Moses Browne was a clergyman and "a deservedly popular minor poet" (DNB). In 1736, GM awarded him a prize of ?50 for the best poem on a theological subject. He had a few patrons, and dedicated many of his poems to prominent Whigs, presumably in the (futile) hopes of receiving financial assistance. Despite his literary reputation and pleas for patronage, Browne was forced to earn a living as a pen-cutter. Desperate, he got a job as a door-keeper before his publication Sunday Thoughts, appealing to the growing evangelical movement, successfully solved his financial woes. After his ordination, Browne mostly wrote sermons instead of poetry. In the Preface to his Poems, he discusses his early love of poetry, and claims to have made it "at leisure intervals, an innocent amusement of my life."