APPENDIX TO CHRONICLE. 



373 



g-aged, and all the squibs of party 

 were thrown. He turned and 

 moulded the various topics of the 

 day into all sorts of shapes ; horse- 

 races, play-bills, auctions, exhibi- 

 tions, and female administrations, 

 became the whimsical vehicles of 

 his humour. The mirth excited by 

 these, as well as his cross-readings, 

 ship news extraordinary, errors of 

 the press, &c. produced many imi- 

 tators; butthey haveseldom equall- 

 ed, and never excelled, the origi- 

 nal. The author was extremely 

 careless of literary reputation. He 

 amused himself in the moments of 

 conception and composition ; but 

 afterwards paid no manner of at- 

 tention to those children of his 

 brain : he left them exposed and 

 deserted sur te pave, till Almonand 

 Debrett took them up, and gave 

 them an asylum in the Foundling 

 Hospital for Wit, where at least a 

 score may be found. The shafts 

 of his ridicule were so happily di- 

 rected against the petitions, remon- 

 strances, and grievances of Wilkes 

 and other pseudo patriots of the 

 da}', as to attract the notice, and 

 toobtain theapprobation, of admi- 

 nistration. Mr. W.had given a hu- 

 morous history of petitions, from 

 the first petition of the peruke- 

 makers to the king, praying him to 

 wear a wig for the benefit of their 

 trade ; he then took up the subject 

 of more modern grievances and 

 apprehensions, answered all these 

 grievances, and advertised for a 

 new grievance ! His success on this 

 occasion was so great, that he was 

 requested bya personhigh in office 

 to write a pamphlet on the subject 

 of the misunderstanding which 

 subsisted betwixt this country and 

 Spain, relative to the Falkland 

 Islands. That task, however, he 

 declined; but recommended doc- 



tor Samuel Johnson as the ablest 

 and properest person who could be 

 selected for this purpose. Mr. W. 

 was accordingly authorised to ne- 

 gociate this matter with the doc- 

 tor which he at length happily 

 concluded in concert with the late 

 Mr. Strahan, the king's printer, 

 one of Johnson's mostintimateand 

 most useful friends. The doctor 

 soon after produced his celebrated 

 publication entitled the False 

 Alarm ; by which he gained both 

 money and reputation. At this 

 period he had conceived a high 

 opinion of Mr. Whitefoord's taste 

 and political influence, and often 

 expressed his approbation of his 

 essays and squibs, pronouncing 

 them superior even to those of dean 

 Swift. But Mr. W.'s pen was not 

 limited to prose compositions; his 

 verses on various subjects, and on 

 difierent occasions, possess equal 

 spirit and point. It has been as- 

 serted that the fine arts have such 

 an affinity to each other, that to 

 have a relish for one, is to be sus- 

 ceptible of all. Whether this be 

 generally true or not, we shall not 

 heredispute, but content ourselves 

 with observing that this combina- 

 tion is remarkably exemplified in 

 Mr. W. who, in his youth, was at 

 once a respectable proficient both 

 in music and drawing : but other 

 avocations did not permit him to 

 cultivate these to the extent which 

 his genius was capable of attaining. 

 Although prevented from reach- 

 ing practical excellence he did not 

 fail, however, to improve in taste; 

 and his judgment as a connoisseur 

 has frequently been appealed to in 

 doubtful cases, when even artists 

 have been divided in their opin- 

 ions. His collection of prints and 

 pictures, chiefly of the Italian 

 school, do honour to the possessor, 



