ascend, To lose an inch of favour for a friend? Say, had the Court no better place to choose For thee, than make a dry-nurse of thy Muse? How cheaply had thy liberty been sold, To squire a royal girl of two years old: In leading strings her infant steps to guide, Or with her go-cart amble side by side!

It is a little difficult at this time of day to understand Swift'sindignation. Gay was already in the enjoyment of a sinecure of £150 ayear; he was offered another of £200 a year--for the post ofGentleman-Usher involved no duties save occasional attendance at Court, and to this the poet had shown himself by no means averse. A total giftof £350 a year for nothing really seems rather alluring to a man ofletters, and it is difficult to understand why Gay refused the offer, unless it was, as the editors of the standard edition of Pope'sCorrespondence suggest: "The affluent friends who recommended Gay toreject the provisions were strangers to want, and with unconsciousselfishness they thought less of his necessities than of venturing theirspleen against the Court. "

 * * * * *

Swift, unable effectively to vent his anger on Caroline, chose to regardMrs. Howard as the cause of the mortification of his friend. Mrs. Howard, however, not only had nothing to do with the offer of the placeof Gentleman-Usher to Gay, the patronage being directly in the Queen'shands, but, as has been indicated, was unable to secure for him, oranyone else, a place at Court of any description. Certainly she was inblissful ignorance of having given offence, for as Gay wrote to the Deanso late as February 15th, 1728: "Mrs. Howard frequently asks after youand desires her compliments to you. "

All the matters affected not a whit the relations between Mrs. Howardand Gay; against her he had no ill-feeling, and their correspondencecontinued on the same lines of intimacy as before. 

THE HON. MRS. HOWARD TO JOHN GAY. 

 October, 1727. 

"I hear you expect, and have a mind to have, a letter from me, andthough I have little to say, I find I don't care that you should beeither disappointed or displeased. Tell her Grace of Queensberry I don'tthink she looked kindly upon me when I saw her last; she ought to havelooked and thought very kindly, for I am much more her humble servantthan those who tell her so every day. Don't let her cheat you in thepencils; she designs to give you nothing but her old ones. I suppose shealways uses those worst who love her best, Mrs. Herbert excepted; but Ihear she has done handsomely by her. I cannot help doing the woman thisjustice, that she can now and then distinguish merit. 

"So much for her Grace; now for yourself, John. I desire you will mindthe main chance, and be in town in time enough to let the opera[21] haveplay enough for its life, and for your pockets. Your head is your bestfriend; it could clothe, lodge and wash you, but you neglect it, andfollow that false friend, your heart, which is such a foolish, tenderthing that it makes others despise your head that have not half so gooda one upon their own shoulders. In short, John, you may be a snail or asilk-worm, but by my consent you shall never be a _hare_ again. 

"We go to town next week. Try your interest and bring the duchess up bythe birthday. I did not think to have named her any more in this letter. I find I am a little foolish about her; don't you be a great deal so, for if _she_ will not come, do you come without her. "

 * * * * *

Gay was not the man to keep his feelings of disappointment to himself, and his feelings were so widely known that at the time the followingcopy of verses was handed about in manuscript [22]:--

 A mother who vast pleasure finds, In forming of the children's minds; In midst of whom with vast delight, She passes many a winter's night; Mingles in every play to find, What bias nature gives her mind; Resolving there to take her aim. To guide them to the realms of fame; And wisely make those realms their way, To those of everlasting day; Each boist'rous passion she'd control, And early humanise the soul, The noblest notions would inspire, As they were sitting by the fire; Her offspring, conscious of her care, Transported hung around her chair. Of Scripture heroes would she tell, Whose names they'd lisp, ere they could spell; Then the delighted mother smiles, And shews the story in the tiles. At other times her themes would be, The sages of antiquity; Who left a glorious name behind, By being blessings to their kind: Again she'd take a nobler scope, And tell of Addison and Pope. 

 This happy mother met one day, A book of fables writ by Gay; And told her children, here's treasure, A fund of wisdom, and of pleasure. Such decency! such elegance! Such morals! such exalted sense! Well has the poet found the art, To raise the mind, and mend the heart. Her favourite boy the author seiz'd, And as he read, seem'd highly pleas'd; Made such reflections every page, The mother thought above his age: Delighted read, but scarce was able, To finish the concluding fable. "What ails my child?" the mother cries, "Whose sorrows now have fill'd your eyes?" "Oh, dear Mamma, can he want friends Who writes for such exalted ends? Oh, base, degenerate human kind! Had I a fortune to my mind, Should Gay complain; but now, alas! Through what a world am I to pass; Where friendship's but an empty name, And merit's scarcely paid in fame. " Resolv'd to lull his woes to rest. She told him he should hope the best; That who instruct the royal race. Can't fail of some distinguished place. "Mamma, if you were queen, " says he, "And such a book was writ for me; I know 'tis so much to your taste, That Gay would keep his coach at least. " "My child, what you suppose is true, I see its excellence in you; Poets whose writing mend the mind, A noble recompense should find: But I am barr'd by fortune's frowns. From the best privilege of crowns; The glorious godlike power to bless, And raise up merit in distress. "

 "But, dear Mamma, I long to know. Were that the case, what you'd bestow?" "What I'd bestow, " says she, "My dear, At least five hundred pounds a year. "

[Footnote 1: Johnson: _Lives of the Poets_ (ed. Hill), III, p. 274. ]

[Footnote 2: Letter to Broome, January 30th, 1724 (Pope: _Works_ (ed. Elwin and Courthope, VIII, p. 75. ))]

[Footnote 3: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 6. ]

[Footnote 4: _Ibid_. , XVII, p. 8. ]

[Footnote 5: William Augustus (1721-1765), third son of George III;created Duke of Cumberland, 1726. ]

[Footnote 6: Ambrose Philips, the poet. ]

[Footnote 7: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVI, 389. ]

[Footnote 8: _Ibid_. , XIX. P. 283. ]

[Footnote 9: _Ibid_. , XVII, p. 99. ]

[Footnote 10: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 94. ]

[Footnote 11: To Amesbury, the principal seat of the Duke ofQueensberry. ]

[Footnote 12: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 66. ]

[Footnote 13: _Ibid_. , XVII, p. 81. ]

[Footnote 14: _Ibid_. , XVII, p. 96. ]

[Footnote 15: Louisa (1724-1751), the youngest of George II's children. She married in 1743, Frederick, Prince (afterwards King) of Denmark, ]

[Footnote 16: Johnson: _Lives of the Poets_ (ed. Hill), III, p. 274. ]

[Footnote 17: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVIII, p. 42. ]

[Footnote 18: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 161. ]

[Footnote 19: Mrs. Howard. ]

[Footnote 20: Sir Robert Walpole. ]

[Footnote 21: An allusion to "The Beggar's Opera, " which Gay was thenwriting. ]

[Footnote 22: Printed for the first and only time in "An Account of theLife and Writings of the Author, " in _Plays Written by Mr. John Gay_, 1760. ]

CHAPTER VIII

1727

"THE BEGGAR'S OPERA"

The opera to which allusion is made in Mrs. Howard's letter of October, 1727, was "The Beggar's Opera, " upon which Gay had been actively engagedfor some time past, and which was then nearing completion. "Youremember, " Gay wrote to Swift, October 22nd, 1727, "you were advising meto go into Newgate to finish my scenes the more correctly. I now think Ishall, for I have no attendance to hinder me; but my opera is alreadyfinished. "[1] To which Swift replied from Dublin on November 27th: "I amvery glad your opera is finished, and hope your friends will join thereaders to make it succeed, because you are ill-used by others. "[2]

It was natural that Swift should be especially interested in "TheBeggar's Opera, " because the first suggestion of it had come from Swiftin a letter to Pope, written as far back as August 30th, 1716[3] "Dr. Swift had been observing once to Mr. Gay, what an odd pretty sort ofthing a Newgate Pastoral might make, " Pope once remarked. "Gay wasinclined to try at such a thing for some time, but afterwards thoughtit would be better to write a comedy on the same plan. This was whatgave rise to 'The Beggar's Opera. ' He began on it, and when first hementioned it to Swift, the Doctor did not much like the project. As hecarried it on, he showed what he wrote to both of us; and we now andthen gave a correction, or a word or two of advice; but it was wholly ofhis own writing. When it was done neither of us thought it wouldsucceed. We showed it to Congreve, who, after reading it over, said: 'Itwould either take greatly or be damned confoundedly. "[4]

Dilatory as Gay always was, he contrived to finish his opera by aboutthe end of the year. "John Gay's opera is just on the point ofdelivery, " Pope wrote to Swift in January, 1728. "It may be called, considering its subject, a jail-delivery. Mr. Congreve, with whom I havecommemorated you, is anxious as to its success, and so am I. Whether itsucceeds or not, it will make a great noise, but whether of claps orhisses I know not. At worst, it is in its own nature a thing which hecan lose no reputation by, as he lays none upon it. "[5] Not only Swift, Pope, and Congreve were doubtful as to the opera's chance of success. Colley Cibber refused it for Drury Lane Theatre, and even when it wasaccepted by John Rich for his theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, Quin hadsuch a poor opinion of it, that he refused the part of Captain Macheath. Very sound was the judgment of Rich, immortalised by Pope in "TheDunciad" (Book III, lines 261-264):--

 Immortal Rich! how calm he sits at ease, 'Midst snows of paper, and fierie tale of pease; And proud his Mistress's orders to perform, Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm;

and the opera, to repeat a well-known _mot_ of the day, "made Gayrich and Rich gay. "

"The Beggar's Opera" was produced on January 29th, 1728, with thefollowing cast:--

 _Peachum_ ... ... ... ... ... MR. HIPPISLEY _Lockit_ ... ... ... ... ... MR. HALL _Macheath_ ... ... ... ... ... MR. WALKER _Filch_ ... ... ... ... ... MR. CLARK _Jemmy Twitcher_... ... ... ... MR. H. BULLOCK _Mrs. Peachum_ ... ... ... ... MRS. MARTIN _Polly Peachum_ ... ... ... ... Miss FENTON _Lucy Lockit_ ... ... ... ... MRS. EGLETON _Diana Trapes_ ... ... ... ... MRS. MARTIN

At the first performance the fate of the opera hung for some time in thebalance. Quin is recorded as having said that there was a disposition todamn it, and that it was saved by the song, "O ponder well! be notsevere!" the audience being much affected by the innocent looks ofPolly, when she came to those two lines which exhibit at once a painfuland ridiculous image--

 O ponder well! be not severe! For on the Rope that hangs my Dear Depends poor Polly's Life. [6]

Pope, too, and the rest of Gay's friends were present. "We were all atthe first night of it, in great uncertainty of the event; till we werevery much encouraged by hearing the Duke of Argyll, who sat in thenext box to us, say: "It will do--it must do!--I see it in the eyes ofthem, " he said. "This was a good while before the first act was over, and so gave us ease soon; for the Duke (besides his own good taste)has a more particular knack than any one now living, in discoveringthe taste of the public. He was quite right in this, as usual, thegood nature of the audience appeared stronger and stronger every set, and ended in a clamour of applause. "[7]

The success of the opera was due to many causes. Some liked it for itsbarely veiled allusions on politicians. "Robin of Bagshot, _alias_Gorgon, _alias_ Bluff Bob, _alias_ Carbuncle, _alias_ Bob Booty, " wasvery obviously intended for Walpole and his "dear charmers" for hiswife and Molly Skerrett. It may well be believed that the song, "Howhappy could I be with either" brought down the house; and thehighwayman must have evoked a hearty laugh with--

 And the statesman, because he's so great, Thinks his trade as honest as mine. 

Certainly the songs had much to do in the matter of pleasing theaudience. As a literary work, "The Beggar's Opera" has no great claims, but there is a spontaneous humour about it that has charm. But it wasthe _milieu_ that, acting on the hint thrown out years before by Swift, Gay chose that appealed to the public taste. Highwaymen and women of thetown are not romantic figures, but Gay made the highwaymen handsome andlively, and the women of the town beautiful and attractive, and overthem all he cast a glamour of romance and sentimentalism. Even Newgateseemed a pleasing place, for in this fantasy the author was careful toomit anything of the horrors of a prison in the early eighteenthcentury. Gay, in fact, did for the stage with "The Beggar's Opera" what, a century later Bulwer Lytton and Harrison Ainsworth did for the readingpublic with "Ernest Maltravers, " "Jack Sheppard, " and the rest. 

The morality of the opera was much discussed. Swift took the field, andwrote in its favour in the _Intelligencer_ (No. 3):--

"It is true, indeed, that Mr. Gay, the author of this piece, has beensomewhat singular in the course of his fortune, for it has happened thatafter fourteen years attending the Court, with a large stock of realmerit, a modest and agreeable conversation, a hundred promises, and fivehundred friends, he has failed of preferment, and upon a very weightyreason. He lay under the suspicion of having written a libel, orlampoon, against a great minister. It is true, that great minister wasdemonstratively convinced, and publicly owned his conviction, that Mr. Gay was not the author; but having lain under the suspicion, it seemedvery just that he should suffer the punishment; because in this mostreformed age, the virtues of a prime minister are no more to besuspected than the chastity of Cæsar's wife. 

"It must be allowed, that 'The Beggar's Opera' is not the first of Mr. Gay's works, wherein he has been faulty with regard to courtiers andstatesmen. For, to omit his other pieces, even in his 'Fables, 'published within two years past, and dedicated to the Duke ofCumberland, for which he was promised a reward, he has been thoughtsomewhat too bold upon the courtiers. And although it be highly probablehe meant only the courtiers of former times, yet he acted unwarily, bynot considering that the malignity of some people might misinterpretwhat he said to the disadvantage of present persons and affairs. 

"But I have now done with Mr. Gay as a politician and shall consider himhenceforth only as the author of 'The Beggar's Opera, ' wherein he has, by a turn of humour entirely new, placed vices of all kinds in thestrongest and most odious light, and thereby done eminent service, bothto religion and morality. This appears from the unparalleled success hehas met with. All ranks, parties, and denominations of men, eithercrowding to see his opera, or reading it with delight in their closets;even Ministers of State, whom he is thought to have most offended (nextto those whom the actors represented) appear frequently at the theatre, from a consciousness of their own innocence, and to convince the worldhow unjust a parallel, malice, envy, and disaffection to the Governmenthave made. 

"I am assured that several worthy clergymen in this city went privatelyto see 'The Beggar's Opera' represented; and that the fleering coxcombsin the pit amused themselves with making discoveries, and spreading thenames of those gentlemen round the audience. 

"I shall not pretend to vindicate a clergyman who would appear openlyin his habit at the theatre, with such a vicious crew as might probablystand round him, at such comedies and profane tragedies as are oftenrepresented. Besides, I know very well, that persons of their functionare bound to avoid the appearance of evil, or of giving cause ofoffence. But when the Lords Chancellors, who are Keepers of the King'sConscience; when the Judges of the land, whose title is reverend; whenladies, who are bound by the rules of their sex to the strictestdecency, appear in the theatre without censure; I cannot understand whya young clergyman, who comes concealed out of curiosity to see aninnocent and moral play, should be so highly condemned; nor do I muchapprove the rigour of a great prelate, who said, 'he hoped none of hisclergy were there. ' I am glad to hear there are no weightier objectionsagainst that reverend body, planted in this city, and I wish there nevermay. But I should be very sorry that any of them should be so weak as toimitate a Court chaplain in England, who preached against 'The Beggar'sOpera, ' which will probably do more good than a thousand sermons of sostupid, so injudicious, and so prostitute a divine. 

"In this happy performance of Mr. Gay, all the characters are just, andnone of them carried beyond nature, or hardly beyond practice. Itdiscovers the whole system of that commonwealth, or that _imperium inimperio_ of iniquity established among us, by which neither our livesnor our properties are secure, either in the highways, or in publicassemblies, or even in our own houses. It shows the miserable lives, andthe constant fate, of those abandoned wretches: for how little they selltheir lives and souls; betrayed by their whores, their comrades, and thereceivers and purchasers of those thefts and robberies. This comedycontains likewise a satire, which, without enquiring whether it affectsthe present age, may possibly be useful in times to come; I mean, wherethe author takes the occasion of comparing the common robbers of thepublic, and their various stratagems of betraying, undermining andhanging each other, to the several arts of the politicians in times ofcorruption.... 

"Upon the whole, I deliver my judgment, that nothing but servileattachment to a party, affectation of singularity, lamentable dulness, mistaken zeal, or studied hypocrisy, can have the least reasonableobjection against this excellent moral performance of the celebrated Mr. Gay. "

Of course, if "The Beggar's Opera" is taken as irony, there is reallynothing at all to be said against it; but the majority of any audiencedo not understand irony, and to many the whole thing seemed vicious, anapproval of vice, and even an incitement to wrong-doing. Dr. Herring, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, preached against the Opera in, itis said, Lincoln's Inn Chapel, and censured it as giving encouragementnot only to vice but to crimes, by making a highwayman the hero anddismissing him at last unpunished. In the Preface to Dr. Herring's"Sermons, " it is added that "several street-robbers confessed in Newgatethat they raised their courage at the playhouse by the songs ofMacheath. "[8] Others certainly shared the views of the clergyman. Whenon September 15th, 1773, at the Old Bailey, fifteen prisoners weresentenced to death, forty to transportation, and eight to a whipping, itis recorded that the magistrate, Sir John Fielding, "informed the Benchof Justices that he had last year written to Mr. Garrick concerning theimpropriety of performing 'The Beggar's Opera, ' which never wasrepresented without creating an additional number of real thieves, "[9]and that to this effect he not only wrote to Garrick at Drury LaneTheatre, but also to Colman at Covent Garden Theatre. "Mr. Colman'scompliments to Sir John Fielding, " the latter replied, "he does notthink his the only house in Bow Street where thieves are hardened andencouraged, and will persist in offering the representation of thatadmirable satire, 'The Beggar's Opera. '"[10] Sir John Hawkins, Chairmanof the Middlesex Bench of Justices, also held the view that the Operawas harmful, and in 1776, wrote: "Rapine and violence have beengradually increasing since its first representation. "[11] Dr. Johnsontook a saner view, and one that was subsequently supported by Sir WalterScott, and is generally accepted to-day. "Both these decisions aresurely exaggerated, " he wrote in reference to the opinions expressed bySwift and Dr. Herring. "The play, like many others, was plainly writtenonly to divert, without any moral purpose, and is therefore likely to dogood; nor can it be conceived, without more speculation than liferequires or admits, to be productive of much wit. Highwaymen andhousebreakers seldom frequent the playhouse or mingle in any elegantdiversion; nor is it possible for anyone to imagine that he may rob assafely because he sees Macheath reprieved upon the stage. "[12] Andagain, he said: "I do not believe that any man was ever made a rogue bybeing present at its representation. At the same time I do not deny thatit may have some influence by making the character of a rogue familiarand in some degree pleasing. "[13]

The success of the piece was immense, and its vogue tremendous. "Thefamous 'Beggar's Opera' appeared upon the stage early in the ensuingseason; and was received with greater applause than was ever known:besides being acted in London sixty-three nights without interruption, and renewed the next season with equal applause, it spread into all thegreat towns of England; was played in many places to the thirtieth andfortieth time; and at Bath and Bristol fifty times, " wrote the anonymouseditor of the 1760 edition of Gay's plays. 

"The ladies carried about with them the favourite songs of it in fans, and houses were furnished with it in screens.... The person who actedPolly, till then obscure, became all at once the favourite of the town;her pictures were engraved and sold in great numbers; her life written;books of letters and verses to her published, and pamphlets made even ofher sayings and jests. Furthermore, it drove out of England, for thatseason, the Italian opera, which had carried all before it for severalyears. "[14] According to Richard's account book, the opera ran at thetheatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields for sixty-two (not sixty-three) nights, of which thirty-two nights were in succession, and these thirty-twoperformances realised the total sum of £5, 351, Gay's share amounting to£693. [15] Swift, who was always anxious that Gay should do as well aspossible, wrote to Pope on March 5th: "I hope he [Gay] does not intendto print his Opera before it is acted; for I defy all your subscriptionsto amount to eight hundred pounds, and yet I believe he lost as muchmore, for want of human prudence. "[16] The advice, however, came toolate, for Gay had already sold the copyright of the "Fables" and "TheBeggar's Opera" for ninety guineas. The opera was published on February14th, 1728. 

Gay was in these days the happiest man in the world. His play wassuccessful, he was making money, and he had had his little dig atWalpole. "John Gay ... Is at present so employed in the elevated airs ofhis Opera ... That I can scarce obtain a categorical answer ... Toanything, " Pope wrote to Swift in February, "but the Opera succeedsextremely, to yours and my extreme satisfaction, of which he promisesthis post to give you a full account. "[17]

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 Whitehall, February 15th, 1728. 

"I have deferred writing to you from time to time, till I could give youan account of 'The Beggar's Opera. ' It is acted at the playhouse inLincoln's Inn Fields with such success that the playhouse has beencrowded every night. To-night is the fifteenth time of acting, and it isthought it will run a fortnight longer. I have ordered Motte[18] to sendthe play to you the first opportunity. I have made no interest, neitherfor approbation or money: nor has anybody been pressed to take ticketsfor my benefit: notwithstanding which, I think I shall make an additionto my fortune of between six and seven hundred pounds. I know thisaccount will give you pleasure, as I have pushed through this precariousaffair without servility or flattery. 

"As to any favours from great men, I am in the same state you left me, but I am a great deal happier, as I have no expectations. The Duchess ofQueensberry has signalised her friendship to me upon this occasion insuch a conspicuous manner, that I hope (for her sake) you will take careto put your fork to all its proper uses, and suffer nobody for thefuture to put their knives in their mouths. Lord Cobham says, I shouldhave printed it in Italian over against the English, that the ladiesmight have understood what they read. The outlandish (as they now callit) Opera has been so thin of late, that some have called it theBeggar's Opera, and if the run continues, I fear I shall haveremonstrances drawn up against me by the Royal Academy ofMusic. "[19][20]

DEAN SWIFT TO JOHN GAY. 

 Dublin, February 26th, 1728. 

"I wonder whether you begin to taste the pleasures of independency; orwhether you do not sometimes leer upon the Court, _sculo retorto_? Willyou now think of an annuity when you are two years older, and havedoubled your purchase-money? Have you dedicated your opera, and got theusual dedication fee of twenty guineas? Does W[alpole] think youintended an affront to him in your opera? Pray God he may, for he hasheld the longest hand at hazard that ever fell to any sharper's share, and keeps his run when the dice are charged. I bought your Opera to-dayfor sixpence--a cussed print. I find there is neither dedication norpreface, both which wants I approve; it is the _grand gout_. "

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 March 20th, 1728. 

"'The Beggar's Opera' has been acted now thirty-six times, and was asfull the last night as the first; and as yet there is not the leastprobability of a thin audience; though there is a discourse about thetown, that the directors of the Royal Academy of Music design to solicitagainst its being played on the outlandish opera days, as it is nowcalled. On the benefit day of one of the actresses, last week, they wereobliged to give out another play, or dismiss the audience. A play wasgiven out, but the people called for 'The Beggar's Opera'; and they wereforced to play it, or the audience would not have stayed. 

"I have got by all this success between seven and eight hundred pounds, and Rich (deducting the whole charge of the house) has cleared alreadynear four thousand pounds. In about a month I am going to the Bath withthe Duchess of Marlborough and Mr. Congreve; for I have no expectationof receiving any favours from the Court. The Duchess of Queensberry isin Wiltshire, where she has had the small-pox in so favourable a waythat she had not above seven or eight on her face; she is now perfectlyrecovered. 

"There is a mezzotinto print published to-day of Polly, the heroine of'The Beggar's Opera, ' who was before unknown, and is now in so highvogue that I am in doubt whether her fame does not surpass that of theOpera itself. "[21]

 * * * * *

Pope and Swift were keenly interested in Gay's triumph, and in theircorrespondence are many references to the piece. "Mr. Gay's Opera hasbeen acted near forty days running, and will certainly continue thewhole season, " Pope wrote to Swift, March 23rd, 1728. "So he has morethan a fence about his thousand pounds; he will soon be thinking of afence about his two thousand. Shall no one of us live as we would wisheach other to live? Shall he have no annuity, you no settlement on thisside, and I no prospect of getting to you on the other?"[22]

DEAN SWIFT TO JOHN GAY. 

 Dublin, March 28th, 1728. 

"We have your opera for sixpence, and we are as full of it _pro modulonostro_ as London can be; continually acting, and house crammed, and theLord-Lieutenant several times there, laughing his heart out. I wish youhad sent me a copy, as I desired to oblige an honest bookseller. Itwould have done Motte no harm, for no English copy has been sold, butthe Dublin one has run prodigiously. 

"I did not understand that the scene of Lockit and Peachum's quarrel wasan imitation of one between Brutus and Cassius, till I was told it. 

"I wish Macheath, when he was going to be hanged, had imitatedAlexander the Great, when he was dying. I would have had hisfellow-rogues desire his commands about a successor, and he to answer, 'Let it be the most worthy, ' etc. 

"We hear a million of stories about the Opera, of the encore at thesong, 'That was levell'd at me, ' when two great ministers were in a boxtogether, and all the world staring at them. 

"I am heartily glad your Opera has mended your purse, though perhaps itmay spoil your Court. 

"I think that rich rogue, Rich, should in conscience make you a presentof two or three hundred guineas. I am impatient that such a dog, bysitting still, should get five times more than the author. 

"You told me a month ago of £700, and have you not yet made up theeighth? I know not your methods. How many third days are you allowed, and how much is each day worth, and what did you get for copy?

"Will you desire my Lord Bolingbroke, Mr. Pulteney, and Mr. Pope, tocommand you to buy an annuity with two thousand pounds? that you maylaugh at Courts, and bid Ministers 'hiss, etc. '--and ten to one theywill be ready to grease you when you are fat. 

"I hope your new Duchess will treat you at the Bath, and that you willbe too wise to lose your money at play. 

"Get me likewise Polly's mezzotinto. 

"Lord, how the schoolboys at Westminster and university lads adore youat this juncture! Have you made as many men laugh as ministers can makeweep. "

 * * * * *

Colley Cibber, in his "Apology" said that "Gay had more skilfullygratified the public taste than all the brightest authors that everwrote before him, " and although this was undoubtedly a piece of friendlyexaggeration, it is a fact that John Gay was now a personage. "Mr. Gay'sfame continues; but his riches are in a fair way of diminishing; he isgone to the Bath, " Martha Blount wrote to Swift, May 7th;[23] and twomonths later, with great pride, Gay told Swift, "My portrait mezzotintois published from Mrs. Howard's painting. "[24] Indirectly, he securedfurther notoriety when, in the summer, Lavinia Fenton, who had playedthe heroine in the Opera, ran away with a Duke. "The Duke of Bolton, Ihear, " he wrote to Swift from Bath, "has run away with Polly Peachum, having settled £400 a year on her during pleasure, and upon disagreement£200 a year. "[25] She had played in the whole sixty-three performancesof the Opera, the forty-seventh performance being set aside for herbenefit. The sixty-third performance took place on June 19th, and thatwas her last appearance on the boards of a theatre. In 1751, shortlyafter the death of his wife, the Duke married her, she being then aboutforty-three, and he sixty-six. [26]

[Footnote 1: Swift: _Work_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 157. ]

[Footnote 2: _Ibid_. , XVII, p. 162. ]

[Footnote 3: _See_ p. 41 of this work. ]

[Footnote 4: Spence: _Anecdotes_ (ed. Singer), p. 159. ]

[Footnote 5: Pope: _Works_ (ed. Elwin and Courthope), VII, p. 111. ]

[Footnote 6: Boswell: _Life of Johnson_ (ed. Hill), II, p. 368. ]

[Footnote 7: Spence: _Anecdotes_, p. 159. ]

[Footnote 8: Dr. Herring: _Sermons_ (1763), p. 5. ]

[Footnote 9: _Annual Register_ (1773), I, p. 132. ]

[Footnote 10: Genest: _History of the Stage_, III, p. 223. ]

[Footnote 11: _History of Music_, V, p. 317. ]

[Footnote 12: _Lives of the Poets_ (ed. Hill), III, p. 278. ]

[Footnote 13: Boswell: _Life of Johnson_ (ed. Hill), II, p. 367. ]

[Footnote 14: _Plays Written by Mr. John Gay: With an Account of theLife and Writings of the Author_ (1760), VIII. ]

[Footnote 15: _Notes and Queries_, First Series, I, 178. ]

[Footnote 16: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 216. ]

[Footnote 17: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 165. ]

[Footnote 18: Benjamin Motte, the bookseller. ]

[Footnote 19: The managers and patrons of the Italian Opera, with theKing at their head, had formed themselves into an association under thistitle. ]

[Footnote 20: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 176. ]

[Footnote 21: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 180. ]

[Footnote 22: _Ibid_. , XVII, p. 183. ]

[Footnote 23: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 176. ]

[Footnote 24: _Ibid_. , XVII, p. 189. ]

[Footnote 25: _Ibid_. , XVII, p. 188. ]

[Footnote 26: "The Beggar's Opera" has been revived many times. The lastand most successful revival was produced by Mr. Nigel Playfair in June, 1920. At the moment of going to press the first anniversary of therevival has just been celebrated. A copy of the programme of the firstperformance of this revival is printed, by kind permission of Mr. Playfair, on page 162 of this work. ]

CHAPTER IX

1728-1729

"POLLY"

The success of "The Beggar's Opera" heartened Gay, as a first greatsuccess heartens any man. At once he conceived the idea of following upthis triumph with another opera, but, before actually getting to work, he took things easily. In March he stayed at Cashiobury with Pulteney, visiting from there Lord Bathurst and the Bolingbrokes. Shortly after hewent to Bath, where he found many friends, including Henrietta, Duchessof Marlborough. 

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 Bath, May 16th, 1728. 

"I have been at the Bath about ten days, and I have played at no gamebut once, and that at backgammon with Mr. Lewis, who is very much yourhumble servant. He is here upon account of the ill state of health ofhis wife, who has as yet found very little benefit from the waters. Lordand Lady Bolingbroke are here; and I think she is better than when Icame; they stay, as I guess, only about a fortnight longer. They bothdesired me to make their compliments; as does Mr. Congreve, who is in avery ill state of health, but somewhat better since he came here.... Ido not know how long I shall stay here, because I am now, as I have beenall my life, at the disposal of others. I drink the waters, and am inhopes to lay in a stock of health, some of which I wish to communicateto you.... 'The Beggar's Opera' is acted here; but our Polly has got nofame, though the actors have got money. I have sent [you] by Dr. Delany, the Opera, Polly Peachum, and Captain Macheath. I would havesent you my own head (which is now engraving to make up the gang), butit is not yet finished. I suppose you must have heard that I have hadthe honour to have had a sermon preached against my works by a Courtchaplain, which I look upon as no small addition to my fame. "[1]

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 Bath, July 6th, 1728. 

"In five or six days I set out upon an excursion to Herefordshire, toLady Scudamore's, but shall return here the beginning of August.... Theweather is extremely hot, the place is very empty; I have an inclinationto study, but the heat makes it impossible. "[2]

 * * * * *

"I suppose Mr. Gay will return from the Bath with twenty pounds moreflesh and two hundred pounds less in money, " Swift wrote to Pope on July16th. "Providence never designed him to be above two-and-twenty, by thisthoughtlessness and cullibility. He has as little foresight of age, sickness, poverty, or loss of admirers, as a girl of fifteen. "[3] Fromthis it may be deduced that Gay, whenever he was free from an attack ofcolic, persevered in the pleasures of the table and of his favouritequadrille. 

JOHN GAY TO ALEXANDER POPE. 

 August 2nd, 1728. 

"I have heard more than once from our friend at Court, who seemed, inthe letter she writ, to be in high health and spirits. Considering themultiplicity of pleasures and delights that one is overrun with in thoseplaces, I wonder how anyone has health and spirits enough to supportthem. I am heartily glad she has, and whenever I hear so, I find itcontributes to mine. You see, I am not free from dependence, though Ihave less attendance than I had formerly; for a great deal of my ownwelfare still depends upon hers. Is the widow's house to be disposed ofyet? I have not given up my pretensions to the Dean. If it was to beparted with, I wish one of us had it. I hope you wish so too, and thatMrs. Blount and Mrs. Howard wish the same, and for the very same reasonthat I wish it. "[4]

THE HON. MRS. HOWARD TO JOHN GAY. 

 Hampton Court, August [1728]. 

"I am glad you have passed your time so agreeable. I need not tell youhow mine has been employed; but as I know you wish me well, I am sureyou will be glad to hear that I am much better; whether I owe it to theoperation I underwent, or to my medicines, I cannot tell; but I begin tothink I shall entirely get the better of my illness. I have written toDr. Arbuthnot, both to give him a particular account, and to ask hisopinion about the Bath. I know him so well that, though in this lastillness he was not my physician, he is so much my friend, that he isglad I am better. Put him in mind to tell me what he would have me do inrelation to Lady F. ; and to send me a direction to write to her. 

"I have made Mr. Nash governor to Lord Peterborough, and LordPeterborough governor to Mr. Pope. If I should come to the Bath, Ipropose being governess to the Doctor [Arbuthnot] and you. I know youboth to be so unruly, that nothing less than Lady P. 's spirit or minecould keep any authority over you. When you write to Lady Scudamore, make my compliments to her. I have had two letters from Chesterfield, which I wanted you to answer for me; and I have had a thousand otherthings that I have wanted you to do for me; but, upon my word, I havenot had one place to dispose of, or you should not be without one.... Myhumble service to the Duchess of Marlborough and Mr. Congreve. "

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 London, December 2nd, 1728. 

"I have had a very severe attack of a fever, which, by the care of ourfriend, Dr. Arbuthnot, has, I hope, almost left me. I have been confinedabout ten days, but never to my bed, so that I hope soon to get abroadabout my business; that is, the care of the second part of 'The Beggar'sOpera, ' which was almost ready for rehearsal; but Rich received the Dukeof Grafton's commands (upon an information that he was rehearsing a playimproper to be represented), not to rehearse any new play whatever, tillhis Grace has seen it. What will become of it I know not; but I am sureI have written nothing that can be legally suppressed, unless thesetting vices in general in an odious light, and virtue in an amiableone, may give offence. 

"I passed five or six months this year at the Bath with the Duchess ofMarlborough; and then, in the view of taking care of myself, writ thispiece. If it goes on in case of success, I have taken care to makebetter bargains for myself. "[5]

 * * * * *

Gay was naturally greatly elated by the success of "The Beggar's Opera. "This recompensed him for the neglect, or, as undoubtedly he regarded it, the ingratitude of the Court, and, what pleased him as much, it filledhis purse, which he always liked to fill, apparently for the joy ofemptying it as soon as possible. Also, it greatly enhanced hisreputation: from a writer of minor importance, he now took his place asa personage. After a long apprenticeship, he had at length "arrived. "

Thus encouraged, he promptly composed a sequel to "The Beggar's Opera, "which he called by the name of the heroine of that piece, that is tosay, "Polly. " The best summary of "Polly" has been given by Mr. Paull, in his interesting paper on Gay[6]:--

"Macheath has been transported across the herring-pond ... He succeedsin escaping from the plantations, and has become the leader of a band ofpirates, under an assumed name, and disguised as a black man. JennyDriver is now his mistress (presumably he has forgotten her treachery in'The Beggar's Opera'). Polly sails across the ocean to find him, but isentrapped by Mrs. Trapes, a procuress, who sells her to Ducat, a richmerchant. Mrs. Ducat, who is jealous, helps Polly to escape; she assumesa boy's dress and continues her search for Macheath. She is captured bythe pirates, and she and Macheath meet, neither recognising the other. The pirates are attacking the English settlement; the Indians arehelping the settlers. At first the pirates are successful, and the youngIndian Prince is captured, but ultimately they are defeated, Pollyherself capturing Macheath, who is condemned to death by the IndianPrince. Then she learns from Jenny Driver who the pirate chief is, andhis life is promised her as her reward; but his execution has alreadytaken place, and she has to console herself with the hand of the IndianPrince, who has fallen in love with her. Even this skeleton will showthat the novelty and unity of design which counted for so much in 'TheBeggar's Opera' are changed for intricacy of plot. There is no cohesionin the story: there is no reason why the catastrophe should be broughtabout in one way rather than another; what interest there is turns on animprobable story rather than on the development of character. EvidentlyGay reckoned largely on the opportunities he had afforded himself forsatire on the Court, and for contrasting the noble and untutored savagewith the man tainted by the vices of civilisation. "

"Polly" was accepted for production by Rich at the theatre in Lincoln'sInn Fields: the subsequent proceedings are but told by the authorhimself in his Preface, dated March 25th, 1729, to the printed versionof the book of the opera:--

"After Mr. Rich and I were agreed upon terms and conditions forbringing this piece on the stage, and that everything was ready for arehearsal, the Lord Chamberlain sent an order from the country toprohibit Mr. Rich to suffer any play to be rehearsed upon his stage tillit has been first of all supervised by his Grace. As soon as Mr. Richcame from his Grace's secretary (who had sent for him to receive thebefore-mentioned order) he came to my lodgings and acquainted me withthe orders he had received. 

"Upon the Lord Chamberlain's coming to town I was confined by sickness, but in four or five days I went abroad on purpose to wait upon hisGrace, with a faithful and genuine copy of this piece, excepting the_errata_ of the transcriber. 

"As I have heard several suggestions and false insinuations concerningthe copy, I take this occasion in the most solemn manner to affirm, thatthe very copy I delivered to Mr. Rich was written in my own hand, somemonths before at the Bath, from my own first foul blotted papers; fromthis, that for the playhouse was transcribed, from whence Mr. Steele, the prompter, copied that which I delivered to the Lord Chamberlain;and, excepting my own foul blotted papers, I do protest I know of noother copy whatsoever, than those I have mentioned. 

"The copy which I gave into the hands of Mr. Rich had been seen beforeby several persons of the greatest distinction and veracity, who will dome the honour and justice to attest it; so that not only by them, but byMr. Rich and Mr. Steele, I can (against all insinuation or positiveaffirmation) prove in the most clear and undeniable manner, if occasionrequired, what I have here upon my own honour and credit asserted. TheIntroduction, indeed, was not shown to the Lord Chamberlain, which, as Ihad not then settled, was never transcribed in the playhouse copy. 

"It was on Saturday morning, December 7th, 1728, that I waited upon theLord Chamberlain. I desired to have the honour of reading the Opera tohis Grace, but he ordered me to leave it with him, which I did uponexpectation of having it returned on the Monday following; but I had itnot till Thursday, December 12th, when I received it from his Grace withthis answer, '_that it was not allowed to be acted, but commanded to besuppressed_. ' This was told me in general, without any reason assigned, or any charge against me, of my having given any particular offence. 

"Since this prohibition, I have been told, that I am accused, in generalterms, of having written many disaffected libels and seditiouspamphlets. As it hath ever been my utmost ambition (if that word may beused on this ocasion) to lead a quiet and inoffensive life, I thought myinnocence in this particular would never have required a justification;and as this kind of writing is what I have ever detested, and neverpractised, I am persuaded so groundless a calumny can never be believedbut by those who do not know me. But as general aspersions of this sorthave been cast upon me, I think myself called upon to declare myprinciples; and I do, with the strictest truth, affirm that I am asloyal a subject, and as firmly attached to the present happyestablishment, as any of those who have the greatest places or pensions. I have been informed too, that, in the following play, I have beencharged with writing immoralities; that it is filled with slander, andcalumny against particular great persons, and that Majesty itself isendeavoured to be brought into ridicule and contempt. 

"As I knew every one of these charges was in every point absolutelyfalse and without the least grounds, at first I was not at all affectedby them; but when I found they were still insisted upon, and thatparticular passages, which were not in the play, were quoted, andpropagated to support what had been suggested, I could no longer bear tolie under those false accusations; so, by printing it, I have submittedand given up all present views of profit which might accrue from thestage; which undoubtedly will be some satisfaction to the worthygentlemen who have treated me with so much candour and humanity, andrepresented me in such favourable colours. 

"But as I am conscious to myself, that my only intention was to lash, ingeneral, the reigning of fashionable vices, and to recommend and setvirtue in as amiable light as I could; to justify and vindicate my owncharacter, I thought myself obliged to print the Opera without delay, inthe manner I have done. 

"As the play was principally designed for representation, I hope, whenit is read, it will be considered in that light; and when all that hathbeen said against it shall appear to be entirely misunderstood ormisrepresented; if, some time hence, it should be permitted to appear onthe stage, I think it necessary to acquaint the public that, as far as acontract of this kind can be binding, I am engaged to Mr. Rich to haveit represented upon his theatre. "

 * * * * *

It cannot be denied that there was adequate ground for the LordChamberlain's _veto_. In "The Beggar's Opera" Gay had beyond allquestion lampooned Walpole, and in "Polly" he returned to the attack, there being no doubt that in the opening scene, Ducat, the West Indianplanter, was intended for the Minister. The production might well haveled to disturbances if both political parties had been represented atthe first performance. Walpole was the least vindictive of men, aswitness his generous attitude towards Sunderland and the other ministersinvolved in the scandal of the South Sea "Bubble, " but he may well havethought that Gay was going too far. Gay himself was harmless, but, asWalpole knew, the author, either consciously or unconsciously, wasacting for the Opposition party; and Walpole, when he thought it worthwhile, had a short and effective way with his political enemies. 

The prohibition being largely an affair of party, or at least being soregarded, a battle royal ensued. "Polly" could not be performed inpublic, but, there being no censorship of books, it could be printed. Gay's friends, therefore, decided that the Opera should be published bysubscription. To a man and a woman the Opposition rallied round theauthor. The Duchess of Queensberry "touted" for him everywhere, even atCourt. The King at a Drawing-room asked what she was doing. "What mustbe agreeable, I am sure, " she replied, "to anyone so humane as yourMajesty, for it is an act of charity, and a charity to which I do notdespair of bringing your Majesty to contribute. " This, of course, was agratuitous piece of impertinence--for the Lord Chamberlain acts as theofficial mouthpiece of the Sovereign--and it could not be overlooked. Another story is: The Duchess was so vehement in her attempt to have theembargo removed from Gay's play, that she offered to read it to HisMajesty in his closet, that he might be satisfied there was no offencein it. George II escaped from this dilemma by saying, he should bedelighted to receive her Grace in his closet, but he hoped to amuse herbetter than by the literary employment she proposed. [7]

Whatever the true story, the day after the Duchess's interview with theKing (February 27th, 1729), William Stanhope, the Vice-Chamberlain, carried to the Duchess a verbal message not to come to Court; whereuponshe sat down and wrote a letter for him to take to his Majesty. "TheDuchess of Queensberry, " so ran her reply, "is surprised and wellpleased that the King hath given her so agreeable a command as to stayfrom Court, where she never came for diversion, but to bestow a greatcivility on the King and Queen; she hopes by such an unprecedented orderas this is, that the King will see as few as he wishes at his Court, particularly such as are to think or speak truth. I dare not dootherwise, and ought not, nor could have imagined that it would not havebeen the very highest compliment that I could possibly pay the King toendeavour to support truth and innocence in his house, particularly whenthe King and Queen both told me that they had not read Mr. Gay's play. Ihave certainly done right, then, to stand by my own words rather thanhis Grace of Grafton's, who hath neither made use of truth, judgment, nor honour, through this whole affair, either for himself or hisfriends. "[8] Stanhope read this, and begged the Duchess to reflectbefore sending it. She consented to write another letter, did so, andhanded it to him. He chose the first. The Duke of Queensberry supportedhis wife, and although the King pressed him to remain, resigned hisoffice of Admiral of Scotland--though Gay wrote to Swift, [9] "this hewould have done, if the Duchess had not met with this treatment, uponaccount of ill-usage from the Ministers, " and that this incident"hastened him in what he had determined. " The affair created an immensesensation in Court circles. "The Duchess of Queensberry is still thetalk of the town. She is going to Scotland, " Mrs. Pendarves wrote toMrs. Anne Granville, March 14th, 1729.... "My Lady Hervey told her theother day that 'now she was banished, the Court had lost its chiefornament, ' the Duchess replied, 'I am entirely of your mind. ' It isthought my Lady Hervey spoke to her with a sneer, if so, her Grace'sanswer was a very good one. "[10]

One of the immediate results of the campaign was that the apartmentsthat had been granted to Gay in Whitehall, which belonged to the Crown, had, by order, to be surrendered. On the other hand, two large editions, amounting to 10, 500 copies, of "Polly, An Opera: being the Second Partof 'The Beggar's Opera. ' Written by Mr. Gay. With the Songs and Bassesengraved on Copper-plates, " were printed in 1729, and from the sale Gayderived between £1, 100 and £1, 200. [11] In 1777 Colman produced "Polly"in a revised version, but it failed to attract. 

There was an end of Gay's hopes of Court preferment, that was clear toevery one. It was not unexpected. "I wish John Gay success in hispursuit, " Bolingbroke had written to Swift in June, 1727, "but I thinkhe has some qualities which will keep him down in the world. "[12] Whenthe worst was known, Arbuthnot wrote to Swift on the following November30th: "There is certainly a fatality upon poor Gay. As for hope ofpreferment [at St. James's], he has laid it aside. He has made a prettygood bargain (that is, a Smithfield one) for a little place in theCustom-house, which was to bring him in about a hundred a year. It wasdone as a favour to an old man, and not at all to Gay. When everythingwas concluded, the man repented, and said he would not part with hisplace. I have begged Gay not to buy an annuity upon my life; I am sure Ishould not live a week. "[13]

 * * * * *

It may be that Gay thought that he might in time live down the disfavourat Court in which he had been involved by the Duke and Duchess ofQueensberry and his other partisans. He may even have had a momentaryhope, in 1730, when the office of Poet-Laureate was vacant that theposition might be offered to him, who had written "Fables" for a youngPrince. When Colley Cibber was appointed, Gay probably had it broughthome to him that his day as a courtier had passed for good and all. Certainly he is credited, though on what authority is not known, with ashare in the burlesque, "Ode for the New Year [1731]. Written by ColleyCibber, Esq. , " in which his disappointment is vented in somewhat coarseexpression. This begins, This is the day when, right or wrong, I, Colley Bays, Esquire, Must for my sack indite a song, And thrum my venal lyre. 

The King is attacked, and there is a disgraceful reference to theQueen:--

 O may she always meet success In every scheme and job, And still continue to caress That honest statesman Bob. 

That Gay was furious there is no question, and he attacked Walpole inone of the second series of his "Fables" (which appeared posthumously in1738), entitled "The Vulture, the Sparrow, and Other Birds, " whichconcluded:

 In days of yore (my cautious rhymes Always except the present times) A greedy Vulture, skill'd in game, Inured to guilt, unawed by shame, Approach'd the throne in evil hour, And, step by step, intrudes to power. When at the royal eagle's ear. He longs to ease the monarch's care. The monarch grants. With proud elate, Behold him, minister of state! Around him throng the feather'd rout; Friends must be served, and some must out: Each thinks his own the best pretension; This asks a place, and that a pension. The nightingale was set aside: A forward daw his room supplied. [14] This bird (says he), for business fit Has both sagacity and wit. With all his turns, and shifts, and tricks, He's docile, and at nothing sticks. Then with his neighbours, one so free At all times will connive at me. The hawk had due distinction shown, For parts and talents like his own. Thousands of hireling cocks attend him, As blust'ring bullies to defend him. At once the ravens were discarded, And magpies with their posts rewarded. Those fowls of omen I detest, That pry into another's nest. State lies must lose all good intent, For they foresee and croak th' event. My friends ne'er think, but talk by rote, Speak when they're taught, and so to vote. When rogues like these (a Sparrow cries) To honour and employment rise I court no favour, ask no place, From such, preferment is disgrace: Within my thatch'd retreat I find (What these ne'er feel) true peace of mind. 

The animus is evident, and it is clear that Gay's sense of humour hadentirely deserted him. A man who had been a hanger-on at Court for morethan ten years, and bidding diligently all the time for a sinecure, could but arouse laughter when, discarded at length by those in power, he says proudly, "I court no favour, ask no place. "

[Footnote 1: Swift: _Works_, XVII, p. 182. ]

[Footnote 2: _Ibid_. , XVII, p. 188. ]

[Footnote 3: _Ibid_. , XVII, p. 189. ]

[Footnote 4: Pope: _Works_ (ed. Elwin and Courthope), VII, p. 429. ]

[Footnote 5: Swift: _Works_, XVII, p. 205]

[Footnote 6: _Fortnightly Review_, June, 1912]

[Footnote 7: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 228 (note). ]

[Footnote 8: Hervey: _Memoirs_, I, p. 123. ]

[Footnote 9: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 228. ]

[Footnote 10: Mrs. Delany: _Memoirs_, I, p. 198. ]

[Footnote 11: Nichol: _Literary Anecdotes_, I, p. 405. ]

[Footnote 12: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 114. ]

[Footnote 13: _Ibid_. , XVII, p. 157. ]

[Footnote 14: This appears to be a reference to the appointment ofCibber as Poet Laureate. ]

CHAPTER X

1729

CORRESPONDENCE

With the composition of "Polly, " the literary life of Gay camepractically to an end, although he survived until December 4th, 1732. During these four years he worked not at all, save occasionally on thesecond series of "Fables. "

After the prohibition of "Polly, " Gay, who had been ill during 1728, hada severe attack of fever, during which he was attended by the faithfulArbuthnot, and carefully tended by the Duchess of Queensberry. 

ALEXANDER POPE TO JOHN GAY. 

 [_circa_ December, 1728. ]

"No words can tell you the great concern I feel for you; I assure you itwas not, and is not, lessened by the immediate apprehension I have nowevery day lain under of losing my mother. Be assured, no duty less thanthat should have kept me one day from attending your condition. I wouldcome and take a room by you at Hampstead, to be with you daily, were shenot still in danger of death. I have constantly had particular accountsof you from the doctor [Arbuthnot], which have not ceased to alarm meyet. God preserve your life, and restore your health! I really beg itfor my own sake, for I feel I love you more than I thought in health, though I always loved you a great deal. If I am so unfortunate as tobury my poor mother, and yet have the good fortune to have my prayersheard for you, I hope we may live most of our remaining days together. If, as I believe, the air of a better clime, as the southern part ofFrance, may be thought useful for your recovery, thither I would go withyou infallibly; and it is very probable we might get the Dean [Swift]with us, who is in that abandoned state already in which I shall shortlybe, as to other cares and duties. Dear Gay, be as cheerful as yoursufferings will permit: God is a better friend than a Court: even anyhonest man is a better. I promise you my entire friendship in allevents. "

 * * * * *

Gay gradually got well. "I am glad to hear of your recovery, and theoftener I hear it, the better, when it becomes easy to you to give it, "Pope, who remained a regular correspondent, wrote to him in January, 1729. But, though Gay was better in health, his spirits were low. 

JOHN GAY TO ALEXANDER POPE. 

 [Feb. Or March, 1729. ]

"My melancholy increases, and every hour threatens me with some returnof my distemper, nay, I think I may rather say I have it on me. Not thedivine looks, the kind favours, and the expressions of the divineDuchess, who, hereafter, shall be in the place of a queen to me--nay, she shall be my queen--nor the inexpressible goodness of the Duke, canin the least cheer me. The Drawing-room no more receives light fromthose two stars. There is now what Milton says is in hell--darknessvisible. Oh, that I had never known what a Court was! Dear Pope, what abarren soil (to me so) have I been striving to produce something out of. Why did I not take your advice before my writing Fables for the Duke, not to write them! It is my very hard fate I must get nothing, write forthem or against them. I find myself in such a strange confusion anddepression of spirits that I have not strength enough even to make mywill, though I perceive by many warnings I have no continuing city here. I begin to look upon myself as one already dead, and desire, my dear Mr. Pope, whom I love as my own soul, if you survive me, as you certainlywill, that you will, if a stone should mark the place of my grave, seethese words put upon it:--

 Life is a jest, and all things show it, I thought so once, but now I know it, with what more you may think proper. If anyone should ask how I couldcommunicate this after death, let it be known, it is not meant so, butmy present sentiment in life. What the bearer brings besides thisletter, should I die without a will, which I am the likelier to do, asthe law will settle my small estate much as I should do so myself, letit remain with you, as it has long done with me, the remembrance of adead friend; but there is none like you, living or dead. "

Both Swift and Pope remained faithful to Gay, and in theircorrespondence there are many allusions to him. "Mr. Gay, " wrote Swiftto Pope, "is a scandal to all lusty young fellows with healthycountenances; and, I think, he is not intemperate in a physical sense. Iam told he has an asthma, which is a disease I commiserate more thandeafness, because it will not leave a man quiet either sleeping orwaking. "[1]

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 From the Duke of Queensberry's, Burlington Gardens. March 18th, 1729. 

"I am but just recovered from the severest fit of sickness that everanybody had who escaped death. I was several times given up by thephysicians, and everybody that attended me; and upon my recovery wasjudged to be in so ill a condition, that I should be miserable for theremainder of my life; but contrary to all expectation, I am perfectlyrecovered, and have no remainder of the distempers that attacked me, which were at the same time, fever, asthma, and pleurisy. 

"I am now in the Duke of Queensberry's house, and have been so eversince I left Hampstead; where I was carried at a time that it wasthought I could not live a day. Since my coming to town, I have beenvery little abroad, the weather has been so severe. 

"I must acquaint you (because I know it will please you) that during mysickness I had many of the kindest proofs of friendship, particularlyfrom the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry, who, if I had been theirnearest relation and nearest friend, could not have treated me with moreconstant attendance then; and they continue the same to me now. 

"You must undoubtedly have heard, that the Duchess took up my defencewith the King and Queen, in the cause of my play, and that she has beenforbid the Court for interesting herself to increase my fortune, by thepublication of it without being acted. The Duke, too, has given up hisemployment (which he would have done if the Duchess had not met withthis treatment) upon account of ill-usage from the Ministers; but thishardened him in what he had determined. 

"The play ['Polly '] is now almost printed, with the music, words, andbasses, engraved on thirty-one copper-plates, which, by my friends'assistance, has a possibility to turn greatly to my advantage. TheDuchess of Marlborough has given me a hundred pounds for one copy; andothers have contributed very handsomely; but as my account is not yetsettled, I cannot tell you particulars. 

"For writing in the cause of virtue, and against the fashionable vices, I am looked upon at present as the most obnoxious person, almost, inEngland. Mr. Pulteney tells me I have got the start of him. Mr. Popetells me that I am dead, and that this obnoxiousness is the reward formy inoffensiveness in my former life. 

"I wish I had a book ready to send you; but I believe I shall not beable to complete the work till the latter end of next week.... 

"I am impatient to finish my work, for I want the country air; not thatI am ill, but to recover my strength; and I cannot leave my work till itis finished. 

"While I am writing this, I am in the room next to our dining-room, withsheets all around it, and two people from the binder folding sheets. Iprint the book at my own expense, in quarto, which is to be sold for sixshillings, with the music. 

"You see I do not want industry; and I hope you will allow that I havenot the worst economy. 

"Mrs. Howard has declared herself strongly, both to the King and Queen, as my advocate. The Duchess of Queensberry is allowed to have shown morespirit, more honour, and more goodness, than was thought possible in ourtimes; I should have added, too, more understanding and good sense. 

"You see my fortune (as I hope my virtue will) increases by oppression. I go to no Courts, I drink no wine; and am calumniated even by Ministersof State; and yet am in good spirits. 

"Most of the courtiers, though otherwise my friends, refused tocontribute to my undertaking. But the City, and the people of England, take my part very warmly; and, I am told, the best of the citizens willgive me proofs of it by their contributions. 

"I cannot omit telling you, that Dr. Arbuthnot's attendance and care ofme showed him the best of friends. Dr. Hollins, though entirely astranger to me, was joined with him, and used me in the kindest and mosthandsome manner. "[2]

 * * * * *

In consequence of this hubbub about "Polly, " Gay became a notoriouscharacter, as Arbuthnot in a letter to Swift (March 19th, 1729) remarksvery humorously. "John Gay, I may say with vanity, owes his life, underGod, to the unwearied endeavours and care of your humble servant; for aphysician who had not been passionately his friend could not have savedhim, " he wrote. "I had, besides my personal concern for him, othermotives of my care. He is now become a public person, a littleSacheverell; and I took the same pleasure in saving him, as Radcliffedid in preserving my Lord Chief Justice Holt's wife, whom he attendedout of spite to her husband, who wished her dead. 

"The inoffensive John Gay is now become one of the obstructions to thepeace of Europe, the terror of Ministers, the chief author of the_Craftsmen_, and all the seditious pamphlets which have been publishedagainst the Government. He has got several turned out of their places;the greatest ornament of the Court [the Duchess of Queensberry] banishedfrom it for his sake; another great lady [Mrs. Howard] in danger ofbeing _chasée_ likewise; about seven or eight Duchesses pushing forward, like the ancient circumcelliones in the Church, who shall suffermartyrdom upon his account at first. He is the darling of the City. Ifhe should travel about the country he would have hecatombs of roastedoxen sacrificed to him. Since he became so conspicuous, Will Pulteneyhangs his head to see himself so much outdone in the career of glory. Ihope he will get a good deal of money by printing his play ['Polly'];but I really believe he would get more money by showing his person; andI can assure you, this is the very identical John Gay whom you formerlyknew, and lodged in Whitehall, two years ago. "[3]

Gay was now the avowed _protégé_ of the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry, so he spent the greater part of his closing years either at theircountry seat, Middleton Stoney, Amesbury, in Wiltshire, or at theirLondon house in Burlington Gardens. 

Gay, who really asked nothing better than to be a pet of the great inthis world, was happy enough. In May, 1729, he went to Scotland with theDuke of Queensberry, and his only trouble was that the success of"Polly" made it attractive to unscrupulous booksellers. "He has abouttwenty lawsuits with booksellers for pirating his book, "[4] Arbuthnotwrote to Swift on May 8th. In the following month, the samecorrespondent, reports, "Mr. Gay is returned from Scotland, and hasrecovered his strength of his journey. "[5]

JOHN GAY TO THE HON. MRS. HOWARD. 

 August 9th, 1729. 

"I desire you would send word whether white currants be proper to maketarts: it is a point that we dispute upon every day, and will never beended unless you decide it. 

"The Duchess would be extremely glad if you could come here this dayse'nnight; but if you cannot, come this day fortnight at farthest, andbring as many unlikely people as you can to keep you company. Have youlain at Marble Hill since we left Petersham? Hath the Duchess an auntThanet[6] alive again? She says there are but two people in the worldthat love and fear me--and those are, Lord Drum[lanrig][7] and LordCharles [Douglas]. [8] If they were awake, I would make them love thosethat I love, and say something civil to you. The Duchess hath left offtaking snuff ever since you have; but she takes a little every day. Ihave not left it off, and yet take none; my resolution not being sostrong. Though you are a water-drinker yourself, I daresay you will besorry to hear that your friends have strictly adhered to that liquor;for you may be sure their heads cannot be affected with that. 

"General Dormer[9] refused to eat a wheat-ear, because they call it herea fern-knacker; but since he knew it was a wheat-ear, he is extremelyconcerned. You are desired to acquaint Miss Smith that the Duchess wasupon the brink of leaving off painting the first week she came here, buthath since taken it up with great success. She hopes she will neverthink of her and my Lord Castlemaine[10] on the same day. 

"The Duke hath rung the bell for supper, and says, 'How can you writesuch stuff?'

 And so we conclude, As 'tis fitting we should. For the sake of our food; So don't think this rude. Would my name was 'Gertrude, ' Or 'Simon and Jude. '"

It was an amusement of the Duchess of Queensberry and of Gay to writejoint letters. They thoroughly loved fooling, and frequently indulgedtogether in that pleasant pastime. 

Middleton, August 27th, 1729. 

"... What is blotted out was nonsense; so that it is not worth while totry to read it. It was well meant; the Duchess said it was very obscure, and I found out that it was not to be understood at all, nor by anyalteration to be made intelligible; so out it went. 

"We have this afternoon been reading Polybius. We were mightily pleasedwith the account of the Roman wars with the Gauls; but we did not thinkhis account of the Achaians, and his remarks upon the historianPhilarchus, so entertaining, as for aught we knew it might be judicious. 

"I know you will be very uneasy unless I tell you what picture theDuchess hath in hand. It is a round landscape of Paul Brill, which Mr. Dormer[11] lent her, in which there are figures very neatly finished. Itis larger than any she hath yet done; by the dead colouring I guess(though her Grace is not very sanguine) it will in the end turn out verywell. "

J. G. 

"I do not understand which of our correspondents this letter is fit for;for there is neither wit, folly, nor solid sense, nor even a goodfoundation for nonsense, which is the only thing that I am well versedin. There were all these good things in the delightful letter you sentus; but as all the different hands are not known, they are unanswerable:for the future, then, pray sign or come, --the latter is best; forwhoever can write so well must speak so; but now I think we had betteralways write for the good of posterity. "

C. Q. 

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 Middleton Stoney, November 9th, 1729. 

"I have been in Oxfordshire with the Duke of Queensberry for these threemonths, and have had very little correspondence with any of our friends. 

"I have employed my time in new writing a damned play, which I wroteseveral years ago, called 'The Wife of Bath. ' As it is approved ordisapproved of by my friends, when I come to town, I shall either haveit acted, or let it alone, if weak brethren do not take offence at it. The ridicule turns upon superstition, and I have avoided the very wordsbribery and corruption. Folly, indeed, is a word that I have ventured tomake use of; but that is a term that never gave fools offence. It is acommon saying, that he is wise that knows himself. What has happened oflate, I think, is a proof that it is not limited to the wise.... 

"Next week, I believe, I shall be in town; not at Whitehall, for thoselodgings were judged not convenient for me, and were disposed of. Direct to me at the Duke of Queensberry's, in Burlington Gardens, nearPiccadilly. 

"You have often twitted me in the teeth with hankering after the Court. In that you mistook me: for I know by experience that there is nodependence that can be sure, but a dependance upon one's-self. I willtake care of the little fortune I have got. [12]"

[Footnote 1: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 215. ]

[Footnote 2: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 232. ]

[Footnote 3: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XIX, p. 232. ]

[Footnote 4: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 244. ]

[Footnote 5: _Ibid_. , XVII, p. 245. ]

[Footnote 6: The great-aunt (not aunt) was Elizabeth, daughter ofRichard Boyle, first Earl of Burlington, who married Nicholas Tufton, third Earl of Thanet. Elizabeth's sister, Henrietta, who marriedLaurence Hyde, Earl of Rochester, was a grandmother of the Duchess ofQueensberry. ]

[Footnote 7: Henry Douglas (1723-1754), known by the style of Earl ofDrumlanrig, the elder son of Charles Douglas, third Duke of Queensberry. He predeceased his father. ]

[Footnote 8: Lord Charles Douglas (1726-1756), the younger son of theDuke, who also survived him. ]

[Footnote 9: James Dormer (1678-1741), Colonel, 1720;Envoy-Extraordinary to Lisbon, 1725; Lieutenant-General, 1737; a friendof Pope. ]

[Footnote 10: Sir Richard Child, Bart. , of Wanstead (d. 1749), createdViscount Castlemaine, 1718; and Earl Tylney, 1731. ]

[Footnote 11: Mr. Dormer, of Rowsham, elder brother of General Dormer. ]

[Footnote 12: Swift: _Works_ (ed Scott), XVII, p. 277. ]

CHAPTER XI

1730

CORRESPONDENCE

There are few or no details to be discovered about Gay at this time, except such deductions as can be drawn from his correspondence. 

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 London, March 3rd, 1730. 

"I am going very soon into Wiltshire with the Duke of Queensberry. SinceI had that severe fit of sickness, I find my health requires it; for Icannot bear the town as I could formerly. I hope another summer's airand exercise will reinstate me. I continue to drink nothing but water, so that you cannot require any poetry from me. I have been very seldomabroad since I came to town, and not once at Court. This is no restraintupon me, for I am grown old enough to wish for retirement.... 

"I have left off all great folks but our own family; perhaps you willthink all great folks little enough to leave off us, in our presentsituation. I do not hate the world, but I laugh at it; for none butfools can be in earnest about a trifle. "[1]

 * * * * *

Earlier in the year Gay had revised his earliest play "The Wife ofBath, " which had been produced unsuccessfully at Drury Lane Theatre onMay 12th, 1713, and the new version was staged on January 19 of thisyear at the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields. "My old vamped play hasgot me no money, for it had no success, " the author wrote to Swift inthe letter of March 3rd; to which Swift replied from Dublin sixteen dayslater: "I had never much hopes of your vamped play, although Mr. Popeseemed to have, and although it were ever so good; but you should havedone like the parsons, and changed your text--I mean, the title, and thenames of the persons. After all, it was an effect of idleness, for youare in the prime of life, when invention and judgment go together. "

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 March 31st, 1730. 

"I expect, in about a fortnight, to set out for Wiltshire.... Myambition, at present, is levelled to the same point that you direct meto; for I am every day building villakins, and have given over that ofcastles. If I were to undertake it in my present circumstances, Ishould, on the most thrifty scheme, soon be straightened; and I hate tobe in debt; for I cannot bear to pawn five pounds' worth of my libertyto a tailor or a butcher. I grant you this is not having the true spiritof modern nobility, but it is hard to cure the prejudice of education. 

"I have been extremely taken up of late in settling a steward's account. I am endeavouring to do all the justice and service I can for a friend, so I am sure you will think I am well employed. "[2]

 * * * * *

From this letter it will be seen that Gay was endeavouring to make somereturn to his host and hostess for their kindness in looking after himby acting as a private secretary to the Duchess. But it may be taken forgranted that his duties were merely nominal, and it may equally be takenfor granted that his assistance was of little value, and only acceptednominally in order to lessen the weight of the obligation under whichthey thought--probably erroneously--he might be suffering. Why Gayshould have led a life of dependence unless he liked it, it is not easyto see, for when he died about thirty months later, he left the then notinconsiderable sum of £6, 000. Gay, who never did to-day what could byany possibility be postponed, neglected, of course, to make a will. Ashe died intestate, his fortune was divided between his survivingsisters, Katherine Bailer and Joanna Fortescue. 

Gay until the end kept up his correspondence with Mrs. Howard, and hisletters to her are often delightful reading, especially when he hadnothing in particular to say, or when he was able to poke kindly fun athis hostess and protectress. 

JOHN GAY TO THE HON. MRS. HOWARD. 

 May 9th, 1730. 

"It is what the Duchess never would tell me--so that it is impossiblefor me to tell you--_how she does_: but I cannot take it ill, for Ireally believe it is what she never really and truly did to anybody inher life. As I am no physician and cannot do her any good, one wouldwonder how she could refuse to answer this question out of commoncivility; but she is a professed hater of common civility, and so I amdetermined never to ask her again. If you have a mind to know what shehath done since she came here, the most material things that I know ofis, that she hath worked a rose, and milked a cow, and those two thingsI assure you are of more consequence, I verily believe, than hath beendone by anybody else. 

"Mrs. Herbert was very angry with her Grace the night before she leftthe town, that she could part with her friends with such an indecentcheerfulness; she wishes she had seen you at the same time, that shemight have known whether she could have carried this happy indifferencethrough, or no. She is grown a great admirer of two characters inPrior's poems, that of "Sauntering Jack and Idle Joan"[3]; and shethinks them persons worthy imitation: at this very instant she herselfis in their way. She had a mind to write to you, but cannot prevail withherself to set about it; she is now thinking of Mrs. Herbert, but is tooindolent to tell me to make her compliments to her. Just this minute sheis wishing you were in this very room; but she will not give herself thetrouble to say so to me: all that I know of it is, she looks all this, for she knows I am writing to you. 

"There is, indeed, a very good reason for her present indolence, for sheis looking upon a book which she seems to be reading; but I believe thesame page hath lain open before her ever since I began this letter. Justthis moment she hath uttered these words: 'that she will take it as avery great favour if you will speak to Mrs. Herbert to speak to LordHerbert, that he would speak to anybody who may chance to go by Mr. Nix's house, to call upon him to hasten his sending the piece offurniture, which, perhaps as soon as she receives it, may tempt her towrite to somebody or other that very little expects it';--for she lovesto do things by surprise. She would take it kindly if you write to heragainst this thing comes here; for I verily believe she will try whetheror no it be convenient for writing, and perhaps she may make the trialto you; she did not bid me say this, but as she talks of you often, Ithink you have a fair chance. 

"As soon as you are settled at Marble Hill, I beg you will take thewidow's house for me, and persuade the Duchess to come to Petersham. But, wherever you are, at present I can only wish to be with you: dowhat you can for me, and let me hear from you till the Duchess writesto you. You may write to me, and if you express any resentment againsther for not writing, I will let her know it in what manner you shallplease to direct me. "

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 Amesbury, July 4th, 1730. 

"I have left off wine and writing; for I really think, that man must bea bold writer, who trusts to wit without it. 

"I took your advice; and some time ago took to love, and made someadvances to the lady you sent me to in Soho, but met no return; so Ihave given up all thoughts of it, and have now no pursuit or amusement. 

"A state of indolence is what I do not like; it is what I would notchoose. I am not thinking of a Court or preferment, for I think the ladyI live with is my friend, so that I am at the height of my ambition. Youhave often told me there is a time of life that every one wishes forsome settlement of his own. I have frequently that feeling about me, butI fancy it will hardly ever be my lot: so that I will endeavour to passaway life as agreeably as I can, in the way I am. I often wish to bewith you, or you with me; and I believe you think I say true. "[4]

ALEXANDER POPE TO JOHN GAY. 

 Twickenham, July 21st, 1730. 

"If you consider this letter splenetic, consider I have just receivedthe news of the death of a friend, whom I esteemed almost as many yearsas you--poor Fenton. He died at Easthampstead, of indolence andinactivity; let it not be your fate, but use exercise. I hope theDuchess [of Queensberry] will take care of you in this respect, andeither make you gallop after her, or tease you enough at home to serveinstead of exercise abroad. 

"Mrs. Howard is so concerned about you, and so angry at me for notwriting to you, and at Mrs. Blount for not doing the same, that I ampiqued with jealousy and envy at you, and hate you as much as if you hada place at Court, which you will confess a proper cause of envy andhatred, in any poet, militant or unpensioned. "

JOHN GAY AND THE DUCHESS OF QUEENSBERRY TO THE HON. MRS. HOWARD. 

 Amesbury, August 20th, 1730. 

"The Duchess says she cannot say a word more, if I would give her theworld, and that her misery hath got the better of her pleasure inwriting to you. She thanks you for your information, and says, that ifshe can bear herself, or think that anybody else can, she intends tomake her visit next week. Now, it is my opinion that she need never haveany scruples of this kind; but as to herself, you know she hath often anunaccountable way of thinking, and, say what you will to her, she willnow and then hear you, but she will always think and act for herself. Ihave been waiting three or four minutes for what she hath to say, and atlast she tells me she cannot speak one word more, and at the same timeis so very unreasonable as to desire you would write her a long letter, as she knows you love it. 

"I have several complaints to make to you of her treatment, but I shallonly mention the most barbarous of them. She hath absolutely forbid herdog to be fond of me, and takes all occasions to snub her if she showsme the least civility. How do you think Lord Herbert would take suchusage from you, or any lady in Christendom?

"Now she says I must write you a long letter; but to be sure I cannotsay what I would about her, because she is looking over me as I write. If I should tell any good of her, I know she would not like it, and Ihave said my worst of her already. "

J. G. 

"Do not think I am lazy, and so have framed an excuse, for I am reallyin pain (at some moments intolerable since this was begun). I thinkoften I could be mighty glad to see you; and though you deserve vastly, that is saying much from me (for I can bear to be alone) and upon allaccounts think I am much better here than anywhere else. I think to goon and prosper mighty prettily here, and like the habitation so well(that if I could in nature otherwise be forgetful) that would put me inmind of what I owe to those who helped me on to where I wished to besooner than I feared I could be. Pray tell Miss Meadows that I was inhopes she would have made a dutiful visit to her father. If anyone elsecare for my respects, they may accept of them. I will present them toLord Herbert, whether he care or not. I hope by this time he is able tocarry himself and Fop wherever he pleases. If I had the same power overyou I would not write you word that I am yours, etc. ; but since I canonly write, believe that I am to you everything that you have ever readat the bottom of a letter, but not that I am so only by way ofconclusion. "

C. Q. 

JOHN GAY AND THE DUCHESS OF QUEENSBERRY TO THE HON. MRS. HOWARD. 

 [Amesbury] Saturday, September, 1730. 

"I cannot neglect this opportunity of writing to you and begging you tobe a mediator between my lady duchess and me; we having at present aquarrel about a fishing rod; and at the same time to give her youropinion whether you think it proper for her to stay here till afterChristmas, for I find that neither place nor preferment will let meleave her; and when she hath been long enough in one place, prevail withher, if you can, to go to another. I would always have her do what shewill, because I am glad to be of her opinion, and because I know it iswhat I must always do myself. "

J. G. 

"To follow one's fancy is by much the best medicine; it has quite curedmy face and left me no pain but the impossibility of being in two placesat once, which is no small sorrow, since one of them would be near you. But the boys [Lord Drumlanrig and Lord Charles Douglas] are too lean totravel as yet. Compassion being the predominant fashion of the place, weare preserved alive with as much care as the partridges, which no oneyet has had the heart to kill, though several barbarous attempts havebeen made. If I could write I would for ever, but my pen is so much yourfriend that it will only let me tell you that I am extremely so. 

"I pray it may not be difficult for my dear Mrs. Howard to forgive, asto read this provocation. By the next I hope to write plain. "

C. Q. 

ALEXANDER POPE TO JOHN GAY. 

 October, 1730. 

"I continue, and ever shall, to wish you all good and happiness. I wishthat some lucky event might set you in a state of ease and independencyall at once, and that I might live to see you as happy as this sillyworld and fortune can make anyone. Are we never to live together more asonce we did?"

THE HON. MRS. HOWARD TO JOHN GAY. 

 October 3rd, 1730. 

"I hear you have had a house full of courtiers, and, what is moreextraordinary, they were honest people; but I will take care, agreeablyto your desire, that you shall not increase the number. I wish I couldas easily gratify you in your other request about a certain person [theDuchess of Queensberry]'s health; but, indeed, John, that is not in mypower. I have often thought it proceeds from thinking better of herselfthan she does of anybody else; for she has always confidence to inquireafter those she calls friends, and enough assurance to give themadvice; at the same time, she will not answer a civil question aboutherself, and would certainly never follow any advice that was given her:you plainly see she neither thinks well of their heart or their head. Ibelieve I have told you as much before; but a settled opinion ofanything will naturally lead one into the same manner of expressingone's thoughts. "

DEAN SWIFT TO JOHN GAY. 

 Dublin, November 10th, 1730. 

"I hope you have now one advantage that you always wanted before, andthe want of which made your friends as uneasy as it did yourself; I meanthe removal of that solicitude about your own affairs, which perpetuallyfilled your thoughts and disturbed your conversation. For if it be true, what Mr. Pope seriously tells me, you will have opportunity of savingevery groat of the interest you receive; and so, by the time you and hegrow weary of each other, you will be able to pass the rest of yourwineless life in ease and plenty; with the additional triumphal comfortof never having received a penny from those tasteless, ungrateful peoplefrom which you deserved so much, and which deserve no better geniusesthan those by whom they are celebrated. "[5]

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 Amesbury, December 6th, 1730. 

"The Duchess is a more severe check upon my finances than ever you were;and I submit, as I did to you, to comply to my own good. I was a longtime before I could prevail with her to let me allow myself a pair ofshoes with two heels; for I had lost one, and the shoes were so decayedthat they were not worth mending. You see by this that those who are themost generous of their own, can be the most covetous for others. I hopeyou will be so good to me as to use your interest with her (for whatever she says, you seem to have some) to indulge me with theextravagance suitable to my fortune. "[6]

DUCHESS OF QUEENSBERRY AND JOHN GAY TO THE HON. MRS. HOWARD. 

 December 17th [1730]. 

"You cannot imagine in what due time your letter came; for I had givenyou up, and with great pains had very near brought our friend Mr. Gay toown that nobody cared for us, and a few more thoughts which shall now benameless. I am sincerely sorry that you have been ill, and very veryglad that you are better and think of life; for I know none whom onecould more wish to have life than yourself. I do not in the leastapprove of your changing your way of thinking of me, for I was convincedit was a good one, and when such opinions change, it is seldom for thebetter; if it could on my account, I declare you would be in the wrong, for to my knowledge I improve in no one thing. The best thing I can sayfor myself is, that I feel no alteration in the regard and inclination Ihave to you. I have no comprehension of what I said in my letter; but atthat time my body was distempered, and very likely my mind also.... Iknow nothing of coming to town; I only know that when I do I shall notbe sorry to see you; and this is knowing a great deal; for I shall notbe glad to come, and shall only come if it be unavoidable: this is theblunt truth. I own it would look less like indifference if I had writtensome civil lie. "

C. Q. 

"Everything that is above written is so plain and clear that it needs nocomment; the writer I know to be so strictly addicted to truth, that Ibelieve every word of it; if it is not written in the fashionableexpression, I conclude you will impute it to her manner. She was reallyconcerned very much, that, after she knew you were ill, we were so longbefore we could get a letter from you: let her contradict this if shecan. You tell her you are riding for your life; I fancy she would do itfor yours, though she will not for her own. I believe that she will notlike that I should say anything more about her; so that I shall leaveyou to your own thoughts about what she hath said herself; for I findshe doth not much care to be talked to, and as little likes to be talkedof: if she writes truth, I hope she will allow me the liberty to do thesame.... I have sometimes a great mind to answer the above letter, but Iknow she will do what she will; and as little as she likes herself, shelikes her own advice better than anybody's else, and that is a reason, in my opinion, that should prevail with her to take more care ofherself. I just before said I would say no more upon this subject; butif I do not lay down the pen, I find I cannot help it. I have no desireto come to town at all; for if I were there I cannot see you; so thatunless she turns me away I am fixed for life at Amesbury: so that, as toeverything that relates to me, I refer you to her letters. "

J. G. 

[Footnote 1: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 292. ]

[Footnote 2: 'Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 295. ]

[Footnote 3:

 Neither good nor bad, nor fool nor wise, They would not learn nor could advise; Without love, hatred, joy, or fear, They led a kind of--as it were; Nor wish'd nor cared, nor laugh'd nor cried: And so they lived, and so they died. ]

[Footnote 4: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 308. ]

[Footnote 5: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 319. ]

[Footnote 6: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 333]

CHAPTER XII

1731

CORRESPONDENCE

DEAN SWIFT TO JOHN GAY. 

 Dublin, April 13th, 1731. 

"Your situation is an odd one. The Duchess is your treasurer, and Mr. Pope tells me you are the Duke's. And I had gone a good way in someverses on that occasion, prescribing lessons to direct your conduct, ina negative way, not to do so and so, etc. , like other treasurers; how todeal with servants, tenants, or neighbouring squires, which I take to becourtiers, parliaments, and princes in alliance, and so the parallelgoes on, but grew too long to please me. "[1]

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 April 21st, 1731. 

"Since I have got over the impediment to a writer, of water drinking, ifI can persuade myself that I have any wit, and find I have inclination, I intend to write; though, as yet, I have another impediment: for I havenot provided myself with a scheme. Ten to one but I shall have apropensity to write against vice, and who can tell how far that mayoffend? But an author should consult his genius, rather than hisinterest, if he cannot reconcile them. "[2]

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 Amesbury, April 27th, 1731. 

"When I was in town (after a bashful fit, for having writ something likea love-letter, and in two years making one visit), I writ to Mrs. Drelincourt, to apologise for my behaviour, and received a civil answer, but had not time to see her. They are naturally very civil: so that I amnot so sanguine as to interpret this as any encouragement. I find byMrs. Barber that she interests herself very much in her affair; and, indeed, from everybody who knows her, she answers the character youfirst gave me.... 

"You used to blame me for over-solicitude about myself. I am now grownso rich, that I do not think myself worth thinking on. "[3]

DEAN SWIFT TO JOHN GAY. 

 Dublin, June 29th, 1731. 

"You are the silliest lover in Christendom. If you like Mrs. [Drelincourt], why do you not command her to take you? If she does not, she is not worth pursuing; you do her too much honour; she has neithersense nor taste, if she dares to refuse you, though she had ten thousandpounds. 

"I cannot allow you rich enough till you are worth £7, 000, which willbring you £300 per annum, and this will maintain you, with theperquisite of spunging, while you are young, and when you are old willafford you a pint of port at night, two servants, and an old maid, alittle garden, and pen and ink--provided you live in the country. Andwhat are you doing towards increasing your fame and your fortune? Haveyou no scheme, either in verse or prose? The Duchess should keep you athard meat, and by that means force you to write. "[4]

THE COUNTESS OF SUFFOLK TO JOHN GAY. 

 Hampton Court, June 29th, 1731. 

"To prevent all further quarrels and disputes, I shall let you know thatI have kissed hands for the place of Mistress of the Robes. Her Majestydid me the honour to give me the choice of Lady of the Bedchamber, orthat, which I find so much more agreeable to me, that I did not take onemoment to consider of it. The Duchess of Dorset resigned it for me; andeverything as yet promises more happiness for the latter part of my lifethan I have yet had a prospect of. Seven nights' quiet sleep, and seveneasy days have almost worked a miracle upon me; for if I cannot say I amperfectly well, yet it is certain even my pain is more supportable thanit was. I shall now often visit Marble Hill; my time is become very muchmy own, and I shall see it without the dread of being obliged to sell itto answer the engagement I had put myself under to avoid a greater evil. Mr. H[oward] took possession of body and goods, and was not prevailedupon till yesterday to resign the former for burial. Poor Lord Suffolktook so much care in the will he made, that the best lawyers say it muststand good. I am persuaded it will be tried to the uttermost. 

"I have at this time a great deal of business upon my hands, but notfrom my Court employment. You must take as a particular favour. TheDuchess of Queensberry shall hear from me soon: she has a mostextraordinary way of making her peace; but she does tell truth, and Itold a lie when I said I hated her; for nothing is more true than that Ilove her most sincerely. However, I put it into your hands to tell herwhat you think proper; and if she can but feel half for me that I shouldfor her under the same circumstances, it will be punishment sufficientfor what I have suffered from her neglect of me. I shall certainly seeHighclere this summer, and shall expect some people to meet me there. Ihope the chairs will be done, for I do not know whether I ought toexpect to be preferred before them. If you find her inclined to think mewrong in any particular, desire her to suspend her judgment till then;and if not to please me, to satisfy her own curiosity, she may come. Ihave taken care of what you desired me. I have done my best; I hope, formy sake, it will succeed well, for I shall be more concerned, I daresay, if it should not than you would be. "

JOHN GAY TO THE COUNTESS OF SUFFOLK. 

 July 8th, 1731. 

"Your letter was not ill-bestowed, for I found in it such an air ofsatisfaction that I have a pleasure every time I think of it. I fancy(though by her silence she seems to approve of your Ladyship's conduct)the Duchess will meet you at Highclere; for those that have a realfriendship cannot be satisfied with real relations; they want to inquireinto the minutest circumstances of life, that they may be sure thingsare as happy as they appear to be, and that is a curiosity that isexcusable. 

"I do not like lawsuits; I wish you could have your right without them, for I fancy there never was one since the world began, that, besides thecost, was not attended with anxiety and vexation. But as you descendedfrom lawyers, [5] what might be my plague, perhaps may be only youramusement. Nobody but yourself hath let us know anything about you. Judge, then, how welcome your ladyship's letter was to me. I find thischange of life of yours is a subject that I cannot so well write upon;it is a thing that one cannot so well judge of in general. But as foryour Ladyship's conduct in this juncture, my approbation goes fornothing, for all the world knows that I am partial. 

"When you have a mind to make me happy, write to me, for of late I havehad but very little chance, and only chance, of seeing you. If ever youthought well of me, if ever you believed I wished you well, and wishedto be of service to you, think the same of me, for I am the same, andshall always be so. 

"Mr. Pope, I fear, is determined never to write to me. I hope he iswell. If you see Miss Blount or Mr. Pope, I beg them to accept mycompliments. "

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 July 18th, 1731. 

"Your friend Mrs. Howard is now Countess of Suffolk. I am still so mucha dupe, that I think you mistake her. Come to Amesbury, and you and Iwill dispute this matter, and the Duchess shall be judge. But I fancyyou will object against her; for I will be so fair to you, as to ownthat I think she is of my side; but, in short, you shall choose anyimpartial referee you please. I have heard from her; Mr. Pope has seenher; I beg that you would suspend your judgment till we talk over thisaffair together; for, I fancy, by your letter, you have neither heardfrom her, nor seen her; so that you cannot at present be as good a judgeas we are. I will be a dupe for you at any time; therefore I beg it ofyou, that you would let me be a dupe in quiet. 

"As to my being manager for the Duke, you have been misinformed. Uponthe discharge of an unjust steward, he took the administration into hisown hands. I own I was called in to his assistance, when the state ofaffairs was in the greatest confusion. Like an ancient Roman I came, putmy helping hand to set affairs right, and as soon as it was done, I amretired again as a private man. "[6]

THE COUNTESS OF SUFFOLK TO JOHN GAY. 

 Kensington, September 5th, 1731. 

"I was never more peevish in my life than I have been about this journeyof Bridgeman's. I am sure I took true pains that it should have beenjust as the Duchess wished. I find upon enquiry that he did not go assoon as I expected. He told me of the first letter which he wrote toyou. 

"I wish he had told me of Mr. Bloodworth's conversation, for that wouldhave prevented all mistakes. It is not in my power to do anything more, for Bridgeman has been absent a week from hence; but if his servantstell truth, there is no occasion, for they say he is gone to the Duke ofQueensberry's. 

"I shall be very uneasy till I hear how this matter has ended. A letterfrom you was not necessary to make me remember you, but a letter wasabsolutely necessary to make me think you deserved one. The Duchess didnot tell me why I did not see you at Highclere, but I do believe it wasa good one; because she knows bringing of you there would have pleasedus both. As I never knew what liberty was, I cannot tell you how much Iwas delighted with this summer's expeditions. I never see Mr. Pope norMrs. Blount, though I never go to Marble Hill without sending to them. She has been ill, but was well last time I sent; but you know she has apeculiar pleasure in refusing her friends. 

"Let me hear often from you. I am glad you think of coming toTwickenham. I hope we shall meet at Marble Hill; but do not fail ofletting me know as soon as possible whether the Duchess is convinced Iwas in no wise in fault, and that she does me the justice in believing Ican never willingly be so to me. If you do not leave off _ladyship_, Ishall complain to the Duchess, who shall make you go supperless to bed. Exercise agrees so well with me, that I cannot advise you not to use it;but if her Grace feeds you moderately, I should think your exerciseought to be so. God bless you. "

DEAN SWIFT TO JOHN GAY. 

 December 1st, 1731. 

"If your ramble was on horse back, I am glad of it on account of yourhealth; but I know your arts of patching up a journey betweenstage-coaches and friends' coaches: for you are as arrant a cockney asany hosier in Cheapside, and one clean shirt with two cravats, and asmany handkerchiefs, make up your equipage; and as for a nightgown, it isclear from Homer that Agamemnon rose without one. 

"I have often had it in my head to put it into yours, that you ought tohave some great work in scheme, that may take up seven years to finish, besides two or three under-ones, that may add another thousand pounds toyour stock; and then I shall be in less pain about you. 

"I know you can find dinners, but you love twelvepenny coaches too well, without considering that the interest of a whole thousand pounds bringsyou but half-a-crown a day. "

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 December 1st, 1731

"You used to complain that Mr. Pope and I would not let you speak: youmay now be even with me, and take it out in writing. If you do not sendto me now and then, the post-office will think me of no consequence, forI have no correspondent but you. You may keep as far from us as youplease; you cannot be forgotten by those who ever knew you, andtherefore please me by sometimes showing I am not forgot by you. I havenothing to take me off from my friendship to you: I seek no newacquaintance, and court no favour; I spend no shillings in coaches orchairs to levées or great visits, and, as I do not want the assistanceof some that I formerly conversed with, I will not so much as seem toseek to be a dependant. 

"As to my studies, I have not been entirely idle, though I cannot saythat I have yet perfected anything. What I have done is something in theway of those Fables I have already published. 

"All the money I get is saving, so that by habit there may be some hopes(if I grow richer) of my becoming a miser. All misers have theirexcuses. The motive to my parsimony is independence. "[7]

[Footnote 1: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 358]

[Footnote 2: _Ibid_. , XVII, p. 342. ]

[Footnote 3: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 370. ]

[Footnote 4: _Ibid_. , XVII, p. 382. ]

[Footnote 5: Lady Suffolk's great-great-great-grandfather was Sir HenryHobart, Chief-Justice of the Common Pleas. ]

[Footnote 6: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 385. ]

[Footnote 7: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 436. ]

CHAPTER XIII

1732

DEATH

As time passed Gay became less satisfied with his condition. It may havebeen that his health became worse; or it may be that, like to many menwho are idle and make no effort to work, he became annoyed at the_ennui_ which is so often the result of an unoccupied life. Anyhow, inhis letters there crept in a note of irritability, which has notpreviously been sounded. 

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 March 13th, 1732. 

"I find myself dispirited for want of having some pursuit. Indolence andidleness are the most tiresome things in the world. I begin to find adislike to society. I think I ought to try to break myself of it, but Icannot resolve to set about it. I have left off almost all my greatacquaintance, which saves me something in chair hire, though in thatarticle the town is still very expensive. Those who were your oldacquaintance are almost the only people I visit; and, indeed, upontrying all, I like them best.... 

"If you would advise the Duchess to confine me four hours a-day to myown room, while I am in the country, I will write; for I cannot confinemyself as I ought. "[1]

DEAN SWIFT TO JOHN GAY. 

 Dublin, May 4th, 1732. 

"It is your pride or laziness, more than chair-hire, that makes the townexpensive. No honour is lost by walking in the dark; and in the day, you may beckon a blackguard boy under a gate [to clean your shoes] nearyour visiting place (_experto crede_), save eleven pence, and get half acrown's-worth of health ... 

"I find by the whole cast of your letter, that you are as giddy andvolatile as ever: just the reverse of Mr. Pope, who has always loved adomestic life from his youth. I was going to wish you had some littleplace that you could call your own, but, I profess I do not know youwell enough to contrive any one system of life that would please you. You pretend to preach up riding and walking to the Duchess, yet from myknowledge of you after twenty years, you always joined a violent desireof perpetually shifting places and company, with a rooted laziness, andan utter impatience of fatigue. A coach and six horses is the utmostexercise you can bear; and this only when you can fill it with suchcompany as is best suited to your taste, and how glad would you be if itcould waft you in the air to avoid jolting; while I, who am so muchlater in life, can, or at least could, ride five hundred miles on atrotting horse. You mortally hate writing, only because it is the thingyou chiefly ought to do, as well to keep up the vogue you have in theworld, as to make you easy in your fortune: you are merciful toeverything but money your best friend, whom you treat withinhumanity. "[2]

 * * * * *

In May was first performed at the Haymarket Theatre "Acis and Galatea, "of which he wrote the "book" and Handel the music; but this was not workupon which he had been lately engaged--in fact, both words and music hadbeen ready for ten years. Gay, however, did occasionally put in sometime on literary work, and at his death left the "book" of an opera"Achilles, " which was produced on February 10th, 1733, at the scene ofhis triumph with "The Beggar's Opera, " the theatre in Lincoln's InnFields; "The Distrest Wife" and a farce, "The Rehearsal at Goatham, "which last were printed, respectively, in 1743 and 1754. He was at thistime composing very leisurely a second series of "Fables, " which wereready for the press at the time of his death, but did not appear until1738. 

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 London, May 19th, 1732. 

"You seemed not to approve of my writing more Fables. Those I am nowwriting have a prefatory discourse before each of them, by way ofepistle, and the morals of them mostly are of the political kind; whichmakes them run into a greater length than those I have alreadypublished. I have already finished about fifteen or sixteen; four orfive more would make a volume of the same size as the first. Though thisis a kind of writing that appears very easy, I find it the mostdifficult of any I ever undertook. After I have invented one fable, andfinished it, I despair of finding out another; but I have a moral or twomore, which I wish to write upon. 

"I have also a sort of a scheme to raise my finances by doing somethingfor the stage: with this, and some reading, and a great deal ofexercise, I propose to pass my summer. 

"As for myself, I am often troubled with the colic. I have as muchinattention, and have, I think, lower spirits than usual, which I imputeto my having no one pursuit in life. "[3]

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 Amesbury, July 24th, 1732. 

"I shall finish the work I intended, this summer, [4] but I look upon thesuccess in every respect to be precarious. You judge very right of mypresent situation, that I cannot propose to succeed by favour: but I donot think, if I could flatter myself that I had any degree of merit, much could be expected from that unfashionable pretension. 

"I have almost done everything I proposed in the way of Fables; buthave not set the last hand to them. Though they will not amount to halfthe number, I believe they will make much such another volume as thelast. I find it the most difficult task I ever undertook; but havedetermined to go through with it; and, after this, I believe I shallnever have courage enough to think any more in this way. "[5]

ALEXANDER POPE TO JOHN GAY. 

 October 2nd, 1732. 

"Every man, and every boy, is writing verses on the royal hermitage: Ihear the Queen is at a loss which to prefer; but for my own part I likenone so well as Mr. Poyntz's[6] in Latin. You would oblige my LadySuffolk if you tried your muse on this occasion. I am sure I would do asmuch for the Duchess of Queensberry, if she desired it. Several of yourfriends assure me it is expected from you. One should not bear in mindall one's life, any little indignity one receives from a Court, andtherefore I am in hopes, neither her Grace of Queensberry will hinderyou, nor you decline it. "

 * * * * *

The "royal hermitage" was a building erected by Queen Caroline in thegrounds of Richmond Palace, and decorated with busts of her favouritephilosophers. This letter of Pope seems extraordinary, and it is alittle difficult to guess what inspired the suggestion contained in it. "This is but shabby advice, " Croker has written, "considering thegeneral tone of Pope's private correspondence, as well as his publishedsatires, and seems peculiarly strange in the circumstances in which Gayhimself and the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry, on his account, stoodwith the Queen. If it were not for the introduction of Lady Suffolk'sname, I should have thought Pope's advice sheer irony, and a hint for alibel on the Court. The Duchess and Gay were offended at theproposition. " It may be, however, that Pope thought it possible thatsuch a poetical effusion as he had in mind might restore Gay to favourat Court. Gay, who received Pope's letter while he was on a visit toOrchard Wyndham, the seat of Sir William Wyndham, in Somersetshire, would do nothing in the matter, as will be seen from his reply. 

JOHN GAY TO ALEXANDER POPE. 

 October 7th, 1732. 

"I am at last returned from my Somersetshire expedition, but since myreturn I cannot boast of my health as before I went, for I am frequentlyout of order with my colical complaint, so as to make me uneasy anddispirited, though not to any violent degree. The reception we met with, and the little excursions we made, were in every way agreeable. I thinkthe country abounds with beautiful prospects. Sir William Wyndham is atpresent amusing himself with some real improvements, and a great manyvisionary castles. We are often entertained with sea-views, and seafish, and were at some places in the neighbourhood, among which I wasmightily pleased with Dunster Castle, near Minehead. It stands upon agreat eminence, and has a prospect of that town, with an extensive viewof the Bristol Channel, in which are seen two small islands, called theSteep Holms and Flat Holms, and on the other side we could plainlydistinguish the divisions of fields on the Welsh coast. All this journeyI performed on horseback, and I am very much disappointed that atpresent I feel myself so little the better for it. I have indeedfollowed riding and exercise for three months successively, and reallythink I was as well without it: so that I begin to fear the illness Ihave so long complained of, is inherent in my constitution, and that Ihave nothing for it but patience. 

"As to your advice about writing panegyric, it is what I have notfrequently done. I have indeed done it sometimes against my judgmentand inclination, and I heartily repent of it. And at present, as I haveno desire of reward, and see no just reason of praise, I think I hadbetter let it alone. There are flatterers good enough to be found, and Iwould not interfere in any gentleman's profession. I have seen no verseson these sublime occasions, so that I have no emulation. Let the patronsenjoy the authors, and the authors their patrons, for I know myselfunworthy. "

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 November 16th, 1732. 

"I am at last come to London before the family, to follow my owninventions. In a week or fortnight I expect the family will follow me. 

"If my present project[7] succeeds, you may expect a better account ofmy own fortune a little while after the holidays; but I promise myselfnothing, for I am determined that neither anybody else, nor myself shalldisappoint me. "[8]

 * * * * *

Neither the production of "Achilles, " nor any other earthly project ofGay's, took place, for, within a few weeks, on December 4th, after threedays' illness, he passed away in his forty-eighth year, at the Duke ofQueensberry's town house in Burlington Gardens. 

On the following day, Arbuthnot, who attended him, imparted the sadtidings to Pope: "Poor Mr. Gay died of an inflammation, and, I believe, at last a mortification of the bowels; it was the most precipitous caseI ever knew, having cut him off in three days. He was attended by twophysicians besides myself. I believed the distemper mortal from thebeginning. "[9] Pope, in his turn, immediately wrote to Swift, and hisletter was found among Swift's papers, bearing the followingendorsement: "On my dear friend Mr. Gay's death. Received December15th, but not read till the 20th, by an impulse foreboding somemisfortune. "

ALEXANDER POPE TO DEAN SWIFT. 

 December 5th, 1732. 

"It is not a time to complain that you have not answered me two letters(in the last of which I was impatient under some fears). It is not now, indeed, a time to think of myself, when one of the longest and nearestties I have ever had, is broken all on a sudden by the unexpected deathof poor Mr. Gay. An inflammatory fever burned him out of this life inthree days. He died last night at nine o'clock, not deprived of hissenses entirely at last, and possessing them perfectly till within fivehours. He asked of you a few hours before, when in acute torment by theinflammation in his bowels and breast. His effects are in the Duke ofQueensberry's custody. His sisters, we suppose, will be his heirs, whoare two widows; as yet it is not known whether or no he left a will ... 

"I shall never see you now, I believe; one of your principal calls toEngland is at an end. Indeed, he was the most amiable by far, hisqualities were the gentlest, but I love you as well and as firmly. Wouldto God the man we have lost had not been so amiable nor so good: butthat's a wish for our own sakes, not for his. Surely, if innocence andintegrity can deserve happiness, it must be his. Adieu! I can addnothing to what you will feel, and diminish nothing from it. "[10]

 * * * * *

Gay's body was removed from Burlington House on the morning of December23rd, to Exeter Change, in the Strand, where it lay in state during theday. At nine o'clock in the evening, it was taken for burial toWestminster Abbey in a hearse with plumes of white and black feathersand appropriate escutcheons, attended by three coaches, each drawn bysix horses. In the first coach was the principal mourner, Gay's nephew, the Rev. Joseph Bailer, who is responsible for the above account of theobsequies; in the second coach were the Duke of Queensberry andArbuthnot. The pall-bearers were Lord Chesterfield, Lord Cornbury, theHon. Mr. Berkeley, General Dormer, Mr. Gore, and Pope. The service wasread by the Dean of Westminster, Dr. Wilcox, Bishop of Rochester. Gay'sremains were deposited in the south cross aisle of the Abbey, overagainst Chaucer's tomb. [11] Later a monument was erected to his memory. 

 Here lie the ashes of Mr. John Gay, The warmest friend; The most benevolent man: Who maintained Independency In low circumstances of fortune; Integrity In the midst of a corrupt age And that equal serenity of mind, Which conscious goodness alone can give, Through the whole course of his life. 

 Favourite of the Muses, He was led by them to every elegant art; Refin'd in taste, And fraught with graces all his own; In various kinds of poetry Superior to many, Inferior to none, His words continue to inspire, What his example taught, Contempt of folly, however adorn'd; Detestation of vice, however dignified; Reverence of virtue, however disgrac'd. 

Charles and Catherine, Duke and Duchess of Queensbury, who loved thisexcellent man living, and regret him dead, have caused this monument tobe erected to his memory. Pope, than whom no man loved him better, composed an epitaph for him:--

 Of manners gentle, of affections mild, In wit a man, simplicity a child; With native humour, temp'ring virtuous rage, Form'd to delight at once, and lash the age. Above temptation in a low estate, And uncorrupted e'en among the great. A safe companion, and an easy friend, Unblam'd through life, lamented in thy end: These are thy honours! not that here thy bust Is mix'd with heroes, or with Kings thy dust; But that the worthy and the good shall say, Striking their pensive bosoms--Here lies Gay. 

Of Gay's posthumous works, there are several references in thecorrespondence of his friends. The first mention is concerning"Achilles, " in a letter written from Twickenham by Pope to Caryll: "PoorGay has gone before, and has not left an honester man behind him; he hasjust put a play into the house, which the Duke of Queensberry will takecare of, and turn to the benefit of his relations. I have read it, andthink it of his very best manner, a true original; he has left someother pieces fit for the press. " Quite in keeping with his character Gayhad made no arrangements for the disposal of the manuscripts he leftbehind him. "As to his writings, he left no will, nor spoke a word ofthem, or anything else, during his short and precipitate illness, inwhich I attended him to his last breath, " Pope informed Swift, February16th, 1733. "The Duke has acted more than the part of a brother to him, and it will be strange if the sisters do not leave his papers totally athis disposal, who will do the same that I would with them. He hadmanaged the comedy (which our poor friend gave to the playhouse a weekbefore his death) to the utmost advantage for his relations; andproposes to do the same with some Fables he left unfinished. "[12] Theplay was much discussed in advance of its representation. 

"Mr. Gay has left a posthumous work, which is soon to be acted, " LadyAnne Irvine wrote to Lord Carlisle on January 6th, 1733. "Tis in themanner of 'The Beggar's Opera, ' interspersed with songs; the subject isAchilles among the women, where he is discovered choosing a sword. Thedesign is to ridicule Homer's Odysses; 'tis much commended, and I don'tdoubt, from the nature of the subject, will be much approved. "[13] Gay'splay was put into rehearsal in December, 1732, about a fortnight afterhis death, [14] and it was produced at the theatre in Lincoln's InnFields in February, 1723, when a contemporary account says it "met witha general applause the first night, when there was a noble and crowdedaudience, "[15] and Pope wrote to Swift on February 16th: "The play Mr. Gay left succeeds very well. It is another original of its kind. "[16] Itran for eighteen nights. The cast was as follows:--

_Lycomedes_ ... ... ... ... ... MR. QUIN_Diphilus_ ... ... ... ... ... MR. ASTON_Achilles_ ... ... ... ... ... MR. SALWAY_Ulysses_ ... ... ... ... ... MR. CHAPMAN_Diomedes_ ... ... ... ... ... MR. LAGUERRE_Ajax_ ... ... ... ... ... ... MR. HALL_Periphas_ ... ... ... ... ... MR. WALKER_Agyrtes_ ... ... ... ... ... MR. LEVERIDGE_Thetis_ ... ... ... ... ... MR. BUCHANAN_Theaspe_ ... ... ... ... ... MRS. CANTREL_Deïdamia_ ... ... ... ... ... MISS NORSA_Lesbia_ ... ... ... ... ... MISS BINKS_Philoe_ ... ... ... ... ... MISS OATES_Antemona_ ... ... ... ... ... MRS. EGLETON

"The Distrest Wife, " another of the posthumous plays, was a poor thing, and Swift was much annoyed that it was staged. "As to our poor friend, Ithink the Duke of Queensberry has acted a very noble and generouspart, " Swift wrote to Pope, March 31st, 1734. "But before he did it, Iwish there had been so much cunning used as to have let the sisters knowthat he expected they would let him dispose of Mr. Gay's writings ashimself and other friends should advise. And I heartily wish his Gracehad entirely stifled that comedy, if it were possible, than do an injuryto our friend's reputation, only to get a hundred or two pounds to acouple of, perhaps, insignificant women. It has been printed here, and Iam grieved to say it is a very poor performance. I have often chid Mr. Gay for not varying his schemes, but still adhering to those he hadexhausted; and I much doubt whether the posthumous Fables will proveequal to the first. I think it is incumbent upon you to see that nothingmore be published of his that will lessen his reputation for the sake ofadding a few pounds to his sisters, who have already got so much by hisdeath. " "The Distrest Wife" was produced at Covent Garden Theatre onMarch 5th, 1734, [17] and the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry werepresent at the performance. "To-morrow will be acted a new play of ourfriend Mr. Gay's; we stay on purpose now for that, " the Duchess wrote toSwift on the previous day. [18] The play was published in 1743, and asecond edition was issued in 1750. It was revived at Covent Garden, in1772, with some alteration. [19]

In a humorous piece, "The Rehearsal at Goatham, " published in 1754, which was written probably about 1729, Gay ventilated his grievanceagainst Walpole and the rest, _à propos_ of the suppression of "Polly. "This was Gay's King Charles's Head, and he never forgave the Ministerfor this, or for not finding him a place. He made an attack on him, obvious to all, in "The Vulture, the Sparrow, and Other Birds, " whichwas included in his second series of "Fables"[20] that appearedposthumously in 1738. 

 * * * * *

The devotion of Gay's friends survived his death, and they vied with oneanother in paying tribute to his memory. "As to himself, he knew theworld too well to regret leaving it; and the world in general knew himtoo little to value him as they ought, "[21] the Duchess of Queensberrywrote to Swift on February 21st, 1733; and, later, she addressed herselfto Lady Suffolk from Amesbury, on September 28th, 1734: "I often wantpoor Mr. Gay, and on this occasion extremely. Nothing evaporates soonerthan joy untold, or even told, unless to one so entirely in yourinterest as he was, who bore at least an equal share in everysatisfaction or dissatisfaction which attended us. I am not in thespleen, though I write thus; on the contrary, it is a sort of pleasureto think over his good qualities: his loss was really great, but it is asatisfaction to have once known so good a man. " Her affection endureduntil the end. Although she was then a very old woman, when "Polly" wasproduced at the Haymarket Theatre on June 19th, 1777, nothing wouldcontent her but she must be present. Within a few weeks, on thefollowing July 17th, she passed away. 

Lord Bathurst, too, deplored the loss of Gay; he of whom the poet hadwritten in "Mr. Pope's Welcome from Greece":--

 Bathurst impetuous, hastens to the coast. Whom you and I strive who shall love the most. 

"Poor John Gay!" he wrote to Swift on March 29th, 1733. "We shall seehim no more; but he will always be remembered by those who knew him, with a tender concern. " Arbuthnot, who also had had tribute paid him in"Mr. Pope's Welcome from Greece":--

 Arbuthnot there I see, in physic's art, As Galen learned or famed Hippocrate; Whose company drives sorrow from the heart As all disease his medicines dissipate. 

knew him well and loved him deeply. "We have all had another loss of ourworthy and dear friend, Mr. Gay, " he wrote to Swift on January 13th, 1733. "It was some alleviation of my grief to see him so universallylamented by almost everybody, even by those who knew him only byreputation. He was interred at Westminster Abbey, as if he had been apeer of the realm; and the good Duke of Queensberry, who lamented him asa brother, will set up a handsome monument upon him. These are littleaffronts put upon vice and injustice, and is all that remains in ourpower. I believe 'The Beggar's Opera, ' and what he had to come upon thestage, will make the sum of the diversions of the town for some time tocome. "[22]

By virtue of their fame, towering high above the rest of the select bandof Gay's dearest friends, were Pope and Swift:--

 Blest be the great! for those they take away, And those they left me; for they left me Gay, Pope had written in the "Epistle to Arbuthnot"; and Gay, as has beensaid, had more than once entered the lists and broken a lance on hisbrother poet's behalf, as when he parodied Ambrose Philips in "TheShepherd's Week. " His "Mr. Pope's Welcome from Greece, " written whenPope had finished his translation of the "Iliad, " was a fine panegyric, in which he had a sly dig at the rival editor:--

 Tickell, whose skiff (in partnership they say) Set forth for Greece, but founder'd on the way. 

and in his "Epistle to the Right Honourable Paul Methuen, Esq. , " hepilloried one of his friend's most violent critics:--

 Had Pope with grovelling numbers fill'd his page, Dennis had never kindled into rage. 'Tis the sublime that hurt the critic's ease; Write nonsense, and he reads and sleeps in peace. 

"You say truly, " Pope wrote to Swift, on April 2nd, 1733, "that death isonly terrible to us as it separates us from those we love; but I reallythink those have the worst of it who are left by us, if we are truefriends. I have felt more (I fancy) in the loss of Mr. Gay, than I shallsuffer in the thought of going away myself into a state that none of uscan feel this sort of losses. I wished vehemently to have seen him in acondition of living independent, and to have lived in perfect indolencethe rest of our days together, the two most idle, most innocent, undesigning poets of our age. "[23]

Through the long years Gay was present to the minds of these, hisdearest friends. "Dr. Arbuthnot's daughter is like Gay, very idle, veryingenuous, and inflexibly honest, "[24] Pope wrote to Swift, May 17th, 1739; and two years earlier, on July 23rd, 1737, Swift had written toErasmus Lewis: "I have had my share of affliction in the loss of Dr. Arbuthnot, and poor Gay, and others. [25] Such devotion, from such verydifferent people puts it beyond question that Gay was a very lovablecreature. How deeply he returned that devotion it is difficult tosay--gratitude he felt, no doubt, but of love ... A man of such weakcharacter, a man so devoted to the fleshpots, probably received morethan he could give. " Perhaps Swift, whose affections never blinded hisintelligence, had some inkling of this when he said in the "Verses onHis Own Death, "

 Poor Pope will grieve a month, and Gay A week, and Arbuthnot a day. 

When Gay, in "Mr. Pope's Welcome from Greece, " wrote:--

 Thou, too, my Swift, dost breathe Boeotian air, When will thou bring back wit and humour here?

the formal tribute is agreeable, but in this set of verses, while thereis much that is complimentary, there is something perfunctory about thetributes he paid. He wrote of Pope and Swift and the rest as witty orhumorous or generous or clever or learned or honest of mind: they wroteof the love they bore him. The two great literary giants took him undertheir wing, bore with his foibles, humoured him, championed him, and tothe utmost of their power sought to protect their weaker brother of thepen from the rude buffetings of life. 

[Footnote 1: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 498. ]

[Footnote 2: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVII, p. 502. ]

[Footnote 3: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVIII, p. 3. ]

[Footnote 4: Probably a reference to the Opera, "Achilles. "]

[Footnote 5: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVIII, p. 23. ]

[Footnote 6: S. Poyntz, Governor to the Duke of Cumberland. He married aniece of Lord Peterborough. ]

[Footnote 7: Probably another reference to the Opera "Achilles. "]

[Footnote 8: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVIII, p. 51. ]

[Footnote 9: _Ibid_. , XVIII, p. 54. ]

[Footnote 10: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVIII, p. 53. ]

[Footnote 11: _Gay's Chair_, p. 24. ]

[Footnote 12: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott). XVIII, p. 84. ]

[Footnote 13: Historical MSS. Commission Reports--Carlisle MSS. ]

[Footnote 14: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVIII, p. 57. ]

[Footnote 15: Historical MSS. Com. Reports--Bath MSS. , I, p. 95. ]

[Footnote 16: _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1773, pp. 78, 85. ]

[Footnote 17: Genest: _History of the Stage_, III, p. 428. ]

[Footnote 18: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVIII, p. 180. ]

[Footnote 19: _Biog. Dram_. , II, p. 168. ]

[Footnote 20: The "Advertisement" to the volume was as follows: "TheseFables were finished by Mr. Gay, and intended for the Press, a shorttime before his death, when they were left, with his other papers, tothe care of his noble friend and patron, the Duke of Queensberry. HisGrace has accordingly permitted them to the Press, and they are hereprinted from the originals in the author's handwriting. We hope theywill please equally with his former Fables, though mostly on subjects ofa graver and more political turn. They will certainly show him to havebeen (what he esteemed the best character) a man of true honest heart, and a sincere lover of his country. "]

[Footnote 21: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVIII, p. 82. ]

[Footnote 22: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Scott), XVIII, p. 95. ]

[Footnote 23: Swift: _Works_ (ed. Hill), XVIII, p. 96. ]

[Footnote 24: _Ibid_. , XIX, p. 200. ]

[Footnote 25: _Ibid_. , XIX, p. 92. ]

APPENDIX

I. NOTES ON THE SOURCES OF THE TUNES OF "THE BEGGAR'S OPERA, " BY W. H. GRATTAN FLOOD, Mus. D. 

II. A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE CORRESPONDENCE OF JOHN GAY

III. PROGRAMME OF THE REVIVAL OF "THE BEGGAR'S OPERA, " LYRIC THEATRE, HAMMERSMITH, JUNE 7TH, 1920

I

NOTES ON THE SOURCES OF THE TUNES OF "THE BEGGAR'S OPERA, " BY W. H. GRATTAN FLOOD, Mus. D. 

Air VI. VIRGINS ARE LIKE THE FAIR FLOWER-- Was written by Sir Chas. Hanbury Williams. 

Air XXIV. GAMESTERS AND LAWYERS-- Was written by Mr. Fortescue, Master of the Rolls. 

Air XXX. WHEN YOU CENSURE THE AGE-- Was written by Dean Swift. 

Airs I and XLIV. THROUGH ALL THE EMPLOYMENTS OF LIFE--and THE MODES OFTHE COURT-- Were written by Lord Chesterfield. 

All the songs, except I, VI, XXIV, XXX, and XLIV were written by Gay. 

SOURCES OF THE TUNES. 

I. AN OLD WOMAN CLOTHED IN GRAY. Old English air first published in 1665. 

II. THE BONNY GRAY-EY'D MORN. Composed by Jeremiah Clarke in 1695. 

III. COLD AND RAW. Old Irish _air_, 1600. "The Irish Ho Hoane" _cir_. 1610. 

IV. WHY IS YOUR FAITHFUL SLAVE DISDAIN'D? Composed by Bononcini. Published in Playford's _Banquet_. 1688

V. OF ALL THE SIMPLE THINGS WE DO. Old Irish _air_, 1660. Introduced by Doggett into his _Country Wake_, 1696; also known as "The Mouse Trap, " 1719. 

VI. WHAT SHALL I DO TO SHOW HOW MUCH I LOVE HER? Composed by Henry Purcell. _Bonduca_ in 1695. 

VII. OH! LONDON IS A FINE TOWN, Old English. Published by Playford in 1665. 

VIII. GRIM KING OF THE GHOSTS. Old Irish. Adapted by Henry Purcell to "Hail to the Myrtle Shades, " in _Theodosius_, 1680. Also adapted to "Rosalind's Complaint, " by Mr. Baker, in 1727. 

IX. O JENNY! O JENNY! Old Irish air, 1600. Adapted to "May Fair, " 1703. 

X. THOMAS, I CANNOT. Sung in Weaver's _Perseus and Andromede_, 1717. Published in Playford's _Dancing Master_, in 1719. 

XI. A SOLDIER AND A SAILOR. Composed by John Eccles for Congreve's _Love for Love_, 1696. 

XII. NOW PONDER WELL. Old English. "The Children in the Wood. " Seventeenth Century. 

XIII. LE PRINTEMPS RAPPELLE. Old French chanson. 

XIV. PRETTY PARROT, SAY. Old English. Published by Playford in 1719. 

XV. PRAY, FAIR ONE, BE KIND. Old English air, 1715. 

XVI. OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY. Old Irish. Atkinson's MS. In 1694. By Farquhar in his _Recruiting Officer_, in 1706. Published by Durfey in 1709. 

XVII. GIN THOU WERT MINE AWN THING. Old Scotch. Published by Ramsay in 1726, in his "Musick for the Songs in the Tea Table Miscellany. "

XVIII. O THE BROOM! Old Irish. Quoted by Bishop Wadding in 1680. 

XIX. FILL EVERY GLASS. A _French_ Drinking Song. "Que chacun remplisse son verre"; adapted by Durfey in 1710. 

XX. MARCH IN "RINALDO. " Composed by Handel. Produced in 1711. 

XXI. WOULD YOU HAVE A YOUNG VIRGIN? Old Irish. Published as "Poor Robin's Maggot" in 1652. Adapted by Durfey to a song in _Modern Prophets_ in 1709. 

XXII. COTILLON. A _French_ Dance tune. Printed in a Frankfort book of the year 1664, and by Playford as "Tony's Rant, " in 1726. 

XXIII. ALL IN A MISTY MORNING. Old English. "The Friar and the Nun" (Friar Foxtail). Printed by Playford in 1651. Durfey's _Pills_, 1719. 

XXIV. WHEN ONCE I LAY WITH ANOTHER MAN'S WIFE. Old English. Sung in Durfey's _The Wiltshire Maid_. 

XXV. WHEN FIRST I LAID SIEGE TO MY CHLORIS. Old Irish. Adapted by Durfey in his _Pills_, 1720. 

XXVI. COURTIERS, COURTIERS, THINK IT NO HARM. Old English air, 1720. 

XXVII. A LOVELY LASS TO A FRIAR CAME. Old Irish. Printed in 1721. 

XXVIII. 'TWAS WHEN THE SEA WAS ROARING. Composed by Handel. Sung in Gay's _What d'ye call it_ (1715). 

XXIX. THE SUN HAD LOOS'D HIS WEARY TEAMS. Old English. "The Hemp Dresser. " Published by Playford in 1651. 

XXX. HOW HAPPY ARE WE. Composed by Dr. Pepusch. 1716. 

XXXI. OF A NOBLE RACE WAS SHENKIN. Introduced in Henry Purcell's _Richmond Heiress_, 1693. 

XXXII. No name, but evidently intended for HOW SHOULD I YOUR TRUE LOVEKNOW. Ophelia's song. Published by Playford in 1713. 

XXXIII. LONDON LADIES. Old English. 

XXXIV. ALL IN THE DOWNS. Composed by Henry Carey. 1720. 

XXXV. HAVE YOU HEARD OF A FROLICKSOME DITTY. Old Irish. "Molly Roe. " Published as "The Rant" in Apollo's Banquet, in 1690. 

XXXVI. IRISH TROT. Old Irish. Printed as "Hyde Park, " by Playford, in 1651. 

XXXVII. No name given, but evidently CONSTANT BILLY, published in 1726. Sir H. Bishop says that it was composed by Geminiani. 

XXXVIII. GOOD-MORROW, GOSSIP JOAN. Old English. Printed in 1705. 

XXXIX. IRISH HOWL. Old Irish. Printed as "The Irish Howl, " by Playford, in the third volume of his _Dancing Master_, in 1726. 

XL. THE LASS OF PATIE'S MILL. Old Scotch. Printed in _Orpheus Caledonius_. 1725. 

XLI. IF LOVE'S A SWEET PASSION. Composed by Henry Purcell. _Fairy Queen_ (1692). 

XLII. SOUTH-SEA BALLAD. Old English. Printed in 1720. 

XLIII. PACKINGTON'S POUND. Old English. Melody in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. 

XLIV. LILLIBULLERO. Old Irish. Printed in 1688. Adapted by Purcell. 

XLV. DOWN IN THE NORTH COUNTRY. Old English. 

XLVI. A SHEPHERD KEPT SHEEP. Old English. 

XLVII. ONE EVENING, HAVING LOST MY WAY. Printed as "Walpole, or the Happy Clown, " in 1719. Words by Birkhead. The tune also occurs in the Overture. 

XLVIII. NOW, ROGER, I'LL TELL THEE BECAUSE THOU'RT MY SON. Old English. 

XLIX. O BESSY BELL! Old Scotch. Printed by Playford in 1700. 

L. WOULD FATE TO ME BELINDA GIVE. Composed by John Wilford. Printed in 1710. 

LI. COME, SWEET LASS. The tune was printed as "Greenwich Park, " by Playford. 1688. Song from _The Compleat Academy_ (1685). Music composed by Jeremiah Clarke, 1685. 

LII. THE LAST TIME I WENT O'ER THE MOOR. Old Scotch. Printed in Ramsay's _Tea Table Misc_. 1726. 

LIII. TOM TINKER'S MY TRUE LOVE. Old English. Printed by Playford in 1664. 

LIV. I AM A POOR SHEPHERD UNDONE. Old English. Printed by Playford in 1716. 

LV. IANTHE THE LOVELY. Composed by John Barret, 1701. 

LVI. A COBLER THERE WAS. Old English. 

LVII. BONNY DUNDEE. Old Scotch. The melody is in the _Skene MS. _, 1630. 

LVIII. HAPPY GROVES. Adapted from "The Pilgrim, " composed by J. Barret in 1701. 

LIX. OF ALL THE GIRLS THAT ARE SO SMART. Composed by Henry Carey, in 1716. N. B. --The air was superseded by another in 1790. 

LX. BRITONS, STRIKE HOME. Composed by Henry Purcell. _Bonduca_, 1695. 

LXI. CHEVY CHASE. Old English. Early Seventeenth century. Printed in 1710. 

LXII. TO OLD SIR SIMON THE KING. Old English. Seventeenth century. Printed in 1652. 

LXIII. JOY TO GREAT CÆSAR. Composed by Frescobaldi (1614). Adapted by Tom Durfey in 1682 or 1683. 

LXIV. THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN. Old English. Printed as "Puddings and Pies, " by Playford, in 1716. 

LXV. DID YOU EVER HEAR OF A GALLANT SAILOR? Old Irish. "Youghal Harbour, " in 1720. Also known as "Ned of the Hill" (1700). 

LXVI. WHY ARE MINE EYES STILL FLOWING. Old English. Seventeenth century. 

LXVII. GREEN SLEEVES. Old English. Sixteenth century. 

LXVIII. ALL YOU THAT MUST TAKE A LEAP. Composed by Lewis Ramondon. 1710. 

LXIX. LUMPS OF PUDDING. Old Irish. Printed by Playford in 1701. Adapted by Durfey in 1697. 

W. H. GRATTAN FLOOD. 

_June 7th_, 1915. 

II

A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE CORRESPONDENCE OF JOHN GAY. 

1712

Binfield, November 13 Alexander Pope to John GayDecember 24 Alexander Pope to John Gay

1713

London, January 13 John Gay to Maurice Johnson, junior. April 23, 1713 John Gay to Maurice Johnson, junior. August 23 Alexander Pope to John GayOctober 23 Alexander Pope to John Gay

1714

Binfield, May 4 Thomas Parnell and Alexander Pope to John GayLondon, June 8 John Gay to Jonathan SwiftHanover, August 16 John Gay to John ArbuthnotSeptember 23 Alexander Pope to John Gay

1715

London, March 3 Alexander Pope and John Gay to John CaryllLondon, March 18 Alexander Pope and John Gay to Thomas Parnell[March] Alexander Pope and John Gay to John CaryllApril 7 Alexander Pope and John Gay to William CongreveLondon [April] John Gay and Alexander Pope to John CaryllJuly 8 John Gay to Alexander Pope

1716

_Undated_ John Gay, Jervis, John Arbuthnot (beginning: "I was and Alexander Pope to Thomas Parnell last summer in Devonshire"). 

1717

_Undated_ John Gay to Alexander Pope (beginning: "Too late to see and confess myself mistaken")

London, November 8 Alexander Pope to John Gay

1719

September 8 John Gay to the Hon. Mrs. Howard

1720

[_circa_ October] John Gay to Jacob Tonson

1722

September 11 Alexander Pope to John Gay[September or October] Alexander Pope to John Gay (beginning: "I think it obliging in you")London, December 22 John Gay to Jonathan Swift

1723

Dublin, January 8 Jonathan Swift to John GayLondon, February 3 John Gay to Jonathan SwiftJuly 5 The Hon. Mrs. Howard to John GayJuly 12 John Gay to the Hon. Mrs. HowardJuly 13 Alexander Pope to John GayJuly 22 The Hon. Mrs. Howard to John GayTunbridge Wells, August John Gay to the Hon. Mrs. HowardAugust The Hon. Mrs. Howard to John GayAugust 22 The Hon. Mrs. Howard to John Gay

1724

_Undated_ John Gay to the Hon. Mrs. Howard (beginning: "Since I came to the Bath")

Saturday night [autumn] John Gay to Alexander Pope

1725

Thursday, 10 at night John Gay to Alexander Pope

1726

London, September 16 John Gay to Jonathan SwiftOctober 15 Jonathan Swift to Alexander Pope and John GayWhitehall, October 22 John Gay to Jonathan SwiftNovember 17 John Gay and Alexander Pope to Jonathan Swift

1727

Whitehall, February 18 John Gay to Jonathan SwiftLondon, March 3 John Gay to John Caryll[October] (beginning: "I The Hon. Mrs. Howard to John Gay hear you expect and have a mind to have, a letter from me")Twickenham, October 16 Alexander Pope to John GayOctober 22 John Gay and Alexander Pope to Jonathan Swift

1728

February 12 John Gay to Edward Harley, Earl of OxfordWhitehall, February 15 John Gay to Jonathan SwiftFebruary 26 Jonathan Swift to John GayMarch 20 John Gay to Jonathan SwiftDublin, March 28 Jonathan Swift to John GayBath, May 16 John Gay to Jonathan SwiftJune 15 The Hon. Mrs. Howard to John GayBath, July 6 John Gay to Jonathan SwiftAugust 2 John Gay to Alexander PopeAugust The Hon. Mrs. Howard to John GayLondon, December 2 John Gay to Jonathan Swift[December, 1728 or Alexander Pope to John Gay January 1729] (beginning: "No words can tell you the great concern")

1729

[January] (beginning, "I Alexander Pope to John Gay faithfully assure you")Sunday night [January] Alexander Pope to John Gay[January] (beginning: "I Alexander Pope to John Gay am glad to hear of the progress")[1][February or March] John Gay to Alexander Pope (beginning: "My melancholy increases")From the Duke of John Gay to Jonathan Swift Queensberry's in Burlington Gardens, March 18Dublin, March 19 Jonathan Swift to John GayAugust 9 John Gay and the Duchess of Queensberry to the Hon. Mrs. HowardAugust 27 John Gay and the Duchess of Queensberry to the Hon. Mrs. HowardMiddleton Stoney, John Gay to Jonathan Swift November 9Dublin, November 20 Jonathan Swift to John Gay

[Footnote 1: The authenticity of this letter is doubtful. ]

1730

London, March 3 John Gay to Jonathan SwiftDublin, March 19 Jonathan Swift to John GayMarch 31 John Gay to Jonathan SwiftMay 7 John Gay to the Hon. Mrs. HowardAmesbury, July 4 John Gay to Jonathan SwiftTwickenham, July 21 Alexander Pope to John GayJuly 31 The Hon. Mrs. Howard to John GayAugust 18 Alexander Pope to John GayAugust 20 John Gay and the Duchess of Queensberry to the Hon. Mrs. HowardAugust 22 The Hon. Mrs. Howard to John GaySeptember 3 The Hon. Mrs. Howard to John GaySeptember 11 John Gay and the Duchess of Queensberry to the Hon. Mrs. HowardSeptember 11 Alexander Pope to John GayOctober 1 Alexander Pope to John GayOctober Alexander Pope to John GayOctober 23 Alexander Pope to John GayAmesbury, November 8 John Gay and the Duchess of Queensberry to Jonathan SwiftDublin, November 10 Jonathan Swift to John GayDublin, November 19 Jonathan Swift to John Gay and the Duchess of QueensberryAmesbury, December 6 John Gay and the Duchess of Queensberry to Jonathan SwiftDecember 17 John Gay and the Duchess of Queensberry to Hon. Mrs. Howard

1731

Dublin, March 13 Jonathan Swift to John Gay and the Duchess of QueensberryMarch 20 John Gay to Dean SwiftApril 21 John Gay and the Duchess of Queensbury to Jonathan SwiftAmesbury, April 27 John Gay to Jonathan SwiftDublin, June 29 Jonathan Swift to John Gay and the Duchess of QueensburyJune 29 The Countess of Suffolk to John GayJuly 8 John Gay to the Countess of SuffolkJuly 18 The Duchess of Queensbury and John Gay to Jonathan Swift"The Country, " August 28 Jonathan Swift to John Gay and the Duchess of QueensburySeptember 5 The Countess of Suffolk to John Gay[November] John Gay and the Duke of Queensbury to Jonathan SwiftDecember 1 Jonathan Swift to John Gay and the Duke and Duchess of QueensburyDecember 1 John Gay and Alexander Pope to Jonathan SwiftDecember 16 William Cleland to John Gay

1732

London, January 18 John Gay to Jonathan SwiftMarch 13 John Gay to Jonathan SwiftDublin, May 4 Jonathan Swift to John GayLondon, May 16 John Gay to Jonathan SwiftDublin, July 10 Jonathan Swift to John Gay and the Duchess of QueensberryAmesbury, July 24 John Gay and the Duchess of Queensberry to Jonathan SwiftDublin, August 12 Jonathan Swift to John Gay and the Duchess of QueensburyAmesbury, August 28 John Gay and the Duchess of Queensbury to Jonathan SwiftOctober 2 Alexander Pope to John GayDublin, October 3 Jonathan Swift to John Gay and the Duchess of QueensburyOctober 7 John Gay to Alexander PopeNovember 16 John Gay to Jonathan Swift

UNDATED. 

November 3 (beginning: The Hon. Mrs. Howard to John Gay "I have not been well ")--B. M. , Add. MSS. , 22626 f. 63December 7 (beginning: The Hon. Mrs. Howard to John Gay "I write this to quiet your conscience ")--B. M. , Add. MSS. , 22626 f. 64(Beginning: "Most John Gay to the Hon. Mrs. Howard honoured Roger ")--B. M. , Add. MSS. , 22626 f. 59(Beginning: "You oblige The Countess of Suffolk to John Gay me extremely in giving me")--B. M. , Add. MSS. , 22626 f. 61(Beginning: "Pray tell The Countess of Suffolk to John Gay Mr. Pope ")--B. M. , Add. MSS.. 22626 f. 62

III

PROGRAMME OF THE REVIVAL OF "THE BEGGAR'S OPERA, " LYRIC THEATRE, HAMMERSMITH, JUNE 7TH, 1920. 

THE BEGGAR'S OPERA

By MR. GAY

_New Settings of the Airs and Additional Music by Frederic Austin_. 

CAST

_PEACHUM_......................... FREDERIC AUSTIN_LOCKIT_.......................... ARTHUR WYNN_MACHEATH_........................ FREDERICK RANALOW_FILCH_........................... ALFRED HEATHER_THE BEGGAR_...................... ARNOLD PILBEAM_MRS. PEACHUM_.................... ELSIE FRENCH_POLLY PEACHUM_................... SYLVIA NELIS_LUCY LOCKIT_..................... VIOLET MARQUESITA_DIANA TRAPES_.................... BERYL FREEMAN_JENNY DIVER_..................... NONNY LOCK

_Drawer_: DAVID HODDER_Turnkey_: JACK GIRLING

_Members of Macheath's Gang_:

ALAN TROTTER, MALCOLM RIGNOLD, JOHN CLIFFORD, EDWARD BARRS, CHARLES STAITE

_Women of the Town_:

VERA HURST, ELLA MILNE, WINIFRED CHRISTIE, MILDRED WATSON, SYDNEY LEON, EDITH BARTLETT

 * * * * *

PERIOD 1728

ACT I. PEACHUM'S HOUSEACT II. Sc. I. A TAVERN. Near Newgate Sc. Ii. NEWGATEACT III. Sc. I. A STREET Sc. Ii. NEWGATE Sc. Iii. THE CONDEMN'D HOLD

_Scenes and Costumes designed by C. Lovat Fraser_. 

 * * * * *Produced by NIGEL PLAYFAIR

INDEX

"Absence, " 5; _quoted_, 6"Achilles, " 134, 135, 141, 142"Acis and Galatea, " 134Addison, Joseph, 11, 12, 13-14, 16, 23, 37, 44Alais, J. D'. , 28Anne, Queen, 24, 33"Araminta, " 20Arbuthnot, Dr. , 22, 23, 24, 29, 34, 41, 42, 44, 51, 58, 66, 94, 95, 105, 109, 146; _letters quoted_: to Parnell, 39; to Pope, 138; to Swift, 30, 34, 102, 109, 111, 145Argyll, Duke of, 80Aston (actor), 142Atterbury, Francis, Bishop of Rochester, 12, 23

Baller, Anthony (brother-in-law of the poet), 2 Mrs. Anthony, _i. E. , _ Gay, Katherine (_q. V. _) Rev. Joseph (nephew of the poet), 2, 140; his "Gay's Chair, " _quoted_, 4Barber, Mrs. , 127Bathurst, Lord, 50, 54, 58, 72, 92, 145; letter to Swift, _quoted_, 145, "Beggar's Opera, The, " 41, 75, 78-91; "Notes on the Sources of the Tunes of 'The Beggar's Opera, '" by W. H. Grattan Flood, Mus. D. , 150; programme of the revival at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, June, 1920, 162. Bellenden, Madge, 47 Mary, 46, 47, 49Berkeley, Hon. George, 140Bicknell, Mrs. , 37, 42Binks, Mrs. , 142Bloodworth, Mr. , 131Blount, Martha, 47, 72, 94, 130, 131 Teresa, 47Bolingbroke, Viscount, 12, 24, 25, 35, 68, 90, 92 Viscountess, 92Bolton, Duchess of, _see_ Fenton, LaviniaBradshaw, Mrs. , 55Bridgeman, 131_British Apollo_, 9Bromley, Mr. Secretary, 29Buchanan (actor), 142Buckingham, Lord, 15Budgell, Eustace, 18Bullock, H. , 80Burlington, Earl of, 39, 50, 54, 57Burnett, Thomas, 38Burton, Lord, 28

Cantrel, Mrs. , 142"Captives, The, " 65Caroline, Queen, 30, 34, 36, 67, 70, 103, 136Caryll, John, 22Castlemaine, Viscount, 112Chandos, Lord, 50Chapman (actor), 142Chesterfield, Earl of, 140Cibber, Colley, 45, 79, 102; his "Apology, " _quoted_, 90Clarendon, Earl of, 28, 29, 30, 33Clark (actor), 80Cobham, Lord, 87Colman, George, 84, 101"Comparisons, " 5"Complete Key to 'Three Hours After Marriage', " 44"Congratulation to a Newly-married Couple, " 5Congreve, William, 15, 23, 58, 68, 79, 92, 94"Contemplation on Night, " 20Cornbury, Lord, 140"Court Poems, " 40Courthope, Professor, his "Life of Pope, " _quoted_, 44, 45Craggs, James, the younger, 52Cromwell, Henry, 14, 16, 17, 36Cumberland, Prince William Augustus, Duke of, 67, 70

Delany, Dr. , 93"Devonshire Hill, A, " 5"Distrest Wife, The, " 134, 142, 143Dobson, Austin, his article on Gay in "Dictionary of National Biography, " _quoted_, 7, 28, 42Dormer, General James, 112, 140Douglas, Lord Charles, 111, 122Drelincourt, Mrs. , 127 "Dress, " 20Drumlanrig, Earl of, 111, 122

Egleton, Mrs. , 80, 142"Epigrammatical Petition, " 9; _quoted_, 29. "Epistle to the Right Honourable Paul Methuen, Esquire, " _quoted_, 146"Epistle to the Right Honourable the Earl of Burlington, " _quoted_, 39"Epistle to the Right Honourable William Pulteney, Esquire, " 46Essex, Earl of, 66_Examiner, The_, 11, 12

"FABLE, " 5"Fables" (first series), 69-70"Fables" (second, series), 135, 144"Fan, The, " 20, 21Fenton, --, 52, 119Fenton, Lavinia, Duchess of Bolton, 80, 91Fielding, Sir John, 84Fitzwilliam, Countess of, 67Fitzwilliam, Earl of, 67Flood, W. H. Grattan, Mus. D. _See_ Grattan Flood, W. H. _Flying Post, The_, 12Ford, Charles, 22, 29Fortescue, John (brother-in-law of the poet), 2Fortescue, Mrs. John, _i. E. _, Gay, Joanna (_q. V. _)Fortescue, William, 2, 3, 22, 66Freind, Dr. John, 11, 12

Garrick, David, 84Garth, Dr. , 16Gay, Anthony, 1 Gilbert le, 1 Rev. James (uncle of the poet), 2 Joanna (sister of the poet), 2, 117 Jonathan (brother of the poet), 2, 7 Johans, 1 John (grandfather of the poet), 1 John (uncle of the poet), 2 John (the poet), ancestors, 1; parentage and family, 1-2; birth, 2; death of parents, 2; lives with his uncle, Thomas Gay, 2; attends Free School at Barr staple, 2-3; apprenticed to a London silk-mercer, 3; in ill-health, 4; returns to Barnstaple, 4; early writings, 4-5; youthful love affair, 5-6; in improved health, 7; returns to London, 7; life in the Metropolis, 7-8; love of food, drink, and dress, 8-9; "Wine, " 9-10; "The Present State of Wit, " 11-14; makes acquaintance with Henry Cromwell and Pope, 14; "On a Miscellany of Poems to Bernard Lintott, " 14-16; becomes intimate with Pope, 17; domestic secretary to the Duchess of Monmouth, 18-19; "Rural Sports, " 20; some minor verses, 20; "The Fan, " 20-21; "The Wife of Bath, " 21, 113, 115-116; his charm, 21-22; Pope as his protector and adviser, 22; "Memoirs of Scriblerus, " 23; "The Shepherd's Week, " 24-28; appointed Secretary to Lord Clarendon's Mission to Hanover, 1714, 29; letters from Hanover, 29; returns to England on death of Queen Anne, 33; "A Letter to a Lady, " 34-35; "The What D'ye Call It, " 35, 36-39; recognised as a man of letters, 39; visit to Exeter with the Earl of Burlington, 39; "Trivia, " 39-40; "Court Poems, " 40; "The Toilet, " 41; second visit to Devonshire, 41; "Three Hours After Marriage, " 41-45; visits the Continent with Pulteney, 45-46; intimate with the Maids of Honour, 46; and with the Hon. Mrs. Howard, 46-47; again abroad with Pulteney, 48; his literary reputation in 1720, 50; "Poems on Several Occasions, " 50; given a present of South Sea stock, and invests his fortune in it, 52; loses his money when the "Bubble" bursts, 53; financial embarrassment, 53; the desire of his friends to aid him, 54; the disappointment affects his health, 55; recuperates at Bath, 55; appointed a Commissioner of the State Lottery andgiven an apartment in Whitehall, 57; at Tunbridge Wells, 58; correspondence with the Hon. Mrs. Howard, 59-64; "The Captives, " 65; dedication to the Princess of Wales, 65; again at Bath, 66, 67; first meeting with Swift, 68; becomes more intimate with the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry, 69; "The Fables" (first series), 69; dedication to Prince William Augustus, 69; his expectation of a post at Court, 70; offered appointment of Gentleman Usher to the Princess Louisa, 70; his indignation, 70; refuses the post, 70; the opinions of Pope and Swift on the offer, 71-74; lampooned, 75-77; "The Beggar's Opera, " 78-91, 93; at Bath, 92-94; "Polly, " 95-101, 108; loses his Commissionship and his apartments in Whitehall, 101; an end of hope of Court preferment, 102; seriously ill, 105; lives with the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry, 110; in failing health, 133; "Acis and Galatea, " 134; "Achilles, " 134, 141, 142; "The Distrest Wife, " 134, 142, 143; "The Rehearsal at Goatham, " 135, 143; "Fables" (second series), 135, 144; death, 138; buried in Westminster Abbey, 139; his monument, 140; his epitaph written by Pope, 141; posthumous works, 141-144; his friends' devotion, 145-147; _letters quoted_: to Arbuthnot, 31; to Caryll, 37, 38; to Parnell, 38; to Pope, 42, 93, 106, 137; to the Countess of Suffolk, 48, 59, 61, 66, 111, 117, 120, 121, 124, 129; to Swift, 9, 29, 55, 57, 58, 69, 70, 72, 74, 78, 87, 92, 93, 107, 113, 115, 116, 127, 130, 132, 133, 135, 138; to Tonson, 53. Chronological List of the Correspondence of John Gay, 156. References to his writings will be found under the respective titles. Katherine (sister of the poet), 1, 117 Richard, 1 Richard (uncle of the poet), 2 Thomas (uncle of the poet), 2 William (father of the poet), 1 Mrs. William, _i. E. , _ Hanmer, Miss _(q. V. )_Gaye, John, 1 Richard, 1George I. , 30, 33, 70 II. , 36, 100, 103Gore, Mr. , 140Grafton, Duke of, 95, 97-99, 101Grattan Flood, W. H. , Mus. D. : "Notes on the Sources of the Tunes of 'The Beggar's Opera'" 150Griffin (actor), 38Gumley, Anne Maria, 46

Hall (actor), 80, 142Hamilton, Duchess of, 46, 47Hanmer, Miss (mother of the poet), 1, 2 Rev. Jonathan (grandfather of the poet), 1 Rev. John (uncle of the poet), 2, 3, 4Harcourt, Lord, 48"Hare and Many Friends, The, " _quoted_, 70Harley, Thomas, 28Hawkins, Sir John, 85Henley, Anthony, 12Herbert, Lord, 118, 120 Miss, 118Herring, Dr. (Archbishop of Canterbury), 84Hervey, Lady, 101 Miss, 47"High German Doctor, The, " 38Hill, Aaron, 3, 9; letter to Savage, _quoted_, 18 Henry, 10Hippisley (actor), 80Hollins, Dr. , 109Horneck, Philip, 38Howard, The Hon. Mrs. , _see_ Suffolk, Countess ofHowe, Miss, 48

Irvine, Lady Anne, letter to Lord Carlisle, _quoted_, 142

Jennings, Mary, 59Johnson (actor), 42 Samuel, his "Lives of the Poets, " _quoted_, 18, 21, 28, 42, 47, 52, 65, 85

Kent, William, 50King, Dr. William, 11, 12

"Ladies' Petition to the Honourable the House of Commons, " 5Laguerre (actor), 142Lepell, Miss, 46, 47, 49"Letter from a Lady in the City to a Lady in the Country, A, " 43"Letter to a Lady, A" 34; _quoted_, 34-35"Letter to a Young Lady, " 5; _quoted_, 6"Letter to John Gay, concerning his late Farce, entitled a Comedy, " 44Leveridge (actor), 142Lewis, Erasmus, 14, 22, 29, 51, 58Lincoln, Earl of, 57Lintott, Bernard, 14, 39, 43, 50, 53, 54Louisa, Princess, 70Luck, Rev. Robert, 3

Mainwaring, Arthur, 12Marlborough, Henrietta, Duchess of, 88, 92, 94, 95, 108Martin, Mrs. , 80Meadows, Miss, 121_Medley, The_, 12"Memoirs of Scriblerus, " 23, 29Methuen, Sir Paul, 51Monmouth, Duchess of, 18-19, 29Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley, 40, 47_Monthly Amusement_, 12Motte, Benjamin, 87, 90Murray, Miss, 47

Norsa, Miss, 142Nash, Ricard ("Beau"), 94

Oates, Miss, 142_Observer, The_, 12"Ode for the New Year, Written by Colley Cibber, Esq. , " _quoted_, 102, 103Oldmixon, John, 12"On a Miscellany of Poems to Bernard Lintott, " _quoted_, 10, 14, 15-16Otway, Thomas, 37Oxford, Earl of, 29, 33, 72Ozell, John, 12

"Panegyrical Epistle to Mr. Thomas Snow, Goldsmith, " _quoted_, 53"Panthea, " 20Parnell, Thomas, 22, 29Paull, H. M. , his essay on Gay, _quoted_, 95-96Pelham, Mrs. , 66Pendarves, Mrs. , letter to Mrs. Anne Granville, _quoted_, 101Penkethman (actor), 37Peterborough, Earl of, 63, 64, 94Philips, Ambrose, 25, 26, 27, 28, 67 John, 10Playfair, Nigel, 91 _note_"Poems on Several Occasions, " 50"Polly, " 95-101, 108Pope, Alexander, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, 27, 29, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 51, 54, 58, 66, 68, 79, 80, 90, 107, 123, 130, 131, 132, 134, 140, 145, 146; his epitaph on Gay _quoted_, 141; his "Epistle to Arbuthnot" _quoted_, 145; his "Farewell to London" _quoted_, 17; _letters quoted_: to Martha Blount, 46; to Caryll, 39, 45, 141; to Congreve, 36; to Cromwell, 14, 16; to Gay, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 33, 46, 71, 105, 119, 122, 136; to Parnell, 43; to Swift, 8, 23, 67, 73, 79, 86, 89, 139, 141, 142, 146"Pope's Welcome from Greece, Mr. " _quoted, 8_, 47-48, 52, 145, 146, 147Poyntz, S. , 136Pratt, Dr. Benjamin, 29"Prediction, " 5"Present State of Wit, The, " 11; _quoted_, 9, 12, 13-14Prior, Matthew, 12, 15Pulteney, William, 45, 46, 54, 90, 92, 108, 110 Mrs. William, _see_ Gumley, Anne Maria

Queensberry, Duke of, 69, 101, 115, 140, 141, 143 Duchess of, 69, 74, 87, 88, 100, 101, 105, 108, 109, 110, 111, 118, 119, 122, 123, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 133, 136, 140, 143, 144, 145; _letters quoted_: to the Countess of Suffolk, 120, 121, 134, 144; to Swift, 144. Quin, James, 79, 80, 142

Raynor, William, 3Redpath, George, 12"Rehearsal at Goatham, The, " 135, 143"Reproof and Flattery, " 20Rich, John, 79, 90, 95, 96Rivers, Lord, 28Roberts, J. , 40Rolt, Mrs. , 66Rooke, George, 41"Rural Sports" 20; _quoted_, 8, 20

Salway (actor), 142Savage, Richard, 18Scarborough, Lord, 67Scott, Jane, 5, 6Scudamore, Miss, 48 Lady, 93, 94Senesimo, 58"Shepherd's Week, The, " 24, 28, 35, 50; _quoted_, 9, 24, 25, 27Shrewsbury, Duke of, 33Skerrett, Molly, 80Smith, Miss, 112Snow, Thomas, 53Somerville, Lord, 66Sophia, Electress, 30_Spectator, The_, 11Spence, Joseph, his "Anecdotes of Pope" _quoted_ 43, 44Stanhope, Lord 46 William, 100Steele, Sir Richard, 11, 12, 13-14, 21Swift, Jonathan, 12, 23, 33, 35, 51, 68, 73, 74, 78, 81, 84, 106, 138; his "Libel on the Rev. Mr. Delany and His Excellency Lord Cartaret, " _quoted_, 73; his "Epistle to Mr. Gay, " _quoted_, 73; Verses on his own Death _quoted_, 147; _letters quoted_: to Gay, 56, 68, 88, 89, 116, 123, 126, 127, 131, 133; to Erasmus Lewis, 146; to Pope, 41, 67, 68, 69, 73, 78, 86, 93, 107, 143; to the Countess of Suffolk, 68; to Tickell, 68Suffolk, Henrietta Howard, Countess of, 30, 46, 47, 54, 67, 68, 74, 90, 109, 110, 119, 130; letters to Gay _quoted_, 59, 60, 63, 64, 74, 94, 122, 128, 130 Earl of, 128

_Tatler, The_, 11, 12Thanet, Countess of, 111"Thought on Eternity, A, " 20"Three Hours After Marriage, " 41-42, 43, 44, 50Tickell, John, 26"To a Young Lady with some Lamphreys, " 8"To Miss Jane Scott, " 5; _quoted_, 5"To My Chair, " 5"Toilet, The, " 41Tonson, Jacob, 15, 20, 50, 53, 69"Trivia, " 39, 50Tutchin, John, 12

Underhill, John, _quoted_, 5, 25

"Vulture, the Sparrow, and other Birds, The, " _quoted_, 103-104

Walker (actor), 80, 142Walpole, Sir Robert, 80, 99Warwick, Earl of, 44, 46Watts, J. , 69_Weekly Review_, 12"What D'ye Call It, " 35, 36-39, 43, 50_Whig Examiner, The_, 12"Wife of Bath, The, " 21, 50, 113, 115-116Wilcox, Dr. , Bishop of Rochester, 140William Augustus, Prince. _See_ Cumberland, Duke of"Wine, " _quoted_, 10-11Woodward, Dr. , 41, 42Wyndham, Sir William, 137

Younger, Miss, 38