( 375 )
———— Ridiculum aeri
Fortius & melius, &c.
Hor. Sat, I. x. 14.
WHEREAS the noble game of Quadrille hath been found, by experience, to be of great use and benefit to the commonwealth; particularly as it helps to kill time, that lies heavy upon our hands; and to pass away life, which seems too long while we have it, and too short when we come to part with it; as it suppresses all wit in conversation, which is apt to turn into scandal; all politicks, which are offensive to ministries and governments; and all reading, which is injurious to the eyes, especially by candle light: as it destroys pride effectually, by bringing
- ↑ Dr. Josiah Hort, the author of this Proposal, was made bishop of Kilmore, July 27, 1727; and translated to Tuam, Jan. 27, 1741. He published a volume of Sermons, 8vo, 1738; and died in 1752. That he was the author, and Dr. Swift the editor, of this little treatise, is plain from their respective letters, vol. XIII. pp. 250, 259. It having given umbrage to Serjeant Bettesworth, a member of parliament, he preferred a complaint to the House of Commons, then sitting, who voted Faulkner, the printer, into close confinement, for not discovering the author, then universally supposed to be Dr. Swift, against whom some sharp invectives were consequently thrown out by Bettesworth and other members; which provoked the Dean to retaliate, by "The Legion Club," and some other verses in this collection. See vol. VIII, p. 208.
B B 4
the
