My Lord,

The works of such great authors as this whom I have now the honour of presenting to your Grace, are a part of the kingdom's riches: they are her estate in fame, that fame which letters confer upon her; the worth and value of which or sinks or raises her in the opinion of foreign nations, and she takes her rank among them according to the esteem which these are held in: It is then an object of national concern, that they should be sent into the world with all the advantage which they are in their own nature capable of receiving; and who performs the office rightly, is in this a benefactor to his country, and somewhat entitl'd to her good will. The following great productions stand foremost in the list of these literary possessions; are talk'd of wherever

the name of Britain is talk'd of, that is, (thanks to some late counsels) wherever there are men: but their value is not a little diminish'd by numerous and gross blemishes, spots in the sun's body, which prevent his glory breaking forth: If I could flatter myself justly, that I had at last remov'd those blemishes, and set this glorious Poet in his due state of brightness, sure I am the world will all acknowledge the fitness of addressing him in this estate to your Grace; who both preside over the treasures of Great Britain, and are eminent for a love and knowledge of letters, that bring encrease of lustre both to your station and your quality:—But I am treading upon a ground that I had forbidden to myself at setting out, and must retire in time ere my affections engage me further. Your illustrious Grandfather vouchsaf'd to call mine—his friend, and always spoke of him with pleasure; he honour'd me early with his patronage, and to him I owe the leisure that has enabl'd me to bestow upon this work the attention of twenty years: Your Grace will therefore have the goodness to look upon this little present, and the person who tenders it, as a minute part of your inheritance, descending to you from Him: which if you are not the richer for, in the common acceptation of that word, yet some accession of knowledge may perhaps accrue to you from your more acquaintance with these most exquisite portraits of nature; in which Man, and his manners, together with all the subtle workings of the

passions he is endu'd with, are more largely and finely pencil'd out, and with higher colouring, than can else be met with in the writings of any age or nation whatsoever: a knowledge no ways unsuitable to the many high employments your Grace is embark'd in; yet from the attaining of which your station in life does in some degree exclude you, otherwise than in books. But if this idea of a benefit of so high a nature accruing to your Grace from the perusal of this work, should prove only the vision of an editor,—who is, in his affections, commonly idolatrous; worshipping himself, and expecting worship from others towards the image he sets up,—yet of this little good at least he has hopes of being the instrument; that is, of having furnish'd you with a noble and rational amusement for some of your leisure hours, and (perhaps) a relief for some anxious ones; which are the lot of all humanity, and particularly of persons in your Grace's elevated condition: To have reach'd no farther than this, and, by his labours, contributed only to your entertainment, will fill all the wishes of him, who is, with the greatest respect, your Grace's

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