P. S. I thank you for the two Infcriptions to the Memory of our amiable Friend. They would have been agreeable Companions to fome of the fame Turn already printed at the End of his Works, by Mr. DODSLEY. That which was wrote by CUNNINGHAM is poffeffed of genuine Elegance and Senfibility. I dare fay you think fo. Those you have fent, affect me in the fame Manner; particularly the ProfeTribute, which you tell me came from a female Pen. I think I can guess the Writer, and would, when next I fee her, challenge a Confeffion, were I fure I could do it without wounding her Delicacy of Feeling.

The

The Elegy I alfo admire much. Thoughts of the Author are equally tender and benevolent with thofe of the Friend, whofe Memory he fo pathetically laments. The last Lines of the second Stanza particularly please

me,

P 4

IN

INSCRIPTION

Alluded to in the foregoing Letter.

On the left Side

of the fole Building I can call my own is confecrated

a Monument

to the Memory of

the beloved and lamented

WILLIAM

SHENSTONE.

'Tis form'd fomething like an Urn,

and of a Subftance fo foft,

that all his Virtues

were with Ease engraven on it,
yet fo tenacious,

they never can be eras'd:

It is infcrib'd, with Affection and Refpect, for the gentle and elegant Qualities of which he was

the happy Poffeffor;

and ftampt with the deepest Gratitude,
for the Honour he had conferr'd,
by his kind and condescending Notice,

on the

thereby-dignified Owner.

M. M

ELEGY

ELE

GY

Referred to in the foregoing Postscript.

WHEN Mufic awakens the Grove,
Soft-breathing the pastoral Note,
Ye Shepherds, who know how to love,
Be CORYDON never forgot!

Of Swains the most tender and kind,
Now low in the Duft is he laid-
Ye, who knew not his elegant Mind,
Ah, me!-What a Lofs have ye had!

His Feelings were mild as the Air,
That pants on the Bofom of May;
His Truth as the Sun-Beam was clear,
And his Heart was as open as Day:
When a neighbouring Swain was in Grief,
His Wants he would gladly fupply;
If his Acres deny'd the Relief,

Like him would he fadden and figh.

His Verse was the Pride of the Grove,
His Song to the Valley was dear,
And the Shepherd, who knows how to Love,
Still hallows his Name with a Tear.

When

1

When the Village is folded in Sleep,
And Midnight invelopes the Skies,
The Mufes ftill clufter, ftill weep,

O'er the Turf where our CORYDON lies.

I

LETTER

XLVI.

R. G, Efq. to Mr. HULL.

Dear, &c.

Received your Letter, and it has astonished me, that you can be in the leaft Degree hurt by the Opinion of narrow Minds. With Regard to the Grievance you complain of; let it be always a Matter of Consolation to you, that the illiberal Treatment Actors may fometimes meet with, on Account of their Profeffion, can never proceed from any but illiberal Minds; 'tis the Cenfurers themselves who become Objects of Contempt, when they would render you fo, from that Confideration merely: and this Reflection ought therefore to make you as indifferent to fuch Instances of Ignorance and Ill-breed

I

ing,

ing, as you would be to a Billing fgate Scold, or a St. Giles's Abufe.

An Actor is a refpectable Character, while he properly confiders, and endeavours to preserve the original Design of his Profeffion; and I have ever been of Opinion, and am convinced of the Truth of the Maxim, that acting fhould unqueftionably be accepted among the Liberal Arts, even with this Advantage over Poetry and Painting, that it fuperadds Example to Document and Delight. 'Tis the living Moral, while the others are but the dead Letter. The Stage is a School, and may be an ufeful one too-As fuch it was patronized and cherished by the wifest and most virtuous States of Greece and Rome; and it has been the Fault of Managers, not of Actors, whenever Theatres have ceafed to afford either Precept or Example.

There are so many Requifites cf Talents, Affiduity, and Perfon, to form a complete Actor, that even a moderate Degree of Excellence fhould be deemed fufficient Merit to entitle a Performer to the public Favour and Indulgence to which, if an honeft, decent

and