To the Right Honourable Mr.  P I T T.   S I R, N E V E R poor Wight of a De- dicator had less hopes from his Dedication, than I have from this of mine; for it is written in a bye corner of the kingdom, and in a retired thatch'd house, where I live in a constant endeavour to fence against the infirmities of ill health, and other evils of life, by                        mirth D E D I C A T I O N mirth; being firmly persuaded that every time a man smiles, -- but much more so, when he laughs, that it adds something to this Frag- ment of Life.   I humbly beg, Sir, that you will honour this book by taking it ---- (not under your Protection, ---- it must protect itself, but) -- into the country with you; where, if I am ever told it has made you smile, or can conceive it has beguiled you of one moment's pain ---- I shall think myself as happy as a minister of state; ---- perhaps much happier than any                        one D E D I C A T I O N one (one only excepted) that I have ever read or heard of.       I am, great Sir, (and what is more to your Honour)         I am, good Sir,       Your Well-wisher, and     most humble Fellow-Subject,               T H E  A U T H O R.