GAY, EBENEZER, 1696-1787, b. Mass.; graduated at Harvard, and settled as a min ister in 1718. When he was 85 years old he preached a sermoir which has been fre quently republished under the name of The Old Man's Calendar. His theological views were very liberal.
GAY, Joins, was b. at Barnstaple, in Devonshire, in 1688. Although of an ancient family, his filth& was in reduced circumstances, and Gay was apprenticed to a London silk-mercer; but disliking his occupation, lie was finally released from it by his master. In 1711, he published a descriptive poem dedicated to Pepe. The year after, lie was appointed secretary to the duchess of Monmouth. His next work was the Shepherd's Week, in Sir Pastorals, which gaineil considerable applause. About the same time he produced Trivia and The Fan, full of descriptions of low city-life, a good deal in Swift's style—indeed, he was assisted by Swift in the former work. In 1713, appeared his comedy, ?hagifiVhCAripp .dpileqpiimfa.b his sit nation in the family of the dueness of Monmouth, and accompanied lord Clarendon, then envoy-extraordinary to Hanover, as his secretary. Within two months, he was again in London, at the instigation of Pope, he wrote a poem on the royal family, and shortly afterwards produced his play, What d'ye Call It? Encouraged by its success, he brought out another play, entitled Three Hours After Marriage, which failed signally. In 1720, he published his poems by subscription, and is said to have realized L'1000 thereby. He at the same time received a present of South Sea stock, and was considered a rich man, when all his sudden fortune was lost in the collapse of that famous bubble. Iu 1724, he produced his play of The Captives, and wrote a volume
of Fables in 1726. When Swift came to live with Pope at Twickenham in 1726, he talked to Gay of a Newgate pastoral, and The Beggars' Opera was the result. The suc cess of this piece was immense; it had a run of sixty-three nights, and took captive town and country. Gay afterwards wrote a sequel, entitled Polly, but owing to some misunderstanding with the lord chamberlain, its representation was prohibited. On its publication, it brought the author -41200. About this time, he went to live with the duke of Queensberry, and remained with him during the rest of his life. He was seized with an inflammatory fever, and died after an illness of three days. His death took place on Dec. 4, 1732, and he was buried in Abbey.
Although more than a century has elapSed, and the satire and allusions are obsolete, The Beggars' Opera is still occasionally represented. It exists, however, mainly in virtue of its songs and music. Gay had a happy lyrical vein, and could turn a stanza on the beauty of woman, and the fascinations of the wine-cup, and the fleeting of youth, with considerable grace. His Fables, and his serious and comic poems, are only now to be found in libraries. The wit and the sentiment are alike dust. Of all he has done, his ballad of Black-eyed Susan possesses the, strongest vitality, "and thrills now and then our theatres and concert-rooms.