t is
something Henry James would certainly have understood and approved.

In formulating his own theory of fiction Richardson had Fielding very
much in mind. It would be surprising if he had not: the rivalry between
the two novelists was open and recognised, although by the time
_Clarissa_ was published it had assumed the appearance of friendliness.
Sarah Fielding's association with Richardson probably had something to
do with this; but the reconciliation was largely her brother's own work.
His just and generous praise of _Clarissa_--publicly in the _Jacobite's
Journal_ and privately in a letter to the author--[27] makes full and
honourable amends for his mockery of Richardson in _Shamela_ and _Joseph
Andrews_. If he had not published _Tom Jones_ all might have been well.
But Richardson could not forgive his old enemy for achieving a triumph
in his chosen field so soon after the publication of his own
masterpiece. He abused Fielding covertly in letters to his friends; and
his revisions of the Preface and Postscript were designed in part to
counter the claims for the comic prose epic advanced in _Tom Jones_ and
elsewhere. _Hints of Prefaces_ reveals this more clearly than the
published versions of the Preface and Postscript: Richardson
unfortunately lacked the courage and confidence to press home the
attack.

_Hints of Prefaces_ bears no date, but there is evidence that it was
assembled after the first edition of _Clarissa_ had appeared and, in
part at least, after the publication of _Tom Jones_. Richardson refers
directly at one point to 'this Second Publication',[28] and several
sections in it are printed (either in full or in a condensed form) only
in the revised Postscript. _Hints of Prefaces_ therefore cannot be a
discarded draft of the Preface and Postscript to the first edition. The
final volumes of this first edition came out in December 1748, and _Tom
Jones_ was published in the following February. A letter from Skelton,
dated June 10th, 1749,[29] which mentions an 'inclosed Paper' on
_Clarissa_, indicates that his essay did not reach Richardson until
after this date; and in the letter to Graham, from which I have already
quoted, we find him in the May of 1750 still seeking assistance in the
preparation of his Preface.

Apart from such evidence it is obvious that one section of _Hints of
Prefaces_ is directed specifically at Fielding. In pages [12] and [13]
of the manuscript Richardson seems to be answering,