the clergy of that country, who have always distinguished themselves for their zeal in favour of the House of Hanover, and of civil and religious liberty. During his stay in Scotland, he indulged his taste for humour, by searching into the manners of low life. With this view, he prepared a splendid entertainment at Edinburgh, and ordered his servants to pick up all the beggars and poor people they could find in the streets as his guests. Whatever humour our author may have learned from these poor people, he never made use of it in any comedy.

Soon after his return to England, Sir RICHARD lost his second wife: neither the fortune which she had brought to him, nor his other emoluments, were sufficient to supply the demands of his extravagance. To recruit his exhausted finances, he became projector*. He invented a vessel for carrying fish alive, and without wasting, from any part of the kingdom to another, and procured a patent for his invention. The commercial projects of genius are rarely advantageous to the projector. Genius, frequently, like Moses, guides others to that object which it never reaches itself. Thus STEELE'S scheme, promising enough in theory, like many other plausible speculations, was found not to be successful in practice, and proved pernicious to its inventort.

* In 1718.

The fish, though supplied by the contrivance with a continual stream of water, yet not brooking the confinement, battered themselves to pieces against the sides of the pool. Thus, when they were brought to market, they were so damaged that they fetched very little money.

In the year 1719, STEELE lost a considerable part of his income by his violent oppositions, not only in his legislative capacity, but also in political pamphlets, to the peerage bill; to the rejection of it his publications contributed powerfully. His licence for acting plays was revoked, and his patent rendered ineffectual. He set on foot a paper entitled The Theatre, where he endeavoured to convince the public that he and his brother-managers had been very unjustly treated. His application, however, for the restoration of the licence was rendered hopeless by the disgrace of his friend Mr. Walpole. Groaning under the persecution of power, the natural gaiety of our author was nearly overwhelmed, when, to complete his misery, DENNIS attacked him in a pamphlett. The face and figure of a writer were favourite subjects of this despicable assailant's criticisms. STEELE had an expressive manly countenance, and a good figure, but a dark complexion, and wore a black peruke. Those two circumstances made a part of DENNIS'S attack; such scurrilous abuse deserved no serious answer, and from STEELE it received none ‡.

*The scope of the bill was this, that instead of the sixteen Scotch peers, there were for the future to be twenty-five hereditary peers of Scotland; and the crown to be restrained from creating new peers, except on the extinction of an old family.

B

+ It was entitled, The Character and Conduct of Sir John Edgur, &c.

Steele only entered into a humorous defence of his own beauty; and published the following ludicrous advertisement:" An eminent Turkey merchant, and an ingenious foreigner, do hereby give

From the failure of his scheme, and other misfortunes, arising from his indiscretion and extravagance, STEELE was now in very distressed circumstances. He was burdened with debts, and had nothing to trust to but his pen. Thus he was often under the necessity of exerting his ingenuity in eluding or quieting his creditors*. It was remarked, however, that in all his difficulties he never lost the gaiety of his temper; a circumstance which by no means forebodes amendment.

notice, that if any person will discover the libeller or libellers who has or have falsely and maliciously insinuated in his or their writings, that Sir Richard Steele is ugly, so that he or they may be prosecuted by law, shall have all fitting encouragements; the said gentlemen having lost considerable matches by reason of the similitude of their persons to the said injured knight."

*Steele one day invited several persons of rank and quality to dine at his house. The company was surprised to see the number of footmen which sur rounded the table. Being asked after dinner, when wine had dispelled ceremony, by a nobleman, how so expensive a train of domestics accorded with his fortune? Sir Richard replied, they were fellows of whom he would very willingly, be rid; and confessed they were bailiffs who had introduced themselves with an execution, and whom, since he could not send them away, he had thought it convenient to embellish with liveries, that they might do him honour whilst they staid.

Steele had one day dined with Savage, whom he long patronised, at a petty tavern near Hyde Park Gate, where he had dictated to him a pamphlet. In the evening he told Savage he had not a farthing in his pocket, that he must go and sell the pamphlet to discharge the reckoning. Savage went out to offer this new production to sale, and obtained two guineas for it. Sir Richard then returned home, having retired that day only to avoid his creditors, and composed the pamphlet to discharge the reckoning.

In April, 1721, STEELE's friend, Mr. WALPOLE, was appointed chancellor of the exchequer, in the room of Mr. AISLABIE, disgraced and prosecuted as a sharer in the fraud and profits of the South Sea ruinous project, against which our author had written two pamphlets, The Crisis of Property; and The Nation, a Family. Through WALPOLE'S influence, he was restored to his office and authority in the play-house; and soon after brought out his comedy of The Conscious Lovers, in the fable of which he is a close imitator of TERENCE, whilst he has displayed very great originality in the characters, sentiments, and incidents. This play abounds in pathos; its sentiments are those of the most refined morality; and as honest parson ADAMS very justly observes, there are many things in it that would do vastly well in a sermon. It was acted with very great success. STEELE'S profits from the representation were considerable; and he was presented with five hundred pounds by his Majesty.

The profusion however of STEELE was too great for him to be long benefited by the success of The Conscious Lovers. Being reduced to great extremity, he sold, a year after, his share in the play-house. He soon after commenced a law-suit with the managers, which was determined to his disadvantage. When Sir RICHARD threw his affairs into the hands of lawyers and trustees, the friend and gentleman had nothing more to do in the matter. It can be no wonder, then, that a flaw was found in the conduct of him who acted no longer from

himself. The loss of this cause, together with his profusion, which still continued unabated, plunged our author in the utmost extremity of poverty. Old age was fast approaching on him now, without any means of supporting himself and his children, but the exertion of his literary talents. Gloomy is the prospect in declining years, of genius compelled to write for daily bread, when the powers begin to be impaired, when the impression of objects begins to grow faint, when the fancy becomes inanimate and feeble, and sensibility cold and languid; when even reason, if she preserves the force, loses the quickness of her operations. Aged genius then sees the time drawing near, when it will depend for sustenance on the precarious benefactions of individuals, or on the galling provisions of benevolent institutions.

This melancholy prospect was, without doubt, aggravated for STEELE, by the consciousness that he owed his distresses not to misfortunes, but to imprudence and folly. His distressed situation was soon increased by a paralytic disorder, which rendered him utterly incapable of further literary efforts. In these unhappy circumstances he bid adieu to London: he retired first to Hertfordshire, then to Wales, to live as cheaply as possible, and so be less burdensome to his friends. He took up his abode at Languanor, near Caermarthen, a seat he retained by the permission of the mortgagee. His pecuniary distresses having never subverted his principles of conduct, he had, be