❝ out much more than he left; and, if his Papers had "not been a long time out of his Poffeffion, they "muft still have undergone more fevere Corrections. "And do they think fuch a Building is to be bat"tered with Dirt-pellets, however envenomed the "Mouths may be that discharge them? He hath "feen the Productions but of two Anfwerers, one of "which first appeared as from an unknown Hand, "but fince avowed by a Perfon, who upon fome "Occafions hath discovered no ill Vein of Humour. ""Tis a Pity any Occafions fhould put him under a Neceflity of being fo hafty in his Productions, "which otherwife might often be entertaining. But "there were other Reasons obvious enough for his Miscarriage in this; he writ against the Convicti"on of his Talent, and entered upon one of the wrongest Attempts in Nature, to turn into Ridicule, "by a Week's Labour, a Work which had cost fo "much Time, and met with so much Success in ri"diculing others. The Manner how he has handled "his Subject, I have now forgot; having just looked "it over when it firft came out, as others did, merely for the Sake of the Title.

"THE other Answer is from a Perfon of a gra ver Character, and is made up of half Invective, " and half Annotation; in the latter of which he "hath generally fucceeded well enough. And the "Project at that time was not amiss, to draw in Read"ers to his Pamphlet; feveral having appeared defi "rous that there might be fome Explication of the

more difficult Paffages. Neither can he be altoge "ther blamed for offering at the invective Part; be"cause it is agreed on all hands, that the Author "had given him fufficient Provocation. The great "Objection is against his Manner of treating it, very "unfuitable to one of his Function. It was determi "ned by a fair Majority, that this Anfwerer had, "in a Way not to be pardoned, drawn his Pen against a certain great Man then alive, and univer fally reverenced for every good Quality that could " poffibly

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poffibly enter into the Compofition of the moft ac"complished Perfon. It was obferved, how he was pleafed and affected to have that noble Writer call"ed his Adverfary; and it was a Point of Satire well "directed; for I have been told Sir W. T. was fuf66. ficiently mortified at the Term. All the Men of "Wit and Politenefs were immediately up in Arms, "through Indignation which prevailed over their Contempt, by the Confequences they apprehended "from fuch an Example; and it grew to be Porfenna's "Cafe; Idem trecenti juravimus. In fhort, Things 66 were ripe for a general Infurrection, till my Lord "Orrery had a little laid the Spirit, and fettled the "Ferment. But his Lordship being principally enga"ged with another Antagonist, it was thought, ne"ceffary, in order to quiet the Minds of Men, that "this Oppofer fhould receive a Reprimand, which

partly occafioned that Discourse of the Battle of "the Books; and the Author was farther at the Pains "to infert one or two Remarks on him in the Body "of the Book..

"THIS Anfwerer has been pleafed to find fault "with about a Dozen Paffages, which the Author "will not be at the Trouble of defending, farther "than by affuring the Reader, that for the greater "Part the Reflecter is entirely mistaken, and forces "Interpretations which never once entered into the "Writer's Head, nor will, he is fure, into that of "any Reader of Taste and Candour. He allows two, "or three at moft, there produced, to have been deli"vered unwarily for which he defires to plead the "Excuse offered already, of his Youth, and Frank"nefs of Speech, and his Papers being out of his "Power at the Time they were published.

"Bur this Anfwerer infifts; and fays, what he "chiefly dislikes, is the Defign What that was, I "have already told; and I believe there is not a Per"fon in England who can understand that Book, that "ever imagined it to have been any thing else, but to "expose.

** expose the Abuses and Corruptions in Learning and Religion.

"

"

"But it would be good to know what Defign "this Reflecter was ferving, when he concludes his Pamphlet with a Caution to Readers, to beware of thinking the Author's Wit was entirely his own. Surely this must have had fome Allay of perfonal Animofity, at least mix'd with the Defign of ferving "the Publick by so useful a Discovery; and it in"deed touches the Author in a very tender Point, "who infifts upon it, that through the whole Book " he has not borrowed one fingle Hint from any Wri"ter in the World; and he thought of all Criticisms," "that would never have been one. He conceived "it was never difputed to be an Original, whatever "Faults it might have. However this Anfwerer pro"duces three Inftances to prove this Author's Wit is

not his own in many Places. The firft is, that the "Names of Peter, Martin, and Jack, are borrowed "from a Letter of the late Duke of Buckingham. "Whatever Wit is contained in these three Names, "the Author is content to give it up, and defires his "Readers will fubtract as much as they placed upon "that Account ; at the fame time protesting folemnly, "that he never once heard of that Letter, except in "this Paffage of the Anfwerer: So that the Names were not borrowed, as he affirms, tho' they should happen to be the fame; which however is odd enough, and what he hardly believes; that of Jack being not quite so obvious as the other two. The "fecond Inftance to fhew the Author's Wit is not his

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own, is Peter's Banter (as he calls it in his Alfatia "Phrase) upon Tranfubftantiation, which is taken "from the fame Duke's Conference with an Irish "Priest, where a Cork is turned into a Horfe. This "the Author confeffes to have feen, about ten Years "after his Book was writ, and a Year or two after it

was published. Nay, the Answerer overthrows this "himfelf: For he allows the Tale was writ in 1697; "and I think that Pamphlet was not printed in ma

"ny

"ny Years after. It was neceflary, that Corruption

fhould have fome Allegory as well as the reft; and "the Author invented the properest he could, with"out inquiring what other People had writ; and "the commoneft Reader will find, there is not the "leaft Refemblance between the two Stories. The "third Inftance is in these Words: I have been affu"red, that the Battle in St. James's Library is mutatis "mutandis taken out of a French Book, intitled, "Combat des Livres, if I mifremember not. In which "Paffage there are two Claufes obfervable: I have "been assured; and, if I mifremember not. I defire first to know, whether if that Conjecture proves an utter Falfhood, those two Claufes will be a fuffici "ent Excufe for this worthy Critick. The Matter "is a Trifle: But would he venture to pronounce at "this Rate upon one of greater Moment? I know "nothing more contemptible in a Writer than the

Character of a Plagiary; which he here fixes at a "Venture, and this not for a Paffage, but a whole "Difcourfe, taken out from another Book only mu→

tatis mutandis. The Author is as much in the Dark "about this as the Anfwerer; and will imitate him

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by an Affirmation at random, that if there be a "Word of Truth in this Reflexion, he is a paultry

imitating Pedant, and the Anfwerer is a Perfon of "Wit, Manners, and Truth. He takes his Bold"nefs, from never having feen any fuch Treatife in

his Life, nor heard of it before; and he is fure it " is impoffible for two Writers of different Times and "Countries, to agree in their Thoughts after fuch a "Manner, that two continued Difcourfes fhall be "the fame only mutatis mutandis. Neither will he

infift upon the Miftake of the Title. But let the "Answerer and his Friend produce any Book they "please, he defies them to fhew one fingle Particu"lar, where the judicious Reader will affirm he has "been obliged for the smallest Hint; giving only

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Allowance for the accidental encountering of a fingle Thought, which he knows may fometimes "happen;

happen; though he has never yet found it in that Difcourfe, nor has heard it objected by any body "elfe.

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"So that if ever any Defign was unfortunately "executed, it must be that of this Answerer; who "when he would have it obferved, that the Author's "Wit is not his own, is able to produce but three "Inftances, two of them mere Trifles, and all three manifeftly false. If this be the Way these Gentlemen deal with the World in thofe Criticifms, where we have not Leisure to defeat them, their Readers "had need be cautious how they rely upon their "Credit; and whether this Proceeding can be re"conciled to Humanity or Truth, let thofe who "think it worth their while, determine.

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"IT is agreed, this Anfwerer would have fuc"ceeded much better, if he had ftuck wholly to his "Business as a Commentator upon the Tale of a Tub, "wherein it cannot be denied, that he hath been of "fome Service to the Publick, and has given very fair Conjectures towards clearing up fome difficult Paf"fages; but, it is the frequent Error of thofe Men, (otherwise very commendable for their Labours) "to make Excurfions beyond their Talent and their "Office, by pretending to point out the Beauties and "the Faults; which is no Part of their Trade, which "they always fail in, which the World never expected from them, nor gave them any Thanks for endeavouring at. The Part of Minellius, or Farnaby, would have fallen in with his Genius, and might have been ferviceable to many Readers, who "cannot enter into the abftrufer Parts of that Dif"course. But optat ephippia bos piger: The dull, unweildy, ill-fhaped Ox would needs put on the "Furniture of a Horfe, not confidering he was born "to labour, to plow the Ground for the fake of fu"perior Beings, and that he has neither the Shape, "Mettle nor Speed of that noble Animal he would "affect to perfonate.

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