THE tmm
 
 UNIVERSITY OF C'JJ70R-N^"
 
 A N 
 
 ANSWER 
 
 T O A 
 
 SCANDALOUS LIBEL, 
 
 Entitled, 
 
 The Impertinence and Impofture of Modern 
 Antiquaries difplay'd ; 
 
 o R, A 
 
 Refutation of the Reverend Mr. WI S E\ Letter 
 to Dr. M E A Dy concerning the White Horse, 
 and other Antiquities in Berkjhire. 
 
 I^ijferentmm inter fe Reprehenfiones non funt vituperanda ; 
 maledi&a^ contum'lia, turn iracundia, contenttones, con- 
 cert at ionefqiie in difptttando pertinaces^ indigna mihi videri 
 folent. 
 
 Cicero, dc finibus Boni & Mali, Lib. i. 
 
 L O NT> O N : 
 
 Printed for J. Whiston, and C. Corbett, in Fleet-ftreet ; 
 J. joLLiFFE, St. [famts\-StTteti and £. Nutt, at the Royal 
 J£.xxhange. MDcCXLI. 
 
 ( Price One Shilling. )
 
 r
 
 
 \ 
 
 A N 
 
 Ia N S W E R 
 
 T O A 
 
 SCANDALOUS LIBEL, 
 
 % 
 
 Q 
 
 CO 
 
 Entitled, 
 
 'The Impertinence and Impofture of Modem 
 Antiquaries difplay'd, J^r.' 
 
 I^;HE N the Work of an Author of eftablifhed Reputa- 
 ^/)^ tion, receives an anonymous Anfwer, it may gene- 
 rally be concluded, that not his Arguments, but his 
 vi^ Pcrfon is to be attacked : For, while we of this Na- 
 tion enjoy Liberty, in every refped, to its full Extent 5 there can 
 be no Reafon, why any Man that diflcnts from another, and de- 
 %ns to publifh his Opinion to the World, fhould conceal his 
 Name; unlcfs he is confcious that his Arguments are weak and 
 futile; or his chief Defign is to abufe, and throw Dirt from his 
 Obfcurity with Safety. 
 
 B Althoush 
 
 21U280
 
 ( = ) 
 
 Although I neither know Mr. infl', nor am known to hun, 
 yet 1 cannot, without Ibmc Degree of Rcrcntmcnt, fee him ib 
 Icurriiized, for giving hib Opinion in the mort unexceptionable 
 and agreeable Manner, concerning a remarkable and difputable 
 Work of Antiquity. It is indeed, in a great mealurc, the coiu- 
 tiion Caufe of every Man of Letters : for if e\ery one whooftcrs 
 his Tlioughts to the Publick, muft meet with fuch indecent, abu- 
 five tJfagc, we fhall foon lole all manner of hnprovement and 
 Advantage from each other's Studies and Labours ; the Prefs muft 
 foon become unemployed; and the unavoidable Confcquence 
 will be, that we fliall very foou fuik into incurious Indolence and 
 Ignorance. 
 
 A little friendly Oppofition is the Life of Converiation; and 
 to canvafs or oppofe any publick Perforinance with Ereedom and 
 Decency, is certainly very far from being blameable : fince it- 
 tends to the fame end, as the firft Publication, the Information 
 of Mankind, and may hold out a Light to the more fully clear- 
 ing the Point in queftion. But when an Author is fuppofed to 
 be miftakcn ; to abufe and defame him for it, to load him with 
 all the. indecent fcurrilous Language ' that can be raked together, 
 is the meaneft Employ of the fplenetick, envious, abjeft Part of 
 Mankind. To bring in Part of a Gentleman's Charadler, which 
 can noways belong to the Qiieftion, only to abufe it ; to drcfs 
 up the other Part out of their own ill-natured Imaginations, with 
 Infinuations equally malicious, as falfe and~foreign, is what muft 
 always be looked upon, by the good and confiderate Part of 
 Mankind, with the utmoft Deteftation and Abhorrence. 
 
 Altho.ugh, , as I declared before, I do not know Mr. Wife, yet 
 fo much of the Scholar and Gentleman appears throughout his 
 Piece, which is fallen lb foul upon, that I think I m.ay venture 
 to fay, had it been anfwercd with good Manners and Civility, he 
 would not have refented, or been angry at it. Some Perfons 
 are poffefs'd with a maligna cura, as Tacitus calls it ; a great 
 Care that their N£ighbour's Reputation may not rife too faft. 
 Something of this feems to appear in the Letter we now have 
 under Confideration : for, from the keen Refentment and harlh 
 ill-natured Exprellions, with which it abounds; 'tis evident, that 
 
 not 
 
 - Scurrilisdicacitasmagnaperefugiendaejl. TuU. de Oratore Lib. 2,
 
 (3 ) 
 
 not his pretended Regard for rhe Pubiick, but Mr, fVife's Cha- 
 radter in tlic learned World, firft moved Rufticus to become his 
 Adverfary ; with whom, 'tis to be feared, a good Reputation is 
 as odious and criminal, as it was with the degenerate Romans^ 
 among \\hom the foregoing Hiftorian fays, Non minus periculum 
 ex magna fama, qnam ex mala. 
 
 It is not Mr. J'Vtfe alone, but all the modern Antiquaries arc to 
 feel the Weight of his Rcfentment and avenging Pen. His Title- 
 Page threatens entire Confufion to them all indifcriminately : 
 The Impertinence and Impojinre of modern Antiquaries dip- 
 played i or a Refutation of Mr. WifcV Letter to T>r. Mead, 
 &c. Rnfiicus would have done well to have confidcred, be- 
 fore he wrote fuch a threatening Title, whether the fuUcft Proof 
 of the laft Proportion would have proved or inferred the for- 
 mer. Muft all be condemned for one Man's Miftake ? Are all 
 wrong, bccaufe Mr, IVife is not right ? After this way of argu- 
 ing, he may drive every Study, and every Order and Profeilion 
 of Men out of tlie World. I muft tell him, he is too hafty to 
 be corredl, and his Paflion outruns his Memory j or elfe he might 
 have thought on the Maxim he ufes, p. 8, Syllogizari non eft ex 
 particulars, i. c, JFe cannot from a particular Inflame form a 
 general Conclufion. How then can a Refutation of Mr. lVife\ 
 Letter prove or difplay the Impertinence and Impofture of mo- 
 dern Antiquaries tn general ?— I think we might juftly have ex- 
 peftcd his Reafon, why the diftinguifhing Word modern is pre- 
 fixed to Antiquaries. If, in preceding Ages, the Learned might 
 ftudy our Antiquities, and becftcemcd honeft worthy Men, why 
 not now ? \Vhat have the Gentlemen of the prefent Age, wlao 
 imitate them in thcfc Studies, done to forfeit their Right to the 
 fame fair Charafter ? I am confident, that for aught that appears 
 in-liis Book (which is the only one that ever endea\ouied ro caft 
 any Reflexion upon them) their Reputation in every Point, either 
 for Abilities, or Alllduity and Honour in the ufe of them, is as 
 foir, as that of any of their Predcccllbrs. Rufticus owns (as I 
 lliaii more fully obfcrvc anon) in his 2d Page, that Mr. iP'ife'^ 
 Subjed, which occafioncd all this, is not fo trifling, as to make 
 an Enquiry about it impertinent 5 and if he is VAiftaken in his Opi- 
 
 Vi 2 nion
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 nioi\ of it, the Error (or Impofturc, as Rnjtkiis gro.'lly calls it) is- 
 chaiizcable on him alone. 
 
 This Letter of Thilaletbes Riijlicns, as the Author is plcafed 
 to call himfelf, is introduced to the Publick, for want of a De- 
 dication, which muft in fome meailire have difcovcred the fcurri- 
 lous Author of it, by a long Preface to the Reader (being re- 
 folv'd to let the World know he had a Friend, tho' he could not 
 find a Patron) by the Gentleman, to whom the Letter was ad- 
 drefled. Which is a Matter of Faft, tho' of very little confe- 
 quence, yet very juftly to be doubted : it being moil probable, 
 that the Preface and the Letter-writer are one and the lame Pcr- 
 fon, from the Exaftnefs of the Style in both, which is truly in- 
 imitable; the fame Flow of Metaphors; the fame favourite Ex- 
 preiFions i and laftly, from the Prefacer's Care to prevent a fur- 
 rcptitious and imperfcd Edition, a Fondnefs for the ill-favoured 
 Produdtion, that no one could have for it, but its own proper 
 Parent. 
 
 If we muft fuppofe that they are two Perfons,and^^^? nothing. 
 was originally lefs intended than the Publication of it, Prcf. 
 j&. I. the Prefacer was very unkind to his Friend, and guilty of 
 a Breach of Friendfhip, in afting fo contrary to liis hitention: 
 but he tells us, the Fear of imperfect Copies and Abflra^s, p. 5-. 
 of this valuable Work being taken, was the Reafon of publifh- 
 ing it : If lb, who fuffered thefe Copies firft to go abroad ? If 
 the Author j then 'tis plain he intended it to be no Secret : If 
 the Prefacer, what Opinion muft we have of him, after his own- 
 ing fuch a Breach of Faith and Friendfhip? Or who can truft or 
 believe him, when his Friend could not 5 The Cafe, in fhort,. 
 feems to be thus : That he might appear a little modeft at firft, 
 he tells the aukward Improbability, or rather a palpable Falf- 
 hood ; or perhaps out of Antipathy to the Antiquaries, who'-, 
 he tells us, fet out [as all Bites do) for Men of flri£t Honour 
 and Veracity: he wasrefolved to run the contrary way, and be- 
 gin with a Story which no-body can believe. 
 
 How many Copies might betaken, I will not pretend to fay ; 
 5ut if the Tranfcribers of it were as fick, as all the Readers, I 
 nave met with, they could be but very few. And as for Ab- 
 
 Jira£ls : 
 
 5 Preface, />. 12.
 
 (Si 
 
 Jlra6ts : forgoodncfs fake, what could any body abilracl: or a- 
 bridgc in it ? Not the ar2,umcntati\e Part ; for that would have 
 been moft unmerciful to the Author, and ufclefs to the Reader : 
 For there is fo little of that, and fo hid in the dirt of ill Lan- 
 guage, that now, in their original Size and Dimenfions, the Ar- 
 guments are hard to be dilcovered. Had any of hisAcquaintance 
 given an imperfeft Edition, by abllrading or cutting off what is 
 foreign to the Subjed, or intended only by way of Abufc, the 
 Size and Price muft have been greatly diminifhed, and the Au- 
 thor indeed have loft his Aim, but might have faved his Reputa- 
 tion. The Fear of its being reduced to half the Size, and con- 
 fequently half Price, was a cutting Confideration ; and therefore 
 he was refolvcd Dirt and all fhould go to fill the Bufhel. 
 
 $£U, ej o|3oAm £.'? fj-iycc iCvacr^oj 7ravTCip(v \ A R I S T P H. 
 
 It is plain this was the Reafon of its Publication; becaufc the 
 Apprehenfion of an imperfed Copy is urged in the Preface, as an 
 apology '■jvith the learned Gentlemen on the other fide the ^lue- 
 Jiion (thank Heavens they arc not all Fools) for the Liberties of 
 the Sty le^. I am forry there is any Man, that ventures into 
 Print, ftands in need of being told, there can be no Apology for 
 abu/ive Words and fcurrilous Language. If the Subjed be ever 
 fo trifling, or ever fo weakly maintained, yet Civility and Good 
 Manners ought to be ufed in anfwering or refuting, and all per- 
 fonal Refledions ought carefully to be avoided 5 as what cannot 
 ftrengthen an Argument, and never does fo much hurt (in the 
 eftimation of that Part of the World, whofe Favour and Regard 
 is to be valued) to the Perfon, on whom they are caft 5 as to him 
 that throws them. If the Prcfacer had but fufpeded, that the 
 Style of the Letter needed any Apology ; the kindcft thing he 
 could have done would have been to have made it more cleanly 
 and decent : for it is much better to avoid wanting an Apology, 
 than to aim at a bad one ; and there can be no room to make one 
 for a premeditated Offence. As to i?///?/V//jhimfelf, I fliall only 
 obfcrvc, that 'tis piain he muft be mightily in love with the Fault,, 
 
 that 
 
 * Preface, p. 4.
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 tliat he had rather force his Friend to ask pardon for it, than him- 
 iclf be innocent. 
 
 Siifpcfting this Reafon to be improbable, and therefore in fuf- 
 ficicnr, he offers another for its Publication ; the Benefit the 
 '^Fublickmxy vccaxc by it, 'Pref. 4, This alone, if true, would 
 be a fufficient Reafon, and ought to be the principal one for eve- 
 ry Publication. He goes on, + as it --ji; ill put rjoell-meaning Peo- 
 ple on their guard againft being thus impofed upon hereafter. 
 But here an untoward Queftion will arife ; if the Defign of Mr. 
 Wife's Letter was of fuch dangerous Confcquence, and needed 
 fuch a Prefervative againft it , why did he fuff"er it to do mif- 
 chief fo many Months, without Controul ? Where was his Care 
 and Zeal for the Publick, while his Refutation was creeping about 
 obfcurely by Moon-light, in a few written Copies ? How can he 
 anfwer it to the Publick and his Confcience, for keeping back 
 this great Benefit and Prefervative fo long ? 
 
 After a preliminary Flourifli of three Paragraphs, the Prefacer 
 
 opens the dreadful Charge! ■ — ' We have here a l^ete£fion 
 
 clear as the Sun, of an Impofiure, I had almofi faid, the mofl 
 not or iwis and flagrant^ &c. A Pcrfon, who had read only this 
 Sentence, and not Mr. Wife's Letter, what could he conceive 
 this hnpofture could be ? Something, to be furc, worfe than the 
 Impofturc at Bern in S'^itzer lands fomething that impofcd as 
 much Fallacy on the World, as ever the French Prophets, or 
 I^Iary Tofts the Rabbit- Woman did ; or guU'd more People out 
 of their Money, than the S S Scheme. And what is it at laft ? 
 ^tid dignnm tanto ! Why, there is the Figure of an Horfe cut 
 upon the Side of the Downs in Berkjlnre, to the Extent of an 
 Acre of Ground, which an ingenious Gentleman fuppolcsto be 
 formed by K. y/Z/r^f^, in memory of a Viftory over thofe cruel 
 Plunderers the 'i)<7Kf J, in A.'T^.%ji. And this fame Gentle- 
 man has, in as beautiful a Style, as this Age has fccn, given his 
 Reafon for his Opinion, in a Letter to I>r. Mead, Price 2 s. Ri- 
 fiim teneatis .' A prodigious impardonable Impodtion on the 
 Publick I Acute Sir, pray inform us, what Damage has accrued 
 to the Publick by this, or what great Emolument to Mr. Wife? 
 The Nation is certainly as rich as it was before, no particular 
 
 Perfon 
 
 4 Prcf. f ^. , * Ibidein.
 
 , ( 7 ) 
 
 Pcrfoa is injured by it,- our Rcli.i^ion uiifc-uchcd ; and, by the 
 Silence of tiiofe great Guardians oV it tlic daily News- Writers, 
 our Conftitution is unhurt by it : And therefore, upon what 
 account can you call it ' a 'li.'icked -Performance, " and flagrant 
 Impoflure ? 
 
 ]f Riifliciis fhall ever think fit to appear in Print again, I call 
 upon him to ihew what ^'w^/z/Z' Autlior ever called an Eflav of 
 this kind an hnpojtiire. 1 fuppolc he thinks, that as he takes 
 the Liberty of ufing Characters, as he pleafes, he may do fo with 
 Words. 
 
 But behold the Inconfillcncy of this bombaft Scribler! This 
 wicked Terformance, this flagrant Impoflure, he turns him Iclf, 
 the very next Sentence, into a® Farce; and then proceeds to 
 name the 'Dramatis Terfona, to have a fling at every one of 
 them. He firil: calls the Author' a Revere?idT)ivme, which 
 was in order to abufe him afterwards, for being inch : Then he 
 names a Thyflcian, who deferves always to be mentioned with 
 Honour; and, in order to render him ridiculous, it is furprifing 
 how many things his low metaphorical Genius likens him tol 
 Firft, he ' perches him like a Pheafant, then he is the Sun or 
 Moon, not evident which, ^ ecUpfidby the officious Interpofitim 
 
 of anopacous Body, in the Meridian of his Glory. The next 
 
 Paragraph he makes him a Deity, ^ bearing the fulfome Incenfe 
 
 of an adulating Triefl, and at laft he is the -» Britifh Sun 
 
 of Antiquity. 
 
 The Prefacer is indeed fo inadvertently civil, as to allow the 
 Doftor to be ' only anAccefory rather than a Trincipal in the 
 Tlot ■■, (his Accuracy of Style and Variation of Exprcllions is 
 
 worthy Obfervation, ■ firft 'tis an Impoflure, then a Farce, 
 
 now a Tlot) and a noble Peer, being afraid to meddle witlv 
 
 he is willing, he fays, to omit j and fo at laft he has outdone Mr!. 
 
 Bayes, and cook'd up a Farce, with only one Perfon in it. A 
 
 terrible Plot, and but one Plotter. 
 
 He is forced afterwards to compliment the Doctor, in order 
 to abufe Mr. JFife, by telling him, he has a great deal to an- 
 f^er for, as 'tis the great Reputation he has attai?ied to, that 
 
 has 
 
 «Pref./>. 5. lVo\i.p..\. 8 ibic). Mbid. 'Ibid. »Ib.V. 4. 6 i Ibid « - 
 ,♦ Ibid. /. 7. *lbid.fj. ■'■'■
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 }. as given Vogue and Credit to the Impojit ion '' . Here again he 
 lliivcs to be lb witty and malicious, that he lofcs his Memory; 
 for his other dear Iclf (ays, that 'tis on account of its'' elegant 
 /ind elevated Style, tbat it is more particularly celebrated, and 
 bears the bell in our Scats of Learning ; and we may conclude, 
 that what recommends it there is the fame, that lias given it 
 Vogue and Credit with competent Judges elfewhcre. 
 
 He clofes the Paragraph with this Sentence : IVhat an Opinion 
 muft Foreigners have of the prefent State of Knowledge a- 
 mongfl us, ijvhen one, who is confefedly at the head of it, has 
 given Countenance and Tatronage, to fuch a i;oeak, not to fay 
 wicked ^Performance ® .? A Sentence, that I read with a juft 
 Detcftation of the Writer of it : For with what Juftice, or for 
 what Reafon, can he call it a wicked Terformance? An Ex- 
 prellion fo indecent and injurious, lb incapable of any foftening, 
 that it ought never to be ufed but with the greateft Caution, and 
 on the ftrongeft Proof Whereas neither the Defign of Mr. 
 IVifs Letter, nor any thing advanced in it, can fall within the 
 Verge of fuch a Meaning ? Has he expofcd any facred Truth ? 
 Does his Letter tend either to leflen or add to them ? Does it in- 
 jure any Perfon, (as Rnjlicus's Letter evidently endeavours to do) 
 in Property or Reputation? Kone of thcfe in the moft diftant 
 manner : What then can make it wicked? Has Rujlicus^nodnccd 
 one Argument to fupport or prove this heavy and injurious 
 Charge? No, not one! He has indeed, in many Places, endea- 
 voured to rcprefent the Subjcd of Mr. /^(/t^'s Letter, as trifling ; 
 and his Arguments, as weak and inconclufive : But this is far 
 from proving it a wicked Perform.ance. Here let him recollccb 
 the Confcqycnce of his radi ExpreOion ; if the Defign and Per- 
 formance be wicked, then the noble Peer, who was concerned 
 as well as the Doctor in encouraging it, mull, by unavoidable 
 Conrecurnce, be equally wicked info doing; which is a Rc- 
 ricftion fo vile and fcandalous, as dcfervcs the fcvereft Animad- 
 \erfion. 
 
 Af er flich B;:haviour as this, with what Face can he fay in the 
 next Pai^e, — ' but I fjibear in ComjyaJJion to Jo great a Alan? 
 Vv''hathasheforboic? How can hcpodiblybemore fctirrilous ? His 
 
 Compaflion 
 
 .* . e*''. />. 5. ' etter. />. 11. -^ Pref. ^^5. » Ibid.
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 Ccmpaflioii is equally ridiculous and nccdlefsj for as long asaii 
 cxtcnfivc Learning of every kind, a profound Skill in his Pro- 
 fcflion, with great Humanity and Charity in the Exercifc of ir, 
 itiall have any Title to the Rclped and Reverence of Mankind ; 
 fo long will that great Pliyfician be cftccmed, beloved, and ho- 
 noured. 
 
 When he has railed enough, as he thinks, againfl: Mr. JVife'% 
 Letter, to make the Publick condemn it without any further In- 
 quiry or Confideration, and made ufe of all the reproachful Ex- 
 prcflions he can invent againfl: Dr. Mead, for giving countenance 
 and vogue to it, he would fcem to relax a little of his Severity, 
 as if he was not all over fatirical, and give himfclf an Excufe for 
 what he had before cenfured. 
 
 The bejt Excufe, I can thhtk the Cafe tvill admit, is. That 
 the 'T)o£ior tiever read the Letter addrefs'd to him, at leaf be- 
 fore it '■jvas inTrint. Who would imagine there was any Ill- 
 nature couched in this, which expreflcs what has been confcfledlv 
 many a Patron's Cafe, and might more eafily, more pardonably 
 be his, whofe, almollt every Hour, is engaged in the highcfl: Ser- 
 vices to Mankind? The next Sentence fliews, he is of fo unge- 
 nerous and malignant a Difpofition, that he tries to make his Ex- 
 cufes as bitter as his Reproaches, and that the Intent of his offi- 
 cious hiterpofition was only to endeavour to make more room 
 for Reflcdions. But then, alas I the illnatured Age we live 
 
 in, I fear, ijvould be apt to ask, // he never read it, how 
 
 came it to have the Sanation of his Tatronage ? The Age we 
 live in, Mr. Prefaccr, is not fo ill-natured as you would reprefent 
 it. Succeeding ones indeed would entertain no advantageous 
 Thoughts of it, were they to take their Opinion from fuch Per- 
 formances as yours, which might make them think that fomc 
 farcartical Genius was the reigning one of the Times : but the 
 Happinefs is, that what can boafl: no better Diftindion or Recom- 
 mendation cannot furvive long, but mufl: foon fink into Con- 
 tempt and Oblivion. I will, only to oblige you, fuppofc the 
 Doftor did not give Mr. /Fz/t-'s Letter a 'previous Reading; and 
 no Confequencc will follow, but what muft greatly redound to 
 the Honour of both thofe Gentlemen. The one had before con- 
 firmed the general Opinion the World conceived of his Learning, 
 
 C .by
 
 ( lo ) 
 
 bv two very ingenious, though fmall Diffcrtations : and that was 
 iiifficicnt to induce the other, as a moft generous Encouragcr of 
 Learnina;, to contribute wlint he did to the Improvement of the 
 Letter, and the illuftratingthe Subjed of it. 
 
 Thus wc may account for his Own Suppoficion, and may now 
 aflame his own Words. But 'ivhy, is; ill fame one fay, pould I be 
 fo follkitous for Mitigations .? fincc in every view there is no 
 need for any. 
 
 The fame profound Prefacer would infuiuate, that what Mr. 
 Wiff^ lays of Dr. Mead, mud: be a Detraction from the Cha- 
 rader <7/Mofes, and a RefeElion on the facredW\\!iox\\\\ ; ' that 
 he has been long fince thoroughly 'verfed in all the Learning of 
 all other Nations : JFhereas, fays he, Holy Writ tells tis of 
 Mofes, that he iz'as learned in all the JFifdom e/'r/'f Egyptians. 
 Poor ignorant Man, if he had Itnown any thing of the State of 
 Learning at that tiaic, he muft have been convinced, that that 
 Sentence concerning Mofes, exprefs'd all that could be faid of 
 a Man : for all the Learning in the World then centred m"- Egypt, 
 and was afterward fetched from thence into Gr^cia, and fo pro- 
 pagated into Italy. If he had known this, he might have fparcd 
 the malicious Confcquence he tries to draw from a Comparilbn 
 of the Expreflions. 
 
 The Prefaccr's anticipating Mr. I'Fife's greater Work, yet to 
 puhlifh, with- thofe Flings of Ill-nature, is an undeniable Proof, 
 that Spleen and Envy were the fole Motives of his Writing ; 
 for nothing elfe could move him to attack a Work, which he 
 can know nothing of, but the publick Propofals. 
 
 He fays, Coins and Medals are ' a Subjeci not of the cleareft 
 Reputation. If fo ; if 'tis ib eafy to be attacked, and fo hard to 
 be defended; why did you not firft of all fall upon the fame Au- 
 thor's Differtation, T)e Abgari Nummo? No, thank ye, quoth 
 the Prefacer, net fo ralh in my Anger neither; for I doubt I 
 have not Learning enough to manage it, but fhould break my 
 Teeth in nibbling at it. What is wrotc'm Engliji, I can make 
 a fliift to fay fomctliing againft. 
 
 He 
 
 ' PreF. p. 8. » Vide Herodot. lib. 2. paflim, & Diod. Sicul. lib. i . Cicero de Acad. 
 Quve.l. lib. I. & Tofc. (<u«ll. Lib. i. ad initium. 3 Pref. /i. 9.
 
 ( II ) 
 
 He fays, ' Our 'Divine taxes the Saxons and others with a 
 Religious Sort of Veneration for white Horfes ; and yet I very 
 much que ft ion if him f elf does not kdor^ what he fuppofes to be 
 only the Image of one of them, to an equal T^egree of Superfti- 
 tion; in his own Language 'tis a venerable Remain, i.e. P,.e- 
 lick. 
 
 His faying Mr. Wife taxes the Saxons, &c. gives a fhrcwd 
 Sufpicion, that he was not able to read thofe Authors in the O- 
 riginal, whom Mr. [Fife quotes upon that occafion j for as tliat 
 Point is evident beyond Exception, from Tacitus and other Hi- 
 ftorians, why fhould he ufe a Word, which fcems defigncd to 
 exprels rlie Charge of a Falfity or unjuft Accufation againft tlieni? 
 And why does he fuffer his fplenetick abufive Temper fo far to 
 get tlie afcendancy over his Reafon, and fo far to tranfgrefs all 
 Bounds of ProbabiHty and Decency ; as =■ to quejiion if Mr. 
 Wife does not adore what he fuppofes to be only the Image of a 
 white Horfe, to an equal 'Degree of Superftition ? Becaufc the 
 word Reina'm carried an innocenr Meaning, by an idejl •■, and a 
 Figure, he frequently ufes, called Nonfenfe, he malces it to mean 
 a Relick. But this is not the only hitlance in which he tortures 
 and diftorts Words, and where his ill-natured Invention, like 
 'Procrufes's Engine, either racks them out, or cramps them into 
 his own Meaning. 
 
 Perhaps his iubftituting the word Relick for Remain, might 
 be to introduce and enliven the next Sentence. ' And I do not 
 at all doubt, but a certain Society has as much Regard for a 
 fuppofititious Head of Homer, -now in pofefjion of their Pa- 
 tron, as any Convent abroad has for that of]o\i\\ the Baptift. 
 
 His Modefty and Aflurance are ftrangely blended together, o- 
 tlierwile he need not, after fuch bold Strokes, have fcruplcd to 
 fpeak out what Society he meant, and whom he calls the Patron 
 of it. If he fuppoics, that every body does not know whom he 
 fpeaks of, one of hio favourite Sentences is quite loft. 
 
 In what Senfe he ufes the \>ord fuppofititious, is not eafy to 
 fay i here really wants an id eft, much more than there did two 
 Lines before. If he means according to the natural and ulual 
 Senfe of the Word, that it is not a Head oi Homer, but folfely 
 
 C 2 fuppofed 
 
 ' Pref. /. J4. - Jbid./. 14. J JLid./. 15.
 
 f 12 ) 
 
 fiippofcd to be fuch, he would have been kind to the learned 
 World, and have got more Reputation than he has by his Pre- 
 face, to have informed them whole Head it is : It would have 
 fhcwn diftinguifhed Learning and critical Judgment, to have rec- 
 tified a Miftakc, in which the Literati, both Foreign and iEJ;?^/^, 
 arc lb unanimous. 
 
 But docs he mean that it is fuppofititious in refpcft to its An- 
 tiquity, that it is a modern Work, and not an antique ? To fuch 
 an Imagination no Anfwer is ducj becaufe 'tis undeniable he has 
 not fccn it, or talks of that which he has no Tafte or Appreken- 
 fton of. Yet I will deny no Satisfadion I can give to this cap- 
 tious Writer. It is wdl known through whofe hands it came out, 
 of the famous Arundeltan Colleftion, which was amalled toge- 
 ther by that noble Earl, at a vaft Expence, out of Italy and Tur- 
 key : and there is a remarkable Circumftance concerning it, 
 which fpcaks plainly what Regard that learned judicious Noble- 
 man (who knew whence he had it, and therefore could not but 
 know the Value of it) had for it ; that in a fine Pidure of him, 
 done by Van 'Dyke, this Head, as a moft favourite Piece (to 
 fpeak to After- Ages he was an Antiquary) is reprcfented by him. 
 
 Any further Particulars concerning it he may inform himfelf 
 of by the Print of it, which is in the hands of the Curious. 
 
 He begins his next Paragraph thus ' So great an Ajfini- 
 
 ty there is bet'-jvixt the Relich-monger and the Antiquary. I 
 am confident, he is the firft Perfon that ever difcover'd this Affi- 
 nity ; for they are as alike, and as nearly allied to each other, as 
 Truth to Falfhood, as Learning to Ignorance. '■ 'Tis fo far from 
 being the fame Genius operating under dijferent Circumftances, 
 that had every Age been fo happy as to have fome Antiquaries ; 
 there could have been no Relick-mongers, in the Senfc he means, 
 nor any Popifh Legendaries : becaufe they would have found an 
 utter Impoflibility of drefling up their Inventions fo, as not to 
 have been difcovercd; or have delivered to future Ages, as au- 
 thentick, what the then prefent would have known how to have 
 dcteded and expofcd. The numerous Relicks, which every-where 
 formerly abounded, let me tell him, were the Produce of dark 
 illiterate Ages; when the World was fo ignorant of any Circum- 
 
 jQanccs 
 
 \ Pref. / 15. » Ibid.
 
 ( 13 ) 
 fiances of former Times, that a bold enterprifing Knave could^ 
 obtrude any thing upon their Ignorance and Credulity : and 'tis 
 remarkable their Aurea Ltgenda, began to be blufh'd at, and dif- 
 own'd by tnat very Church which hatched them, when Antiqua- 
 ries had cleared up the Hiftory of thofc Times they were fathered 
 upon, and thereby laid open thofe Inconfiftencies and Difcovc- 
 rics, which before were not only fwallowed down without Exa- 
 mination, but even efteemcd facred. 
 
 His mentioning the Life of Winifred, puts into my hands at 
 once an Opportunity both of expofing his Folly, and (if he is not- 
 pad Reproof) informing his Undcrllanding: for he cannot read 
 that Edition of it, with Notes by that learned Antiquary, and' 
 pious Bifhop, Dr.. Fleet-jvood, without being thoroughly icy\~- 
 fible of the Difference he could not find out before. In thaf 
 Piece, fo well known, and (o defcrvedly admired, is fct in a 
 glaring Light the wide Difference between the Legend- writer or 
 Relick-monger, and the Antiquary ; and it cannot but convince 
 evcK}' confidcratc Pcrfon of what Service the Study of Antiqui- 
 ties is to dilcover thofe impious Frauds, which contributed to 
 keep Mankind fo long under the moft deplorable Bondage. 
 
 The Legend o^ Winifred was never credible to Men of Learn- 
 ing ; but in tiie Light that learned Pcrfon has fet it, that Man 
 mufl impioufly fluit his eyes againft Convidion, and contemp- 
 tuoufly rcfufc to rra'ce ufe of thrt lleafon, which God gave him 
 to pLOVc all things, who can now believe it. The Service, which 
 'tis to be believed that Piece has done 10 the Caufe of Truth, 
 could never have been performed by his Lordlhip, unlefs heh'ad' 
 been as able an Antiquary, as he was a zealous Proteftant. 
 
 And here 1 mull take leave to obfcrve, that when fuch a one as 
 Bifliop Fleet'u.-ood,. (amidfl thofe numerous Duties of his Office, 
 which he lb amiably difcliarged to the Plcafurc and Admiration 
 of all who knew him) thought the Study of Antiquities neither 
 unworthy his Regard, nor inconfillcnt with his Character; and 
 has proved, that fuch Knowledge may be ferviceable to the beft 
 of Purpofes ; that Confidcration alone ought to have protedcd . 
 tlie Name of Antiquary from fuch Calumny and Abufe. 
 
 It would be ncedlefs, and like holding a Candle to the Sun, 
 to cite any more Inftanccs to prove that there is fo far from bc-
 
 ( M ) 
 
 ingan Affinity, that there is a dircdl Oppofition and Contention 
 between the liclick-monger and the Antiquary : but I will men- 
 tion two more, becaule they are from Authors, which I am 
 confident tlic Prefacer will not except againft, viz-. The Snpple- 
 tncnt to Bijhop Burnet V Letters, p. loi. ad imum--, and Dr. 
 Middleton's Letter from Rome, p. gi- and Page 40. from i\/^- 
 
 billon. It in. Italic, p. 14,5. He goes on thus : ' No '■juon- 
 
 der therefore that there jhould be Troteftant, as ii-ell as Topijh 
 Legendaries : One plain Inftance iji'e have in the Cafe now be- 
 fore us. I always underftood PopiHi Legends to be fitlitious, 
 Avonderful Stories of their Saints, invented and defigned to fup- 
 port and increafe the Power of the Church, the grand Dcfign 
 that was to be carried on, quocunqne modo rem, or as one of 
 .their Writers, upon tliat Head, c-^'^xcKcs li, five per veritatem, 
 five per occafonem. According to this uilial Acceptation of the 
 Words, Mr, TVifes Letter concerning the white Horfe, is no 
 more like a Legend, than an Apple is like an Oylkr 5 he docs 
 not make the Horfe St. Bucephalus, as I can find, neither does 
 he furprize us with any thing of the Wonderful, as the Legend 
 does of St. "Denis 5 how, w hen his Head was cut off, he took it 
 up, and carried it up the Hill : but all he endeavours is, to give a 
 probable hiftorical Account, how that large, remarkable antique 
 Work came to be formed. 
 
 The following Sentence very much wants the Author's Expla- 
 nation,- ;" And tho 'tis true that moft of our Monafteries 
 
 have been long fnce fupprejfed, yet does the genuine Spirit of 
 Monkery fill fubfift in thofe thai remain. I wifh the Prefacer 
 had more fully explained what he here means, or aims at, that 
 he might not have fubjeded his Readers, cither to miftake his 
 Meaning, or form hard Judgments of his Intention. I declare, 
 for my part, 1 hope I am miftaken ; for I would much rather be 
 guilty of a Miftake, than have rcafon to fufped, that there is any 
 one Perfon in the World has fo little Regard for Learning or Re- 
 ligion, as, in the moft diftant manner, to wifli or aim at the De- 
 ftruftion of thofe Nurferies of Learning, which are the Honour 
 and Happinefs of our Nation, My Sufpicion of him feems to 
 receive too much Confirmation from anExpreffion of his, 'J'ref. 
 p. f. where he calls Mr, Wife, ' a Monkijh Academick. If 
 
 l Pref./i. 15. » Ibid. 5 Ibid.
 
 ( 15 ) 
 
 If this be his Intention, he loft nothing by not fpeaking 
 plainer j for it could fcarcely have gain'd credit to him, or Admi- 
 rers to his Opinions; and I hope, and may be confident, that as 
 long as this Nation (hall be ib happy, as to know the Advantage 
 of true Learning, (which the difmal Effeds of the want of it for 
 fo many Centuries cannot but make Men fcnfible of) fo long . 
 will the Univcrfities be relpeded, encouraged and llipportcd. 
 
 Surely it muft be look'd upon as a very. odd Proof of Loyalty 
 and Relpeft for the prefent Royal Family, in a Man that boafts 
 fo much of it, to throw out ilich Flings of Ill-nature and Malice 
 ai^ainft thole learned Foundations, that have been honoured with 
 fo many particular Marks of his prefent Majefty's, and his Royal . 
 Father's Favour and Regard. 
 
 The Sentence we now have under Confideration, naturally re- 
 calls to my Mind fome Lines in that fmart Satire, calfd, The 
 Alanof'Tafle: v/hich, when I firft read, I look'd upon, I con- 
 fefs, as ratiier too fiditious, and favouring too ftrongly of the 
 Licentia Toetica : but our Prefacer has proved, that there is no 
 Part of a Charader fo ridiculous, that Poets can form, but there 
 is fome AA^retch void enough of Senfe and Honefty to prove it 
 real. 
 
 T/jafe Schools "ji'hich Univerfities they call, 
 'T'-Jsere o:v///£?r Enij;land, '■jnere there none at ail. 
 With Eafe that Lofs the Nation might pijfatn, 
 Supply d by Goodman's-Fields ,7«(^Drury lane. 
 Oxford and Cambridge are 'not worth one Farthing, , 
 Compard to Hay-market and Convent-Garden, . 
 
 Eoth in the Preface and the Letter, he often laments the pre- 
 fent Way of Academic.il Education, and that the Antiquaries 
 have infinuated themfclves into the good Graces of our young 
 Nobility ; and gives fome Hints of another Method he could 
 point out, whicnhe need not be at the trouble of farther enlarging , 
 upon; for, I believe, the. above quoted Lines will fufficicntly 
 fupply his Meaning. 
 
 To my prodigious Surprize, the Prefacer at laft owns, that 
 the Antiquaries are.noi; all Bites and Impojlors \ for he de- 
 clares
 
 ( i6 ) 
 
 -clarcs, ' no Man living has a greater Regard than myfelffor all 
 truly judicious, and bcneft Antiquaries, ijuho give a rational 
 '^Pleafure to Mankind, and do an Honour to their Trofeffion. 
 The Titlc-Pagc made them all alike impertinent TirnX Impojtors -, 
 but thank Heavens! here arc fome excepted. Hhall not quarrel 
 with him about the Impropriety of his Exprcillon, in calling the 
 Study of Antiquities a 'Pr^y^^/^w; nor, for more ignorantly, in 
 the next Sentence, calling thoie Gentlemen, who delight in 
 thofc Studies, a Se^ : for as this is the only kind, or indeed fair 
 thing he has laid, I will not be fo difobliging as not to allow him 
 his own way of expreiling it. 
 
 He tells us, inadvertently I believe, that 'tis * zgrovjing Se^ •■, 
 which cannot but include a Compliment he fcarcely defigned : 
 for in this Age, when the oldcft Truths muft be new canvali'd ; 
 and. there is no Bigotry (unlcfs obftinategroundlcfs Sccpticifm may 
 be called fuch) when Learning abounds even to Wantonnefs; it 
 is impoflible, that a Se^fl, which has been of fo long continuance, 
 as old as the Reformation itfelf, fliould hza growijig oncj if all 
 their Studies and Difcoveries were nothing but impertinent, and 
 themfelves none but Impojlors. 
 
 A Man muft be ftrangely partial to his own Times, and equally 
 ignorant of all Hiftory of the former; to imagine, that there is 
 nothing in Antiquity, that deferves our Inquiry : that the prefent 
 Age is (b much wifer than all the preceding ones, or that they 
 had no Examples worthy of Praiic and hnitation. The Exaftnefs 
 and tedious Nicety, with which the Grecian and Ro?nan Hifto- 
 ries and Antiquities are fearched into, feems to argue that the ge- 
 neral Senfe of Mankind does not determine fo ftrongly againft 
 Antiquity : But by a Folly which feems peculiar to ourfelves, 
 {not copied I am fure from the Romans) not a little difadvanta- 
 geous and ridiculous, we value every thing foreign, and over- 
 look everything great at home'. Elfe why fhould any Man 
 imagine, that during the many Struggles for Liberty, fo frequent 
 
 in 
 
 * Pref. /. 15. ad imum. » Ibid. 
 
 < Si peregrinarum gentium origines ic pnclara facinora, fumma cura & folicitudine, 
 fumma etiam cum voluptate &utiluate iegantur, fieri non poteft ijuin proprise gentis hi- 
 ftoria uberrimam tum voluptatem tum utilitatemfingulis fit allatura; nifi quis forte resalie- 
 nas, magis guam domeiticas propriafque curet, atque fcire defideret ; fitque Lamiis fi- 
 ■milis, <juas foris oculatas fuifle aiunt & cacas domi. 
 
 ShERINCHAm de genth Anghr. origine, adjinem Prte/at^
 
 ( 17 ) 
 
 in this Nation, wc have not had our own Heroes, who only- 
 wanted better Pens to be remembred with as much, and deferved 
 Honour, as the moft fhining in the Roman Hiftories. Being 
 placed up the Tybiir or the To, could not make them greater h\ 
 reahty, or in any wife Man's Efteem, than thofc who fought />r(7 
 arts (^ facts, upon the Banks of Thames, or Severn : And I 
 very much queftion whether the Charafter of any Hcio in the 
 Roman Hiftory, or Lawgiver in the Grecian, when ftript of its 
 Poetical or Rhetorical Ornaments, and fct forth in as fimple un- 
 adorned manner, as the Life of Alfred by our Hiftorians, i« 
 more truly great ; either viewing him in his unwearied Defence 
 of his native Country, in liis own virtuous Example, or reform- 
 ing, improving, and ftrengthning by every Art, a People finking 
 apace into Sloth, Vice and Slavery. 
 
 Had that Monarch left us no other Proof of his great Soul, but 
 that of making his Subjeds fenfible wherein their true Strength 
 and Defence was placed, and making that their Bulwark which 
 would otherwife be their Prifon, by teaching them the ufe of 
 Ships, (a Piece of Wifdom which the greateft and wifeft of his 
 Succeflbrs have thought it their greateft Glory to imitate and im- 
 prove) that alone fure is enough to recommend his Name to Po- 
 fterity, and make it dear x.oc\xty EngUpman. However I might 
 incur the Laughter oi Rufiicus for it, I am not afhamed to con- 
 fefs, that had we any Monument of that King's naval Vidories, 
 (thefirftof that kind this Nation can boaft of) I would go fur- 
 ther to lee it, and view it with more Pleafure and Regard, than 
 the Coltimna Roftrata oiT>uiliiis, in the Campidoglto at Rome. 
 
 The Antiquities of our native Country ought to be more re- 
 garded and inquired after than foreign ones, as they more nearly 
 concern and relate to us; and the Life of one of our own He- 
 roes feems more likely, to improve and infpire our young Gen- 
 try, than thofe of other Nations. Did not the early Impre/lions 
 we receive at School, prejudice in favour of the Romans, and 
 make us think Italy the only Parent of Heroes ; there could be 
 no Reafon afligned, why the Life of Alfred might not be read 
 with greater Improvement, than that of a Numa, a Fabius, or a 
 Cato. 
 
 D Tiic
 
 ( i8 ) 
 
 The w lie .Romans learn'd the i-ifing- Generation Virtue and 
 Bravery, from the Hiftory and Examples of their Anceftors; to 
 what other end were ail their ' Imagines Majcrum, (before they 
 had any Hiflorians) fo religioufly continued and preferred ? And 
 though ihcy were fo careful to preferve the Memory of tlieir own 
 Heroes ; it was very late before they were acquainted with the 
 Hiftory of other Nations. Agreeable to the Practice of the 
 Romans. Sir John Spelman thought the Hilfory of our own 
 King Alfred xno^ likely to infpire a fucceeding Prince with Vir- 
 tue and JBravery ; and efteem'd it not only worthy his Pen, but 
 the Imitation llkewife of that great Hopes of Britain, for 
 Nvhofe immediate Ufc and Improvement he wrote it, and to 
 whom he dedicated it. 
 
 And can an Attempt to recover a Monument of that great Mo- 
 narch be fuch a Crime ? Can we be too curious in retrieving the 
 Hiftory of any remarkable Adion of one, whom the Romans 
 would have adorned with the higheft Honours, andtowhofe 
 Wifdom even the prefent Age is indebted for its Strength and 
 Glory ? Do Gentlemen deferve fuch opprobrious Names, as 
 Bites'^, Impertinent Impojtors, if, by way of Relaxation from 
 their fevercr Studies, they entertain us with fuch Eflays ? Or 
 ought fuch Performances to be entitled > flagrant Impojtiires, 
 
 ■• wicked Terformances, ' or infolent Attempts on the Un- 
 
 derJiandingoftheCtirieus? If young Gentlemen were to be ta- 
 ken from the Care of Antiquaries, as Perfons who may give 
 their Thoughts and Studies a wrong Turn, and put for Educa- 
 tion to thofe who can ufe fuch Language j 'tis not likely they 
 could improve in good Learning, any more than they could in 
 good Manners, for the latter always naturally flow as genuine 
 EfFefts from the former. 
 
 And now let us proceed to the Letter itfelf, which Rtifticus 
 begins by declaring, * he is no profeji Antiquary, nor ever de- 
 
 fgns. 
 
 ' Sacpe audivi Q. Maxumum& P.Scipionem praeterea civitatis noflrx prsclaros viros 
 fclitos ita dicere ; cum majorum imagines intuerentur vehementiffime fibi animum ad 
 ▼irtutem accendi. Scilicet non ceram illam, neque figufam tantam vim infefe habere ; fed 
 memoria rerum geftarum earn flammam egregiis viris in peftore crefcere, neque prius fe- 
 iari, quam virtus eorum famam atque gloriam adaequaverit. 
 
 Sallust. de Belt Jugur. p. 49. Edit. Elx. 
 
 ? TitlcPage. 3 Pref./. 4. 4 Ibid. f. ;. / ibid. /. 16. • Letter,/, u
 
 ( 19 ) 
 
 ^figns to he fo. Avery ncedlefs Declaration indeed! for who 
 could ever ililpeft, that he is one of thofe fad Creatures, thofe 
 impertinent Impoftors, he and his Coadjutor is fo bitterly in- 
 veighing againft : Though 'tis undeniably true, yet his Letter 
 would have fatisfied us better of it, f hao his Word, But fuppo- 
 fing, after this ConfcHion, any one fhould fay, How then can 
 you pretend to fet up for a Judge, and a Critick, in thofe Sub- 
 jeds, the Study of which you difclaim ? Why, to be fure, the 
 Gentleman wasbornaConnoifleut and a Critick, for he tells us, 
 he has 'what perhaps ' may be call'd fome Tafie for Matters of 
 that Nature } this is talking like a Maxi of Tafte, who fays. 
 
 All Sciences Ifcorn, 
 
 Tains 1 abhor, 1 was aToet born. 
 
 Subftitute the word Antiquary, or rather Critick, and wc have 
 a natural Defcription of our Letter -writer. 
 
 The very next Sentence fays, ' "J'is more particularly a very 
 fenjible Tleafure to me at all times, to hear of any Dijcoveries 
 this way in our Country, by which the Tranfa6lions, Manners 
 or Cujioms of our Ancejtors may be ilhflrated. As it is the pro- 
 feft Study and View of Antiquaries to make fuch Difcoveries, 
 and the Gentlemen of the prefent Age have undeniably made 
 more and greater ones, than have been made in any one preceding 
 Age •-, and feveral of the chief of them, Perfons of great Abili- 
 ties and Fortunes, have form'd themfelves into a Society for that 
 purpofe 5 have rais'd a Fund with defign to prefcrve and perpetu- 
 ate any remarkable Piece of Antiquity, ready to fall the Prey of 
 Time, and fmk into Oblivion ; how can Rujlicus pretend to 
 brand any of them wirh fach reproachful injurious Exprcllions, 
 unlefs he had beyond Contradiction fhewn, that they had devia- 
 ted from their profcft Defign ; or had, in fome unwarrantable 
 manner, endeavoured to impofe upon, and deceive? 
 
 1 wilh Rujlicus would confidcr how irrcconcileable this laft 
 Sentence is, to what he advances in the firft Part of his Titlc- 
 Pagc, and is interfperfed throughout the whole Preface; for how 
 can the Study of Antiquities, and fuch Difcoveries deferve Ap- 
 
 D 2 probation, 
 
 ■' Letter, />. i. » Man of Tafte,;*. 7. 5 Lcuc, /■ 1.
 
 ( 20 ) 
 
 probation, and the Antiquaries, to whom alone they can be 
 owing, deferve tlie worft of Names? This plainly Ihews how 
 Jittlc formidable he is; for who can dcfirc an caficr Adverfary to 
 deal with than fuch a one, who, when he fpcaks againft us, op- 
 pofes evident Truth? wlifn he fpeaks for us, contradicts hi mic If. 
 
 He has tliought fit to fpeak favourably, in the foregoing Sen- 
 tence, of the Study of Antiquity, which was far from (landing 
 in need of tlie Sandion of his Approbation ; for, to the Study of 
 Antiquity, I will venture to afiert, we owe almofl: every Art, 
 and every publick Blcfllng, we poflefs. Wliat were our firilgreat 
 Mafters of Painting, Statuary, &c. but ftudious Imitators of the 
 Ancients? By a ftrong Emulation to equal them in every Art, we 
 have been fo happy as to excel them in a few. — Then as to pub- 
 lick Bleilings : To the Study of Ecclcfiaftical Antiquity, we owe 
 
 the Purity of the Proteftant Religion to tlie Study of Hiftorical 
 
 Antiquity, we owe our Knowledge of the Rife and Progrefs of 
 our happy Conftitution; how much Blood our Liberties coft be- 
 fore they were well defined and eftabliilicdj how bravely they 
 have been often defended ; and therefore how well they deferve 
 our tendered Regard. Nothing contributed more to the Spiri- 
 tual and Civil Bondage of former Ages, than their being igno- 
 rant of what their Anceftors in wifer and better Times believed 
 and enjoyed. 
 
 His next Sentence begins thus ' The publick Advert ifement 
 
 therefore of a Letter from the Rev''. Mr. Wife taT>r. Mead, 
 concerning fome Antiquities in Berkfhire, and — you will eafily- 
 imagine was to me a very acceptable Tiece of News. If theie 
 Words have any Meaning in them, and any Connexion with 
 the foregoing Sentence, 'tis plain, that Rujticus confefles this 
 Piece of Antiquity was worthy the Enquiry of a Lover of Anti- 
 quities, to clear up the Hiftory of it. The great Refentment 
 therefore, before and after exprefs'd, muft be againft Mr. Wife's 
 Arguments and Method of treating it, or againft his Pcrfon. As 
 for the Manner in which he has treated the Subjeft, I am fure, 'tis 
 like a Gentleman. His Style is innocent and beautiful 5 his Ar- 
 guments fair and plain, and enforced like a Scholar 5 fo that in 
 i*hort, I think, I may juftly fay, that if 'tis a Miftake, 'tis a pretty 
 
 one i 
 
 I Letter, /. k
 
 ( 21 ) 
 
 one : It carries the Appearance at Icafl of Truth j it is attired in 
 her Drcls, Simplex tnnndities : Whereas, if Rujlicus has Truth 
 on his fide, he has mofl: fhamcfuUy us'd and difguis'd her, and 
 drcllcd her up in all that foul and indecent Language, which is 
 the ulual aud proper Drefs of Cakniniy, and FaHliood, 
 
 As if he was fce'd for all the ill-natured things he could ad- 
 vance, he reckons up, in a fnccring manner, what Advantages 
 Mr. Wife\\2.A, to do juftice to his Subjeft. And firil, he men- 
 tions that of being Cnftos Archivorum^ ' ijvhich made him rea- 
 dily conceive his indefatigable T>iligence in fearching into fo 
 rich a Mine of Antiquity, had led him upon fame curious Me- 
 moirs, 'uohich had e [taped the Obfervation of all his 'Predecef 
 fors. Mr, IVife has produced an Argument, from one MS. in 
 the Bodleian Library, in fupport of his Situation of Ajfer's <LyEf- 
 ces-dune, which is of lb much Confequence to the Queftion, 
 that Riijiicus ought to have invalidated it, by fome other MS. or 
 proper Authority ; or have refuted it by fome Argument, before 
 he had fneer'd at him. Had that Library afforded any other MS. 
 relating to the Queftion, I believe Mr, IVife^ Diligence would 
 have difcover'd it, and made a proper Ufe of it. And now we 
 are upon this Head, I wonder Rufticus did not go, and look over 
 the JVelch MSS. in J e fits-College Library, in fupport of his No- 
 tion of the White Horfe being originally Britijh i which if he 
 had done, and had found but a Pidure of a Horfe in any MS. 
 there, with his left Leg foremoft, without underftanding one 
 Word of the Book, I am pofitive he would have boafted of his 
 Difcovery of a curious Memoir, and an authentick Voucher, ia 
 proof of his Opinion. 
 
 The next Paragraph he fays, ■ * My ExpeEiation was not 
 
 a little raifed to fee ajhining Inftance of the great Ufe of Coins 
 and Medals, in determining T^oubts in our ancient Hijlory, 
 and that, by the Benefit offuch AJJtfiance, he had clear d his 
 'point beyond difpute. Poor unfortunate Man ! he cannot ftir a 
 ftep fcarcely without betraying his Envy and Ignorance; he will 
 not let any part of Mr. Wife's Charaftcr, or any of his Qiniiii- 
 cations, efcape unattacked, though he expofes his own Weaknels 
 and Eolly by it. A very flender Knowledge of our Antiquities 
 
 could 
 
 « Letter, ^. i, * Ibid..
 
 ( 22 ) 
 
 could not but have informed him, that the Saxons had no Me- 
 dals; that their Coins were nor, like the Roman Money ,^ hifto- 
 rical; confcquently, it is impoflible any Help or Alllftancc 
 could be gained from them. I am the more furprized at this. 
 Piece of his Ignorance ; becaufe he might cafily have been better 
 informed by that Part of Sfeed, whicli he aflures us he has con- 
 sulted, I mean the Pidures. 
 
 His next Paragraph fays, ' Mr. Wife has moreover, if I 
 
 am not mifinformed, the Honour to be a Metnber of a Society 
 
 exprefsly profejfing the Science of Antiquity, -jvhere, we 
 
 may very ivell fuppofe,thef>refent Performance was read with 
 Approbation and Applaufe, before the Tublick was favoured 
 with its Appearance. Well, what then ? Why then, he would 
 draw this Inference, that it ought to be look'd upon as the Senfe 
 and Opinion of the whole Society ; and then follows another 
 Confcquence, that they are all as impertinent Impoftors as Mr. 
 IVife. This is very hard and unkind j for what Society is an- 
 fwerable for all the Errors and Miftakes of every particular Mem- 
 ber of it ? Let their joint Endeavours promote the Defign of 
 their Inllitutionj but let the Faults of each Individual be his own. 
 Muft we go and pull down the College in Warwick-lane, if one 
 wicked or blundering Phyfician fliould haften a Man's Death ? 
 Or would you dcmolifh all the Inns of Court, becaufe fome 
 
 roguilh Attorney has deceived you ? Sure this is a little 
 
 too hafly, and yet if he muft not proceed after this manner, I 
 cannot fee but all the Antiquaries are ftill (afe. For although he 
 let out, io'- T>rawcanfir\\^<i, in liis Title-Page, (excepting what 
 he endeavours at here by uncertain far-fetched Inferences) he has 
 not advanced one Fadt or one Argument againft them ; but only 
 rails on in general Terms. 
 
 Here I muft ask, (becaufe he feems to lay great ftrefs upon 
 what he advances) how it appears, that this Piece was fent from 
 Oxford, to be read in that Society •■> how he is fare it had their' 
 Approbation and Applaufe J Upon a Review of this Paragraph, 
 it feems to be more than ordinarily loofe-jointcd in feveral Places. 
 RuftiCHS ufcs to be very bold and peremptory ; but here he fays, 
 ^ If I am not mifinformed, and then, we may very wellftippofe. 
 
 He 
 
 « Letter, />. 2. * In the Rehearfal. 3 Vide ubi fupra, f. z.
 
 ( 23 ) 
 
 He certainly is telling Fibbs, and is fomcwhat mcaly-moiuh'd ;' 
 for fear, upon being too poHcive, he fhould be lafh'd for them. 
 Rife up, RuJUais, ' from lying upon your Back like idle Boys, 
 and fancying you fee Bulls, and Bears, and Horfes in the 
 Clouds, and read the printed Lift of thiat Society, one of wliich 
 now lies before me, and that will fatisfy you, that Mr. /Fife is 
 not a Member of it. The whole Paragraph is a mere Reverie *, 
 or Fi6iion of his oivn Brain i and therefore he mufl: take the 
 Shame to himfelf of a grofs Falfhood, or of being a negligent 
 abufive Scribler ,• for not being certain, before he put it into 
 Print, of a Fad, which he might cafily have been fatisfied in, 
 and upon which he endeavours to ground a Reflection againft a 
 worthy Body of Gentlemen. This is mofl: lamentable fetting 
 out, to beconvided of a known Falfhood in the 2d Page, and to 
 have fuch a laboured Paragraph, and fuch important Inferences 
 Ipoilt all at once. What other Falfities his Reader may meet 
 with, as he will with many, yet this Truth his Book will con- 
 vince him of, that what is begun with Falfhood will end in Folly. 
 I will now prefent the Reader with fome Exprellions of his^ 
 concerning the Gentleman whom he has taken upon him to re- 
 fute j which, for Illuflration's fake, I will fet in Contraft with 
 fome more of his, relating to the fame Perfon,- to fhew how 
 confiftent this Writer is with himfelf. 
 
 In ' a word, what might we An '► afTuming Empirick, aiv 
 not exped from an Author of arrant Quack in Antiquities, a 
 Mr. Wife's Charader in the Fellow of a College, and one 
 learned World, poffcflcd, with- that has fhewn himfelf no Con- 
 in his own Sphere, of ev^ry jurer. 
 Advantage to do Juftice to his 
 Subjed. 
 
 * As nothing contributes more * Nor can I find iae has any 
 
 to the Sale of a Book, than the Turn for Antiquities, but is a 
 
 Charader and Opinion wc wrong-headed Creature, with- 
 
 have of the Writer, I was not out Penetration, without Dif- 
 
 long hefitating what I had to cernment. 
 
 do. His 
 
 £ J^etter, p. 17. » Ibid./>. 4, * Ibid./. 2. 4 Ibid. p.-j. 
 ^ Ibid. p. 2. * Ibid. p. ao.
 
 H ) 
 
 * Kisvery Manner, Style and 
 Airdilgutt me, what a puffing 
 
 c> 
 
 ' His elegant and elevated 
 Style, which at prefent bears 
 
 the bell in our Seats of Learn- and boafling and vap'ring is 
 iiig. here ? And all this while, befidc 
 
 the Cufhion i 1 hate a vain, 
 vaunting Prieft. 
 
 5 A Reverend Divine, who * And muft not your Author 
 holds a confiderable Rank in himrelf be an arrant Shavelin ? 
 our chief Seat of Literature. 
 
 4 A Divine, and that of a di- 
 ftinguilh'd Clafs. 
 
 At the bottom of the 3d Page, he marches up to the Queftion, 
 which, to my juft Surprize, he ftates thus : fVhat I chiefly 
 PROPOSE, therefore, is to flew that our Antiquarian is utterly 
 wrong in his main ^oint, and that there is no Shadow of Rea- 
 fon to conclude, the Sign of the White Horfe on White Horfe 
 Hill, is a Monument of the Wt^-SdLXOvi'i. This indeed is Mr. 
 JFife's main Point ; but ought not to be his. In his Title-Page, 
 what he firft and chiefly propofed was, to difplay the Imperti- 
 nence and Impoflure of modern Antiquaries in generals and 
 therefore that certainly ought lirft and chiefly to be prov'd. May 
 not, therefore, liis Friends Words be more juftly retorted upon 
 his Book i that * 'tis a mofi notorious flagrant Impoflure, ' a 
 vioft infolent Attempt upon the Underjtanding of the Curious j 
 and, I may add, upon the Purchafer too, to propofe in his Title- 
 Pagc, what he does not even attempt to prove 5 which confe- 
 quently mufl; have been defigned only to raife the Expectation of 
 the Publick, and to draw in the Curious and Unwary to lay out 
 a Shilling upon a Parcel of perfonal Abufc and Scurrility. 
 
 1 have heard it is a common Pradice with Bookfellers, to go 
 to their ingenious Brother C /for a Title, which he has a re- 
 markable Talent at compofing, to their Advantage: if that be 
 not the Cafe with Ruflicus's Letter, I cannot but earneftly re- 
 commend him to the lower Clafs of Bookfellers, as a worthy 
 Succcflbr to that ufeful Perfon. And as thefe two Offices are 
 
 not 
 
 » Letter, /.'i I . » Ibid./. 21. ' Pref./, 4. 4 Letter, /. 2. 
 *Ibii./i. 20. « Fref. /. 4. 'Ibid. />. 16.
 
 ( ^5 ) 
 
 not IncompatibJc, I muft recommend him Hkcwife to the Am- 
 phitheatres of Hockley in the Hole and Oxford Road, as a very 
 proper Pcrfon to write the Challenges of the Hibernian Maftcrs 
 of the noble Science of Defence : In which Compofitions, as 
 ^puffing and-vap'ring arc the chief Rcquifites, his Difrcgard for 
 Truth will be overlooked ; for which Employ, confidering ^ the 
 Competency of his Style, I think he is moft admirably quafified. 
 
 Terror Jim dr fraudis abiinde eft. 
 
 If he had dc%ncd to have ftuck clofe to what he propofed, he 
 ought firft to have difprovcd Mr. IVife's Situation of z.yEfces- 
 dttne, which, he could not but know, was a main Point, and by 
 which the whole of his Opinion mufi: ftand, or fall. But inftcad 
 of doing this, he only owns his own Ignorance, in faying, 
 5 -ovhere this ^Ices-dunc '-Ji'as, is more than any Man living can 
 tell. How does he know that ? it cannot be idtra Garamantas 
 ^ Indos--, it mufi: be fomewhere, not far from Reding, becaufc 
 Hiftorians mention that as the Place, to which the Purfuic 
 rcach'd after the Battle. I appeal to all Mankind, whether this 
 is arguing like a Man of any Learning, or any Knowledge of 
 what he is writing of. It would have been jufl: the fame, and full 
 as much to the purpofc, to have laid, Mr. JVife, I am pofitive 
 you arc not right concerning tiyEfcesdtme, becaufc I myfelf 
 don't know where it is, and no-body knows, bccaufe I don't. 
 
 ■ Indeed, Mr. Rnfiicus, your * Style ofteti difgiijis me, but 
 
 your Logick makes me laugh. 
 
 To fay all he can by way of Contradidion, he brings in Dr. 
 Talbot *iZ\\w^, z^^fceS'diine is now y^pdo'-jim Forcftin Stiffex : 
 which Notion, as he fccms to adopt, I would have him tryj to re- 
 concile it, to what ^Jfer fays, that the Saxons purfued the Thanes 
 after the Battle (which the Saxon Chronicle tells us continued 
 till night) all that night, as far as Reding i which is fcarce lefs 
 than 60 Miles from ylpdo'-jvn Forell. This Specimen of his Cho- 
 rography fliews us, that it is not a bit better than his Logick. 
 
 As to Bp. Rennet's Opinion, that it is now called Allendon, in 
 Bnckinghamflnre •■, as it is founded chiefly upon finding a \Da- 
 niJJj Spur there, which arc found in all Parts of England, it 
 cannot be of weight enough to invalidate what Mr. Wife has ad- 
 
 E vanccd 
 
 ' Letter, f. 21. * Prcf. /. 15. > Letter, /.. 4, 4 Ibid./>. :i.
 
 (26) 
 
 vanccd in lupport of his Notion ; befidcs, it is fcai-ce near enough 
 not to admit of the fame Objeclion as the foregoing. 
 
 He is then angry with Mr. IFife-, for taking upon him to cor- 
 retl (as he phrafcs it) Bifhop Gibfon ; which, I think I may pre- 
 fume, is more than liisLordOiipwas ; fmce no Man of Senic and 
 Learning is above being correded, if done by fair Arguments, 
 and with good Manners : A Way of treating the Subjcft 1 wilh 
 Rtifticus had obfervcd. 
 
 As to what he fays, that iMr. Wife himfelf was once of ths 
 fimie Opinion as his Lordfliip : 1 cannot fee liow that can be any 
 Reproach. To defend an Opinion v.iih Obftinacy, when they 
 are better informed, is, by a greater ' Mafter of Reafoning than 
 liimfelf, defervedly condemned. When a Perfon has bellowed 
 more Thought, and an exadler Confideration on a Subjcd, tliau 
 when it only came in his way en pajfant, and from thence new 
 Arguments arife ; to change his Opinion, and endeavour to 
 fupport it with proper Arguments, is the beft Proof of an inge- 
 nuous Mind, defirous to improve itfclf and others. I can afllire 
 him, in regard to liimfelf, that if he lias not, to ufe iiis own; 
 Words, * aftrong and natural A-verJion to the 'Duties of Self— 
 CorreBion, tliere are many things in his Letter, which affording 
 neither Pleafure nor Improvement, he may change- without any 
 lofs of Credit. 
 
 f In liis^th Page, he produces a formidable Argument, to prove the 
 white Horfe on the Hill was not a Standard or a Monument of the 
 Weft-Saxons, becaufe it differs from all the pretty Pidures he has 
 feen; from whence he draws mofl: of his Erudition and Arguments, 
 Prepare, Reader, for the iiext Sentence ; 'tis an irrefiftible one ! 
 Heffor adeft, fectimqtte Deos inpnelia ducit. 
 Our Hiftorians, Antiquaries, Genealogifts, and Heralds:, 
 fuch as Ferrers, Verftegan, Sammes, Speedr- Heylin, Giblbn, 
 do all^ to a Man, repreferit the Saxon Horfe as Rampant, 
 bearing to the left '■ji'ith his right Leg forward: Whereas this 
 fame upon the Hill is a Galloper, going off to the right, -zvith 
 his izrong Leg before. There is fcarce one of this lo'-jn Clafs of 
 
 Feilotn's 
 
 i Nofque ipfos redargui refelHque patiamur : Quod ii ferunt iniquo anirno qui certis 
 q'jibufjam deftinatifque fententiis quafi addifti & confecrati funt, eaque neaffitate con- 
 Uricli, ut qui non prcbare ioleant, ea cogantur Conftantia: caufadefendere. 
 
 Cicero, Tufcul. Sl^t^Jf- Lih. i :. 
 » Letter, f. 5. 3 Ibid. p. 6.
 
 ( 27 ) 
 
 Fello-xs {Sign-Tofl 'T>a-Ji'hers) but has a Notion how little a 
 Variation in a Coat niters the Troperty of it, and makes it no 
 7nore belong to this or that Family. To all which a plain 
 latisfadory Anfwer fhall be given. Firfl-, as to all thofc Au- 
 thors, whom he brings in lb pompous a manner to his AHift- 
 ancc, he ought to know, that what they can deliver upon that 
 Pomt is only at fecond-hand 5 that they muft go to coxval Writers 
 for any Certainty concerning the Saxons: Which if he had 
 done, and produced any one ancient Author in contradiftion to 
 the Berkjhire Horfe, he had done fomething : but that was a 
 Work of Learning and Labour to attempt, and required a better 
 Head than what amufes itfelf with Pictures, Secondly, As for 
 the little Variations in a Coat, which he lays fo much ftrefs up- 
 on, as neceflarily altering the Property of it : I mufl inform his 
 Ignorance, that Antiquity knew nothing of them ; that they did 
 not take place till after the Time of the Holy War, in our King 
 Richard I's Reign ; when the Ufe of Arms became more gene- 
 ral : from which time, by degrees, Neceflity, and nothing z\k, 
 introduced thofe little Dirtindions. That King himfelf, as we 
 are allured by an authentick Voucher, his Broad-Seals', bore 
 two Lions Combatant, as well as three Lions ^Paflant: So that 
 his fhrewd Argument is plainly leen to proceed from Ignorance. 
 
 If the Saxon Horfe was rampant, as he urges from the Pidures 
 in the Authors before-mentioned ; then, according to his own 
 Argument, his prefent Majefty's Arms, as defcending from the 
 Houfe of Saxony, ought to cxprefs it fo. One of thefe, by his 
 own way of Reafoning, mull; be wrong : As he will not fuppofe 
 the latter, becaufe he makes it fo great a Crime in Mr. IFife ; 
 then the firfl: muft, and confequently he has deftroyed his own 
 Authorities. I will give him a good-natured Lift out of this fad 
 Dilemma, by repeating, that Antiquity did not obferve thefe fmal! 
 Variations as we do j becaufe he had none of our Reafons to do fo. 
 
 The next Sentence I fhall remark, I will give in his own Words 
 
 at length, for 'tis a pity it fhould be fpoiled. 'The more we 
 
 confider it, the more notorious ft ill will appear the Uncorrect- 
 7iefs, Impropriety and Fallaciotifnefs of our Author's Affertion. 
 — No one can be ignorant, that a horfe was the Standard which 
 
 the Saxons nfed, both before and after their coming hither : 
 
 E 2 frhv, 
 
 ' Sfestfi Hi'lory, 3d Edit./. ;i;. » loid. fi. -z^. 3 I et er, p. -
 
 ( 28 ) 
 
 If'hy, yes, fiirely many a one may be igtiorant of all this, a-id 
 more too, and yet be an honeft Man for all that, and never the 
 'u.-orfe Chrifiian neither, or the Lord have mercy on our Author. 
 Was ever any thins; more mean and puerile ! A Boy at IFeftmin- 
 fter School, of fifteen Years old, would dcfervcdly have had a 
 2;ood lafhing for fuch a Sentence. The next Edition Rujlicus 
 2;ives us of liis Letter, he muft, for the Information of his Rea- 
 ders, do as fome of the Sign-poft Dawbers are forced to do, write 
 under what is defigned : for this Sentence, I fuppofe, was defign- 
 ed as a Piece of Wit or Criticifm ; but no-body can conceive 
 which. Was he afraid that any ofLMr. IFife's Readers fliould 
 take the ExprelVion, no one, in a ftrid Senfe, that he is fo careful 
 of their Underftanding, as to expofe his own? 
 
 He makes a true, and, he imagines, a fhrewd Obfervation, that 
 ' a Man may be ignorant of this and more too, and yet be an 
 honefi Man. Upon which I muft ask him, fincc one Man may 
 be ignorant of it and yet honeft, how another can be wicked for 
 liis Opinion concerning it; eipecially as he makes it no Article 
 of Faith, but a Matter of Curiofity only, and relates his 
 Thoughts of it, for you to believe, or disbelieve, as you pleafe? 
 Sure this is a ftrange Contradidion ! Certainly I may think 
 how I will on fuch a Subjed, as I may be fafely ignorant of i not- 
 withftanding which, Mr. Wife's Ellay is call'd a 'ivicked "Terfor- 
 mance, and he muft be abufed for it. 
 
 In Page 8th he fays. The learned Editor of Chronicon Saxo- 
 nicum, iji'ho, I pre fume, may be confulted upon ivhat Authori- 
 ties he '■jaent, has gi-ven us at the End, a Map of the fevefi 
 Kingdoms, diftinguijled by their feveral Arms. As his Lord- 
 Ihip muft be efteemed an Antiquary, and a modern one too, be- 
 ing yet, thank God, living ; Rufiicus ought to have recoUeded, 
 whether, after fuch general Calumny, as his Title-Page, he of all 
 Men living ought not to have prefumed to refer us to his Lord- 
 Ihip for Information : A Piece of Prcfumption at the bcft; but 
 with fuch Circumftances entirely unpardonable. The Difpute is 
 his own, and therefore whatever Opinion he adopts and brings 
 upon the Carpet, he is in jullice to fupport, and not refer us to 
 others for Confirmation ; or elfe he puts his Readers upon an end- 
 Icfs or.mvidious Task, either to go backwards and forwards for 
 
 Satisfadion, 
 • Letter, p. 7,
 
 (29) 
 
 Satisfa£lion, or to fct down and qucftlon the Opinions he bor- 
 rows In tliat Map the Arms of the Korthmnbrtan Kingdom 
 are a Lion ; which Heylin is more particular in blazoning: Az.- 
 a Lion Rampant Arg. " Speed makes the Arms of that Kingdom, 
 Ar-cnt Paly of fix Gules. Neither of which feems to be right ; 
 for''^^^^, fpeaking of 0/i^'^/^King of Korthnmberland s Banner, 
 at Beardney-Mey, fays it was ' ex anro & purpura compofitnm 
 As to what he fays concerning K. Alfred's Arms upon kempj- 
 ford Towcv in Gloncefterlhire, it is of no weight. Tli^ Words 
 in Atkins s Hiftory of GloucefterflHre are ^]^<^%----;X^''' ^'' 
 4 Coats of Arms m the 4 Corners, 1 the Earl of Glouccfter, 
 2 K Alfred X the T>uke ^/Lancafter, ^aTlantlet m a Bor- 
 der ' Now 'tis plain, this lower cannot be older than about 
 i^.oJorHenry, the fiift Duke of Lancafer, fucceeded to his 
 Lather, who was only Earl, in 13+f. fo that it is of too late 
 Date by far to determine the Point in queftion. 
 
 As to his Willi, that ' the Horfe of Stocks-market ;«#? be 
 m-vately buried ttnder fome Earrow ;« Alhdown to be dug up 
 %due Lfon, for the' Honour of K. Alfred, ..^5/.. £^^r^j^ 
 tions of future Antiquaries: If he means a Jcft, it is both f y 
 and impertinent ; if he is in earneft, he would outdo not o y 
 the Impoftures of the modern Antiquaries, but even thofe of c 
 famous^^«;^/V/. himfelf. Could he intail his own moft acut. 
 judgment, and curious Notions upon hisDelccndants ^wasano- 
 thc?Ruft)cus to arife (as profound as the prefcnt who talks o.- 
 i'v.f' Medals) juft when this Horfe mould happen to be dug 
 up the Impofition might very probably with him take place 5 and- 
 Ski itc.0 with its wrong; Leg forward, he would certainly pro- 
 nouncJ it to be fome 5;;.^7; Hero, and his HorCe, to be found la 
 Geoffry of Monmouth. 
 
 TheWitticifms he plays off upon the Expremon, '.^s Immor- 
 TALE are ridiculous, becaufe falfe: for no Wit can be good, 
 which is not founded upon Truth In what jnape cai he pre- 
 tend Mr. JVifehas,'by virtue of that,mipofedupontuegrmreJt^^ 
 
 r t-flor VccM lib ^ c II i Pace 492. of that Hiftory. ? Letter ^ .5. 
 
 tUJVhiu Horfe. 5L«ter,/. .6. ? Ib'd.
 
 ( 3° ) 
 
 Maftfr of Learning, the pre fera Age can bo aft of, nay upon the 
 'Vi-kole Society of Antiquaries? I need not take up any of the 
 Rcadci's Time to anfwci: this, fince I liave convidcd him before, 
 (Pa'^e 2 3, of this Boo!< of the fame grols Palfhood, cxprcfs'd in 
 other Words. I fliali only cbfcirvc, I never met with a Writer 
 more unfortunate in his A.C.rtions ; for lie has faid more, in this 
 one Sentence, in rcfutatior. of himfcif, than all his whole Letter 
 is of Mr. Wife. According to hisTitle-Page, the whole 'gro-jv- 
 ing Se& of modern Antiquaries are impertinent Imp oft or s i and 
 here, behold his Inconfiftcncy ! tiie Society, which is well known 
 to confift of a number of the moll difiinpuiihed of them, and, ac- 
 cordingto hisfirft Aflerrion, thcgrcateft Impoifors, are here repre- 
 fcnted as Deceived themfelves, not Deceivers j the Perfons 
 impofed on, and Mr. Z^/?' the fole Impoftor, 
 
 How can he have the Aflurance to teil fuch a bare-faced Palf- 
 hood, as every Man, who has feen the Print, can, upon firft 
 ilght, con via of, in faying, 2<^iy. by "virtue of this fame 'ooon- 
 derfiil '^Preparation (meaning the Expreflion clxS'j immortale) 
 he has net only infir.iiated himfef into the good Graces of a 
 certain Nobleman, fo far as to obtain a handfomeTieceofT'late 
 from hifn, &c ? fince every one who reads the Infcription, of 
 •which thofe Words arc part, muft be fatisfied it was fubfequcnt 
 to the Prcfent of theCopper-platc, and wrote upon that account. 
 As to his third Article of Accufation againft Mr. fFife : could 
 his Folly have foreleen Confequences, he might have been fen- 
 fible it was full as chargeable againft himfelf, as that Gentleman. 
 The Words of it arc, ' Nor has he bliipo'd to projeB an Altera- 
 tion in the Arms oftheprefent Royal Family. The Reader will 
 defire to know how. Why thus : Mr. JVife obfervcs, the prc- 
 fent Royal Family bear an Horfe in their Arms, as defcending 
 from the Ducal Houfe of Saxony : If therefore any T>ifpntes 
 foiild arife among Heralds about thefe differ e?it J Fays of 
 Bearings of the Horfe -, as likeiz'ife ivhether he ought to be 
 current from the dexter Part, or thefmifter ; I think, till fome 
 other more ancient Record (hall be -produced, they may be fairly 
 determined by this aiithentick oneof%6y Tears ft anding. Now 
 the Reader is defired to obfervc, that the white Horfc Mr. JFife 
 j|'<caks of, "^ is aGalloper goingoft^ to the right '-joith his ijurong 
 
 Leg 
 
 r ^xt^.p. 15. ^ Letter, p. <6. ' Ibid. 4 Ibi.I />, 6.
 
 ( 31 ) 
 Ijeg before. Whereas the prcfent Bearing of the Horfe in his" 
 Majcfty's Arms, is a Galloper, but going off the other way, 'viz. 
 from right to left. Having thus fully ftated and explained the 
 Accufation, I fliall, in anfwering it, prove, that it is, as I jull 
 now obfcrvcd, full as chargeable againft himfelfas Mr. Wife. 
 If the Arms, which the ancient Saxons hox:^^ are any ways to 
 determine the prefent Bearings of the Dcfcendants from that il- 
 luftrious Houfe, (and if not, then all Mr. IVife has faid, and all 
 that can be inferred from him, muft go for nothing) it muft be 
 undeniable, that Rufticus has projected as great an Alteration, 
 ?is Mr. f Fife i fince a Horfe rampant, which he, from his Tribe 
 of Authors, endeavours to prove was the Arms of the ancient 
 Saxons, is evidently more different from a Horfe galloping from 
 right to left, than one galloping from left to right. Both Bearings 
 of the Horfe, viz. Rampant, as in Speed, and galloping from 
 right to left, cannot poilibly, according to his own way of ar- 
 guing, be right ; both which he fuppofes to be fo : So that here 
 we have Thilalethes againft Rufticus, and Rufticus ■\%2\xi^ Thil- 
 alethes, a thing which might prove of no good Confequence, if 
 the Author was of any Reputation in the Rcpublick of Letters. 
 His 4th Article is extremely ridiculous; for how could the Chri- 
 ftian vEra be in any danger of being fupplanted, by the Inhabi- 
 tants of a few adjacent Villages coming to fcour the Horfe, and 
 inftituting any Diveriions at that Seafon, and their making ufc, at 
 that particular Place, of a new Computation? 
 
 Being thoroughly refolved to omit no Method or Invention 
 that may help him to make Mr. fVife and his Performance ridi- 
 culous, he has introduced new and foreign Characters ; that, un^- 
 der the Coverture of them, he may vent more Abufe and Defa- 
 mation, than would have been fupportable from one Man's 
 Mouth. I have already Ihevv^n, that his own Words are very ap- 
 plicable to himfelf, and his own Day-dreams; and he is refolved- 
 to fhew his Friend has an equal Title to them; ' that 'tis much 
 to be feared the poor Gentleman is touched in his Head, and 
 fubjeli to the "Delufton of a difordered or childif Imagination : ■ 
 As idle Boys lie on their Backs, and fancy they fee Bulls and 
 Bears, and Horfes in the Clouds : For what but inch a wild I- 
 magination could fee a ' Tory Trieft promoting the Inter eft of 
 
 the-' 
 »■ Letter, p \-j.- * Ibid. Line \z.
 
 ( 32 ) 
 ■the 'Pretender, in a Letter concerning fo remote a Subjeft as the 
 Berkp.ire white Horfe. The next News I expeft to hear of this 
 ' Terfon of -very curious and extenfive Reading, and moft acute 
 "judgment in the fine ft 'Parts of Literature ; is, that he is fet 
 up for a modern Frcc-rhinkcr ; tor I am positive, after the fame 
 manner, he could prove againft Revelation, and a Deity too, from 
 any Text of Scripture. 
 
 The next Paragraph begins : * I have beard a Bird fing, the 
 firfi Scouring ivas t-o have been upon a certain SeceJ/Ion of late. 
 To which the old Englifl) Proverb will be a very good Anfv/er : 
 j^s the Fool thinks, fo the Bell tinks. They who can form, or 
 give any heed to, llich ridiculous Suggcftions, fuch malicious fo- 
 reign Infinuations, are not capable of being reafoned with. 
 
 7his being not Defamation enough j he fays, in the next Page, 
 5 bet-juten fuch a Tory Prieft anJ a 'Popijh one, your fubtle Lo- 
 gicians perhapi may coin Jirne nia T>iflinBion, but they muji 
 have better Eyts than mine that can fee a 'Difference. A bad 
 Pair of Eyes may fee, that this Writer's Tongue and Heart are 
 very evil; for what can be n greater Injury, or viler Injuftice, 
 than for a Man, who lies ]:ik1 in the dark, to defame another with 
 Infinuation, or rather the direcl Charge, of what may fubjed him 
 to the revereH: Cenllireof the Laws of his Country ? 
 
 His filly, ill applied |efl:, at the bottom of his 1 8th Page, can- 
 not detract any thing from the due Praife of that old Saxon Mo- 
 narch, as, in a contemptuous manner, he calls King Alfred ; 
 whofe Life, by Sir fohn Spelman, let him read, and fhew me a 
 greater Hero, all Circumftances duly confidered, in the whole 
 Englijh Hiftory. 
 
 His cen hiring Mr. JVife., ^ for not edging in one good Word 
 for the Prince novj on the Throne, may refieft upon his own 
 Senfe and Underftanding ; but cannot upon that Gentleman's 
 Loyalty : For fare a Man miaff have a mean Opinion of the Go- 
 vernment he lives under, to think it muft by every Writer, with 
 or without Conncdion with his Subjed, upon every turn, be 
 loaded with fulfome Adulations ; fince a Compliment, lugged iij 
 Head and Shoulders, flands, in every Man's Opinion, much luf- 
 peited, and is looked upon as but little better than a bad Word. 
 I cannot lee how Mr. W^ile^ robs the brave King Ethelred of his 
 
 Vi£fory 
 
 f Ixtter, p. 17. s Ibid, ad unum. s Lett./. 17. 6 Ibid./. 18. » Ibid, /. 19.'
 
 (r. 
 
 ' ) 
 
 Vi^iory at Aflidown, as b alR'rtcd : For it is maniftfl:, fi'Oiia the 
 Confcnt of all Hiftorians, that the valiant Alfred (to whom that 
 Half of the Army which was defign'd to encounter, and did, with 
 that Part of tlie 'Danes commanded by their Counts) although he 
 did not gain an entire Vidory, but was liard prefs'd by Inequality of 
 Numbers, till his Brother came up with his Part i had fo brolcen the 
 Strength ani^. Fury of the Danes, that when the King came, he 
 had little more to do than to reap the Fruits of Alfred's Valour, 
 and take the fprouting Laurels from his Head. 
 
 After this he indecently quarrcls.with Mr. Wife, for faying, ' It 
 does not appear from Afler, that the King iz-as at all concerned in 
 the Aciton, more than by his Trayers : Here, by the ivay, (fays 
 Ruflicns or his Friend) is a rare Divine ijideed! as if Trayers 
 fignifitd nothing in time of ABion I a fine Sneer at Devotion tru- 
 ly ! When a Man is ftrongly pofleffed with the Spirit of cavilling, 
 notliing can be fo unexceptionably e.xpreflcd, as not to be found 
 fault with: It is of fo adive and reftlefs a Nature, that rather than 
 lie ftill, it will make dired Gontradidions (peak the fame. A fla- 
 grant Inflance we liave now before us ; for, 'tis evident, Mr, JVife\ 
 Words fpcak the dired contrary to what Rrifiiciis reprcfcnts : He 
 fays, 77?^ King 'X'as concerned by his 'Prayers, and by nothing more^ . 
 which is far from reprefenting them as unavailable. 
 
 This Sentence requires a great deal of Charity, not to make us 
 conclude, that the Author of it wants common Senfe, or common 
 Honefiy : If he had the firft, he could laot fo grolTly mifunderftand it; 
 and nothing but want of the Utter could fo unjuftly mifreprefent it. 
 
 He goes on : * Did he never hear, that '-Ji-hilji the Hands of 
 Mofcs 'X'f rf" held up \'i\:&c\prevail'd ? Rujlicns lias meddled witla 
 but two Pieces of Scripture ■-, one in the Preface, and this : which 
 has been to no other purpolc, but to betray his Ignorance. If he 
 had turned to Exodus, Chap. xvii. where the Piece of Hiflory, he. 
 refers to, is related ; he would have found, in Verfe 5)th, that AIo- 
 fes faid to-morrovu, (the Day of Battle with Amalek) iKiJillfiayid on 
 the top of the Hill with the Rod of God in mine Hand. From 
 which Tifcator and Rivetns, two learned Comm.cntators, deduce 
 
 thcfe juft Remarks on the following Words : s ^^^ jf came 
 
 topafs, that iz^hen h\o'i^s held up his Hand, \[\:\.i:\ prevailed. ■ 
 
 This ivas not the Gefture of a Man in Prayer, but of a Standard- 
 hearer -, for he m.ight be more -vehemently a felled in Prayer, 'vuhen 
 his Gefture was more eafy and remifs. But he held up the Rod of 
 
 F God : 
 
 •• Letter, /. ig. f Ubi fupra. * ApuJ oli S/.iop. Crit. ad locum.
 
 ( 34 ) 
 God in his Hands, as Enfign-bearers do -, to put the Teople in tnind 
 jofthe divine To-juer, and the "^'oridcrs God bad already 'wrov.ght 
 by that Rod. 
 
 I cannot difmifs this Particular, without giving our Author a nc- 
 ccllary Caution raid Admonition -, never for the future to meddle 
 with Texts of Scripture, as being too important and facred for him 
 to handle ; for he iy of fo ridiculous a Genius, or bora under fo un- 
 -lucky a Planet, that every thing comes the worfe out of his hands ; 
 cither takes a wrong turn, or grows ridioiilous, as if it was not in his 
 Pov/er or Nature to be ferious and decent. 
 
 Next Page, he fays, — ' / tell you once more, I don't like your 
 
 Tory Triefi. 'Tis plain you do not : But why ? Has he already, or 
 
 is he likely to ftcp into Ibme Preferment, which you eagerly looked 
 -for .J and for which (to ufe your own Expreffion) ^ y on may gape till 
 your Ja-jus ake- ? The Spleen and Envy cxprcflcd in every Page, 
 inight induce us to think fo. The only Reafon to the contrary is, 
 that it is no ways credible, where true Merit is fo exaftly diftiu- 
 -guini<:d, fuch a Trifler can ever pretend to be a 'Competitor againft 
 Mr. IVife. I will guefs no farther; for it can be no Pleafurc or 
 Profit to difcover the Motive of fuch indefenftble Behaviour. 
 
 Theabufive Exprcflion in his 21ft Page, I have already taken fomc 
 notice of: though the propereft Anfwer to fiich Scurrility is Silence. 
 
 His ludicrous quaint Propofal, which he mentions with fo much 
 Fondnefs at the bottom of the fame Page, which feems to be the Un- 
 derplot of his whole Drama, might ferve well enough for once to raifc 
 a Horfe-laush among Freflimen over a Can of CoIlcge-Ale ; but is 
 by far too puerile and fiily to be put into Print. 
 
 Novv% a new and furprizing Scene of Learning opens, full of cu- 
 rious Notions and pretty Fancies j the firft of which he expreflcs thus: 
 '■'—''■ Alight I therefore put in my Fancy among the reft, Ifmuld 
 imagine, that if the Horfe was a Standard or Banner, it was a 
 Britifh one. And this ConjeElure would be ftrengthned aljh, by the 
 Figure and Toftnre of the Horfe, in every Circumjiance -, which 
 are exaElly the fame with what we may ohferve upoii Some Britifh 
 
 Coins in Spged. This was the Reafon I ob ferve d, that tho the 
 
 Horfe did fet his wrong Leg forward, a good Ufe might 07ie time 
 or other be made of it. Which wild Fancy and childiih Arguments 
 need no Refutation : But, to give his Readers full Satisfadion, I 
 will bcftow a {c^^-^ Words on them. 
 
 Firft : 
 
 ' Leiter, p. 20. * Ibid./. 17. adimiim. s Ibid.*. 22.
 
 ( 35 ) 
 
 Firft : The White Horfe CcVnnot be fuppofed to have been made by 
 the ancient Britons •■, bccaufc a Work of this kind would certainly 
 have been dcftroyed by their avowed Enemies, the Romans : one of 
 whofe great Works, the Icknild'^zy, pallcs juft by it. ^ 
 
 Secondly : As it is very certain there were Lands held by the Tenure 
 and Obligation of annually repairing it, (though now loft) fuch Te- 
 iiure, and all Traces of Remembrance of it (had it begun among the 
 Brit07is) would long-fince have been obliterated by the conquering 
 Romans. Whereas, 'tis well known, fuch Tenures were frequent 
 among the Saxons (than whom no Manors or Tenures are more an- 
 cient) and therefore the Original of the Work and the Tenure can 
 be no older. 
 
 Thirdly : There are two Coins in Speed, feven in Mr. Walker's 
 Tables, five I lately faw in a privnte Colledion, and a Gold one in 
 iiiy own Pofleffion, whereon the Horfc's right Leg is forward, /. e. 
 contrary to what he mentions, and therefore no Argument can be 
 drawn from the Similitude of Pofture which he ipeaks of. 
 
 Fourthly : His Notion, grounded upon the Horfe's left Leg being 
 forward, is owing to his Ignorance in defigning and drawing. A 
 Horfe galloping from left to right, muft, according to the Rules of 
 drawing, be exprefled fo : As he may fee, to give him a Proof fuit- 
 -able to his Apprehenfion, in all the Sculptures in Speed, of our Kings 
 Broad Seals. But perhaps he, in his profound Wifdom, will pretend 
 to argue, that all the Royal Horfes were wrong-legged, as he has 
 proved himfelf wrong-headed. 
 
 Laftly : His favourite determining Author, Geoffry oi Monmouth, 
 aflerts, lib. lo. cap. 8. that the Britons bore an Eagle/'ri? Vexillo. 
 
 This, I believe, is enough to take off" the Edge of that ' cutting 
 Confideration he mentions, of Mr. Wife'j being out-done by one 
 ivho is no 'Profejfor. As he has been plcafcd to entertain us in his 
 Preface, with a Qiiotation out of TuUy, I will now repay it, by 
 making him a Prelcnt of another, which is very pertinent on this 
 
 ■occafion, and worthy his Confideration. Mandare quenquam 
 
 Uteris cogitationes fnas, qui eas ncc difponere, nee illujlrare pof- 
 fit, nee deledatione aliqna allicere lefforem^ hominis ejt intempe- 
 ranter abutentis & otio, c^ Uteris. Tufcul. Difput. Lib. i. 
 
 The Author himfelf prevented the Necellity of any Anfwcr to his 
 incoufiftent Fancy, by fliewing that he is confcious of the Folly of it, 
 wlrichhedoes by advancing another, equally ridiculous. After al/, 
 lays he, * 'tis n:ery pojjible the Horfe might be origin ally no ;)wre 
 
 ' F 2 than 
 
 J Letter,/*. 23. * In I'.ig. end.
 
 ( 36 ) 
 /Zw«/z Lufus Paftorum; ahancy (he deals mightily iii Fancies) of 
 the neighbouring Shepherds, to divert thenifelvcs at their leifure. 
 Hours. For fiame, Ruflicus, never more talk of ' /V//<? ^tfy.r, Ijing 
 upon theh Back, and fancying they fee Horfes in the Clouds, 
 this furpafles all their Imaginations, or thofc of an old AA'omaa 
 of what fhe fees in the Fire in a Winter-night! Recollea what you 
 tell your Reader, />. i:;. that from the Ears ofthisHorfe tohis Wi- 
 thers are i fo Feet. ' A\^hat a ftrong but childifh Imagination, and 
 weak Judgment muft you have, to fancy, that fuch a Work, ^ tPSe - 
 '^Dirnenfions of which extend over an Acre of Ground, could be 
 executed by Shepherds, by way of Diverfion at their kifurc Hours, 
 in a Country where 1 have rode ten Miles, and not icen a Dozen of 
 them! 
 
 But let us fuppofe fomeProjedor, of as romantick a Genius as oiir 
 Author, had, by ranfacking the Plains o'i Arcadia, found Shepherds 
 enough: Let Ruficus ^'itcc this explain, how the Obligation, which 
 Tradkion reports was upon ibme neighbouring Lands to the annual 
 fcouringofit, could ever commence. The Truth of which Tradi- 
 tion receives great Confirmation by what the learned ' T)ugdale po- 
 fitively affirms, concerning an Obligation upon a Freeholder m the 
 Manor of Tyfoe in IVarwickpire, to repair the Red Horfe. A\^hich 
 plainly evinces, that Mr. Camden had not fufficiently confidered 
 the Antiquity and Circumftances of it, when he faid it '■ja as made by 
 the Country 'People s but that it -juas a publick Monument , firfl made 
 '•^ith a Vie'-jj to fome puhlick Atiion. 
 
 Whatever Opinion the Reader Ihall think fit to entertain of its O- 
 riginal, it is certainly a Work of great Antiquity. In an Age, when 
 neither fuch AV'orks^ nor Inquiries concerning them were produced, 
 it is mentioned as a well-known Monument ; as is evident from the 
 following Record, for which I am beholden to a Pcrfon, whofe 
 Friendfhip I fhall ever honour and efteem. 
 
 ^i""'- Iciauf. 4,2 Edvoard-x. m. 6. dorfo. 
 
 Berks. ) ' ^ 
 
 Gerard de Life ticnt en Kjngefton en la Vale dfc White Horse 
 I fee. 
 
 Let us return to poor Rufticus, who, one would think, like a 
 Bird in a BcU-cagc, imagined that every Jump he takes makes Mu- 
 fick ; for he has jumped away from his Lufus Taftorum, to another 
 
 Fancy, that 'tis — a ■* Trojan Horfc, and fo jingles on, Why Jloonld 
 
 not 
 
 "Letter,/. 1.7. * //'7A"j Letter,/. 24. 3 Hill of ^fVw/V^/r^/. 422. ■♦Letter, /.2.J.
 
 • 
 
 ( 5- ) ^ 
 
 %o1. this Thoiight lead tts back to our irojan Ancejlors'^ This 
 'ivonld be retrie-ving a Toint of Antiquity indeed. GcofFry of^ow- 
 mouth is i;ery clear in this aiost nobi.e Pkdigree of his Country- 
 men. He teljs us, Pap;c 7. that Mr. Wife is no Conjurer. I am a- 
 fraid to fay lb oi' Ru/licus; for, if he is not lb already, with a little 
 I'iiore reading of Geoffry, I don't know what lie may be. Whenever 
 he fully retrieves this Point of Antiquity, he may let up in the Cbun- 
 try for a white Witch or a black one, which he will, and find ilray'd 
 Colts. Though, after all, I greatly doubt whether this Notion is 
 all his own J but fufped that fome of it is owing to his Friend, the 
 ' ftanch old IVhig, that 'Per fan of lery curious and extenfi-je 
 Reading.) and mojl acute Judgment in the fin"jl 'Tarts of Litera- 
 ture. None but fuch a quick-fighted Perfon, who could once fee 
 the white Horfe "" promoting the Inter eft of the Pretender^ could 
 have hit on fuch a Difcovery, been able to ' retrieve fuch a Point of 
 Antiquity., or is qualified to explain how the Pedigree of the Brito^is 
 can be moft Noble, if defcended f:om a Pack of Fugitives, who de- 
 fended an Adulterefs and her Paramour, to the Ruin of their native 
 City. 
 
 It is far more agreeable to common Senfe to believe, that the re- 
 maining Trojans would rather have tried to lofe all manner of Re- 
 membrance of the Horfe that compleated their Pvuin, than perpetu- 
 ate it by fuch a Monument. The Romans^ whofe Defcent from 
 them is better confirmed (though one of their beft Hiftorians fays, 
 that thefe Sitoncs \jtxc haut proculfabulis. Tacit. Annal. lib. 12.) 
 than that of the Britons, retained, nothing like it in their Ludi Tro- 
 jani, where we might moft CAped to find fome fuch Remembrance : 
 As Rujiicusm^^y be fatisfied by reading Virgil's Defcription of them, 
 in the 5th Book of his z^neis. 
 
 One great Reafon, I fuppofe, why he imagined it was a Trojan 
 Horfe, was the Magnitude of it ; for that which carried the Greeks 
 into Troy, muft certainly be pretty large : Though if it was as large 
 as the Berkfiire Horfe, they muft have had fome Engines to move it 
 v;ith, which the prefent Age is not wife enough to know of After 
 all, I do not think but I can help him to a Hint, out of his favou- 
 rite Author Geoffry o^ Alonmouth, which can account for his Size, 
 and preferve his most noble Pedigree ftill Britifi. That Author 
 afllires us, that the prodigious ponderous Stones, which form Stone- 
 henge, were brought by Merlin out of Ireland: he fays indeed, by 
 
 Conjuration 
 
 • Letter,/. 17. * Pag. ead. 3 Letter, p. 23. 4 In ead.Pag. 
 
 ;c4(]280
 
 ( 38 ) 
 
 ConjuiMtion and ArtMagick> but that was only a Blind to the 
 Vulgar, to conceal the true Way. Konv, as great Weights muft- 
 have great Horfes, who dares to fay they were not brought thither 
 by Ibme Horfe buried under the Berkpire White Horfe, and of 
 which it is the Dimenfions and Monument ? I will not be too ex- 
 plicit upon this Opinion, or in our Author's Words, ' J flail not be 
 too pofitive or fr effing in the Cafe i but leave what Arguments may 
 be brought in proof of it untouched, for Rufiicus and his AfTo- 
 ciates,the Prefacer and the ftanchold Whig, to hammer out into ano- 
 ther Twelve-penny Pamphlet. And I will venture to aflurc him, 
 no modern Antiquary in England will be fo impertinent as to 
 write againft them. 
 
 I cannot take my leave of this Author, without admonifhing him 
 in his Friend's Words, * to make a little more Confcience for the 
 future, -what he o-ffers to the Tublick ; not to fet up as a Judge and 
 a Critick in a Profellioi'i, as hcabilirdly calls it, of which he is entire- 
 ly ignorant ; to look deeper into Authors for the future, than the 
 Pifturesj not to try to refute a well- wrote Piece by Abufe and Scur- 
 rility : but anfwer Argument by ArgumeiK, like a Gentleman and a 
 Scholar.; if he pretends to be either : not ro pretend to interpret 
 Texts of Scripture : And laftly, not to venture into Print again, till 
 he can produce fomething to which he fhall not be afliamed to prefix 
 his Name. 
 - If after this, he fliall make any Objeftion to my concealing my 
 Name 5 whenever he thinks fir to favour the Publick with iiis, I do 
 aflure him I will not be behindhand with him; but mine fhall be 
 at his fervice. 
 
 » Letter, /. 23. » I*^<:f,/. 9." 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 4.. Line 30. for tie aukivarj, red aw auknuard. Ibid. Line 36. for oiit, read tut. 
 Page 1 1 L:ne22. for into read into. P<ige 13. Line 4.. for ttiat read t/at. Page 14. 
 L'ne 14. for their "juriters, r ad their oi'jn nvriteri. Page 16. Line 19. lor impertinent, read 
 Impertinence. Page 17. Line 4. fcr up, read «/«» Page 21. Line 2 for munJilia, read 
 munditiis. Pape z6. in ihc note at bottom of lafl; Line, for ut qm, read ut eiinm quie: 
 P;;ge 27. Line 3 j. ior hs, read it. Page 29. Line 1 3. for /oiver, lead Tciver. Page 30. 
 hnvi ly. [or coiiv! J? of, xiii. conviil him of. Pagejz.Line 21. ioT wtb lijmualini^ read 
 r^ith tie I/'Jinuativf!,
 
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