EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
736
iniTersities and the company of stationers, re- cording almanacks, and invested it accordingly ; he cause was tried in the court of common pleas, .nd decided against the company. An injunction vhich had been granted by the court of cnancery, 'fov. 29, 1773, was dissolved June 2, in this year.
1776,/iiiy 10. The Gentleman. A third short ived attempt by Mr. Colman to render our com- non newspapers the vehicle of rational amuse- nent. The Gentleman was originally published n the London Packet, and consisted only of six lumbers. There is reason to think, tnat had he Geniut and the Gentleman been continued, hey would have even surpassed the Connoiueur.
1776, July 18. Came on before the court of ession, in Scotland, a cause between Mr. James 3odsley, bookseller of London, and Messrs. Elliot md Miicfarquhar, of Edinburgh, booksellers, rhe action was brought for reprinting lord IJhesterfield's Letters to his Son, wnich had cost Dodsley £1676. Their lordships decided in 'avour of Mr. Dodsley, by continuing the inter- lict he had obtained against Messrs. Elliot and Macfarquhar, by a majority of nine against five.
1776. Aug.^. i>i«2, George Faulkneb, a worthy printer of no mean celebrity, and the ust man who carried his profession to a high legree of credit in Ireland. He was the confi- lential printer of dean Swift, and enjoyed the riendship and patronage of the earl of Chester- leld. He settled at Dublin as a printer and Mokseller soon after 1726, (in which vear we Und him in London under the tuition of the ce- ebrated William Bowyer,) where he raised a very
- omfortable fortune by his well-known Journal,
ind other laudable undertakings. In 1736, he was ordered into custody by the house of com- mons in Ireland, for having published A pro- MsiUfar the better regulation and inmrovement of juadrUle, an ingenious treatise by bishop Hort Saving had the misfortune to break his leg, he was satiricaUy introduced by Foote, who spared lobody, in the character of Peter Paragraph in
- he Oratort, 17fl2,* when on a visit to Dublin.
Be had the honour of wearing an alderman's jown of the city of Dublin. A very fair specimen >f his talents as an epistle writer may be seen in iie Anecdotee of Mr. Bowyer; or in the second
- Bunged at the lidicnle thus brooghtnpon him, FuUk-
aer one evenioc treated to the seat of the goda all the Imilt at the pimtiiig-office, for the expresa purpose of
- heir hlsslnff and hooting Foote off the stage. Fanlkner
4aced himself In the pit, to eaioT the actor's degiadatioa i rat when the ol^eetionable scene came en, the unfortunate irinter was excessively chagrined to find, that so far from k groan or a hiss being heard, his gallery friends partook >f the comical laugh. The next morning he arraigned his inky conclare, inveighed against them (tar having neg- lected Ills injunctions, and on demanding some reason fbr Jieir treachery, was lacerated ten times deeper by the iimpiicity of their answer : " Airah, master," said the ipokeaman, " do not be after tipping us your blarney ; do fou think we did not know yon I Sure twas your own iweet self that was on the stage, and shower Ught upon as, if we go to the play-house to hiss our worthy master." Failing in this experiment, Faulkner commenced an action •gainst Foote, and got a verdict of damages to the amount yf £1M. This drove Foote back to England, where he resumed his mimicry, and humorously took off the lawyers }n ills trial, ud Judges who condemned him.
volume of the Supplement of Smft ; whence it appears that, if vanity was a prominent feature in his character, his gratitude was no less con- spicuous. Theresidenceof Mr. Faulkner was in £ssex-<treet, opposite the bridge.
EPITAFH ON GBO. FADLEUIER,
AU>BBIIAH AND raiHTXB OF TBI CrtT O* OUILIM.
Tan, gentle stranger, and this um revere.
O'er which Blbeniia saddens with a tear ;
Bore aleeps George Fanlkner, printer I once so deer
To hranonma Swift and Chesterfield's gay peer ;
Bo dear to his wronged country and her laws ;
So dauntless when imprisoned in her cause ;
No aldcnnan e'er graced a weightier bosvd.
No wit e'er Joked more freely with a lord.
None could with him in anecdotes confer
A perfect annai book in Elzevir.
WhatCer of glory life's Ibst sheets presage,
Whate'er the splendoor of the title-page ;
Leaf after leaf, though learned Ion ensues
Cloee as thy types, and vartoua aa thy news ;
Yet, George, we see one lot await them all.
Gigantic folios, or octavos small :
One universal finis H»fw,« his rank.
And every volume closes in a blank.
James Hoey, who was one time a partner of Faulkner, published without date a collection of Swift's pieces in prose and verse, entitled the Draper's Miscellany, containing seven pieces.
A pamphlet was published in 1762, containing letters from lord Chesterfield to alderman George Faulkner, Dr. Madder, Mr. Sextor, Mr. Derrick, the earl of Airan, &c. His lordship's letters to Faulkner in particular, afford a stiikmg example of that ironical facetiousness and pleasantry for which he was remarkable — at the same time also, they exhibit as striking an instance of the won- derful utility of a good butt to a professed wit. To this pamphlet is prefixed an elegant little engraving of the head of Mr. Faullmer.
1776. Sept. 19. The printing-office of Mr. John Gore, situated in Princess-street, Liverpool^ destroyed by fire.
1775, Nov. Died, Chables Gbeen Sat, well known as printer of the Gazetteer, General Even- ing Pott, and other newspapers. Mr. Edward Sir, &ther to the above, was many years a res- pectable printer, and master of the stationers' company m 1763, died May, 1769.
1776. Charles Beboer and Fleuby Mes- PLET established the first press at Montreal, the capital of an island of the same name in the liver St. Laurence, in Canada.
1776. The first attempt at stereotype printing in North America, was made by Benjamin Me- com, (nephew to Dr. Franklin) a printer at Phi- ladelphia. He cast plates for a number of pages of the new testament, but never completed them.
1776, Jan. The London Review, No. 1. This publication was set on foot by Dr. William Ken- rick,* who had been a writer in the Monthly Renew; but differing with the proprietors, he commenced the above periodical in opposition.
- He was born at Watford, in Hertfordshire, and bred
a rule-maker, which profession he abandoned for literature. To improve himself he went to Leyden, and alterwsjds settled In London . He was some time editor of the itom~ ing Chronicle ; but a qnanel with the proprietors induced him to start a newspaper against it, without success. He died Jane 9, 1779.
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