# Tamerlane (Rowe)/Epistle Dedicatory

TO THE
Right Honourable
WILLIAM,
Lord Marquiss of
HARTINGTON.
My LORD, Every Body is now so full of Business, that things of this kind, which are generally taken for the entertainment of leisure Hours only, look like Impertinence and Interruption. I am sure it is a reason why I ought to beg your Lordship's Pardon, for troubling you with this Tragedy; Not but that Poetry has always been, and will still be the Entertainment of all wise Men, that have any delicacy in their Knowledge; Yet at so Critical a Juncture as this is, I must confess I think your Lordship ought to give ​intirely into those publick Affairs, which at this time seem to demand you. It is that happy Turn which your Lordship has to business, that right understanding of your Country's Interest, and that constant Zeal to pursue it, that just Thinking, that strong and persuasive Elocution, that firm and generous Resolution, which upon all occasions you have shewn in Parliaments; and to add, that which is the crowning good quality, your Lordship's continual adherence and unshaken Loyalty to His present Majesty, which make you at this time so necessary to the Publick. I must confess, (tho' there is no part in your Lordship's Character, but what the World should be fond of) I cannot help distinguishing the last instance very particularly: It is doing (methinks) such a Justice to Goodness, to Greatness, and to Right Reason, that Posterity will believe there could be no Man of good Sense, but what must have agreed with your Lordship in it. When the next Age shall read the History of this, What Excuse can they make for those who did not admire a Prince whose Life has been a Series of good Offices done to Mankind? When they shall reckon up his Labours from the Battle of Seneff, to some Glorious Action, which shall be his Last, (and which I therefore hope is very far remov'd from the present Time?) Will they ever believe that he could have been too well lov'd, or too faithfully serv'd and defended? ​the World. I might add here, that Inviolable and Religious observance of his Royal Word, which the best part of the Powers of Europe, have so frequently and so happily, for themselves, depended upon in the greatest Emergencies. But as this Virtue is generally reckon'd as no more than that common Honesty, which the meanest Man would blush to be without, so it can hardly claim a place amongst the more particular excellencies of a Great Prince. It were to be wish'd, indeed, that the World were honest to such a degree, and that there were not that scandalous defect of common Morality. Certainly nothing can be more shocking to Humanity, to the Peace and Order of the World; nothing can approach nearer to that Savage state of Nature, in which every Man is to eat his fellow if he can master him, than an avow'd liberty of breaking thro' all the most solemn Engagements of publick Faith. 'Tis something that brands a Man with an Infamy, which nothing can extenuate or wipe out; he may protest and pretend to explain his meaning, but the World has generally too much indignation for the Affront, to bear it at that easie rate. Ministers and Secretaries of State, may display their own parts in Memorials, with as much pomp and flourish as they please: I fancy the common answer upon such occasions will always be, you have deceiv'd us ​The Great Things which he did before we had that immediate Interest in him, which we now happily have, is a noble and just Subject for Panegyrick; but as Benefits done to Others, can never touch us so sensibly as those we receive our selves, tho' the Actions may be equally great; so, methinks, I can hardly have patience to run back to his having sav'd his own Country, when I consider he has since done the same for Us; Let that be sufficient to Us, for all we can say of him or do for him. What Dangers and Difficulties has he not struggled thro', for the Honour and Safety of these Kingdoms? 'Tis a common Praise, and what every one speaks, to say, He has continually expos'd his Life for his People; But there are some things more particular in his Character, some things rarely found amongst the Policies of Princes; a Zeal for Religion, moderated by Reason, without the rage and fire of Persecution; a charitable Compassion for those who cannot be convinc'd, and an unalterable perseverance in those principles of whose truth he is satisfy'd; a desire of War for the sake of Peace; and of Peace for the good and honour of his Subjects equally with his own; a Pious care for composing Factions, tho' to foment them might make him Arbitrary; and a generous Ambition that only aims at pow'r, to enable him to do good to all the rest of ​grosly, and we neither can nor will trust you any more. When this Vice comes amongst Men of the first Rank, it is the more shocking, and I could wish there were none such, to whose charge it might be laid.
Some People (who do me a very great Honour in it) have fancy'd, that in the Person of Tamerlane I have alluded to the greatest Character of the present Age. I don't know, whether I ought not to apprehend a great deal of Danger from avowing a Design like that. It may be a Task indeed worthy the greatest Genius, which this, or any other Time has produc'd: But therefore I ought not to stand the Shock of a Parallel, lest it should be seen, to my Disadvantage, how far the Hero has transcended the Poets Thought. There are many Features, 'tis true, in that Great Man's Life, not unlike His Majesty: His Courage, his Piety, his Moderation, his Justice, and his Fatherly Love of his People, but above all, his Hate of Tyranny and Oppression, and his zealous Care for the Common Good of Mankind, carry a large Resemblance of Him: Several Incidents are alike in their Stories; and there wants nothing to his Majesty but such a deciding Victory, as that by which Tamerlane gave Peace to the World. That is yet to come: But I hope we may reasonably expect it from the unanimity of the present Par​liament, and so formidable a Force as that Unanimity will give Life and Vigour to.
If your Lordship can find any thing in this Poem like a Prince, who is so justly the Object of your Lordship's, an indeed of the World's Veneration, I persuade my self it will prevail with you to forgive every thing else that you find amiss. You will excuse the faults in Writing, for the goodness of the Intention. I hope too, your Lordship will not be displeas'd, that I take this opportunity of renewing the honour which I formerly had, to be known to your Lordship, and which gives me at once the pleasure of expressing those Just and Dutiful Sentiments I have for his Majesty, and that strong Inclination which I have always had to be thought,
My Lord,
Your Lordships most Obedient,
Humble Servant,
N. ROWE.