THE PUBLISHER TO THE READER.

Ir is now-a-days the hard fate of such as pretend to be authors that they are not permitted to be masters of their own works; for if such papers (however imperfect) as may be called a Copy of them, either by a fervant or any other means, come to the hands of a bookfeller, he never confiders whether it be for the perfon's reputation to come into the world, whether it is agreeable to his sentiments, whether to his style or correЯnefs, or whether he has for fome time looked over it; nor doth he care what name or character he puts to it fo he imagines he may get by it.

It was the fate of the following Poem to be so used, and printed with as much imperfection and as many mistakes as a bookseller that has common fenfe could imagine should pass upon the Town, especially in an age fo polite and critical as the prefent.

These following Letters and Poem were at the prefs fome time before the other paper pretending to the fame title was crept out; and they had elfe, as the learned fay, groaned under the prefs till such time as the fheets had, one by one, been perused and corrected not only by the Author but his friends, whose judgment as he is fenfible he wants, fo is he proud to own that they fometimes condefcend to afford him.

For many faults that at first seem small yet create unpardonable errours. The number of the verfe turns

THE PUBLISHER TO THE READER.

upon the harshness of a syllable, and the laying a stress upon improper words will make the most correct piece ridiculous. False concord, tenses, and grammar, nonsense, impropriety, and confusion, may go down with fome perfons; but it should not be in the power of a bookseller to lampoon an author, and tell him "You did write all this; I have got it; and you shall "ftand to the fcandal, and I will have the benefit:" yet this is the present case, notwithstanding there are above threefcore faults of this nature; verses tranf pofed, fome added, others altered, or rather that fhould have been altered, and near forty omitted. The Author does not value himself upon the whole; but if he fhews his efteem for Horace, and can by any means provoke perfons to read fo useful a treatise; if he fhews his averfion to the introduction of luxury, which may tend to the corruption of manners, and declares his love to the old British hospitality, charity, and valour, when the arms of the family, the old pikes, mufkets, and halberts, hung up in the hall over the long table, and the marrowbones lay on the floor, and Chevy Chafe and The Old Courtier of the Queen's were placed over the carved mantlepiece, and the beef and brown bread were carried every day to the poor, he defires little farther than that the reader would for the future give all fuch booksellers as are before fpoken of no manner of encouragement.

LETTERS

TO DR. LISTER AND OTHERS.

LETTER I. TO MR.

DEAR SIR,

THE happiness of hearing now and then from you extremely delights me; for I must confefs most of my other friends are so much taken up with politicks or fpeculations, that either their hopes or fears give them little leisure to perufe fuch parts of learning as lie remote,and are fit only for the clofets of the curious. How bleft are you at London, where you have new books of all forts! whilft we at a greater distance, being destitute of fuch improvements, must content ourselves with the old ftore, and thumb the Clafficks, as if we were never to get higher than our Tully or our Virgil.

You tantalize me only when you tell me of the edition of a book by the ingenious Dr. Lifter, which you fay is a treatise De Condimentis et Opfoniis Veterum, "Of the Sauces and Soups of the Ancients," as I take it. Give me leave to use an expreffion which though vulgar, yet upon this occasion is just and proper; you have made my mouth water, but have not sent me wherewithal to fatisfy my appetite.

I have raised a thousand notions to myself only from the title. Where could fuch a treasure lie hid? what manufcripts have been collated? under what

emperour was it written? might it not have been in the reign of Heliogabalus, who though vicious, and in fome things fantastical, yet was not incurious in the grand affair of eating?

Confider, dear Sir! in what uncertainties we must remain at present. You know my neighbour Mr. Greatrix is a learned antiquary. I fhewed him your letter, which threw him into fuch a dubiousness, and indeed perplexity, of mind, that the next day he durft not put any catfup in his fish fauce, nor have his beloved pepper, oil, and lemon, with his partridge, left before he had feen Dr. Lifter's book he might tranfgrefs in ufing fomething not common to the Ancients.

Difpatch it therefore to us with all speed, for I expect wonders from it. Let me tell you I hope in the first place it will in fome measure remove the barbarity of our prefent education; for what hopes can there be of any progrefs in learning whilft our gentlemen fuffer their fons at Westminster, Eaton, and Winchester, to eat nothing but falt with their mutton, and vinegar with their roast beef, upon holydays? What extensiveness can there be in their souls, efpecially when, upon their going thence to the univerfity, their knowledge in culinary matters is feldom enlarged, and their diet continues very much the fame, and as to fauces they are in profound ignorance?

It were to be wifhed therefore that every family had a French tutor; for befides his being groom, gar

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dener, butler, and valet, you would fee that he is endued with greater accomplishments; for, according to our ancient author, Quot Galli, totidem Coqui,“ As many Frenchmen as you have, so many Cooks you may depend upon;" which is very useful where there is a numerous iffue. And I doubt not but with fuch tutors, and good housekeepers to provide cake and sweetmeats, together with the tender care of an indulgent mother to fee that the children eat and drink every thing that they call for; I doubt not, I fay, but we may have a warlike and frugal gentry, a temperate and auftere clergy, and such persons of quality in all stations as may best undergo the fatigues of our fleet and armies.

Pardon me, Sir, if I break off abruptly, for I am going to Monf. D'Avaux, a person famous for eafing the toothach by avulfion. He has promised to fhew me how to strike a lancet into the jugular of a carp, fo as the blood may iffue thence with the greatest effufion, and then will inftantly perform the operation of stewing it in its own blood in the presence of my felf and several more virtuofi. But let him ufe what claret he will in the performance, I will fecure enough to drink your health and the rest of your friends.

I remain, Sir, &c.