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iprotstadt he REFACE aidT fures + It 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. thulli of yɔnəb

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It has indeed been generally objected to the Wanderer, that the Difpofition of the Parts is irregular, that the Defignais ob fcure, 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 strikes rather with the folemn Magnificence of a ftupendous Ruin, than the elegant Grandeur of a finished Pile.profi A and to plasƐ quorft & A + See his Life, Page 65.

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This Criticilmis Universal, and therefore it is reafonable to believe it at least in a great degree just Mbut the Wanderer was never denied to abound with trong Reprefenta+ tions of Nature, and just Observations upon Life; and it may easily be observed, that moftrof His Pictures have an evident Tendency to illuftrate his first great Pofition, That God is the Confequence of Evil. The Subs 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. slow at et bas, obq0 mediiw 10 -This must at leaft be acknowledged, which ought to be thought eqivalent to many other Excellencies, that the Wanderer can -promote no other Purpofes than thofe of Virtue, and that it is written with a very strong Senfe of the Efficacy of Religion, s A 3

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jud 2 tad muude to ybolsM sd1 bas¿269bł But my Province is rather to give the Hift tory of Mr. Savage's Pieces before us, than? to difplay their Beauties, or to obviate the Criticisms which they have occafioned, and therefore I fhall not dwell upon the particu lar Paffages which deferve Applaufe. I fhalk neither fhew the Excellence of his Defcrips 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 leaft Allufion to any real Perfons or or Actions. 34 990 weggianist on vt quodT 16

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e next Piece Mr. Savage published was The Triumph of Health and Mirth, on the Recovery of Lady Tyrconnel from a dan guifhing uming thefs. This Performance isoremarkable, not only for the Gaiety of the

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Ideas, and the Melody of the Numbers but for Ither agreeable Fiction upon which it is formedaus Mirth overwhelmed with Sorrow for the Sickness of her Favourite, takes a Flight in queft of her Sifter Health, whom fhe finds reclined upon the Brow of a lofty, Mountain, amidst the Fragrance of perpetual Springs with the Breezes of the Morn ing fporting about her. Being follicited by her Sifter Mirth, fhe readily promifes, her Affiftance, flies away in a Cloud, and im pregnates the Waters of Bath with new Vir tues, by which the Sicknefs of Belinda is re lieved.'o or regory (197-wod „zi

dih bomboob ayawin sperma, Mindr The next Performance is the Bastard, a DIE ZUOTO 1 yllonw 29 Sallies Poem remarkable for the vivacious 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 suffered by the Crime of his Parents: sidaal

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*The Vigour and Spirit of the Verfes, the peculiar Circumftances of the Authory the Novelty of the Subject, and the Notoriety of the Story, to which the Allufions Safe made, procured this Piece a very favourable Reception; great Numbers were immediately dispersed, 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 Curiofity will be