purpose of despoiling fictitious apple-trees, or nonexistent gooseberry-trees.

Luckily for my safety, and, perhaps, for my reputation, I was rescued from the midst of these "imminent deadly" dangers by a removal to Eton. From her to have sucked the milk of science," to have contracted for her a pious fondness and veneration, which will bind me for ever to her interests, and, perhaps, (pardon, kind reader, the licensed vanity of a periodical writer, abandoning himself on his deathbed to the fascination of egotism,) to have improved, by my earnest endeavours, her younger part of the present generation, is to me a source of infinite pride and satisfaction.

But I find myself growing weak, and am unable to proceed any farther. With the rest of my life, and how it has been employed, my fellow-citizens are sufficiently acquainted. For my own part I look back upon it with contentment; but I must resign my pen to my publisher, who will say whatever I have left unsaid that ought to be made known to my countryThey will, I flatter myself, remember, not without esteem, the name of GREGORY GRIFFINthey will preserve a regard for his memory——

men.

Mr. GRIFFIN could not finish the sentence he was about; this last effort has quite exhausted him, and he has left to me the melancholy office of concluding his life; which, by the bye, if printed with a neat type, in a thin octavo, and adorned with a welllooking title-page, would cut a very pretty figure in the annals of literature. I should, indeed, be a little in doubt whether to entitle it simply, "The Life of Mr. Griffin," or "The Confessions of Mr. Griffin,"

or" An Apology for the Life and Writings," &c. ; but of that hereafter-Tempus edax rerum. I find nothing among Mr. G.'s papers worthy of meeting the public eye; as I discovered, upon searching his breeches pockets since he went to bed, that they consist of, in his right hand pocket, his laundress's bill; in his fob, a piece of brown paper, containing one pennyworth of sugar-candy, of which he was wont to be very fond, and a small note to a friend, containing a positive declaration that he leaves behind him no writings whatsoever unpublished, but his will, which he intends enjoining his executors to lay before his fellow-citizens after his decease.

It may be questioned why I, who must naturally entertain a veneration for his person, do not, now that so fair an opportunity offers itself, attempt something just by way of a character or so; and it may be suspected that there is some reason for the omissionand, to say truth, so there is. It must be confessed that I have, for some time, intended, (and have collected materials for the purpose,) as the eyes of the world must infallibly be fixed on his exit, to favour it, after Mr. G.'s demise, with a collection of anecdotes, stories, smart sayings, witty repartees, funny jokes, and shining sentiments, under the comprehensive title of GRIFFINIANA. Of this work the following extracts will give a sufficient specimen :

"Mr. Griffin was a man of great humour; coming one day into the parlour, where Pompey, the editor's little dog, was lying and basking before the fire, I protest, Pompey,' said he, you are almost as lazy a dog as myself!'

66

6

The voluntary sallies of Mr. Griffin's wit were only to be equalled by the readiness of his repartees;

of this the two following anecdotes will give evidence :

6

“ Mr. Griffin walking one day in the street, was suddenly accosted by a friend of his, who, pulling off his hat, addressed him with, How do you do, Mr. Griffin?' Mr. Griffin, without the smallest hesitation or embarrassment, instantly retorted, Pretty well,

I thank you, sir; I hope you are well.'

"Another time, Mr. Griffin was attacked in a large company by a lady, who, thinking to catch him unprepared, asked him very sharply, How much two and two made?' Two and two, madam,' said he, with great quickness, and without betraying the smallest confusion, make four.""

I will be candid enough to own that the idea of this publication was borrowed from one of a similar kind, on a man of almost equal eminence with him who is to be the subject of these memoirs. But though there may be a near resemblance between the anecdotes here set down and some which are related of that gentleman, the reader will, I hope, have fairness enough to think that it is very possible that both should be original. I have, however, been ouce on the point of dropping the design, when it was represented to me by afriend, on whose judgment I had great reliance, "that I should act unworthily as a biographer, and ungenerously as a friend, in endeavouring to reduce the name of Mr. Griffin, by such a publication, to the level of Joe Miller and Tom Brown; and in rashly bringing to light such uninteresting and trifling effusions of momentary mirth or occasional levity, as would but detract from the weight of his other performances; and such as, from their own intrinsic merit, could only pass without ridicule, when they passed without public observation." THE EDITOR.

B.

No. 40.

MONDAY, JULY 30, 1787.

Amicorum munus est, quæ voluerit, meminisse, daverit, exequi.

quæ manTACITUS.

It is the office of friends to remember the requests of the deceased, and faithfully execute his commissions.

THE melancholy event predicted in a late number has taken place-GREGORY GRIFFIN is no more.

About five minutes three seconds after nine o'clock on Monday evening, his friends were alarmed by a hasty summons to his bedside. The good gentleman seemed to be perfectly sensible that the moment of his dissolution drew near.

It has been usually customary with the biographers of eminent men, when drawing towards the conclusion of their hero's existence, to make the world acquainted with every little symptom attending his exit. But the effects of a cathartic or the operation of an emetic have been too minutely investigated, and too frequently. discussed, to be any longer interesting; and the various circumstances of this kind which marked the termination of Mr. Griffin's existence, would be of as little consequence to the literary as medical world. These, therefore, we shall omit mentioning.

66

My friends!" said he, as we stood round him, raising himself a little on his left elbow, while the bookseller's boy placed a pillow under his head-we knew there was but one way, for his nose was as sharp as a pen-" My friends," said he, "I could not quit this world satisfactorily to my own conscience, without acknowledging my obligations to you. I die, it is true, at an age when I might, without presumption, have hoped for the enjoyment of a protracted existence. But I have long foreseen this

It

event, and am happy to be prepared to meet it. is a great consolation to me, that I leave you behind me, the defenders of my conduct in that official character which I have, during my life-time, supported. It has been my endeavour to blend the instruction of my fellow-citizens with their entertainment, to temper my censure with lenity, and to laugh away their follies, rather than to scourge their vices. If, in any one of these points, my success has been equal to my wishes, the end of my existence is fully answered.

"It has, indeed, so happened, that, contrary to my expectations, my name has found its way beyond the limits of our little republic. Even there, cast as I was on the wide world, I have met with such a reception as to convince me that the tendency of my plan has been warmly approved, however inadequate may have appeared its execution; and if, by these means, I have added one more citizen to our commonwealth, or contributed to diffuse a patriotic love of Eton among its present members, then, indeed, shall I be proud to congratulate myself on the success of my endeavours. But I feel my strength going from me"-the publisher pulled out his pocket handkerchief

"adieu!"—the publisher applied his pocket handkerchief to his eyes-" To your care I entrust my will; you will find I have not forgotten you, my friends; you will execute my commissions with fidelity." "Mr. Griffin is dead," said the bookseller:— Sure enough," said the bookseller's boy;-the printer's devil blubbered;—it was too much. We were forced to retire to give vent to our feelingsand open the will. A copy of it we now lay before the public.

66