THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY

 A LETTER FROM A Clergyman to his Friend, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE TRAVELS OF Captain _LEMUEL GULLIVER_. 

 (Anonymous)

 (1726)

 _Introduction by_ MARTIN KALLICH

 PUBLICATION NUMBER 143 WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES 1970

 GENERAL EDITORS

 William E. Conway, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_ George Robert Guffey, _University of California, Los Angeles_ Maximillian E. Novak, _University of California, Los Angeles_

 ASSOCIATE EDITOR

 David S. Rodes, _University of California, Los Angeles_

 ADVISORY EDITORS

 Richard C. Boys, _University of Michigan_ James L. Clifford, _Columbia University_ Ralph Cohen, _University of Virginia_ Vinton A. Dearing, _University of California, Los Angeles_ Arthur Friedman, _University of Chicago_ Louis A. Landa, _Princeton University_ Earl Miner, _University of California, Los Angeles_ Samuel H. Monk, _University of Minnesota_ Everett T. Moore, _University of California, Los Angeles_ Lawrence Clark Powell, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_ James Sutherland, _University College, London_ H. T. Swedenberg, Jr. , _University of California, Los Angeles_ Robert Vosper, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_

 CORRESPONDING SECRETARY

 Edna C. Davis, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_

 EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

 Roberta Medford, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_

INTRODUCTION

 We have a Book lately publish'd here which hath of late taken up the whole conversation of the town. Tis said to be writ by Swift. It is called, The travells of Lemuell Gulliver in two Volumes. It hath had a very great sale. People differ vastly in their opinions of it, for some think it hath a great deal of wit, but others say, it hath none at all. 

 John Gay to James Dormer (22 November 1726)

As Gay's letter suggests, details concerning the contemporaryreception of _Gulliver's Travels_ exhibit two sides of JonathanSwift's character--the pleasant (that is, merry, witty, amusing) andthe unpleasant (that is, sarcastic, envious, disaffected). A personwith a powerful ego and astringent sense of humor, Swift must havebeen a delightful friend, if somewhat difficult, but also a dangerousenemy. _A Letter from a Clergyman_ (1726), here reproduced in afacsimile of its first and only edition, is a reaction typical ofthose who regard Swift and the sharp edge of his satire with greatsuspicion and revulsion. It displays the dangerously Satanic aspect ofSwift--that side of his character which for some people representedthe whole man since the allegedly blasphemous satire in _A Tale of aTub_, published and misunderstood early in his career, criticallyaffected, even by his own admission, his employment in the Church. Itis this evil character of the author, the priest with an indecorousand politically suspect humor, that offended some contemporaryreaders. To them, the engraved frontispiece of Jonathan Smedley'sscurrilous _Gulliveriana_ (1728) is the proper image of the author ofthe _Travels_. It portrays Swift in a priest's vestments that barelyconceal a cloven hoof. 

In the following pages, we shall define the historical context of theclergyman's _Letter_ and illuminate the nature of the literary warfarein which Swift was an energetic if not particularly cheerfulantagonist when _Gulliver's Travels_ was published late in 1726. 

In another letter, Gay remarked to Swift (17 November 1726) that "ThePoliticians to a man agree, that it [the _Travels_] is free fromparticular reflections"; nevertheless some "people of greaterperspicuity" would "search for particular applications in everyleaf. " He also predicted that "we shall have keys publish'd to givelight into Gulliver's design. " His prediction was correct, for it wasnot long before four _Keys_, the earliest commentary in pamphlet formon the _Travels_, were published by a Signor Corolini, undoubtedly apseudonym for Edmund Curll, the London printer and bookseller. Butsurprisingly, the observations do not exhibit Swift in a harshfactional light. As a matter of fact, in his introduction to the_Keys_, which are entitled _Lemuel Gulliver's Travels into SeveralRemote Nations of the World. Compendiously Methodized, For PublickBenefit: With Observations and Explanatory Notes Throughout_ (1726), Curll flatters Swift as possessing "the true Vein of Humour and politeConversation" (I, 4). Regarding the _Travels_, he observes, "The Townare infinitely more eager after them than they were after _RobinsonCrusoe_" (I, 5). 

In general, the _Keys_ are pleasantly written, including no nastyinnuendoes critical of Swift's high-church sectarian zeal or hishigh-flying Tory political sympathies. They may be considered afrankly commercial venture meant to exploit the popularity of the_Travels_. Curll merely summarizes the narratives, occasionallyproviding substantial extracts or sprinkling explanatory comments onsome allusions that attract him. Some of the annotations areridiculous, or curious, like the equations of Blefuscu with Scotland, of the storm Gulliver passes through before reaching Brobdingnag with"the _South-Sea_ and _Mississippi_ Confusion, " and of the giants withinflated South Sea stock (II, 4). Some remarks, however, appearconvincing, such as his belief that "the _trifling Transactions_ ofthe present _English Royal Society_" on insects and fossils are"finely rallied" (II, 11-12). Curll also notes about the third voyagethat "besides the political Allegory, Mr. _Gulliver_ has many shrewdRemarks upon Men and Books, Sects, Parties, and Opinions" (III, 10-11). Concerning the fourth, he equates the good Portuguese CaptainDon Pedro with the Dean's "good Friend the Earl of _P[eterboroug]h_"(IV, 26). The Roman Catholic Peterborough, we recall, fought in Spainand was also Pope's good friend. 

Other more suggestive comments on Swift's political meaning may becited. For example, the "_ancient Temple_" in which Gulliver is housedin Lilliput, a structure "_polluted . . . By an unnatural Murder_, " heidentifies as "the _Banquetting-House_ at _White-Hall_, before whichStructure, King CHARLES I was Beheaded" (I, 7-8). This allusion to"the _Royal-Martyr_" (III, 32) may be considered a modest clue toSwift's Toryism, and it is associated with the Jacobitism of which hisWhiggish enemies accused him. Yet an unusual reading of theStruldbruggs in the third voyage (particularly the controls imposed onthe senile creatures in order to prevent their engrossing the civilpower) as an attack on the religious dissenters demonstrates thatCurll and Swift agreed on the issue of an established church. Theclergy who wished to separate state from church, or as Curll describesthe situation, that implacable Spirit and Rancour . . . [of] those _English_ Ecclesiasticks, who have asserted the _Independency_ of the _Church_ upon the _State_ . . . Ought to the latest Posterity in _England_, to be called _Struldbruggs_. For it will be found . . . That, _whenever they assume the_ Civil Power, _their want_ of Abilities _to_ manage, _must end in the_ Ruin _of the_ Publick. (III, 32)

Indeed, among the most interesting of Currl's annotations are thosewhich suggest that a religious reading of the _Travels_ was by nomeans unappreciated by Swift's contemporaries. Thus, again, besideshis unusual politico-religious comment on the Struldbruggs, Curll isfairly sharp in his annotation of the passage on religious differencesin Chapter V of the fourth voyage, concerning "_Transubstantiation_ asbelieved by the _Papists_, " "Cathedral-worship, " kissing the Crucifix, vestments, --and resulting furious religious wars (IV, 12-13). All inall, however, the _Keys_ are singularly shallow and agreeably bland. Curll simply agrees with Gulliver-Swift, and reinforces the meaning bypractically repeating the text, as he does at this point whendeploring inessential differences in ritual as needless causes ofcruel conflict. Although Curll was aware of the presence of politicsand religion in Swift's allegories, his annotations do not reflectunfavorably on Swift's character. 

But it was not long before an attack on Swift was mounted. It beganwith _A Letter from a Clergyman to His Friend, With an Account of theTravels of Capt. Lemuel Gulliver: And a Character of the Author. ToWhich is Added, The True Reasons Why a Certain Doctor Was Made a Dean_(1726)--the first substantial attack on Swift resulting from thepublication of his most celebrated work. The identity of the author isunknown. Steele, Swift's implacable political enemy, had retired tothe country at this time and was soon to die. Because of the numerousreferences to Swift's treacherous disloyalty to Steele's friendship, we could speculate on a connection between the anonymous author andSteele and infer that it was a friendly relationship. 

The long and breathless title underlines the malicious content of thispolemical pamphlet, a pungent libel on Swift's character that includescutting observations on Swift's chief fiction as well. Obviously, theauthor's intent is to vilify Swift in retaliation for attacks on thewriter's friends. Inspired by the publication of the _Travels_, hepresents a crudely defamatory "Character of the Author. " He claims anacquaintance with Swift "in publick and private Life" (p. 4) butoffers no evidence to substantiate this claim. Drawing from commonknowledge, he simply cites the well-known negative evidence of _A Taleof a Tub_, in which Swift, he indignantly asserts like Swift's formerenemy William Wotton, "levelled his Jests at Almighty God; banter'dand ridiculed Religion, " thereby offending Queen Anne and blocking hisown church preferment (p. 19). Except for "some gross Words, and lewdDescriptions, and had the Inventor's Intention been innocent" (p. 6[note the suspicion of Swift's political and religious bias]), theauthor is mildly pleased with the first three voyages. But he findsintolerable the satire on human nature in the last, here echoingAddison's criticism of the demoralizing effect of a satire on mankind(_Spectator 249_, 5 December 1711). 

However, Swift's "Intention" in the first three voyages is, he angrilydeclares, tinctured by his poisonous malice and envy, the result oftwelve years of exile. He is positive of the identity of the viciousperson behind the mask of the imaginary memoirist:

 Here, Sir, you may see a reverend Divine, a dignify'd Member of the Church unbosoming himself, unloading his Breast, discovering the true Temper of his Soul, drawing his own Picture to the Life; here's no Disguise, none could have done it so well as himself. . . . (p. 8)

He detects envy in what he believes is the incendiary narrator of the_Travels_, and insists that by siding with the enemies of the nation, meaning France, Swift was "endeavouring to ruin the _British_Constitution, set aside the _Hanover_ Succession, and bring in a[tyrannical] Popish Pretender, " and, of course, "destroy our ChurchEstablishment" (pp. 14, 8-9). Thereupon, he furiously threatens Swiftwith punishment for his pernicious attack on the government, that is, the present political administration. Clearly motivated bypolitico-religious fears, this Whig militantly defends not only theProtestant succession but also the ministry of Sir RobertWalpole--which the numerous allusions to the "_Great Man_" and "thegreatest Man this Nation ever produced" (p. 15) confirm. Swift's meancharacter of Flimnap, the Lilliputian Prime Minister, stung badly:"With what Indignation must every one that has had the Honour to beadmitted to this _Great Man_, review the Doctor's charging him withbeing morose" (p. 15). He counters Swift's insulting reduction of theGreat Man to a petty little man with an egregiously fulsome panegyricthat magnifies the virtues of Sir Robert's public and privatecharacter, and concludes with abuse of Swift's character as an Irishdean disaffected from the government--hence deserving of permanentexile in Ireland. [1]

The author of the fiery _Letter_ focuses on Swift's impiety--pointingto his wickedness, the sneering tone of his sacrilegious satire, hisindiscreet joking about religion, all of which Swift's enemies werequick to emphasize as the outstanding features of _A Tale of a Tub_, as well as portions of the _Travels_. For example, even Gay, in theletter to Swift quoted above (17 November 1726) also noted that those"who frequent the Church, say his [Gulliver's] design is impious, andthat it is an insult on Providence, by depreciating the works of theCreator, "--a line of attack soon to be pursued by Edward Young, JamesBeattie, and others who were not in the least charmed by Swift'ssatire. But Swift's friends were not idle; for it was precisely thisbitter onslaught on Swift's religion in the _Letter_ that broughtanother writer to the defense in the ironically entitled _GulliverDecypher'd: or Remarks on a Late Book, Intitled, Travels Into SeveralRemote Nations of the World, Vindicating the Reverend Dean on Whom itis Maliciously Father'd, With Some Conjectures Concerning the RealAuthor_ (1726). [2]

This writer, probably John Arbuthnot, may be considered one of theearliest defenders of the religious orthodoxy of the _Travels_. Heextracts passages from Swift's work, such as the Lilliputian quarrelover breaking eggs, the satire on corrupt bishops, and the affirmationof the principle of limited toleration for religious dissent inBrobdingnag as evidences of his belief, presented ironically, that"the Reverend Dean" could not possibly have fathered the work becausethe author of the _Travels_ did not have religious ideals in mind. Oneof the passages that this defender cites demonstrates that only aperson like the religious dean could have made this observation aboutthe concern for religious instruction by the Lilliputians before theirfall from original perfection:

 . . . We cannot think, but that the courteous Reader is fully satisfied, that the Reverend D---- we are vindicating, cannot possibly be the Author of this part of the Book that is maliciously ascrib'd to him; which is so very trifling, that it is not to be imagined that a _serious_ D----n, who has Religion, and the good of Souls so _much_ at heart, could act so contrary to the Dignity of his Character merely to gratify a little Party Malice, or to oblige a Set of People who are never likely to have it in their Power to serve him or any of their Adherents. Doubtless he, _good Man_, employs his Time to more sacred Purposes than in writing Satyrs and Libels upon his Superiors, or in composing _Grub-street_ Pamphlets to divert the Vulgar of all Denominations. [3]

Consider also his defense of Swift's exposure of the corrupt bishops, the "holy Persons" in the House of Lords (_Travels_, II, vi). Believing that Swift's pungent satire on the church hierarchy is goodand true, he makes the dean himself the target of a playful bit ofraillery, a type of irony for which Swift and Arbuthnot were bothnotorious:

 Being _slavish prostitute Chaplains_ is certainly a good step _towards becoming an Holy Lord_; but it does not always succeed, as _some Folks_ very well know by Experience; for the same Degree of Iniquity that can raise one Man to an _Archbishoprick_, cannot lift another above a _Deanery_. [4]

Such commentary suggests that at least one very early reader of the_Travels_ sensed the possibility of Swift's use of certain portions ofhis narrative to vent disappointment at his failure to receive thechurch preferment he thought he deserved and to carry on his personalvendetta against obstructive bishops like the "crazy Prelate" Sharpe, Archbishop of York, one of the detestable and "dull Divines" pilloriedin the autobiographical poem "The Author Upon Himself" (1714). 

Concerning Swift's religious uniformitarianism, the author of_Gulliver Decypher'd_ defends Swift's understandable bias for theestablished Anglican Church as a vested interest, which in the_Travels_ is expressed through the giant king's strictures againstcivil liberty for religious dissenters (II, vi). He recommends thispassage as a proper explanation of the principle restricting the civilliberty of potentially subversive dissidents, adding, furthermore, that "the Sectaries" themselves were "averse to all the Modes" ofreligion and opposed religious diversity. [5]

All these remarks figured prominently in what may be considered theearliest debate on the religious meaning of the _Travels_. Certainly, some contemporary readers of Swift's major work were not insensitiveto its religious significance, as even the commentary on the religiousinstruction of the upper classes--a relatively minor part of thesatire which twentieth-century readers would easily overlook, as wellas the more serious observations on the Endian dispute betweenCatholics and Protestants over the Eucharist demonstrate. Yet like allthe early critics of the _Travels_, this author has nothing to sayabout this episode of central importance in the narrative aboutLilliput, the reason probably being that its meaning was taken forgranted by the Protestants of Swift's England. Thus the author of_Gulliver Decypher'd_ merely says the obvious: "The Reflections thatwill accrue to every Reader, upon this Conference [with Reldresal], is[_sic_] so obvious, that we shall not so much as hint at them. "[6]Thus it is also not strange for the antagonistic clergyman to saynothing in his _Letter_ about the heart of the Lilliputiannarrative--the profound allegory on the religious wars over theEucharist and the serious issues raised by Swift. No doubt, however, he probably read Swift's interpretation of Gulliver's role in thisconflict as a Tory version of history, and resented it accordingly. That is, like the Whigs of the day, he would object to an easy peacefor Catholic France and would conclude that the Treaty of Utrechtconcluding the War of the Spanish Succession, was not sufficientlypunitive. 

Among the works that capitalized on the popularity of the _Travels_were the imitative _Memoirs of Lilliput_ (1727) and _A Voyage toCacklogallinia_ (1727). The author of the _Memoirs_ emphasizes theevil character of the Lilliputians, particularly their lecherousclergy, and concludes with an account of the sufferings of Big-Endianexiles and extensive observations on the dangers of politicalfactionalism. But he is most attracted by prurient sexual adventures. A vulgar work obviously meant to appeal to a neurotic taste forsexuality, it includes no attack on Swift as it explores at lengthsome topics to which Gulliver in his memoirs only tangentiallyalludes. The second abortive effort, an animal satire of exotictalking fowl, also resembles Swift's satire as it touches on severalsimilar topics--the hypocrisy of the people, the scepticism of theirnobility, the love of luxury of the higher clergy--but again becauseit includes no comment on Swift's personal or public character, it isnot relevant to a discussion of the angry _Letter from a Clergyman_. We can therefore pass quickly from these two works to perhaps thebest, in the sense of the most stinging and most comprehensive, assault on Swift at the time of the publication of his _Travels_, thatentitled _Gulliveriana_ (1728), by the Irish Dean of Clogher, JonathanSmedley. 

"That rascall Smedley, " about whom Swift once wrote in vexation (toArchdeacon Walls, 19 December 1716), is the very same hack who carriedon the subsidized _Baker's News; or the Whitehall Journal_ (1722-23)on behalf of Sir Robert Walpole's government. He is also immortalizedin Pope's _Dunciad_ (1728) as "a person dipp'd in scandal, and deeplyimmers'd in dirty work" (_Dunciad_ A, II, 279ff; B, II, 291ff). His_Gulliveriana_ (including the satires on Pope, the _Alexandriana_), ascurrilous anthology of abuse in the form of jingles, ballads, parodies in prose, and other satirical essays, was inspired by therecent publication of the Pope-Swift _Miscellany_. In his prefaceSmedley indicts Swift for an almost endless series of misdemeanors--forshifting his allegiance from the Whigs to the Tories; for restrictinghis verse to the burlesque style and its groveling doggerel manner;for failing in eloquence and oratory, theology and mathematics; andfor being a pedant, poetaster, hack-politician, jockey, gardener, punster, and skilful swearer. In short Smedley insists that Swift isaccomplished in the art of sinking according to the prescription whichhe and Pope wrote in the _Peri Bathos_, the first part of the_Miscellany_ that aroused Smedley's ire. Swift is, to sum up, "_ludicrous, dull, and profane_; and . . . An Instance of _that Decay ofDelicacy and Refinement_ which he mentions" (p. Xxvii). As for therecently published _Gulliver's Travels_, Smedley shows it no mercy:

 An abominable Piece! by being _quite out of Life_! The _Fable_ is entirely ridiculous; the _Moral_ but ludicrous; the _Satire_ trite and worn out, and the _Instructions_ much better perform'd by many other Pens. I call on his _Lilliputian Art of Government_, and _Education of Children_ for Proof. (p. Xix)

It comes as no surprise to see that Smedley's Whiggish bias encourageshim to detect "hints" in the _Travels_ of Swift's "Zeal for HighChurch and Toryism" (p. 280), so that obviously the work is"_Trifling_" and "_Nothing_. "

 The pious Dean has done what in him lies to render _Religion_, _Reason_, and _common_ Sense ridiculous, and to set up in their stead, _Buffoonry_, _Grimace_, and _Impertinence_, and, like _Harlequin_, carries it off all with a _Grin_. (p. 267)[7]

Among Smedley's clever parodies of Swift's writings are those of _ATale of a Tub_, _Against Abolishing Christianity_, and _Gulliver'sTravels_. The comprehensiveness of abuse is demonstrated in the nastyGulliverian allegory, in which Swift is accused of being an ignorant, hypocritical, atheistical Irishman, high-flying Tory, and JacobitePapist. Even Swift's sex life--his relationship with Stella andVanessa--is made ugly (pp. 1-10). Indeed, Smedley believes that it ishis duty to keep his readers well-informed about Swift's "odd"conduct; thus with evident relish he advises the poet to

 Tell us what _Swift_ is now a doing: Or whineing Politicks or Wooing; With Sentence grave, or Mirth uncommon, Pois'ning the Clergy, and the Women. (p. 41)

Among the ballads, one will see the infamous "Verses, fix'd on theCathedral Door, the Day of Dean Gulliver's Installment, " which beginswith the following delectable quatrain:

 Today, this Temple gets a _Dean_, Of Parts and Fame, uncommon; Us'd, both to Pray, and to Prophane, To serve both _God_ and _Mammon_. 

Then the poem proceeds with the usual diatribe of Swift's desertion ofthe Whigs, his atheism, high-church sympathies, and sacrilegious humor(pp. 77-79). 

In almost every conceivable literary style Smedley takes exception toSwift's divinity and politics and attempts to blacken Swift'scharacter. As we should expect, differences over politics and religionwere determining causes. Thus Smedley adores the outstanding literaryWhig Addison, contrasting the polish and beauty of Addison's stylewith Swift's failures, ugliness, ineptitude, vulgarity, intolerablefilthiness. Likewise, following the author of the _Letter_, he writesfavorably of Steele, castigating Swift for his treacherous betrayal ofSteele's friendship. But his catalogue of Swift's vices is far moreintriguing than that of our clergyman, his gossip far more detailedand malicious. Clearly, Swift could not possibly do anything to pleasesome of his readers. If their hostile reactions have any meaning, theyprove that Swift's political connections and high-church sympathiesprevented many of his contemporaries from responding to the virtues of_Gulliver's Travels_; and that, on the contrary, his chief work wastapped for evidence of the author's suspected impiety and partisanpolitics. 

That this hostility persisted far into the eighteenth century may beseen in the illuminating anecdote told in the 1780's by HoraceWalpole, son of the "Great Man" so glowingly praised in the _Letterfrom a Clergyman_:

 Swift was a good writer, but had a bad heart. Even to the last he was devoured by ambition, which he pretended to despise. Would you believe that, after finding his opposition to the ministry fruitless, and, what galled him still more, contemned, he summoned up resolution to wait on Sir Robert Walpole? Sir Robert seeing Swift look pale and ill, inquired the state of his health, with his usual old English good humour and urbanity. They were standing by a window that looked into the court-yard, where was an ancient ivy dropping towards the ground. "Sir, " said Swift, with an emphatic look, "I am like that ivy; I want support. " Sir Robert answered, "Why then, doctor, did you attach youself to a falling wall?" Swift took the hint, made his bow, and retired. [8]

Northern Illinois University

NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION

[1] In _The Intelligencer, No. III_ (1728), Swift defends Gay's satireon the "Great Man, " _The Beggar's Opera_ (1728), and continues hisoffensive against Sir Robert Walpole. Here it may be mentioned that inhis apology for the irony used by persecuted dissenters, AnthonyCollins [_A Discourse Concerning Ridicule and Irony_ (1729)] remarksthat "High-Church" overlooked Swift's "_drolling_ upon Christianity, "and was unwilling to punish him because of his "_Drollery_ upon the_Whigs_, _Dissenters_, and the _War_ with _France_. " Collinsinterprets the effect of Swift's wit on his church career as follows:"And his Usefulness in _Drollery_ and _Ridicule_ was deem'd sufficientby the _Pious_ Queen _Anne_, and her _pious Ministry_, to intitle himto a Church Preferment of several hundred Pounds _per Ann. _ . . . Notwithstanding [the objections of] a _fanatick High-Churchman_, whoweakly thought _Seriousness_ in Religion of more use to High-Churchthan _Drollery_" (pp. 39-40). 

[2] G. A. Aitken, _The Life and Works of John Arbuthnot_ (Oxford, 1892), pp. 123-124; and H. Teerink-Arthur H. Scouten, _A Bibliographyof the Writings of Jonathan Swift_ (Philadelphia, 1963), No. 1216, consider it an uncomplimentary attack on Swift and his friends--butmistakenly, I believe. Lester M. Beattie, _John Arbuthnot:Mathematician and Satirist_ (Cambridge, Mass. , 1935), p. 311, unqualifiedly rejects Arbuthnot's authorship of this work. But acorrespondent to _Notes and Queries_, Sixth Series, VII (1883), 451-452, argues convincingly for the attribution to Arbuthnot. 

[3] _Gulliver Decypher'd_ (London, 1726), pp. 29-30; reprinted inArbuthnot's _Miscellaneous Works_ (Glasgow, 1751), I, 100. 

[4] _Gulliver Decypher'd_, pp. 26n, 35; _Misc. Works_, I, 97n, 104. 

[5] _Gulliver Decypher'd_, p. 38; _Misc. Works_, I, 106. 

[6] _Gulliver Decypher'd_, p. 25; _Misc. Works_, I, 97. 

[7] John Oldmixon, another Whig writer, repeats some of these slandersagainst Swift, even using some of the same words like "Trifling andGrimace"--in his reactions to the Swift-Pope _Miscellanies_ and_Gulliver's Travels_. He too finds the tales in the _Travels_frivolous because lacking a moral and the satire a debasing of "theDignity of human Nature" (_The Arts of Logick and Rhetorick_ [London, 1728], pp. 416-418). 

[8] John Pinkerton, _Walpoliana_ (London, n. D. ), I, 126-127. Foradditional typical evidences of Horace Walpole's antipathy, see hisangry assaults on Swift's insolence, arrogance, vanity, and hypocrisy(including sexuality), in his letters to Montagu, 20 June 1766 and toHorace Mann, 13 January 1780; and a remark in his _Anecdotes ofPainting, Works_ (London, 1798), III, 438. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

This facsimile of _A Letter from a Clergyman_ (1726) is reproducedfrom a copy in the British Museum. 

 A LETTER FROM A Clergyman to his Friend, With an ACCOUNT of the TRAVELS OF Capt. _Lemuel Gulliver_: AND A Character of the Author. To which is added, The True REASONS why a certain DOCTOR was made a DEAN. 

 _LONDON_: Printed for _A. MOORE_ near St. _Paul's_. MDCCXXVI. _Price 3d. _

[Illustration: Decorative Border]

A LETTER FROM A CLERGYMAN TO HIS FRIEND. 

_Sir_, To let the Town into the chief Motives for this Publication, I amobliged to acquaint them, that it is my Love of Truth and Justice, enforc'd by my Inclination to please my Friend; the Motive, all willundoubtedly allow to be a laudable one; and I could, if required, give so many unanswerable Reason for being influenc'd by the Latter, that to an impartial Reader it would appear almost as sufficient, formy proceeding thus, as the Former. Your Desires, Sir, shall always becomply'd with by me to the utmost of my Power; I ever have, and evershall look upon your Requests as Commands; and as such esteem them myHonour. 

'Tis hardly to be imagined that an Objection will so readily be madeto my Undertaking on any Account, as that of my Inequality to it;therefore I shall only hint, that as every Man in the like Case, unless totally incapable, may if requir'd, give his Judgment, providedhe does it with Impartiality and Candour, so I shall be regardlesswhat others say, while I strictly adhere to these Principles, and meetwith your Approbation. 

You was pleased to say at our last Conversation, that you look'd uponme to be rather more capable of giving a just Character of the reputedAuthor of these Travels, than most Men in Town, from my having beenConversant with him in publick and private Life; in his early Days, aswell as since; when he first appear'd in the World; at home andabroad; in the Camp and Cabinet; a little when he was in Favour, moresince in Disgrace; and thus, Sir, your Expectations seem to enlarge. But here for the sake of our Cloth I must beg Leave to draw a Viel, and to keep it on, as much, and as long, as the Nature of my Designwill admit: Was I indeed to follow the Captain's Example, what vile, what cruel Things might I not suggest of him? What hard Things could Inot prove? Which many would recollect as well as my self, and morewould believe: How might I justly turn his Artillery upon himself, andstifle him with that Filth he has so injuriously loaded others with;if the greatest Heap that ever was scraped together would stifle himwho is entitled to it all; But I forbear now, and am resolved to doso, unless oblig'd to break this Determination to preserve, as Ihinted before, the Consistency of my Undertaking. 

I began a little to hesitate at my Design, upon being informed, thatthe Captain was not here to answer for himself; thinking it somethingDishonourable to attack a Man in this Method that was obliged toabscond; but when I considered that if these Enormities were not to betaken notice of, till the Author should venture to come into _GreatBritain_, they might wholly pass with Impunity, my Dilemna was nomore: No, the Captain is certainly gone for Life; he has now taken aVoyage from whence he never can, never dares return; this he'll findthe longest he ever made, and the last from hence he can make. 

Besides when a Performance of this Nature is once publick, I conceiveit submitted to the Judgment of all, and of Course to be approved, receiv'd or rejected, and in a Word, treated as various Opinions, Inclinations, Interests or Apprehensions influence those who peruseit: Some will undoubtedly approve of the Captain's Production because'tis scandalous and malicious; others will disapprove of it for thevery same Reasons; for the Tasts of Mankind being as different astheir Constitutions, they must of Consequence be often as opposite asthe most absolute Contraries in Nature: A Knave loves and delights inScandal, Detraction, Infamy, in blasting, ruining his Neighbour'sCharacter, because these are consonant to the Depravity of humaneNature, and in themselves vile: Upon the very same Account an honestMan abominates them all, with the utmost Abhorrence of Soul. 

Thus having said as much as I think needful by way of Introduction; Iwould turn my Thoughts more immediately to the Work before me; I have, as you directed me, Sir, read it over with the greatest Distinction, and Exactness I was able; I've enter'd as much, as was possible forme, into the Spirit and Design of the Author: By the strictestExamination I've endeavoured to sift every material Passage; and Ipersuade my self the Drift of the Author has appear'd plain to methro' the whole. From all which I conclude, that had Care been takento have adapted them to modest virtuous Minds, by leaving out somegross Words, and lewd Descriptions, and had the Inventor's Intentionbeen innocent, the first three Parts of these Travels wouldundoubtedly have proved diverting, agreeable, and acceptable to all;there is a great deal of Wit and more Invention in them; though, asis pretty usual in so large a Work of this Sort, there are someunnatural Incidents, and here and there an Inconsistency with it self. 

In the fourth Part, which is more than half of the second Volume, theAuthor flags, he loses his Vivacity, and in my Opinion, maintainslittle of his former Spirit, but the Rancour. This indeed appears mostplentifully in this Part; and the Captain seems so wholly influencedby it, that he makes a sort of Recapitulation of Invectives he hadvented before; and having receiv'd a fresh supply of Gall, appearsresolv'd to discharge it, though he has no Way than by varying thePhrase, to express in other Words, the unjust Sentiments he haddisclosed before: In this long tedious Part the Reader loses all thatmight have been engaging to him in the three former; the Capacity andCharacter given there of Brutes, are so unnatural; and especially thegreat Preheminence asserted of them, to the most virtuous and noble ofhumane Nature, is so monstrously absurd and unjust, that 'tis with theutmost Pain a generous Mind must indure the Recital; a Man grows sickat the shocking Things inserted there; his Gorge rises; he is not ableto conceal his Resentment; and closes the Book with Detestation andDisappointment. 

But to return to the three former Parts, as I have said all I can withJustice say, on their Behalf; allow me now to shew a little of thegreat Malignity, and evil Tendency of their Nature: Here I might beabundantly prolix, had I not absolutely determined to be otherwise, the Field is large, the Matter very copious: Here, Sir, you may see areverend Divine, a dignify'd Member of the Church unbosoming himself, unloading his Breast, discovering the true Temper of his Soul, drawinghis own Picture to the Life; here's no Disguise, none could have doneit so well as himself: Here's the most inveterate Rancour of his Mind, and a hoard of Malice, twelve Years collecting, discharged at once:Here's ENVY, the worst of all Passions, in Perfection; ENVY, the most beloved Darling of Hell; the greatest Abhorrence of Heaven;ENVY, the Crime Mankind should be the most ashamed of, having theleast to say in Excuse for it; the Canker of the Soul, most uneasy to thePossessor; a Passion not to be gratify'd, not possible of Pleasure;the peculiar one would imagine of infernal Beings, and much of theirPunishment. ENVY, is ever levell'd at Merit, and superior Excellence;and the most deserving are, for being such, the properest Objects ofENVY. 

View now, Sir, the Doctor, as I shall henceforward call him; and uponexamination, I fear 'twill be found, that his Conduct too fullyanswers the Description of this detestable Passion: I shall be veryplain and expressive; an honest Man will no more conceal the Truth, than deny it, when the Former may prove prejudicial to the Innocent:Whether the Government may ever think proper publickly to chastise theDoctor for his Insolence, I know nothing of; perhaps such snarling maybe thought too low to engage such a Resentment: However this I amfully persuaded of, that as no good Government ought to be so insultedand male-treated; so there is no honest Man among us but wouldcontribute the utmost in his Power to bring the Author, and thoseconcerned with him to exemplary Punishment, in order to deter othersfrom the like pernicious Practices for the future. 

What can be viler in the Intention? What may be worse in theConsequence, than an Attempt to interrupt the Harmony and goodUnderstanding between his Majesty and his Subjects, and to create aDislike in the People to those in the Administration; and especiallyto endeavour at this, in such a Juncture as the present? what could inall Probability be the Issue of bringing such Matters to bear, but thethrowing ourselves and all _Europe_ into a Flame? ruining our Credit, destroying our Trade, beggaring of private Families, setting us acutting one another's Throats; by which we should become an easy Preyto the common Enemy, who would at once subvert our Constitution, thehappiest, the best in the World; destroy our Church Establishment; andsubject us to all the Cruelty and Sufferings the unbounded Lust ofTyrants, and the insatiable Avarice of Priests could load us with. 

'Tis true, praised be Almighty God, and Thanks to the Wisdom of thosein the Ministry, 'tis not in the Power of an Incendiary to do this;but the Attempt is not for that, at all the less criminal; we are toosensible of our Happiness to be either banter'd or frightned out ofit; and 'tis therefore with the utmost Indignation all honest Minds, every True _Englishman_ treats the Persons who would disturb theirFelicity. All are sensible of his Majesty's Wisdom, Goodness, Justiceand Clemency. He is indeed the Father of his People who love and fearhim as such; under his auspicious Reign we enjoy all the Happiness aNation can enjoy: We have Religion and Liberty, Wealth, Trade, Peace, and the greatest Plenty at home; we are loved by our Friends, dreadedby our Enemies, and in the utmost Reputation abroad; so that in hisMajesty's Reign and under the present Administration we have nothingso much to desire as the Continuance of both, being the Source underGod, whence all our Felicity flows. 

But whatever the Doctor deserves, 'tis given out that he has been somuch upon his Guard, that no Forms of Law can touch him; in this, Sir, I beg Leave to differ from his Abbettors; for as I take it, that Pointhas been settled for some Time; and seems by the geral Consent, theDetermination has met with, to be rightly settled. So that hisimaginary Cautions would be in vain; 'twas the Opinion of a latelearned Chief Justice of the King's Bench, that the universal Notionof the People in these Cases, notwithstanding the artful Disguises ofan Author, ought much to influence the Determinations of a Jury; foras he very judiciously added; how absurd was it to imagine that allthe World should understand his Meaning but just that particular Judgeand Jury, by whom he was to be try'd; thus far his Lordship. Besides, I conceive it, Sir, the Peoples Judgment ought to be regarded; or anill designing Man may do much harm, with great Impunity: If in Orderto it, he should pretend only to amuse, and deliver himself inobstruse Terms, such as may naturally enough be apply'd to theDisadvantage of the Publick, and are so apply'd; surely in this Casehe ought to be punish'd for the Detriment that ensues and for notspeaking the Truth, if he meant the Truth, in plain Terms. 

But leaving this Point to those who are more capable to determine it;I go forward: The Doctor divests himself of the Gentleman andChristian entirely; and in their stead assumes, or if my Instructionsare right, I should rather have said, discloses the reverse to themboth; a Character too gross to be describ'd here and is betterconceiv'd than express'd; he makes a Collection of all the meanest, basest, Terms the Rabble use in their Contests with one another in theStreets, and these he discharges without any other Distinction thanonly, that they who are Persons of the greatest Worth and Desert areloaded with the greatest Number of 'em. 

He spares neither Age or Sex, neither the Living or the Dead; neitherthe Rich, the Great, or the Good; the best of Characters is no Fence, the Innocent are the least secure; even his Majesty's Person is notsacred, the Royal Blood affords no Protection here; he equallyendeavours to bring into Contempt with the People, his Majesty, theRoyal Family, and the Ministry. 

The next great Attack, as all People understand it, is no less thanupon a _British_ Parliament; this August Assembly, the Wisest, theNoblest, the most Awful in the World, he treats with Words of theutmost Scurrility, with _Billingsgate_ Terms of the lowest Sort; thisBody of the best Gentlemen in the Kingdom he calls Pedlars, Pickpockets, Highway-men, and Bullies; Words never spoke of a_British_ Parliament before, and 'twould be a National Reproach theyshould now pass unpunished: This is beyond all Bounds; who that are_English_ Men can with Temper think of such an Insult upon the Body oftheir Representatives; the Centre of the National Power; the greatPreserver of our Laws, Religion and Liberties, and of all, that as Menand Christians we ought to hold dear and valuable. 

I wish I could keep in better Terms with my old Companion, myInclination's good t'wards it, but notwithstanding that, and all myResolutions, I find it impracticable; his Conduct is so enormouslybad, 'tis insufferable; humane Nature must be worse than he hasrepresented it, and I never saw it look so ghastly before, to bearwith him. 

All that have read these Travels must be convinc'd I do the Doctor noInjustice by my Assertions: His Method of forming his Characters seemsto be new, it looks as if he first drew up a Set of ill Names andreproachful Epithets, and then apply'd them as he thought proper, without regarding at all, whether the Persons they were so apply'd to, deserv'd such Treatment or not; and in this, tho' the concurrentTestimony of Thousands or Millions was against him, it seems to havesignify'd nothing; tho' daily Experience and universal Consent prov'dthe contrary, they appear to have been of no Weight with the Doctor;he knew very well t'would sufficiently answer his End if by boldly androundly asserting whatever he thought proper, and sticking at noMethod of Defamation he should make the whole appear plausible andgain Adherents; and therefore with the utmost Assurance he affirmsthis Woman to be a Whore, that a Bawd, this Man a Pimp, that a Pathicktho' neither of them ever gave any Reason to be thought such, or wereever thought such, before. 

Whether the Doctor would like to be serv'd thus himself let the Worlddetermine, and that they may the better do it I shall give them oneInstance, using almost the Doctor's own Words, and applying them tohimself as thus; Doctor COPPER-FARTHING, was by Pimping, Swearing, For-swearing, Flattering, Suborning, Forging, Gaming, Lying, Fawning, Hectoring, Voting, Scribling, Whoring, Canting, Libeling, Free-thinking, endeavouring to ruin the _British_ Constitution, setaside the _Hanover_ Succession, and bring in a Popish Pretender; byprostituting his Wife, his Sister, his Daughter, advanced to be aDEAN: Now, Sir, this Character being form'd, as I observ'd, before Ihad concluded who to bestow it on, I am oblig'd to make some littleAlteration, and to do the Doctor no injustice, I take away that wholeSentence, _by Prostituting his Wife_, _his Sister_, _his Daughter_;because being well assur'd he never had any of his own; if such havebeen used so by him they must have belong'd to other People: If I hadnot pitch'd upon the Doctor you can't but be sensible, like him, Icould have made this Character have serv'd with some small Curtailingsor Additions an Admiral, a General, a Bishop, a Minister of State, orany other Person I had a mind to be angry with, and was I set uponabusing an hundred of each, by the Power of Transformation, t'would besufficient for them all. 

Don't look upon this, Sir, as my Invention, I assure you 'tis whollythe Doctor's; may the Reputation of it be all his own: 'Tis thus hetreats the wisest, the greatest Men in this Nation; Nobility, Ladiesand Gentlemen of the best Families and brightest Characters in theKingdom; and his Malice is greatest where Worth and Virtue are mostconspicuous; this of Course must engage him to vent a very largePortion of his Rage against the Family and Person of the greatest Manthis Nation ever produced. But how vain is the Attempt here? Howimpotent, as well as base the Malice? There is no immediate Fenceindeed against an infamous Tongue, and must often be for some Timesubmitted to; but in this Case 'tis otherwise; what the Doctor assertsof this Person and his Family is so universally known to be false, andcondemned as such by the Voice of the whole Nation; that the Doctorhas the Mortification to find his Aspersions here, do not take in theleast. 

With what Indignation must every one that has had the Honour to beadmitted to this _Great Man_, review the Doctor's charging him withbeing morose; and what Contempt must they have of the Doctor'sVeracity, who to satisfy the vilest Passion will thus sacrifice hisJudgment: What a Cloud of Witnesses might I have, if required, to setin Opposition to this single Assertion of the Doctor's, he is indeedthe only Person that ever was known to have thought such a Thing. Thegreat Condescention and Kindness, the good Nature and Complacency withwhich that Person treats all Mankind, render him amiable to all; hehas been so particularly remarkable for this, that as he does the bestthe kindest Things in the most agreeable Way, which inhances theirValue, so when he is obliged from the Nature of a Request to deny it, he so qualifies the Refusal, that the Person concerned is notimmediately sensible of a Disappointment; and from the Excess of hisgood Nature, when convinc'd of the Difficulties and Distresses ofFamilies he'll out of his private Purse remove those Uneasiness's, which he could not in honour have done out of the Nation's Money; andthus Multitudes hourly bless his Name and Family, who subsist by hisBounty alone: He daily feeds the Hungry, cloaths the Naked, deliversthe Prisoner; and what I look upon a thousand Degrees beyond theother, he saves and raises many a Family just sinking into Ruine;delivers them from Infamy, Imprisonment, and Want; which to those thatnever felt either, and have the Appearance of all in View, must beCircumstances more dreadful than 'tis possible can be rightlyconceived of by any, but those who have themselves been in them: Tohelp these has been his peculiar Care. Here's one of the best Acts canbe done by Man in private Life; these Things will, they must, theyought to endear him; I could carry this, if necessary, to an almostboundless Length; was I to trace this great Man thro' every Scene ofprivate Life, you'd find the whole a noble Record, of which this is anEpitome; such as ne'er was exceeded, or perhaps equall'd. 

I look upon what I have hitherto said as necessary to my Undertaking;indulge me now, Sir, in a Digression that seems naturally enough topresent it self, and may be better made here than afterwards; theTransition is easy, from the private, allow me to pass to the publickLife, of the Person I have been speaking: Here I might make a generalChallenge and say; who can charge him with want of Wisdom, Judgment, Knowledge, Integrity, Uprightness, Justice, or Clemency, and a long_&c. _ But this would be but faint to the Latitude I may with Justicetake the other Way: This great Man, is the wise Director of thepublick Affairs; he is the Delight of his Royal Master, and theDarling of the People; he is an Honour to his Nation, adds a Lustre tothe Crown, and is deservedly valued by us and all _Europe_, as ageneral publick Blessing; born for the Good, the Happiness of Mankind;and arrived to a Capacity of serving his Country best, when hisCountry stands most in Need of his Service; and if his Life'scontinued, which may the great God grant, so that he compleat hisDesigns for the Publick Good; _Great Britain_ will undoubtedly be ledto espouse her true Interest; her Commerce will be extended andestablished; and we shall become a more flourishing, united, powerfulPeople, than we are, even at present; and we are now so, in allRespects beyond whatever we were before. 

Might I be allow'd to enter upon his Conduct during the late, andstill critical situation of Affairs in _Europe_, what a noble Scenemight I open; how has the Honour and Interest of the Nation beenpersu'd and maintain'd, notwithstanding all the various Turns inAffairs? How has the Ambition of Princes been baulkt? their Councilsover-rul'd, their Measures broke, and their greatest Designs broughtto nothing by him? How by one Turn of his Hand has he preserv'd thePeace of _Europe_, prevented the Effusion of Blood, and Treasure, keptus from War abroad, from Invasions at home, tho' most apparentlythreaten'd with both? How, in a word, has he, by a Management, peculiar to himself secur'd that Tranquility in _Europe_, which ifbroke in upon, might have cost the Lives of a million of Men, animmense Treasure, and many Years to have restor'd? and all thiswithout any Expence but what is an Advantage to us. How will a futureMinistry become wise from this great Pattern. How easy will it be fora Man to make a Figure at the Head of Affairs when in all Difficultieshe has nothing else to do but to act in Conformity to his Measures?Measures, that have been try'd and found to answer; Measures, that asthey have done, in the like Cases will always do; but I find, Sir, Imust put a Restraint upon my Inclination, or this agreeable Subjectwould run me much beyond the Limits of a Letter; and indeed, it is avery great Restraint I put upon myself to break off without sayingmuch more, for how can an honest true-hearted _Englishman_ bear tohave the Person insulted, who is so much the Cause of his Prosperityand Happiness; whose ONE general intention is the Good of his Country;who is indefatigable in his Endeavours to procure it; who is the Gloryof the present Age, and will be admir'd and imitated while good orgreat Men continue upon Earth. 

I can't conclude without observing to you, Sir, that this Work is sofar a finishing Stroke with the Doctor, that he seems by it to havecompleated his Character: In a former Performance, he levelled hisJests at Almighty God; banter'd and ridiculed Religion and all that'sgood and adorable above: By this, he has abused and insulted those, who are justly valued by us, as the best, the greatest below: How hispresent Conduct may be relished, Time, I say, will best discover; hisformer, had a Resentment attending it, and her late Majesty would notbe prevailed upon to admit him a Prebendary of _Windsor_, notwithstanding very powerful and pressing Instances were made on hisBehalf: Her Majesty was most highly displeased, she would not allowhim to come near her Person; her Majesty said, she had been but toocredibly informed of the Immorality of his Life; and as for hisWritings, she knew them to be profane and impious; that he was theScandal of his Cloth, a Reproach to Religion; and therefore she couldnot in Conscience give him any Preferment in the Church. This Answerruffled the Doctor, and made his Friends uneasy; however, they setdown with it for the present, and gave over their Sollicitations; butthe Doctor having been the Minion of a great Minister, and deeplyengaged in the dirty Work of the Day, his Patron thought himselfobliged to take Care of him; and upon a D----y in _Ireland_ becomingvacant, he prevailed with the Queen to grant it him; which herMajesty did not at last without much Reluctancy; nor would have doneit at all, as 'twas then thought, but to remove the Doctor furtherfrom her, and get rid of the Sollicitations, upon his Account, thatwere become very uneasy to her. 

One might have imagined, that when the Doctor had got thus into snug, warm Quarters, he would have been easy; and at least not have flown inthe Face, and broke out, as it were, into open Acts of Hostility withthose by whom he is protected and defended there; those that secure tohim all the Happiness, that Ease, Indolence, and Fulness can furnishout to him: What Pretence has he more than any other Man, to aThousand a Year for doing nothing, or little more than struttingbehind a Verger, and Lording it ever Men honester, and more deserving, than himself, and yet can't he be contented? How scandalous wou'dConduct like this be in a Soldier; was an Officer, one that eats hisMajesty's Bread, and wears his Cloth, to behave thus, what would hedeserve? I ought, indeed, to offer some Apology for only making theSupposition; the Comparison won't hold, 'tis not just; the Officersare all Men of Honour, they not only abhor all such Conduct, but theylook upon it their Duty, in which they are certainly right, to dowhatever is in their Power for promoting the Honour and Interest oftheir Royal Master, and those intrusted by him with theAdministration; and for furthering their Reputation and Welfare: Thisought, indeed, to be the Temper of the Doctor; Is he not paid, andwell paid too, to preach up Charity and Benevolence; to teach Peopletheir Duty to the superior Powers; to tell them of their Obligationsto good Governors; to inculcate a Love and a Reverence for these inthe Minds of all; to engage them to Peace and a dutiful Behaviour; ina Word, to fear God and honour the King; and obey those for ConscienceSake who are by his Majesty placed with Authority over them. This isthe Sum of what the Doctor has in Charge, and what he is under themost solemn Obligations to comply with. Only a bear Neglect of theseThings would be sufficiently Criminal; what then must the Man deserve, who could be found so hardy, in Breach of his Oath and Honour, to actthe Reverse of all these? And such is the Doctor: He contemns thePower he should revere; he strives to undermine that Government heought to uphold; he endeavours at Reflexions upon those he should havein the highest Honour and Esteem; he is leading People intoDisaffection and Disloyalty who are committed to his Care for rightInformation; he poisons those he is paid to feed; he receives theNation's Money, but sides with its Enemies; with those whose Desiresand constant Endeavours are to enslave and ruin us: What the Doctordeserves is easy to determine; but what he may meet with must be leftto others; I shall but say, a Soldier for Neglect of Duty only, isdiscarded, never fails to meet with Disgrace, and often Death; here iswhat's much worse than the utmost such a Charge can amount to; thatthe Cloth should make such a Difference that he who ought to have theseverest Treatment, finds the most favourable is no great Encomiumupon our national Justice. 

I cannot but be a little surpris'd at the impolitick Method of theDoctor's proceeding; who should attack Mankind in a Way he is himselfthe most to be exposed in of almost any Man breathing; I have givenyou a small Sketch of it here, Sir; but no further than was absolutelynecessary; if I find it requisite you may hereafter expect from me afull and true Account of the Doctor's Life, and Conversation forupwards of thirty Years past; which will disclose such Scenes that allMankind must look upon it a Piece of great Assurance in the Doctor tooffer at the private characters of others, when his own has been sovery defective. 

I shall trespass no longer upon your Patience, than to do myself theHonour to assure you, and all the World, that I am, _Sir, Your most obedient, _

 _Devoted humble Servant_, &c:

_Dec. 7. 1726. _

 WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES

THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY

PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT

THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY

PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT

1948-1949

16. Henry Nevil Payne, _The Fatal Jealousie_ (1673). 

18. Anonymous, "Of Genius, " in _The Occasional Paper_, Vol. III, No. 10 (1719), and Aaron Hill, Preface to _The Creation_ (1720). 

1949-1950

19. Susanna Centlivre, _The Busie Body_ (1709). 

20. Lewis Theobald, _Preface to the Works of Shakespeare_ (1734). 

22. Samuel Johnson, _The Vanity of Human Wishes_ (1749), and two _Rambler_ papers (1750). 

23. John Dryden, _His Majesties Declaration Defended_ (1681). 

1950-1951

26. Charles Macklin, _The Man of the World_ (1792). 

1951-1952

31. Thomas Gray, _An Elegy Wrote in a Country Churchyard_ (1751), and _The Eton College Manuscript_. 

1952-1953

41. Bernard Mandeville, _A Letter to Dion_ (1732). 

1963-1964

104. Thomas D'Urfey, _Wonders in the Sun; or, The Kingdom of the Birds_ (1706). 

1964-1965

110. John Tutchin, _Selected Poems_ (1685-1700). 

111. Anonymous, _Political Justice_ (1736). 

112. Robert Dodsley, _An Essay on Fable_ (1764). 

113. T. R. , _An Essay Concerning Critical and Curious Learning_ (1698). 

114. _Two Poems Against Pope_: Leonard Welsted, _One Epistle to Mr. A. Pope_ (1730), and Anonymous, _The Blatant Beast_ (1742). 

1965-1966

115. Daniel Defoe and others. _Accounts of the Apparition of Mrs. Veal. _

116. Charles Macklin, _The Covent Garden Theatre_ (1752). 

117. Sir George L'Estrange, _Citt and Bumpkin_ (1680). 

118. Henry More, _Enthusiasmus Triumphatus_ (1662). 

119. Thomas Traherne, _Meditations on the Six Days of the Creation_ (1717). 

120. Bernard Mandeville, _Aesop Dress'd or a Collection of Fables_ (1704). 

1966-1967

123. Edmond Malone, _Cursory Observations on the Poems Attributed to Mr. Thomas Rowley_ (1782). 

124. Anonymous, _The Female Wits_ (1704). 

125. Anonymous, _The Scribleriad_ (1742). Lord Hervey, _The Difference Between Verbal and Practical Virtue_ (1742). 

1967-1968

129. Lawrence Echard, Prefaces to _Terence's Comedies_ (1694) and _Plautus's Comedies_ (1694). 

130. Henry More, _Democritus Platonissans_ (1646). 

132. Walter Harte, _An Essay on Satire, Particularly on the Dunciad_ (1730). 

1968-1969

133. John Courtenay, _A Poetical Review of the Literary and Moral Character of the Late Samuel Johnson_ (1786). 

134. John Downes, _Roscius Anglicanus_ (1708). 

135. Sir John Hill, _Hypochondriasis, a Practical Treatise_ (1766). 

136. Thomas Sheridan, _Discourse . . . Being Introductory to His Course of Lectures on Elocution and the English Language_ (1759). 

137. Arthur Murphy, _The Englishman From Paris_ (1736). 

138. [Catherine Trotter], _Olinda's Adventures_ (1718). 

Publications of the first fifteen years of the Society (numbers 1-90)are available in paperbound units of six issues at $16. 00 per unit, from the Kraus Reprint Company, 16 East 46th Street, New York, N. Y. 10017. 

Publications in print are available at the regular membership rate of$5. 00 yearly. Prices of single issues may be obtained upon request. Subsequent publications may be checked in the annual prospectus. 

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 WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY

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The Society's purpose is to publish rare Restoration andeighteenth-century works (usually as facsimile reproductions). Allincome of the Society is devoted to defraying costs of publication andmailing. 

Correspondence concerning memberships in the United States and Canadashould be addressed to the Corresponding Secretary at the WilliamAndrews Clark Memorial Library, 2520 Cimarron Street, Los Angeles, California. Correspondence concerning editorial matters may beaddressed to the General Editors at the same address. Manuscripts ofintroductions should conform to the recommendations of the MLA _StyleSheet_. The membership fee is $5. 00 a year in the United States andCanada and £1. 19. 6 in Great Britain and Europe. British and Europeanprospective members should address B. H. Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England. Copies of back issues in print may be obtained fromthe Corresponding Secretary. 

Publications of the first fifteen years of the Society (numbers 1-90)are available in paperbound units of six issues at $16. 00 per unit, from the Kraus Reprint Company, 16 East 46th Street, New York, N. Y. 10017. 

Make check or money order payable to THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OFCALIFORNIA

REGULAR PUBLICATIONS FOR 1969-1970

139. John Ogilvie, _An Essay on the lyric poetry of the ancients_ (1762). Introduction by Wallace Jackson. 

140. _A Learned Dissertation on Dumpling_ (1726) and _Pudding burnt to pot or a compleat key to the Dissertation on Dumpling_ (1727). Introduction by Samuel L. Macey. 

141. Selections from Sir Roger L'Estrange's _Observator_ (1681-1687). Introduction by Violet Jordain. 

142. Anthony Collins, _A Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony in writing_ (1729). Introduction by Edward A. Bloom and Lillian D. Bloom. 

143. _A Letter from a clergyman to his friend, with an account of the travels of Captain Lemuel Gulliver_ (1726). Introduction by Martin Kallich. 

144. _The Art of Architecture, a poem. In imitation of Horace's Art of poetry_ (1742). Introduction by William A. Gibson. 

SPECIAL PUBLICATION FOR 1969-1970

Gerard Langbaine, _An Account of the English Dramatick Poets_ (1691), Introduction by John Loftis. 2 Volumes. Approximately 600 pages. Price to members of the Society, $7. 00 for the first copy (both volumes), and $8. 50 for additional copies. Price to non-members, $10. 00. 

Already published in this series:

1. John Ogilby, _The Fables of Aesop Paraphras'd in Verse_ (1668), with an Introduction by Earl Miner. 228 pages. 

2. John Gay, _Fables_ (1727, 1738), with an Introduction by Vinton A. Dearing. 366 pages. 

3. _The Empress of Morocco and Its Critics_ (Elkanah Settle, _The Empress of Morocco_ [1673] with five plates; _Notes and Observations on the Empress of Morocco_ [1674] by John Dryden, John Crowne and Thomas Snadwell; _Notes and Observations on the Empress of Morocco Revised_ [1674] by Elkanah Settle; and _The Empress of Morocco. A Farce_ [1674] by Thomas Duffett), with an Introduction by Maximillian E. Novak. 348 pages. 

4. _After THE TEMPEST_ (the Dryden-Davenant version of _The Tempest_ [1670]; the "operatic" _Tempest_ [1674]; Thomas Duffett's _Mock-Tempest_ [1675]; and the "Garrick" _Tempest_ [1756]), with an Introduction by George Robert Guffey. 332 pages. 

Price to members of the Society, $3. 50 for the first copy of eachtitle, and $4. 25 for additional copies. Price to non-members, $5. 00. Standing orders for this continuing series of Special Publicationswill be accepted. British and European orders should be addressed toB. H. Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England. 

Transcriber's Notes:

 Passages in italics indicated by underscore _italics_. 

 Long "s" has been modernized. 

 Misprint "and and" corrected to "and" (page 9). 

 Misprint "equall d" corrected to "equall'd" (page 16). 

 Extra line spacing in the Introduction is intentional to represent both the end of the quote and the beginning of a new paragraph.