of his
mother, received him into his family, treated him as his equal, and
engaged to allow him a pension of two hundred pounds a year.

This was the golden part of Mr. Savage's life; and, for some time, he
had no reason to complain of fortune; his appearance was splendid, his
expenses large, and his acquaintance extensive. He was courted by all
who endeavoured to be thought men of genius, and caressed by all who
valued themselves upon a refined taste. To admire Mr. Savage, was a
proof of discernment; and to be acquainted with him, was a title to
poetical reputation. His presence was sufficient to make any place of
publick entertainment popular; and his approbation and example
constituted the fashion. So powerful is genius, when it is invested with
the glitter of affluence! Men willingly pay to fortune that regard which
they owe to merit, and are pleased when they have an opportunity at once
of gratifying their vanity, and practising their duty.

This interval of prosperity furnished him with opportunities of
enlarging his knowledge of human nature, by contemplating life from its
highest gradations to its lowest; and, had he afterwards applied to
dramatick poetry, he would, perhaps, not have had many superiours; for,
as he never suffered any scene to pass before his eyes without notice,
he had treasured in his mind all the different combinations of passions,
and the innumerable mixtures of vice and virtue, which distinguish one
character from another; and, as his conception was strong, his
expressions were clear; he easily received impressions from objects, and
very forcibly transmitted them to others.

Of his exact observations on human life he has left a proof, which would
do honour to the greatest names, in a small pamphlet, called the Author
to be let[75], where he introduces Iscariot Hackney, a prostitute
scribbler, giving an account of his birth, his education, his
disposition and morals, habits of life, and maxims of conduct. In the
introduction are related many secret histories of the petty writers of
that time, but sometimes mixed with ungenerous reflections on their
birth, their circumstances, or those of their relations; nor can it be
denied, that some passages are such as Iscariot Hackney might himself
have produced.

He was accused, likewise, of living in an appearance of friendship with
some whom he satirized, and of making use of the confidence which he
gained by a seeming kindness, to discover failin