lles," which was produced on February 10th, 1733, at the scene of
his triumph with "The Beggar's Opera," the theatre in Lincoln's Inn
Fields; "The Distrest Wife" and a farce, "The Rehearsal at Goatham,"
which last were printed, respectively, in 1743 and 1754. He was at this
time composing very leisurely a second series of "Fables," which were
ready for the press at the time of his death, but did not appear until
1738.

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT.

London, May 19th, 1732.

"You seemed not to approve of my writing more Fables. Those I am now
writing have a prefatory discourse before each of them, by way of
epistle, and the morals of them mostly are of the political kind; which
makes them run into a greater length than those I have already
published. I have already finished about fifteen or sixteen; four or
five more would make a volume of the same size as the first. Though this
is a kind of writing that appears very easy, I find it the most
difficult of any I ever undertook. After I have invented one fable, and
finished it, I despair of finding out another; but I have a moral or two
more, which I wish to write upon.

"I have also a sort of a scheme to raise my finances by doing something
for the stage: with this, and some reading, and a great deal of
exercise, I propose to pass my summer.

"As for myself, I am often troubled with the colic. I have as much
inattention, and have, I think, lower spirits than usual, which I impute
to my having no one pursuit in life."[3]

JOHN GAY TO DEAN SWIFT.

Amesbury, July 24th, 1732.

"I shall finish the work I intended, this summer,[4] but I look upon the
success in every respect to be precarious. You judge very right of my
present situation, that I cannot propose to succeed by favour: but I do
not think, if I could flatter myself that I had any degree of merit,
much could be expected from that unfashionable pretension.

"I have almost done everything I proposed in the way of Fables; but
have not set the last hand to them. Though they will not amount to half
the number, I believe they will make much such another volume as the
last. I find it the most difficult task I ever undertook; but have
determined to go through with it; and, after this, I believe I shall
never have courage enough to think any more in this way."[5]

ALEXANDER POPE TO JOHN GAY.

October 2nd, 1732.

"Every man, and every boy, is writing verses on the royal hermitage: I
hear the Queen is at a l