at Bridgewater, and he was afterwards removed to the school of East Orchard, in Dorsetshire *.

He was originally bred a linen-draper, with a Mr. Gibson of that trade in London; and when he left this master, he resided some years in Ireland, as factor to a Mr. Johnson, a merchant in London. On his return, he entered into partnership in the linen-trade with an Irish gentleman; but the connexion not being very successful, was soon dissolved, and about this time his attachment to study, and probably a consciousness that he had some claim to literary reputation, induced him to become an author by profession. Like the majority of his contemporaries, he began with poetical attempts which gained him considerable fame, as in verse he had a very happy and pleasing manner. His "Fables for the Female Sex," first published in 1744, seem, not only in the freedom and ease of the versification, but also in the forcibleness of the moral and poignancy of satire, to approach nearer to the manner of Gay, than any of the numerous imitations of that author, which have been attempted since the publication of his Fables. In his "Trial of Selim, the Persian,” which was a compliment to Lord Lyttleton, he showed himself a perfect master of the most elegant kind of panegyric, that which is couched under the appearance of accusation.

He wrote likewise for the stage; and here his

* These facts and dates were communicated by Mr. Toulmin to Dr. Anderson,

success has been generally considered as inferior to his merit. His Foundling, a Comedy, appeared in 1748, but was decried from a fancied resemblance to the Conscious Lovers, to which however, the author of the Biographia Dramatica is inclined to prefer it, as the intricacy of the plot is much more natural, the characters of a more sprightly turn, and drawn in general from higher life. His Gil Blas, also a comedy, is considered, by the same author, as less deserving of critical approbation, yet it would be difficult to find more lively dialogue, or more of that bustle and life which keep up the attention of an audience in our times. But the Gamester, a tragedy, first acted in 1753, is entitled to the highest praise for its moral tendency, as well as its dramatic excellence. Its being written in prose, was, indeed, an innovation, to which some objected, and others thought the distress was too deep. Of late years, however, it has been revived with the greatest success, for which it is undoubtedly, in some measure, indebted to the unrivalled powers of Mrs. Siddons, who has deepened the distress, without, it is to be feared, removing the cause.

In a letter now before me, to Dr. Warton, dated Feb. 17, 1753, the author gives the following account of the success of this play: "I wrote to you this day se'nnight, with an account of the Gamester to the fourth night. I think I may say the tables are turned, for the play from that night has had a new character: and it is at present as much the fashion to speak very highly of it in fashionable companies, as it

was at first to condemn it. I am just come from the theatre, and though it is the tenth night, the house is as full as it can hold. But poor Garrick is ill, through too much fatigue; so that the play is to be interrupted till he is recovered. I wish I could tell you that the profits of it have answered my expectations; but I believe 400 pounds will be about the sum I shall clear by it."

Mr. Moore, May 17, 1750, married a lady of the name of Hamilton, daughter of Mr. Charles Hamilton, table-decker to the princesses, who had herself a poetical turn, and has been said to have assisted him in part of his writings. This lady, sometime after her husband's death, obtained the place of necessary-woman in the Queen's private apartments, and died a few years ago

*

In 1756, he published his poetical and dramatic works, by subscription, in an elegant quarto volume, dedicated to the Duke of Newcastle, the brother of his early patron, Mr. Pelham. The subscribers were numerous, and included many persons of the highest rank and most eminent talents, but he did not long enjoy the advantages of their liberality. He died of inflammation on the lungs, the

an

consequence

* In 1749, she addressed some verses to a female friend, of which Mr. Moore's name, by a small change to More, was the burthen. The last stanza runs thus:

You will wonder, my girl, who this dear one can be,
Whose merit can boast such a conquest o'er me:
His name you may guess, for I told it before,
It begins with an M, but I dare not say More.

The whole may be seen in the Magazines of the time.

of a fever improperly treated, Feb. 28, 1757. He left one son of the same name, who had a place in the Salt Office, but went afterwards into the naval service, and died at sea, in 1773.

Mr. Moore's abilities, his modest demeanour, and inoffensive manners, and his moral conduct, which is said to have been unexceptionable, recommended him to the men of genius and learning of the age, and procured him the patronage of Lord Lyttelton. Dr. Johnson, after mentioning that Mr. Moore courted the favour of this nobleman by an apologetical poem, called "The Trial of Selim," adds, that his Lordship paid him with "kind words, which, as is common, raised great hopes that at last were disappointed." But this is not the whole truth. Lord Lyttelton did for Moore what few patrons have done for authors; he engaged his friends to assist him in the way which a man not wholly dependent would perhaps prefer. Mr. Dodsley stipulated to pay Moore three guineas for every paper of the World, which he should write, or might be sent for publication, and was approved of. Lord Lyttleton, to render this bargain effectual, and an easy source of emolument to Moore, solicited the assistance of such men as are not often found willing to contribute the labours of the pen, men of high rank in the state, and men of fame and fashion, who cheerfully undertook to supply the paper, while Moore reaped the emolument, and perhaps for a time enjoyed the reputation of the whole. But when it came to be known, as the information would soon

be circulated in whispers*, that such men as the Earls of Chesterfield, Bath, and Cork, Messrs. Walpole, Cambridge, and Jenyns, were leagued in a scheme of authorship to amuse the town, and that the World was "the bow of Ulysses, in which it was the fashion for men of rank and genius to try their strength", we may easily suppose that it would excite the curiosity of the public in an uncommon degree.

The first paper was published Jan. 24, 1753; it was consequently contemporary with the Adventurer, which began Nov. 7, 1752, but as the World was published only once a week, it outlived the Adventurer nearly two years, during which time it ran its course also with the Connoisseur. It was on the same size and type, and at the same price with the Rambler and Adventurer, but the sale, in numbers, was superior to either. In No. 111, Lord Chesterfield states, that the number sold weekly was two thousand, which number, he adds, "exceeds the largest that was ever printed, even of the Spectators." In No. 49, he hints that "not above three thousand were sold." The sale was probably not regular, and would be greater on the days when rumour announced his Lordship as the writer. The usual number printed was 2,500, as stated in the above letter from Mr. Moore to Dr. Warton.

* Lord Orford speaks of two of Lord Chesterfield's papers in his Letters to Bentley, Works, vol. v. p. 344; and I am possessed of a copy of Lord Chesterfield's papers, very splendidly bound in Morocco, a present from his Lordship to Dr. Chaunsey.

+ Duncombe.