?

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.


frontispiece first chapter
vol. II vol. III vol. IV vol. V vol. VI vol. VII vol. VIII vol. IX