reproachable, as in the end he did ample juftice to his creditors. Our regret on every inftance which thefe Letters afford of this indifcretion, is very greatly augmented, by our admiration and love of that extenfive and indefatigable philanthropy, to which we are principally indebted for a long feries of well-written papers, fraught with valuable leffons of morality and goodbreeding, which have doubtlefs contributed very much to the intellectual improvement, and moral refinement, of both fexes, in this country. Excepting however what refers in thefe Letters to the lamentable failure of conduct abovementioned, too well afcertained before; no publication of STEELE redounds more to his honour as a man, than the prefent. It fhews him to have been a firm and confcientious patriot; a faithful, affectionate husband; a fond, indulgent pa rent; and, even at this period, if it does not illuftrate, it very much enhances the value of his writings, both moral and political, to know with certainty, that the falutary instructions and fublime precepts, so much admired, and fo well received, from the fictitious ISAAC BICKERSTAFF, efq, were no other

a 4

other than the genuine fentiments, and habitual practice, of the real Sir RICHARD STEELE.

Thefe documents, which fortunately come in seasonable aid of what has been lately advanced for the first time, and with great justice it feems, in favour of STEELE's illknown or much-injured character, fell, after his death, into the poffeffion of his eldest daughter Elizabeth, a lady who, with a charming perfon, inherited the many endearing qualities of her father, both of the head and heart; and whofe hereditary benignity of difpofition, which felf-interest could not, and prudence did not fufficiently restrain, was at last equally fatal to her fortune, as it had been to that of her father.

Many interesting particulars of this lady, the feveral matrimonial connections she declined, and her union with Mr. Trevor, afterwards Lord Trevor, appear in the course of these Letters. In 1764, Sept. 27, fhe loft her husband * at Bath, at which

* Lord Trevor was buried with great magnificence in the family vault at Bromham, where a monument defigned by the late Prince Hoare of Bath, with a fhort infcription written by Lady Trevor, is erected to his memory.

place

place fhe from that time chiefly refided; and, fome years after, she lost also her only child, Diana, who was remarkably beautiful, though unfortunately an ideot. But the evening of her life was rendered much more comfortable than it might otherwise have been after the diminution of her fortune, by the love and attention of Mrs. Thomas, an only daughter of Mrs. Aynfton for whom she had, when a child, imbibed a fifterly affection. Her Ladyship had been induced, from her regard and love for the mother, to take the daughter under her protection very early in life; and the continued her attachment, after the death of Mrs. Aynfton, with uncommon marks of favour and affection, until her own death. This patronage of Mrs. Thomas was not confined to herfelf only, but extended alfo to her fons, with much greater partiality than even the herself had experienced, being from their birth constantly

* A natural daughter of Sir Richard Steele, of whom he was very fond, and on whom he bestowed a very genteel and liberal education. See p. 261. Of this lady Mr. Thomas has a good portrait.

treated,

treated, both by Lord and Lady Trevor, more like their own children than the children of a dependant. Lord Trevor had often fignified his intention of providing for them both; but they were too young to derive any other advantage from fuch an honourable patronage during his life. The indulgences which these children daily received, and the extreme partiality of Lady Trevor both to Mrs. Thomas and her fons, rendered his Lordship less anxious about making any permanent provifion for them; and having left her Ladyfhip fole executrix to a very ample fortune, thus adding to her natural difpofition the power of doing good, he could not entertain a doubt but they would be taken care of. The goodness of her Ladyfhip fully juftified his Lordship's opinion; for, after his death, her fondness for Mrs. Thomas increafed, and the education of her fons became a very material concern with her, the management of which the undertook to direct; and, as they grew up, fhe ftill continued to honour them with all the attention and indulgence · of a parent.

Her

Her Ladyship had at various times, particularly towards the latter part of her life, concerted many plans to provide for them, and particularly for Mrs. Thomas; which, confidering that, after forty years anxious and unremitting attention to her Ladyship and her family, age and infirmity were drawing on, became at laft a matter of confcience with her Ladyship, and ended in a determination to leave to her what little remained in her power. Lady Trevor often confided her kind intentions to Mrs. Thomas's eldest fon, to whom the following Letters were given fome few months before her death, and likewife many particular directions concerning the disposal of her other effects, and her funeral*. She, in the most pathetic manner, engaged him to fee each particular properly executed; and, to impower him to do fo, a will was to have been put into his hands, which her Ladyfhip poftponed from time to time, till a paralytic ftroke fuddenly deprived her of the power of fulfilling her defign

*In particular fhe requested to be buried near her daughter Diana at Fofcott, a little village about seven miles from Bath, where her daughter refided fome few years before her death.

She