126 
ed the late unfortunate princefs Elizabeth 
in the fame capacity. The approach of 
old age obliged him to quit Verfaiiles, , 
and to live in Paris, the air of which, 
lefs fharp, was better adapted to his con- 
ftitution. The laft work of Goldoni 
was The Volponi, written after his retire- 
ment fiom court, from which time he bad 
a lafting adieu to writing. Unfortu- 
nately for him,: he lived to fee his pen- 
fions cut off at the revolution, like others, 
and he {pent his laft days in poverty and 
diftrefs. He died in 1792, at a crifis 
when, according to the expreffion of a 
deputy in the Convention, the French 
nation was ready to repay him every debt 
of gratitude. Goldoni is on a par with 
the greateft comic poets of modern times, 
with regard to dramatic talents, ahd is 
thought fuperior to them all with regard 
to the fertility of his genius. His works 
were printed at Leghorn in 1788---9z, in 
31 vols. 8vo. He has been generally 
called the Moliere of Italy, and Vol- 
taire, in one of his letters to Marquis. 
Albergati, ftiles him, The Painter 
of Nature. Goldoni is one of thofe 
authors whofe writings wiii be re- 
lifhed in the moft remote countries, and 
by the lateft pofterity. His profound 
krowledge of the human heart, his ex- 
tenfive defeription of the vices and vir- 
tues of men, in all ages and ftations, 
willjuftify my concluding this imperfect 
eulogy with applying to him the tollow- 
ing lines of Horace: 
Aeque pauperibus prodeft, locupletibus ae- 
gie: 
Aeyue neglectum pueris, fenidufque no- 
-febit. 
Se 
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS 
To ibe. Life of the late Fabu Wilkes, Ef. 
Chamberlain of ive City of London, Al- 
derman of Farringdon Without, rR. 8. 
\\ ff R. John Wilkes was born in Lon- 
He was the elue/? fon of Mr. 
Wilkes, ana has been tuppol- 
better authority perhaps than 
father’s fide, from Colenel Wilkes, aman 
of iome. celebrity during the civil wars, 
who fided with the parliament againtt 
Charles I. His brother Tfrael is faid te 
e fill alive, and to refide at New York. 
His mother wasadiffenter, and he him’ 
felt 1s reported to have been educated in 
dilenting principles, beth civil and reli- 
gious ; Certain. it is, that from the time 
of his. firtt 
launching into pyblic life, 
xaos 
Lal 
ds. 
he 
_ Additions and Corrections to Accountof Mir. Wilkes, 
uniformly profeffed himfelf attached to» 
the caufe of freedom. His addrefs to the 
eleétors of Beywick, forwhich place he . 
became a-candidate.in 1754, breathes a.’ 
noble fpirit of independence, and confutes ~ 
the calumnies of thofe, who, adverting to 
his conduét ata iater period, confidered 
him as a patriot by accident, and more 
attached to his own interefts, than the 
caufe of his country. 
-He received: a confiderable part of his 
education abroad, at Leyden or Utrecht: 
and a decifive proofof the reputation he » 
had acquired at that peried, was given by 
that eminent metaphyfician, Mr. Andrew 
Baxter, who dedicated to Mr. Wilkes the 
‘* Appendix of his Enquiry into the Nature » 
of the Human Soul.’ Inthis dedication, . 
Mr. Baxter {peaks of a philofophical con- 
verfation which paffed between them in 
the Capuchin’s garden at Spa, in the» 
fummer of 1745. Baxter was long a re- 
fident at Utrecht, as tutor to fome young 
men of rank ftudying at that univerfity. » 
He continued his correfpondence with Mr. 
Wilkes; and addrefled to him a very 
friendly and. affeCtionate letter during his 
lat illnefs in 1750. 
Soon after finifhing his education, Mr. 
Wilkes returned to England, and mar- 
ried Mifs Mead, a lady of confiderable 
fortune; fhe however was not the daugh- 
ter of the ‘celebrated Dr. Mead. That . 
phyfician was twice married; but of the. 
two daughters who furvived him, one 
became the wife of Dr. Wilmot, the 
other of Dr. Nicholls. Mrs. Wilkes ° 
was of a family enriched by trade, and 
faid to have been related to this eminent 
practitioner. 
By this lady, from whom he'after- 
wards feparated, Mr. Wilkes had an 
amiable and accomplifhed daughter, who 
is ftillalive, and between whom and him- 
felf there exifted the moft cordial regard ; 
a warm paternal affection on his part, and 
unbounded duty and attachment on hers. . 
During all\his political Grugeles, and. 
erfonal afflittions, her care and attention 
were uniform and undiminifhed, and he 
has recorded her flial piety, im an am-, 
feription at his cottage. im the Iile of 
Wight. et : 
The perfonal bravery of Mr. W. was 
ungueftionable ; in addition to his duel 
with Mr. Mariin,- mentioned in the dait 
Monthly Magazine, he fought another. 
with Lord Talbot, and conducted himfeli-, 
in both with great {pirit. : 
The feverity of reprehenfion ~ witha 
which he treated the Scotch nations begat 
him many eneinits among the naiives of, 
he 
