THE PREFACE.

IT will be eaſily perceiv'd, why no Ad⯑dreſs, by way of Dedication, cou'd be proper to this Poem: Yet, the Verſes ought perhaps to have been offer'd, before print⯑ed, to the View of One Great Family (leſt, among Ideas, of ſo complicated a Variety, there ſhou'd be ſome, wherewith it might not, as to Point of Delicacy, have been found eligible to aſſociate Names, of ſuch ſincere Diſtinction and Importance). But the Writer recollected, that the mere Omiſſion of an Act of Cere⯑mony cou'd not, equitably, be complain'd of, in a Poem where he has not arrogated, to Himſelf, the Freedom to give PRAISE, or CENSURE: All, that points at either One or Other, being narrative Recital only; and That, too, from the Voices of ſuch Speakers, as the Public daily hears, ex⯑preſſing [2] more, upon both Subjects, than they are repreſented in this Place, as uttering.

As to the general Diſpoſition of the Purpoſe, if Any too bold Strokes of Liberty ſhou'd chance to be ſuſpected in it, let it be remember'd in the Writer's Favour, that he is no better than an empty Viſionary! And This is not the firſt Time, that a Man, in a Dream, has been a very impertinent Fellow, who, in his waking Intervals, has kept within the Bounds of due Decorum.

Concerning LUXURY eſpecially, none ought to make the Muſe accountable for what ſhe prattles in her Sleep: Since 'tis about a Power ſhe never correſponds with, but in Slumber. And, if TRADE is touchy, and won't bear to have it credited, that Daughters come by means of Mothers,—who could ſhun the Hazard of offending ſuch a choleric Petulance?—The Wri⯑ter had no Licence to reſtrain, or ca⯑ſtrate, Sentiments he but reports, from Perſonages, to whome his Country owes a Reverence that forbids the Boldneſs of curtailing their Ideas.—Neither has he given the captious Coquette above-nam'd [3] the leaſt Occaſion of Offence, without Hard-ſtraining and Partiality; for, Who can look upon it as an Undervaluing of Trade, that ſhe is repreſented as not over⯑much diſpos'd to carry Arms Herſelf; nor over-fond, indeed, of Thoſe ſhe pays for carrying them?—Authorities enough might probably be found, to prove plain Truth no Slander. But he rather pleads the Merit of that propheſied Expedient, toward the End of the Vth Canto, for a perfect Reconciliation between the Drum, and Warehouſe.—If, notwithſtanding This, the waking Poet muſt be charg'd with the Vagaries of his dreaming Muſe, He can but borrow Comfort from this tit-for-tat Reflection:—That, ſince Trade is naturally diſpos'd to think, with Dulneſs and Con⯑tempt, of Poetry, the Poet in his Turn, may, by Right of Equivalent, aſſume the ſame dull Privilege; and prate, as fooliſhly, of Traffick.

To paſs, at once, from Poetry,—to Proſe, and Truth, and ſerious Hiſtory:—The great, and nobly-judging, Lady, to whome, in the VIth Canto, an Advice of no ſmall Con⯑ſequence [4] is offer'd, by a bold, tho' naked, Friend, (of whome ſhe never yet was known to be aſham'd, however bare, and out of Faſhion, ſhe approach'd her) will reflect, with ſome Attention, on the Pro⯑poſition; after hearing what Foundation It was grounded on.

About the Year 1735, a private Perſon, not worth naming, but an ardent Lover of his Country's Reputation, became dif⯑poſſeſs'd of a miſtaken Notion, (which had been at firſt imbib'd by Converſation with the Prejudic'd, but gradually con⯑firm'd and heighten'd, by much Reading, Speculation, and Reflection, upon military Subjects) that the moſt celebrated Engliſh Conqueror, of this laſt Age, (It might, I think, be added, without Flattery, above Any, of the Former) was not pre-medi⯑tatively, and by Force of his ſuperior Skill, the Author of his own unprecedented Vi⯑ctories.—The Miſtaker grounded his Con⯑cluſion on that Great General's Letters, written from the Fields of Battle, with the firſt Accounts of his Succeſſes.—It is viſi⯑ble beyond Diſpute, that, there, one meets [] with none of thoſe deſcriptive and expla⯑natory Circumſtances, whereby the skilful Captains, of all Ages, took ſuch cautio⯑nary Care to guard againſt unjuſt Impreſ⯑ſions of their Conduct; by unfolding it, in Plan, in Progreſs, and Accompliſhment: that, not their Fortune only, but their Fore⯑ſight, and Superiority of Genius, might be noted, in their Victories. It is hence, that in ſo many of the Antient's, and in ſome great Modern's, written Narratives, we ſee, and underſtand, minutely, the whole Ground-plots, Diſpoſitions, Oppo⯑ſitions, and clear Out-break, of the Acti⯑ons: Not in their bald Succeſs alone; but with their previous Motives, their impend⯑ing Agitations, and eventual Over-balance, and Concluſion: Whereas, from all the publiſh'd Letters of our more than equal Executer of his own unequall'd Purpoſes, we gather nothing further, than that the Army He commanded was triumphant; and that He ſeems to think each Leader, in it, more deſerving his Remark, than the Elu⯑cidation of his own Deſigns, in their reported Execution.

[6] In a Viſit made, about the Time juſt mention'd, to another Engliſh General, a Noble Lord, ſince dead, at a ſmall Gar⯑den Seat of his, near London, Theſe Ob⯑ſervations were inlarg'd upon, (as they had often been to others) in a Converſation on the military Character of our great Fa⯑vourite of Fortune: whome, it has been thought, the Lord here meant had, for⯑merly, regarded with ſome Rival Pangs of Emulation. It were therefore an ungene⯑rous Coldneſs to his Memory, to conceal the noble Sentiments wherewith he clos'd the Converſation on this Subject!—‘"You have (ſaid he) miſunderſtood His Cha⯑racter, and done it the ſame Wrong, that many Thouſands do, and will con⯑tinue to do, from but the natural Con⯑ſequence of his ſincere and modeſt Ne⯑gligence of Oſtentation.—He thought it, equally, His Duty to ſubdue the Enemy, and His own Senſibility of Triumph for ſubduing him.—He made, I think, but one Miſtake in his Field Conduct: But That was a Miſtake of ſuch unlucky Conſequence, that It has been able to [7] do more, againſt Himſelf, than Ten French Armies cou'd: for It obſcures (you ſee) the Luſtre of his Genius.—He truſted Hiſtory, for Explanations, which, He ſhou'd have known, It cou'd not make (but in a lame and ſuperficial manner) for want of Lights, which He alone had Power to furniſh, who was the only Perſon dis-inclinable to wiſh 'em furniſh'd."’

The Impreſſion which this truly noble Anſwer made, and the Reflections which It gave Occaſion to, have often, ſince, pre⯑ſented to Imagination as a National Miſ⯑fortune, the Poſſibility of ſome deſtructive Accident, to thoſe invaluable Original Pa⯑pers, which contain ('tis ſaid) ſufficient Matter, in His Family's Poſſeſſion, to im⯑mortalize, as well That Great Man's Tem⯑per, Wiſdom, Suavity, Skill, MODES, and MEANS, of Conqueſt, as the Reputation merely, of the Victories themſelves.—The Laſt, it muſt be own'd, is Glory: But it is a Glory of a barren and unpropagative Species: 'Tis the Glory of a Nimrod, a Seſo⯑ſtris, Hercules, Arthur, and Pendragon: Names, of aweful Cloudineſsl but uneffectual [8] Admiration!—becauſe heard of, more than ſhown:—Not Lights, of Living Hiſtory; by whoſe Help, the Caeſars and the Alexan⯑ders are not only, in Themſelves, immor⯑tal; but by their Force of Emulative In⯑ſpiration, have been, are, and will continue to the End of Time, the military Fathers, of new Sons of Glory, in all Nations, and throughout all Ages.

Who, therefore, cou'd too much lament an Accident of ſuch ſevere Importance, ſhou'd it happen to the mention'd Papers, before That glorious Uſe has been drawn from them, which is hinted in the Cloſe of the laſt Canto? Where that the Writer may not ſeem impertinent, he has, here, aſſign'd his Reaſons, for conceiving it both a Domeſtic, and a Public Duty, on the Care of That illuſtrious Conqueror's Re⯑preſentatives.—But where the Hand is to be found, in all Points, equal to an Undertaking of ſuch arduous Difficulty, is a Wiſh, that may be added to the Liſt of thoſe Deſide⯑rata, rather hinted at, than hop'd for, by the boldeſt Enterprizers, in the Common⯑wealth of Learning!