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lencies and all his defects has fo well

maintained his claim to be confidered as

original.

GAY.

JOHN

HN GAY, defcended from an old family that had been long in poffeffion of the manour of Goldworthy in Devonshire, was born in 1688, at or near Barnstaple, where he was educated by Mr. Luck, who taught the fchool of that town with good reputation, and, a little before he retired from it, published a volume of Latin and Englifh verses. Under fuch a mafter he was likely to form a tafte for poetry. Being

* Goldworthy does not appear in the Villare.

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born without profpect of hereditary riches, he was fent to London in his youth, and placed apprentice with a filk mercer.

How long he continued behind the counter, or with what degree of foftness and dexterity he received and accommodated the ladies, as he probably took no delight in telling it, is not known. The report is, that he was foon weary of either the restraint or fervility of his occupation, and eafily perfuaded his master to discharge him.

The dutchefs of Monmouth, remarkable for inflexible perfeverance in her demand to be treated as a princess, in 1712 took Gay into her fervice as fecretary by quitting a fhop for fuch fervice he might gain leifure, but he cer

tainly advanced little in the boast of independence. Of his leifure he made fo good ufe, that he published next year a poem on Rural Sports, and infcribed it to Mr. Pope, who was then rifing fast into reputation. Pope was pleafed with the honour; and when he became acquainted with Gay found fuch attractions in his manners and conversation, that he seems to have received him into his inmost confidence; and a friendship was formed between them which lafted to their feparation by death, without any known abatement on either part. Gay was the general favourite of the whole affociation of wits; but they regarded him as a play-fellow rather than a part

A 2

a partner, and treated him with more

fondness than respect.

Next year he published The Shepherd's Week, fix English Paftorals, in which the images are drawn from real life, fuch as it appears among the rufticks in parts of England remote from London. Steele in fome papers of the Guardian had praised Ambrofe Philips as the Paftoral writer that yielded only to Theocritus, Virgil, and Spenfer. Pope, who had also published Paftorals, not pleased to be overlooked, drew up a comparison of his own compofitions with those of Philips, in which he covertly gave him→ felf the preference, while he feemed to difown it. Not content with this, he is fuppofed to have incited Gay to write

the

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