" The epistle
to Driden of Chesterton, and a translation of the first Iliad, must have
move than satisfied the mercantile calculations of Tonson, since they
contained seventeen hundred verses above the quantity which Dryden had
contracted to deliver. In the preface, the author vindicates himself
with great spirit against his literary adversaries; makes his usual
strong and forcible remarks on the genius of the authors whom he had
imitated; and, in this his last critical work, shows all the acumen
which had so long distinguished his powers. The Fables were dedicated to
the last Duke of Ormond, the grandson of the Barzillai of "Absalom and
Achitophel," and the son of the heroic Earl of Ossory; friends both, and
patrons of Dryden's earlier essays. There is something affecting in a
connection so honourably maintained; and the sentiment, as touched by
Dryden, is simply pathetic. "I am not vain enough to boast, that I have
deserved the value of so illustrious a line; but my fortune is the
greater, that for three descents they have been pleased to distinguish
my poems from those of other men; and have accordingly made me their
peculiar care. May it be permitted me to say, that as your grandfather
and father were cherished monarchs, so I have been esteemed and
patronised by the grandfather, the father, and the son, descended from
one of the most ancient, most conspicuous, and most deserving families
in Europe.
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