the World Gentlemen had I begun my Auctions or carried them on by other Means then is here mentioned I should own it a piece of Impudence to desire your Company a third Time or had I pretended Conscience to you and yet play'd the Knave with Dick for I did not take his Room from Week to Week as he falsly Asserts but for as long as my Sale lasted as several Witnesses will Depose upon Oath 't wou'd have shown you at first glance what Candor you were to have in my Three Auctions but to Rob Peter to Pâ—y Paul is a Doctrine I never practised and scarce know what 't is call'd and would you have a Name for 't you must send to the een Mon of Coâ—nshence but though I am able to stand the Test with the same Allowance that every Man would wish for himself under the like Circumstance as to my Auctions here and the whole Trading Part of my Life yet I have Enemies as well as other Men two of a Trade can never agree and you would wonder if I had not for I have Printed Six Hundred Books writ by Authors of different Judgments and 't is strange if in drawing upon one another the Bookseller a sort of Second in such Duels should always'scapâ— without any Wound but though I have Enemies they are only those that never knew me or never heard what I had to say for my self Or else such narrow Souls as are wholly guided by self-interest Of all that have Traded with me tho' for many Thousands I know not of one Enemy I have in the whole World save Patrick Campbell at the Bible in Skinner-Row and a piece of Trash that I smell beyond the Herring Pond And to the immortal Glory of the Stationer's Company I know but two more such in London and not one of them Lives in St. Paul's Church-Yard or at the Bible and Three Crowns but Gentlemen if I find out more you shall know the Names their God-fathers gave them but 't will be Time enough to descend to Particulars when I leave Ireland and then I 'll surely do it in a Farewel Letter to those Gentlemen that Buy what they won't Pay for Now Gentlemen if my Friend Campbell thinks himself injur'd by these Reflections the Press is open to him I mean but not to me as he has order'd it But if I have a clear Stage I desire no Quarter from him for I have yet so much by me which will keep Cold as would make a PEDLAR Sweat or as stout a Man as the great Campbell But Gentlemen Conscience makes Cowards of us all and for that Reason Campbell will scarce give you the Diversion of a Paper War No Patrick is a great Man and to scorn my Charge as in Yesterdays Flying Post is the easiest way to Answer it the truly Valiant dare face their Danger but I doubt my Enemy won't meet me with any Weapon but his old one of Niff-Naff for fear his Defence in Print should move me to new Discoveries or to fall to Writing of Ears but if he hangs out his Flag of Defiance and dares answer this let him do it while I 'm here and subscribe it with his right Name as I will my Reply with John Dunton for 't is a pitiful Cowardize that strikes a Man in the dark or like T. W. bites a Man by the Heel and then like a Serpent creeps into his Hole again for want of Courage to abet his Actions I never in my whole Life was the first Agressor in any Quarrel but when I am justly provok'd I wear my Pen as others do their Sword and if Campbell Replies to this I 'll Answer his Charge De Die in Diem till I have worn my Pen to the stumps What though I lose the Day yet I aim high And to dare something is some Victory Though Patrick can fright the Printers that Live by him yet I do assure him As I tell Dorinda in my Answer to her Billet Doux till he 's Vertuous I can't Love him and 't is not in my Nature to fear any Thing neither will I forget him nor the Brass in Copper-Alley in the History of my Summers Ramble which will be a Crown Bound and shall be sent to Dublin in few Weeks When we have thus Box'd it out We 'll Kiss as the Gentlemen of Ireland do wash our Selves shake Hands and Part. But whither does my just Resentment carry me Yet Gentlemen I hope you 'll Pardon it for when at any Time I go out of the Way it is rather upon the Account of License than over-sight there be Pieces in Plutarch as well as in Dunton where he forgets his Theam besides I 'm the more excusable as I told you I lov'd Rambling and should visit Scotland in my way home and you see I 'm as good as my Word Gentlemen I shall only add that the Candid Treatment you have found in my Two Auctions I hope will invite you this Afternoon to visit my Third and to engage you to it you will find daily in my Printed Bills that I have yet divers good Books as Doctor Barrow's Works Josephus History in English Rawleigh the best Editiion Milton's Political Works and many others I han't Time to mention You will also find I have several Excellent Law Books in all Volumes such as the Irish Statutes in Folio and the Year Books of the best Edition c. I have also in this Third Auction A Collection of scarce Pamphlets on most Subjects and when my Catalogue of Manuscripts is Publish'd it containing great variety of Curious Subjects never yet in Print I shan't doubt the Company of ingenuous Persons but this being my last Sale for the Year 1698. and my Time of Imbarquing for London being very soon I can allow but Two Days after the Auction is ended for the taking away what you Buy in it To Conclude I told you in my first Letter that I thought it unjust to advance the Rate upon you by any Vnder-hand Bidding and for every Penny I got that way I 'd restore a Pound which was not said to serve a turn for I have been true to my Word as a Worthy Member of the House of Commons who has been a great Encourager of my Auction has done me the Honour to Declare and as honest Dobbs a considerable Buyer and all the Servants attending my Auction can Testifie but surely Gentlemen the Buyer should be Iust as well as the Seller and if you consider the vast Charge I am at to serve you with such an Auction of New Books as never was sold in Ireland you will be as forward to Pay me as I am to subscribe my Self Dublin NOV 5th 1698. Your very humble Servant John Dunton To the end the foregoing Letter might be forthwith Printed I sent it to the Person who Printed my Auction-Bills with this Letter viz. To the Printer SIR FInding a Necessity of vindicating my self against the ill usage of Mr.
think it below my Regard any otherwise than to vindicate my self from their Calumnies Thus Gentlemen have I given ye a distinct Account of the Three Parts of my Dublin Scuffle with the true Reasons for my publishing of it As to the Two Letters and Verses that lead the Van they came to me with no other Direction than For Iohn Dunton at the Raven in Iewen-street and I think I can do no less in point of Gratitude and Civility to their Authors than to print 'em as an Introduction to my Scuffle with this Assurance That you have 'em in the very Dress they came to me in The Letters and Verses will I presume speak for themselves but for my own Performance I shall say nothing I must own you have hitherto used me with much Civility which makes me the less apprehensive of any danger now but come what will I 'm resolv'd to stand to your Courtesie and shall always acknowledge the former Obligations you have laid upon Your Humble Servant Iohn Dunton London February â—0 1698 9 A POEM ON THE Dublin Scuffle I Hope Sir you will not esteem it an uncivil Address if I put you in mind of the Scuffle you promis'd us I can tell you that we are all in mighty pain for it and truly unless you speedily deliver us shall be apt to conclude you have given up the cause You can't imagine what advantage the Scotchman makes of the Interval I met him accidentally the other Day at your Friend Dick's where his chief business was to traduce and revile you and indeed I believe he had went on with his shew if I had not started the Scuffle in your Vindication When I told him we expected it here in a Month I found it stung him to the very Soul he put himself instantly into his Natural Posture of Rubbing and Scratching and in my Conscience made as many wry Faces as he us'd to do formerly at the Buckling on of his Pack and verily I was not wanting to give him now and then a lift But after all you must send it away with the utmost expedition all your Friends Nay the whole Town earnestly expect it from you and truly in my Judgment you cannot come off of it now without a manifest Injury both to your Interest and Reputation And here 's poor Dorinda too What can you imagine She thinks of the Matter I 'll warrant you heâ— Polse bears very high upon the Point Who she is we cannot learn But most People that understand Dublin believe her to be a 〈…〉 that our City Dames resent the thing so very ill that if they should once find her out I would not be in her Coat for his whole Pack and for Niff Naff himself too if after all they should find that he had any singer in the Contrivance he had best be sure to keep a strong Padlock upon his Trouses Well but I have sent you a few Irish Rhymes too which you may either commit to the Flames or some empty place in your Book as you shall think 'em worthy You know Irelands but a barren Country for such sort of Commodities however Sign-Post Painting may serve to put you in mind of your Friends as well as the best and if it does but that 't will be a sufficient Satisfaction to Dublin Feb. 6. 1698 9 Yours Farewell T. B. TO Mr. John Dunton UPON HIS Dublin Scuffle MY Friend could I but let thee see How much I love and value thee I 'm sure thou'dst reckon this Offence At worst a kind Impertinence I know thy Learning and thy Parts Thy Knowledge in the Noblest Arts Thy CONVERSATION and thy Wit Speak thee for my Advice unfit But what of that true Friendship still Attones for ev'ry other ill Believe me then in this hard Scuffle Poor John Thou seem'st confin'd to ruffle Not only with the Scotch Man's Pride But other Knaves and Fools beside He that is forc'd to draw his Pen Must fight with Beasts in shapes of Men. They 'll pointed Censures at him dart Which tho' they cannot reach his Heart Will reach his better part his Fame And wound him deep in his good Name Thou 'lt find too late this Paper War Is worse even than Intestine Iar. But be it so or be it not You must go on this scurvy Scot Has broke the Peace and the proud Loon Insults unless you take him down Besides thou hast a safe defence I mean thy Truth and Innocence Thy Honesty will be thy Guard And thy Fair Dealing thy Reward 'T is true the Wretch of Skinner Row Is for thy Pen too base and low And so is false Dorinda too A subject far too mean for you And so is Dick but what of that Here 's Wild and I and honest Pat Nay all the Town but two or three Speak well and justly value thee So thou' rt engag'd for different ends To right thy self and please thy Friends T. B. The Second Letter TO Mr. John Dunton UPON HIS Dublin Scuffle VVHY John here 's Nifâ— Naâ—â— Would make a Man laugh To see how he sets up his Back I 'll tell thee by th' by 'T is mounted as high As when formerly guirded to th' Pack I protest he 's half mad Is not that very sad And swears by his Namesake St. Patrick When thy Scuffle comes o're He 'll meet it a Shore And in spight of 'em all play it a Trick You know he 's a SCOT And then what is he not Why ev'ry thing now but a Pedler But He 's got into th' Row How he came there we know Yet I hate the repute of a Medler Then prithee good Iohn With thy Scuffle go on 'T is you that must humble the Loon What the De'el would he have All Dublin his Slave And encroach all the business o' the Town No no Mr. SCOT Excuse us in that We know you too well for the future Is this your pretence Of Conscience and Sence To use honest Iohn like a Jew Sir And DICK too I 'll tell thee What e're had befell thee Thou had'st better have kept to thy Word And for Mrs. Dorinda Whom we cannot find a Iohn values her not of a T No! he 's too well weigh'd To be fool'd or betray'd By a Knave or a Jilt in disguise I 'll tell thee but that 'T will be better for PAT And make thee hereafter more wise To Let his Room o're his Head I 'd have first wanted Bread Before I 'd have pleasur'd the Loon. The more Dick I think on 't The more you still stink on 't And grow nauseous all over the Town To conclude honest Dutton Ne're value 't a Button Thy Candor Fair-dealing and Sence Have plac'd you too high For such Insects to flye And will still be thy Guard and Defence Here 's Wild's thy True Friend Whom even Interest can't bend To forfeit thy Love or thy Trust. He 'll tell thee the Town Does in general own That all thy Proposals were Just.
Tho' the Pedler and Whore And one or two more Attempt to surprize and trapan thee The rest are all thine Both the Lay and Divine With all the true Friendship that can be Dublin Feb. 10. 1698 9. Yours S. M. SIR I Presume you will not believe I am so much an Ape to be fond of the deformed Brat I here send you You see I have not set my Name to it which perhaps may occasion Campbel c. to make Reflections To be plain with him I have no manner of apprehension of him or any of his Party my only concern is that when you come to peruse it you will think it unworthy of the meanest place in your Book and then I 'm confident both in point of Wisdom and Interest I ought to keep my self conceal'd In short I am one of those that by your Fair and Genteel Dealing you have solemnly engag'd to your Friendship and one of those too that earnestly expect your SCUFFLE As for my Name c. If the Scotchman insists upon it when you think fit he shall know it And withal be further satisfy'd with what Sincerity I am THE Dublin-Scuffle c. LETTER I. SIR IN the History of my Irish-Travels I am come so far as to speak of the Auction I made in Dublin which I fear will end in a sort of Scuffle something like your Counter-scuffle in London But that you may have the better Idea of this Rambling Project and of Patrick Campbel the Chief Adversary I have yet met with I here send it in the Words 't was Publisht An Account of the Three Auctions to be held in the City of Dublin In a Letter to the Wise Learned and Studious Gentlemen in the Kingdom of Ireland but more especially to those in the City of Dublin Gentlemen THough the Summer be a Time for Rambling and the Season of the Year invite all Men abroad that love to see Foreign Countries yet 't was not this alone but the good Acceptance the way of Sale by Auction has met with from all Lovers of Books that encouraged me to bring to this Kingdom of Ireland a General Collection of the most valuable Pieces in Divinity History Philosophy Law Physick Mathematicks Horsemanship Merchandize Limning Military Discipline Heraldry Musick Fortification Fire-works Husbandry Gardening Romances Novels Poems Plays Bibles and School-Books that have been Printed in England since the Dreadful Fire in London in 1666 to this present Time In this General Collection you 'l find that many a good Book has lain asleep as not being known and when a Book is not Publish'd it cannot be nourished by the favourable Acceptance of the World I might Instance in Mr. Turner's History of the Remarkable Providences which have happened in this Age of which there is near a Thousand disposed of in London and scarce Twenty of 'em Sold in Ireland though by viewing the Contents of this Work which are given Gratis at Dick's Coffee-House in Skinner-Row 't will evidently appear there is not a more useful Book Now Gentlemen as Books are the best Furniture in a House so I see no Reason why others with my self should not think their Variety the most excusable Prodigality and therefore as the good success Auctions have met with with my Natural Love to Travelling as appears by my Venture of this Nature to New-England Holland and other Parts in the Year 1686. put me upon this Undertaking so I hope you will give it incouragement in some proportion to my great Expence in Purchasing and bringing over so large a Collection and indeed Gentlemen as this Sale is designed for your Profit as well as my own so it seems of right to Challenge your Protection which if it receives I shall not value what some little prejudic'd People can do to discourage it I design by this no Reflection on my Brethren in this City for to do 'em Justice they acted generously and gave me all the Countenance I could expect all save Patrick Campbell who grins at my Undertaking Though had they not Learning and Knowledge are such real things they need no other props to support them but what is cut out of themselves and a better Medium to effect it than by reading Books I know not And though there be a Complaint that the World seems oppressed with Books yet do we dayly want them if it were not so what is the Reason that many of great Estates can hardly make their Minds or Thoughts stretch to a Geometrical Measuring of their own Lands but surely he that has Money in his Pockets and will starve his Brains when so many new and valuable Pieces are brought to his Door deserves to be posted for what can a Mans Rusty Bags afford him to the Profits and Treasures of Books Plato was accounted a Wise Man and we find it Recorded of him that he thought it a rich Purchase when he bought three Books of Philosophy belonging to Philolaus a Pythagorean in Sicily though at an incredible Rate and that Atlas of Learning that Orthodox Scholar Archbish. Vsher whose Name makes Ireland Famous as 't was the Birth-place of so great a Man He it was that sent to Samaria for sundry Copies of the Samaritan Pentateuch and with a dear Purchase it was also that he brought the Syriack Bible with other Books from Syria It 's Recorded that Solomon's Library was the Feather in the Plume of his Glorious Enjoyments a part whereof he thought was the choicest Present he could make to the Queen of Sheba for the Recompence of her great pains in Travelling to Profit her self and Honour him and seeing the Variety of Books says the Ingenious Burton he must needs be a Block that 's affected with none King Iames the First when he saw the Oxford Library wished that if it ever happened that he should be a Prisoner that there he might be kept and that those Câ—ained Books might be his Fellows and the Chains his Fetters And who will not say that Good Books and Good Company are the very Epitomy of Heaven In a Word there 's nothing comparable to the purchase of Knowledge and whenever Men begin to taste it they will say I speak Truth with a Witness Gentlemen Having said thus much of Auctions Learning and the Collection of Books I have brought into this Kingdom I would have no Man displeased if he finds not all he expected in my First Catalogue for if he has Patience his Expectation will be fully Answered But the great Variety of Books I have brought over have rendred it impossible to have 'em all Bound time enough for my first Sale I have therefore divided 'em into Three Auctions The first of which will begin Iuly 7th 1698. Neither can I exceed that Time my design being to take Scotland France and Italy c. in my way home and to be in London by next Christmass There will be a Distinct Catalogue for every Auction and when Printed of which Publick Notice shall
be given will be delivered Gratis at Dick's Coffee-House the Place of Sale and at the Coffee-Houses in Limerick Corh Kilkenny Clonmel Wexford Galâ—â—y and other Places so that those that live at a distance may send their Commissions to their Relations in Dublin or to my Friend Mr. Richard Wilde and they shall have their Orders faithfully Executed for as this Countrey is obliged to his Vniversal Knowledge in Books for the goodness of this Collection so to his Care and Fidelity my Health calling me to Wexford to drink the Waters is committed the Charge of the whole Undertaking And I think I need add no more for tho' it has been Customary to Usher in Undertakings of this Nature with insignificant and tedious Commendations which served only to tire the Readers Patience and stagger his Belief and may perhaps be expected now upon a Collection which might justly Challenge the Precedence of what has ever been Exposed to Sale in Ireland yet being resolved to proceed in quite contrary Methods to what has been formerly used I 'll manage the whole with that Candor and Sincerity as shall leave no room for Exception For as Gentlemen come here supposing to buy a Pennyworth so I do assure 'em I think it unjust to advance the Rate upon 'em by any Vnderhand-Bidding And for every Penny I get that way I will restore a Pound neither did I suffer any of my scarce and valuable Pieces to be cull'd out from the rest tho' importun'd thereto by several Gentlemen and Booksellers that all might have equal Treatment and the greater Reason to attend my Auctions And I am very willing that the Ingenious and Learned should be their own Judges in this matter not doubting but upon an Impartial view of my Three Catalogues of which this is the first they will find not only such Variety of New Books as were never before in Ireland and scarce ones no where else to be purchased but such Curiosities in Manuscripts and Pamphlets of all sorts as will be sufficient to invite them to exert a Generosity as may further Encourage Dublin Iune 24. 1698. Your Humble Servant John Dunton SIR IF you 'l give me your Thoughts upon this Auction the Conditions of Sale and the Scuffle I 'm like to be ingaged in on the Account of this Undertaking I shall own it as a Mark of your Friendship Write as supposing me still on the Road I am yet on my Summers Ramble and to Morrow having met with agreeable Company shall set out for the Boyn Kilkenny Galway c. In order to view the Cabins Customs and Manners of the Wild Irish Direct your Answer to be left with my worthy Friend Dr. Wood at his House in Kilkenny for I design to make him a Visit when I leave Dublin Pray Sir write by the first Post for I intend your Answer shall come into my Summer-Ramble for my Method different from other Travellers is to get Remarks upon all I see but Six-pence Once Twice and the next Word is to assure you that I am Your very Humble Servant John Dunton Remarks on my First Letter SIR I Have receiv'd the Kindness of yours by which I perceive that neither distance of Place multiplicity of Business nor variety of Diversions and some times Distractions are able to divert the stream of solid Friendship but that you have still a Minute to spare in remembrance of your old Acquaintance I am glad to find you have Encouragement to go on with your generous Vndertaking of imparting to Ireland so many valuable Pieces of Learning I don't know why some of 'em may not be accounted Phoenixes as being reviv'd since the Fire of London or rather sprung up from its Ashes Time was when Ireland was famous for Learning and hence it came to be said of a certain Great Man whose Name does not now occur to me Ivit ad Hibernos Sophia mirabile claros But I am afraid the Case is much altered since Slavery and Popery have had so long and universal a Possession of that Countrey that the Spirits of the Native or Wild Irish at least are much degenerated so that we may now apply to them as a proper Reverse Vervecam in Patria crassoque sub aere Nati If your Design may be any way subservient to restore Learning among them you will have Cause to value your self upon it while you Live But my Friend I perceive by your Fears of a SCUFFLE that you will find it more difficult to Conquer their Prejudices at least of some of them than Richard Strongbow found it to make a Conquest of their Nation but I hope you are so much a Philosopher as to prepare your self before-hand for cross Emergents that you don't lose Courage on their approach Never was there that Great or Good Design yet in the World which did not meet with Opposition and if yours happen to be singular in this Respect it will be as remarkable a Passage as many that are recorded in the Irish Story You know I am no pretender to the Spirit of Prophecy but methinks I foresee a Storm coming upon you My Reason is this Whatever the Honesty of your Design and the fairness of your way of dealing may be and which I persuade my self the Irish Climate will never be able to alter yet you must expect that those of your own Calling will look upon you as an Interloper or perhaps a Fore-staller and Ingrosser If you can Convey Learning to Ireland thro' their Channels so as there may be some Gold-Dust left for themselves at the Bottom you may perhaps 'scape pretty well but if otherwise I am much mistaken if you don 't experimentally find the falshood of that old saying That Ireland entertains no venemous Creature I cannot but applaud your Honesty in promising not to advance the Prices upon Gentlemen that come to buy by Vnder-hand Bidding To do otherwise is not only to Act two different Parts with the Satyr in the Fable but according to the Northern Proverb To Play both the Thief and the Merchant and I wish you had left more of that sort of Honesty amongst some of your Brethren at home We have not so much of it our selves as to send such a Cargo of it at once to our Neighbours the worst I shall wish those Gentlemen who practise the contrary Method is that they may never have any other Buyers but their own Vnder-hand Bidders for that is the likeliest way to reform them But though I am Confident you will be as good as your Promise in this Matter yet all your Honesty will not be Armour of Proof against a Weapon you have put into the Hands of your Enemies which is that you Promise a Penny-worth to those that will buy at your Auction The Proposal is indeed as charitable as that of Selling below the Market-price to the starving Poor but you know those who practise this Method have as many Curses from the Ingrossers of Corn as
Patrick Campbell and Mr. Richard Pue I send this Second Letter giving an Account of my Third Auction for you to Print you see I have Subscribed my Name to it and will own it in the Face of the Sun and if Mr. Campbell be a generous Enemy he will be no more angry at your Printing this then I shall be if you Print his Answer nor will I ever give you any Trouble upon that Account how scandalous and false soever the Things may be that you shall Print against me provided you will be ready to testifie who is the Author but if you han't Soul brave enough to assist a Stranger in a Iust Cause especially one who has been so great a Benefactor to your Art both in England and Ireland in the last of which I have been none of the worst of Customers to you I shall then be obliged to take other Measures to right my self But hoping you won't give me that unnecessary Trouble I shall only add that I am Your hearty Friend John Dunton SIR THus I have given you a true and impartial Account of my Dublin Scuffle on which I desire such Remarks as you were pleas'd to oblige me with on my former I know you will deal freely with me and therefore shall accept your Reproof for any Thing wherein you think I am faulty as kindly as your Approbation when you think I have Right on my side for you know I was never a Slave to my own Iudgment but have always desired the Opinion of those whose Thoughts I valued I am Yours to Command John Dunton Remarks upon the Second Letter SIR I Am sorry that I have happen'd to be too true a Prophet I told you in my Last that I foresaw you would meet with Opposition and that too from those of your own Way of Business but I could scarcely have thought that any Man who calls himself a Christian would have attempted it in such a mean and scandalous Method Your Adversary may perhaps have read the Ten Commandment but it would seem he hath altogether forgot the Last or at least to put it in Practice seeing he had so little Conscience as fraudulently to take your Auction-Room over your Head Perhaps he may think 't was but a just Reprizal to over-bid you on pretence that you had under-sold him which though it had been so is contrary to the Law of Christianity which forbids Rewarding Evil for Evil. But I don't see the least pretence he had for it You were not the first that set up an Auction in Dublin and it seems Patrick Campbel resolved you should not be the last seeing he follow'd your Example and slily bought you out of your Room but had that been dispos'd of by way of Auction too I am apt to think you would have been able to Cope with him either for Purse or in offering a fair Price By what I can perceive your Adversaries Courage and Christianity are both of a Piece He was resolv'd to fight you but that he might assure himself of the Victory he would first disarm you or at least make sure of the longest Weapon Like another Guy Faux he undermin'd your Auction-house and then like an Almanzor he Huffs and Braves you Truth did never yet of it's own Accord affect a lurking-Hole but has always Courage enough to stand the Test. Had Patrick's Practise been open and fair He would never have hinder'd it's being Publish'd in Print There were other Methods to be taken for vindicating his Fame than threatening your Printers and out-bidding you there too Had you advanc'd any Falshoods the Law was open but Patrick thought it safer to Silence the Press Every Cock is stout on his own Dunghil Patrick Claims a Priviledge to Crow at Dublin but he cannot hinder you to Answer him at London so as you may be heard beyond St. George's Channel and I am apt to think he will take no great Pleasure in hearing the Story related I am glad to find you retain your Courage and are not to be frighted into any thing that 's Sneaking by your Adversaries big Looks or Words Your natural Temper â—ffords you Strength enough to bear up against greater Attacks than those and if it want a Support you know it is to be found in him who always Patronizes a Just Cause Though you be now at a distance from your well-furnish'd Closet there 's no want of proper Helps in your present Auction-Room Brooks's Remedies against Satan's Devices may be a proper Book for you to consult on this Occasion I am glad to hear that my former has contributed any thing to fortifie you against this Encounter I am of Opinion your Adversary will have no occasion to Triumph when he casts up his Accounts either with his own Conscience if it be his Custom to keep a fair Reckoning there or when he comes to count his Gains by his Envious Auction which fastens the brand of foul Guilt upon him But it seems Patrick has a Mind to be the sole Bookseller and Auctioneer in Dublin at what Rate soever I am much surpriz'd at the meanness of his Temper in talking of lending you Forty Shillings which to be sure he knew you could not want when you brought such a Cargo of Books with you though you had not had a good Estate in England to depend upon I question very much whether Patrick's Estate be able to ballance yours and I am satisfied he cannot be a better Husband than you are known to be nor more Industrious in his Calling but Malice and Covetousness in one Man and indeed they are seldom to be found asunder are enough to transform him into a Monster and by your Character of Patrick I can form no other Idea of him but that he is one of the worst sort His Pretensions to Conscience on the one Hand and making no Conscience of depriving you of your Auction-Room and bespattering your Reputation on the other are very becoming a Man who can sell one Book for two under different Titles So that Patrick it seems is a Saint on one side and a Devil on the other and can shew himself in various Shapes as occasion requires I am Glad you were aware of his Tricks and did not suffer him to Gull your Library though there 's no doubt his disappointment in that is one of the Chief Causes of the base Treatment you meet with at his Hands I am very well pleas'd that the other Dublin-Booksellers behaved themselves with more Candour and Generosity towards you and that the whole Mass was not corrupted by Patrick's Envy The Questions you propose to him and the odd hints you give of his Practice I hope are founded upon good Information otherwise I would not advise you to Publish them lest they be thought Envious and may detract from your own Reputation instead of painting him in his true Colours but if the Things be known and that the divulging of 'em are necessary for your own Vindication
not but this I am sure of that if the Character given of him be true he deserves an Advancement of as Publick a Nature and something like the other too for as the Stool of Repentance in his Countrey is rais'd so high that the Criminal who is plac'd upon it may be seen by all that are in the Church he seems to deserve to be elevated above his Brethren in a Publick Market-place with a Hole for his Head and one for each Hand and to have the Title Page of Hodder transform'd into Cocker c. Nail'd over his Head But to return to your Scuffle Your imparting that Affair to the Lord Bishop of Clogher and the Speaker of the House of Commons seems to be a very good Imprimatur but at the same Time it is incumbent upon you to take Care that there be nothing in it too mean to deserve such a License and that may be unfit for one of your Business and Reputation to divulge for though I doubt not but you will keep Religiously to Truth yet you know that all the Truth is not to be spoken at all Times and somethings may be too Trifling to deserve the View of the Publick therefore peruse every Thing carefully before it be Printed off You see I make use of my wonted Freedom with you as becomes one who is SIR Your Cordial Friend The Fifth Letter SIR I Am still Scuffling with Patrick Campbel but such is the Advantage of a Just Cause that my Auction prospers maugre all the Malice and Venom he spits at that and me The first Auction I made after my Removal to Patt's Coffee-House was still crouded with generous Buyers and notwithstanding the Opposition I meet from Campbel I have now proceeded so far in the disposing my whole Venture as to come to what I call the word Auction being worn Thread-bare my Farewel Sale That I may give you the better Idea of these Proceedings and set the Dublin-Scuffle in a yet clearer Light I here send you the Account of this Farewel Sale with the Attestation concerning my Self and my Three Auctions which are now ended This further Account of the Dublin-Scuffle you 'll find in my Third Letter to those worthy Gentlemen that were Encouragers of my Vndertaking which Letter was Entituled The Farewel-Sale at Patt's Coffee-House And is as follows viz. Gentlemen THough my Three Auctions are now ended I have yet Variety of Books left so I design to try your generous Bidding a Fourth Time which I 'll call my Farewel Sale It shall begin the following Monday at Three in the Afternoon at Patt's Coffee-House in High-street and shall end December the first neither will I exceed that resolving God-willing to Embark for London December 5th 'T is true I have Books enough to continue the Sale much longer but Native Countrey has Charms in it and I am very desirous to be at home And therefore December 5th I shall bid you all Farewel for though when my Fourth Sale is over I shall still have Quantities left yet all that is then remaining I 'll lump to the Booksellers of Dublin to whom you must give higher Rates of which the Sale of the French Book of Martyrs is a late Instance or if we can't agree the same Ship that brought 'em hither will be able to carry 'em back The Conditions of this last Sale are That whatever is bought till Thursday Night be all paid the following Fryday and for what has been bought in my Three past Auctions 't is expected they should be all fetcht away by Saturday the 26th Instant In order to which constant Attendance shall be given at Patt's Coffee-House from eight in the Morning till eight at Night Gentlemen I promis'd you in my last Catalogue The Dublin-Scuffle And the History of my Summers Ramble and I 'll be as good as my word for Iâ—ll Print 'em as soon as I get to London and send 'em to Patt's Coffee-House in High-street except Patrick will Publickly own the Publick Injury he did me and then I will even forgive Patrick Campbel and forget his Taking my Room over my Head though 't is Thought I 'm an Hundred Pounds the worse for 't considering the Goods and Buyers I lost on that occasion but if he has not the Grace to ask my Pardon for the notorious Injuries he did me I Pray God forgive him and Dick too and in return I hope they 'll wish me a Boon-Voyage in regard they 'll be rid of one durst tell 'em the Truth and afterwards send it to Patt's Coffee-House in Red-Letters And seeing they dare not answer my Broadside whilst I am in Dublin and whenever they do I 'll reply to 'em though as far as Rome that they might not wrong me after I am gone some of my Friends that best know me have voluntarily Subscribed the following Attestation The Attestation WE whose Names are hereunto Subscribed being all of us Present at Mr. Iohn Dunton's Three Auctions in Dublin and having seen the Management thereof every Day do hereby Attest That as all was carried on and Managed with the greatest Candour and Sincerity imaginable by Mr. Dunton so the generality of those Gentlemen that bought his Books have acknowledged in our hearing That they had all the fair Dealing that they could desire And we can more particularly affirm That Mr. Dunton's Demeanour during his whole Auctions has been such as has given Content to all Gentlemen there For whereas in other Auctions it is common to have Setters to raise the value of the Books in Mr. Dunton's Auction we are sure there was none from the beginning to the end Mr. Dunton having absolutely declar'd against it as not fair nor honest And we do further Attest to our certain Knowledge That in all his Concernments with the Printers Stationers Binders and others which was very considerable he paid every one not only to a Penny but even to a single Half-Penny so very exact and scrupulous he was of wronging them And as to the several Places where the said Mr. Dunton lodg'd he not only paid his Quarters according to Agreement but likewise gratify'd 'em for any Trouble that was extraordinary by Sickness or otherwise And that in all his said Lodgings his way of Living was so inoffensive and blameless that he was as Caesar would have had his Wife not only free from blame but from all Suspicion of it And as to the Controversie he has had with Mr. Patrick Campbel we do hereby Attest That Mr. Campbel was altogether the Aggressor for though Mr. Campbel had us'd Mr. Dunton very Barbarously at his first coming over yet Mr. Dunton took no notice of it till Campbel had Taken his Auction-Room over his Head by offering a double Price as Dick the Coffee-man alledged in our hearing and yet even then Mr. Dunton was so fair as to offer to close his Auctions in one Weeks Time more provided he might tarry in it so long though he had then Two Hundred
a Time lest your Name be made use of in future Ages to frighten peevish Bantlings into a better Humour for it s too too much for one Man thus to Triumph over the Irish Men Women and Children all at once I am SIR Yours The Twelfth Letter SIR I Sent you Word by the last Post how Campbel and I parted when I left Ireland I have also told ye of other Enemies who continued Scuffling after Patrick had done his worst I shall now as I promis'd send ye a Copy of my Last Farewel to my Friends in Dublin that stood by me in every Skirmish and here likewise I shall Point at my worst Enemies I mean those that have sharl'd at the second Spira have been very Zealous to cut my Throat for Private-slandering is of that Nature or which is worse have bought what they won't pay for and with this Farewel to both Friends and Enemies I shall conclude the Dublin Scuffle I don't doubt but in this Farewel I shall say something that will vex the Guilty yet I find it necessary for my Reputation and Sir you 'll find I fear nothing in Defence of that 'T is true I can't fight my way in Tropes and Figures but Truth needs no Varnish it shines brightest in its Native Dress and therefore in this Retreat which is the most difficult Part of War I face all my Enemies at once and if I cou'd not spell my Name I 'd venture at 'em for I 'd rather be thought a poor Scribe then a Coward as you 'll find by the following Lines which I call MY Last Farewel To my Acquaintance in DUBLIN Whether Friends or Enemies And is as follows viz. Gentlemen HAving now Sold the Venture of Books I brought into this Countrey maugre all the Opposition I met with from Patrick Campbel and other Enemies and being to Embark an Hour hence for England I send this as my Last Farewel to my Acquaintance in Ireland whether Friends or Enemies and with this shall conclude the Dublin Scuffle Gentlemen I Told you in my First Letter That I had brought into this Kingdom A General Collection of the most Valuable Books Printed in England since the Fire in London in 66. to this very time to which I told you was added Great Variety of Scarce Books A Collection of Pamphlets in all Volumns And a Parcel of Manuscripts never yet in Print and that I have made good my word is acknowledged by all that have seen my Catalogues and Printed Bills of evedays Sale for near Six Months Neither can it be thought that the Gentlemen of Ireland who are own'd to be very ingenious would give one Thousand Five Hundred Pound for a Parcel of TRASH as my Venture was call'd by some selfish People of which more anon except Bibles Common-Prayer Books Pools Annotations Clarks Bible Hammond on the New Testament Book of Martyrs the best Edition Duty of Mans Works Dupins Ecclesiastical History Josephus the best Rawleighs History of the World Heylins Cosmography in Folio Eusebius the best Edition Bakers Chronicle Stanleys Lives Cambdens Brittania Terryls History Lock of Humane Vnderstanding L'Estranges Aesop Seneca's Morals Cambridge Concordance The Great Historical Dictionary Greoads Dictionary Littletons Dictionary Gouldmans Dictionary Coles Dictionary Screvelius Lexicon Speeds Maps Mordens Geography The Irish Statutes Cook upon Littleton Wingates Abridgment Ben Johnsons Works Shakespears Works Beaumont and Fletchers Works Cowleys Works Oldhams Works Drydens Works Congreves Works Westleys Life of Christ Prince Arthur Iudge Hales Works Mr. Boils Works And the Works of Archbishop Usher Archbishop Tillotson Bishop Taylor Bishop Patrick Bishop Sprat Bishop Barlow Bishop Fowler Bishop Wilkins Bishop Stillingfleet Bishop Burnet Bishop Kidder Dr. Barrow Dr. Sherlock Dr. Scot Dr. Horneck Dr. South Dr. Wake Dr. Lucas Dr. Claget Mr. Norris Mr. Edwards Mr. Dorington Dr. Amesley Dr. Bates Dr. Mâ—â—ton Mr. Charnock Mr. Howe Mr. Alsop Mr. Clarkson Mr. Williams Mr. Mead Mr. Baxter Mr. Flavel Mr. Boyce Mr. Showers Mr. Rogers Mr. Calamy and such like may be reckon'd into that Number And Gentlemen as I have fully answered your Expectations as to the Goodness and Variety of the Books that I brought over so I find you are all pleased with the Candour you had in the Sale you may remember I told you I thought it a sort of Picking your Pocket as you came to my Auctions supposing to buy a Pennyworth to advance the Rate upon you by any underhand Bidding and to shew this was not to serve a Turn I again declare though I 'm leaving Ireland that for every Penny I got that way I 'll restore a Pound But the Dignity of Truth is lost by much Protessing so I 'll say no more to prove my Innocence for 't is what you all believe And Gentlemen as you have been all satisfied with the Part I acted in this Matter so I hope you have been all pleased with the Genteel Treatment you had from Mr. Wilde throughout the whole Sale The Truth is he has shewn a matchless Command over his Passions under very great Provocations and therefore 't is my Design in these Adventures being to please the Buyer and my Self too that I have engaged him in a second Auction I design for Scotland and were I to make a Third as far as Rome as who knows but I may for I design to see his Holiness Mr. Richard Wilde should be the sole Manager not only as his Vniversal Knowledge in Books renders him fit for it but as I have found his Condour and Diligence to be as great as his Knowledge And Gentlemen as Mr. Wilde has treated you with the greatest Respect imaginable so I hope he has done you as much Justice as he has me in the whole Management And I hope you have been as much pleased with my Book-keeper Mr. Price as to his great Fidelity in prizing what you bought as I have been with his accounting with me for all the Moneyâ— receiv'd or if you can prove any Mistake for no Man's Infallible I shall be forward to have it rectiâ—â—ed though ne're so much to my Loss And as Mr. Wilde Mr. Price and my Self have labour'd to give you Content so I hope so much as Honest Rohinson Trushy James and my very Porter Bacon who brought the Bill of every Days Sale to your Doors have not been wanting in their respective Place In a word I suppose you are all Content for we all endeavoured to make you so but for all my Care in these Particulars I find I have some Enemies but Gentlemen my Comfort is that I have no Enemy that 's acquainted with me or has Bought a Book in my Three Auctions 't was said of a Bookseller lately Dead that he had no Enemies but those that knâ—w him but I Thank God if I have any Friends they are chiefly those that have dealt with me But I find 't is impossible to please all for though Mr. Wilde and my Self managed the whole Affair from
the first Minute I proposed it to him to the last Book he Sold in Dublin with that Sincerity as we thought had left no room for Exception not so much as a Penny was â—aid in the Auction if any doubt arose from whom 't was received but I gave it the Poor for fear I had received more than my Due But for all this scrupulous Care there was a certain Person beyond the Herring-Pond and in Dublin too for they Ecchoed to one another that whisper'd about that I had brought you nothing but a Parcel of TRASH And that the Auctioneer was a Grand Sharper Gentlemen 't is a pitiful Cowardice as I told Campbel that strikes a Man in the Dark but I suppose you know who I mean by the Littleness of his Soul for all such Books that he has not a Hand in he calls not fit to wipe his B ch and a Copy from Heaven would be a foolish Paper with him if T. F. were not the Bookseller strange how far Ignorance Self-Interest and Pride will carry Men especially Men that rise from nothing or come of Mechanick Parents 'T is true I could take a singular Pleasure in forgiveing this sneaking Fellow there is such a noble-Pride attends this generous Conquest of an Enemy as far surpasses the celebrated sweetness of Revenge And this made Judge Hales say He thanked God he had learnt to forget Injuries and I wish I could say the same for I hate to gratifie my Passion the common Way and because T. F. has acted the Part of a mean Spirit I must do so or worse by giving Scope to my Rage but though I had rather suffer a thousand wrongs then offer one yet for all that when a Man persists in a base Practice he ought to be jerk'd in hopes of a Reformation and T. F. the most of any I know in London for how often has he call'd The Heads of Agreement Assented to by the United Ministers The Morning Exâ—rcises Published by my Reverend Father in Law Dr. Annesley The French Book of Martyâ—s Publisht by Order of Queen Mary and was the only Book she ever gave Her Royal Hand to Malâ—ranches search after Truth so much commended by the Learned Mr. Norris in his Advice to his Children Mr. Coke's Detection of the Court and State of England of which large work there is Three Editions The Works of the Lord Delamere Publisht by consent of the now Earl of Warrington Dr. Burthoggs Essay on Reason and the Nature of Spirits Dedicated to Mr. Lock The Tigurine Liturgy Publisht by the Approbation of six Learned Prelates Bp. Barlows Remains Publisht from his Lordships Original Papers by Sir Peter Pet Kt. Advocate General for the Kingdom of Ireland Mr. Baxter's Life in Folio written with his own hand The Life of that Charitable Divine Mr. Thomas Brand. The Life and Death of Mr. Iohn Elliot the First Preachâ—â— of the Gospel to the Indians in America of which there is three Editions The Bloody Assizes Containing the Tryals and Dying Speeches of those that Dyed in the West of which there is four Editions Sermons on the whole Parable of Dives and Lazarus by Ioseph Stevens Late Lecturer of Câ—â—pplegate and Lothbury Churches The Tragedies of Sin by Mr. Iay Rector of Chinner Mr. Williams Gospel Truth of which there is three Editions Mackenzye's Narrative of the Seige of Derry Mr. Boyses Answer to Bishop King First Printed in Dublin and then in London Mr. Showers Mourners Companion Mr. Rogers Practical Discourses The Poems writ by the Pindarlek Lady And the Athenian Gazzet which has been continued to 20 Volumns and is so much Valued in Dublin that the Sale of that Book alone has come to an Hundred Pound Gentlemen I shou'd prove Tedious or I would inlarge for these ben't the Fifth Part of those Valuable Pieces I Print and to which to shew his parts or rather â—is Envy he gives the Title of Meer Stuff Perfect Trash Sweet Rhetorick Gentlemen which with something will keep Cold has made his Conscience as black as his Sign I was likewise Treated in this manner by another Critick near Hatton-Garden who tho' he struts like a Turky-Cock at a Red Pettycoat wipes his mouth in London and is very sawcy to every Book that he don't Print himself yet his Sin has found him out in Dublin and 't is very remarkable that I my self should first discover it whom he has most abus'd of any man in London but he 's quiet enough at present and if he Repents I can forgive but if he stir hand or foot against this small Revenge the World shall know as Proud as he is who has abus'd â—he name of a late Peer by a Notorious Sham-Title Gentlemen such and only such as these are my Enemies and this is the Undermining Treatment I have had from ' em But tho' there be Little Souls in the World that have great Dealings yet I find the Gentlemen of Ireland have more Honour then to â—e-lye their Senses or to call that Stuff or Trash which they find to be Solid Dyet I am sure in proportion to the Great Number of Books I have Printed no Man has Printed less Trash then my self I am sure T. F. has not if you take in his Black Lists his false Titlcs his Printing other Mens Copies and new Vamping of Old Books But Gentlemen 'T is losing of Time to speak in praise of my Bookish Venture or to talk more of my Enemies Trash Seeing a Worthy Member of the House of Commons did me the Honour to say That I had been â—by this Undertaking a Great Benefactor to this Country and no longer than yesterday a Clergy-Man told Mr. Penny an English Gentleman That I had done more Service to Learning by my Three Auctions than any one single Man that had come into Ireland these hundred years I speak not this out of Ostentation but to rectify the 〈◊〉 opinions who judge Men by what they hear from the Scandalous Tongues of their selfish prejudic'd Enemies But tho' Boasting is none of my Talent yet I must say That my Venture has been serviceable to this Countrey is not only the Sentiment of one or two but of all I meet with and therefore 't is I am desired by some of the best Quality To make an Annual Auction of Books in Dublin but my Ramble to Scotland will hinder this or if it don't I 'll still promise You shall have no Setter in my Auctions and as Good Books as now Not that I pretâ—â—d to be more Infallible than other People and of Six Hundred Books I have Printed as I said in my second Letter it wou'd be strange if all should be alike Good But tho' in my Vnthinking Age I have Printed something I wish I had never seen though of 600 I know but of six I am angry at yet where I have err'd 't is from Heaven and not from Man that I heartily ask Forgivness I confess 't was a Noble Saying
of the Great Mountaigne after he had finish'd his Rambles That wâ—re â—e to live over his Life again he would Live exactly as he â—ad done I neither says he complain of the past nor do I fear the future I can't say so for tho I am but turn'd of my 30th year and have always devoted my Time and Rambles to the knowledge of Countries Books and Men yet were I to correct the Errata's of my short Life I would quite after the Press Wou'd Time 〈◊〉 my Age again to the first thread What another man wou'd I be but as willing as I am to confess this yet where I have Erred with Respect to Printing I must cast the fault into the great heap of Humane Error for seeing we digress in all the ways of our Lives yea seeing the Life of man is nothing else but digression I may the better be excused and the rather as I am truly griev'd when any good Man is displeas'd not that I ever Printed a Book in my whole Life but what I had a just end in the Publication But if others won't think so I can't help it not but I must own That having Printed a great many Books and not reading through the twentieth part of what I Print some Errors have ' scap'd my hand but this is my Misfortune and not my Crime and ill success ruines the merit of a good meaning however the way to Amendment is never out of date Repentance is a Plank we Book-Merchants have still left on which we may swim to shore and having Err'd the Noblesâ— thing we can do is to own it He that Repents is well near Innocent Diogenes seeing a Lad sneaking out of a Bawdy House bid him Hold up his head for he need not be asham'd of coming out but of going in I could even forgive Patrick Campbel if I saw him a True Penitent such a Penitent as the Thief who robb'd me in Dublin who begging my Pardon I scarce suffered him to kneel for it but as readily gave it as he was to ask it Thus Gentlemen you see at our last parting that tho' I am no more perfect than other Folks yet that I don't deserve that ill Usage I had froâ— T. F. in London or Patrick Campbel in Dublin and by the Grace of God for the future will deserve it less for as I grow in years I alter my opinion of things when I now Print a Book I put on my Graver Spectacles and consult as well with my Iudgment as Interest When I first began to Print I had then seen but the out-side of the World and Men and conceiv'd them according to their Appearing Glister You know Gentlemen Youth are Rash and Heedless green Heads are very ill Judges of the Productions of the Mind The first Glance is apt to deceive and surprize Novelties have Charms that are very taking but a little Leisure and Consideration discovers the Imposture those false Lights are dispell'd upon a serious Review and second Thoughts are wiser than the first and this is my very Case But though I am no more Infallible then other People yet I have ever had that regard to Iustice that I never Printed any Mans Copy or stole his Author by Private Slanders and though I have Printed six hundred Books I never Printed a new Title to an old Book nor never damn'd any Man's Book because I must Buy it with ready Money and I ever thought it as base Injustice to run upon another's Project neither did I ever murther any Mans Name with saying he Printed this or that the more cunningly to praise my self and who ever will prove one single Instance of this in all the Books I have Printed a Jolly Company for the small Time I have Traded I 'll own my self of as Poor a Spirit as those are be they who they will that Practice what I here condemn And I as little like under-selling others to get Chapmen I believe T. F. will own though a great Offender in this Kind that I keep my Copies as punctal as any Man Mr. Wilde knows in all the Notes I made for Dublin that I put the same Price to every Man and wou'd any Bookseller be at the Pains to compare all my Notes together though I exchanged with all the Trade for every Penny he finds charged more to himself then to other Men he shall have five Pound Reward and a Thousand Thanks into the Bargain for rectifying a Mistake I never design'd Then pray Gentlemen for I am now speaking to the Booksellers of Dublin no more Reflections as if I injur'd the Trade by Auctions for is it not your own Case There 's few Eminent Booksellers but have traded this whole-Sale way is that a Crime in me which is seen in your daily Practice If I have a Fancy to Travel a Year or so and after that to live a studious and retired Life as I have done several Years what harm do I do in selling my Stock and making of Auctions without Setters For my own Part I have enough to bear my Charge to the Grave for thither Gentlemen we are all going and am contriving now to Live for my Self as well as for other People I would have business but exempt from strife and therefore 't is I have done with Shops the hurry of 'em are apt to ingross our Thoughts and I 'm loth to venture Eternity upon my last Breath to what Purpose should I covet much I really Pity those that like the Dog in a Wheel toil to Roast Meat for others Eating Abraham see how he beginneth to possess the World by no Land Pasture or Arable Lordship the first Thing is a Grave The Reverend Mr. Stevens Author of the Sermons on Dives and Lazarus gave Order for the making his Coffin in perfect Health I desire to follow such Examples as these and therefore instead of loosing Time in a Shop I 'd now in a quiet Retreat from the World be studying what good I may do to my Friends with what I have and how little a Time I may Live to enjoy it being troubled with the Distemper my Father dyed of I take my last leave at I now do of Dublin of every Place I depart from And that 's the Reason I now follow the World with such Indifference as if 't was no Matter whether I over-took it or no. But though I 'm come from behind the Counter yet methinks a Man out of Business like a rotten Tree only cumbers the Ground so I won't altogether desert Printing or that Learned Trade which my Father so much approv'd of whilst there 's an Author in London or a Pen in the World but with Submission to better Judgments I think 't is a great madness to be laying new Foundations of Life when I am half way through it And they methinks deserve my Pity Who for it can indure the Stings The Crowd and Buâ— and Murmurings Of this great Hive the City Cowley
here this being My Last Farewel descend to particular Characters of some of the chief Encouragers of My Three Auctions And here I should first acknowledge my Great Obligations to the Right Reverend the Bishop of Clogher who was mention'd before in p. 50. this Learned Prelate was a Generous Encourager of my Undertaking He is a Person of Great Worth Knowledge and Humility and by his â—ard Study and Travels hath to so great a degree improved his own Extraordinary Parts that soon after the Thirtieth Year of his Age which is the year of Quallification for that Office he was made Provost of Trinity College in Dublin a place of great Honour and Trust where he so well acquitted himself that in a little time he was Constituted Bishop of Clogher and soon after that for his great Accomplishments was made One of His Majesties Privy Councellors for the Kingdom of Ireland I might mention his great knowlege of the Tongues and most Sciences but the bare relating the Publick Stations he is in are sufficient demonstrations of the Reasons of his deserv'd Promotions and of the great Honour he did me by personally encouraging my undertaking and therefore I hope his Lordship will pardon me for presuming to mention him in this Farewell for I shou'd think my self very ungrateful should I leave Ireland without making this publick acknowledgement of the Favours I receiv'd from him His Lordships Name is St. George Ashe I should likewise in this Farewel take my leave of the Reverend Mr. Iohn Iones the most Eminent School-master in all Ireland he hath sent many Scholars to the University of Dublin and I don't wonder he 's so Accomplish'd for he 's a man of so great a Soul that I found he was seldom out-bid in my Auction for any Book he had a mind to He 's a very Studious Person and does not like some Authors lose his time by being busie about nothing nor make so poor a use of the World as to Hug and Embrace it I shall ever acknowledge the Generous Encouragement he gave my Auctions In the short Conferenâ—e I had with him I found him to be a Person of great Piety and of a most sweet Disposition He is free from Vice if ever any Man was because he hath no occasion to use it and is above those Ends that make men wicked In a word Mr. Iones is a Person of great Worth Learning and Humility Lives Universally belov'd and his Conversation is coveted by all that have the happiness to know him But I take leave of the Reverend Mr. Iones that I may next shed a few Tears on the Grave of the most ingenious Mr. Davis for tho' he is dead and gone the service he did my Auction shall live as long as I can Write or Read he was Famous for a School-master and so Eminent for Preaching that his death was lamented by all that knew him and I may truly say of him Vixit post Funera Virtus I had not the happiness of once hearing this Extraordinary Preacher and I can't say I ever saw him but I am told by one that knew him well that if I have err'd in his Character 't is that I have said too little But tho' I can't do justice to his Personal Merits being wholly a stranger to him yet Mr. Wild tells me he was a true Friend to my Undertaking and therefore at leaving Dublin I ought to strew some Flowers on his Herse and thank his very Ashes for the kindness he did his unknown Admirer Leaving this Good Man asleep in his Grave I shall next take leave of the Reverend and truly Pious Dr. Iohn Stearn Minister of St. Nicholas-Church He is a most Excellent Preacher and as good a Liver This worthy Divine was my Friend not only in buying diverse Books for his own use but also in buying for others and so far was he from that ungenerous Temper not to call it worse of depriving me of Reasonable Rates that he would assure the Bidders such and such Books were good and a Pennyworth at such and such Rates as he inform'd them of neither was his Generous-Bidding for Books all the Favour I receiv'd from him I wou'd go on with this Gentlemans Character but that he 's too humble to hear it mentioned besides 't is very improper to tire my Friends at a parting Visit. I shall therefore here take leave of this Reverend Doctor and next step to the College where I have so many Farewels to make that I don't know where to begin nor where to end for I should here pay my acknowledgments to the Reverend Dr. Loyd Dr. Haâ—â— Mr. Gilbert Mr. Bawldwin Mr. Young c. These and several other Fellows of the College of Dublin did as their occasions serv'd generously Encourage my Auction as did divers others of inferiour Rank in the College to whom I here give my Parting thanks I might had I time take my leave of many more Worthy Clergy-men that were Encouragers of my Auction such as the Reverend Dean Trench Dean Sing Arch-Deacon Handcock Dr. Bolton Mr. Marsh Mr. Hemsworth Mr. Burridge Mr. Lucas Mr. Aspin Mr. Moulâ—ns Mr. Drury Mr. Vivian And here I would in a particular manner take my leave of Dean Francis for I wanted till now an opportunity to thank him for the Encouragement he gave my Auctions He makes an eminent Figure in the Church of Ireland and is too Great for me to attempt his Character but if any man does not know him let him go every Sunday morning to St. Michaels in High-street where hee 'l hear as Mr. Larkin and I did upon that Text And Foelix Trembled as much clear Reason Scripture and Divinity as ever was yet delivered in a Pulpit And those that go to this Church in the afternoon will find the same entertainment by my Learned Friend the Reverend Mr. Searl the present Lecturer But to proceed to the Character of Dean Francis His Piety is as Remarkable as his Preaching and his Charity as remarkable as either Mr. Feltham says A good Tongue never wanted Ears to hear it for my own share I must say that morning Mr. Larkin and I heard the Dean he preach'd in so refin'd a manner that I could ha' heard him with pleasure till night and my Friend as I found by the Remarks he made on the Sermon could gladly have heard him as long as I. I wou'd enlarge in the Dean's Character but that he was a Generous Buyer and as the case stands I think it proper to say little of the great Benefactors so I shall leave the Dean with humble thanks for the Favours he did me to pay a Visit and Farewel to my true Friend and great Benefactor the Reverend Mr. Searl he was a frequent Buyer at my Auction which I did not forget to acknowledge both at my Auction and afterwards at the Curragh where in my Ramble to Kilkenney I had the good Luck to meet him I had now and then the happiness
that if you were happy in his Assistance he was happy in your Iustice. Your design of going to Scotland I cannot say much to that Countrey has labour'd under discouragements as to Learning for many Years tho it does not want its proportion of Learned Men and some of them you know as the Lord Bishop of Salisbury to name no more make a great Figure in the World on that Account But as I am inform'd by the constant intercourse they have with London and Holland they are pretty well furnisht with Books and what they buy is generally of the Best Sort so that if you go thither you must have an Auction well pick'd for those that buy Books there are either the Chief of the Gentry who are generally Men of Good Breeding or the Richest of their Clergy with whom every thing will not go down that is greedily coveted by the Wits here And besides there are so many of their own Booksellers that come hither yearly that I question if you will find your account in going thither except you can afford Extraordinary Pennyworths You talk I perceive of going to Rome I hope you don't design to carry English Books there if you do you are likely to find a very discouraging Market and for Latin Books such as they value the Continent can furnish them cheaper than our Island But if you will go Reserve all the Trash and Stuff you can gâ—t for that Auction the worst that the London Booksellers Shops contains is good enough for the Whâ—re of Rome Having done with Patrick and the rest of the Scufflers in Dublin I perceive you now whet your Pen against T. F. and others of the same kidney in London It 's but Just that you should make Reprisals upon one to his Face who has been so Cowardly as to Attaque you behind your Back Envy they say looks Pale and that seems to be so much of T. F's quality that I am affraid all your Rhetorick won't be able to make him blush yet I am confident that upon Reading what you say of him he must needs have some Stings within or else his Case is worse than was that of either the first or second Spira The great Number of Books you have Printed may very well be allowed in part of an Apology for some Trash and I question whether any of your Adversaries have printed as many Good Books in proportion as you have done Your Ingenuous Confession that you don't approve of all you have Printed ought also to be allowed as another part of your defence and I think the practise of some of the Trade to print what they can get a Penny by may very well be allowed to Compleat it as far as the Case will admit of a defence and therefore whatever Rigid Casuists may do it ill becomes Book-sellers to hit any such thing in your Teeth Let him that is without Guilt in that Respect throw the first stone at you But I find T. F. is not the Man that must begin you have by a just Providence hit a Blot in his Escutchion by which I suppose you have him at Command and can Charge him with a down-right Cheat upon the World if he be not so wise as with Merry-Andrew on the Stage to Eat his Pudding and hold his Tongue What you say as to your General Practice in the Way of Dealing I conceive to be so Universally known that few will offer to contradict you Nor can any Man in Justice upbraid or be angry with you for disposing your Stock to the best advantage by Auction or otherwise These are but Snarles and the ordinary effects of Envy in ill Men who Grudge to see others thrive better than themselves I come now to your second Spira whereof you have given such a full and Satisfactory Account that I am of opinion no thinking Man can hence forward Entertain an ill thought of you upon that Head If it be a forgery it 's none of your making or contrivance nor is there a Bookseller in Town would have Refus'd the Copy upon the Like Information As to that Person who dealt so Basely with you and exclaimed against the Book tho he was so Eager to be a sharer in it your Reproof is so sharp and pungent and yet so true and just that if he have any Resentments within his breast or were ever accustomed to Reflect upon his own ways I should not much wonder that he became a true Subject for a second Spira himself if he allow'd his own Conscience a free Parley All that I can say further is this that you have laid it fairly at the Methodizers Door and that of I. S. the Divine who gave him the Information if they won't Vindicate themselves you were not in that oblig'd to bear them Company The Defence of your self on this Head was certainly Necessary and you have perform'd it so well that were any Friend of mine engaged in a Combat of the like Nature I could not tell where to recommend him to a better Second than your self You needed not have been at the trouble of such an Asseveration that this Defence is the product of your own Pen for I am satisfied every body that knows you will be ready enough to believe it SIR I am sorry that to the ill Treatment you have met with from Patrick Campbel you should have that of other unjust Men added who have Bought what they won't Pay for It is but just the Buâ—â—s and they should reckon when you are gone seeing they would not come to an account with your self I am glad however that they cannot plead your own Example as a President and that no Man can charge you with any thing you have not paid for Honesty is always Vniform and the same in Ireland as in England and therefore it is that the Provocations you have met with have not been able to make any change upon you or to influence you to return Evil for Evil. Your Grateful Remembrance of your Friends that incouraged your Auctions does in my opinion bespeak more of the Iustice of your Temper than of your digestedness of thought It had been sufficient to have named some of the most Eminent and to have included the rest with an c. Neither do I know how some of them may take it to have their Characters published in this method Modesty is a tender quality and will soon be offended The kindness of your heart must be your best Apology and to such as know you it will be excuse enough but you ought to have remembred that there 's something else in the old Proverb of Killing with Kindness than a meeâ— Pleasing It cannot however be supposed that you have any sordid design in these Encomiums now that your Auctions are over and that your next Ramble is design'd elswhere and therefore all that can be said for it is this That whereas some Men are troubled with an Over-flowing of the Gall you are troubled
or Reformed Officer who having no pay himself is not able to retain her Nay for any thing that I know She may be the Captain of Kirk 's Troop of Twenty Five that they say he had in that Countrey when so many of the Late King Iames's Atheists were sent to fight against their Brethren the Papists for I can hardly think a She-Cit of Dublin so well vers'd in Ovid de Arte Amandi as your Dorinda seems to be It 's true I might Fancy it were some Green-Sickness Nun that had gone a Catter-wawling from her Nunnery but then it comes into my mind that they are sufficiently provided by the Monks and Fryars for you have heard it was an Observation of Henry the 4 th of France many years ago That the Nunnery was the Barn and the Monks the Thrashers Then give me leave to add one Conjecture more Perhaps it might have been a Trap of Patrick's laying and that he had a mind to try what he could do by Women since he was not able to deal with you by Wit Had you been caught in the Snare there would have been subject of Triumph and there 's no reason to doubt but he would have Trumpeted your Fame This cannot be accounted Uncharitable if I understand the true Character of the Man for he that makes so bold with the last of the Ten Commandments as it appears Patrick has done cannot be suppos'd to have any great value for the other Nine But be that how it will I applaud your Conduct and think you acted the part of an Honest Man in returning such a Sharp and Pertinent Answer and the part of a Prudent Man in doing it with those Precautions You know I never Preach up Merit and therefore you will not be offended if I tell you That it was but your Duty I am not unsensible what many Men in your Circumstances would have pleaded in Excuse of complying with such a Proffer but you knew the danger of yielding to the Passion either of Revenge or Lust none but Weak Men and Fools are Slaves to those Tyrannical Masters Besides the Reward of a Good Conscience your Courage in this Affair will enhaunce your Value to your Family at Home or at least it ought to do so if they be not condemned to perpetual Ingratitude I am the more Confirm'd in my Thoughts that it was a Snare laid for your Reputation when I consider your way of carrying your self the plainness of your Habit and the influence which your Illness and late Scuffle must needs have had upon your outside and especially that the Letter was directed to your Auction-Room for if the design had taken then there would have been ground for Patrick to have Libell'd you in the Irish Flying Post and to have call'd it an Assignation-Room for Strumpets instead of an Auction-Room for Books which would have effectually hinder'd any Mans frequenting it who had but the least value for his Reputation This is all I shall say at present and conclude with my hearty Wishes that you may still continue a Conquerour over your own Passions as well as over your unjust Enemies I am SIR Your Sincere Friend and Well-wisher The Twelfth Letter SIR YOU are so very obliging and happy in your Remarks and Advice that I make bold to trouble you again with my second Letter to the Irish Dorinda I thought it my Duty not to let Her pass without a severer Reproof the Copy of which I here send you to satisfie you how abominable such Crimes are in my Eyes and that I took the most effectual Method I could to prevent a second Attempt of that Nature upon me I am what I always was SIR Your very humble and much obliged Servant John Dunton To Dorinda I Hope you have received my First which because I think not severe enough I send you a Second You see I reject your Courtship as I would shake off a Toad or a Snake that should Crawl upon me for I look upon your Poyson to be worse than theirs Yet because I would not be altogether ungrateful for that which you proffer'd me under the Notion of a Kindness I send you as a suitable present a Treatise of Fornication and a Book call'd God's Iudgments against Whoredom both which were Printed for me I recommend them to your serious Perusal they may through God's Assistance be instrumental to Reform you and at the same time to satisfie you that you mistook your Man when you directed your Billet Doux to me Yet I know not but there may be a Providence in it for you see my Auction affords proper Remedies for your Distemper and I am so generous as to send you them Gratis You must Pardon me however if in my Applications I do something resemble the Quack that is to say if I prescribe Physick without seeing the Patient because I remember Solomon says Go not by the Door of the Harlot less she intice thee that none but Fools follow such and that the Way to her House is the Way to Hell and Death That the Mouth of a strange Woman is a deep Pit and that none but those who are abhorr'd of the Lord shall fall into it I wish you would be at the Pains to Read the fifth and seventh Chapters of the Proverbs You who are Ladies of Pleasure use to Converse much with your Looking-Glass and I will assure you that there is the best Mirror you can make use of it will exactly shew you all your Spots and Patches I doubt not but you are troubled with all the Infectious Distempers that attend those of your Trade and seeing the best way to cure Ulcers is to Lance them well read this Treatise of Fornication it may prove of Soveraign use or if you find it makes your Wounds smart too much apply the softer Remedy of the Book of God's Iudgments against Whoredom which being Historical may please you better perhaps and be no less Effectual for working your Cure To make the Pacquet compleat I likewise send you another Medicine call'd Concubinage and Polygamy displayed which is an Answer to a Parson one Mr. Butler who fell out with his Wife and in with his Maid and therefore muster'd up all the Arguments he could in Defence of the more Genteel Practise of keeping Misses Which you will here find solidly answer'd and condemn'd but much more your own abominable Practise which seems by your Letter to be that of a common Prostitute or next a kin to it I would offer a few Arguments if it were possible to reclaim you and therefore would pray you to consider that Vncleanness dishonours your Body makes you despicable in the Eyes of all Men nay ev'n of those that haunt you so that your usual Reward is an infamous Name Loathsome Diseases Extream Poverty and an End suitable to such a vile way of Living Then it damns your Soul makes you uncapable of receiving any good Advice destroys the Peace of your Family if
one of the Gentlemans Daughters who walked in her Sleep every Night which was at last discover'd by a Stranger 's having Courage enough to lie in the Room said to be haunted This naturally led us in the fourth place to talk of Apparitions and here Mr. Harman ask'd me what I thought of a Spectrum's assuming a Humane Shape I assur'd him they might and to confirm this told him the Story of one Ioseph Chambers who appeard to Mary Gossam with whom I was well acquainted in that very Night-Cap which she put upon his Head when she had laid him out This Story of Chambers appearing after his Death led Mr Larkin to tell another of an Apparision he had seen in Staffordshire in his Youth which he thought had been a living Woman till he saw it vanish adding That he look'd upon the denying of Spirits and their appearing to Persons after Death to be the next degree to Atheism After about two hours spent in such agreeable Conversation we took our leave of Mr. Harman Who is a Gentleman of a fine Presence and of a most sweet and affable Temper He is now in the Bloom and Beauty of his Youth and his great Ingenuity and close Application to his Study do justly render him the growing hopes of his Father's Family and may in time to come render him an Ornament to the College I am afraid Madam I shall tire you with this tedious Relation of my Visits but I hope your Goodness will pardon me for 't is necessary to be thus particular that I may silence the lying Tongue of Patrick Campbel who has had the Impudence to say That I kept Company in Dublin with none but a Kennel of Scoundrels Whereas you see by the Visits I made That I was not acquainted with one Scoundrel in Dublin except himself and the Brass in Copper-Allcy This naturally brings me to acquaint your Ladyship That among those I Employ'd to bind up Books for my Auction I had to do with one that I call Brass a Man poor and Proud unacquainted with Honour or good Manners to supply the want of which he is well furnished with Conceit and Impudence Being thus qualified he was look'd upon by St. Patrick as a fit Tool for him and accordly chosen for his Auctioneer though he knew not how to read the Title of a Latin Book But the Gentlemen of Dublin who had been genteely treated with Wit and Sense at my Auction by Mr. Wilde could not bear with the gross Ignorance of a Brass Hammer so that Patrick was forc'd to discard him in a Weeks time and put a better Man in his Place This Brass knowing the necessity I was under of having my Books bound in order to sale resolves to make me pay a rate for Binding not only beyond what was given in London but even beyond what was given by the Booksellers of Dublin I found Madam I was in his hands and remember'd the Proverb That he that 's in a Boat with the Devil must land where he can There was a Necessity of having my Books bound and I was forc'd to comply with his unreasonable Rates How this consisted with Iustice and Equity I leave you to judge but those were things Brass never troubled his Head about for when he brought me in his Bill he over-charg'd even his own unreasonable Agreement which I refus'd to pay but offer'd to refer it to one Mr. Servant a Binder in Golden-lane with whom I had made the same agreement as I did with him but Servant being a very honest man Brass refus'd to have the thing decided by him because then he was sure 't would go against him And therefore this Fellow who for his Impudence I call the Brass in Copper-Alley serves me with a Token from the Lord Mayor to appear before him which I accordingly did as I formerly hinted in p. 104. of the Dublin Scuffle and having told his Lordship what I had offer'd he was pleas'd to say It was a very fair Proposal I made him and so dismiss'd us both which was all he got by his Two-penny Token Having done with this Scoundrel to use St. Patrick's Phrase I will next give you an Abstract of Mr. Servant's Character who though of the same Function is the direct Antipodes to the Brass of Copper-Alley this being as eminent for Honesty fair Dealing Truth and Iustice as the other is for Pride Conceit and Ignorance But Mr. Servant's Reputation does not need a Foil to set it off For he is well known in Dublin to be all that I here say But I shall add to the good Character he has already that I never met with a more scrupuâ—ous or conscientious Man in my whole Life he 's punctual to his word in the smallest matters and one that manages all his Affairs with Discretion Courteous and affable in his Conversation and ready to do every one what good he can In short his Life is the Exemplar of a Christians Practice But leaving Thomas c. hard at work for he 's a very industrious Man My next Visit shall be to Mr. Iey and Eminent Lawyer in Dublin He was a Benefactor to my Auction and my very sincere Friend And to say the Truth whatever the Lawyers are in other Countries yet in Ireland they are the best Gentlemen and the best Christians From hence to close the Evening I went to take a Dish at Patt's who is a fair-condition'd Man and very obliging to all his Customers Loving to do business without making a noise on 't 'T was here I sometimes met with Mr. Pitts an honest and ingenious Attorney a Man of good Worth and unblemish'd in his Reputation Madam he talks finely dresses his Thoughts in curious Language and has good Nature in his very Looks he is a true lover of the present Government and a brave Assertor of English Liberties in opposition to Popery and Slavery I wou'd say more of the ingenious Pitts but that I shall meet him again in my Summer Ramble Madam just as I left Patts I met with my worthy and ingenious Friend Dr. Wood Physician in Kilkenny with whom and Dr. Smith I spent some agreeable Hours of which expect a fuller Account in the conclusion of this Letter and also in my Summer Ramble where you 'll also meet the Discourse I had with a Gentleman about the Earl of Meath's Hunting Pigg which will be very diverting And now Madam as your several Directions to me inform'd you of the changing of my Lodgings so I think it proper here to give you my Reasons for so doing My first Lodging was at a Counsellors in Wine-Tavern-street who being in some danger of overtaking the Law for he had out-ran his own Practice left his House and as 't is suppos'd the Kingdom too Yet I must say ' As to his Conversation he 's a Gentleman tho' under a Cloud and sings I 'll find out a kinder a better than she beyond any Man in Christendom
'em all as Places I must quickly leave which made 'em all indifferent to me but cou'd I have enjoy'd Valeria there I shou'd have given the Preference to Mr. Orson's his curious Gardens being very delightful and his House a private Country-Seat Thus Madam I have given you a brief Account of my way of Living in Dublin with which had I had Valeria's ' batying Company I shou'd have thought my self very happy for through the Divine Goodness bating my first fit of Sickness I enjoy'd a competent measure of Health those other Indispositions I sometimes met with serv'd only as Memento's to put me in mind of preparing for another Wâ—rld and even under them I was chearful and well contented having tho not exempt from humane Infirmities no guilt of any wilful Sin lying on my Conscience so that all troublesome Thoughts were banish'd from my Breast and I pass'd away my Life with great Delight And now being pretty well I had a mind to ramble into the Country for a little Conversation among the Irish of which more anon and to view the Cabins Manners and Customs c. of the dear Ioyes but the Company I met in Dublin was so agreeable I cou'd not presently leave it and which made it yet the more delightful after my Recovery I sometimes convers'd with Counsellor Kairns Counsellor Stevens Mr. Bourn Mr. Bosworth Mr. Crawcroft Men eminent for Piety Wisdom Learning and all other Vertues by whose Conversation I improv'd my own Understanding and found that the knowledge of my own Ignorance was a great step towards being a good Proficient in the School of Wisdom When I cou'd not have such Company I gave my self to Reading some useful Book or other the Bible having always the preference and afterwards to writing my American Travels and Summer Ramble both which I begun and finish'd in Ireland I enjoy'd also especially when I lay at Mr. Orson's the Pleasure of walking in a delightful Garden well furnish'd with the most curious Herbs and Flowers whose various Colours delighted my Eye and their Fragrancy my Smell Besides which I had the Satisfaction of a lovely Prospect Southwards towards the City of Dublin I had the silent Murmurs of the River Lyffee in my way Westward I had a full view of Kilmanum Hospital which at that distance being seated on the summit of a Hill was a very agreeable Prospect To the Northwards or rather the Northwest I had the pleasant sight of a Village call'd Kabragh which was pretty near and at a greater distance the fine Town of Finglass seated on a Hill where I had a noble Prospect of the Sea and of all the Ships in the Harbor of Dublin Sometimes I wou'd walk down from my Lodging to the River-side which was not a Mile from it where the pleasant Rills of running Water were extream delightful At other times I wou'd walk through those green Meadows from the end of Stony-batter to the Kaâ—ragh which is a Village about a Mile from my Lodging full of stately Trees which gives a pleasing shade and delightful Prospect From whence as I came back I had the Sea and Harbour directly in my View And sometimes Madam I walk to Chappel-Izod to visit the Lord Clonuff who is President of the Illustrious House of Cabinteelee and confers Honours as freely as a Prince tho' with more Ceremony than those of the Round-Table During the time of my last being there he created no less than Four Noble-Men of which the Duke of Frâ—om was one the Marquess of Swan-Castle carrying the Sword and assisting at the Ceremony but more of this in my Summer Ramble where you 'll have the History of my Lord Clonuff at large with a merry Account of the Original of the House of Cabinteeiee and the Honours the President has conferr'd with an exact List of the Nobility created by the said President Sometimes I wou'd for my Diversion ride out a few Miles either to Santry Swords or Mallahide a Place as Eminent as Billinsgaie for Peoples going to eat Oysters there And that which made these little Iourneys more delightful was that I had now though at a distance the Sea within my view which I like well enough on shore but not on board for I am always sick on the Ocean Sometimes I walk along the Strand up to Clantarff which when the Tide is in is very pleasant and the next day perhaps I take a Ramble to Donnibroeâ— Dumcondrah Repharnum Palmerstown and whither else my Fancy leads me And sometimes I went to the Dublin Bowling-Green perhaps the finest in Europe either to divert my self by Playing or look on those that did where I have seen the Gentlemen screwing their Bodies inâ— o more Antick Postures than Proteâ—s ever knew as if they thought the Bowl wou'd run that way they screw'd their Bodies and many times wou'd curse it when it did not And while I thus look'd on I cou'd not but reflect how like the Iack is to the World which most men covet with the greatest Earnestness but very few obtain And when sometimes I saw a Bowl play'd by a skilful hand lye very near her it has in one small Moment by the unlucky knock of a succeeding Bowl lain at the greatest distance from it and others have in the sâ—me instance been laid by the Jack that never thought of it just so 't is with the things of the World some that with Toil and Industry have gotten an Estate by one or other unforeseen Disaster have in a Moment lost it all when some perhaps that never expected it by the same Accident that quite undid the other were made Rich. So sickle are Riches which as the Wise Man tells us Make themselves Wings and fly away At other times I have gone further off and visited some of the Irish Cities and the first I rambled to was Kilkenny where I was introduc'd to the Acquaintance of my worthy and ingenious Friend Dr. Wood by the following Letter written by an Eminent Person in Dublin and which I 'll insert here not out of vain Glory for the Praises he gives me shews that his Love had blinded his Iudgment but that your Ladyship might the better see by that Inquisitive Temper which he found in me what variety you are like to have in my Summer Ramble The Letter I deliverd to Dr. Wood from my Friend in Dublin was this following viz. Dear Doctor THE Bearer hereof Mr. Dunton is my Friend and as such you will look upon him as a very good and honest Gentlemâ—n he goes to your Town to look about him and see the place for some days I pray oblige me so far as to let him have your Assistance to see the Castle and such other things as his Curiosity leads him to for he is an inquisitive Person and a Man not unâ—it for Travel All the Favours you do him shall be thankfully acknowledg'd as done to Dublin Septemb. 12. 1698. Your Humble Servant c. This Letter
din'd with I assure my self those Mâ—n 〈◊〉 the Model of their Conversation from London with a little addition of their own Native Vanity unless they are much alter'd from what I knew 'em I take 'em generally to be all acted by a Romantick Honour and every Man of what Rank or Quality soever takes upon him as much as he can the Meen and Equipage Living and Eating of the Nobility especially of those that come from England Even Swearing and Prophaneness they mistake for great Vertues when observ'd in Men of that Rank without considering that the Vice of Swearing springs from a base and vulgar Education who wanting Language to express the vehemence of their Passions have contracted an ill habit of supplying the want of Truth and Eloquence with Oaths If Persons of Quality ever give so barbarous an Example 't is when they are leaâ—t themselves either transported with Pride Passion or Wine But whoever they are that do it they show a very shallow Capacity and weak Apprehension of the dreadful Majesty of God and however he may perhaps please himself with his own Conceit of his Wit and Parts he may be Justly branded with the Name of Fool which Solomon wisely gives to all that fear not God Your often returns from Bnsiness to Retirement was a Priviledge of being a Stranger and far from your Family and Relations I can't be Judge of the Pleasure you found in Montaigns Essays having never read it I heard it once commended by a Man in Reputation for Wit but not so much for Vertue which moved my Curiosity the less and having all I desire in the Port-Royal I confine my self to a very few Books I envy not your Trip to your Auction I have had some of that Pleasure of observing Bidders for Books upon my own Account but wanting your Skill came far short of your Satisfaction Your Recollection of your Actions how hard soever to others is very â—asie to you who remember so exactly all you say and do If you as strictly observe the Motives from whence they spring and view your Actions in a true Light such a Method of Examination constantly used will bring you to all the Perfection attainable in this Life The Divine Contemplation you have so ready upon the sight of every proper Object must needs dispel as you own all melancholly Vapours for the aspiring of the Soul to Heaven brings Heaven to it and by that Light shall best discern its own Defects and Gods Perfections and in a manner transform it into Ioy and Love You give the Characters of several honest Men and one good Wife I suppose you take 'em for some of the Rarities of that City the Places you describe are unknown to me I never took the pains to see 'em and if I had perhaps my own Observation would have come short of your pleasant Description I am little fond of pleasing my sight wherever I live my House and Garden limits my Curiosity which is the Reason I am as much a Stranger to Ireland as those that never were there I am much delighted with the Account you give of the Church and State and am perfectly perswaded my Lord Galway justly deserves the high Character you give him in every respect and sure much of the present Happiness of that Kingdom is owing to his wise Conduct and great Example of Vertue and Piety to my knowledge there 's nothing like it for those People there who live by no Rule but Imitation and the severest Laws would have much less effect on 'em then his obliging Condesention I wonder what 's become of all the Iacobites There are some for certain but not so bare-fac'd perhaps in such a Government as to be noted of Strangers 'T is also matter of great Joy to hear the Bishops and Clergy perform their parts with so much Charity and Condesention to the Dissenters as gives 'em occasion to commend their Moderation and Piety It were much to be wish'd that all our unhappy Differences might be consumed in Flames of Charity and Ireland as much as it has been despised might have the honour to set us that great Example then as that good Prelate Bishop Hall advis'd we should have Peace with all but Rome and Hell 'T is observable there are no Places where Care is so effectually taken to suppress Popery as where they abound most and are best known which may be the reason that in Ireland they have in that point out-done us here It would be a great Pleasure to me to think as you do that the Romish Religion were on its last Legs in Ireland and sure nothing is more likely to produce that effect then those Methods they have taken or which would better secure the Rebellion of that Kingdom beyond all the suppressing Laws for while there are Papists to improve every failing or miscarriage in the Rulers and every defect or weakness in the Capacities of the People to the raising such appearances to delude 'em as may serve to the promoting their own Interest and Religion nothing can be expected but Rebellion and Mischief but they who have the ART OF LIVING INCOGNITO How is it possible to be sure they are rid of 'em as hard to know as their great Patron the Devil when transform'd into an Angel of Light No I have no hopes from the rigor of any Laws made against 'em all my hopes is that as that adulterous Church has liv'd so long she is now grown old and ugly the time is coming that all her Lovers will hate her tear her Flesh and burn her City with Fire all things seem to be preparing for her Execution notwithstanding the French Kings Persecution and who knows but the Pope's mournful Iubilee may not be a Prognostication of it That old Father Kereen I believe I have heard of there was such an one lived at Athlone who used to say he could lay a Spirit for seven year and then again for seven more tho' I am of Opinion they are never wanting to contrive some Impostor when necessary to shew their Power and to delude the People and keep up their Credulity and Superstition Yet I believe as well that they are able to do it when ever there is any real Occasion for it they are many of 'em Men of much Thought and Retirement only designd for the promoting the Kingdom of Satan he can't deny his Assistance for the carrying on his own Work and no question teaches 'em the way he will be dealt with 't is a great Happiness for the poor People to be rid of such Ghostly Fathers their Superstition once cur'd may probably secure 'em from those Miseries The Church you went to where there was Musick gives much opportunity of gazing the Mind having the least part in that Service of all the rest it seems to me you should have had more reason to have yielded to the Eastern Custom of separating the Women from the Men had the Women appeared more
forbid relieving Beggars at Random meerly to be rid of their Noise and Clamour and ways found out to employ the Charity of well-disposed Persons to the good and benefit of the Town and Country where they live that the truly Poor may find Persons to apply to for Relief who both knows them and their Wants Such a Law and the careful Execution of it would deserve the Parliaments Care as much perhaps as any other they can pretend to bless the Nation with and thus the publick Charity secured there is more liberty for the private of which the charitable Persons themselves takes so slight account their left hand scarce knows what their right hand does so many and various are the occasions of Charity they are ingaged in consisting in many different ways of doing good as in lending Money or Goods and not exacting the Payment where the Persons are not in a Condition to pay in forgiving Wrongs and Injuries concealing and bearing with Infirmities in Advice and Admonishing in a word in every thing in which we can assist ones Neighbour tho' with some difficulty and hardship to ones self Your Character of Ireland in Verse is very fine and just but I shall shorten my Reflections upon your Prose Character 't is not a Subject I love to dwell upon perhaps the moisture of the Air may contribute much to their flegm and sloth but I suppose 't is the contempt in which the Government holds 'em that is the cause of their brutality sure if it were thought worth their Pains they are as capable of being civiliz'd as the other barbarous Nations who have been brought to Christianity You talk of Priests for their Conductors sure they must have been Priests of Dan that had so well instructed those People for I perceive the best among 'em that live in Cities excell only in fashionable Villanies I am inclin'd to think your Friend Wilde deserves to the full all the Glories of his Character both as to his Vertues and natural Endowments to be as you affirm of him the same good Man in all Events and a fit Companion for the nicest Christian adâ— to this his great Love to the present Government These are all Vertues of no common size yet 't is very possible he may fail of that Reward you expect for him in time and meet a more ample Reward in a Place where Time shall have nothing to do nor can he lose by that even in this World for Vertue is its own Reward and End 'T is a surprizing Character you give of Doctor Phoenix I know not whether such another will spring out of his Ashes To be modest and humble ascribing all his Success to God and to impart his Skill to the Poor for Charity are Vertues the generality of our Physitians are Strangers to and tho' they pretend to rail at Quacks they have both one aim which is more at their Patients Purses and their own Fame and Reputations than the Health and Recovery the sick Party gives their Money for Tho' I acknowledge the force of Imagination to be very great I can't conceive how two such Persons should be so transported as one to fancy the Story and the other the Circumstances to support it nor is there any thing incredible in the whole Relation attested by two such Persons as you represent 'em The Lady's Courage was the most surprising part of the Story but I confess it would neither confirm or destroy the Doctrine of Baptizing Children with me as I believe it was the Devil what he teaches is of little weight his Policies are so refined 't is hard to guess at his Designs but to be sure his intent is always to deceive and then most certainly when he most contradict his own Interest I wonder at the Dean's so slightly imputing it to the force of Imagination unless he 's of the same Mind with a Minister I once discoursed with who deny'd the Devils Power to possess any Persons Notwithstanding many Instances I alledged out of the New Testament he affirm'd all those were only Lunaticâ—s I was much surpriz'd at such an audaciousness against such plain Scripture Cou'd I find the like for Souls entering into Bodies after they have cast 'em off I should not generally impute all Apparitions to the Devil as I do Not that I believe they enter into Bodies to appear in but that we only are deceived with the appearance of a Body for in this case the Persons had been dead so long their Bodies must needs be corrupted I believe as well in some special occasions God sends his Angels still as he did formerly in humane Shapes to warn or protect his Servants from some dangers but not to take upon 'em the Persons of the Dead to teach or confirm any point of Faith or Doctrine I never found any thing in Scripture to countenance such an Opinion If Imagination had such a Power over the Lady as the Dean pretended to think to save his giving Sentence in a case so difficult tho' who knows but he did believe so in reality that pretty Robin had been a subject proper to delude her having Qualities so much above his kind I wish when the Bird dies the Devil don't take its shape and visit the Lady again she gave him so kind an Entertainment in the Person of her Vncle. Libraries appear much greater in the Eyes of the World in my Opinion then indeed they are we think we have a great Treasure there of the Thoughts of Men but the multitude of those Thoughts shews the weakness of ' em What need so much be said If they were all agreed upon the Truth one Demonstration would reduce all the rest to silence and bring Knowledge to a much narrower Compass I take that to be the Curse that belong'd to the Soul of Man that as his Body was condemn'd to labour and the Earth at the same time to bring forth Thornes and Thistles so his Mind should have a continual thirst and desire after Knowledge and be constantly deceiv'd with appearances Yet what can be more proper to humble Man for his first Presumption when it brings him at last to see and acknowledge his own Weakness and Ignorance and to find after all his Pains in humane Learning there 's no true Knowledge but that which David found in the study of Gods Law which made him wiser than the Aged I hope you will not be startled at this stupendious temerity of a foolish Woman 't is my sence which I have your leave to own upon every occasion you give me and I find some countenance to this Opinion in the first Volume of the Port Royal. But whatever I think of the vast Curiosity of Books and Libraries I am no Enemy to the Studious for I allow fine Buildings and Gardens can't be better bestow'd than on such the labours of the Mind require that Pleasure it goes as far as any thing that 's humane towards the inspiring great and noble