II. To that part of the numerous body of BOOKSELLERS of Great Britain and Ireland, whofe conduct JUSTLY claims the additional title of RESPECTABLE; Whofe candour and liberality he has in numerous inftances experienced, and feels a fenfible pleasure in thus publicly acknowledging : And lastly, (though not least in Fame,) III. .. "To thofe fordid, and malevolent BOOKSELLERS, whether they refplendent dwell in ftately manfions, or in wretched huts of dark and groveling obfcurity ;.. -I'll give every one a smart lash in my way.” To whofe affiduous and unwearied labours to injure his reputation with their brethren and the Public, he is in a confiderable degree indebted for the confidence repofed in him, and the fuccefs he has been honoured with, productive of his pres fènt profperity. THESE MEMOIRS, are, with all due difcrimination of the respective merits of each, Infcribed by THE AUTHOR To print or not to print this is the question? The quirks and crotchets of outrageous fancy, For who would bear the impatient thirft of fame, To groan and fweat under a load of wit? 'Tis Critics that make cowards of us all. CUSTOM, JAGO. it has been repeatedly obferved by many of my worthy. (and fome perhaps unworthy. prodeceffors in authorfhip, has rendered a preface aintat indifpenfably ne ceffary; while others again, have as frequently re marked, that "cuftom is the law of fools." Those confiderations induced me to hefitate whether I fhould ufher my performance into the world with a preface, and thus hazard being claffed with the adherents to that law, or by omitting it, efcape the opprobrium; for Who fhall decide when doctors disagree? POMFRET. Now, though I would not take upon me to decide in every point in which doctors difagree, yet, after giving the prefent fubject that mature confideration which fo important a concern required, I thought myfelf fully competent to decide, if not to general fatisfaction, at leaft fo as fully to fatisfy one particular perfon, for whom I profefs to have a very great regard, though perhaps few are to be found who would be equally condefcending to him: who that perfon is I do not wifh publicly to declare, as (being a very modeft man) it might offend him. I fhall only fay, the more you read the Memoirs contained in the following pages, the better you will become acquainted with him. I ground my decifion on thefe arguments: I concluded, as most of my brethren of the quill do of their labours, that my performance poffeffed fo much intrinfic merit, as would occafion it to be univerfally admired by all good judges, as a prodigious effort of human genius; and that this approbation must naturally excite the envy of fome authors, who had not met with that high applaufe they deemed themfelves entitled to, and incline them to fearch for imperfections in my work and though I was perfuaded of the impoffibility of their finding any, yet being thus foiled, they might catch at the want of a preface, and conftrue that into an omiffion; fo that, in order to difarm them, I refolved to have one, efpecially as thofe who deem prefaces unneceffary may, if they chufe, decline ⋅ reading it; whilft thofe on the other fide of the queftion, if there was none, might be difappointed, and have caufe for complaint. But to be ferious (if I can :) Almost every author, on producing the effufions of his pen (and his brain, if he has any), thinks it pru"dent to introduce himself by a kind of Prologue, as it may be called, stating his reasons, with due precifion, for intruding himself on his readers (whether true or otherwife, is not always material to enquire) befpeaking their candour towards his weakneffes and imperfections (which, by the bye, few are so fenfible of as their readers) and not unfrequently endeavouring to footh thofe GOLIAHS in literature, ycleped Critics, (with whom not many little Davids are hardy enough to contend) hoping thus to coax them into good humour; or, perhaps, if his vanity preponderates, he throws the gauntlet of defiance, with a view of terrifying them either to hold their peace, or to do juftice to thofe mighty abilities be is confident he poffeffes in a degree eminently fuperior to most of his brethren. 66 Among true Parnaffian bullies" De Scudery, ftands one of the foremost; he concludes his preface to the works of his friend Theophile, with these remarkable words: "I do not hesitate to declare, that amongst all the dead and all the living, there is no... B. 3. perfon perfon who has any thing to fhew, that approaches the force of this vigorous genius; but if amongst the - latter, any one were fo extravagant as to confider that I detract from his imaginary glory, to fhew him that I fear as little as I efteem him, this is to inform him that my name is DE SCUDERY." We have another remarkable inftance in Claude Terllon, a poetical foldier, who begins his poems, by informing the critics, that, "if any one attempts to cenfure him, he will only condefcend to answer him fword in hand." For my own part, I disclaim thefe modes: convinced, that in the first cafe, every reader, whatever the author may plead, will judge for himfelf. To profeffed critics I will repeat the following lines "Think, at your bar, no old offender stands, "Us'd to difpute and fpurn at your commands ;- "To write by your's, or Aristotle's rules. And were I fo difpofed, neither my natural or acquired abilities enable me to bully those who must be very ill qualified for their task, if they were thus to be intimidated from declaring their real fentiments. and, on the other hand, to affect a degree of humi lity, and by flattery to aim at warping their minds, is, in my opinion, paying them a very bad compliment: fo I will only quote for them four lines more of poetry : "Critics, forgive this first essay "Of one whofe thoughts are plain, Never fhould I have ventured to appear in this habit before the Public, had not the following motives urged me thereto : Many of my acquaintances have frequently expreffed a defire of obtaining from myself fuch parti culars as they could rely on, of my paffage thro' life. I have even been repeatedly threatened by fome particular friends, that if I declined drawing up a narrative, they were determined to do it for me. One of the first mentioned gentlemen prevailed on me (as the the most likely mode to bring it to a period) to devote now and then a fpare hour in minuting down fome of the moft material occurrences of my life, and to fend them to him in an epiftolary form, intending to digeft the whole into a regular narrative for publication: that gentleman, however, on perufal, was of opinion, that it would be additionally acceptable to the curious part of the public, if exhibited to them in the plain and fimple manner in which thefe Letters were written, as thus tending to difplay fuch traits and features of a fomewhat original character, and give a more perfect idea of " I, great I, the little hero of each tale," than any other mode that could have been adopted; efpecially, as many intelligent perfonswere confident I could not write at all, while others kindly attributed to me what I never wrote. Then think, "That he who thus is forc'd to speak, "Unless commanded, would have died in filence." If, among the multitude of Memoirs under which the prefs has groaned, and with which it still continues to be tortured, the following sheets should afford fome degree of entertainment, as a relaxation from more grave and folid ftudies, to an inquifitive and candid reader (those of an oppofite defcription are. not to be pleafed with the ableit performance) and he fhould deem it not the worst, nor the most expenfive among the numerous tribe, I fhall efteem myself amply rewarded. Had I; however, been difpofed to be more attentive to entertainment, and lefs to veracity, I might, to many, have rendered it much more agreeable, though lefs fatisfactory to myfelf, as I believe the obfervation long fince made to be just, that few books are fo ill written, but that fomething may be gleaned from the perufal. Dr. Johnfon ufed to fay, that he preferred Granger's Biographical History of England, because it abounded with fuch a variety of anecdotes; I hope that my Life will have fome admirers for the fame reafon. Pineda has quotted 5000 authors in his Ecclcfiaftical History. Burton, in his Anatomy of Melancholy, is alfo remarka quoting a number of authors; and.' B vie for ́t you confider the |