FARQUEIAR.

121 to him at his request, by his sweetheart, Mrs. Oldfield. There is one among them which he calls “The Picture,” which was intended for a description and character of him self, and commences thus:—“My outside is neither better nor worse than my Creator made i t , and the piece being drawn b y s o great a n artist, ' t were presumption t o say there were many strokes amiss. I have a body quali fied t o answer all the ends o f i t s creation, and that’s suffi cient. As t o the mind, which i n most men wears a s many changes a s their body, s o i n me 'tis generally dressed like my person, i n black. I n short, my constitution i s very splenetic, and my amours, both which I endeavour t o hide, lest the former should offend others, and the latter incom mode myself; and my reason i s s o vigilant i n restraining these two failings, that I am taken for a n easy-natured man b y my own sex, and a n ill-natured clown b y yours.- I have very little estate but what lies under the circum ference o f my hat; and should I b y misfortune come t o lose my head, I should not b e worth a groat. But I ought t o thank Providence that I can b y three hours' study, live one-and-twenty, with satisfaction t o myself; and contribute t o the maintenance o f more families, than some who have thousands a year.” Such was Farquhar's description o f himself, i n which we learn, that h e was very ingenious, very good-natured, and very thoughtless. I n 1708, h e brought out another amusing comedy, called, “The Inconstant; or, the Way t o Win Him;” but taste having turned from genuine drama t o Italian operas, &c. this comedy, although not inferior i n merit t o his former productions, was received with a great degree o f lassitude b y the audience. Farquhar was married this year; and a s h e imagined, t o a great fortune; but alas, h e was des tined t o b e miserably disappointed. The lady had fallen i n love with him, and s o violent was her attachment, that she resolved t o possess him b y stratagem, well knowing that h e was too much dissipated t o fall i n love o r t o think o f matrimony, unless advantage was annexed t o i t . She therefore caused a report t o b e industriously