GAY. 
clean-shirt and a bec pe? of mutton, Gay — ot 
lost every thing, was so completely overwhelm 
by hb Cloth; it required all the tenderness of his 
friends to restore his health. On this occasion, the at- 
tention of Pope was conspicuous, Gay at length ha- 
ving recovered his health and spirits, resumed his stu- 
dies, and produced his ly of the Captive, which 
he was invited to read before the Princess of Wales. 
On his introduction into the room, Gay found the Prin- 
cess and her ladies waiting in state to receive 4 ; be- 
ing completely en the importance of the oc- 
et Aes he ‘stub over a Teast: Fat in his fall threw 
down a Japan screen. The Princess was alarmed the 
‘ladies screamed, and Gay, after all this flutter and tre- 
pidation, had still to read his play. 
~ On the advancement of the Prince and Princess to 
the throne, Gay expected that something would be 
done for him ; but on the settlement of the house- 
hold, finding himself appointed gentleman usher to 
the Princess Louisa, he thought himself insulted, and 
declined the place. Still, however, he was assiduous 
in paying court to favourites, and flattered Mrs How- 
ren! afterwards Countess of Suffolk, who was in high 
favour with the King and Queen. The lady listened 
to his verses, and did nothing. But the unrivalled suc- 
cess of his Beggar’s Opera may be supposed to have 
been some compensation for the neglect and ingratitude 
of the court. When shewn to Cibber at Drury Lane, 
it was rejected ; it was then carried to Rich; and, as 
was ludicrously remarked, had the effect of making 
Gay rich, and Rich gay.” 
At length Gay nia | himself an asylum for life in 
the house of the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry. 
The Duke is said to have undertaken the management 
of his money, in consideration of his want of econo- 
my, and to have allowed him only enough for his ne- 
cessities. But even the affectionate attentions of the 
Duke and Duchess failed to soothe the mind of Gay 
into a state of complacency; his disappointments at 
court preying on his spirits, he fell into his old distem- 
per, an habitual cholic, in which state he languished 
with many intervals of ease and health, till a violent 
fit hurried him to the grave with unusual precipitancy. 
He died on the 4th December 1732, and was buried in 
Westminster Abbey. Pope sums up his character as 
follows: ‘ Gay was a natural man, without design, 
. who spoke what he thought, and just as he thought it ; 
and was of a timid temper, and fearful of giving offence 
to the great.” . : 
' Gay. dying without a will, his two maiden sisters in- 
herited what he left ; amounting to £2000, besides the 
. profits of his opera of Achilles. 
- Although the genius of Gay was not of the highest 
order, or deeply inspired, yet it was not destitute of 
originality ; ‘aa he must be allowed to be the inven- 
tor of the ballad opera, a new species of composition, 
which has long kept possession of the stage. We 
have the followin account of the origin of the Beg- 
s Opera, in the words of Pope: “ Dr Swift had 
faa cbueteitig Gass to Mr Gay, Ohat an odd pretty 
sort of a thing a Newgate pastoral might make; Gay 
was inclined to try at such a thing for some time ; but 
afterwards thought it would be better to write a comedy 
on the same p This was what gave rise to the 
ar’s O ‘He | on it; and when first he 
mentioned it to Swift, the Doctor did not much like 
the project. As he carried it on, he shewed what he 
Wrote to both of us, and we now and then gave a cor- 
rection, or a word or two of advice; but it was whol- 
ly of his own writing. When it was done, neither of 
128 
us thought it would sticceed. We shewed it to Con- Gay, 
greve, who, after reading it over, said, it would either Gazette 
take greatly, or be d——d confoundedly. We were all, ““Y7"" 
at the first night of it, in great uncertainty of the event, 
till we were very much encour. by overhearing the 
Duke of Argyle, who sat in the next box to us, say, 
* Tt will do, it must do, I see it in the eyes of them,” 
This was a good while before the first act was over, 
and so gave us ease soon; for that Duke, (besides,his 
own taste), has a particular knack, as any one 
now living, ih discovering the taste of the public. He 
was quite right in this, as usual; the good nature of 
the audience appeared stronger and stronger eyery act, 
and ended in a clamour of applause.” 
It is generally known that the run of this piece was 
gnualtally great in London, andallover England. The 
ladies carried about its songs in fans, and houses were 
furnished with it in screens; besides, it expelled fron 
England for that season the Italian opera, which had car~ 
ried all before it during ten years. Of the merit of this 
performance when it was published, there were a Met J 
of opinions. By some it was commended for the excel~ 
lence of its morality, placing vice in the strongest and 
most odious light; while it was censured by others as 
giving countenance to crimes, by making a highwayman 
the hero, and dismissing him unpunished. Swift was of 
the former opinion, and Dr Herring, Archbishop of 
Canterbury, was of the latter, After the representation 
of the Beggar's Opera, the number of robbers is said 
to have greatly increased. But perhaps this play, writ- 
ten merely for amusement, was not intended by its au- 
thor for any moral purpose ; yet, in our opinion, such a 
representation is more calculated to inflame than amend 
the bad passions of our nature. ‘The picture of a cri- 
minal who converts the horror of a prison into.a scene 
of merriment and debauchery, and consumes those 
hours that are given him for repentance among his cups 
and prostitutes, can have no good effect upon an au- 
dience. And though perhaps, as Dr Johnson observes, 
highwaymen and housebreakers seldom frequent the 
playhouse, yet the latent seeds of robbery and pillage 
may spring up the more readily from viewing highway- 
men digni as heroes, and hearing their speeches 
made the theme of popular applause. Some such ob- 
jection as this, (either moral or political,) prevailed with 
the Lord Chamberlain, who prohibited a second part 
which Gay produced under the name of Polly; he was, 
however, no loser by this repulse, as he gained thrice 
as much by a subscription, on publishing the latter, as 
he did by the publication of the former. : 
From the variety of his hares ase Gay may be 
reckoned a writer of versatile talents, though perked 
not equally well qualified to shine on every subject. he 
attempted. His Fables appear to have been with hima 
favourite work ; he published oné volume, and left be- 
hind him another. They are told with liveliness ; their 
versification is smooth, and the diction happy. The 
origin of the Shepherd’s Week is somewhat singular, 
Steele having praised Philips’ pastorals, as yielding 
only to those of Theocritus, Virgil, and Spenser, Pope, 
who was a competitor for fame in this way, piqued at 
the comparison, incited Gay to write his Shepherd's 
Week, in order to prove that if nature be scrupulously 
followed, rural manners must be delineated as 
and ignorant. But Gay mixed so much truth fea na- 
ture with the coarseness and humour of his composi- 
tions, that his rals became generally popular as 
just i eae of country manners. | (Ww. T. 
GAZETTE, or Newspaper, is a term derived from 
Gazetta, a species of coin formerly current at Venice, 
