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Title: A Letter From a Clergyman to his Friend,
with an Account of the Travels of Captain Lemuel Gulliver
Author: Anonymous
Editor: Martin Kallich
Release Date: June 21, 2009 [EBook #29189]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTER FROM A CLERGYMAN ***
Produced by Chris Curnow, Stephanie Eason, Joseph Cooper
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
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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 contemporary
reception of _Gulliver's Travels_ exhibit two sides of Jonathan
Swift's character--the pleasant (that is, merry, witty, amusing) and
the unpleasant (that is, sarcastic, envious, disaffected). A person
with a powerful ego and astringent sense of humor, Swift must have
been a delightful friend, if somewhat difficult, but also a dangerous
enemy. _A Letter from a Clergyman_ (1726), here reproduced in a
facsimile of its first and only edition, is a reaction typical of
those who regard Swift and the sharp edge of his satire with great
suspicion and revulsion. It displays the dangerously Satanic aspect of
Swift--that side of his character which for some people represented
the whole man since the allegedly blasphemous satire in _A Tale of a
Tub_, published and misunderstood early in his career, critically
affected, even by his own admission, his employment in the Church. It
is this evil character of the author, the priest with an indecorous
and politically suspect humor, that offended some contemporary
readers. To them, the engraved frontispiece of Jonathan Smedley's
scurrilous _Gulliveriana_ (1728) is the proper image of the author of
the _Travels_. It portrays Swift in a priest's vestments that barely
conceal a cloven hoof.
In the following pages, we shall define the historical context of the
clergyman's _Letter_ and illuminate the nature of the literary warfare
in which Swift was an energetic if not particularly cheerful
antagonist when _Gulliver's Travels_ was published late in 1726.
In another letter, Gay remarked to Swift (17 November 1726) that "The
Politicians to a man agree, that it [the _Travels_] is free from
particular reflections"; nevertheless some "people of greater
perspicuity" would "search for particular applications in every
leaf." He also predicted that "we shall have keys publish'd to give
light into Gulliver's design." His prediction was correct, for it was
not long before four _Keys_, the earliest commentary in pamphlet form
on the _Travels_, were published by a Signor Corolini, undoubtedly a
pseudonym for Edmund Curll, the London printer and bookseller. But
surprisingly, the observations do not exhibit Swift in a harsh
factional light. As a matter of fact, in his introduction to the
_Keys_, which are entitled _Lemuel Gulliver's Travels into Several
Remote Nations of the World. Compendiously Methodized, For Publick
Benefit: With Observations and Explanatory Notes Throughout_ (1726),
Curll flatters Swift as possessing "the true Vein of Humour and polite
Conversation" (I, 4). Regarding the _Travels_, he observes, "The Town
are infinitely more eager after them than they were after _Robinson
Crusoe_" (I, 5).
In general, the _Keys_ are pleasantly written, including no nasty
innuendoes critical of Swift's high-church sectarian zeal or his
high-flying Tory political sympathies. They may be considered a
frankly commercial venture meant to exploit the popularity of the
_Travels_. Curll merely summarizes the narratives, occasionally
providing substantial extracts or sprinkling explanatory comments on
some allusions that attract him. Some of the annotations are
ridiculous, 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 with
inflated South Sea stock (II, 4). Some remarks, however, appear
convincing, such as his belief that "the _trifling Transactions_ of
the present _English Royal Society_" on insects and fossils are
"finely rallied" (II, 11-12). Curll also notes about the third voyage
that "besides the political Allegory, Mr. _Gulliver_ has many shrewd
Remarks upon Men and Books, Sects, Parties, and Opinions" (III,
10-11). Concerning the fourth, he equates the good Portuguese Captain
Don Pedro with the Dean's "good Friend the Earl of _P[eterboroug]h_"
(IV, 26). The Roman Catholic Peterborough, we recall, fought in Spain
and was also Pope's good friend.
Other more suggestive comments on Swift's political meaning may be
cited. For example, the "_ancient Temple_" in which Gulliver is housed
in Lilliput, a structure "_polluted ... by an unnatural Murder_," he
identifies as "the _Banquetting-House_ at _White-Hall_, before which
Structure, King CHARLES I was Beheaded" (I, 7-8). This allusion to
"the _Royal-Martyr_" (III, 32) may be considered a modest clue to
Swift's Toryism, and it is associated with the Jacobitism of which his
Whiggish enemies accused him. Yet an unusual reading of the
Struldbruggs in the third voyage (particularly the controls imposed on
the senile creatures in order to prevent their engrossing the civil
power) as an attack on the religious dissenters demonstrates that
Curll and Swift agreed on the issue of an established church. The
clergy who wished to separate state from church, or as Curll describes
the 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 those
which suggest that a religious reading of the _Travels_ was by no
means unappreciated by Swift's contemporaries. Thus, again, besides
his unusual politico-religious comment on the Struldbruggs, Curll is
fairly sharp in his annotation of the passage on religious differences
in Chapter V of the fourth voyage, concerning "_Transubstantiation_ as
believed by the _Papists_," "Cathedral-worship," kissing the Crucifix,
vestments,--and resulting furious religious wars (IV, 12-13). All in
all, however, the _Keys_ are singularly shallow and agreeably bland.
Curll simply agrees with Gulliver-Swift, and reinforces the meaning by
practically repeating the text, as he does at this point when
deploring inessential differences in ritual as needless causes of
cruel conflict. Although Curll was aware of the presence of politics
and religion in Swift's allegories, his annotations do not reflect
unfavorably on Swift's character.
But it was not long before an attack on Swift was mounted. It began
with _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_
(1726)--the first substantial attack on Swift resulting from the
publication of his most celebrated work. The identity of the author is
unknown. Steele, Swift's implacable political enemy, had retired to
the country at this time and was soon to die. Because of the numerous
references to Swift's treacherous disloyalty to Steele's friendship,
we could speculate on a connection between the anonymous author and
Steele and infer that it was a friendly relationship.
The long and breathless title underlines the malicious content of this
polemical pamphlet, a pungent libel on Swift's character that includes
cutting observations on Swift's chief fiction as well. Obviously, the
author's intent is to vilify Swift in retaliation for attacks on the
writer's friends. Inspired by the publication of the _Travels_, he
presents a crudely defamatory "Character of the Author." He claims an
acquaintance with Swift "in publick and private Life" (p. 4) but
offers no evidence to substantiate this claim. Drawing from common
knowledge, he simply cites the well-known negative evidence of _A Tale
of a Tub_, in which Swift, he indignantly asserts like Swift's former
enemy William Wotton, "levelled his Jests at Almighty God; banter'd
and ridiculed Religion," thereby offending Queen Anne and blocking his
own church preferment (p. 19). Except for "some gross Words, and lewd
Descriptions, and had the Inventor's Intention been innocent" (p. 6
[note the suspicion of Swift's political and religious bias]), the
author is mildly pleased with the first three voyages. But he finds
intolerable the satire on human nature in the last, here echoing
Addison'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 angrily
declares, tinctured by his poisonous malice and envy, the result of
twelve years of exile. He is positive of the identity of the vicious
person 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 Church
Establishment" (pp. 14, 8-9). Thereupon, he furiously threatens Swift
with punishment for his pernicious attack on the government, that is,
the present political administration. Clearly motivated by
politico-religious fears, this Whig militantly defends not only the
Protestant succession but also the ministry of Sir Robert
Walpole--which the numerous allusions to the "_Great Man_" and "the
greatest Man this Nation ever produced" (p. 15) confirm. Swift's mean
character of Flimnap, the Lilliputian Prime Minister, stung badly:
"With what Indignation must every one that has had the Honour to be
admitted to this _Great Man_, review the Doctor's charging him with
being morose" (p. 15). He counters Swift's insulting reduction of the
Great Man to a petty little man with an egregiously fulsome panegyric
that magnifies the virtues of Sir Robert's public and private
character, and concludes with abuse of Swift's character as an Irish
dean disaffected from the government--hence deserving of permanent
exile in Ireland.[1]
The author of the fiery _Letter_ focuses on Swift's impiety--pointing
to his wickedness, the sneering tone of his sacrilegious satire, his
indiscreet joking about religion, all of which Swift's enemies were
quick to emphasize as the outstanding features of _A Tale of a Tub_,
as well as portions of the _Travels_. For example, even Gay, in the
letter to Swift quoted above (17 November 1726) also noted that those
"who frequent the Church, say his [Gulliver's] design is impious, and
that it is an insult on Providence, by depreciating the works of the
Creator,"--a line of attack soon to be pursued by Edward Young, James
Beattie, and others who were not in the least charmed by Swift's
satire. But Swift's friends were not idle; for it was precisely this
bitter onslaught on Swift's religion in the _Letter_ that brought
another writer to the defense in the ironically entitled _Gulliver
Decypher'd: or Remarks on a Late Book, Intitled, Travels Into Several
Remote Nations of the World, Vindicating the Reverend Dean on Whom it
is Maliciously Father'd, With Some Conjectures Concerning the Real
Author_ (1726).[2]
This writer, probably John Arbuthnot, may be considered one of the
earliest defenders of the religious orthodoxy of the _Travels_. He
extracts passages from Swift's work, such as the Lilliputian quarrel
over breaking eggs, the satire on corrupt bishops, and the affirmation
of the principle of limited toleration for religious dissent in
Brobdingnag as evidences of his belief, presented ironically, that
"the Reverend Dean" could not possibly have fathered the work because
the author of the _Travels_ did not have religious ideals in mind. One
of the passages that this defender cites demonstrates that only a
person like the religious dean could have made this observation about
the concern for religious instruction by the Lilliputians before their
fall 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 good
and true, he makes the dean himself the target of a playful bit of
raillery, a type of irony for which Swift and Arbuthnot were both
notorious:
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 of
his narrative to vent disappointment at his failure to receive the
church preferment he thought he deserved and to carry on his personal
vendetta against obstructive bishops like the "crazy Prelate" Sharpe,
Archbishop of York, one of the detestable and "dull Divines" pilloried
in 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 the
established Anglican Church as a vested interest, which in the
_Travels_ is expressed through the giant king's strictures against
civil liberty for religious dissenters (II, vi). He recommends this
passage as a proper explanation of the principle restricting the civil
liberty of potentially subversive dissidents, adding, furthermore,
that "the Sectaries" themselves were "averse to all the Modes" of
religion and opposed religious diversity.[5]
All these remarks figured prominently in what may be considered the
earliest debate on the religious meaning of the _Travels_. Certainly,
some contemporary readers of Swift's major work were not insensitive
to its religious significance, as even the commentary on the religious
instruction of the upper classes--a relatively minor part of the
satire which twentieth-century readers would easily overlook, as well
as the more serious observations on the Endian dispute between
Catholics and Protestants over the Eucharist demonstrate. Yet like all
the early critics of the _Travels_, this author has nothing to say
about this episode of central importance in the narrative about
Lilliput, the reason probably being that its meaning was taken for
granted by the Protestants of Swift's England. Thus the author of
_Gulliver Decypher'd_ merely says the obvious: "The Reflections that
will 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 say
nothing in his _Letter_ about the heart of the Lilliputian
narrative--the profound allegory on the religious wars over the
Eucharist and the serious issues raised by Swift. No doubt, however,
he probably read Swift's interpretation of Gulliver's role in this
conflict as a Tory version of history, and resented it accordingly.
That is, like the Whigs of the day, he would object to an easy peace
for Catholic France and would conclude that the Treaty of Utrecht
concluding the War of the Spanish Succession, was not sufficiently
punitive.
Among the works that capitalized on the popularity of the _Travels_
were the imitative _Memoirs of Lilliput_ (1727) and _A Voyage to
Cacklogallinia_ (1727). The author of the _Memoirs_ emphasizes the
evil character of the Lilliputians, particularly their lecherous
clergy, and concludes with an account of the sufferings of Big-Endian
exiles and extensive observations on the dangers of political
factionalism. But he is most attracted by prurient sexual adventures.
A vulgar work obviously meant to appeal to a neurotic taste for
sexuality, it includes no attack on Swift as it explores at length
some topics to which Gulliver in his memoirs only tangentially
alludes. The second abortive effort, an animal satire of exotic
talking fowl, also resembles Swift's satire as it touches on several
similar topics--the hypocrisy of the people, the scepticism of their
nobility, the love of luxury of the higher clergy--but again because
it includes no comment on Swift's personal or public character, it is
not relevant to a discussion of the angry _Letter from a Clergyman_.
We can therefore pass quickly from these two works to perhaps the
best, in the sense of the most stinging and most comprehensive,
assault on Swift at the time of the publication of his _Travels_, that
entitled _Gulliveriana_ (1728), by the Irish Dean of Clogher, Jonathan
Smedley.
"That rascall Smedley," about whom Swift once wrote in vexation (to
Archdeacon Walls, 19 December 1716), is the very same hack who carried
on the subsidized _Baker's News; or the Whitehall Journal_ (1722-23)
on behalf of Sir Robert Walpole's government. He is also immortalized
in Pope's _Dunciad_ (1728) as "a person dipp'd in scandal, and deeply
immers'd in dirty work" (_Dunciad_ A, II, 279ff; B, II, 291ff). His
_Gulliveriana_ (including the satires on Pope, the _Alexandriana_), a
scurrilous anthology of abuse in the form of jingles, ballads,
parodies in prose, and other satirical essays, was inspired by the
recent publication of the Pope-Swift _Miscellany_. In his preface
Smedley indicts Swift for an almost endless series of misdemeanors--for
shifting his allegiance from the Whigs to the Tories; for restricting
his verse to the burlesque style and its groveling doggerel manner;
for failing in eloquence and oratory, theology and mathematics; and
for being a pedant, poetaster, hack-politician, jockey, gardener,
punster, and skilful swearer. In short Smedley insists that Swift is
accomplished in the art of sinking according to the prescription which
he 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 of
Delicacy and Refinement_ which he mentions" (p. xxvii). As for the
recently 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 encourages
him to detect "hints" in the _Travels_ of Swift's "Zeal for High
Church 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 _A
Tale of a Tub_, _Against Abolishing Christianity_, and _Gulliver's
Travels_. The comprehensiveness of abuse is demonstrated in the nasty
Gulliverian allegory, in which Swift is accused of being an ignorant,
hypocritical, atheistical Irishman, high-flying Tory, and Jacobite
Papist. Even Swift's sex life--his relationship with Stella and
Vanessa--is made ugly (pp. 1-10). Indeed, Smedley believes that it is
his 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 the
Cathedral Door, the Day of Dean Gulliver's Installment," which begins
with 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 of
the Whigs, his atheism, high-church sympathies, and sacrilegious humor
(pp. 77-79).
In almost every conceivable literary style Smedley takes exception to
Swift's divinity and politics and attempts to blacken Swift's
character. As we should expect, differences over politics and religion
were determining causes. Thus Smedley adores the outstanding literary
Whig Addison, contrasting the polish and beauty of Addison's style
with Swift's failures, ugliness, ineptitude, vulgarity, intolerable
filthiness. Likewise, following the author of the _Letter_, he writes
favorably of Steele, castigating Swift for his treacherous betrayal of
Steele's friendship. But his catalogue of Swift's vices is far more
intriguing than that of our clergyman, his gossip far more detailed
and malicious. Clearly, Swift could not possibly do anything to please
some of his readers. If their hostile reactions have any meaning, they
prove that Swift's political connections and high-church sympathies
prevented many of his contemporaries from responding to the virtues of
_Gulliver's Travels_; and that, on the contrary, his chief work was
tapped for evidence of the author's suspected impiety and partisan
politics.
That this hostility persisted far into the eighteenth century may be
seen in the illuminating anecdote told in the 1780's by Horace
Walpole, son of the "Great Man" so glowingly praised in the _Letter
from 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 satire
on the "Great Man," _The Beggar's Opera_ (1728), and continues his
offensive against Sir Robert Walpole. Here it may be mentioned that in
his apology for the irony used by persecuted dissenters, Anthony
Collins [_A Discourse Concerning Ridicule and Irony_ (1729)] remarks
that "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_." Collins
interprets the effect of Swift's wit on his church career as follows:
"And his Usefulness in _Drollery_ and _Ridicule_ was deem'd sufficient
by the _Pious_ Queen _Anne_, and her _pious Ministry_, to intitle him
to a Church Preferment of several hundred Pounds _per Ann._ ...
notwithstanding [the objections of] a _fanatick High-Churchman_, who
weakly thought _Seriousness_ in Religion of more use to High-Church
than _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 Bibliography
of the Writings of Jonathan Swift_ (Philadelphia, 1963), No. 1216,
consider it an uncomplimentary attack on Swift and his friends--but
mistakenly, I believe. Lester M. Beattie, _John Arbuthnot:
Mathematician and Satirist_ (Cambridge, Mass., 1935), p. 311,
unqualifiedly rejects Arbuthnot's authorship of this work. But a
correspondent 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 in
Arbuthnot'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 slanders
against Swift, even using some of the same words like "Trifling and
Grimace"--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 "the
Dignity of human Nature" (_The Arts of Logick and Rhetorick_ [London,
1728], pp. 416-418).
[8] John Pinkerton, _Walpoliana_ (London, n.d.), I, 126-127. For
additional typical evidences of Horace Walpole's antipathy, see his
angry assaults on Swift's insolence, arrogance, vanity, and hypocrisy
(including sexuality), in his letters to Montagu, 20 June 1766 and to
Horace Mann, 13 January 1780; and a remark in his _Anecdotes of
Painting, Works_ (London, 1798), III, 438.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
This facsimile of _A Letter from a Clergyman_ (1726) is reproduced
from 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 am
obliged to acquaint them, that it is my Love of Truth and Justice,
enforc'd by my Inclination to please my Friend; the Motive, all will
undoubtedly 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, for
my proceeding thus, as the Former. Your Desires, Sir, shall always be
comply'd with by me to the utmost of my Power; I ever have, and ever
shall look upon your Requests as Commands; and as such esteem them my
Honour.
'Tis hardly to be imagined that an Objection will so readily be made
to 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, provided
he does it with Impartiality and Candour, so I shall be regardless
what others say, while I strictly adhere to these Principles, and meet
with your Approbation.
You was pleased to say at our last Conversation, that you look'd upon
me to be rather more capable of giving a just Character of the reputed
Author of these Travels, than most Men in Town, from my having been
Conversant with him in publick and private Life; in his early Days, as
well as since; when he first appear'd in the World; at home and
abroad; in the Camp and Cabinet; a little when he was in Favour, more
since 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 Design
will 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 I
not prove? Which many would recollect as well as my self, and more
would believe: How might I justly turn his Artillery upon himself, and
stifle him with that Filth he has so injuriously loaded others with;
if the greatest Heap that ever was scraped together would stifle him
who is entitled to it all; But I forbear now, and am resolved to do
so, unless oblig'd to break this Determination to preserve, as I
hinted before, the Consistency of my Undertaking.
I began a little to hesitate at my Design, upon being informed, that
the Captain was not here to answer for himself; thinking it something
Dishonourable to attack a Man in this Method that was obliged to
abscond; but when I considered that if these Enormities were not to be
taken notice of, till the Author should venture to come into _Great
Britain_, they might wholly pass with Impunity, my Dilemna was no
more: No, the Captain is certainly gone for Life; he has now taken a
Voyage from whence he never can, never dares return; this he'll find
the longest he ever made, and the last from hence he can make.
Besides when a Performance of this Nature is once publick, I conceive
it 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 peruse
it: Some will undoubtedly approve of the Captain's Production because
'tis scandalous and malicious; others will disapprove of it for the
very same Reasons; for the Tasts of Mankind being as different as
their Constitutions, they must of Consequence be often as opposite as
the most absolute Contraries in Nature: A Knave loves and delights in
Scandal, Detraction, Infamy, in blasting, ruining his Neighbour's
Character, because these are consonant to the Depravity of humane
Nature, and in themselves vile: Upon the very same Account an honest
Man abominates them all, with the utmost Abhorrence of Soul.
Thus having said as much as I think needful by way of Introduction; I
would 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 for
me, into the Spirit and Design of the Author: By the strictest
Examination I've endeavoured to sift every material Passage; and I
persuade my self the Drift of the Author has appear'd plain to me
thro' the whole. From all which I conclude, that had Care been taken
to have adapted them to modest virtuous Minds, by leaving out some
gross Words, and lewd Descriptions, and had the Inventor's Intention
been innocent, the first three Parts of these Travels would
undoubtedly have proved diverting, agreeable, and acceptable to all;
there is a great deal of Wit and more Invention in them; though, as
is pretty usual in so large a Work of this Sort, there are some
unnatural Incidents, and here and there an Inconsistency with it self.
In the fourth Part, which is more than half of the second Volume, the
Author flags, he loses his Vivacity, and in my Opinion, maintains
little of his former Spirit, but the Rancour. This indeed appears most
plentifully in this Part; and the Captain seems so wholly influenced
by it, that he makes a sort of Recapitulation of Invectives he had
vented before; and having receiv'd a fresh supply of Gall, appears
resolv'd to discharge it, though he has no Way than by varying the
Phrase, to express in other Words, the unjust Sentiments he had
disclosed before: In this long tedious Part the Reader loses all that
might have been engaging to him in the three former; the Capacity and
Character given there of Brutes, are so unnatural; and especially the
great Preheminence asserted of them, to the most virtuous and noble of
humane Nature, is so monstrously absurd and unjust, that 'tis with the
utmost Pain a generous Mind must indure the Recital; a Man grows sick
at the shocking Things inserted there; his Gorge rises; he is not able
to conceal his Resentment; and closes the Book with Detestation and
Disappointment.
But to return to the three former Parts, as I have said all I can with
Justice say, on their Behalf; allow me now to shew a little of the
great Malignity, and evil Tendency of their Nature: Here I might be
abundantly prolix, had I not absolutely determined to be otherwise,
the Field is large, the Matter very copious: 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: 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 the
least to say in Excuse for it; the Canker of the Soul, most uneasy to the
Possessor; a Passion not to be gratify'd, not possible of Pleasure;
the peculiar one would imagine of infernal Beings, and much of their
Punishment. ENVY, is ever levell'd at Merit, and superior Excellence;
and the most deserving are, for being such, the properest Objects of
ENVY.
View now, Sir, the Doctor, as I shall henceforward call him; and upon
examination, I fear 'twill be found, that his Conduct too fully
answers the Description of this detestable Passion: I shall be very
plain 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 the
Doctor for his Insolence, I know nothing of; perhaps such snarling may
be thought too low to engage such a Resentment: However this I am
fully persuaded of, that as no good Government ought to be so insulted
and male-treated; so there is no honest Man among us but would
contribute the utmost in his Power to bring the Author, and those
concerned with him to exemplary Punishment, in order to deter others
from the like pernicious Practices for the future.
What can be viler in the Intention? What may be worse in the
Consequence, than an Attempt to interrupt the Harmony and good
Understanding between his Majesty and his Subjects, and to create a
Dislike in the People to those in the Administration; and especially
to endeavour at this, in such a Juncture as the present? what could in
all Probability be the Issue of bringing such Matters to bear, but the
throwing ourselves and all _Europe_ into a Flame? ruining our Credit,
destroying our Trade, beggaring of private Families, setting us a
cutting one another's Throats; by which we should become an easy Prey
to the common Enemy, who would at once subvert our Constitution, the
happiest, the best in the World; destroy our Church Establishment; and
subject us to all the Cruelty and Sufferings the unbounded Lust of
Tyrants, and the insatiable Avarice of Priests could load us with.
'Tis true, praised be Almighty God, and Thanks to the Wisdom of those
in 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 too
sensible of our Happiness to be either banter'd or frightned out of
it; and 'tis therefore with the utmost Indignation all honest Minds,
every True _Englishman_ treats the Persons who would disturb their
Felicity. All are sensible of his Majesty's Wisdom, Goodness, Justice
and Clemency. He is indeed the Father of his People who love and fear
him as such; under his auspicious Reign we enjoy all the Happiness a
Nation can enjoy: We have Religion and Liberty, Wealth, Trade, Peace,
and the greatest Plenty at home; we are loved by our Friends, dreaded
by our Enemies, and in the utmost Reputation abroad; so that in his
Majesty's Reign and under the present Administration we have nothing
so much to desire as the Continuance of both, being the Source under
God, whence all our Felicity flows.
But whatever the Doctor deserves, 'tis given out that he has been so
much 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 Point
has been settled for some Time; and seems by the geral Consent, the
Determination has met with, to be rightly settled. So that his
imaginary Cautions would be in vain; 'twas the Opinion of a late
learned Chief Justice of the King's Bench, that the universal Notion
of the People in these Cases, notwithstanding the artful Disguises of
an Author, ought much to influence the Determinations of a Jury; for
as he very judiciously added; how absurd was it to imagine that all
the World should understand his Meaning but just that particular Judge
and 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 an
ill designing Man may do much harm, with great Impunity: If in Order
to it, he should pretend only to amuse, and deliver himself in
obstruse Terms, such as may naturally enough be apply'd to the
Disadvantage of the Publick, and are so apply'd; surely in this Case
he ought to be punish'd for the Detriment that ensues and for not
speaking 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 and
Christian entirely; and in their stead assumes, or if my Instructions
are right, I should rather have said, discloses the reverse to them
both; a Character too gross to be describ'd here and is better
conceiv'd than express'd; he makes a Collection of all the meanest,
basest, Terms the Rabble use in their Contests with one another in the
Streets, and these he discharges without any other Distinction than
only, that they who are Persons of the greatest Worth and Desert are
loaded with the greatest Number of 'em.
He spares neither Age or Sex, neither the Living or the Dead; neither
the 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 not
sacred, the Royal Blood affords no Protection here; he equally
endeavours to bring into Contempt with the People, his Majesty, the
Royal Family, and the Ministry.
The next great Attack, as all People understand it, is no less than
upon a _British_ Parliament; this August Assembly, the Wisest, the
Noblest, the most Awful in the World, he treats with Words of the
utmost Scurrility, with _Billingsgate_ Terms of the lowest Sort; this
Body 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 they
should now pass unpunished: This is beyond all Bounds; who that are
_English_ Men can with Temper think of such an Insult upon the Body of
their Representatives; the Centre of the National Power; the great
Preserver of our Laws, Religion and Liberties, and of all, that as Men
and Christians we ought to hold dear and valuable.
I wish I could keep in better Terms with my old Companion, my
Inclination's good t'wards it, but notwithstanding that, and all my
Resolutions, I find it impracticable; his Conduct is so enormously
bad, 'tis insufferable; humane Nature must be worse than he has
represented it, and I never saw it look so ghastly before, to bear
with him.
All that have read these Travels must be convinc'd I do the Doctor no
Injustice by my Assertions: His Method of forming his Characters seems
to be new, it looks as if he first drew up a Set of ill Names and
reproachful 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 concurrent
Testimony of Thousands or Millions was against him, it seems to have
signify'd nothing; tho' daily Experience and universal Consent prov'd
the 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 and
roundly asserting whatever he thought proper, and sticking at no
Method of Defamation he should make the whole appear plausible and
gain Adherents; and therefore with the utmost Assurance he affirms
this Woman to be a Whore, that a Bawd, this Man a Pimp, that a Pathick
tho' neither of them ever gave any Reason to be thought such, or were
ever thought such, before.
Whether the Doctor would like to be serv'd thus himself let the World
determine, and that they may the better do it I shall give them one
Instance, using almost the Doctor's own Words, and applying them to
himself 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, set
aside the _Hanover_ Succession, and bring in a Popish Pretender; by
prostituting his Wife, his Sister, his Daughter, advanced to be a
DEAN: Now, Sir, this Character being form'd, as I observ'd, before I
had concluded who to bestow it on, I am oblig'd to make some little
Alteration, and to do the Doctor no injustice, I take away that whole
Sentence, _by Prostituting his Wife_, _his Sister_, _his Daughter_;
because being well assur'd he never had any of his own; if such have
been used so by him they must have belong'd to other People: If I had
not pitch'd upon the Doctor you can't but be sensible, like him, I
could have made this Character have serv'd with some small Curtailings
or Additions an Admiral, a General, a Bishop, a Minister of State, or
any other Person I had a mind to be angry with, and was I set upon
abusing an hundred of each, by the Power of Transformation, t'would be
sufficient for them all.
Don't look upon this, Sir, as my Invention, I assure you 'tis wholly
the Doctor's; may the Reputation of it be all his own: 'Tis thus he
treats the wisest, the greatest Men in this Nation; Nobility, Ladies
and Gentlemen of the best Families and brightest Characters in the
Kingdom; and his Malice is greatest where Worth and Virtue are most
conspicuous; this of Course must engage him to vent a very large
Portion of his Rage against the Family and Person of the greatest Man
this Nation ever produced. But how vain is the Attempt here? How
impotent, as well as base the Malice? There is no immediate Fence
indeed against an infamous Tongue, and must often be for some Time
submitted to; but in this Case 'tis otherwise; what the Doctor asserts
of this Person and his Family is so universally known to be false, and
condemned as such by the Voice of the whole Nation; that the Doctor
has the Mortification to find his Aspersions here, do not take in the
least.
With what Indignation must every one that has had the Honour to be
admitted to this _Great Man_, review the Doctor's charging him with
being morose; and what Contempt must they have of the Doctor's
Veracity, who to satisfy the vilest Passion will thus sacrifice his
Judgment: What a Cloud of Witnesses might I have, if required, to set
in Opposition to this single Assertion of the Doctor's, he is indeed
the only Person that ever was known to have thought such a Thing. The
great Condescention and Kindness, the good Nature and Complacency with
which that Person treats all Mankind, render him amiable to all; he
has been so particularly remarkable for this, that as he does the best
the kindest Things in the most agreeable Way, which inhances their
Value, so when he is obliged from the Nature of a Request to deny it,
he so qualifies the Refusal, that the Person concerned is not
immediately sensible of a Disappointment; and from the Excess of his
good Nature, when convinc'd of the Difficulties and Distresses of
Families 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; and
thus Multitudes hourly bless his Name and Family, who subsist by his
Bounty alone: He daily feeds the Hungry, cloaths the Naked, delivers
the Prisoner; and what I look upon a thousand Degrees beyond the
other, he saves and raises many a Family just sinking into Ruine;
delivers them from Infamy, Imprisonment, and Want; which to those that
never felt either, and have the Appearance of all in View, must be
Circumstances more dreadful than 'tis possible can be rightly
conceived of by any, but those who have themselves been in them: To
help these has been his peculiar Care. Here's one of the best Acts can
be done by Man in private Life; these Things will, they must, they
ought to endear him; I could carry this, if necessary, to an almost
boundless Length; was I to trace this great Man thro' every Scene of
private Life, you'd find the whole a noble Record, of which this is an
Epitome; 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 to
present it self, and may be better made here than afterwards; the
Transition is easy, from the private, allow me to pass to the publick
Life, of the Person I have been speaking: Here I might make a general
Challenge 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 Justice
take the other Way: This great Man, is the wise Director of the
publick Affairs; he is the Delight of his Royal Master, and the
Darling of the People; he is an Honour to his Nation, adds a Lustre to
the Crown, and is deservedly valued by us and all _Europe_, as a
general publick Blessing; born for the Good, the Happiness of Mankind;
and arrived to a Capacity of serving his Country best, when his
Country stands most in Need of his Service; and if his Life's
continued, which may the great God grant, so that he compleat his
Designs for the Publick Good; _Great Britain_ will undoubtedly be led
to espouse her true Interest; her Commerce will be extended and
established; and we shall become a more flourishing, united, powerful
People, than we are, even at present; and we are now so, in all
Respects beyond whatever we were before.
Might I be allow'd to enter upon his Conduct during the late, and
still critical situation of Affairs in _Europe_, what a noble Scene
might I open; how has the Honour and Interest of the Nation been
persu'd and maintain'd, notwithstanding all the various Turns in
Affairs? How has the Ambition of Princes been baulkt? their Councils
over-rul'd, their Measures broke, and their greatest Designs brought
to nothing by him? How by one Turn of his Hand has he preserv'd the
Peace of _Europe_, prevented the Effusion of Blood, and Treasure, kept
us from War abroad, from Invasions at home, tho' most apparently
threaten'd with both? How, in a word, has he, by a Management,
peculiar to himself secur'd that Tranquility in _Europe_, which if
broke in upon, might have cost the Lives of a million of Men, an
immense Treasure, and many Years to have restor'd? and all this
without any Expence but what is an Advantage to us. How will a future
Ministry become wise from this great Pattern. How easy will it be for
a Man to make a Figure at the Head of Affairs when in all Difficulties
he 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 as
they have done, in the like Cases will always do; but I find, Sir, I
must put a Restraint upon my Inclination, or this agreeable Subject
would run me much beyond the Limits of a Letter; and indeed, it is a
very great Restraint I put upon myself to break off without saying
much more, for how can an honest true-hearted _Englishman_ bear to
have the Person insulted, who is so much the Cause of his Prosperity
and Happiness; whose ONE general intention is the Good of his Country;
who is indefatigable in his Endeavours to procure it; who is the Glory
of the present Age, and will be admir'd and imitated while good or
great Men continue upon Earth.
I can't conclude without observing to you, Sir, that this Work is so
far a finishing Stroke with the Doctor, that he seems by it to have
compleated his Character: In a former Performance, he levelled his
Jests at Almighty God; banter'd and ridiculed Religion and all that's
good and adorable above: By this, he has abused and insulted those,
who are justly valued by us, as the best, the greatest below: How his
present Conduct may be relished, Time, I say, will best discover; his
former, had a Resentment attending it, and her late Majesty would not
be prevailed upon to admit him a Prebendary of _Windsor_,
notwithstanding very powerful and pressing Instances were made on his
Behalf: Her Majesty was most highly displeased, she would not allow
him to come near her Person; her Majesty said, she had been but too
credibly informed of the Immorality of his Life; and as for his
Writings, she knew them to be profane and impious; that he was the
Scandal of his Cloth, a Reproach to Religion; and therefore she could
not in Conscience give him any Preferment in the Church. This Answer
ruffled the Doctor, and made his Friends uneasy; however, they set
down with it for the present, and gave over their Sollicitations; but
the Doctor having been the Minion of a great Minister, and deeply
engaged in the dirty Work of the Day, his Patron thought himself
obliged to take Care of him; and upon a D----y in _Ireland_ becoming
vacant, he prevailed with the Queen to grant it him; which her
Majesty did not at last without much Reluctancy; nor would have done
it at all, as 'twas then thought, but to remove the Doctor further
from her, and get rid of the Sollicitations, upon his Account, that
were 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 in
the Face, and broke out, as it were, into open Acts of Hostility with
those by whom he is protected and defended there; those that secure to
him all the Happiness, that Ease, Indolence, and Fulness can furnish
out to him: What Pretence has he more than any other Man, to a
Thousand a Year for doing nothing, or little more than strutting
behind a Verger, and Lording it ever Men honester, and more deserving,
than himself, and yet can't he be contented? How scandalous wou'd
Conduct like this be in a Soldier; was an Officer, one that eats his
Majesty's Bread, and wears his Cloth, to behave thus, what would he
deserve? I ought, indeed, to offer some Apology for only making the
Supposition; the Comparison won't hold, 'tis not just; the Officers
are all Men of Honour, they not only abhor all such Conduct, but they
look upon it their Duty, in which they are certainly right, to do
whatever is in their Power for promoting the Honour and Interest of
their Royal Master, and those intrusted by him with the
Administration; and for furthering their Reputation and Welfare: This
ought, indeed, to be the Temper of the Doctor; Is he not paid, and
well paid too, to preach up Charity and Benevolence; to teach People
their Duty to the superior Powers; to tell them of their Obligations
to good Governors; to inculcate a Love and a Reverence for these in
the Minds of all; to engage them to Peace and a dutiful Behaviour; in
a Word, to fear God and honour the King; and obey those for Conscience
Sake who are by his Majesty placed with Authority over them. This is
the Sum of what the Doctor has in Charge, and what he is under the
most solemn Obligations to comply with. Only a bear Neglect of these
Things would be sufficiently Criminal; what then must the Man deserve,
who could be found so hardy, in Breach of his Oath and Honour, to act
the Reverse of all these? And such is the Doctor: He contemns the
Power he should revere; he strives to undermine that Government he
ought to uphold; he endeavours at Reflexions upon those he should have
in the highest Honour and Esteem; he is leading People into
Disaffection and Disloyalty who are committed to his Care for right
Information; he poisons those he is paid to feed; he receives the
Nation's Money, but sides with its Enemies; with those whose Desires
and constant Endeavours are to enslave and ruin us: What the Doctor
deserves is easy to determine; but what he may meet with must be left
to others; I shall but say, a Soldier for Neglect of Duty only, is
discarded, never fails to meet with Disgrace, and often Death; here is
what's much worse than the utmost such a Charge can amount to; that
the Cloth should make such a Difference that he who ought to have the
severest Treatment, finds the most favourable is no great Encomium
upon our national Justice.
I cannot but be a little surpris'd at the impolitick Method of the
Doctor's proceeding; who should attack Mankind in a Way he is himself
the most to be exposed in of almost any Man breathing; I have given
you a small Sketch of it here, Sir; but no further than was absolutely
necessary; if I find it requisite you may hereafter expect from me a
full and true Account of the Doctor's Life, and Conversation for
upwards of thirty Years past; which will disclose such Scenes that all
Mankind must look upon it a Piece of great Assurance in the Doctor to
offer at the private characters of others, when his own has been so
very defective.
I shall trespass no longer upon your Patience, than to do myself the
Honour 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).
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