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quisite, he intends to print at least one hundred thousand for the first edition. He is to print proposals against next term, with a specimen, and a curious map of the capital city, with its twelve gates, from a known author, who took an exact survey of it in a dream. Considering the great care and pains of the author, and the usefulness of the work, he hopes every one will be ready, for their own good as well as his, to contribute cheerfully to it, and not grudge him the profit he may have by it, especially if it comes to a third or fourth edition, as he expects it will very soon.

He doubts not but it will be translated into foreign languages, by most nations of Europe, as well as of Asia and Africa, being of as great use to all those nations as to his own; for this reason he designs to procure patents and privileges for securing the whole benefit to himself, from all those different princes and states; and hopes to see many millions of this great work printed, in those different countries and languages, before his death.

After this business is pretty well established, he has promised to put a friend on another project almost as good as this; by establishing insurance offices every where, for securing people from shipwreck, and several other accidents in their voyage to this country; and these offices shall furnish, at a certain rate, pilots well versed in the route, and that know all the rocks, shelves, quicksands, &c. that such pilgrims and travellers may be exposed to. Of these he knows a great number ready instructed in most countries: but the whole scheme of this matter he is to draw up at large, and communicate to his friend.

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FULL AND TRUE ACCOUNT

OF THE

BATTLE

FOUGHT LAST FRIDAY,

BETWEEN THE

ANCIENT AND THE MODERN BOOKS IN ST. JAMES'S LIBRARY.*

*Dr. Swift's plan of the "Battle of the Books in the King's Library," was taken from a very ingenious French tract in 12mo, intituled, "Histoire Poëtique de la Guerre nouvellement declarée entre les Anciens et les Moderns." See Gent. Mag. vol. XI. p. 159. N.

Though I reverence those men of ancient time, that either have written truth perspicuously, or set us in any better way to find it out ourselves; yet to the antiquity itself I think nothing due ;—for if wẻ will reverence the age, the present is the oldest. If the antiquity of the writer, I am not sure, that generally they to whom such honour is given, were more ancient when they wrote than I am that am writing. But, if it be well considered, the praise of ancient authors proceeds not from the reverence for the dead, but from the competi .tion and mutual envy of the living." HOBBES. MS. Pate.

"I have very lately been authentically informed, that Swift used to be mortified at Sir William Temple's frequent censure and contempt of burlesque writings; and was much hurt at the last paragraph of Sir William's Essay upon Ancient and Modern Learning; where he says, 'I wish the vein of ridiculing all that is serious and good, all honour and virtue, as well as learning and piety, may have po worse effect on any state; it is the itch of our age and climate; and has overrun both the court and the stage, enters a house of lords and commons as boldly as a coffee-house; debates of council, as well as private conversation; and I have known, in my life, more than one or two ministers of state, that would rather have said a witty thing, than have done a wise one; and made the company laugh, rather than the kingdom rejoice." DR. WARTON.

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THE BOOKSELLER TO THE READER.

THE following discourse, as it is unquestionably of the same author, so it seems to have been written about the same time with the former; I mean, the year 1697, when the famous dispute was on foot about Ancient and Modern Learning. The controversy took its rise from an essay of Sir William Temple's upon that subject; which was answered by W. Wotton, B. D. with an appendix by Dr. Bentley, endeavouring to destroy the credit of Æsop and Phalaris for authors, whom Sir William Temple had in the essay before-mentioned highly commended. In that appendix, the Doctor falls hard upon a new edition of Phalaris, put out by the honourable Charles Boyle, pow earl of Orrery, to which Mr. Boyle replied at large with great learning and wit; and the Doctor voluminously rejoined. In this dispute, the town highly resented to see a person of Sir William Temple's character and merits, roughly used by the two reverend gentlemen aforesaid, and without any manner of provocation. At length, there appearing no end of the quarrel, our author tells us, that the BOOKS in St. James's library, looking upon themselves as parties principally concerned, took up the controversy, and came to a decisive battle; but the manuscript, by the injury of fortune or weather, being in several places imperfect, we cannot learn to which side the victory fell.

I must warn the reader to beware of applying to persons, what is here meant only of books in the most literal sense. So, when Virgil is mentioned, we are not to understand the person of a famous poet called by that name; but only certain sheets of paper bound up in leather, containing in print the works of the said poet: and so of the rest.

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