The most benevolent man:
Who maintained
Independency
In low circumstances of fortune;
Integrity
In the midst of a corrupt age
And that equal serenity of mind,
Which conscious goodness alone can give,
Through the whole course of his life.

Favourite of the Muses,
He was led by them to every elegant art;
Refin'd in taste,
And fraught with graces all his own;
In various kinds of poetry
Superior to many,
Inferior to none,
His words continue to inspire,
What his example taught,
Contempt of folly, however adorn'd;
Detestation of vice, however dignified;
Reverence of virtue, however disgrac'd.

Charles and Catherine, Duke and Duchess of Queensbury, who loved this
excellent man living, and regret him dead, have caused this monument to
be erected to his memory. Pope, than whom no man loved him better,
composed an epitaph for him:--

Of manners gentle, of affections mild,
In wit a man, simplicity a child;
With native humour, temp'ring virtuous rage,
Form'd to delight at once, and lash the age.
Above temptation in a low estate,
And uncorrupted e'en among the great.
A safe companion, and an easy friend,
Unblam'd through life, lamented in thy end:
These are thy honours! not that here thy bust
Is mix'd with heroes, or with Kings thy dust;
But that the worthy and the good shall say,
Striking their pensive bosoms--Here lies Gay.

Of Gay's posthumous works, there are several references in the
correspondence of his friends. The first mention is concerning
"Achilles," in a letter written from Twickenham by Pope to Caryll: "Poor
Gay has gone before, and has not left an honester man behind him; he has
just put a play into the house, which the Duke of Queensberry will take
care of, and turn to the benefit of his relations. I have read it, and
think it of his very best manner, a true original; he has left some
other pieces fit for the press." Quite in keeping with his character Gay
had made no arrangements for the disposal of the manuscripts he left
behind him. "As to his writings, he left no will, nor spoke a word of
them, or anything else, during his short a