at Chertsey. Of his public life, I only know that he stood candidate against Mr. Wilkes at the memorable election for Middlesex in 1769, and received the suffrages of five persons. No. 159, a proposal to erect an hospital for decayed actors, is assigned in Mr. Dodsley's list to J. G. Cooper, Esq. and No. 110, a letter on those persons who live "nobody knows how," is assigned to J. G. Cooper, jun.; but, if I am not misinformed, they were both written by John Gilbert Cooper, Esq. the author of The Life of Socrates,' and 'Letters on Taste.' The former of these works is now little known, but the 'Letters on Taste' were for a considerable time a popular book. He was from affectation, or sincerity, one of the Shaftesbury school of philosophy; and the anecdote related by Dr. Johnson, and confirmed by the late Dr. Gisborne, one of his Majesty's physicians, is an evidence how easily some kinds of philosophy pass into poetry: Mr. Fitzherbert found him one morning, apparently, in such violent agitation, on account of the indisposition of his son, as to seem beyond the power of comfort. At length, however, he exclaimed, "I'll write an Elegy." Mr. Fitzherbert being satisfied by this of the sincerity of his emotions, slyly said, "Had you not better take a post-chaise and go to see him?" He had before this exhibited a singular specimen of sentimental grief, in a long Latin epitaph on his first son, who died the day after his birth. His poems have very considerable merit, particularly the Epistles to Aristippus' and the Father's Advice to his Son.' His VOL. XXII. f translation of Gresset's Ver Vert' is generally esteemed the best. No. 131, on the happy state of the world, if every man filled the post for which he was qualified, was written by Mr. Thomas Mulso, a brother of Mrs. Chapone. He published in 1768, Calistus, or the Man of Fashion,' and 'Sophronius, or the Country Gentleman, in Dialogues,' and died Feb. 7, 1799, aged 78. No. 155, a humorous letter from a parish clerk, complaining of the inconvenience arising from false reports of deaths in the newspapers, is the production of Mr. James Ridley, author of the Tales of the Genii,' the History of James Lovegrove, Esq.' of a periodical paper of much whim, called The Schemer,' first printed in the London Chronicle, and since collected into a volume; and of some other literary performances. He was the eldest son of Dr. Gloster* Ridley, the biographer of his great ancestor Dr. Nicolas Ridley, bishop of London, and martyr. Mr. James Ridley died Feb. 24, 1765, aged 29. He was consequently only nineteen when he wrote this paper. Mr. Duncombe has left a very honourable testimony to his charac ter. "So generous a heart, such an intimate knowledge of the powers and workings of nature, so serious and earnest a desire to serve God and mankind, with a cheerful spirit and address in conveying his instructions, make his loss It is worthy of remark, says Mr. Granger, that Dr. Ridley derived his Christian name from his being born on board the Glocester Indiaman, as his mother was returning from the East Indies. as great to the public as it was to his family and friends *.' No 184, is a sketch of public and private vices, enlivened by ringing the changes on an expression made use of by Sir John Falstaff, that "it is no sin for a man to labour in his vocation." This construction of wit has been often since adopted to give smartness and currency to an acknowledged truth or maxim. It is perhaps what musicians would term a rondeau on a familiar and popular subject. The writer was a Mr. Gataker, a surgeon of considerable eminence, and the author of some professional works, published between the years 1754, and 1761. He was surgeon to his Majesty's household at the time of his death Nov. 17, 1768. Mr. Herring, Rector of Great Mongeham, Kent, wrote No. 122, on the distresses of a physician without patronage. This gentleman died, at an advanced age, Sept. 22, 1802. Mr. Moyle wrote No. 166, on false honour, and Mr. Burgess, No. 198, an excellent paper on the difficulty of getting rid of one's self. Of these gentlemen, I have not been able to procure any information. The Ode to Sculpture, in No. 200, was written by James Scott, D.D. Forty-one of these papers were written by persons unknown to Mr. Dodsley when he made out his list, or who desired that their names might be concealed. That of Lord Chesterfield was long concealed under the mark of four stars, and his share was not generally known until the *Duncombe's Letters, vol. ii. p. 298, note. publication of his miscellaneous works. But his papers are not included in the forty-one just mentioned, the authors of which it is impossible now to discover. Some of them will certainly bear a comparison with the best papers in the work, as Nos. 62, 63, 64, 66, 135, 150, 175, 177, 190, and 208, but the rest seldom rise above mediocrity. It has often been asked why Lord Lyttelton did not assist in a work which he so zealously patronized. Some assistance might reasonably have been expected from the author of the Persian Letters. The World was concluded by Moore, Dec. 3, 1756, No. 209, and Lord Orford, as already noticed, added a World Extraordinary.' The second edition was printed in six volumes, with a dedication to each, and a very few corrections and alterations. All the subsequent editions were contracted into four volumes, and a list of the authors' names given at the conclusion of the fourth. It has been frequently reprinted, and will probably always be a favourite, for its materials are not of a perishable kind. The manners of fashionable life are not so mutable in their principles, as is commonly supposed; and those who practise them may at least boast that they have stronger stamina than to yield to the attacks of wit or morals. |