To the Right Honourable CHARLES, Lord Viscount TOWNSHEND; Late one of his Majefty's Principal Secretaries of State, and Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, &c. I MY LORD, Beg leave to publish the following poems under your patronage: A prefent, I confefs, unworthy of it, and of little value, excepting what gratitude gives it: But, I fear, it may be efteemed a boast rather than an acknowledgement, or at best, an oftentatious kind of gratitude, to tell the world that I have received the higheft obligations from the Lord Townfhend: It is an honour to be regarded by a person of so distinguished a character: I am proud of it, and, not being of a nature to be content with a filent gratitude, am not deterred from owning it, though it be liable to be miscalled vanity. You have, my Lord, the happiness to enjoy what that great statesman Walfingham, who held the fame office which you fill with so much honour, frequently wifhed, but never obtained; a retirement from business in the declenfion of life, to enjoy age in peace and tranquillity this laft action fpeaks you truly great; for that person who, by a voluntary retreat, could industriously renounce all the grandeur of the world, must evidently have a foul above it. Tully in his Tufculum was never more happy, than the Lord Townshend in his Rainham, "Pure Nature reigns, where varied views from views "Diffufive profpects yield: here fhagg'd with woods, "Here rich with harvest, and there white with flocks, "And all the gay horizon fmiles around "Full of thy Genius! Lo! between yon groves "The subject regions, and commands the charms "Pours forth profuse, o'er hill, o'er vale, o'er lawn, "Her choiceft bleffings: See! where yonder lake Spreads its wide liquid plain: now ftands unmov'd "Pure as th' expanfe of heaven, and heaven reflects "From its broad-glittering mirrour; now with waves *See Mr. Thomfon's excellent poems. "Curl'd "Curl'd gently by the breeze, falutes the flowers "That grace its banks! in ftate the fnowy (wans "Arch their proud necks, and fowls of various plume "Innumerous, native or exotic, cleave "The dancing wave! while o'er th' adjoining lawns "Obverted to the fouthern funs, the deer "Wide-spreading graze, or starting bound away "In crouds, then turning, filent ftand, and gaze! "Such are thy beauties, Rainham, fuch the haunts "Of angels, in primæval guiltless days, "When man imparadis'd convers'd with God." : This, my Lord, is but a faint picture of the place of your retirement, which no one ever enjoyed more elegantly no part of your life lies heavy upon you; there is no uneafy vacancy in it; it is all filled up with ftudy, exercife, or polite amufement: here you fhine in the most agreeable, though not most strong and dazzling light: In your public ftation you commanded admiration and honour; in your private, you attract love and efteem: The nobler parts of your life will be the fubject of the hiftorian; and the actions of the great fatefman and patriot, will adorn many pages of our future annals but the affectionate father, the indulgent mafter, the condefcending and benevolent friend, patron, and companion, can only be defcribed by those who have the pleasure and happiness to see you act in all thofe relations: I could with delight enlarge upon this amiable part of your character; but am fenfible that no portion : B 3 portion of your time is fo ill spent as in reading what write. I will therefore only beg the honour to fubfcribe myfelf, I PREFACE. AM very fenfible that many hard circumstances attend all authors: if they write ill, they are fure to be used with contempt; if well, too often with envy. Some men, even while they improve themselves with the fentiments of others, rail at their benefactors, and while they gather the fruit, tear the tree that bore it. I must confefs, that mere idleness induced me to write; and the hopes of entertaining a few idle men, to publish. I am not fo vain as not to think there are many faults in the enfuing poems; all human works muft fall short of perfection, and therefore to acknowledge it, is no humility: however, I am not like those authors, who, out of a false modefty, complain of the imperfections of their own works, yet would take it very ill if the world fhould believe them: I will not add hypocrify to my other faults, or act so absurdly as to invite the reader to an entertainment, and then tell him that there is nothing worth his eating; I have furnished out the table according to my best abilities, if not with a splendid elegance, yet at least with an innocent variety. But fince this is the last time that I fhall ever, perhaps, trouble the world in this kind, I will beg leave to fpeak fomething not as a poet, but a critic; that if my credit fhould fail as a poet, I may have recourfe to my remarks B 4 |