Lord Gower was pronounced by Pope the next ode in the English language to Dryden's 'Cecilia.'" Fenton may be justly styled an excellent versifier and a good poet. Whatever I have said of Fenton is confirmed by Pope in a letter by which he communicated to Broome an account of his death. "DR SIR. "TO THE REVD. MR. BROOME "At Pulham, near Harlestone. "29 August, 1780. "I intended to write to you on this melancholy subject, the death of Mr. Fenton, before yrs 26 came; but stay'd to have inform'd myself & you of ye circumstances of it. All I hear is, that he felt a Gradual Decay, tho so early in Life, & was declining for 5 or 6 months. It was not, as I apprehended, the Gout in his Stomach, but I believe rather a Complication first of Gross Humors, as he was naturally corpulent, not discharging themselves, as he used no sort of Exercise. No man better bore ye approaches of his Dissolution (as I am told) or with less ostentation yielded up his Being. The great Modesty wch you know was natural to him, and ye great Contempt he had for all Sorts of Vanity & Parade, never appeared more than in his last moments: He had a conscious Satisfaction (no doubt) in acting right, in feeling himself honest, true, & un-pretending to more than was his own. So he dyed, as he lived, with that secret, yet sufficient, Contentment. "As to any Papers left behind him, I dare say they can be but few; for this reason, He never wrote out of Vanity, or thought much of the Applause of Men. I know an Instance where he did his utmost to conceal his own merit that way; and if we join to this his natural Love of Ease, I fancy we must expect little of this sort: at least I hear of none except some few further remarks on Waller (wch his cautious integrity made him leave an order to be given to Mr. Tonson) and perhaps tho tis many years since I saw it, a Translation of ye first Book of Oppian. He had begun a Tragedy of Dion, but made small progress in it. in our language. His own admirable imitations had not yet appeared.-Jos. WARTON on POPE, i. 307, ed. 1782. 25 Dr. Akenside frequently mentioned to me, as one of the best of the regular Pyndaric Odes, Fenton's to Lord Gower.-Jos. WARTON: Pope's Works by Warton, i. 144. He [Fenton] dedicated 'Mariamne' to Lord Gower, to whom he addressed one of the finest odes in our language. Akenside was for ever praising this ode-Jos. WARTON: Pope's Works by Warton, vii. 327. 26 Dated 17th Aug. 1730. In this letter he says, "By the public news I find we have lost Mr. Fenton, the sincerest of men and friends. Of what a treasure has one moment robbed me! The world is really become of less value to me since he is out of it. He intended to have withdrawn to me and to lay his bones by mine."-Rough Draft of Broome's Letter to Pope. "As to his other Affairs, he dyed poor, but honest, leaving, no Debts, or Legacies; except of a few pds to Mr. Trumbull and my Lady, in token of respect, Gratefulness, & mutual Esteem. "I shall with pleasure take upon me to draw this amiable, quiet, deserving, unpretending Christian and Philosophical character, in His Epitaph. There Truth may be spoken in a few words: as for Flourish, & Oratory, & Poetry, I leave them to younger and more lively Writers, such as love writing for writing sake, & wd rather show their own Fine Parts, yo Report the valuable ones of any other man. So the Elegy I renounce. "I condole with you from my heart, on the loss of so worthy a man, and a Friend to us both. Now he is gone I must tell you he has done you many a good office, & set your character in the fairest light, to some who either mistook you, or knew you not. I doubt not he has done the same for me. "Adieu: Let us love his Memory, and profit by his example. I am very sincerely "DR SIR "Your affectionate "& real Servant A. POPE." 27 27 Mr. Harte, who knew many particulars of his [Fenton's] Life, once told me he would write an account of it.-Jos. WARTON: Pope's Works by Warton, vii. 828. · GAY. 1688-1732. Born at Barnstaple, in Devonshire-Apprenticed to a Silkmercer-Made Secretary to the Duchess of Monmouth-Publishes The Shepherd's Week'-Acquires the Friendship of Pope-His Court Disappointments-His intimacy with Mrs. Howard and the Duchess of Queensberry-Writes 'The Beggar's Opera '-Its great success-His next Play prohibited -His Fables-Death, Burial, and Monument in Westminster Abbey-Works and Character. JOHN GAY, descended from an old family that had been long in possession of the manor of Goldworthy' in Devonshire, was born in 1688, at or near Barnstaple, where he was educated by Mr. Luck, who taught the school of that town with good reputation, and, a little before he retired from it, published a volume of Latin and English verses. Under such a master he was likely to form a taste for poetry. Being born without prospect of hereditary riches, he was sent to London in his youth, and placed apprentice with a silkmercer.2 How long he continued behind the counter, or with what degree of softness 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 soon weary of either the restraint or servility of his occupation, and easily persuaded his master to discharge him. The Duchess of Monmouth, remarkable for inflexible perseverance in her demand to be treated as a princess, in 1712 took Gay into her service as secretary: by quitting a shop for such service, he might gain leisure, but he certainly advanced little in the boast 1 Goldworthy does not appear in the 'Villare.'-JOHNSON. 2 John Gay was the second son of John Gay, Esq., of Frithelstock, near Great Torrington. His father and mother died in or about 1694, leaving two sons (Jonathan, in the army, d. 1709) and two daughters, who inherited the poet's property. (See 'Memoir of Gay,' by his nephew Baller, in 'Gay's Chair,' 12mo., 1820.) |