The Augustan Reprint Society

ARBUTHNOTIANA:

The Story of the St. Alb-ns Ghost

(1712)

A Catalogue
of Dr. Arbuthnot's Library

(1779)

Introduction by
Patricia Köster

PUBLICATION NUMBER 154

WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY

University of California, Los Angeles

1972

GENERAL EDITORS

• William E. Conway, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
• George Robert Guffey, University of California, Los Angeles
• Maximillian E. Novak, University of California, Los Angeles
• David S. Rodes, University of California, Los Angeles

ADVISORY EDITORS

• Richard C. Boys, University of Michigan
• James L. Clifford, Columbia University
• Ralph Cohen, University of Virginia
• Vinton A. Dearing, University of California, Los Angeles
• Arthur Friedman, University of Chicago
• Louis A. Landa, Princeton University
• Earl Miner, University of California, Los Angeles
• Samuel H. Monk, University of Minnesota
• Everett T. Moore, University of California, Los Angeles
• Lawrence Clark Powell, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
• James Sutherland, University College, London
• H. T. Swedenberg, Jr., University of California, Los Angeles
• Robert Vosper, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
• Curt A. Zimansky, State University of Iowa

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY

• Edna C. Davis, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

• Jean T. Shebanek, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library

[Pg i]

INTRODUCTION

The two pieces here reproduced have long been unavailable; their connections with Arbuthnot are rather complex. The Story of the St. Alb-ns Ghost has been ambiguously associated with Arbuthnot since the year of its first publication, but it does not seem to have been reprinted e the nineteenth century when editors regularly included it among the minor works of Swift. Whoever wrote it, the Story is a lively and effective Tory squib, whose narrative vigor can carry even the twentieth-century reader over the occasional topical obscurities. A Catalogue of the ... Library of ... Dr. Arbuthnot has never been reprinted at all, and appears to be unknown by scholars who have thus far written about Arbuthnot.

The Story of the St. Alb-ns Ghost, the first piece included, has always been of doubtful authorship, and must for the present so continue. Two days after the Story first appeared, Swift tantalizingly wrote to Stella: "I went to Ld Mashams to night, & Lady Masham made me read to her a pretty 2 penny Pamphlet calld the St Albans Ghost. I thought I had writt it my self; so did they, but I did not" (22 February 1712). Whoever wrote it, the Story succeeded: it was pirated within a week, and had reached its third regular "edition" within three weeks of the first; it appeared in a fifth and apparently final edition on 19 July 1712.[1] Now just during these same months Arbuthnot was producing his first political satires, five pamphlets later gathered under the title History of John Bull. He published the first of these 4 March 1712 and the last 31 July 1712.[2] There are several thematic and methodological connections between The Story of The St. Alb-ns Ghost and the John Bull pamphlets: as Tory propaganda pieces, they attack leading Whigs and make the usual suggestions about irreligion, moral turpitude and misuse of public funds. Furthermore, they do so by means of vigorous if sometimes difficult reductive[Pg ii] allegories which mock the victims by presenting them as farcical figures from low life. The connection as well as the difficulties must have appeared quite early, for some enterprising publisher (presumably Curll)[3] soon brought out A Complete Key to the Three Parts of Law is a Bottomless-Pit, and the Story of the St. Alban's Ghost. Although the exact date of this is not known, it must lie between the termini 17 April and 9 May 1712, the dates of the third and fourth parts respectively of John Bull. Furthermore, a "Second Edition Corrected" of the Key appeared before the publication of pamphlet four. (The last pages of these two Keys, concerning the Story of the St. Alb-ns Ghost, are reproduced in the Appendix.) The Key ran through two further editions as A Complete Key to the Four Parts of Law is a Bottomless-Pit, and the Story of the St. Alban's Ghost, presumably before 31 July 1712, and came to a fifth (seemingly last) edition with a more general title referring to "all Parts" of John Bull, and still including the Story.

While the Keys by association suggest Arbuthnot as author, the only other contemporary document attributes the Story to a different physician and wit: the so-called Miscellaneous Works of Dr. William Wagstaffe (London, 1726) reprint the fourth edition of the Story. Now the Miscellaneous Works were printed some five months after the death of Dr. Wagstaffe and more than three months after that of the supposed editor Dr. Levett;[4] it is possible that the contents are in part erroneous. In any case, Arbuthnot, Wagstaffe and Swift remain the possible authors with whom scholars must deal until some further evidence is forthcoming. Roscoe interprets Swift's ambiguous remarks in the Journal to Stella as an indirect acknowledgement, and Dilke goes one step further in assuming that the so-called Miscellaneous Works of Dr. Wagstaffe are a mystification, a means for Swift to pass off works which he did not wish to include in the Miscellanies with Pope. Sir Walter Scott thinks that the Story is probably a collaboration between Arbuthnot and Swift, "judging from the style"; Professor Herbert Davis dissociates Wagstaffe material generally from the writings of Swift, but does not specifically mention the Story; however, "Mr. Granger thought St. Alban's Ghost, attributed to Dr. Wagstaffe, was [Arbuthnot's]."[5]

Although recent scholars seem to agree in selecting Wagstaffe as author of the Story, the evidence of the 1726[Pg iii] Works is implicitly contradicted by the Keys. I have made two separate attempts to solve the question of authorship, neither of which has been fully satisfactory. The first of these, a computerized test based on the methods of Professor Louis T. Milic for distinguishing works by Swift from works by other authors, has given inconclusive results. In this test the Story was the chief unknown, and was compared with samples of similar length from Swift, Arbuthnot, Wagstaffe and, as a control, Mrs. Manley, who wrote politically keyed narratives but has never been associated with the Story. The Story turned out to be fairly similar to all four authors in the number of different three-word patterns (D), and unlike all of them in number of Introductory Connectives (IC), where Wagstaffe stood the highest, and the Story by far the lowest. In the proportion of Verbals (VB) the Story and Wagstaffe were fairly close together and different from the other authors tested, who clustered near the Swift figures. Thus the test tends to exclude Swift, Arbuthnot and Mrs. Manley as possible authors, but does not encourage a full confidence in replacing them with Wagstaffe. (It also tends to show that some of the other pieces included in the so-called Miscellaneous Works of Dr. Wagstaffe differ considerably in the usages tested both from one another and from the patterns established by the signed works of Dr. Walstaffe.)[6]

My second attempt was based on textual changes among editions of the Story. In the second edition there are three small changes from the first; the third and fourth editions seem to be line-for-line reprints of the second. (The "sham, Imperfect Sort" introduces a large number of variants, mainly errors.) In the fifth edition, however, somebody has altered the typography: many past forms of verbs are altered. Thus at the bottom of p. 3 unbody'd becomes unbodyed, carry'd and deliver'd become carryed, delivered. The task of editing is not complete; particularly near the end of the fifth edition many verbs still carry the apostrophe of the earlier editions. The date of the attempt suggests that Swift's Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue (first published 17 May 1712, a week after the fourth edition of the Story) could have provided the motivation, and also that Swift himself could not have been the person who made the changes. A study of a few contemporaries shows that Swift himself[Pg iv] tried to eliminate the apostrophes from the Conduct of the Allies, first published 27 November 1711, and from other works published after that date, but not from works published before that date. Oldisworth, apparently under the instructions of Swift, tried to do the same during the first few months of the Examiner, vol. 2 (beginning 6 December 1711), but by the time he reached volume 3, Oldisworth had apparently given up the struggle against unwilling printers. Arbuthnot, Roper and Manley are not very interested in the matter, and neither are other pamphleteers published by Morphew during the months immediately following Swift's Proposal. The items included in the so-called Miscellaneous Works of Dr. Wagstaffe, on the other hand, fall into three groups chronologically: those which precede Swift's Proposal, and include many apostrophied verb forms; those which immediately follow Swift's Proposal, and include abnormally few apostrophied verb forms; the two "late" pieces (1715, 1719), which are back to the proportion of apostrophied verbs to be found in the early items. If Pseudo-Wagstaffe was indeed a single writer, then he followed the same pattern as Oldisworth, but began later and continued longer to use verbs with an -ed ending. Since the genuine signed prose works of Dr. Wagstaffe come "late" (1717, 1721) and have a fairly large (i.e., normal) number of apostrophied verbs, there is no evidence here as to whether or not Pseudo-Wagstaffe is Wagstaffe; at least there is no contradiction. In the light of these facts, we can see that neither Swift nor Arbuthnot is a probable author of the Story; Swift would presumably have altered verb typography in the first and all editions, and Arbuthnot would not have altered it at all.[7] In these two projects on authorship we find that authors other than Wagstaffe tend to be eliminated, but that Wagstaffe himself is not strongly confirmed. The authorship remains as problematic as before, and the Story may as well for this century continue with the Arbuthnotiana, as it did during the nineteenth with the Swiftiana.

The device of using a ghost story as vehicle for political satire was by 1712 a well-established one. Elias F. Mengel Jr. refers to "the 'ghost' convention, so popular in the Restoration,"[8] and an important poem of Queen Anne's reign[Pg v] shows some similarities with and perhaps provided a model for the Story. In Moderation Display'd (London, 1705) the recently deceased second Earl of Sunderland rises from Hell to confound his guilty Whig companions. Tonson (Bibliopolo) is the most terrified, and as in the Story Wharton (Clodio) is so wicked that he is not frightened at all. The Story, however, is both more subtle and more flexible than most other satiric "ghost" narratives. It compresses the actual apparition into the last quarter of the narrative, despite the perhaps deliberately misleading title. Nearly half of the Story deals with previous events; much of the rest is machinery, introduction of seemingly irrelevant details with a mischievous verisimilitude which actually advances the main satiric aims. The opening paragraph, for example, first denounces Roman Catholic superstition, a denunciation which almost every Englishman could join, and then turns the fire toward "Our Sectarists." The war on heterodoxy continues in the references to Dr. Garth, the Whig poet and physician noted for his scepticism in religion, to William Whiston who during the winter of 1711-1712 was transcribing documents and writing elaborate treatises to uphold his view that Christian churches and theologians had all been essentially heretical since the time of Athanasius, and to the Reverend and Honourable Lumley Lloyd, a low-church minister whose sermons attracted at least two Tory satires.[9] None of these men belongs in the narrative, and only Garth was even remotely connected with the Marlboroughs, but all of them were Whigs, and in various ways serve to "demonstrate" that Whigs must be false brethren to the Church of England.

This charge, although a cliché of Tory satires, is here made indirect and witty, as are the staple charges against the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. Whereas, however, the wickedness of nonconformity had been attacked for decades, the Duke of Marlborough had been associated with the Whigs for a relatively short time. As late as 1706 Wagstaffe could generously declare that "Woodstock's too little" a reward (Ramelies, a Poem), but since Swift's "Bill of British Ingratitude" in the Examiner (17 November 1710) the Tory press had begun to say that the rewards were too many and too great. The Story repeats the charge that Avaro and Haggite "grew Richer than their Mistress" (p. 11), together with the[Pg vi] ridiculous insinuations of cowardice and incompetence found constantly reiterated in the second volume of Examiners. The Duchess of Marlborough attracted massive satire earlier than her husband, in such books as The Secret History of Queen Zarah (London, 1705),[10] and her habit of saying "Lawrd" with an affected drawl is mentioned in The Secret History of Arlus and Odolphus (n.p., 1710), pp. 21, 22, 23.

Although not so frequent as attacks on the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, attacks on Mrs. Jennings the mother of the Duchess had already been made, and indeed the Story relies for part of its effect on the fact that Mrs. Jennings is already associated with witchcraft. In Memoirs of Europe (London, 1710)[10] for example, she inherits a familiar spirit from Sir Kenelm Digby, there reported the real father of the Duchess (II, 44-46). In Oliver's Pocket Looking-Glass (n.p., 1711) Mrs. Jennings appears as "the famous Mother Shipton, who by the Power and Influence of her Magick Art, had plac'd a Daughter in the same Station at Court [i.e., Maid of Honour] with Meretricia [Arabella Churchill] ..." (p. 21). Because the author of the Story assumes that previous Tory allegations are well-known, he is free to perform elegant variations or to allude indirectly. Assuming the fact of witchcraft allows him to heap up an ambiguous burlesque of popular superstition which is in part entertainment and in part rebuttal of recent Whig sneers at Tory credulity during the Jane Wenham witch trial.[11] Here as throughout the pamphlet, the author demonstrates the virtuosity which even Swift commends. Since Swift praises few pamphlets except those written by himself and Arbuthnot (or occasionally Mrs. Manley), the Story enters a fairly select company. It is the only Pseudo-Wagstaffe piece mentioned by name in the Journal to Stella, the only one found worthy to stand beside the productions of Swift and Arbuthnot.[12]

The second document reproduced claims to be A Catalogue of the Capital and Well-Known Library of Books, of the Late Celebrated Dr. Arbuthnot. To the extent that the claim is true, the Catalogue will be important for studies of the Scriblerian Club generally, since Arbuthnot is the member with the greatest reputation for learning. Although the contents[Pg vii] of a man's library do not correspond exactly with the contents of his mind, scholars can discover a good deal about the intellectual methods of Dr. Arbuthnot by examining the books which he owned. Until now this has not been possible; the Catalogue is a recent acquisition of the British Museum, not so much as mentioned in books thus far published about Arbuthnot. For several reasons, however, the document must be used with caution. First of all, the compilers list a total of 2525 volumes, but they itemize only 1639,[13] and even then often give inadequate information. Furthermore, a xerox copy of the Sale Book records of the auction, very kindly sent to me by the present Messrs. Christie, Manson and Woods, shows that almost a quarter of the lots (items 53-65, 243-245, 276-372, 426), or 999 volumes, belonged not to the Arbuthnot estate but to other owners. Finally, Dr. Arbuthnot died in 1735, whereas the auction was not held until December 1779, about three and a half months after the death of his bachelor son George. Of the books belonging to the Arbuthnot estate, almost 20% were printed after 1735, and belonged not to the father but to the son, or perhaps in some cases to the daughter Anne, who lived with her brother.[14] The legal books are likely all to have been George Arbuthnot's, and presumably some of the other books printed before 1735 also. Despite these obscurities, the Catalogue throws a good deal of new light upon the most learned Scriblerian—and upon his family.

Dr. Arbuthnot seems to have bought relatively few antiquarian books; about 20% of the itemized volumes belonging to his estate come before 1691, the year when he first went to London. In selecting these older works Arbuthnot has shown a catholic taste and linguistic ability: he bought grammars and dictionaries, besides works on medicine and science, literature, history and religion, written in English, French, Italian, Latin and Greek, plus a solitary Hebrew Bible (item 234); his copy of Udall's Key to the Holy Tongue is dated 1693 (item 183). Less than a quarter of these earlier books are in English. The sole "cradle" date of the catalogue, 1495 for Rosa Anglica (item 417), may be a misprint: editions of 1492 and 1595, among others, have been previously recorded, but none for 1495.[15]

When compared with the antiquarian books, the list of titles from the Arbuthnot estate either dated or first published[Pg viii] after the death of Dr. Arbuthnot reveals a number of differences. English is the predominant language of the late group, with French a poor second. There is another Hebrew Bible (253), a Spanish Cervantes (25), an Italian Machiavelli (96), but no Greek book at all, and astonishingly only two Latin: a dictionary (89) and a Horace (147); Cicero appears in a French translation (26). In part, of course, the shift in languages accompanies the general decline of humanistic learning in the eighteenth century, but it also strengthens our knowledge of Dr. Arbuthnot's erudition. Although apparently not interested in science, George Arbuthnot read widely, however, in other areas (see for example 10, 15, 49, 158, 160, 168, 170, 254, 271). Similarly, the books from outside the Arbuthnot estate are less learned than those of Arbuthnot. They do include two Greek testaments (290, 310) and some recent scientific works (e.g. 314, *349), but lack the great Greek writers whom Arbuthnot collected, such as Plato (125), Aristotle (126), Herodotus (385) or Aristophanes (387). Whereas Arbuthnot read Newton's treatises (81, 85, 197, 217), one of the other owners read Algarotti's simplification (*312).

The subjects of the books in the Arbuthnot estate can be variously divided. By sheer number of titles, literature is the most important subject, closely followed by science (including medicine as the biggest sub-group), and then by history. In number of volumes, however, the historical section is considerably larger than the literary, and science comes third. Books on geography and travel, philosophical treatises, grammars and dictionaries, even a work on astrology (109), attest to the breadth of Arbuthnot's interests. A few works in the fine arts are listed, somewhat surprisingly only two of them on music (32, 373). The military item (391) may come from the Doctor's brother George, who was in the army, or it may represent another aspect of the general interest in all human affairs. There is a fairly large number of religious works, including books by Eusebius and Sozomen (127), Spotswood (380), Huet (383), Charles Leslie (251), Leibniz (141), Tillotson (395) and Jeremy Taylor (3,394). The elaborately bound Greek Septuagint (272) and Greek New Testament (273) must be the ones which Arbuthnot specified in his will (the only books there mentioned), calling them "the Gift of my late Royal Mistress Queen Anne."[16] As the Catalogue does not describe[Pg ix] any other fine bindings, the other books seem to have been bought for use rather than for show.

A study of the duplications among the books in the Arbuthnot estate reinforces the opinion that the books were bought for use. The only items appearing three times are the works of Pope (76, 180) and Pope's Iliad (11, 77, 242). Since two of the former were published after the death of Arbuthnot, and must have belonged to the Arbuthnot children, perhaps the extra Iliads were equally the property of Arbuthnot's heirs. The duplicates of Molière (21, 135), Prideaux (50, 379), and Veneroni (90, *229) could also have belonged to the children. However, the bulk of the duplications seem to involve obtaining a later edition or a necessary text, and thus to have a scholarly rationale. For example, the two editions of Eustachius are dated 1714, 1728 (115, 259), those of Livy are dated 1578, 1708 (7, 386), while both sets of Sennertus seem to be broken (406, 407).

Not surprisingly, Arbuthnot owned a number of satirical works. In addition to Pope and Molière, already mentioned, he owned Petronius (9), Juvenal and Persius (230), Terence (231), Plautus (232), Boileau (98), Gay (79) and Swift's Tale of a Tub (178). He presumably bought or was given other works by Swift, but no others are itemized; perhaps some were in the "Large parcel of pamphlets" (1). George Arbuthnot added a copy of The Four Last Years of Queen Anne (173), not published until 1758.

Although literature bulks large among Arbuthnot's books, English poetry is not very conspicuous. According to some of the dates, Arbuthnot may have developed his interest in English poetry rather late in life. Although he owned a 1611 Spenser (423), he did not buy the listed Chaucer (110) until 1721. Pope may have inspired the urge to acquire Milton (80, 185), but there seems to be no literary reason for wanting a Milton in French (184). Some other member of the family was, however, sufficiently interested in Milton to buy Newton's edition in 1749 (78). The minor poets listed are also late in date (72, 187). The only Dryden is the translation of Virgil (16), which could represent an interest in classical just as much as in English poetry. There are, however, two copies of Prior's Poems in the large paper edition (106, 252). As the compilers of[Pg x] the Catalogue have left many volumes unspecified, there must have been other poetic works, but the listed sample is rather small.

Characteristically uninterested in his personal fame, Arbuthnot kept no copies of his own writings except the reissued Tables of Ancient Coins (84, 193), associated with a favorite son. The reader revealed by this library is the same Arbuthnot whom his contemporaries admired: witty, yet thoughtful and religious; deeply learned, yet modest. His children, although less learned than the father, continued to buy books on current topics, particularly literature, history and travel. Aged over seventy, George Arbuthnot was still ingesting such materials as Laughton's History of Ancient Egypt (168) and Raynal's comprehensive history of colonialism (10). Despite the obscurity of the word "more" under which the compilers listed half of the total volumes, even the sample of the library is a welcome addition to our knowledge about Dr. Arbuthnot.

University of Victoria

[Pg xi]

NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

The texts of these facsimiles of The Story of the St. Alb-ns Ghost (T.1860 Tract 8) and A Catalogue of the Capital and Well-Known Library of Books, of the Late Celebrated Dr. Arbuthnot (C.131.dd.9) are reproduced from copies in the British Museum. The two Keys to The Story of the St. Alb-ns Ghost are reproduced from the first and second editions of A Complete Key to the Three Parts of Law is a Bottomless-Pit and the Story of the St. Alban's Ghost (both editions 1712; E.1984 Tracts 6 and 7; both versos), also in the British Museum. All items are reproduced with the kind permission of the Trustees.

[Pg 1]

THE
STORY
OF THE
St. Alb-ns
GHOST,
OR THE
APPARITION
OF
Mother HAGGY.

Collected from the best Manuscripts.

Sola, Novum, Dictuq, Nefas, Harpyia Celano
Prodigium canit, & tristes denuntiat Iras. Virg.

LONDON:
Printed in the Year 1712.

[Pg 2]
[Pg 3]

THE STORY OF THE ST. ALB-NS GHOST.

I can scarcely say whether we ought to attribute the Multitude of Ghosts and Apparitions, which were so common in the Days of our Forefathers, to the Ignorance of the People, or the Impositions of the Priest. The Romish Clergy found it undoubtedly for their Interest to deceive them, and the Superstition of the People laid themselves open to receive whatsoever They thought proper to inculcate. Hence it is, that their Traditions are little else, than the Miracles and Atchievements of unbody'd Heroes, a Sort of spiritual Romance, so artfully carry'd on, and delivered[Pg 4] in so probable a Manner, as may easily pass for Truth on those of an uncultivated Capacity, or a credulous Disposition. Our Sectarists indeed still retain the Credulity, as well as some of the Tenets of that Church; and Apparitions, and such like, are still the Bug-bears made use of by some of the most Celebrated of their Holders-forth to terrify the old Women of their Congregation, (who are their surest Customers) and enlarge their Quarterly Subscriptions. I know one of these Ambidexters, who never fails of Ten or Twenty Pounds more than Ordinary, by nicking something Wonderful in due Time; he often cloaths his whole Family by the Apparition of a Person lately executed at Tyburn; or, a Whale seen at Greenwich, or thereabouts; and I am credibly inform'd, that his Wife has made a Visit with a Brand new Sable Tippet on, since the Death of the Tower Lions.

But as these Things will pass upon none but the Ignorant or Superstitious, so there are others that will believe nothing of this Nature, even upon the clearest Evidence. There are, it must be own'd, but very few of these Accounts to be depended on; some however are so palpable, and testify'd by so good Authority, by those of such undoubted Credit, and so discerning a Curiosity, that there is no Room to doubt of their Veracity, and which none but a Sceptic can disbelieve. Such is the following Story of Mother Haggy of St. Alb——ns, in the Reign of King James the First, the mighty Pranks she plaid in her Life-time, and her Apparition afterwards, made such a Noise, both at Home and Abroad, and were so terri[Pg 5]ble to the Neighbourhood, that the Country People, to this Day, cannot hear the Mention of her Name, without the most dismal Apprehensions. The Injuries they receiv'd from the Sorceries and Incantations of the Mother, and the Injustice and Oppression of the Son and Daughter, have made so deep an Impression upon their Minds, and begot such an Hereditary Aversion to their Memory, that they never speak of them, without the bitterest Curses and Imprecations.

I have made it my Business, being at St. Alb——ns lately, to enquire more particularly into this Matter, and the Helps I have receiv'd from the most noted Men of Erudition in this City, have been Considerable, and to whom I make my publick Acknowledgment. The Charges I have been at in getting Manuscripts, and Labour in collating them, the Reconciling the Disputes about the most material Circumstances, and adjusting the various Readings, as they have took me up a considerable Time, so I hope they may be done to the Satisfaction of my Reader. I wish I could have had Time to have distinguish'd by an Asterism the Circumstances deliver'd by Tradition only, from those of the Manuscripts, which I was advis'd to do by my worthy Friend the Reverend Mr. Wh——n, who, had he not been Employ'd otherways, might have been a very proper Person to have undertaken such a Performance.

The best Manuscripts are now in the Hands of the Ingenious Dr. G——th, where they are left for the Curious to peruse, and where any Clergyman may be welcome; for however he[Pg 6] may have been abus'd by those who deny him to be the Author of the D——y, and tax'd by others with Principles and Practices unbecoming a Man of his Sense and Probity, yet I will be bold to say in his Defence, that I believe he is as good a Christian, as he is a Poet, and if he publishes any Thing on the late D——d M——y, I don't question but it will be interspers'd with as many Precepts of Reveal'd Religion, as the Subject is capable of bearing: And it is very probable, those Refin'd Pieces that the Doctor has been pleas'd to own, since the Writing of the D——y, have been look'd upon, by the lewd debauch'd Criticks of the Town, to be dull and insipid, for no other Reason, but because they are grave and sober; but this I leave for others to determine, and can say for his Sincerity, that I am assur'd he believes the following Relation as much as any of us all.

Mother Haggy was marry'd to a plain home-spun Yeoman of St. Alb——ns, and liv'd in good Repute for some Years: The Place of her Birth is disputed by some of the most celebrated Moderns, tho' they have a Tradition in the Country, that she was never Born at all, and which is most probable. At the Birth of her Daughter Haggite, something happen'd very remarkable, and which gave Occasion to the Neighbourhood to mistrust she had a Correspondence with Old Nick, as was confirm'd afterwards, beyond the Possibility of Disproof. The Neighbours were got together a Merry-making, as they term it, in the Country, when the old Woman's High-crown'd Hat, that had been thrown upon the[Pg 7] Bed's Tester during the Heat of the Engagement, leap'd with a wonderful Agility into the Cradle, and being catch'd at by the Nurse, was metamorphos'd into a Coronet, which according to her Description, was not much unlike that of a German Prince; but it soon broke into a thousand Pieces. Such, cries old Mother Haggy, will be the Fortune of my Daughter, and such her Fall. The Company took but little Notice what she said, being surpris'd at the Circumstance of the Hat. But this is Fact, says the Reverend and Honourable L——y L——d, and my Grandmother, who was a Person of Condition, told me, says He, she knew the Man, who knew the Woman, who was, said she, in the Room at that Instant. The very same Night, I saw a Comet, neither have I any Occasion to tell a Lye as to this Particular, says my Author, brandishing its Tail in a very surprising Manner in the Air, but upon the Breaking of a Cloud, I could discern, continues he, a Clergyman at the Head of a Body of his own Cloth, and follow'd by an innumerable Train of Laity, who coming towards the Comet, it disappear'd.

This was the first Time Mother Haggy became suspected, and it was the Opinion of the Wisest of the Parish, that they should Petition the King to send her to be try'd for a Witch by the Presbytery of Scotland. How this past off I cannot tell, but certain it is, that some of the Great Ones of the Town were in with her, and 'tis said she was Serviceable to them in their Amours: She had a Wash that would make the Skin of a Blackamore as white as Alabaster, and another, that would restore the Loss of a Maidenhead, without any Hindrance of Business, or the Know[Pg 8]ledge of any one about them. She try'd this Experiment so often upon her Daughter Haggite, that more than Twenty were satisfy'd they had her Virginity before Marriage.

She soon got such a Reputation all about the Country, that there was not a Cow, a Smock, or a silver Spoon lost, but they came to her to enquire after it; All the young People flock'd to have their Fortunes told, which, they say she never miss'd. She told Haggite's Husband, he should grow Rich, and be a Great Man, but by his Covetousness and Griping of the Poor, should come to an ill End. All which happen'd so exactly, That there are several old Folks in our Town, who can remember it, as if it was but Yesterday.

She has been often seen to ride full gallop upon a Broom-Stick at Noon-Day, and swim over a River in a Kettle-Drum. Sometimes she wou'd appear in the Shape of a Lioness, and at other times of a Hen, or a Cat; but I have heard, could not turn herself into a Male Creature, or walk over two Straws across. There were never known so many great Winds as about that Time, or so much Mischief done by them: The Pigs gruntled, and the Screech-Owls hooted oftner than usual; a Horse was found dead one Morning with Hay in his Mouth; and a large overgrown Jack was caught in a Fish-Pond thereabouts with a silver Tobacco-Box in his Belly; several Women were brought to Bed of two Children, Some miscarry'd, and old Folks died very frequently.

These Things could not chuse but breed a great Combustion in the Town, as they call it, and every Body certainly had rejoyc'd at her[Pg 9] Death, had she not been succeeded by a Son and Daughter, who, tho' they were no Conjurers, were altogether as terrible to the Neighbourhood. She had two Daughters, one of which was marry'd to a Man who went beyond Sea; the other, her Daughter Haggite, to Avaro, whom we shall have Occasion to mention in the Sequel of this Story.

There liv'd at that Time in the Neighbourhood two Brothers, of a great Family, Persons of a vast Estate and Character, and extreamly kind to their Servants and Dependants. Haggite by her Mother's Interest, was got into this Family, and Avaro, who was afterwards her Husband, was the Huntsman's Boy. He was a Lad of a fine Complexion, good Features, and agreeable to the fair Sex, but wanted the Capacity of some of his fellow Servants: Tho' he got a Reputation afterwards for a Man of Courage, but upon no other Grounds, than by setting the Country Fellows to Cudgelling or Boxing, and being a Spectator of a broken Head and a bloody Nose.

There are several authentic Accounts of the Behaviour of these Two, in their respective Stations, and by what Means they made an Advancement of their Fortunes. There are several Relations, I say, now extant, that tell us, how one of these great Brothers took Avaro's Sister for his Mistress, which was the Foundation of his Preferment, and how Haggite, by granting her Favours to any one who would go to the Expence of them, became extreamly Wealthy, and how Both had gain'd the Art of getting Money out of every Body they had to do with, and by the most dishonourable Me[Pg 10]thods. Never perhaps, was any Couple so match'd in every Thing as these, or so fit for one another: A Couple so link'd by the Bonds of Iniquity, as well as Marriage, that it is impossible to tell which had the greatest Crimes to answer for.

It will be needless to relate the Fortune of the Brothers, who were their Successive Masters, and the Favours they bestow'd on them. It is sufficient that the Estate came at last to a Daughter of the younger Brother, a Lady, who was the Admiration of the Age she liv'd in, and the Darling of the whole Country, and who had been attended from her Infancy by Haggite.

Then it was Avaro began his Tyranny; he was entrusted with all the Affairs of Consequence, and there was nothing done without his Knowledge. He marry'd his Daughters to some of the most considerable Estates in the Neighbourhood, and was related by Marriage to one Baconface, a sort of Bailiff to his Lady. He, and Baconface and Haggite got into Possession, as it were, of their Lady's Estate, and carry'd it with so high a Hand, were so haughty to the Rich, and oppressive to the Poor, that they quickly began to make themselves odious; but for their better Security, they form'd a sort of Confederacy with one Dammyblood, Clumzy their Son-in-Law, Splitcause an Attorney, and Mouse a noted Ballad-Maker, and some others. As soon as they had done this, they began so to domineer, that there was no Living for those who would not compliment, or comply with them in their Villany. Haggite cry'd, Lord, Madam, to her Mistress, It must be so; Avaro swore,[Pg 11] By G——d, and Baconface shook his Head, and look'd dismally. They made every Tenant pay a Tax, and every Servant considerably out of his Wages toward the Mounding their Lady's Estate, as they pretended, but most part of it went into their own Pockets. Once upon a Time, the Tenants grumbling at their Proceedings, Clumzy, the Son-in-Law, brought in a Parcel of Beggars to settle upon the Estate. Thus they liv'd for some Years, till they grew Richer than their Mistress, and were, perhaps, the Richest Servants in the World: Nay, what is the most Remarkable, and will scarcely find Belief in future Ages, they began at last to deny her Title to the Estate, and affirm, she held it only by their Permission and Connivance.

Things were come to this pass, when one of the Tenants Sons from Oxf——rd preach'd up Obedience to their Lady, and the Necessity of their Downfall, who oppos'd it. This open'd the Eyes of all the honest Tenants, but enrag'd Avaro and his Party, to that Degree, that they had hir'd a Pack of Manag'd Bull-Dogs, with a Design to bait him, and had done it infallibly, had not the Gentry interpos'd, and the Country People run into his Assistance. These, with much ado, muzled the Dogs, and petition'd their Lady to discard the Mismanagers, who consented to it.

Great were the Endeavours, and great the Struggles of the Faction, for so they were call'd, to keep themselves in Power, as the Histories of those Times mention. They stirr'd up all their Ladies Acquaintance to speak to her in their behalf, wrote Letters to and fro, swore[Pg 12] and curs'd, laugh'd and cry'd, told the most abominable and inconsistent Lyes, but all to no Purpose: They spent their Money, lavish'd away their Beef, Pudding, and October, most unmercifully, and made several Jointed-Babies to shew for Sights, and please the Tenants Sons about Christmas.

Old Drybones was then the Parson of the Parish, a Man of the most notorious Character, who would change his Principles at any Time to serve a Turn, preach or pray Extempore, talk Nonsense, or any Thing else, for the Advancement of Avaro and his Faction. He was look'd upon to be the greatest Artist in Legerdemain in that Country; and had a Way of shewing the Pope and little Master in a Box, but the Figures were so very small, it was impossible for any Body but himself to discern them. He was hir'd, as is suppos'd, to tax the New Servants with Popery, together with their Mistress, which he preach'd in several Churches thereabouts; but his Character was too well known to make any Thing credited that came from him.

There are several Particulars related, both by Tradition and the Manuscripts, concerning the turning out of these Servants, which would require greater Volumes than I design. It is enough, that notwithstanding their Endeavours, they were Discarded, and the Lady chose her new Servants out of the most honest and substantial of her Tenants, of undoubted Abilities, who were tied to her by Inclination as well as Duty. These began a Reformation of all the Abuses committed by Avaro and Baconface, which discover'd such a Scene of Roguery[Pg 13] to the World, that one would hardly think the most mercenary Favourites could be guilty of.

Avaro now began to be very uneasie, and to be affrighted at his own Conscience; he found nothing would pacifie the enrag'd Tenants, and that his Life wou'd be but a sufficient Recompence for his Crimes. His Money which he rely'd on, and which he lavish'd away to Bribe off his Destruction, had not Force enough to Protect him: He could not, as it is reported, Sit still in one Place for two Minutes, never Slept at all, Eat little or nothing, Talk'd very rambling and inconsistent, of Merit, Hardships, Accounts, Perquisites, Commissioners, Bread and Bread-Waggons, but was never heard to mention any Cheese.

He came and made a Confession in his own House to some People he never saw before in his Life, and which shews no little Disorder in his Brain; That, whatever they might think of him, he was as Dutiful a Servant as any his Mistress had. Haggite rav'd almost as bad as he, and had got St. Anthony's Fire in her Face; but it is a question, says Dr. G—th, whether there was any Thing Ominous in that, since it is probable, the Distemper only chang'd it's Situation.

Mean while, it was agreed by Baconface and others, that a Consultation should be call'd at Avaro's House, something Decisive resolv'd on, in order to prevent their Ruin; and accordingly Jacobo the Messenger was sent to inform the Cabal of it.

Dismal and horrid was the Night of that infernal Consultation, nothing heard but the me[Pg 14]lancholly Murmuring of Winds, and the Croaking of Toads and Ravens; Every thing seem'd Wild and Desert, and double Darkness overspread the Hemisphere: Thunder and Lightning, Storms and Tempest, and Earthquakes, seem'd to Presage something more then Ordinary, and added to the Confusion of that Memorable Night. Nature sicken'd, and groan'd, as it were, under the Tortures of universal Ruine. Not a Servant in the House but had Dreamt the strangest Dreams, and Haggite her self had seen a Stranger in the Candle. The Fire languish'd and burnt Blue, and the Crickets sung continually about the Oven: How far the Story is true concerning the Warming-Pan and Dishes, I cannot say, but certain it is, a Noise was heard like that of rolling Pease from the top of the House to the bottom; and the Windows creak'd, and the Doors rattled in a manner not a little terrible. Several of their Servants made Affidavit, That Haggite lost a red Petticoat, a Ruff, and a Pair of Green-Stockings, that were her Mother's, but the Night before, and a Diamond-Cross once gave her by a Great Man.

'Twas about Midnight before this Black Society got together, and no sooner were they seated, when Avaro open'd to them in this manner. We have try'd, says he, my Friends, all the Artifices we cou'd invent or execute, but all in vain. Our Mistress has discover'd plainly our Intentions, and the Tenants will be neither flatter'd, nor frighted, nor brib'd into our Interest. It remains therefore, and what tho' we Perish in the Attempt, we must Perish otherwise, that once for all we make a Push at the[Pg 15] very Life of——When, Lo! says the Manuscript, An unusual Noise interrupted his Discourse, and Jacobo cry'd out, The Devil, the Devil at the Door. Scarce had he Time to speak, or they to listen, when the Apparition of Mother Haggy entred; But, Who can describe the Astonishment they were then in? Haggite sounded away in the Elbow-Chair as she sat, and Avaro, notwithstanding his boasted Courage, slunk under the Table in an Instant: Baconface screw'd himself into a thousand Postures; and Clumzy trembled till his very Water trickled from him. Splitcause tumbled over a Joint-Stool, and Mouse the Ballad-Maker broke a Brandy-Bottle that had been Haggite's Companion for some Years: But Dammyblood, Dammyblood only was the Man that had the Courage to cry out G-d D-m your Bl—d, What occasion for all this Bustle? Is it not the Devil, and is he not our old Acquaintance? This reviv'd them in some Measure; but the Ghastlyness of the Spectacle made still some Impression on them. There was an unaccountable Irregularity in her Dress, a Wanness in her Complexion, and a Disproportion in her Features. Flames of Fire issued from her Nostrils, and a sulphurous Smoak from her Mouth, which together with the Condition some of the Company were in, made a very noisome and offensive Smell; and I have been told, says a very Grave Alderman of St. Albans, Some of them saw her Cloven Foot.

I Come, says she, at length, (in an hollow Voice, more terrible than the celebrated Stentor, or the brawny Caledonian) I Come, O ye Accomplices in Iniquity, to tell you of your Crimes, to bid you desist from these Cabals, for[Pg 16] they are Fruitless, and prepare for Punishment that is Certain. I have, as long as I could, assisted you in your Glorious Execrable Attempts, but Time is now no more; the Time is coming when you must be deliver'd up to Justice. As to you, O Son and Daughter, said she, turning to them, 'tis but a few revolving Moons, e'er you must both fall a Sacrifice to your Avarice and Ambition, as I have told you heretofore, but your Mistress will be too Merciful, and tho' your ready Money must be refunded, your Estate in Land will Descend onto your Heirs. But you, O Baconface, you have Merited nothing to save either your Life or your Estate, be contented therefore with the Loss of both: And Clumzy, says she, you must have the same Fate, your Insolence to your Lady, and the Beggars you brought in upon the Tenants will require it. Dammyblood, continues she, turning towards him, you must expect a considerable Fine; but Splitcause and Mouse may come off more easily. She said, gave a Shriek; and disappear'd; and the Cabal dispers'd with the utmost Consternation.

FINIS.

[Pg 1]
[Pg 2]

A
CATALOGUE
OF THE CAPITAL AND WELL-KNOWN
LIBRARY of BOOKS,
OF
THE LATE CELEBRATED
Dr. ARBUTHNOT,
DECEASED;

Which will be Sold by AUCTION,
By Mess. CHRISTIE and ANSELL,
At their Great Room,
THE ROYAL ACADEMY, PALL MALL,
On TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1779,
AND THE TWO FOLLOWING DAYS.

To be viewed on Friday the 17th, and to the Time
of Sale (Sunday excepted), which will begin
each Day exactly at 12 o'clock.

CATALOGUES may then be had as above.

⁂ Conditions of Sale as usual.

[Pg 3]

A Catalogue, &c.

First Day's Sale,
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1779.

OCTAVO & DUODECIMO.

[Pg 6]

QUARTO.

FOLIO.

End of the First Day's Sale.

[Pg 9]

Second Day's Sale,
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1779.

OCTAVO & DUODECIMO.

QUARTO.

FOLIO.

End of the Second Day's Sale.

[Pg 15]

Third Day's Sale,
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1779.

OCTAVO & DUODECIMO.

QUARTO.

FOLIO.

FINIS.

APPENDIX

[Pg 8]

KEY to the Story of the Saint Alban's-Ghost.

• Mother Haggy, Mother Jen—gs.
• Haggite, D——s of M——
• Avaro, Duke of M——
• Baconface, Earl of G——.
• Dammy-blood, Lord W——.
• Clumzy, Earl of S——.
• Splitcause, Lord C——.
• Mouse, Lord H——.
• Jointed-babies, the Figures intended for the Procession on Queen Elizabeth's Birth-Day.
• Dry-bones, B—— of S——
• Jacobo, Jacob Ton—n, Senior, Door-holder to the Kit-Cat-Club.

FINIS.

[Pg 8]

KEY to the Story of the Saint Alban's-Ghost.

• Mother Haggy, Mother Jen—gs.
• Haggite, D——s of M——h.
• Avaro, Duke of M——h.
• Baconface, Earl of G——n.
• Dammy­blood, Lord W——n.
• Clumzy, Earl of S——d.
• Splitcause, Lord C——r.
• Mouse, Lord H——x.
• Jointed-babies, The Figures intended for the Procession on Queen Elizabeth's Birth-Day.
• Dry-bones, B——p of S——y.
• Jacobo, Jacob Ton—n Senior, Door-holder to the Kit-Cat-Club.

FINIS.

WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK
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