His jocamur, ludimus, amamus, dolemus, querimur, irascimur; descri-
bimus aliquid modo pressius, modo elatius: atque ipsa varietate tenta-
mus efficere, ut alia allis, quaedam fortasse omnibus piaceant.

Of manners gentle, of affections mild;

In wit a man, simplicity a child:

With native humour temp'ring virtuous rage;
Form'd to delight, at once, and lash the age:
Above temptation in a low estate,
And uncorrupted ev'n amongst the great:
A safe companion, and an easy friend;
Unbiam'd thro' life, lamented in thy end:
These are thy honours !---

VOL I.

PLIN. EPIST.

POPE.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR, AND UNDER THE DIRECTION OF,
G. CAWTHORN, BRITISH LIBRARY, STRAND.

1797.

NEW YO

KURAL SPORTS. TWO CANTOS, SHEPHERD'S WEEK. SIX

TRIVIA. THREE BOOKS,

PASTORALS,

FAN.

THREE BOOKS,

ACIS AND GALATEA.

Fatigu'd at last, a calm retreat I chose,

And sooth'd m, harass'd mind with sweet repose;
Where fields, and shades, and the refreshing clime,
Inspire the sylvan song, and prompt my rhyme.
My Muse shall rove thro' flow'ry meads and plains,
And deck with Rural Sports her native strains,
And the same road ambitiously pursue,

Frequented by the Mantuan swain and you.

RURAL SPORTS. TO POPE.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR, AND UNDER THE DIRECTION OF,
G. CAWTHORN, BRITISH LIBRARY, STRAND.

1797.

THE LIFE OF

JOHN GAY.

JOHN GAY, an original poetic genius, was descended of an ancient family, which derived its name from Gilbert le Gay of Hampton Gay in Oxfordshire, who, in right of his wife, the daughter and heir of the family of Curtoyse, or Curtis, became possessed of the lordship of Goldworthy in Devonshire, the ancient seat of the name of Gay for many generations. Our Author was born in the year of the revolution 1688, near Barnstaple in that county, and put to the freeschool there under an excellent master, who, being bred at Westminster, taught in the method of that school. Thus he had the advantage of being imbued with a just taste of the classics: but the family-estate being much reduced, his fortune was not sufficient to support him as a gentleman, and therefore his friends chose to breed him to some genteel trade. Accordingly he was put apprentice to a silk-mercer in

* In his Rural Sports he says,

He never had been blest by Fortune's hand,
Nor brighten'd ploughshares in paternal land.