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 judgment, and a wider acquaintance with the world, soon cured him of his astonishment, as of many other prejudices and errours.  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 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 lethargick 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 twenty-third annual collection [62].

He was a man of a 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 were 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 chilness of mind was observable in his conversation; he was watching the minutest accent of those

  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 liv’d 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;
  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 bless’d when living, dying must be blest.