Mr.
Hill and Mr. Bond, whom Savage called the two contending powers of light
and darkness. They wrote, by turns, each six essays; and the character
of the work was observed regularly to rise in Mr. Hill's weeks, and fall
in Mr. Bond's. Dr. J.

[Footnote 67: The names of those who so generously contributed to his
relief having been mentioned in a former account, ought not to be
omitted here. They were the dutchess of Cleveland, lady Cheyney, lady
Castlemain, lady Gower, lady Lechmere, the dutchess dowager and dutchess
of Rutland, lady Strafford, the countess dowager of Warwick, Mrs. Mary
Floyer, Mrs. Sofuel Noel, duke of Rutland, lord Gainsborough, lord
Milsington, Mr. John Savage. Dr. J.]

[Footnote 68: This the following extract from it will prove:--"Since our
country has been honoured with the glory of your wit, as elevated and
immortal as your soul, it no longer remains a doubt whether your sex
have strength of mind in proportion to their sweetness. There is
something in your verses as distinguished as your air. They are as
strong as truth, as deep as reason, as clear as innocence, and as smooth
as beauty. They contain a nameless and peculiar mixture of force and
grace, which is at once so movingly serene, and so majestically lovely,
that it is too amiable to appear any where but in your eyes and in your
writings."

"As fortune is not more my enemy than I am the enemy of flattery, I know
not how I can forbear this application to your ladyship, because there
is scarce a possibility that I should say more than I believe, when I am
speaking of your excellence." Dr. J.]

[Footnote 69: Mr. Savage's life.]

[Footnote 70: She died October 11, 1753, at her house in Old Bond
street, aged above fourscore. R.]

[Footnote 71: It appears that during his confinement he wrote a letter
to his mother, which he sent to Theophilus Cibber, that it might be
transmitted to her through the means of Mr. Wilks. In his letter to
Cibber he says: "As to death, I am easy, and dare meet it like a
man--all that touches me is the concern of my friends, and a
reconcilement with my mother. I cannot express the agony I felt when I
wrote the letter to her: if you can find any decent excuse for showing
it to Mrs. Oldfield, do; for I would have all my friends (and that
admirable lady in particular) be satisfied I have done my duty towards
it. Dr. Young to-day sent me a letter most passionately kind." R.]

[Footnote 72: Written by Mr. Beckingham