more than in the other; and I know not any man who is in a greater likelihood than myself to die poor and friendless. You are a much greater lofer than me by his death, as being a more intimate friend, and often his companion; which latter I could never hope to be, except perhaps once more in my life for a piece of a fummer. I hope he hath left you the care of any writings he may have left, and I wish, that, with those already extant, they could be all published in a fair edition under your inspection. Your Poem on the Ufe of Riches hath been just printed here, and we have no objection but the obscurity of several paffages by our ignorance in facts and perfons, which makes us lofe abundance of the Satire. Had the printer given me notice, I would have honeftly printed the names at length, where I happened to know them; and writ explanatory notes, which however would have been but few, for my long abfence hath made me ignorant of what paffes out of the scene where I am. I never had the least hint from you about this work, any more than of your former, upon Tafte. We are told here, that you are preparing other pieces of the fame bulk to be infcribed to other friends, one (for instance) to my Lord Bolingbroke, another to Lord Oxford, and fo on.-Doctor Delany prefents you his most humble fervice: he behaves him

felf

felf very commendably, converses only with his former friends, makes no parade, but entertains them conftantly at an elegant plentiful table, walks the streets as ufual, by day-light, does many acts of charity and generosity, cultivates a country-house two miles diftant, and is one of those very few within my knowledge, on whom a great access of fortune hath made no manner of change. And particularly he is often without money, as he was before. We have got my Lord Orrery among us, being forced to continue here on the ill condition of his estate by the knavery of an Agent; he is a most worthy Gentleman, whom, I hope, you will be acquainted with. I am very much obliged by your favour to Mr. P―, which, I defire, may continue no longer than he shall deferve by his Modefty, a virtue I never knew him to want, but is hard for young men to keep, without abundance of ballast. If you are acquainted with the Duchess of Queensbury, I defire you will present her my moft humble fervice: I think fhe is a greater lofer by the death of a friend than either of us. She feems a Lady of excellent fense and spirit. I had often Poftfcripts from her in our friend's letters to me, and her part was sometimes longer than his, and they made up great part of the little happiness I could have here. This

was

was the more generous, because I never faw her fince he was a girl of five years old, nor did I envy poor Mr. Gay for any thing so much as being a domestic friend to fuch a Lady. I defire you will never fail to fend me a particular account of your health. I dare hardly enquire about Mrs. Pope, who, I am told, is but just among the living, and confequently a continual grief to you: fhe is fenfible of your tenderness, which robs her of the only happiness the is capable of enjoying. And yet I pity you more than her; you cannot lengthen her days, and I beg she may not fhorten yours.

LETTER LXIV.

Feb. 16, 1732-3.

T is indeed impoffible to speak on such a subject as the lofs of Mr. Gay, to me an irreparable one. But I fend you what I intend for the infcription on his tomb, which the Duke of Queensbury will fet up at Westminfter. As to his writings, he left no will, nor fpoke a word of them, or any thing else, during his fhort and precipitate illness, in which I attended him to his last breath. The Duke has acted more than the part of a brother to him, and it will be ftrange if the fifters do not

leave his papers totally to his difpofal, who will do the fame that I would with them. He has managed the Comedy (which our poor friend gave to the play-house the week before his death) to the utmost advantage for his relations; and proposes to do the fame with fome Fables he left finifhed.

There is nothing of late which I think of more than Mortality, and what you mention, of collecting the best monuments we can of our friends, their own images in their writings: (for those are the beft, when their minds are fuch as Mr. Gay's was, and as yours is.) I am preparing alfo for my own, and have no. thing fo much at heart, as to fhew the filly world that men of Wit, or even Poets, may be the most moral of mankind. A few loose things fometimes fall from them, by which cenforious fools judge as ill of them as poffibly they can, for their own comfort: and indeed, when fuch unguarded and trifling Jeux d' Esprit have once got abroad, all that prudence or repentance can do, fince they cannot be deny'd, is to put 'em fairly upon that foot; and teach the public (as we have done in the preface to the four volumes of Mifcellanies) to distinguish betwixt our ftudies and our idleneffes, our works and our weakneffes. That was the whole end of the last Vol. of Mifcellanies, without which

our

our former declaration in that preface, "That "these volumes contained all that we have

ever offended in that way," would have been difcredited. It went indeed to my heart, to omit what you called the Libel on Dr. D—, and the best Panegyric on myself, that either my own times or any other could have afforded, or will ever afford to me. The book, as you obferve, was printed in great hafte; the cause whereof was, that the bookfellers here were doing the fame, in collecting your pieces, the corn with the chaff, I don't mean that any thing of yours is chaff, but with other wit of Ireland which was fo, and the whole in your name. I meant principally to oblige them to separate what you writ seriously from what you writ carelessly; and thought my own weeds. might pafs for a fort of wild flowers, when bundled up with them.

It was I that fent you thofe books into Ireland, and so I did my Epiftle to Lord Bathurst even before it was publifh'd, and another thing of mine, which is a a Parody from Horace, writ in two mornings. I never took more care in my life of any thing than of the former of thefe, nor less than of the latter: yet every friend has forced me to print it, tho' in truth my own fingle motive was about twenty lines