206 BROOKE. and dreaded the consequence with which his next publi- cation might be followed. For this singular measure, at this favourable crisis in his history, he could assign no adequate reason without exposing her to the imputation of timidity, and himself to that of a tender and too yielding husband. He still continued to court the Muses, and kept up a literary correspondence with his London friends, particularly with Pope; and it is to be lamented, that all these letters were consumed by an accidental fire. In one of the letters, Pope advised Brooke to take orders, as g a profession better suited to his principles, dispo- sition, and his genius, than that of the law; and also less injurious to his health. Why he did not comply with this advice cannot now be known; for it appears he was always of a religious turn, and his principles those of the strictest kind, notwithstanding the apparent inconsistency of his ambition to shine as a dramatic writer. In 1741 he contributed to Ogle's version of Chaucer's Constantia; or, the Man of Law's Tale," and, in 1745, his tragedy of the "Earl of Westmoreland," was per- formed on the Dublin stage. The Farmer's Letters ap- peared the same year, and was calculated to rouse the spirit of freedom among the Irish, threatened, as they were in common with their fellow-subjects, by rebellion and invasion. Lord Chesterfield was at this time vice- roy, and patronized Mr. Brooke, from the admiration of his talents, and the respect which his virtues obtained from all. The office of barrack-master was conferred on him, which fixed him some years in Dublin. In 1746 he wrote an epilogue on the birth-day of the Duke of Cumberland, spoken by Mr. Garrick in Dublin; and a prologue Othello. In 1747 he contributed to Moore's volume of Fables, four of great poetical merit, viz. "The Temple of Hymen,, “The Sparrow and Dove,", "The Female Seducers;" and " Love and Vanity." In 1748 he wrote a prologue to "The Foundling;" and an opera, entitled " Little John and the Giants." This was acted only one
