Salisbury; and he himself had an estate at Stalbridge Park, which was
close to East Stour. From references to Walter in the _Champion_ for May
31, 1740, as well as in the _Essay on Conversation_, it is clear that
Fielding knew him personally, and disliked him. He may, indeed, have
been among those county magnates whose criticism was so objectionable to
Captain Booth during his brief residence in Dorsetshire. Parson
Trulliber, also, according to Murphy, was Fielding's first tutor--Mr.
Oliver of Motcombe. But his widow denied the resemblance; and it is hard
to believe that this portrait is not overcharged. In all these cases,
however, there is no reason for supposing that Fielding may not have
thoroughly believed in the sincerity of his attempts to avoid the exact
reproduction of actual persons, although, rightly or wrongly, his
presentments were speedily identified. With ordinary people it is by
salient characteristics that a likeness is established; and no variation
of detail, however skilful, greatly affects this result. In our own days
we have seen that, in spite of both authors, the public declined to
believe that the Harold Skimpole of Charles Dickens, and George Eliot's
Dinah Morris, were not perfectly recognisable copies of living
originals.

Upon its title-page, _Joseph Andrews_ is declared to be "written in
Imitation of the Manner of Cervantes," and there is no doubt that, in
addition to being subjected to an unreasonable amount of ill-usage,
Parson Adams has manifest affinities with Don Quixote. Scott, however,
seems to have thought that Scarron's _Roman Comique_ was the real model,
so far as mock-heroic was concerned; but he must have forgotten that
Fielding was already the author of _Tom Thumb_, and that Swift had
written the _Battle of the Books_. Resemblances--not of much moment--
have also been traced to the _Paysan Parvenu_ and the _Histoire de
Marianne_ of Marivaux. With both these books Fielding was familiar; in