Javelin, arrests those which come against him, in the Fierceness
of their Motion, and overcomes his Enemies, by detaining their
own Weapons. 'Tis a noble Triumph you now exercise, by the
Superiority of your Nature; and while I see you looking down upon
the Distance of my Frailty, I am forc'd to own a Glory, which I
envy you; and am quite asham'd of the poor Figure I am making, in
the bottom of the Prospect. I feel, I am sure, Remorse, enough to
satisfy you for the Wrong, but to express it, wou'd, I think,
exceed even your own Power.

Yours, whose sweet Songs can rival Orpheu's Strain,
And force the wondring Woods to dance again,
Make moving Mountains hear your pow'rful Call,
And headlong Streams hang list'ning in their Fall.

No Words can be worthy to come after these; I will therefore
hasten to tell you, that I am, and will ever be, with the
greatest Truth and Respect,

SIR,

Your Most Humble,

and Most Obedient Servant,

A. Hill.

I have now attempted, as far as I am able, to throw off a Weight,
which my Mind has been uneasy under. I cannot say, in the City
Phrase, that I have balanc'd the Account, but you must admit of
Composition, where full Payment is impossible. I shall be so far
from regretting you the old Benefit of Lex talionis, that I
forgive you heartily, beforehand, for any thing you may hereafter
think fit to say, or do, to my Disadvantage; nay, the Pleasure I
enjoy by reflecting on your good Nature, will degenerate to a
Pain, if one Accident or other, in the Course of your Life, does
not favour me with some Occasion of advancing your Interest.

Having said thus much to you, in your Quality of a Good Man, I
will proceed to address you, in your other Quality, of a Great
Poet; in which Light I look up to you with extraordinary Comfort,
as to a new Constellation breaking out upon our World, with equal
Heat, and Brightness, and cross-spangling, as it were, the whole
Heaven of Wit with your milky way of Genius.

You cou'd never have been born at a Time, which more wanted the
Influence of your Example: All the Fire you bring with you, and
the Judgment you are acquiring, in the Course of your Journey,
will be put to their full stress, to support and rebuild the
sinking Honours of Poetry.

It was a