Horses, to Westminster-abbey, at eight o'clock in the evening, on the 23d of December. The pall was supported by the Earl of Chesterfield, the Lord Viscount Cornbury, the Hon. Mr. Berkeley, General Dormer, Mr. Gore, and Mr. Pope; the service being performed by the then Dean, Dr. Wilcox, Bishop of Rochester, the choir attending. He was interred in the South cross aisle, against the tomb of Chaucer, near the place where stands his monument.

The Opera of Achilles was brought upon the stage soon after his death, and met with a very good reception, which was greatly promoted by the Duke of Queensberry, who was uncommonly assiduous in patronizing it, and who, as Mr. Pope observes, acted in this, and every thing else, more than the part of a brother to his deceased friend. It was also through the influence of his example that the profits of the representation were given by the managers of the playhouse to our Author's two widow sisters, Katharine and Johanna, relicts of Mr. Ballet and Mr. Fortescue, who, as heirs at law, shared his fortune (about the sum of 3000l.) equally between them; which disposition was agreeable to his own desire, and therefore it was that he made no will. He left several manuscripts behind him, some of which came into the hands of Mr. Pope, who, for that part of them, took care, no doubt, (as he promised Dean Swift) to suppress such as he judged unworthy of him. A few years after his death,

there was published, under his name, a comedy called The Distressed Wife, the second edition of which was printed in 1750: and in 1754 there appeared a humorous piece inscribed to him, with the title of The Rehearsal at Goatham,

EPITAPH.

Or 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;
Unblam'd thro' life, lamented in thy end:-
These are thy honours! Not that here thy bust
Is mix'd with heroes, or with kings thy dust;
But that the worthy and the good shall say,
Striking their pensive bosoms, ---Here lies GAY.

Then follows this farther Inscription:

Here lie the ashes of Mr. JoHN GAY,
The warmest friend,

The most benevolent man:

Who maintained

Independency

In low circumstances of fortune;
Integrity

In the midst of a corrupt age;

And that equal serenity of mind

Which conscious goodness alone can give,
Thro' the whole course of his life.

Favourite of the Muses,

He was led by them to every elegant art;
Refin'd in taste,

And fraught with graces all his own:
In various kinds of poetry

Superior to many,

Inferior to none.

His Works continue to inspire
What his example taught,

Contempt of folly, however adorned;
Detestation of vice, however dignified;

Reverence of virtue, however disgraced.

You, who the sweets of rural life have known,
Despise th' ungrateful hurry of the Town;
In Windsor groves your easy hours employ,
And undisturb'd yourself and Muse enjoy:
Thames listens to thy strains, and silent flows,
And no rude wind thro' rustling osiers blows,
While all his wond'ring Nymphs around thee throng,
To hear the Syrens warble in thy song.

But I, who ne'er was bless'd by Fortune's hand,
Nor brighten'd ploughshares in paternal land; : 101
Long in the noisy Town have been immur'd;
Respir'd its smoke, and all its cares endur'd;
Where news and politics divide mankind,
And schemes of state involve th' une sy mind;