Poor Eastcourt! let the Vain and Proud be at Rest; thou wilt no more disturb their Admiration of their dear selves, and thou art no longer to drudge in raising the Mirth of Stupids, who know nothing of thy Merit, for thy Maintenance.

It is natural for the Generality of Mankind to run into Reflections upon our Mortality, when Disturbers of the World are laid at Rest, but to take no Notice when they who can please and divert are pulled from us:  But for my Part, I cannot but think the Loss of such Talents as the Man of whom I am speaking was Master of, a more melancholy Instance of Mortality, than the Dissolution of Persons of never so high Characters in the World, whose Pretensions were that they were noisy and mischievous.

But I must grow more succinct, and as a SPECTATOR, give an Account of this extraordinary Man, who, in his Way, never had an Equal in any Age before him, or in that wherein he lived.  I speak of him as a Companion, and a Man qualified for Conversation.  His Fortune exposed him to an Obsequiousness towards the worst Sort of Company, but his excellent Qualities rendered him capable of making the best Figure in the most refined.  I have been present with him among Men of the most delicate Taste a whole Night, and have known him (for he saw it was desired) keep the Discourse to himself the most Part of it, and maintain his good Humour with a Countenance in a Language so delightful, without Offence to any Person or Thing upon Earth, still preserving the Distance his Circumstances obliged him to; I say, I have seen him do all this in such a charming manner, that I am sure none of those I hint at will read this, without giving him some Sorrow for their abundant Mirth, and one Gush of Tears for so many Bursts of Laughter.  I wish it were any Honour to the pleasant Creature’s Memory, that my Eyes are too much suffused to let me [go on—­[4].]

T.

[Footnote 1:  See p. 204, vol. ii. [Footnote 1 of No. 264.]

[Footnote 2:  By Richard Brome, first acted in 1632.]

[Footnote 3:  By Steele.]

[Footnote 4: 

  [go on—­

It is a felicity his Friends may rejoice in, that he had his Senses, and used them as he ought to do, in his last Moments.  It is remarkable that his Judgment was in its calm Perfection to the utmost Article, for when his Wife out of her fondness, desired she might send for a certain illiterate Humourist (whom he had accompanied in a thousand mirthful Moments, and whose Insolence makes Fools think he assumes from conscious Merit) he answered, ’Do what you please, but he won’t come near me.’  Let poor Eastcourt’s Negligence about this Message convince the unwary of a triumphant Empiric’s Ignorance and Inhumanity.]

This passage, omitted from the reprint, expresses Steele’s anger at the neglect of Estcourt in his last hours by Dr. John Radcliffe, one of the chief physicians of the time, who as a rough-spoken humourist