ier, who had given him formerly many professions
of friendship. He could not bear the thought that his wife and family
would want, and in this perplexity was ready to embrace any expedient
for their relief. His pretended patron persuaded him to convert his
commission into the money he wanted, and pledged his honour, that in a
very short time he would provide him another. This circumstance appeared
favourable, and the easy bard accordingly sold his commission; but when
he renewed his application to the nobleman, and represented his needy
situation, the latter had forgot his promise, or rather, perhaps, had
never resolved to fulfil it.

This distracting disappointment so preyed upon the mind of Mr. Farquhar,
who saw nothing but beggary and want before him, that by a sure, tho'
not sudden declension of nature, it carried him off this worldly
theatre, while his last play was acting in the height of success at that
of Drury-lane; and tho' the audience bestowed the loudest applauses upon
the performance, yet they could scarce forbear mingling tears with their
mirth for the approaching loss of its author, which happened in the
latter end of April 1707, before he was thirty years of age.

Thus having attended our entertaining dramatist o'er the contracted
stage of his short life, thro' the various characters he performed in
it, of the player, the lover, and the husband, the soldier, the critic,
and the poet, to his final catastrophe, it is here time to close the
scene. However, we shall take the liberty to subjoin a short character
of his works, and some farther observations on his genius.

It would be injurious to the memory of Wilks not to take notice here, of
his generous behaviour towards the two daughters of his deceased friend.
He proposed to his brother managers, (who readily came into it) to give
each of them a benefit, to apprentice them to mantua-makers; which is an
instance amongst many others that might be produced, of the great worth
of that excellent comedian.

The general character which has been given of Mr. Farquhar's comedies
is, 'That the success of the most of them far exceeded the author's
expectations; that he was particularly happy in the choice of his
subjects, which he took care to adorn with a variety of characters
and incidents; his style is pure and unaffected, his wit natural and
flowing, and his plots generally well contrived. He lashed the vices of
the age, tho' with a merciful hand; for his mu