any other basis than that of merit: he never admitted any gross
familiarities, or submitted to be treated otherwise than as an equal.
Once when he was without lodging, meat, or clothes, one of his friends,
a man indeed not remarkable for moderation in his prosperity, left a
message that he desired to see him about nine in the morning. Savage
knew that his intention was to assist him, but was very much disgusted
that he should presume to prescribe the hour of his attendance, and, I
believe, refused to visit him, and rejected his kindness.

The same invincible temper, whether firmness or obstinacy, appeared in
his conduct to the Lord Tyrconnel, from whom he very frequently demanded
that the allowance which was once paid him should be restored; but
with whom he never appeared to entertain for a moment the thought of
soliciting a reconciliation, and whom he treated at once with all the
haughtiness of superiority and all the bitterness of resentment.
He wrote to him, not in a style of supplication or respect, but of
reproach, menace, and contempt; and appeared determined, if he ever
regained his allowance, to hold it only by the right of conquest.

As many more can discover that a man is richer than that he is wiser
than themselves, superiority of understanding is not so readily
acknowledged as that of fortune; nor is that haughtiness which the
consciousness of great abilities incites, borne with the same submission
as the tyranny of affluence; and therefore Savage, by asserting his
claim to deference and regard, and by treating those with contempt whom
better fortune animated to rebel against him, did not fail to raise a
great number of enemies in the different classes of mankind. Those who
thought themselves raised above him by the advantages of riches hated
him because they found no protection from the petulance of his wit.
Those who were esteemed for their writings feared him as a critic,
and maligned him as a rival; and almost all the smaller wits were his
professed enemies.

Among these Mr. Miller so far indulged his resentment as to introduce
him in a farce, and direct him to be personated on the stage in a dress
like that which he then wore; a mean insult, which only insinuated that
Savage had but one coat, and which was therefore despised by him rather
than resented; for, though he wrote a lampoon against Miller, he never
printed it: and as no other person ought to prosecute that revenge from
which the person who