Page:The English humourists of the eighteenth century. A series of lectures, delivered in England, Scotland, and the United States of America (IA englishhumourist00thacrich).pdf/185

 him, and jealous of him, were kind and fond of honest Gay. In the portraits of the literary worthies of the early part of the last century, Gay's face is the pleasantest perhaps of all. It appears adorned with neither periwig nor night-cap (the full dress and negligée of learning, without which the painters of those days scarcely ever pourtrayed wits), and he laughs at you over his shoulder with an honest boyish glee—an artless sweet humour. , so gentle, so jocular, so delightfully brisk at times, so dismally woe-begone at others, such a natural good-creature, that the Giants loved him. The great Swift was gentle and sportive with him, as the enormous Brobdingnag maids of honour were with little Gulliver. He could frisk and fondle round Pope, and sport, and bark Errata