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fure. I was always confidered by hims felf as his Mafter-pièce; and Mr. Pope when he asked his Opinion of it, told him, that he read it once over, and was not difpleafed with it that it gave him more Pleasure at the second Perufal, and delighted him till more at the third.

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29 It has indeed been generally objected to the Wanderer, that the Difpofition of the Parts is irregular, that the Defigna isobfeure, and the Plan is perplexed; thats the Images, however beautiful, fucceed each other without Order; and that the whole Performance is not fo much a regular FaBric, as a Heap of fhining Materials thrown together by Accident, which ftrikes rather with the folemn Magnificence of a stupenYdous Ruin, than the elegant Grandeur of a finished Pile. is to stas quorf รมย์

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↑ See his Life, Page 65.

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This Criticilmis Universal, and therefore, it is reafonable to believe it at leaft in a great degree just Mbut the Wanderer was never denied to abound with trong Reprefenta tions of Nature, and juft Obfervations upon Life and it may easily be obferved, that moftrofd His Pictures have an evident Tendency to illustrate his first great Position, That God is the Confequence of Evil. The Sun that burns up the Mountains, fructifies the Vales, the Deluge that rushes down the broken Rocks with dreadful Impetuofity, is feparated into purling Brooks; and the Rage of the Hurricane purifies the Air.

sloda 5 indi bar, ob0 Pediw we andı -This must at leaft be acknowledged, which ought to be thought eqivalent to many other Excellencies, that the Wanderer can -promote no other Purposes than those of Virtue, and that it is written with a very strong Sense of the Efficacy of Religion, g

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But my Province is rather to give the Hifs ? tory of Mr. Savage's Pieces before us, thant to difplay their Beauties, or to obviate the Criticisms which they have occafioned; and therefore I fhall not dwell upon the particul lar Paffages which deferve Applaufe. I fhalk neither fhew the Excellence of his Defcrip tions, nor expatiate on the terrific Portrait of Suicide introduced in the fecond Canto, nor point out the artful Touches by which he has diftinguished the intellectual Features of the Rebels, who fuffer Death in his laft Canto. It is, however, proper to obferve, that Mr. Savage always declared the Characters wholly Fictitious, and without the least Allufion to any real Perfons or Actions.

The next Piece Mr. Savage published was The Triumph of Health and Mirth, on the Recovery of Lady Tyrconnel, from a dang guithing

hing Illness. This Performance isoremarkable, not only for the Gaiety of othe

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Ideas, and the Melody of the Numbers but for Ither agreeable Fiction upon which it is formedau Mirth overwhelmed with Sorrow, for the Sicknefs of her Favourite, takes Flight in queft of her Sister Health, whom fhe finds reclined upon the Brow of a lofty, Mountain, amidst the Fragrance of perpetual Spfing, with the Breezes of the Morn ing fporting about her. Being follicited by: her Sifter Mirth, fhe readily promises, her Affiftance, flies away in a Cloud, and im pregnates the Waters of Bath with new Virg tues, by which the Sickness of Belinda is relieveddo or reyong (19vewod „zi

- si bomboob ayewle 9502 M 1pdr The next Performance is the Bastard, a Poem remarkable for the vivacious Sallies s of Thought in the Beginning, where he makes a pompous Enumeration of the ima ginary Advantages of bafe Birth, and the pathetic Sentiments at the End, where he recounts the real Calamities which he fuffered by the Crime of his Parents: sidaal

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*The Vigour and Spirit of the Verfes, the peculiar Circumstances of the Authory the Novelty of the Subject, and the Notoriety of the Story, to which the Allufions are made, procured this Piece a very favourable Reception; great Numbers were immediately difperfed, and Editions were multiplied with unusual Rapidity.

The Sale of this Poem was always mentioned by Mr. Savage with the utmost Elevation, of Heart, and refered to by him as an incontestable Proof of a general Acknowledgment of his Abilities.

Many other Particulars might be enumerated concerning the Writings of Mr. Savage, but to recount them all, would extend this Preface to an uncommon Length. I must therefore, once more, refer the curious Reader to Mr. Johnson's excellent Account of his Life, where his Curiosity will

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