Now what these Wicked Spirits cannot compafs, by the vaft difproportion of their Forces, to thofe of the Superior Beings, they may by their Fraud and Cunning carry farther, in a feeming League, Confederacy, or Subferviency to the Defigns of fome good Angel, as far as confifts with his Purity, to fuffer fuch an Aid, the end of which may poffibly be difguis'd, and conceal'd from his finite Knowledge. This is indeed to fuppofe a great Errour in fuch a Being: Yet fince a Devil can appear like an Angel of Light; fince Craft and Malice may fometimes blind for a while a more perfect Understanding; and lastly, fince Milton has given us an Example of the like Nature, when Satan appearing like a Cherub to Uriel, the Intelligence of the Sun, circumvented him even in his own Province, and pass'd only for a Curious Traveller through thofe new-created Regions, that he might obferve therein the Workmanship of God, and praise him in his Works.

I know not why, upon the fame Suppofition, or fome other, à Fiend may not deceive a Creature of more Excellency than himself, but yet a Creature; at least by the connivance, or tacit permiffion of the Omnifcient Being.

Thus, my Lord, I have, as briefly as I cou'd, given your Lordship, and by you the World, a rude Draught of what I have been long labouring in my Imagination. And what I had intended to have put in practice, (tho' far unable for the Attempt of fuch a Poem) and to have left the Stage, to which my Genius never much inclin❜d me, for a Work which wou'd have taken up my Life in the performance of it. This too, I had intended chiefly for the Honour of my Native Country, to which a Poet is particularly oblig'd: Of two Subjects,

both relating to it, I was doubtful, whether I should chufe that of King Arthur conquering the Saxons; which being farther diftant in Time, gives the greater Scope to my Invention: Or that of Edward the Black Prince in fubduing Spain, and reftoring it to the Lawful Prince, tho' a great Tyrant, Don Pedro the Cruel: Which for the compafs of Time, including only the Expedition of one Year; for the Greatness of the Action, and its answerable Event; for the Magnanimity of the English Hero, oppos'd to the Ingratitude of the Perfon whom he reftor'd; and for the many beautiful Episodes, which I had interwoven with the principal Defign, together with the Characters of the chiefeft English Perfons; wherein, after Virgil and Spencer, I wou'd have taken occation to reprefent my living Friends and Patrons of the nobleft Families, and alfo fhadow'd the Events of future Ages, in the Suceffion of our Imperial Line. With thefe Helps, and thofe of the Machines, which I have mention'd; I might perhaps have done as well fome of my Predeceffors; or at leaft chalk'd out a way, for others to amend my Errors in a like Defign. But being encourag'd only with fair Words by King Charles 11. my little Salary ill paid, and no profpect of a future Subfiftance, I was then difcourag'd in the beginning of my Attempt; and now Age has overtaken me; and Want, a more infufferable Evil, through the Change of the Times, has wholly difenabl'd

me.

Tho' I must ever acknowledge, to the Honour of your Lordship, and the eternal Memory of your Charity, that fince this Revolution, wherein have patiently fuffer'd the Ruin of my fmall Fortune, and the lofs of that poor Subfiftance which I had from Two Kings, whom I had ferv'd more

faithfully than profitably to my felf; then your Lordship was pleas'd, out of no other Motive but your own Noblenefs, without any Defert of mine, or the leaft Sollicitation from me, to make me a most Bountiful Prefent, which at that time, when I was most in want of it, came most seasonably and unexpectedly to my Relief. That Favour, my Lord, is of it felf fufficient to bind any Grateful Man, to a perpetual Acknowledgment, and to all the future Service, which one of my mean Condition can be ever able to perform. May the Almighty God return it for me, both in Bleffing you here, and Rewarding you hereafter. I mult not prefume to defend the Cause for which I now fuffer, because your Lordship is engag'd against it: But the more you are fo, the greater is my Obligation to you: For your laying afide all the Confiderations of Factions and Parties, to do an Action of pure difinterefs'd Charity. This is one amongst many of your fhining Qualities, which diftinguish you from others of your Rank: But let me add a farther Truth, That without thefe Tics of Gratitude, and abftracting from them all, I have a most particular Inclination to Honour you; and, if it were not too bold an Expreffion, to fay, I Love you. 'Tis no shame to be a Poet, tho' 'tis to be a bad one. Auguftus Cæfar of old, and Cardinal Richlieu of late, wou'd willingly have been fuch; and David and Solomon were fuch. You, who without Flattery, are the best of the prefent Age in England, and wou'd have been fo, had you been born in any other Country, will receive more Honour in future Ages, by that one Excellency, than by all thofe Honours to which your Birth has intitl'd you, or your Merits have acquir'd you.'

Ne, forte, pudori,

Sit Tibi Mufa Lyra folers, & Cantor Apollo. I have formerly faid in this Epiftle, that I cou'd diftinguish your Writings from those of any others: 'Tis now time to clear my felf from any imputation of Self-conceit on that Subject. I affume not to my self any particular Lights in this Discovery; they are fuch only as are obvious to every Man of Senfe and Judgment, who loves Poetry, and understands it. Your Thoughts are always fo remote from the common way of Thinking, that they are, as I may fay, of another Species, than the Conceptions of other Poets; yet you go not out of Nature for any of them: Gold is never bred upon the Surface of the Ground; but lies fo hidden, and fo deep, that the Mines of it are feldom found; but the force of Waters cafts it out from the Bowels of Mountains, and expofes it amongst the Sands of Rivers; giving us of her Bounty, what we cou'd not hope for by our fearch. This Succefs attends your Lordship's Thoughts, which wou'd look like Chance, if it were not perpetual, and always of the fame tenour. If I grant that there is Care in it, 'tis fuch a Care as wou'd be ineffectual and fruitlefs in other Men 'Tis the Curiofa felicitas which Petronius afcribes to Horace, in his Odes. We have not wherewithal to imagine fo ftrongly, fo juftly, and fo pleafantly: In fhort, if we have the fame Knowledge, we cannot draw out of it the fame Quinteffence; we cannot give it fuch a Term, fucha Propriety, and fuch a Beauty: Something is deficient in the Manner, or the Words, but more in the Nobleness of our Conception. Yet when you have finifh'd all, and it appears in its full Luftre, when the Diamond is not only found,

but

but the Roughness fmooth'd, when it is cut into a Form, and fet in Gold, then we cannot but acknowledge, that it is the perfect Work of Art and Nature: And every one will be fo vain, to think he himself cou'd have perform'd the like, 'till he attempts it. 'Tis juft the Defcription that Horace makes of fuch a finish'd Piece: It appears fo eafie, Ut fibi quivis fperet idem; fudet multum, fruftraque laboret, aufus idem. And befides all this, 'tis your Lordship's particular Talent to lay your Thoughts fo clofe together, that were they closer they wou'd be crouded, and even a due Connexion wou'd be wanting. We are not kept in expectation of Two good Lines, which are to come after a long Parenthefis of Twenty bad; which is the April-Poetry of other Writers, a mixture of Rain and Sun-fhine by fits: You are always bright, even almost to a Fault, by reafon of the excefs. There is continual abundance, a Magazine of Thought, and yet a perpetual Variety of Entertainment; which creates fuch an Appetite in your Reader, that he is not cloy'd with any thing, but fatisfy'd with all. 'Tis that which the Romans call Cana dubia; where there is fuch Plenty, yet withal fo much Diverfity, and fo good Order, that the Choice is difficult betwixt one Excellency and another; and yet the Conclufion, by a due Climax, is evermore the beft; that is, as a Conclufion ought to be, ever the most proper for its Place. See, my Lord, whether I have not ftudy'd your Lordship with fome Application: And fince You are fo Modeft, that you will not be Judge and Party, I appeal to the whole World, if I have not drawn your Picture to a great degree of Likenefs, tho' 'tis but in Miniature: And that fome of the best Features are yet wanting. Yet what I have

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