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diff --git a/37517.txt b/37517.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fdc8c0c --- /dev/null +++ b/37517.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2454 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Notorious Impostor and Diego Redivivus, by +Elkanah Settle + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Notorious Impostor and Diego Redivivus + +Author: Elkanah Settle + +Editor: Spiro Peterson + +Release Date: September 23, 2011 [EBook #37517] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOTORIOUS IMPOSTOR, DIEGO REDIVIVUS *** + + + + +Produced by David Starner and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY + + +ELKANAH SETTLE +THE NOTORIOUS IMPOSTOR +(1692) + +DIEGO REDIVIVUS +(1692) + + +Introduction by +Spiro Peterson + + +Publication Number 68 + + +Los Angeles +William Andrews Clark Memorial Library +University of California + + + + +GENERAL EDITORS + + RICHARD C. BOYS, _University of Michigan_ + RALPH COHEN, _University of California, Los Angeles_ + VINTON A. DEARING, _University of California, Los Angeles_ + LAWRENCE CLARK POWELL, _Clark Memorial Library_ + + +ASSISTANT EDITOR + + W. EARL BRITTON, _University of Michigan_ + + +ADVISORY EDITORS + + EMMETT L. AVERY, _State College of Washington_ + BENJAMIN BOYCE, _Duke University_ + LOUIS BREDVOLD, _University of Michigan_ + JOHN BUTT, KING'S COLLEGE, _University of Durham_ + JAMES L. CLIFFORD, _Columbia University_ + ARTHUR FRIEDMAN, _University of Chicago_ + LOUIS A. LANDA, _Princeton University_ + SAMUEL H. MONK, _University of Minnesota_ + ERNEST C. MOSSNER, _University of Texas_ + JAMES SUTHERLAND, _University College, London_ + H. T. SWEDENBERG, JR., _University of California, Los Angeles_ + + +CORRESPONDING SECRETARY + + EDNA C. DAVIS, _Clark Memorial Library_ + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The great English novel of the eighteenth century was developed out of +the long established traditions in the essay, letter, religious +treatise, biography and personal memoir. Although this influence has +been generally acknowledged, the critical investigation of its exact +nature has often been hampered by the lack of readily available texts. +Especially is this true of the criminal biographies written in the late +seventeenth century. The reprinting of Elkanah Settle's _The Notorious +Impostor_ (Part One) and the anonymous _Diego Redivivus_ is thus +justified as providing the means for the further study of the early +fiction-writer's techniques. Published In 1692, the two pamphlets +belong to a group of five closely-related narratives dealing with a +real criminal named William Morrell. In the probable order of their +publication, these were _Diego Redivivus_, _The Notorious Impostor_ +(Part One), _The Second Part of the Notorious Impostor_, "_William +Morrell's_ Epitaph" in _The Gentleman's Journal_, and _The Compleat +Memoirs of the Life of that Notorious Impostor Will. Morrell_. The +different accounts forcefully demonstrate how criminal fiction allied +itself with both biography and the picaresque. In addition, _The +Notorious Impostor_ serves as a representative work by Elkanah Settle +whose criminal biographies have never received the attention they +deserve.[1] + +The combination of fact and fiction in the William Morrell narratives +had been tried earlier in Settle's first known criminal biography, _The +Life and Death of Major Clancie, the Grandest Cheat of this Age_ +(1680). Like Bunyan's _Mr. Badman_, advertised in the same issue of +_The Term Catalogues_ (I, 382), _Major Clancie_ purports to narrate +"Real matter of Fact." Thus, in the background, significant historical +events, from the Irish Rebellion to the Great Fire, are being enacted. +Important English worthies--Lord Ormonde, Bishop Compton, Charles +II--become entangled in the villainies of the Major, an actual Irish +criminal. None of this historical backdrop is to be found, however, in +_The Notorious Impostor_; and the characters here, although Sir William +Walters and Humphrey Wickham were well-known local personages, are not +historically eminent. The picaresque in _Major Clancie_, too, is more +readily identifiable than in _The Notorious Impostor_. For, contrary to +its stated aim, the biography of Clancie is more fiction than fact. +Anthony Wood, noting the fictional elaborations, remarked: "Several +stories in this book which belong to other persons are fathered on the +said major; who, as I remember, was in Oxon in the plague year 1665 +when the king and the queen kept their respective courts there."[2] +Wood then contributes a few of his own pungent stories about the Major, +which have no counterparts in Settle's narrative. Where the two writers +provide parallel accounts, the "fiction" appears to be based on a +substratum of truth surviving in anecdotes. Settle's verisimilitude had +an effect upon Theophilus Lucas's _Memoirs of the Lives, Intrigues, and +Comical Adventures of the Most Famous Gamesters and Celebrated +Sharpers_ (1714), which begins with a condensed version of _The Life +and Death of Major Clancie_.[3] Lucas presents his account as if it +were a true memoir. + + +_The Notorious Impostor_ was to experience a similar acceptance as a +memoir. All modern biographical accounts of its villain-hero, William +Morrell,[4] are based on the two separate parts of _The Notorious +Impostor_ or _The Compleat Memoirs_. On January 3, 1692, he had died, a +criminal at large; and the strange circumstances of his death became +the talk of London. While the event was still a sensation, the +bookseller Abel Roper rushed his "last will and testament" lives into +print. The first to appear was _Diego Redivivus_, reprinted here from +the rare copy at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. Evidence +for the publication of _Diego Redivivus_ before _The Notorious +Impostor_ is fairly conclusive. _The Registers of the Worshipful +Company of Stationers_ (III, 397) enters _Diego Redivivus_, on behalf +of Abel Roper, for January 12, 1692, and _The Term Catalogues_ (II, +392) advertises _The Notorious Impostor_ in the quarterly issue +published in February, but Anthony Wood (III, 384) states that he +bought his copy of the latter "in the beginning of March." A comparison +of the two texts, moreover, supports this order of the publication. + +Events in _Diego Redivivus_, as in a news story, have greater +immediacy. Morrell's death, the title asserts, took place the third +of "this instant January." The specific detail of _Diego_ (p. 2: +"about a fortnight before _Christmas_") is paralleled by the general +statement of _The Notorious Impostor_ (p. 30: "Some few days before +_Christmas_"). Although its title-page promises a "Full Relation" of +Morrell's cheats, _Diego Redivivus_ presents only the final "will" +episode, whereas _The Notorious Impostor_ ranges over the whole +criminal career. Both narratives have in common the long will and +codicil, except that _The Notorious Impostor_ (p. 34) drastically +shortens the Latin passage which, in _Diego Redivivus_ (p. 10), +states that the will had been probated. Even more conclusive evidence +may be found in comparing the dates of the final events in the two +accounts. _Diego Redivivus_, licensed on January 12, stops short with +the humble burial of Morrell on January 13. Considerably later, +certainly, must be the occurrence described in the Postscript of _The +Notorious Impostor_: the nurse's and assistants' recollection that +Morrell was laughing to himself in his last grim cheating of the +world. + +Part One of _The Notorious Impostor_, as the sequel informs us, met +with a "general Reception." Advertised in the February issue of _The +Term Catalogues_, also, was a separate continuation. Interest in the +impostor did not diminish during February. "The Death of _William +Morrell_," complained _The Gentleman's Journal_ of this month, "hath +made too much Noise not to have reach'd you before this.... Had not his +Will and Life been printed, I would have given you a large Account of +both." The anonymous writer refers here, perhaps, to _Diego Redivivus_ +("Will") and _The Notorious Impostor_ ("Life") in the order of their +publication. He then ironically lauds, in the verses of "_William +Morrell's_ Epitaph," the great skill of the impostor ("Columbus-like I +a new World descry'd, / Of Roguery before untry'd"). + +Elkanah Settle's two parts of _The Notorious Impostor_ were finally +published together in 1694 as _The Compleat Memoirs of the Life of that +Notorious Impostor Will. Morrell, alias Bowyer, alias Wickham, &c._ ... +under the imprint of Abel Roper and E. Wilkinson. So extensive are the +re-arrangements of the episodes taken from Parts One and Two that _The +Compleat Memoirs_ may be regarded as a fifth, very different narrative. +All the apologies for not resorting to "romance" are now dropped, and +the humorous dedication is replaced by a direct appeal to Gabriel +Balam, signed "E. Settle." _The Compleat Memoirs_ then reworks the +texts of the two Parts into a smooth, chronologically consistent +narrative.[5] Even more important in designating _The Compleat Memoirs_ +as "new" are the "Considerable Additions never before Published" +announced by the title-page. After using the incidents from _The Second +Part of the Notorious Impostor_, Settle then adds: "Since the first +Publication of our fore-going History of our Grand Guzman, we have +receiv'd some Comical Adventures, worth inserting in his Memoirs, which +though they now bring up the Rear of his Chronicle, however, they were +the first of all his Wedlock Feats...." In the totally new adventures +that end _The Compleat Memoirs_ (pp. 72-88), the cynical tone and +raciness of the picaresque become even more dominant than in the +earlier separate narratives.[6] + + +The importance of the Morrell narratives in the development of English +fiction lies mainly in their deft combinations of the real and the +picaresque and in their conscious effort to unify the action, draw out +the humour, or handle realistic talk and setting. But the narratives +also look backward to an older type, the picaresque. William Morrell +makes his printed appearance as the new picaro. The title _Diego +Redivivus_ (i.e. James Revived) had overtones of the sensationally +picaresque. The witty pseudonym "Don Diego Puede-Ser" had been used by +James Mabbe in his translation (1623) of Aleman's _Vita del Picaro +Guzman_;[7] and more recent in English memories were the exploits of +James Hind, the English Rogue. In the Dedication, _The Notorious +Impostor_ describes itself as "_the Life of our English_ Guzman" and +later promises to "paint our new _Guzman_ in some of his boldest and +fairest Colours." But the picaresque traditions have shaded into one +another. For Morrell is not simply the new Guzman; he is also Hudibras +and, in _The Second Part_, Don Quixote. + +Still another reason for the importance of the Morrell narratives is +their consciousness of fictional techniques and theory. In _Diego +Redivivus_, for example, the final deception is meticulously developed +with closely-woven incidents which do not appear elsewhere. The motives +of the characters, too, are sharply defined; and the action is unified +by the two references to oath-taking (pp. 2-3). The anonymous author, +at the outset, stresses the value of "the Particulars ... no +disacceptable Entertainment" (p. 1). Aware of theory, he specifies that +Morrell created "some Romantick narrative" to explain his poverty (p. +4). In fictional technique, Elkanah Settle approaches a unified theme +especially in _The Second Part of the Notorious Impostor_ and the +"Comical Adventures" of _The Compleat Memoirs_ where the incidents are +mainly of one kind--matrimonial. Theorizing appears, too, in Part One +somewhat in the manner of Daniel Defoe: "we dare not venture to play +the Historian any farther than certain Intelligence (which yet we have +not received) can guide us, being resolved not to load our Rambles with +Romance or Fiction, his Life being furnisht with matter sufficiently +voluminous without the addition of Flourish or Fancy" (p. 27). This may +be Settle's pointed reference to the "fiction" of _Diego Redivivus_.[8] +He maintains, also, that he had to delay for a fortnight the +publication of _The Second Part of the Notorious Impostor_ in order to +be certain of its authenticity. + +Finally, the importance of the Morrell narratives may be seen in terms +of the realistic fiction that was to achieve fulfillment in the +eighteenth-century novel. The clear presence of fictional elaboration, +in _The Notorious Impostor_, caught the attention of both Frank +Wadleigh Chandler and Ernest Bernbaum.[9] Elkanah Settle thus rightly +belongs with writers, like Francis Kirkman, who masked fiction as the +truth. Historians of the novel, moreover, attach significance to _The +Notorious Impostor_ in its resemblance to the novels of Defoe, Mrs. +Heywood, and Smollett. Only the claim of influence on Smollett's +_Ferdinand Count Fatham_ has been investigated to any extent. In a full +analysis of Smollett's novel, Chandler's strong statement will have to +be taken into account: "The resemblance, indeed, between the two +anti-heroes and the terms in which the accounts of their cheating are +couched is so strong as to suggest actual borrowing on the part of +Smollett."[10] + + Spiro Peterson + + Miami University + Oxford, Ohio + + + Since writing the above, I have been informed by G. F. Osborn, + archivist of the City of Westminster Public Libraries, that the + registers of St. Clement Danes, in his keeping, have the following + entry under 12 January 169-1/2: "William Morrell alias Bowier a man + bur[ied] poor." + + + + +Notes to the Introduction + + + [1] See F. C. Brown, _Elkanah Settle: His Life and Works_ (1910), pp. +22, 29, 127. + + [2] _The Life and Times of Anthony Wood_, ed. Andrew Clark (1892), II, +48-49. + + [3] _Games and Gamesters of the Restoration_, ed. Cyril Hughes +Hartmann (The English Library, 1930), pp. 123-137. + + [4] E.g. Alfred Beasley's in _The History of Banbury_ (1841), pp. +448-492, and G. T. Crook's in _The Complete Newgate Calendar_ (1926), +pp. 117-124. + + [5] The text of _The Compleat Memoirs_ is indeed a composite. +Paragraph one of p. 1 unites a paragraph from p. 1 of Part One and a +paragraph from pp. 34-35 of Part Two; pp. 1-27 are the same as pp. +5-27 of Part One; pp. 27-46: pp. 2-21 of Part Two; pp. 46-50: pp. +27-29 of Part One; pp. 50-57: pp. 22-29 of Part Two; pp. 57-65: pp. +30-36 of Part One; pp. 66-71: pp. 29-36 of Part Two. + + [6] _The Post Boy_ advertised _The Compleat Memoirs_ from February 17 +to April 23, 1698. See also W. Carew Hazlitt (_Bibliographical +Collections_, Third Series, p. 229) for a description of a copy dated +1699. + + [7] Morrell's last impersonation involving the fake will resembles +Pantalon's "last Will and Testament" jest in Mabbe's _The Rogue or The +Life of Guzman de Alfarache_ (The Tudor Translations, 1924), II, +184-186. + + [8] Settle's authorship of _The Notorious Impostor_ is confirmed by +his name appended to the Dedication of _The Compleat Memoirs_. +Although _Diego Redivivus_ occasionally resembles _The Notorious +Impostor_, it need not necessarily be Settle's work. The similar style +and the identical documentation (e.g. the will) may be due to Settle's +direct use of the earlier narrative. None of its minutely-drawn +description, curiously, is perpetuated in _The Compleat Memoirs_. The +authorship of _Diego Redivivus_ remains an unsettled question. + + [9] _The Literature of Roguery_ (1907), I, 153: _The Mary Carleton +Narratives_ (1914), p. 6. + +[10] I, 153. Ernest A. Baker makes a similar statement (_The History of +the English Novel_ [1937], III, 46). With respect to the influence of +_The Notorious Impostor_ on Mrs. Eliza Haywood, he should have cited +_Miss Betsy Thoughtless_ (1751)--the very book praised by Captain +Minikin as "worth reading" in _Ferdinand Count Fathom_ (Chap. XXXIX). + + + + +THE + +Notorious Impostor, + +Or the History of the LIFE of + +William Morrell, + +ALIAS + +BOWYER, + +Sometime of _Banbury_, Chirurgeon. + +Who lately personated _Humphrey Wickham_ of _Swackly_, in the County of +_Oxon_, Esquire, at a Bakers House in the _Strand_, where he Died the +third of _Jan. 169-1/2_ + +Together + +With an Authentick Copy of his Will, taken out of the _Prerogative +Court_, and the manner of his Funeral in St. _Clements_ Church-yard. + +_LONDON_, +Printed for _Abel Roper_ at the _Mytre_ near _Temple-Bar_, 1692. + + + + +TO THE + +Honourable Capt. _Humph. Wickham_. + + +SIR, + +_When this following 'Paper makes thus bold to be your Addressor, the +only Encouragement for the Presumption is, that your borrow'd Name has +fill'd up so large a Sheet in our History, as justly entitles You to +this Presentation. And truly as a considerable part of it has already +furnisht you with no small Jest at your Laughing Hours, we hope the +Life of our English_ Guzman, _your late Adopted Name-sake, will be no +undiverting Entertainment. His Life, 'tis true, has been little else +than a continued Scene of Masquerade; and if to finish his last Act, he +had occasion of borrowing a Face and Character of Quality and +consequently fixt upon Captain_ Wickham; _alas, you must consider he +wanted Worth and Honour, and can you blame him for looking for 'em +where they were to be found? You stood fair for him, and the World, +however, it may censure his Impudence, at least it cannot but commend +his Choice. And the Reason (if you have any) to complain, is, that +whereas the World is but a Stage, and_ Life _but a Play, and Captain_ +Wickham _was only personated to Cheat a poor Baker of a Fortnights +Lodging and Bread. 'Tis pity your Name, that much better deserved, was +only drawn in to the filling up of a Farce. But, as great a Thief as he +was to steal a Title of Honour, whatever hard Charge the poor suffering +Baker has against him, yet considering how little you have lost by him, +we hope your excusing Goodness will not load him higher than Petty +Larceny. And truly if he can feel it in his Grave, he has sufficiently +felt the Lash for it. His Last Will and Testament, I confess, has very +bountifully cantoned out your Estate; all the sorrow is, that the +Gaping Executors, and the rest of the Inheritors, have no shorter a +Walk than into_ Fairy-Land _to receive their Legacies; a longer +Journey, 'tis to be feared, than either the Bright Bay, or Dappled +Grey, will ever be able to carry 'em._ + +_And now to do our last Office,_ viz. _to speak a good word of the Dead +(for truly he had no Funeral Sermon to do it) they may talk of +Monuments and Epitaphs for preserving of Memories; but our_ quondam +_Operator of_ Banbury, _tho' with plainer Funeral Ceremonies, has taken +care for a lasting Renown, when much finer Dust under Statues and +Marble shall sleep forgotten: And whereas there are famous Examples of +old, that have perpetuated their Names at no less price than the +burning of Temples, his better Husbandry, to his Glory be it recorded, +has purchased Immortality much cheaper; where we'll leave him, and beg +your Pardon for this Boldness_ + +_Of_ + +Your unknown Humble Servant. + + + + +THE + +Notorious Impostor: + +OR THE + +HISTORY + +OF THE + +LIFE + +OF + +_William Morrell_ alias _Bowyer_, &c. + + +This Famous Rover, from the Multitude of his Titles, to begin with his +right Name _William Morrell_, was by Profession a Chyrurgion, and more +than twenty Years ago, for many Years together, a Practitioner of good +Credit in _Banbury_, where his Industry honestly got him, by his +Practice, near two Hundred a Year, with which he maintained himself, +his Wife and Family very handsomely, till about eighteen Years ago +he began to be very Lazy, and much addicted to hanker after the +Conversation of the Gentry thereabouts; and being a Person very +Facetious, and his Company not disacceptable, he screwed himself into +the Society of the best Quality round about, and would be a Month or +two a Guest at several Great Mens Houses; more particularly he some +time since insinuated himself into the Favor of a Worthy Gentleman +near _Banbury_, viz. _Humphry Wickham_ of _Swakely_ Esq; whose Person +and Character he pretended to represent, and in which Imposture he +made his last _Exit_. + +But to begin our History in order; From his Conversing with Gentlemen +and Herding with Quality, Business began to fall off: His many Rambles +from home, soon made his Practice flag; when the Glass and the Bottle +came into play, the Salvatory and Playster-box went out. And his +Patients could not well stay for the Setting of a Broken Limb, or +Tenting a Green Wound, till our _Esculapius_ was to be called, the +Lord knows where, and found the Devil knows when. This Trade +continuing, the other fell to decay, till at last Poverty began to +peep in at his Window, and Duns to hover about his Door. In these +little Exigencies and Necessities (for the Gentleman's Tables abroad +would not fill the Bellies at home, nor would Hunting or Hawking pay +Landlords Rent) his Wants put him upon Shifts and Artifices for his +Subsistence; and what with a Natural Wit and a pretty large Talent of +Confidence, the pressing Hand of Fortune threw him upon several Tricks +and Frauds to hold his Head above-board. But not to trouble you with +any of his lesser Diminutive Exploits, the Infancy and Nonage of his +Activity, we do not think fit to treat you with these pettier +Adventures, but e'en set out in one of his noblest Atchievements, and +paint our new _German_ in some of his boldest and fairest Colours. + +Accordingly he Equips himself with a Sturdy Young Country Fellow, a +_Ralpho_ to our _Hudibras_, and takes a Knight-Errantry one day to a +Fair at _Brayls_ in _Warwickshire_, his Habit between a Grazier and a +plain Country Gentleman; where Santering about with his Man _Tom_ (for +so his Squire was titled) at last spying a Knot of good likely Kine +(near a Score of them). _Ah Master_, says Tom, _what a parcel of brave +Cattle are these_. _Ay_ Tom, replies the Master, _I am sorry I saw +them no sooner; these would do my Business to a T; but as the Devil +and ill Luck would have it, I have laid out my whole Stock already, +and so I'll e'en set my Heart at Rest_. The Country Fellow, the Owner +of the Cattle, seeing a Gentleman of his honest Appearance surveying +his Beasts, and hearing every word that pass'd between the Man and +Master (for they took care to talk loud enough to be heard) thought he +had got a good Chapman, and desired the Gentleman to draw nearer and +handle the Cattle. _Handle_, answers _Tom, what for?_ _You know, Sir, +you have laid out all your Money already, and what should we handle +Cattle unless we had Cole to buy 'em. I confess they are for your Turn +above any I have zeen in the whole Vair, but that's nothing, the Money +Master the Money._ _The Money_, replies the Country-man, _Troth +that shall make no Difference, nor break Squares between us; if you +and I can agree, the Cattle are at your Service: I suppose you are +some honest Gentleman hereabouts, and the Money will do my work next +Market-day. Pray what may I call your Name? My Name is_ Walters, +replies our Cattle-Merchant, _Walters, Master_, answers our +Country-man, _What any Relation to his Worship the Noble Sir_ William +Walters? _Ay, Friend, a small Relation, a Brother of his. A Brother of +Sir_ William_'s_! Off goes the Country-man's Bonnet at the next word, +and a long Scrape made; for no Respect was too great for a Brother to +a Person of such eminent Quality. _My Cattle, Noble Squire, Ay with +all my Heart._ In short after much ado to make the Country-man be +covered before him, he fell to treat about the Price of the Cattle, in +which he bargained so warily, that they had almost parted for a single +Shilling in a Dispute between them. But at last the Bargain and Sale +concluded, _Tom_ is commanded to drive home the Cattle, the Money to +be paid next Market-day, and the Country-man has the Honor to drink a +Pot at parting with his Worshipful Chapman our Sir _William_'s +Brother: This Feat performed, he takes a walk round the Fair, and +picks up a pretty Country Girl, a Mason's Daughter, at a small Town +about four Miles off, and gives her the common Country Civility of a +Fair, _viz._ a Glass of White-wine and Sugar. During this +Entertainment of our young Damsel, he is most desperately smitten with +her Beauty, insomuch that our _Inamorato_ must wait upon her home to +her Father's House, nothing but Death and Despair attending if he +cannot have that extraordinary Happiness. The Girl who by this time +had learnt his Name and Quality, was not a little confounded at the +pressing Importunities of a Person of his Worth to a poor Girl of her +little Capacity, and notwithstanding her modest Refusals, felt a +secret Pride from so kind an offer, and at last accepted of his +Service home. No sooner was she got safe handed home, and Mother and +Daddy, were privately whispered what Honor they received from such a +Visitant; the best the House could afford was not good enough for him: +after the courser Compliments of [_Lord, Sir, such a Person of Quality +under our poor Roof_] and the like; the best welcome that could be +made him was not wanting: Nay, for what was deficient at home, the +whole Neighborhood was Ransakt to lend help toward the Accommodation. +Our new Lover not to baulk a good Cause, openly Professes no less than +honourable Matrimonial Affection to his dear Conqueror. Estate he +wants none; and Portion or Quality are below his Consideration, the +Satisfaction of Love is the only thing in the World he resolves to +gratifie. + +The Father and Mother are much astonish'd at such an Addressor to +their Daughter, nor is the Daughter her self a little surprized at it, +though of the two her Wonder is the least; for her Sexes natural +Frailty was so apt to make her think it the pure Effect of her own +sweet Face, that the power of her Charms, and the Quality of her +Captive was not altogether (she fancied) so extraordinary an +Adventure. In fine, Our passionate Admirer pushes on his suit with all +the Vigour and Application imaginable, and truly you may well conceive +so weak a Resistance could not well hold out long against so Puissant +an Assailer: The Siege is press'd home, and in three short days the +white Flag is hung out, a Parly beat, Articles concluded, and the Fort +surrendered. Our Damsel, in short, commits Matrimony; and the whole +Family is not a little Transported at such a Noble Alliance. Thus +Wedded and Bedded, Our new Couple are all Honey and Sweetness, and +though Sir _William Walter_'s House was not above a dozen Miles from +thence, his Adopted Brother all safe and secure, sleeps in the soft +Arms of his young Bride with all the Rapture of Pleasure and Delight. +After three Revelling days were spent in Feasting and Joy, the +Father-in-Law and himself enter in a close Cabinet Consult about +providing for Family and Settlement. He tells the Old Man, that truly +his Brother the Knight will undoubtedly take no little Dudgeon at this +Match, not that he cares a Farthing for't. He has Married the only +Creature of the World he can Love, and he is resolved to Cherish her +accordingly. But however, to manage Affairs with Discretion, he thinks +it his best Prudence and Policy, to get his Trunks and the Writings of +his Estate safe out of his Brother's Hands, before he publishes the +Marriage. And for that purpose he has no better way than for his +Father-in-Law to help him to a small Cart and a couple of able Horses, +and to drive to his Brothers, and take up his Trunks, _&c._ And +considering he had laid out all his ready Money in Cattle at _Brayle_ +Fair, he desired the favour of him to furnish him with Ten Pounds, +that he might not be unprovided with a little of the Ready about him, +in case of any Rupture between his Brother and himself, till he could +furnish himself better amongst his Tenants. + +The Old Man very readily embraced this reasonable proposition, and +though truly the Summ of Ten Pounds was above his Stock, nevertheless +living in Repute amongst his Neighbors, through great Solicitation, +some forty and some thirty Shillings, and such like Summs, with much +ado he raises the Ten Pounds desired; and more and above he procures +two very Able Horses and a Cart to bring away the Treasure aforesaid, +_&c._ + +By this time his Man _Tom_ having Sold the Cattle, is come to wish his +Noble Master Joy of his fair Bride, and so the Master and _Tom_ +attended by a Brother of his Bride, an Honest Country Swain, who +though so highly honoured with this new Affinity, is at present +planted in no higher a Post than to be a Mate with his Man _Tom_ to +drive the Cart, set forwards, _&c._ + +The Brother-in-Law, Cheek by Jowl, with the fore-Horse of his small +Team, drives on very merrily for about Nine of the Twelve Miles to Sir +_William_'s, entertaining his Worshipful Relation with the very best +Tune he could Whistle all the way they travell'd. + +But now within Three Miles of home, our politick Bridegroom thinks it +advisable, that one of his Carters, the Brother, should make a Halt at +an Alehouse where they stopp'd, and the whole Manage of the Cart and +Horses be intrusted with _Tom_, for fear the sight of a Stranger to +come to take up Goods at his Brother's might give occasion of +Curiosity and Inquiry, whereas _Tom_, an old Servant in the Family, +with less Suspision and Inspection might do it. + +These strong Reasons (or indeed weaker would have served turn) were +satisfactory enough, and so the Gentleman Equipping his Brother +_Clodpate_ with a _George_ to stay and Drink till they returned, the +Master and Man fairly drive on, for the remaining three Miles to bring +off the Bag and Baggage, _&c._ + +The Potent Summ of a whole Half Crown to be laid out in Ale, set in our +Country Youth to a hearty Carouse with the kind Hostess of the House, +where the Esquires Health was over and over remembred, not forgetting +the Great Man at the Great House about Three Miles off; where, as +simple a Country Fellow as he was, he expected one day to be better +acquainted. + +But to draw this Adventure towards a Conclusion, our waiting Carter +long expecting the return of the Brother, the Palfries and the Cargo, +notwithstanding the Strength of powerful Ale, and his Sweet Land-Ladies +diverting Company, began at last to be Impatient; sometimes he fancied +the Loading was too heavy for the Poor Beasts, and he thought it his +best way to walk out and see if he could meet them: But all Inquiry was +in vain, Night at last drew on, and the best part of his Half-crown +melted down; at last, though very Uneasie and Restless, he is perswaded +by his kind Hostess to take a hard Nap till Morning. The Cock was not +so soon awake as he, for to tell Truth, he ne're slept at all, though +indeed he dreamt all Night, for he could not think less, than that some +Retainers of the Family had undoubtedly followed the Cart, and Murder'd +the Squire to run away with the Treasure, and what his poor Sister +would suffer to be a Widow so early, was little less than a mortal +Apprehension. Thereupon very betimes in the morning he pads to Sir +_William_'s, and very earnestly enquires, what was become of the +Squire, the Knights Brother. Sir _William_'s Brother, _reply'd the +Servants_, we know none he has; 'tis true, he had one some years beyond +Sea, but whether dead or alive, is more than any Man upon _English_ +Ground (_God wott_) can tell. How! no Brother-in-law Squire! No Sir +_William_'s Family! No Sister like to be a Lady, nor Brother a +Gentleman! nor no Horses nor Cart neither! This staggering Account, put +him into so doleful a Dumps, that he stood almost Thunderstruck. And +truly the twelve Miles home agen, was so tedious a Journey, and the +lamentable Narrative he must make 'em at home, so killing a Fancy, that +it was a great Mercy he did not make a stay upon some convenient Twig +in some Hedge in the Road, rather than live to be the Messenger of such +a woful, sad Tale--But ill News at last must out. The Bird and the +Beasts were all flown; the poor Bride sweetly brought to Bed, a Cart +and two Horses to pay for, a Son-in-law to find when the Devil was +blind, the Daughters sweet play thing lost, the Father and Mother dipt +ten whole pounds in Chalk, and the whole Family under the suffering of +a whole Chamberpot full of waylings and Tears for their Calamities and +Misfortunes. + +But to return to our Rover: By the sale of Cart and Team, ten pound in +Cole the last lump, and the price of his Kine the other, his Pockets +were pretty well lined; and considering this spot might soon grow too +hot for him, he thinks it wisest to shift the Scene, and thereupon +dismissing, for some time, his Man _Tom_, who had pretty well lick'd +his Fingers in so profitable a Service, our Grasier now transmogrifies +into a Spark, and very sprucely rigg'd, takes a ramble Westward, where +meeting with no Adventure worth recital, in some small time he gets to +_Ludlow_. There taking up the first Night at an Inn, his Garb (though +unattended by Servants) soon made him good Reception; his first enquiry +was to learn out the Eminentest People in the Town, of which being +readily inform'd by the Drawers; he learnt, amongst other Relations, +that there was a Substantial Wealthy Tradesman, had two pretty +Marriageable Daughters: Being directed to the House, he addresses to +the Father, telling him he was a _Barkshire_ Gentleman, and intending +to make some small abode in _Ludlow_, he did not think fit to continue +in a Publick House, but would gladly gain admission to some private +Family. The Tradesman (whose name we will not mention) being a Widower, +and taken with the manner of his Discourse, kindly invited him to his +own House, which our Travelling Gallant as kindly embracing, +Accommodation was made, and he was lodged that very Night at this +private Landlords. + +His entrance here gave him the opportunity of daily conversing with no +mean wit and charms in the two sweet Daughters of the Family; and our +Gallant, very apt to take fire at but a small matter of Beauty, +especially with a Portion at the Tail of it, felt no little wamblings +at the extraordinary accomplishments of the elder, somewhat the sweeter +Creature. But this new Adventure was not an enterprise so easie as the +last; this Sire of some fashion, was so far above the Education and +Extract of his former Father-in-Law, a Man of Mortar and Trowel; and +his Daughters of a reach and understanding so much beyond the others +humbler capacity; that measures must be quite alter'd here from those +that he took before. Accordingly now his discourse was always upon +Foreign subjects, himself and his own affairs the least part of his +talk; and if any inquisitive question, either by Father or Daughters +were made relating to his Family or Concerns, he answered with that +Modesty, and almost silence to all demands of that kind, that he left +their curiosity still in the dark; and which indeed was so much a +heightning to the favourable imaginations they had conceived of him; +that they doubted not in the least, but he was of eminent Quality; and +what any boasting Vanity would have made 'em rather suspect, his +Modesty on the contrary confirm'd. 'Twas some few days before they +inquired his name, for which he had ready at his Tongue's end, the +name of a very great Family in _Barkshire_; but not descending to +particulars, the remoteness of the place did not gain 'em much +intelligence of his Quality from only the bare name. All this while, at +some little distance, he dropt a great many complaisant words to the +elder Sister, which look'd very much like Love, and which he indeed +desired should be so interpreted. In this Conversation, now of a +Fortnights continuance, he had rendred himself so acceptable to the +whole Family, that a great many favourable thoughts on all sides +inclined towards him. The Address to the Daughter, at last looked a +little more plain and barefac'd, and at that time a Fair happening at +_Ludlow_, where he had been diverting himself with seeing of Fashions, +he came home in much Concern, and some kind of Passion, much greater +than hitherto they had at any time seen from him. "Certainly there is +no place in the world (_says he passionately_) so retir'd, but some +Devil or other will still find out and haunt me." The odness of this +expression invited the elder Sister to ask him what he meant. "Why +truly, Madam, (_he replied_) I have been hunted from three or four +Towns already, for in spight of all my resolutions of living +_incognito_, some unlucky Person or other comes full in my mouth, and +will betray me in spight of my Soul." This answer did but heighten her +Curiosity, and having, as she thought, some little Interest in him as a +profest Servant of hers, she was a little the bolder in pressing the +Question; and therefore plainly ask'd him why he liv'd _incognito_, and +what accident had now discovered him: To this at last, with a little +more frankness than he had hitherto used, he replied, the reason of his +Ramble from his Family, with his Living three or four Months past +unknown to the whole World, was only to prevent the ruine of a Sister, +who like a foolish Girl, was in much danger to be undone by a Beggerly +Match she was too fond of; and her Portion being in his hands, he had +absented himself from his home, left the softness of her tears, the +importunities of several Advocate's in behalf of this indigent Lover, +together with the weakness of his own tender heart, might at last be +prevail'd upon to grant his consent to what he knew would be his shame +and her undoing. And as ill luck would have it, he had unfortunately +tumbled upon a Countryman of his, now at the Fair, who would infallibly +run open mouth'd to his Sister and his Family, and tell 'em all where +he was. This discovery gave a good occasion to the fair Examiner to be +not only a Pleader for her own Sex in the Person and cause of his +unknown Sister, but likewise to be a Champion for Love. For now she +plainly told him, that a great many grains of allowance were to be +made, where hearts were inseparable. If this Lover of his Sisters was a +man of Sense and Quality (as neither of those he could deny him) it was +a little barbarous in him to oppose the whole Repose and Contentment of +so near a Relation as a Sister, for so sordid a consideration as a +little Worldly Interest. Besides, there was a Providence always +attended Faith and Truth in Love, and undoubtedly sooner or later would +provide for their well-being, or else enable 'em to bear a meaner +portion of Riches, which others perhaps might, less contentedly, +possess. This argument was almost the daily discourse, in which she +seem'd to gain some little ground, but not enough to perswade him to +the unreasonable Grant of his Sisters desires. + +About five days after comes a Letter directed to him at _Ludlow_, with +the Post Mark upon it very authentically, which in a very legible +Woman's hand contained these words. + + Dear Brother, + + _What unhappy Star am I born under, to suffer all this miserable + Persecution? Certainly, when my Father left me to your disposal, + and tied my Portion to your liking of the man that must marry me, + surely he could never have died reconciled to Heaven, could he have + foreseen the Slavery he tied his poor Child to, in putting me into + the power of so cruel a Brother. To run so many Months from your + House, your Family, nay, your Honour too, (for what must the + censuring world talk of you) and all to break a poor Sister's + Heart. Oh shameful! to hide your self from the World, and run from + Mankind, only to shut your Ears against Justice, and to be deaf to + all Goodness and Humanity! Alas, what Capital Crime have I + committed, who only loved a Gentleman, in Birth and Blood no ways + my Inferiour; and what if an unfortunate Younger Brother's slender + Patrimony of a Hundred a Year, is not answerable to a Portion of + Two thousand Pounds. A wonderful Cause to make me the most unhappy + Creature living, in refusing me the only Blessing the World has to + give. How many fair steps to Preferment and Honour lye in the way + of so accomplish'd and so well Related a Gentleman, notwithstanding + his Elder Brother run away with the Estate; and what good Fortune + have I not to hope for, if your Barbarous Aversion did not + interpose between my Felicity and me. In short, resolve to return + home, and be kind to your languishing, and almost despairing + Sister, or else expect very speedily to be visited by her at your + Bedside in her Winding-sheet. For if Ghosts can walk, and your + Barbarity has sworn my Death, expect to be eternally haunted, as + you shall deserve from----_ + + Your Distracted---- + +The next Post four or five Letters more came after him; one from his +Bayliff, to desire him, for God's sake to come home again; for the +Devil a Farthing would his Tenants pay till they saw their Landlord. A +second from one of his Tenants, complaining of his bad Crop, and the +low price of Corn, and that unless he would bate him Twenty pound a +Year Rent, he could never hold his Farm; earnestly desiring his Worship +to come home, and take care of his poor Tenants, _&c._ A third +condoling his Misfortune in the loss of his Eldest Son, and desiring to +see his Sweet Worship's Face, that he might get him to put his Second +Boy's Life into his Copy-hold; and others of the like Import. + +These Letters our Spark left in his Closet Window, and one whole day +going abroad, by a pretended Negligence, he shot the Bolt of his Closet +Lock out of the Staple, and so left his Door a-jar, and his Letters +expos'd to any body that would please to read 'em. This Stratagem +succeeded to his Wish, for the Daughter, whom I may now call his +Mistress, knowing him safe abroad, had dropt into his Chamber when the +Maid was making the Bed, and finding the Closet Door open, made bold to +peep, and spying his Letters there, tips the wink upon the Maid, whom +she made of the Council, and read 'em all out. The Contents put her +mightily upon the gog; for certainly she concluded he must be a Man of +a mighty Estate, so many Tenants, and the Lord knows what; and if a +Sister had Two thousand Pounds, what must an Elder Brother possess. +After she had conjured the Maid to silence, she could not forbear +running to her Father, and telling him all she had discover'd: The +Father at first a little reprimanded her Curiosity, but considering he +had found out a Love Intrigue between his Daughter and him, he thought +it no unwelcome discovery. At last looking very stedfastly upon his +Daughter's Face, with a sort of a kind fatherly leer, he cry'd, _Ah +Child, would he were a Bed with thee_. How, Father, _reply'd the Girl +blushing_. Nay no harm (_quoth the Father_) Chicken, that's all. Thou +sayst he makes love to thee, and troth I must own it no small part of +my Ambition to have a Person of his Quality and Fortunes for a +Son-in-law. In short, The Father gave her very seasonable Admonition; +for having sounded her Inclinations, and found 'em to his own wish, +with a Fatherly Authority he commanded her, if his Addresses hinted at +Marriage, to make him all reasonable Advances that way. + +Our Gallant found his Plot had taken; for he had critically observed in +what most particular manner and station to a quarter of an inch he had +laid his Letters; and finding all of 'em displaced more or less from +the exact point he had left 'em, he plainly perceived they had all of +'em been read. Besides, in compliance to her Father's Orders, and +indeed a little to her own Inclinations, he discover'd her usual +Coldness to him a little diminish'd, and her Aspect more favourable, +which plainly told him the Bait had taken. Whereupon one Evening +finding her alone in her Garden, with a confidence more than usual, he +plainly spoke home, telling her what an inestimable Blessing he should +acquire in possessing so much sweetness for a Wife. + +A long Courtship ensued, the Particulars too tedious, only the Girl was +a little more pliant than ordinary, but much doubting the integrity of +his Protestations; alledging it was very unlikely he would debase +himself to marry a Creature of her mean Fortune, for all she could at +present challenge, except what her Father might do for her after his +decease, was only a 100_l._ left her in her Father's hands by an Uncle +deceas'd. Our Gallant presently with much disdain seem'd to slight all +thoughts of her Fortune, for that, he thank'd Heav'n, he wanted not; +and truly her dear Person was the only consideration that had fix'd his +Heart intirely her Captive. To bring him to the happy point, 48 hours +are not past, before he comes to reap the fair Fruit. The marriage-knot +is tied; and the Nuptials consummated, and Joy and Felicity runs high +between them. + +In this happy State, and uninterrupted Delights, they continued some +days, when of a sudden his old Servant, _Tom_, booted and spurr'd, +comes to _Ludlow_, and now in a little higher station than before, in +the garb and figure of one of his Bayliffs, he comes post thus far, +first to tell him the Distraction of his Family occasion'd by his +absense; 2dly, The Lady his Sister's sudden departure, God knows +whither, for she went away by night two days before he set out from +home, and has not been heard of since. And that a Letter was come from +_Bristol_, intimating that his Venture in _Sherry_ was safely landed +there, and that the King's Customs came to 97_l._ but his Correspondent +at _Bristol_ being lately dead, the Custom was yet unsatisfied; and +truly for his part none of the Tenants would pay him one Groat till +they saw their Landlord again, and therefore he could not raise the +Money to satisfy it. Our new Bridegroom hearing all this, presently +communicates the whole matter to his sweet Bedfellow, desiring her to +get her Father to accommodate him with that Sum; not that he ask'd it +as any part of her Unkle's Legacy, he scorned to be so poor-spirited; +no, he requested it as a Boon, and the Monies should speedily be repaid +with Thanks: Which if he pleas'd to do for him, his Servant should fall +down the _Severn_, and take care of his Wines, of which his dear +Father-in-law should have one Hogshead to drink to her _Hans in +Keldar_. The Daughter was a speedy and successful Embassadress, for the +Money was presently laid him down in Gold, for the more ease of his +Servant's carriage of it. _Tom_ had not been two hours gone, but a +Footboy in a very fine Livery brings him a Letter from his Sister, +signifying her extreme Concern for his deserting his Affairs and +Family, and that her Griefs and Disquiets had made her take a long +Ramble to see him once more. And that she was now at _Hereford_, not +daring to approach any nearer till she had his gracious Warrant and +Permission, which she humbly upon her bended Knees intreated of him, +with a great deal more passionate Courtship to him upon that Subject. +Upon perusal of this Letter he seem'd to melt into a great deal of good +nature and compassion for his dear Sister, insomuch that a Tear stood +in his Eyes which his sweet Bride very kindly drank in a kiss. At +length launching out into a great many tender Expressions towards his +Sister, which Goodness his kind Bride much applauded and encouraged, +throwing in many a kind word in her Sisters behalf; At last the Brother +concluded he would be so civil to her, that since her extravagant +Affection had brought her thus far to visit him, he would return her +the Favour of Riding himself to _Hereford_ to fetch her, if his kind +Father would procure him a Horse. Ay, with all his heart. Nay, both +Father and Daughter proffer'd to take the same Journey with him to pay +their Respects to the young Lady, and attend upon her as part of her +Train to _Ludlow_. No, by no means, replied our Spark; that was more +than the Rules of Honour would allow: for his dear Bride, as his Wife, +was a Person in Quality above her, and whatever Kindnesses she pleased +to show her when at _Ludlow_, was in her free Power; but this +complaisance was too great a Condescension, and consequently he beg'd +her leave that the tenderness he had of her Honour might absolutely +forbid her any such thought. And indeed his Father's was much the same +Condescention, which he must likewise no way suffer. + +The Father and Daughter both silenced with this Answer, acquiesced with +his Reasons, as being much a more experienced Master of Ceremonies than +they could pretend to; consenting to let him go alone only attended by +the Sister's Page; in the mean while resolving to apply their officious +Respects to this fair, tho yet unknown Relation another way, _viz._ in +making a suitable preparation for her honourable Reception. But first a +very stately Horse was borrow'd, one that a Collonel of the Guards had +lately bid a lumping Sum for; with all Accoutrements answerable. And at +mounting, our Cavalier whispering in his Father's ear, and telling him +he had been long from home, and not knowing whether his remaining Stock +might hold out to his present Occasions, he desired---- The Father +would not hear out the Speech, but running up stairs presently, fetch'd +down, and stole into his hand a silk Purse richly lined with Twenty +Broad Pieces. + +Our Squire thus every way obliged, after his due Conges all made, bids +them all Farewel till tomorrow, and so prances off. Here let us leave +the Father and Daughter as busy for the Credit of the Cause, as may be +imagined, making all suitable Provision for tomorrow's Entertainment; +the Kitchin, and Pantry, the Bed-Chamber, and the Court-Cubboard, must +all appear in Splendour extraordinary. + +And now to return to our Traveller: Heaven knows he had the misfortune +to miss his way, for he never found _Hereford_, nor Sister. His Barb +too found another Chapman than the Collonel of the Guards; for both +Horse and Accoutrements all embargoed, and the dismounted Cavalier +slipt into a Frize-Coat of his Man _Tom's_ providing, who waited his +coming, The Master, Page, and _Tom_, in a small prepared Vessel, +troul'd down the _Severn_ as fast as Tide and good Speed could carry +them. + +As we thunder'd down the _Severn_, one of our Strollers being at +present useless, our Page (well rewarded for playing his part in the +_Farse_) is dropt at _Worcester_, from whence we continue our Voyage to +_Bristol_. Arrived there pretty late in a Summers Evening, 'tis not +thought convenient to appear in any Dress whatever had been seen before +at _Ludlow_, nor indeed to expose his Face, lest any Inquiry might be +made there about him as a Sherry-Merchant, and so trunking up all his +best Rayment, he gets himself new rigged at a Salesman's in a genteel +Garb, but something modester than his _Ludlow_ Bravery, and _Tom_ and +he next morning move off to _Bath_. + +It fortunes here, that he Quarters at one of the great Inns, it being +the beginning of the Summer, just before _Bath_ time, where was a brisk +Daughter of the house, about half way stage between 20 and 30. and +consequently much inclinable manwards. A Girl that had had the Honour +of many a slap cross the Mouth, and chuck under the Chin by Lords and +Earls in her time, her Fathers honourable Guests at _Bath_ season. Our +most constant Lover of every new face, feels the old Itch again. +Business he finds will thicken upon him, and therefore flusht with his +late Successes, he resolves to throw out his winning hand as far as it +will run. + +But now to know what Portion this Damsel had, for without a spill of +yellow Boys, naked White and Red has but indifferent Charms with him. +This Intelligence was quickly made, without asking the question; for +there was a Jest in the Family of one of the Drawers being Suitor +there, who belike wanted a tite sum of 80_l._ to set up withal (a small +Portion of hers formerly left her by a Grandfather, and now at use.) +This Drawer forsooth was a Rival, but not an over-formidable one. For +truly our Inn-keepers Daughter had so often been tickled with the +Addresses of Quality, that (_Foh!_) her Fathers Drawer was scarce +worthy to hold up her Train. A Gentleman, or nothing for her. Nay, if +she has not the happiness to strike in for a Lease for Life at Bed and +Board with some honourable Person, rather than dye in ignorance, keep a +stale Maiden-head, and so lead Apes, she has long since resolved not to +stand out at a lower game, and en'e admit a Tenant at Will to an Inmate +of Fashion and Quality; and was grosly suspected she had tried the +Constitution of her Body, under a load of Honour long before her +present year of twenty five. But true or false, that's a small Blot, in +her Scutchion. + +Our _Don John_ is absolutely captivated, and plies her home with all +the Rhetorick that Love can afford. Our man _Tom_ in the meanwhile but +very modestly, is whispering amongst his Mates, the lower Tire of the +Family, the Servants, what a Worthy Gentleman his Master is, being a +Rich _Norfolk_ Gentleman (a pretty large stride from _Bathe_) of 500 a +year. This Narrative passes pretty well amongst the shallower pates, +the Chamberlain, the Tapster, the Hostler, and the rest of the inferior +Domesticks; but our hardfaith'd young Mistress of the house, whither +bit before, or naturally not over-credulous, does as good as declare, +That her Principles are to look before she leaps. Our _Norfolk_ Suitor +finds his Addresses very acceptable, but still with a reserve, Provided +he be the Man he appears. He plainly sees, that the Girl, upon good +Grounds is very pliable, but she's a little past the years of being +dandled and kist out of her Reason: He or any man else (any Tooth good +Barber) with Honour and Estate may go far with her; but Demonstration +is the only Argument that must carry her Cause. As many years as she +has lived (or at least past for) a Maid, she is not so hard set, but +she can tarry till Substantial Testimony (as far off as _Norfolk_ lies) +can make out the Lands and Tenements, before she consents to an +Inclosure. Our Spark therefore put to his last Trumps, finds this last +a craggier and more difficult Enterprize than any he had ever yet +encountred; however, thinking it a very great scandal to his Wit, to +lie down before her, and shamefully for want of Ammunition, be forced +to raise the Siege, he sets all his Brains at work for one last Mine to +blow her up; or if that take not, he is resolved to quit the Field. In +a day or two after, he begins to be Melancholly and indisposed; during +this fit, he is very cold in his Love, and applies him to Religious +Books, talks much of very odd Dreams he has had, till at last he takes +his Bed. Physitians are sent for, whether they found any real +indications of sickness or no, or acquiesced to his own Declaration of +the Pains he felt, no Medicinal Application was wanting. His Distemper +increasing, he desires a Man of Law to be sent for, accordingly a +Scrivener of the Town is called, who draws up his Will, in which he +gives away about Three Thousand pounds in several Legacies, leaving his +Nephew his full and sole Executor. The Will is sealed up, and delivered +to his Man _Tom_; and all the cognizance taken of his Mistress, is only +10_l._ to buy her Mourning. Next a Man of God is sent for, and all the +necessary preparations for a Man of another World are made. His +Conscience setled, and his Viaticum for his long Journey most devoutly +furnisht. But it pleases Fate, or the Sick man rather, in some few days +after, to give some small symptoms of amendment, and to shorten the +matter, in Eight or Ten days time he is pretty well recovered, and the +next talk is of fancying his own Native _Norfolk_ Air for perfecting +his Health; all this while the young Damsel, who, tho not call'd to the +Will-making, knew all the Contents of it, and finding from all hands, +the great uprightness and devotion of her humble Servant, could not +fancy that so much Religion and Piety could be an Impostor, and +therefore she doubted not in the least, but the Estate in _Norfolk_ was +unquestionable; and tho indeed her Prudence would still incline her to +a full inquiry and satisfactory account, yet 'tis now too late, her +cooling Admirer talks of speeding to _London_; and tho he professes he +will leave his heart behind with her, She is afraid that new Faces and +better Fortunes will soon shake her hold there, and therefore taking +her Pillow upon the business, she resolves not to slip so favourable an +opportunity, but to lay hold of the forelock, and take a good offer +whilst she may have it: For with all her natural Pride, she considers +her self but the Lees of a Tap; and 'tis not every Rich Gudgeon will +bite at a Bait so blown, and so stale. + +Her departing Lover still pressing for his Journey, the good-natur'd +Girl watches the next amorous sally of her Gallant, and takes him at +his word, and without asking advice, thinks her own wit sufficient, and +in two days time enters into _for better, for worse_. The Town-Bells +soon rung All Joy; and the best Hogshead in Daddy's Cellar run +_Claret_. His Honourable Guest and Son-in-Law was the little Idol of +all the Virgins of the Town, and the envied preferment of sweet Mrs. +_Betty_ had fill'd all Tongues; and scarce a Prayer offered up for a +Husband, but Mrs. _Betty_'s felicity was made the Pattern of their +Devotion. + +But now, as the Devil would have it, our dignified Bride is for having +her Dear Spouse, by all means, doing her and her Father the honour of +staying out the whole Bathe Season (now coming on) amongst 'em, and +nothing can divert her from that resolution. This is a very unwelcome +proposal; for the multitude of Faces from all quarters of the Kingdom, +may not only be very dangerous to his circumstances, but likewise his +_Norfolk_ Abilities, long before that time, may be examin'd too +narrowly; and therefore not being able to make any harsh refusal of his +fair Brides request, lest it should look like design, and to marry a +young Girl, and be ashamed of her parentage, would appear so unkind, +that he has no Artifice to wean her from _Bathe_, and drill her out of +Town, but by pretending a small relapse of his Indisposition, which he +acted so well, that he denied himself the very pleasures of Love, and +fell off even from Family-Duties. This Curtain-failure began to +moderate her passion for staying at _Bathe_, for her tame Bedfellow +still preaching up the virtues of his own Native _Norfolk_ Air, his +poor defeated Bride could not but have a womanly longing for so +necessary a Restorative, and thereupon for so important a Medicine to +her feeble Yokemate, she consented to go along with him. + +All her fine Cloaths were Boxed up, together with several Bed and +Table-Linnen, _&c._ (for she had pretty good Moveables, all the +Legacies of Deceased Aunts and Grannies, and other good Kin) and all +sent by her Man _Tom_ to the Carriers, and two days after places took +in the flying Coach for their speeding to _London_. + +But one main thing was almost forgotten. She had call'd in her Portion, +which for a Guinies Gratification the Scrivener had ready at an Hours +warning, having at that time some other peoples Money by him +undisposed, and hers being out upon Mortgage, the Owners were very well +pleas'd to make an Exchange upon the same security. This Money was not +to be trusted by the Waggon, but to be carryed up with her in the Coach +box, for which her Man _Tom_ beg'd her acceptance of a little Gilt +leather'd Trunk that happen'd to be just small enough to go into the +Coach-box. The Day of setting out being the Morrow, her thoughtful +Spouse had nicely consider'd that the Coach would be in _London_ half a +day before the Carrier, which for some Reasons you'll find in the +sequel was not altogether for his convenience, and therefore he made a +shift to put off the Journey till next Coach-day. + +Against that time the Gilt-leather'd Trunk, and the Key to it was +deliver'd her, (tho by the by he had got two Keys) and the 80_l._ some +Broad pieces, a Caudle-Cup, half a dozen of Silver Spoons, and some +other Toys were all stowed in it; and the Kind Couple are trundling +away for _London_, with the Man well mounted riding by. + +Now as a Man of his Estate, he had freely given her all her own +Portion, a small Privy Purse to buy her Pins with, having Marryed her +only for Beauty, and much disdaining the addition of so small a sum to +his plentiful Fortune. The first stage being done (for they had but one +Night to lye by the way) the small Cabinet of Treasure was carefully +taken out of the Coach, and lodged in a Closet in the Chamber, and next +Morning deliver'd to _Tom_ to see safely laid in the Coach-box as +before. + +The next Night arriving both at _London_, (whither _Tom_ about +_Brenford_ was commanded by his Master to speed a little before to +prepare for their Reception) a very fair Lodging near St. _James_'s was +ready to entertain her, but no _Tom_ had been there; and coming to open +the Trunk, instead of the Gold and Silver Entrayls there was nothing +but a Bag of Stones, and a piece of a Brickbat to supply their places, +enclosed in a few Rags that stuft up the Trunk. This amazing sight +threw the poor Lady into a most violent Distraction, and 'twas very +hard to hold her from falling into a Fit, her Husband seeming as much +amazed as her self, and joining in the complaint as loud as she. But to +abate her Rage, he told her the wicked Rogue should not so scape, he +had very sufficient security from able Friends for his honest and +faithful service, and their Purses should make her Reparation, till +when the Loss should be made up out of his own Pocket. Nor would he +sleep till he had made her some farther satisfaction, and therefore +beg'd her Excuse but for one half Hour till he took Coach, and made +that search and quest that perhaps would bring her some considerable +Light into the Villany. Her Zeal for her Loss never look'd any farther, +and accordingly well pleas'd with the Kind Motion, she took leave of +him for the half Hour aforesaid. + +But, alas, a long half Hour, for half the Evening, nay the whole Night +was gone, and neither Man nor Master to be heard of. So Husband and +Portion all departed, she thought fit to secure her Goods and Cloaths +at the Carriers, but the same Calamity attended there likewise, for +_Tom_ had been there too, and swept all. + +To describe the Distress and Anguish of our present Female Sufferer, or +either of her two foregoing Sisters in Affliction, being a work beyond +our power, we shall e'ne do as the Painter did of old, that is, draw a +Vail before the Face of sorrow, the Lineaments of true Grief being +above the Pen or Pencils skill. + +And now to follow our Libertine through all his Rambles and Exploits in +this wide Town of _London_, (for there lyes his next Scene) being +matter we have not yet fully been inform'd in, we dare not venture to +play the Historian any farther than certain Intelligence (which yet we +have not received) can guide us, being resolved not to load our Rambles +with Romance or Fiction, his Life being furnisht with matter +sufficiently voluminous without the addition of Flourish or Fancy. + +Let it suffice that some time after all these three successive +Adventures, the poor _Ludlow_ VVife comes up to _London_, being the +last place she has to make her quest after this Impostor and Monster, +for those are the gentlest Names her Sufferings and Resentments can +give him. She has a great Opinion that _Newgate_ or _Newgate_ Roll, or +some other such Chronicles of his Renown will give her some light into +his Life and Fortune, and perhaps the Justice of Heaven afford her a +sight of him at least, if not a power to execute Heavens and her just +Vengeance on so egregious a Reprobate. + +Her Inn being at _Holborn_ Bridge, she lights into the Company of a +good Motherly VVoman just come from _Oxfordshire_; the sorrow in so +young a Face, and the swoln Eyes which were not yet dryed, the Fountain +being indeed inexhaustible, the Curiosity of the Elder Traveller made +bold to ask her the cause of so doleful a look, &c. The young one (who +now had no Reserves) plainly told her whole sufferings, to which the +Matron replyed, Alas young VVoman, what are your griefs to mine? I have +been many years the VVife of the most Infamous Miscreant that the Earth +ever bore; deserted and abandoned by the wickedest of Men, after long +years of Honest and Loyal Fidelity to his Bed, and exposed to perish +(which you, thanks to able Friends, need not fear) _&c._ with a great +deal more bitter Invectives against him. Till at last upon further +conferring of Notes, and describing of Characters and Persons they came +to jump together, and found 'emselves both abused by the very same +Monster, the eldest being indeed his old _Banbury_ Wife. What Amazement +this Accident produced may easily be conjectured, it will be enough to +tell you that the Anguish of both their Souls, and the Bitterness of +Gall on each side made 'em Swear an inviolable Friendship, determining +to search (if possible) the whole World, to hunt down this Devil. +Accordingly they take a Lodging a little higher in _Holborn_, where +making no secret of both their hard cases, they open their whole Souls +to their new Landlady to engage her assistance in the Quarrel. The +Landlady Transported at both their Narrations fell upon her Knees, and +blest God he had sent 'em to her House, for this _Lucifer_ they had +described, was certainly the very Man that next Week was to Marry her +Daughter. This surprize put 'em all into new Confusion, and the +Daughter being called to the Council, it was evident that this very +Fellow had made Love to the Daughter of the House, the day of Marriage +concluded, the Ring and Wedding Cloaths preparing, &c. This last +Deliverance made the poor old Woman, and the Daughter no less, melt +into Tears at this happy Discovery. + +Well, 'tis agreed between 'em all, that they shall not stir till he +comes thither, which will be in twenty four Hours at most; and all +their united Vengeance, Constables, Warrants, and what not, shall be +prepar'd for his Reception. + +This Resolution was heartily fix'd amongst 'em; only the _Banbury_ Wife +would that Evening take a walk to a Cozens, a Citizen, where she had +some important Affairs, but nothing should stay her abroad above an +Hour; she had not walk'd half a Furlong but Destiny or some other +ruling Power threw her full in the Mouth of her Husband; her Passion at +sight of him rose so high, that at first it could not find vent for +words, which he perceiving desired her to walk into a Tavern which was +just before 'em, and there recover her Confusion. You may conceive she +was very ready to accept the Invitation, her Stomach being so full, +that 'twas the only thing she wanted to have her full swing at him. The +Discourse of her part you may well guess at; but his Answer was so +tender, and his Confession so open, that at last she grew patient +enough to hear him out. He plainly told her all he had done, or at +least the greatest part: that it was only the Effects of his Wants and +Necessities, that now he had rais'd enough to re-establish him in the +World, that the Hony Moon of Love had been almost over between them, +and that if he had made any Lapse in Disloyalty to her Marriage Right, +it was not Infidelity but Interest that had enforced him to all. And so +showing her handfuls of Gold and Silver, he humbly intreated a +Reconciliation betwixt 'em. Which good Words and Address at last so +perfectedly obtained, that he perswaded her to send for all her +Houshold Goods, and to live with him somewhere in the Liberties of +_Westminster_, where disguising his Name, and amending his Faults, +he doubted not through his practice to recover a plentiful Being, and +maintain her like a Woman. + +The poor Creature absolutely mollified, promises Fidelity to him, and +never returning to her new Lodgings, takes him along with her, +defeating the whole Vengeance that was hatching against him, and not +stirring from him till all her Goods were come up from _Banbury_, and a +new House furnisht with 'em. She had not lived there three days, till +finding a Gossiping Errand for her to keep her from home a whole day, +at her Return at Night to Bed, she finds neither Husband nor Goods, Bed +to lye, or Stool to sit upon; the whole House being utterly dismantled, +and nothing but nakedness and empty Walls to receive her. + +This last Cruelty of her Barbarian made her almost run stark Mad, and +returning to her _Holborn_ Lodging to own her frailty in believing an +Infidel, and the Just Judgment that had befaln her upon it, she found +the poor _Ludlow_ Mourner departed, and all her Relief left was to +return to _Banbury_ to live upon the Alms of the Parish. + +This Libertine Life of our Renegade did not long continue till found at +last by the _Ludlow_ Wife he was thrown into _Worcester_ Jail; from +thence by _Habeas Corpus_ (at the Charge of a Parson in _Southwark_ +whose Daughter he had likewise Married) removed to _Newgate_, & upon an +Indictment of six Wives appearing against him, being then Tryed by the +Name of _Morrel_ alias _Bowyer_ (a Name of a Worthy Person of Quality, +for personating of whom he had stood in the Pillory) he pleaded Guilty +to those six and twelve more, and thereby received only the punishment +of a Squeeze in the Fist. + +After this Escape of a Halter, what his following Adventures have been +we are not informed: 'tis to be believed his Will was no ways wanting, +though his power of managing such hardy Exploits might undoubtedly be a +little retrencht: and therefore we have reason to conclude he fell into +smaller Games, in which his Walks have lain something more obscure, and +thereupon by reason of our unacquaintance with the Truth of that part +of his Life, we shall over-leap some years, and bring him to his +Conclusion. + +Some few days before _Christmas_ he came to one Mr. _Cullens_ a Baker +in the _Strand_ to seek him a Lodging, his Habit but indifferent, and +his Stock not above Two Shillings, pretending himself to be a Person of +Worth and Honour, _viz. Humphrey Wickham_ of _Swaclift_ in the County +of _Oxon_ Esq; a Person whose Name and Reputation was well known to +Mrs. _Cullen_, being Born not far from him, which contributed much to +the swallowing of the Imposture. His pretence for leaving his Family in +the Countrey, and living here _Incognito_ was occasion'd (he said) to +avoid the payment of 500_l._ which he stood engaged for, and for which +the principal had left him in the lurch; and which he had made a rash +Vow he would not pay. + +Mr. _Cullen_'s Family thus imposed upon supplied all his wants, and +paid him the due Respects to the Quality he Personated, till falling +sick, on the 28th of _December_ he made a Will, as follows. + + +His WILL. + +In the name of God, Amen. _I_ Humphrey Wickham _of_ Swatclift, _in the +County of_ Oxon _Esquire; being sick and weak in Body, but of sound +Mind and Memory, do make this my last WILL and TESTAMENT, revoking all +Wills by me formerly made: And as touching such Worldly Estate as God +hath been pleased to bless me withal, I do hereby give and bequeath the +same in manner following._ + +Imprimis, _I do give, devise, and bequeath, to my Kinsman_ William +Wickham, _of_ Gazington, _in the County of_ Oxon, _all that my Mansion +House of_ Swaclift _aforesaid; and all the Lands, Tenements, and +Hereditaments thereunto belonging, to hold unto him the said_ William +Wickham, _and his Heirs for ever_. + +Item, _I give and bequeath unto_ John Cullin, _Son of_ Thomas Cullin, +_of the Parish of St._ Clement Danes, _in the County of_ Middlesex, +_Baker, all that my impropriated Personage of_ Sowgrate, _in the County +of_ Northampton, _with the Rents, Issues, and Profits thereof_. + +Item, _I give unto Anne Cullin_, _Sister of the said_ John Cullin, _the +Summ of Two hundred and fifty Pounds_. + +Item, _I give unto_ Thomas Cullin, _Son of the said_ Thomas Cullin, +_the Sum of Three hundred Pounds_. + +Item, _I give unto_ Dorothy Halford _of_ Halford, _in the County of_ +Warwick, _the Sum of two hundred Pounds_. + +Item, _I give unto_ Richard Davis, _Son of_ William Davis _of the said +Parish of St._ Clement Danes, _the Sum of Four hundred Pounds_. + +Item, _I give unto_ William Davis, _Son of the said_ William Davis, +_the Summ of Two hundred Pounds_. + +Item, _I give unto_ Anne Fowkes, _for her Care and Diligence in Looking +after me in my Sickness, the Sum of one hundred pounds_. + +Item, _I give unto_ Robert Croker, _Son of_ William Croker _of_ +Sanford, _in the said County of_ Oxon _(being my God-son) the Sum of +Five hundred Pounds_. + +Item, _I give unto the said_ William Croker, _the Sum of Five hundred +Pounds_. + +Item, _I give unto_ Robert Penniston, _Son of Sir_ Thomas Penniston, +_and younger Brother to Sir_ Farmalis Penniston _of_ Cornhill, _in the +said County of_ Oxon _the Sum of Three hundred Pounds_. + +Item, _I give unto Mrs._ Jane Penniston, _Sister of the said Mr._ +Robert Penniston, _the Summ of Two hundred Pounds_. + +Item, _I do hereby give, devise, and bequeath, all my Lands, Tenements, +and Hereditaments whatsoever, called by the name of_ Apple-tree Ducy, +_in_ Cropridee, _in the County of_ Northampton, _unto_ John Brooking +_of_ Rashly, _in the County of_ Devon, _Esquire, and the said_ William +Davis senior, _and_ Thomas Cullin senior, _and the Survivor of them, +and their Heirs, and the Survivor of them upon Trust and Confidence: +Nevertheless, that they the said_ John Brooking, William Davis, _and_ +Thomas Cullin, _shall sell and dispose of the same; and out of the +Money thereby raised, pay, or cause to be paid, the respective Legacies +herein before bequeathed unto the said_ Anne Cullin, Thomas Cullin +Junior, Dorothy Halford, Richard Davis, William Davis Junior, _and_ +Anne Fowkes. _And whereas I have herein before bequeathed unto my +Kinsman_ Will. Wickham, _and his Heirs, all my Mansion-house at_ +Swacklift _aforesaid, with the Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments +thereunto belonging; my true Will and Meaning is, That the same Devise +is upon this special Trust and Confidence, That the said_ William +Wickham _shall pay, or cause to be paid, the several Legacies herein +before bequeathed unto the said_ Rob. Croker, _and_ Will. Croker, +Robert Penniston, _and_ Jane Penniston; _and also pay and discharge one +Bond for the Principal Sum of five hundred pounds, with Interest, which +I became bound for with_ Thomas Walker, _to one_ Thomas Irons, _any +thing herein before contained, to the contrary thereof in any wise +notwithstanding; and also that he the said_ William Wickham, _shall out +of his Legacy, and Lands, and Premises aforesaid, to him devised, pay, +or cause to be paid unto my Executors hereafter named, the Sum of five +hundred pounds, to be by them bestowed, distributed, or employed for +the use and benefit of the Poor of the Parish of_ Swacklift _aforesaid, +in such manner as they, or the major part of them shall think fit and +convenient_. + +Item, _I give and bequeath unto the said_ John Brooking _out of the +Moneys that shall be raised of the Sale of the said Lands and +Tenements, called_ Apple-tree Ducy _aforesaid, the Summ of Five hundred +Pounds: And all the rest and residue of the Moneys that shall be +thereby raised, I do hereby give and bequeath unto the said_ William +Davies _Senior, and_ Thomas Cullin _Senior, to be equally divided +between them and the Survivor of them_. + +Item, _I give and bequeath unto_ Alice Cullin, _Wife of the said_ +Thomas Cullin _Senior, the Sum of Six hundred Pounds to her own proper +Use and Disposal_. + +Item, _I give and bequeath in like manner the Sum of Six hundred Pounds +unto_ Jane Davis, _the Wife of the said_ William Davis. + +Item, _I give unto the said_ Robert Croker _and_ Will. Croker, _the Sum +of Ten Pounds a piece to buy them Mourning: and also to each of them a +Ring of Twelve Shillings_. + +Item, _I give unto_ Jane Croker _and_ Mary Croker; _and also to the +said_ Robert Penniston, _and_ Jane Penniston, _and all other my Legates +herein before mentioned, and to every of them the Sum of Ten Pounds a +piece to buy them Mourning, and a Ring of Twelve Shillings_. + +Item, _Whereas I have the Sum of Seven hundred Pounds lying at Interest +in the hands of Mr._ Ambrose Holbitch, _in the name of_ Oliver Charles, +_my Servant, I do hereby give and bequeath the same to and amongst my +Four Servants_, Oliver Charles, John Harber, Sarah Winn, _and_ Margery +Smith, _and the Survivor of them, to be equally divided amongst them, +share and share alike_. + +Item, _I give and bequeath my Three Geldings, and all my Accoutrements +belonging to them unto the said_ John Brookeing, William Davis _Senior, +and_ Thomas Cullin, _Senior_, viz. _my Bright Bay Gelding to the said_ +Thomas Cullin, _and my Black Gelding to the said_ William Davis, _and +my Dapple-grey Gelding to the said_ John Brookeing. _All the Arrears of +Rent in my Tenants Hands at the time of my Decease I do hereby freely +acquit and discharge. And all the rest and Residue of my Personal +Estate, not herein before devised, after my Debts, Legacies and Funeral +Expences, paid and discharged, I do hereby give and bequeath unto my +said Kinsman_ William Wickham. + +_And, lastly. I do hereby nominate, constitute and appoint the said_ +William Wickham, John Brooking, William Davis senior, _and_ Thomas +Cullin senior, _Executors of this my Will; hereby revoking and making +void all other, and former Will or Wills by me made_. + +_In Witness whereof I the said_ Humphrey Wickham _have to this my last +Will, containing one side of a Sheet of Paper, and almost half the +back, thereof, set my Hand and Seal this Twentieth day of_ Decemb. Anno +Dom. 1691. + +Humphrey Wickham. + +_Signed, Sealed, Published and Declared in the presence of us, with the +words_ (Will. Wickham) _being first interlined_, Rob. Smith, Jo. +Chapman, Rich. Chapman, Mart. Pinckard. + +_I, the above-named_ Humphrey Wickham, _having omitted out of my Will +above-mentioned, the Disposition of my Estate in_ Huntingtonshire, _do +hereby make this Addition to, and part of my said Will, in manner +following: I give and bequeath all my Lands, Tenements and +Hereditaments, called_ Pryor'_s Farm, and all other my Estate in_ +Holly-well _and_ Needingworth, _unto the above-named_ John Brooking, +William Davis senior, _and_ Tho. Cullin senior, _and the Survivor of +them, and their Heirs, and the Heirs of the Survivor of them, under +this special Trust and Confidence, that the said_ Jo. Brooking, William +Davis, _and_ Thomas Cullin, _shall sell and dispose of the same; and +out of the Moneys thereby raised, pay, or cause to be paid the +respective Legacies hereafter named_; viz. _I give and bequeath to_ +Humphrey Longford _the sum of six hundred pounds, and to his Sister_ +Mary Longford _the like sum of six hundred pounds_. + +Item, _I give and bequeath unto the said_ Tho. Cullin _Sen. the further +Sum of_ 800 l. _and all the Remainder of the Moneys thereby raised, I +give and bequeath unto the said_ Will. Davis _Sen. and_ Jane _his Wife, +and the Survivor of them_. + +Item, _Whereas I have by Will above-said, given unto_ John Cullin, _Son +of the said_ Thomas Cullin, _the impropriated Parsonage of_ Sowgrave; +_my true meaning is, That I do give and devise the same to the said_ +John Cullin, _and his Heirs for ever. In Witness whereof, I the said_ +Humphrey Wickham _have to this Codicil Addition, or further part of my +said Will, set my Hand and Seal, this Twenty eighth Day of_ December, +_Anno Dom._ 1691. + +Humphrey Wickham. + +_Signed, Sealed, Published, and Declared, in the Presence of us_, +Robert Smith, John Chapman, Rich. Chapman, Martin Pinkard. Probatum +fuit, _&c._ + + This stupendious confidence of a dying man is very amazing, nay he + drove on the Masquerade at that strange rate, that he may be truly + said to have ended as he began, having received the blessed + Sacrament, pretended the settlement of his Conscience, and making + peace with Heaven with that seeming sincerity, as if he had + resolved to prevaricate with God with the same assurance he had all + along done with Mankind. The credulity of these deluded persons his + Landlord, and the rest, is not much to be wonder'd at, when the + last Gasps of Death could carry so fair an Hypocrisie, and their + Transports for his extravagant Legacies bequeathed 'em are rather + to be pittied then rediculed. And if they have been faulty in any + little over-fondness of their imaginary good fortune, the Jests and + Gibes they have received, have been their sufficient punishment; + besides Mr. _Cullin's_ being run out of above 30_l._ + + After his Death care was taken to provide him a Coffin of about + 10_l._ value, and the Embalmers were paid for some of their Office + of preserving him sweet, till preparations for a solemn and + sumptuous Funeral could be made, suitable to the remains of the + honourable Deceased. And this Letter was sent as follows. + + + _Sir_, + + These serve to inform you that _Humphrey Wickham_ Esquire of + _Swaclift_ in the County of _Oxon_ died this morning at my House + where he has been about ten days; He has made his Will, and you are + one of his Executors with me and others; A very great share of his + Estate is given to you; therefore pray Sir speed to _London_, that + we may take care of his Funeral and other matters necessary to be + done upon this occasion. + + I think it may not be amiss that you keep this private, lest any + thing may be Purloyned or Imbezelled by any of the deceaseds + Servants, or any else at his Seat at _Swaclift_, which is all given + to you, some Legacies thereout to be paid; I am, Sir, + + _Your Servant_ + + Tho. Cullin. + + London 3. January 169-1/2. From my House at the Wheat-sheaf near + St. _Clements_ Church over against _Arundel_ Street. _Strand_. + + To Mr. _William Wickham_ of _Gazington_ inquire at the Blew Boars + Head in _Oxon_. + + _These following Lines were inclosed from the aforesaid Executors + in the said Letter being left by the deceased._ + + Whereas, I _Humphrey Wickham_ Esquire, in Company with my own man + _John Harbert_, _and John Austin_, Son of _Nich. Austin_, did carry + a black Hoggs Skin Trunk, marked with the Letters + + _H. W._ 1688. + + Wherein are the Deeds of my Estate at _Sowgrave_ and _Apple-tree + Ducy_; these are to desire you to deliver them to the Executors, + signed with his own Name, thus + + _Humphrey Wickham_ + + _Memorandum_, there are two Mortgages in the hands of _Austin_, the + one for 1400_l._ and the other for 400_l._ In the name of _Oliver + Charles_, in the hands of Mr. _Ambrose Holbech_. + +In answer to this Letter came a Gentleman from _Oxford_ to tell Mr. +_Cullin_, that the Christian name of this Mr. _Wickham_ of _Gazington_ +was mistaken, which gave the first Alarm of an Imposture, otherwise +Horse and Mourning had been provided to have carried him down to +_Swackley_ for his Interment there. + +Mr. _Cullin_ being not over apt to believe himself cheated, but more to +satisfie the rest of the World, sent down a Messenger to _Swackley_, +with fifteen shillings in his Pocket, mounted upon a poor Hackney, but +ordered to return upon the Bright Bay Gelding bequeathed him in his +Will; being not convinced of the Delusion till his Messengers Return +notwithstanding several persons of Reputation had declared him a +counterfeit; & Major _Richardson_ and Mr. _Compton_ had both inspected +the Corps, and averred him to be the very man formerly Judged for six +Wives as before mentioned, and more than once their Prisoner in +Newgate. + +The Messenger returning _Tuesday_ the 12th of _January_ he brought a +Compliment to the Executors from Captain _Wickham_, (who had treated +the Messenger very civilly,) to this effect; that he gave 'em his +hearty thanks for their intended kindness to him, and if they would +please to come to _Swackley_ for a Month or more they should be very +welcome, and have the use of all the Geldings, _viz._ the Black, the +Bright Bay, and Dapple Grey, tho he could not well part with 'em for +good and all. + +Upon this full satisfaction received, about three the next Morning with +no more than a Watchman and a Lanthorn in a Coffin of four shillings +price, he was laid in Earth in a Nook of St. _Clements_ Churchyard. + + +Postscript. + +The Nurse and Assistants that attended him in his sickness now call to +mind, that they once or twice observed him to laugh to himself very +pleasantly, which they suppose proceeded from the pleasure he took in +cheating the World he was then just upon leaving. + +_FINIS._ + + + + +_DIEGO REDIVIVUS:_ + +or the + +Last WILL + +AND + +TESTAMENT + +Of the Pretended + +_Humphrey Wickham_, Esq; + +Alias WILLIAM MORREL, alias BOWYER, &c. + +WITH A Full RELATION of his Notorious CHEATS and IMPOSTURES: Who dyed +at Mr. _Cullins_ House, the Third of this Instant _January_, in the +Parish of St. _Clement Danes_, &c. + + +_LICENSED and Entred in the REGISTER-BOOK of the Company of +Stationers._ + + +_LONDON_, Printed for _Abel Roper_, at the _Mitre_ near _Temple-Bar_. +1692. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENT. + + +This is to give notice, That the Fine COFFIN, mentioned in the +following Relation, is to be sold in _Shipyard_, without _Temple-bar_. + + + + + _The Last_ Will _and_ Testament _of the pretended_ Humphrey Wickham + _Esq_; _alias_ William Morrel, _alias_ Bowyer, _&c. with + Annotations thereupon_. + +The Publick undoubtedly cannot be better entertained, than by the +following Relation, of one of the most notorious Cheats as has been +known in an Age, which has already made a very amazing Noise in the +Town and the Particulars whereof, may be no disacceptable +Entertainment. + +A Person not over-well Clad, was seen standing gazing about him in the +Streets, over-against _Arundel_-Buildings in the _Strand_; but the +gravity of his Age (being a Person between 50 and 60) invited the +Curiosity of Mr. _Cullin_ the Baker, to ask this unknown Person what he +wanted? To which he replied, He wanted a Lodging. Upon this, Mr. +_Cullin_ very courteously made answer, He should be welcome to his +House; which he very easily and readily accepted; and accordingly was +received very kindly. Now having no extraordinary Stock of Money, +_viz._ but Two Shillings in his Pocket, he was exposed to the necessity +of making use of some Romantick Narrative of his Quality and Condition, +to make good his Quarters with so slender a Purse, to hold out payment. +Accordingly the Curiosity of his Landlady enquiring what Country-man he +was? He replied, _Oxfordshire_; that his Name was _Wickham_, a Person +of a good Estate near _Banbury_; and that the occasion of his coming to +Town, was only to avoid the payment of 500_l._ which he stood engaged +for by Bond, in behalf of a Person that was run away, and had left him +to pay that Money, and which truly he had made an Oath to himself he +would never pay; not that the Summ was so considerable to a Man of his +plentiful Fortune, only he was resolved to keep his Vow; and that had +made him retire a little from being arrested for it. + +The Affability and good Language of this Person of imaginary Quality, +soon found Credit with his believing Landlord and Landlady, and no +Caress was thought kind enough to a Person of his eminent Figure and +Extraction. His first entrance into this indulgent Family was about a +fortnight before _Christmass_, where he gained that daily ground, that +no Respect could be sufficiently paid him: His little Pocket Strength +signified nothing, for his Host was not a little exalted with the +Honour of such a Guest under his Roof. + +But, as Providence was pleased to order it, his Reign was ordain'd to +be but short; for he soon fell into a languishing Sickness, in which +time neither Doctor, Apothecary, Nurse, or any other Assistance was +wanting. + +Now our pretended Captain, what ever other Faults he had, was resolv'd +not to be guilty of Ingratitude, and accordingly made an ample Last +Will and Testament, and most liberally gave extraordinary large +Donations and Legacies to his kind Landlord, _&c._ + +It was very remarkable, that during his Sickness, his Landlord, being +Overseer of the Poor, had requested a kind Brother in Office, the +Church-Warden, to pay a small Office of Christian Duty to this poor +languishing Gentleman; who making him a condoling Visit, with wet Eyes +and uplifted Hands, was so kind as to wish his Worship's Soul +everlasting Rest, which was seconded by many a repeated sigh from the +rest of the Condolers about him: And one more especially, having heard +of this great Wind-fall, lamented much his Unhappiness, in not visiting +this Gentleman, saying, _He was never born to do himself good, having +lost by his Negligence at least_ 1000_l._ Also another eminent Man of +the Parish, being dissatisfied that he did not come in for a Share with +the rest of his Neighbours, went and told them, _That the Coroner ought +to be sent for, and an Enquiry made how he died_. + +All Care and Application signified but little, for his last _Exit_ was +drawing on; in which time, not in the least to shrink from his +Character of Quality, he still kept up the Honourable Figure he had so +long presented; and accordingly made most prodigious Protestations of +Good-will and Acknowledgments to the Family, avowing that the few +Hundreds he had bequeathed them, was nothing to what he would do for +'em, if please God to lengthen his Life to serve them and theirs. + +And now having performed the Part of a good Patron and Friend, as his +last Legacies do sufficiently testifie; he was resolved to be as good a +Christian too, and thereupon requested the taking the Sacrament: To +which, being admitted (with what Integrity you'll find by the Sequel) +with a grave Countenance to the very last, he was very ready to receive +the Sacrament; and upon so serious an Undertaking, was pleased to put a +Case of Conscience to the Minister, _viz._ having made a Vow never to +pay the 500_l._ he stood engaged for, Whether he was obliged to keep +his Vow, or no? To which being answered in the Negative, That he was +obliged to pay his Debts, notwithstanding his rash Vow. He made answer, +That truly now drawing near Heaven, he considered the point, and +acquiesced with his Ghostly Monitor; and thereupon incerted the 500_l._ +into the Will. + +This piece of extraordinary Justice being perform'd with a very +composed and setled mind he left this troublesom World on _Sunday_ the +Third Instant, seeming very well contented to part with his great +Riches and Lands, for the more valuable consideration of future +Happiness. + +Now I must do the Family this Right, That notwithstanding the great +Sums they gain'd by so ample a Testament, and such bounteous Legacies, +however their sorrow for the lamented Departure of so worthy a +Gentleman was very hearty and cordial: Nay, some are of Opinion, that +instead of diminishing (as Sorrow generally wears off) theirs, on the +contrary is daily encreasing. + +But perhaps nothing was so unkind as excluding the poor Prentice from +visiting the sick Gentleman. For, alas, the poor Boy has been heard +most dolefully to bewail the unkindness of his Master; for undoubtedly +the worthy Gentleman would have left him enough to have set him up, had +he been amongst the Throng of Visitants, who all tasted so highly of +his extravagant Liberality. + +Now to assure you that the Kindness of his Executors continued beyond +his Death, they thought themselves so far indebted to his Memory, that +not only the Embalmer was sent for, but likewise a Coffin, price 12_l._ +was made, and all little enough for so generous a Patron, so much as +Mourning, and Rings, and what else bespoken, _&c._ + +But before these Honourable Exequies could be performed, an unhappy +Letter from the True _Humphrey Wickham_ Esq; a Person of a great Estate +and Reputation, detected the whole Fraud and Delusion, and the Remains +of our _Quandam_ Person of Honour was committed to Earth, in a Coffin, +price 4_s._ with Shrowd and other Funeral Materials accordingly. + +You are hereby informed, That this grand Impostor, whose true Name was +_VVilliam Morrell_ alias _Bowyer_, formerly a Surgeon in _Banbury_, had +been two Months a Guest at Mr. _Wickham_'s, and thereby so acquainted +with his Family as enabled him to personate the Cheat so artificially, +and so we leave him. + +_His_ WILL. + +_In the Name of God, Amen_, I _Humphrey Wickham_ of _Swaclift_, in the +County of _Oxon_ Esq; being sick and weak in Body, but of sound Mind +and Memory, do make this my last WILL and TESTAMENT, revoking all Wills +by me formerly made: And as touching such Worldly Estate as God hath +been pleased to bless me withal, I do hereby give and bequeath the same +in manner following: + +_Imprimis_, I do give, devise, and bequeath to my Kinsman _William +Wickham_, Son of _George Wickham_, of _Gazington_ in the County of +_Oxon_, all that my Mansion-House of _Swaclift_ aforesaid; and all the +Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments thereunto belonging, to hold unto +him the said _William Wickham_, and his Heirs forever. + +_Item_, I give and bequeath unto _John Cullin_, Son of _Thomas Cullin_, +of the Parish of St. _Clement Danes_, in the County of _Middlesex_, +Baker, all that my impropriated Parsonage of _Sowgrate_, in the County +of _Northampton_, with the Rents, Issues, and Profits thereof. + +_Item_, I give unto _Anne Cullin_, Sister of the said _John Cullin_, +the Summ of Two hundred and fifty Pounds. + +_Item_, I give unto _Thomas Cullin_, Son of the said _Thomas Cullin_, +the Summ of Three hundred Pounds. + +_Item_, I give unto _Dorothy Halford_, Daughter of _Thomas Halford_ of +_Halford_, in the County of _Warwick_, the Summ of Two hundred Pounds. + +_Item_, I give unto _Richard Davis_, Son of _William Davis_ of the said +Parish of St. _Clement Danes_, the Summ of Four hundred Pounds. + +_Item_, I give unto _William Davis_, Son of the said _William Davis_, +the Summ of Two hundred Pounds. + +_Item_, I give unto _Anne Fowkes_, for her Care and Diligence in +Looking after me in my Sickness, the Summ of One hundred Pounds. + +_Item_, I give unto _Robert Croker_, Son of _William Croker_ of +_Sanford_, in the said County of _Oxon_ (being my God-son) the Sum of +Five Hundred Pounds. + +_Item_, I give unto the said _William Croker_, the Summ of Five hundred +Pounds. + +_Item_, I give unto _Robert Penniston_, Son of Sir _Thomas Penniston_, +and younger Brother to Sir _Farmalis Penniston_ of _Cornhill_, in the +said County of _Oxon_ the Summ of Three hundred Pounds. + +_Item_, I give unto Mrs. _Jane Penniston_, Sister of the said Mr. +_Robert Penniston_, the Summ of Two hundred Pounds. + +_Item_, I do hereby give, devise, and bequeath, all my Lands, +Tenements, and Hereditaments whatsoever, called by the Name of +_Apple-tree Ducy_, in _Cropridee_, in the County of _Northampton_, unto +_John Brooking_ of _Rashly_, in the County of _Devon_, Esquire, and the +said _William Davis_ Senior, and _Thomas Cullin_ Senior, and the +Survivor of them, and their Heirs, and the Survivor of them upon Trust +and Confidence: Nevertheless, that they the said _John Brooking_, +_VVilliam Davis_, and _Thomas Cullin_, shall sell and dispose of the +same; and out of the Money thereby raised, pay, or cause to be paid, +the respective Legacies herein before bequeathed unto the said _Anne +Cullin_, _Thomas Cullin_ Jun. _Dorothy Halford_, _Richard Davis_, +_VVilliam Davis_ Jun. and _Anne Fowkes_. And whereas I have herein +before bequeathed unto my Kinsman _VVilliam VVickham_, and his Heirs, +all my Mansion-House at _Swaclift_ aforesaid, with the Lands, +Tenements, and Hereditaments thereunto belonging; my true Will and +Meaning is, That the same Devise is upon this special Trust and +Confidence, That the said _VVilliam VVickham_ shall pay, or cause to be +paid, the several Legacies herein before bequeathed unto the said _Rob. +Croker_, and _VVil. Croker_, _Robert Penniston_, and _Jane Penniston_; +and also pay and discharge one Bond for the Principal Sum of five +hundred Pounds, with Interest, which I became bound for and with +_Thomas VValker_, to one _Thomas Irons_, any thing herein +before-contained to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding; +and also that he the said _VVilliam VVickham_, shall out of his Legacy, +and Lands, and Premises aforesaid, to him devised, pay, or cause to be +paid unto my Executors hereafter named, the Sum of Five hundred Pounds, +to be by them bestowed, distributed, or employed for the use and +benefit of the Poor of the Parish of _Swaclift_ aforesaid, in such +manner as they, or the major part of them shall think fit and +convenient. + +_Item_, I give and bequeath unto the said _John Brooking_ out of the +Moneys that shall be raised of the Sale of the said Lands and +Tenements, called _Apple-tree Ducy_ aforesaid, the Summ of Five hundred +Pounds: And all the rest and residue of the Moneys that shall be +thereby raised. I do hereby give and bequeath unto the said _VVilliam +Davies_ Senior, and _Thomas Cullin_ Senior, to be equally divided +between them and the Survivor of them. + +_Item_, I give and bequeath unto _Alice Cullin_, Wife of the said +_Thomas Cullin_ Senior, the Sum of Six hundred Pounds to her own proper +Use and Disposal. + +_Item_, I give and bequeath in like manner the Summ of Six hundred +Pounds unto _Jane Davis_, the Wife of the said _VVilliam Davis_. + +_Item_, I give unto the said _Robert Croker_ and _VVill. Croker_, the +Summ of Ten Pounds a-piece to buy them Mourning: and also to each of +them a Ring of Twelve Shillings. + +_Item_, I give unto _Jane Croker_ and _Mary Croker_; and also to the +said _Robert Peniston_, and _Jane Peniston_, and all other my Legatees +herein before-mentioned, and to every of them the Summ of Ten Pounds +a-piece to buy them Mourning, and a Ring of Twelve Shillings. + +_Item_, Whereas I have the Sum of Seven hundred Pounds, lying at +Interest in the hands of Mr. _Ambrose Holbitch_, in the name of _Oliver +Charles_, my Servant, I do hereby give and bequeath the same to and +amongst my Four Servants, _Oliver Charles_, _John Harbert_, _Sarah +VVinn_, and _Margery Smith_, and the Survivor of them, to be equally +divided amongst them, share and share alike. + +_Item_, I give and bequeath my Three Geldings, and all my Accoutrements +belonging to them unto the said _John Brookeing_, _VVilliam Davis_ +Senior, and _Thomas Cullin_, Sen. _viz._ my Bright Bay Gelding to the +said _Thomas Cullin_, and my Black Gelding to the said _VVilliam +Davis_, and my Dapple-grey Gelding to the said _John Brooking_. All the +Arrears of Rent in my Tenants Hands at the time of my Decease I do +hereby freely acquit and discharge. And all the rest and Residue of my +Personal Estate, not herein before devised, after my Debts, Legacies +and Funeral Expences, paid and discharged, I do hereby give and +bequeath unto my said Kinsman _VVilliam VVickham_. + +And, lastly, I do hereby nominate, constitute and appoint the said +_VVilliam VVickham_, _John Brooking_, _VVilliam Davis_ Senior, and +_Thomas Cullin_ Senior, Executors of this my Will; hereby revoking and +making void all other, and former Will or Wills by me made. + +In Witness whereof I the said _Humphrey VVickham_ have to this my last +Will, containing one side of a Sheet of Paper, and almost half the back +thereof, set my Hand and Seal this Twenty seventh day of _December, +Anno Dom._ 1691. + +_Humphrey Wickham._ + +Signed, Sealed, Published and Declared in the presence of us, with the +Words (_VVill. VVickham_) being first interlined, _Rob. Smith_, _Jo. +Chapman_, _Rich. Chapman_, _Mart. Pinckard_. + +I, the above named _Humphrey VVickham_, having omitted out of my Will +above-mentioned, the Disposition of my Estate in _Huntingtonshire_, do +hereby make this Addition to, and part of my said Will, in manner +following. I give and bequeath all my Lands, Tenements and +Hereditaments, called _Pryor_'s Farm, and all other my Estate in +_Hollywell_ and _Needingworth_, or else where, in the said County of +_Huntington_, unto the above named _John Brooking_, _VVilliam Davis_ +Senior, and _Tho. Cullin_ Sen. and the Survivor of them, and their +Heirs, and the Heirs of the Survivor of them, under this special Trust +and Confidence, that the said _Jo. Brooking_, _VVilliam Davis_, and +_Thomas Cullen_, shall sell and dispose of the same; and out of the +Moneys thereby raised, pay, or Cause to be paid the respective Legacies +hereafter named, _viz._ I give and bequeath to _Humphrey Longford_ the +sum of six hundred pounds, and to his Sister _Mary Longford_ the like +sum of six hundred pounds. + +_Item_, I give and bequeath unto the said _Tho. Cullin_ Sen. the +further Summ of 800_l._. and all the Remainder of the Moneys thereby +raised, I give and bequeath unto the said _Will. Davis_ Sen. and _Jane_ +his Wife, and the Survivor of them. + +_Item_, Whereas I have by Will above-said, given unto _John Cullin_, +Son of the said _Thomas Cullin_, the impropriated Parsonage of +_Sowgrave_; my true meaning is, That I do give and devise the same to +the said _John Cullin_, and his Heirs for ever. In Witness whereof, I +the said _Humphrey Wickham_ have to this Condicil Addition, or further +part of my said Will, set my Hand and Seal, this Twenty eighth Day of +_December_, Anno Dom. 1691. + +_Humphrey Wickham._ + +Signed, Sealed, Published, and Declared, in the Presence of us, _Robert +Smith_, _John Chapman_, _Rich. Chapman_, _Martin Pinkard_, + + _Probatum fuit hum. Testium. cum Codicillo eidem annex. coram + Venerab. Vir. Henrico Fauconberge Legum Doctore, Surr. Venerab. & + Egregii Viri Dom. Richardi Raines Militis, Legem etiam Doctoris + Curiae Praerogativae Cantuar. Magist. &c. Quarto die Mensis Januarii, + Anno Dom. (Stilo Angliae, 1691.) Juramentis Willielmi Davis, & Thomae + Cullen, duorum ex Executor. &c. Quibus, &c. de bene & fidel. + Administrand. eadem ad Sancta Dei Evangelia Jurat. Reservata + potestate similem Com. faciendi Willielmo Wickham & Johanni + Brooking, alteris Executor. eum venerint seu eorum a'ter venerit + eand. petitur._ + +_FINIS_ + + + + +PUBLICATIONS OF THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY + + +First Year (1946-1947) + +Numbers 1-6 out of print. + + +Second Year (1947-1948) + + 7. John Gay's _The Present State of Wit_ (1711); and a section on +Wit from _The English Theophrastus_ (1702). + + 8. Rapin's _De Carmine Pastorali_, translated by Creech (1684). + + 9. T. Hanmer's (?) _Some Remarks on the Tragedy of Hamlet_ (1736). + +10. Corbyn Morris' _Essay towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit, +etc._ (1744). + +11. Thomas Purney's _Discourse on the Pastoral_ (1717). + +12. Essays on the Stage, selected, with an Introduction by Joseph Wood +Krutch. + + +Third Year (1948-1949) + +13. Sir John Falstaff (pseud.), _The Theatre_ (1720). + +14. Edward Moore's _The Gamester_ (1753). + +15. John Oldmixon's _Reflections on Dr. Swift's Letter to +Harley_(1712); and Arthur Mainwaring's _The British Academy_ (1712). + +16. Nevil Payne's _Fatal Jealousy_ (1673). + +17. Nicholas Rowe's _Some Account of the Life of Mr. William +Shakespeare_ (1709). + +18. "Of Genius," in _The Occasional Paper_, Vol. III, No. 10 (1719); +and Aaron Hill's Preface to _The Creation_ (1720). + + +Fourth Year (1949-1950) + +19. Susanna Centlivre's _The Busie Body_ (1709). + +20. Lewis Theobold's _Preface to The Works of Shakespeare_ (1734). + +21. _Critical Remarks on Sir Charles Grandison, Clarissa, and Pamela_ +(1754). + +22. Samuel Johnson's _The Vanity of Human Wishes_ (1749) and Two +_Rambler_ papers (1750). + +23. John Dryden's _His Majesties Declaration Defended_ (1681). + +24. Pierre Nicole's _An Essay on True and Apparent Beauty in Which from +Settled Principles is Rendered the Grounds for Choosing and Rejecting +Epigrams_, translated by J. V. Cunningham. + + +Fifth Year (1950-1951) + +25. Thomas Baker's _The Fine Lady's Airs_ (1709). + +26. Charles Macklin's _The Man of the World_ (1792). + +27. Out of print. + +28. John Evelyn's _An Apologie for the Royal Party_ (1659); and _A +Panegyric to Charles the Second_ (1661). + +29. Daniel Defoe's _A Vindication of the Press_ (1718). + +30. Essays on Taste from John Gilbert Cooper's _Letters Concerning +Taste_, 3rd edition (1757), & John Armstrong's _Miscellanies_(1770). + + +Sixth Year (1951-1952) + +31. Thomas Gray's _An Elegy Wrote in a Country Church Yard_ (1751); and +_The Eton College Manuscript_. + +32. Prefaces to Fiction; Georges de Scudery's Preface to _Ibrahim_ +(1674), etc. + +33. Henry Gally's _A Critical Essay_ on Characteristic-Writings (1725). + +34. Thomas Tyers' A Biographical Sketch of Dr. Samuel Johnson (1785). + +35. James Boswell, Andrew Erskine, and George Dempster. _Critical +Strictures on the New Tragedy of Elvira, Written by Mr. David Malloch_ +(1763). + +36. Joseph Harris's _The City Bride_ (1696). + + +Seventh Year (1952-1953) + +37. Thomas Morrison's _A Pindarick Ode on Painting_ (1767). + +38. John Phillips' _A Satyr Against Hypocrites_ (1655). + +39. Thomas Warton's _A History of English Poetry_. + +40. Edward Bysshe's _The Art of English Poetry_ (1708). + +41. Bernard Mandeville's "A Letter to Dion" (1732). + +42. Prefaces to Four Seventeenth-Century Romances. + + +Eighth Year (1953-1954) + +43. John Baillie's _An Essay on the Sublime_ (1747). + +44. Mathias Casimire Sarbiewski's _The Odes of Casimire_, Translated by +G. Hils (1646). + +45. John Robert Scott's _Dissertation on the Progress of the Fine +Arts._ + +46. Selections from Seventeenth Century Songbooks. + +47. Contemporaries of the _Tatler_ and _Spectator_. + +48. Samuel Richardson's Introduction to _Pamela_. + + +Ninth Year (1954-1955) + +49. Two St. Cecilia's Day Sermons (1696-1697). + +50. Hervey Aston's _A Sermon Before the Sons of the Clergy_ (1745). + +51. Lewis Maidwell's _An Essay upon the Necessity and Excellency of +Education_ (1705). + +52. Pappity Stampoy's _A Collection of Scotch Proverbs_ (1663). + +53. Urian Oakes' _The Soveraign Efficacy of Divine Providence_ (1682). + +54. Mary Davys' _Familiar Letters Betwixt a Gentleman and a Lady_ +(1725). + + +Tenth Year (1955-1956) + +55. Samuel Say's _An Essay on the Harmony, Variety, and Power of +Numbers_ (1745). + +56. _Theologia Ruris, sive Schola & Scala Naturae_ (1686). + +57. Henry Fielding's _Shamela_ (1741). + +58. Eighteenth Century Book Illustrations. + +59. Samuel Johnson's _Notes to Shakespeare_. Vol. I, Comedies, Part I. + +60. Samuel Johnson's _Notes to Shakespeare_. Vol. I, Comedies, Part II. + + +Eleventh Year (1956-1957) + +61. Elizabeth Elstob's _An Apology for the Study of Northern +Antiquities_ (1715). + +62. _Two Funeral Sermons_ (1635). + +63. _Parodies of Ballad Criticism_ (1711-1787). + +64. _Prefaces to Three Eighteenth Century Novels_ (1708, 1751, 1797). + +65. Samuel Johnson's _Notes to Shakespeare_. Vol. II, Histories, Part +I. + +66. Samuel Johnson's _Notes to Shakespeare_. 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