ry in the "Adventurer," and it was
also, we think, in the eye of the author of the humorous tale, entitled
"The Bashful Man." This unlucky play was afterwards acted seven nights,
the author's third night being under the special patronage of her Royal
Highness.

At the request of the same illustrious lady, he, in 1726, undertook to
write a volume of "Fables" for the young Duke of Cumberland, afterwards
of Culloden notoriety, and when at last, in 1727, the Prince became
George II., and the Princess Queen Caroline, Gay's hopes of promotion
boiled as high as his hopes of gain had during the South-Sea scheme.
But here, too, he was deceived; and having only received the paltry
appointment (as he deemed it, though the salary was L200,) of
gentleman-usher to the Princess Louisa, a girl of two years old, he
thought himself insulted. He first sent a message to the Queen that he
was too old for the place,--an excuse which he made for himself, but
which, being only thirty-nine, he would not have borne any other to make
for him. He next condescended to court Mrs Howard, the mistress of George
II., and that "good Howard" commemorated in the "Heart of Mid-Lothian;"
but this too was in vain, and then he retired from the attempt, growling
out probably (if we can imagine him in fable, not as Queen Caroline
called him the "Hare," but a Bear) the words, "Put not your faith in
princes." He was the more excusable, as, two years before, Sir Robert
Walpole had, for his surmised Toryism, turned him out of the office of
"Commissioner of the Lottery," which had brought him in L150 a-year.

But now for once Gay catches Fortune on the wheel. There is a lucky hour
in almost all lives, provided it be waited for with patience, and with
prudence improved. Swift had some years before observed to Gay, what an
odd pretty sort of thing a Newgate pastoral would make. On this hint Gay
acted, preferring, however, to expand it into a comedy. Hence came the
"Beggars' Opera," a hit in literature second to none that ever occurred
in that fluctuating region. It was first performed in 1728, although much
of it had been written before, and only a few satirical strokes, founded
on his disappointment at court, attested their recent origin. Swift and
Pope watched its progress with interest, but without hope. Congreve
pronounced that it would "either take greatly, or be damned
confoundedly." Gibber at Drury Lane refused it; it was accepted by his
rival Rich, and soon t