Avarice, and of Glory from Ambition. Come thou, that hast inspired thy
_Aristophanes_, thy _Lucian_, thy _Cervantes_, thy _Rabelais_, thy
_Moliere_, thy _Shakespear_, thy _Swift_, thy _Marivaux_, fill my Pages
with Humour, till Mankind learn the Good-Nature to laugh only at the
Follies of others, and the Humility to grieve at their own."

From the little group of immortals who are here enumerated, it may be
gathered with whom Fielding sought to compete, and with whom he hoped
hereafter to be associated. His hopes were not in vain. Indeed, in one
respect, he must be held to have even outrivalled that particular
predecessor with whom he has been oftenest compared. Like _Don Quixote_,
_Tom Jones_ is the precursor of a new order of things,--the earliest and
freshest expression of a new departure in art. But while _Tom Jones_ is,
to the full, as amusing as _Don Quixote_, it has the advantage of a
greatly superior plan, and an interest more skilfully sustained. The
incidents which, in Cervantes, simply succeed each other like the scenes
in a panorama, are, in _Tom Jones_, but parts of an organised and
carefully-arranged progression towards a foreseen conclusion. As the
hero and heroine cross and re-cross each other's track, there is
scarcely an episode which does not aid in the moving forward of the
story. Little details rise lightly and naturally to the surface of the
narrative, not more noticeable at first than the most everyday
occurrences, and a few pages farther on become of the greatest
importance. The hero makes a mock proposal of marriage to Lady
Bellaston. It scarcely detains attention, so natural an expedient does
it appear, and behold in a chapter or two it has become a terrible
weapon in the hands of the injured Sophia! Again, when the secret of
Jones' birth [Footnote: Much ink has been shed respecting Fielding's
reason for making his hero illegitimate. But may not "The History of Tom
Jones, a _Foundling_," have had no subtler origin than the recent