tfulness and Embellishments of the _Romans_ in their Way of Writing,
_yet cannot fail to please all such Readers as are not unqualify'd for
the Entertainment by their Affectation or Ignorance_.

It was my good Fortune some time ago to have the Library of a School-Boy
committed to my Charge, where, among other undiscover'd valuable
Authors, I pitch'd upon _Tom Thumb_ and _Tom Hickathrift_, Authors
indeed more proper to adorn the Shelves of _Bodley_ or the _Vatican_,
than to be confin'd to the Retirement and Obscurity of a private Study.
I have perus'd the first of these with an infinite Pleasure, and a more
than ordinary Application, and have made some Observations on it, which
may not, I hope, prove unacceptable to the Publick; and however it may
have been ridicul'd, and look'd upon as an Entertainment only for
Children, and those of younger Years, may be found perhaps a Performance
not unworthy the Perusal of the Judicious, and the Model superiour to
either of those incomparable Poems of _Chevy Chase_, or _The Children in
the Wood_. The Design was undoubtedly to recommend Virtue, and to shew
that however any one may labour under the Disadvantages of Stature or
Deformity, or the Meanness of Parentage, yet if his Mind and Actions are
above the ordinary Level, those very Disadvantages that seem to depress
him, shall add a Lustre to his Character.

There are Variety of Incidents, dispers'd thro' the whole Series of this
Historical Poem, that give an agreeable Delight and Surprise, _and are
such as *Virgil* himself wou'd have touch'd upon, had the like Story
been told by that Divine Poet_, viz. his falling into the Pudding-Bowl
and others; which shew the Courage and Constancy, the Intrepidity and
Greatness of Soul of this little Hero, amidst the greatest Dangers that
cou'd possibly befall him, and which are the unavoidable Attendants of
human Life.

Si fractus illabatur orbis,
Impavidum ferient ruinae.

The Author of this was unquestionably a Person of an Universal Genius,
and if we consider that the Age he wrote in, must be an Age of the most
profound Ignorance, as appears from the second Stanza of the first
_Canto_, he was a Miracle of a Man.

I have consulted Monsieur _Le Clerk_, and my Friend Dr. _B--ly_
concerning the Chronology of this Author, who both assure me, tho'
Neither can settle the Matter exactly, that he is the most ancient of
our Poets, and 'tis very probable he was a _Druid_, who, as _Julius
Caes