life; and the fortune which he left behind him, which, though large, had yet been larger, had he not rashly and wantonly impaired it by innumerable projects, of which I know not that ever one succeeded.

"The Gentleman's Magazine," which has now subsisted fifty years, and still continues to enjoy the favour of the world, is one of the most successful and lucrative pamphlets which literary history has upon record, and therefore deserves, in this narrative, particular notice.

Mr. Cave, when he formed the project, was far from expecting the success which he found; and others had so little prospect of its consequence, that though he had for several years talked of his plan among printers and booksellers, none of them thought it worth the trial. That they were not restrained by virtue from the execution of another man's design, was sufficiently apparent as soon as that design began to be gainful; for in a few years a multitude of magazines arose and perished; only the London Magazine, supported by a powerful association of Booksellers, and circulated with all the art and all the cunning of trade, exempted itself from the general fate of Cave's invaders, and obtained, though not an equal, yet a considerable sale.t Cave now began to aspire to popularity; and being a greater lover of poetry than any other art, he sometimes offered subjects for poems, and proposed prizes for the best performers. The first prize was 50l. for which, being but newly acquainted with wealth, and thinking the influence of 50l. extremely great, he expected the first authors of the kingdom to appear as competitors; and offered the allotment of the prizes to the universities. But when the time came, no name was seen among the writers that had ever been seen before; the universities and several private men rejected the province of assigning the prize.‡ At all this Mr. Cave wondered for awhile; but his natural judg ment, and a wider acquaintance with the world, soon cured him of his astonishment, as of many other prejudices and errors. Nor have many men been seen raised by accident or industry to sudden riches, that retained less of the meanness of their former state.

He continued to improve his Magazine, and had the satisfaction of seeing its success proportionate to his diligence, till, in 1751, his wife died of an asthma. He seemed not at

This was said in the beginning of the year 1781; and may with truth be repeated in 1806. N.

†The London Magazine ceased to exist in 1785.

N.

The determination was left to Dr. Cromwell, Mortimer, and Dr. Birch; and by the latter the award was made, which may be seen in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. vi. p. 59. N.

first much affected by her death, but in a few days lost his sleep and his appetite, which he never recovered; but after having lingered about two years, with many vicissitudes of amendment and relapse, fell, by drinking acid liquors, into a diarrhoea, and afterwards into a kind of lethargic insensibility, in which one of the last acts of reason which he exerted was fondly to press the hand that is now writing this little narrative. He died on the 10th of January, 1754, having just concluded the twentythird annual collection.*

Mr. Cave was buried in the church of St. James, Clerkenwell, without an epitaph; but the following inscription at Rugby, from the pen of Dr. Hawkesworth, is here transcribed from the "Anecdotes of Mr. Bowyer," p. 88.

Aged 79 years.

He was placed by Providence in an humble station;
But

Industry abundantly supplied the wants of Nature,
And

Temperance blessed him with
Content and Wealth.

As he was an affectionate Father,
He was made happy in the decline of life
By the deserved eminence of his eldest Son
EDWARD CAVE.

Who, without interest, fortune, or connexion,
By the native force of his own genius,
Assisted only by a classical education
Which he received at the Grammar-school
Of this Town,

Planned, executed, and established
A literary work, called
THE

GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE,
Whereby he acquired an ample fortune,
The whole of which devolved to his family.
Here also lies

The body of WILLIAM CAVE,
Second Son of the said JOSEPH Cave,
Who died May 2, 1757, aged 62 years;
And who having survived his elder brother
EDWARD CAVE,

Inherited from him a competent estate;
And in gratitude to his benefactor,

Ordered this monument to perpetuate his memory.

He lived a patriarch in his numerous race, And show'd in charity a Christian's grace: Whate'er a friend or parent feels he knew; His hand was open, and his heart was true: VOL. VI.-3 A

He was a man of large stature, not only tall but bulky, and was, when young, of remarkable strength and activity. He was generally healthful, and capable of much labour and long application; but in the latter years of his life was afflicted with the gout, which he endeavoured to cure or alleviate by a total abstinence both from strong liquors and animal food. From animal food he abstained about four years, and from strong liquors much longer; but the gout continued unconquered, perhaps unabated.

His resolution and perseverance were very uncommon; in whatever he undertook, neither expense nor fatigue was able to repress him; but his constancy was calm, and to those who did not know him appeared faint and languid; but he always went forward, though he moved slowly.

The same chillness of mind was observable in his conversation he was watching the minutest accent of those whom he disgusted by seeming inattention; and his visitant was surprised when he came a second time, by preparations to execute the scheme which he supposed never to have been heard.

He was, consistently with this general tranquillity of mind, a tenacious maintainer, though not a clamorous demander, of his right. In his youth, having summoned his fellow journeymen to concert measures against the oppression of their masters, he mounted a kind of rostrum, and harangued them so efficaciously, that they determined to resist all future invasions; and when the stamp offices demanded to stamp the last half sheet of the magazines, Mr. Cave alone defeated their claim, to which the proprietors of the rival Magazines would meanly have submitted.

He was a friend rather easy and constant, than zealous and active; yet many instances might be given where both his money and his diligence were employed liberally for others. His enmity was in like manner cool and deliberate; but though cool, it was not insidious, and though deliberate, not pertinacious.

His mental faculties were slow. He saw little at a time, but that little he saw with great exactness. He was long in finding the right, but seldom failed to find it at last. His affections were not easily gained, and his opinions not quickly discovered. His reserve, as it might hide his faults, concealed his virtues; but such he was, as they who best knew him have most lamented.

In what he gain'd and gave, he taught mankind,
A grateful always is a generous mind.
Here rest his clay! his soul must ever rest;
Who blest when living, dying must be blest. N.

KING OF PRUSSIA.*.

CHARLES FREDERICK, the present king of Prussia, whose actions and designs now keep Europe in attention, is the eldest son of Frederic William, by Sophia Dorothea, daughter of George the First, king of England. He was born January 24, 1711-12. Of his early years nothing remarkable has been transmitted to us.

As he advanced towards manhood, he became remarkable by his disagreement with his father.

The late king of Prussia was of a disposition violent and arbitrary, of narrow views, and vehement passions, earnestly engaged in little pursuits, or in schemes terminating in some speedy consequence, without any plan of lasting advantage to himself or his subjects, or any prospect of distant events. He was therefore always busy, though no effects of his activity ever appeared, and always eager, though he had nothing to gain. His behaviour was to the last degree rough and savage. The least provocation, whether designed or accidental, was returned by blows, which he did not always forbear to the queen and prin

cesses.

From such a king and such a father it was not any enormous violation of duty in the immediate heir of a kingdom sometimes to differ in opinion, and to maintain that difference with decent pertinacity. A prince of a quick sagacity and comprehensive knowledge must find many practices in the conduct of affairs which he could not approve, and some which he could scarcely forbear to oppose.

The chief pride of the old king was to be master of the tallest regiment in Europe. He therefore brought together, from all parts, men above the common military standard. To exceed the height of six feet was a certain recommendation to notice, and to approach that of seven a claim to distinction. Men will readily go where they are sure to be caressed; and he had therefore such a collection of giants as perhaps was never seen in the world before.

To review this towering regiment was his daily pleasure; and to perpetuate it was so much his care, that when he met a tall

First printed in the Literary Magazine for 1756. H.

woman he immediately commanded one of his Titanian retinue to marry her, that they might propagate procerity, and produce heirs to the father's habiliments.

In all this there was apparent folly, but there was no crime. The tail regiment made a fine show at an expense not much greater, when once it was collected, than would have been bestowed on common men. But the king's military pastimes were sometimes more pernicious. He maintained a numerous army, of which he made no other use than to review and talk of it; and when he, or perhaps his emissaries, saw a boy whose form and sprightliness promised a future soldier, he ordered a kind of badge to be put about his neck, by which he was marked out for the service, like the sons of Christian captives in Turkey; and his parents were forbidden to destine him to any other mode of life.

This was sufficiently oppressive, but this was not the utmost of his tyranny. He had learned, though otherwise perhaps no very great politician, that to be rich was to be powerful; but that the riches of a king ought to be seen in the opulence of his subjects, he either wanted ability or benevolence to understand. He therefore raised exorbitant taxes from every kind of commodity and possession, and piled up the money in his treasury, from which it issued no more. How the land which had paid taxes once was to pay them a second time, how imposts could be levied without commerce, or commerce continued without money, it was not his custom to inquire. Eager to snatch at money, and delighted to count it, he felt new joy at every receipt, and thought himself enriched by the impoverishment of his dominions.

By which of these freaks of royalty the prince was offended, or whether, as perhaps more frequently happens, the offences of which he complained were of a domestic and personal kind, it is not easy to discover. But his resentment, whatever was its cause, rose so high, that he resolved, not only to leave his father's court, but his territories, and to seek a refuge among the neighbouring or kindred princes. It is generally believed that his intention was to come to England, and live under the protection of his uncle till his father's death or change of conduct should give him liberty to return.

His design, whatever it was, he concerted with an officer in the army, whose name was Kat, a man in whom he placed great confidence, and whom, having chosen him for the companion of his flight, he necessarily trusted with the preparatory measures. A prince cannot leave his country with the speed of a meaner fugitive. Something was to be provided, and something to be adjusted. And whether Kat found the agency of others necessary, and therefore was constrained to admit some