ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC.
AN ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC, ON The Treatment which the EDITOR of the HISTORY of Sir CHARLES GRANDISON has met with from certain Booksellers and Printers in Dublin. INCLUDING OBSERVATIONS ON Mr. FAULKNER'S Defence of Himself, Published in his Irish News-paper of Nov. 3. 1753.
LONDON:
Printed in the Year M.DCC.LIV.
To the PUBLIC.
MR. Faulkner of Dublin having, in the News-Paper which bears his name, of November 3. 1753. published a sort of Defence of his own conduct in the transaction that passed between him and the Editor of the HISTORY of Sir CHARLES GRANDISON; in which he insinuates, that what was done by him and some of his Brethren in trade, in Dublin, was in pursuance of a custom long established among the Dublin Booksellers: And having also written Letters to several persons of character in London, endeavouring to justify himself, without having that strict regard to veracity in them, which particularly becomes a man of business; yet intrepidly desiring that these Letters might be shewn to Mr. Richardson: And, lastly, having joined with his Brethren to shut the Dublin Presses against his just complaints of the treatment he has met with from some of them; Mr. Richardson thinks he shall be excused for taking this opportunity to lay before the Publick an account of the whole transaction; and the rather, as the Invaders of his property have done their utmost to make a NATIONAL CAUSE of the measure they compelled him to take; and as he presumes to think, that the CAUSE OF LITERATURE in general is affected by their usage of him.
He will begin with transcribing Mr. Faulkner's Defence of himself.
Mr. Faulkner's Defence. Dublin,
Nov. 3. 1753.
George Faulkner, of Dublin, Printer and Bookseller, having contracted some time ago with Mr. Samuel Richardson, of London, for a Work, intitled, The History of Sir Charles Grandison, which Mr. Richardson was to send to Ireland before publication in London: Accordingly Mr. Richardson sent over four Sheets of the first Volume, which Mr. Faulkner received the third day of last August, 1753, and posted up a Title that day, which is a common to give notice, that they have put a Work, or Works, to the Press, with design to publish with all convenient speed; and thought that no other person in the kingdom had any part of that History; but, to his great surprize, there were three other Titles posted up immediately after his, by three different Booksellers, who shewed twelve sheets of this Work in the same Edition, and almost the first Volume complete, in a larger letter and paper.
Genuine History of the Transaction.
Mr. Faulkner knew, though he does not here say he did, how the three Booksellers came at the Sheets. In his Letter, dated Dublin, Aug. 4. he sent Mr. Richardson the first news of the invasion of his property.
"I am very sorry," says he, "for the ill-treatment, and the disappointment that you and I have met with in the History of Sir Charles Grandison; four sheets of which Work I received by the last Post: But, to my great surprize, I find FOUR other more of the same Work, in Octavo and Duodecimo; which they have shewn me, and left with me to compare."
He then gives proof of the iniquity, as it came out on his examination of the sheets.
"These circumstances," proceeds he, "will, I hope, convince you of the truth of what I have asserted" [He had before given cautions to Mr. R. against the attempts of his Brethren the Dublin Booksellers upon the morality of his men], "and of the villainy and fraud of your Journeymen, who have
robbed you,
and
injured me:
For which reasons, it will be troublesome and unnecessary for you to send me any more of this Work, as the persons who have printed the inclosed Titles, with ANOTHER Bookseller, claim the sole property of this Work: And if I can prevail upon them to give me a share, it will be only a fifth part."
Might not a man, with whom he was in treaty, and who had given him, as will be seen, an
undeserved
preference, have expected advice and offers of assistance from him on this base attempt (the rather, as he seemed very sensible, for his
own
sake, of the injury done Mr. R.) instead of endeavouring to
prevail
on such a Confederacy to admit him into a share with them in a Copy so vilely obtained? And this, without consulting Mr. R. or proposing to him to acquit him of his engagements to him! At that time, the corruptors of the honesty of Mr. R's servants had made no progress in the Work: And Mr. F. knew, that Mr. R. was in the way of sending him sheets by every Post; and (intending to publish but two Volumes at a time) that Mr. F. would have the sheets early enough to answer the intentions and the engagements of both.
Three
of the four persons are named in the Title-pages he included in his Letter; WILSON, EXSHAW, SAUNDERS: But Mr. Faulkner, for reasons best known to himself, has not, to this hour, named the
Fourth;
who is believed to be a Bookseller in Dublin, who served his apprenticeship with him.
Mr. Richardson, in his Answer to this Letter, dated Aug. 10. gave Mr. Faulkner great opportunities to recollect himself. After complaining of this cruel treatment, he informs him,
'That he had put a stop to the printing of the Work; and that he would appeal to the World upon it.'
He desires,
'that he would not mention the corrections in the sheets he had sent him over, tho' matter of nicety rather than necessity; supposing it possible' [as it has proved] 'that men, who could act as these Confederates had acted, would be capable of advertising the pirated edition as preferable to the genuine.'
In order to put Mr. Faulkner upon offering him his assistance in such way as he thought best, though forbidden by him to send him any more sheets, he desired to know if he was to conclude that all dealings between them were absolutely at an end. He the rather put this to Mr. Faulkner, as he, before he made his court to the Confederates, had bespoke twenty-five sets in Octavo; of which Mr. R. never after heard one word, though they did not propose to propagate their piracy in that size. No doubt, he thought, that 25 sets in Octavo, sold by him for Mr. R. might be a deduction of as many from the sale of his and his new partners Edition in Duodecimo.—So wholly was he, in an instant, detached from Mr. R. and attached to them, and his and their common interest.
Mr. Faulkner, in his Reply, dated the 14th and 16th of August, acquaints Mr. R. that the
three
Booksellers had got the First and Second Volumes complete in both Editions; Wilson the Octavo, Exshaw and Saunders the Other; and that each of them had laid himself out to get the Work, as soon as they saw, by the Advertisements in the London Papers, that it would be published the following winter. An Advertisement put into those Papers, that the World might not take another Book of a Sir Charles Goodville, in a Series of Letters, for that expected from Mr. R.
Mr. Faulkner declares, in this Letter, that the liberty taken by Wilson of advertising his intended Edition [London: Printed for S. Richardson: Dublin: Reprinted
for
Peter Wilson, in Damestreet.] to be printed for Mr. Richardson, was a licence
never before taken
in Dublin, unless the Work were printed for the Author's benefit. He advises Mr. Richardson against sending over any of his Books to Ireland; and to write to the Invaders, the Corruptors, to induce them to pay him their shares of the Seventy Guineas, stipulated by him to be paid, had he had the whole to himself; declaring his willingness to pay his quota for the share they would allow him to have.
"I am sorry to tell you," proceeds he, in this Letter, "that when
these People
produced their sheets, and
obliged
me" [Mean man!] to shew mine, that I was
compelled
to give them up, in order to obtain a share with them."
His very words!—
This step, besides the advantage they afterwards (on publishing their pirated Edition), took of it, as Mr. R. had foreseen, to recommend that Edition, secured Mr. Faulkner of their side. By it he absolutely gave up Mr. Richardson; and, no doubt, it spirited them to proceed, as they then had reason to look upon him as their own, and had no diversion to apprehend from him in Mr. R's favour.
"Your sending me more sheets," continued he, "will be useless—I should be sorry your dealings and mine should be at an end; as I have the highest honour and regard for you, for your many virtues and integrity."
But these were only words. He offered not to Mr. Richardson any service, any assistance. He knew that he and his Confederates should be able to secure in their interest the Dublin Presses. He had discouraged the sending over any of the genuine Edition; and thought it right to conclude with repeating his advice, that Mr. Richardson would meanly court the Corruptors, as he had done; intimating his desire to have a copy of what he thought fit to write to them; lest his new Confederates should not have confidence enough in him, to shew him what he supposed Mr. R. would write.
In Mr. Richardson's Answer to this Letter, dated Aug. 24. he tells Mr. Faulkner,
'That he never could consent to propose terms to men who had bribed his servants to rob him; and who were in possession of the stolen goods: And cautions him to confider how far his own honour was concerned in the engagements he had entered into with them.'
But let us see what he further says in his printed Defence.
Upon which,
says he,
as they produced so much of the Copy, they (viz.
Mr. Faulkner and the Confederates
) agreed, according to an established, invariable, and constant custom among the Booksellers of Dublin, that whoever gets any Books or Pamphlets, or any part of them, by the same Post, shall or may join together, if they think proper.—
Will Mr. Faulkner say, that it is an
established, invariable, constant
custom among the Booksellers of Dublin, to renounce their agreements with men they had contracted with, on their being notoriously robbed, and to join with the Corruptors, to supplicate a share with them in the plunder? How wickedly does he slubber over this part of his conduct, to the justification, as may be said, of that of his new Confederates!—Can such a man as this be too severely (if justly) dealt with?—Surely no!. He cannot expect that we should longer let sleep an affair, that, till now, in tenderness to him, he has never been reminded of, and must believe had been entirely forgotten. But, first, we will transcribe a paragraph, which will shew the sense he affected to have then of the fraudulent means by which the Corruptors obtained the power they had of injuring Mr. R.
"You must have more rogues in your house than one," says he; "as your two Editions have been sent to different people. If I could find out," proceeds he, "any of
my
Journeymen that would serve
me
in the same
villainous manner,
I would immediately discharge them in the most infamous manner, and publish their
crimes
in the most public manner in all the Papers; which, I am told by a very old French Journeyman Printer, is a constant practice in Germany, France, Holland, and Switzerland; and that care is taken to send those advertisements to all the Printing-offices in those countries, to
prevent Masters from being imposed on:
And I am further told, that Journeymen and Apprentices will not converse, or suffer
these nefarious Villains
to be interred in the earth; but kick their dead carcases from place to place, as they would dead
cats
or
dogs, rats
or
mice.
Perhaps," adds he, "I have been too warm in my resentment against
such bad men:
But, as I have been much injured by them, I hope you will excuse any rash words in this Letter, when I do assure you, that I am, for your many virtues, genius, generosity, and abilities, your most obedient
When this flaming paragraph was,
in terrorem,
read, in Mr. Richardson's Printing-office, to his Workmen, Killingbeck, a suspected man, who afterwards gave too much cause for the suspicion, and who had been a journeyman for several years to Mr. Faulkner, in Dublin, declared, that, notwithstanding this
occasional
vehemence of Mr. Faulkner, he had hardly, in all the time he was with him, composed from any other copy but first proofs, revises, &c. clandestinely obtained from England.
, &c."
In this very Letter it was, that Mr. Faulkner declared his intentions to endeavour to
prevail
upon the Corruptors of
those nefarious villains,
as he justly calls them, to allow him a fourth or a fifth share in their
snacks.
It is Machiavellian policy to love the treason and hate the traitor. The dead carcases of the corrupted Journeymen are to be kicked about the streets, it seems; while the living Corruptors are to be supported, and united with, according to an
established, invariable,
and
constant
custom of the Booksellers of Dublin.—Will Mr. Faulkner assert this?
We now come to the transaction which, we suppose, Mr. Faulkner had forgot, having never been reminded of it—The information of which was given to Mr. Richardson, in a Letter written to him from Dublin, dated Nov. 12. 1741. by an English Printer of character and integrity, then there.
"I was yesterday," says he, "in company with some Printers that I knew in London: Among other things in conversation, they familiarly commended Mr. Faulkner's
great diligence
in London; and, after naming several pieces of which he had procured early copies, I understood he had been furnished with the Third and Fourth Volumes of
Pamela,
sheet by sheet, as far as is done, from your Press; and is printing them off here with all speed—The truth of this information," adds he, "may be depended upon."
Mr. Faulkner actually printed these Two Volumes for his own entire benefit, the copy so surreptitiously obtained
In Mr. Richardson's Case, he very tenderly mentioned this injury, not naming Mr. Faulkner. It may be wondered, that, after this flagrant instance of Mr. Faulkner's
diligence,
as his then Journeymen chose to call it, Mr. R. had dealings with him for his CLARISSA.—A very valuable man in business, Mr. Woodward, who had a good opinion of Mr. Faulkner, prevailed upon him to prefer him to any other; and undertook for his integrity. Yet Mr. Richardson was forced to appeal to this Mr. Woodward afterwards, for the recovering Thirty Guineas out of Seventy, the consideration contracted for with Mr. Faulkner, on the preference given him in sending to him the sheets of his CLARISSA, as they were printed; and upon whose judgment (but not without proofs given from his own Letters, which, he must have supposed, were not regularly kept by Mr. Richardson), Mr. Faulkner paid the unjustly-detained sum.
; of which see more p. 22.—But we will further attend to his printed state of the present case.
The Post following, Mr. Faulkner got eight sheets more, and the Booksellers shewed him two Volumes, and said, they expected more; there being five Volumes of that History already printed. Upon which Mr. Faulkner wrote to Mr. Richardson not to send him any more of that Work, as it would be useless to him: But, that Mr. Richardson should be no sufferer by any part that Faulkner should have in this Work, as he would pay him for a fourth or fifth, or any share he should have in it;
Mr. Faulkner staid not for this Post, as is evident from the very Letter to Mr. R. in which he gives him the intelligence of the injury done him. He tells Mr. Richardson in it, that he received his first four sheets on the 3d of August. On the 4th, the very next day (such was his haste to join with the Corruptors!), he forbid, as above-mentioned, Mr. Richardson to send him any more sheets; and signified his resolution to endeavour to prevail on the Associates to admit him into their partnership for a fourth or fifth share. But then, indeed, he was so gracious as to intimate, that he would pay Mr. Richardson his proportion of the 70 guineas, according to the share the Pirates would allow him to hold with them; which for a fifth would have been 14 guineas.
As to what he says of there being four or five Volumes printed before Mr. Richardson sent him any sheets, that was not so. Not more than two were completed: Three Volumes more, indeed, were composing by different hands in his house; but they went on at convenience; Mr. Richardson, as Mr. Faulkner knew, only intending to publish two at a time; though the Pirates afterwards obliged him to alter his measures.
and, in two or three Letters following (
proceeds Mr. Faulkner
), he told Mr. Richardson, that, notwithstanding his neglect and delay, in not sending him the sheets directly from the Press, which he ought to have done, and not have stayed for the finishing of five or six Volumes, it might have prevented what hath happened to all parties, and hindered the reprinting of any other Edition, but that designed by the Author for Mr. Faulkner;
In two or three Letters following,
says he? How slightly is this mentioned by Mr. Faulkner! He had been parading to Mr. Richardson, from his Letter dated Aug. 4. to the 15th of September; sometimes pretending to detest the part his new partners acted; sometimes seeming to have it in view to procure Mr. Richardson redress; at other times to intimidate him into their measures. All which made it necessary for Mr. R. either to submit to the injury, or to endeavour to lighten the weight of it, by anticipating them.
What he says of the delay in sending the sheets directly from the Press, as he pronounces Mr. Richardson ought to have done, will be further taken notice of in another place.
See p.
18.
yet Mr. Richardson might draw upon him for any Sum not exceeding the contract, and he would pay it;
This offer was not made till in his Letter of Sept. 15. and at the persuasion of two of Mr. R's friends, for the sake of his own character; and then it was thus ungracefully expressed in that Letter—
"However, notwithstanding their (his partners) ill-treatment of you,
and particularly of me
[
which he resented by joining with them!
] you may draw upon me, at discretion, for any sum you think proper UNDER the sum stipulated between you and me; AS I know you to be a man of probity, honour, and conscience."
He had told Mr. Richardson in a former Letter, that he knew he would not suffer him to be
out
of pocket.
He adds,
"I blush for my Brethren" [But why so, if they have done nothing but what he could conscientiously have joined them in, according to the
established, invariable, constant
custom of the Booksellers in Dublin?] "But let them," proceeds he, "answer for it at the
great day of account.
I
know
that you have been
much,
and
most injuriously, villainously,
and
unprecedentedly,
treated by your more than hellish, wicked, and CORRUPTED servants."
By whom corrupted? Let him answer. Might he not as well have named his new partners?
and further, that if Mr. Richardson would acquit him of the contract,
Mr. Faulkner knows, that Mr. Richardson never once hinted holding him to it. The sum stipulated for, was to be paid for sending him the sheets before publication; and the contract was virtually at an end, when, after receiving the first parcel, he forbad Mr. Richardson sending any more to him. Nor could Mr. Faulkner think himself under any, when, in the same Letter in which he gave notice of the invasion, he prohibited sending him any more of the sheets, and declared himself, with as much sedateness, as if it were a thing of course, determined to attach himself to the Corruptors. His offer afterwards to pay a sum under that stipulated for, was, that he and his new partners might go on unmolestedly in reaping the fruits of their baseness: Nor is it improbable, that their refusal to consent to pay their parts, was owing to their view of intimidating Mr. Richardson, by means of their new partner, to give a sanction to it, which Mr. R. had refused to do; in which case, Mr. Faulkner, who has so happy a talent of displaying his merits, would hardly have found himself a sufferer, when he and his confederates had come to divide the spoil.
or desire him to withdraw from his partnership with the Booksellers, he would do it:
Strange man! He never hinted to Mr. Richardson, that
his
desire of this would determine him. Indeed, in his Letter of September 15. he says, by way of postscript,
"I would be glad to exonerate myself from
this set of men;
and will do it, if possible, at all events."
But, for a considerable time after this, he continued their willing partner; and made a merit to his other partners in the piracy of refusing to Mr. Richardson the common civility of his News-paper, to do himself reasonable justice. Well did he know Mr. Richardson's mind as to his adhering to his engagement with his new partners; for thus Mr. Richardson wrote to him in his Letter dated Aug. 24.
"You, Sir, will best judge, whether your own honour will not be sullied by a concern with so vile a confederacy. What can a fourth or fifth share in a Work, so treacherously obtained, do for any one? And if they proceed, I shall be obliged to make use of the names of all the Proprietors in the Dublin Edition, that I can come at."
But,
proceeds he,
Mr. Richardson delayed answering these Letters for some time: However, Mr. Faulkner, before he got Mr. Richardson's last Letter, declined all partnership in that Work, and hath not, nor will have, any share whatever in the reprinting of it; nor did he, nor doth he know in what manner that work is carrying on, having never seen a single sheet, or even a page, of the Irish Edition; the truth of all which Mr. Faulkner is ready to attest in the most solemn manner.
Mr. Faulkner had in his hands at this time Mr. Richardson's reasons for this delay, not at all to his advantage.
It was, then, nothing to Mr. R. whether Mr. Faulkner held or quitted. He set his face, and indeed his whole strength, against the genuine Edition; though he knew, that if he had given the assistance he ought to have given to one whom he repeatedly allowed to be an injured and innocent man,
it had never been sent over to Ireland.
It is poor to say,
"that he knew not in what manner the Work was then carried on, having never seen a single sheet, or even a page, of the Irish Edition;"
when he had told Mr. Richardson, that it was printing page for page with the genuine one; and when he had partners, who wanted not his direction, nor any thing of him, but that he would countenance them, and, by separating himself from the man with whom he had contracted, deprive him of the assistance he could have given him. Mr. Richardson would perhaps think himself very cruel, were he to put the poor man upon the solemn attestation he offers to make. But why, it may be asked, did he divest himself of a share which he had so meanly crept to the Confederates to obtain, if he and they had agreed to join together, in pursuance of an
established, invariable, constant custom among the Booksellers of Dublin?
And another question we put to the Publishers of the Irish Edition, Why, if they have kept within this custom, have they published it without affixing their names to it, or any names, but ascribed to the Booksellers of Dublin, in general, a publication of which they themselves seem to be ashamed?
So much for Mr. Faulkner's defence of his conduct, as printed in the Paper which bears his name.
As it has been said, that the cause of Literature, and of Authors in general, is concerned in this transaction, we will further intrude, by way of narrative, on the Reader's patience.
Mr. Richardson, in his Letter of Aug. 24. 1753. in which he declared, that he could not follow Mr. Faulkner's advice, to sue to the Corruptors of his Workmens honesty to obtain a poor consideration for the injury done him, and in which he had cautioned him of the dishonour that might accrue to him (Mr. Faulkner) by joining with them, thus writes:
"I am very earnest, that you will yourself—let these men know my resentments, resolutions, &c. If they have any regard to justice; if they have any compassion for 30 or 40 men of my house, who may be suspected, and to one absolutely discharged; I think I might rather expect satisfaction from
them,
than
they
proposals from
me.
—It is a very great grievance for a man, who uses all his Workmen well, to be obliged to go on furnishing work and money for bosom-traitors; and not to know how to help himself."
Mr. Faulkner's answer is dated Dublin, Sept. 8. He will thank himself, if the transcribeing it here gives him uneasiness.
Dear Sir,
"I had not your favour, of the 24th past, from Bath, until Wednesday last, when I immediately sent to Messieurs Wilson, Exshaw, and Saunders, to give me a meeting; but could not see any of them that day but Wilson; to whom I told the contents of your Letters, and the
religious
and
moral obligations
that
be
and the
others
lay under to do you justice, who had been so much injured in your property by the horrid roguery and villainy of your men,
through
THEIR
unwarrantable, scandalous,
and
illegal means.
" [No custom of trade pleaded here!] "But the waved giving me an answer at that time, although I pressed him very much thereto; and then he said he would think of it; and that I should hear from him the day following; which I did not, nor from either of the others. Upon which I went to them all this day, and found them at home; but could get no positive answer from the first of them, who still put me off to a meeting, which we are to have next Saturday; when I hope to be able to write a more satisfactory Letter to you than this. After the conversation I had with Wilson, I went to Exshaw and Saunders, and spoke to them both in the same manner: And their answer was, That whatever Wilson would do, they would be satisfied to come into the same terms: But I am very much afraid, that you will be a greater sufferer than what you or I could imagine, as it hath been hinted to me, that they are in treaty with some Scotch Booksellers, to whom they are to send, or
have sent,
the sheets; as also to get Grandison translated into French, or to send the sheets to France, before publication; which will frustrate and injure you in both those kingdoms; which I most sincerely wish that Heaven may avert
This most probably would have been carried into execution, had not Mr. Richardson disabled them from perfecting their copies, by putting a stop to printing what remained of it unprinted at the time he was informed of the baseness.
! This wicked affair hath almost made me mad and blind with vexation and fretting, to think that so innocent and worthy a Gentleman as you are, should be treated by the most hellish servants, and
wicked men,
in the manner you have been.—I think I am bound in honour and affection to you, to give you all the intelligence in my power:" [Yet never named, nor hinted at his
fourth
Bookseller, whom he must know.] "And if I cannot prevail on THESE MEN,
who have corrupted and bribed your Servants
to rob and betray you, I shall endeavour to break off with them in their
wicked attempts
upon your property, to convince you of my character, and sincere good wishes to you; and that I am your most faithful, affectionate, and most humble servant;
George Faulkner.
"They have now four Printing-houses on this Work; and have printed above twenty sheets page for page with your Edition; but I have not seen one proof, or single sheet, of THIS PIRACY."
Mr. Richardson, thus threatned to be attacked in more countries than one, particularly in Scotland, thought it was time to draw up a State of his Case, and to lay it before the Public; absolutely hopeless of any satisfactory result from the meeting of these worthy men, which was to be had seven days after the date of the above alarming Letter
The Case may be had, gratis, of Mr. Main in Dublin, and at Mr. Richardson's in London, by any Gentleman or Lady who hath curiosity to peruse it; in which will be seen, that Mr. R. treated Mr. Faulkner with great tenderness. He continued to do so as long as charity to him, and justice to himself, could be reconciled together. This Case bears date Sept. 14. 1753. Mr. R. published it not till he had advice from a friend in Dublin, that no good was to be expected from the meeting of the 15th; and that the Associates were hurrying the pirated Edition, to get it out by the meeting of the Irish Parliament; which was before Mr. R. could possibly complete his.
.
Mr. Faulkner's next Letter gives the result of the meeting of his Associates and him; as follows:
Dublin,
Sept. 15. 1753.
Dear Sir,
"In my last I acquainted you, that Messieurs Exshaw, Wilson, and Saunders, and your humble Servant, were to have a meeting this evening: Which accordingly we had; when your two friends" [naming them] "were present, who perhaps may acquaint you of what passed in company; and therefore I shall not trouble you with a recital, which cannot possibly be agreeable to you, when I tell you, that Mr. Exshaw said, that he had all the sheets he produced (after I had pasted up my Title)
some weeks,
nay, even
months,
before you sent me any part of Grandison; and that he hath
all the sheets, printed in your house,
of the
Third,
or
whatever more hath been done at your Press;
AND THEREFORE,
with the other Two,
will not consent to give any copy-money
Mr. Richardson had not commissioned Mr. Faulkner to treat with these men for copy-money. If he could have punished them as receivers of stolen goods, by the laws of their own country, that, as Mr. Faulkner knew, would have been his choice. But it is evident that Mr. F.
imagined
this would satisfy him; and
as
evident that these three men were determined to refuse even the paltry satisfaction of 14 guineas a man, had such terms been proposed to them, for the property of Seven Volumes to be sold in Ireland; and honest Mr. Exshaw gave the reason, to which the other Two assented—Because they were already possessed of the Work by the villainy of corrupted servants.
. However"—And then he makes the ungraceful offer, mentioned p. II. And then also he takes upon himself to blush for his Brethren; and refers them to answer for it at the great day of account. "I know," proceeds he, "that you have been much, and most injuriously, villainously, and
unprecedentedly,
treated by your more than hellish, wicked, and corrupted servants—But be assured, that you will meet with a man who would be glad to imitate you in your generosity, and virtues: And that is your much-obliged, most affectionate, and sincere friend, as well as humble servant,
George Faulkner.
October 2. 1753. Mr. Faulkner writes to Mr. Richardson, expressing his surprize that he had not an answer to his of the 15th past; wishes in it, that Mr. R. had taken more time to consider his Case before he published it; and blames him for the delay in sending him the sheets, to which he ascribes the cause of all that had happened from the Pirates. He refers himself to a Letter written to Mr. R. in his favour, by a worthy friend of Mr. R. who had been induced to think well of him from his offers of making an affidavit, to prove upon the Confederates their being in possession of the stolen goods, and to remit to Mr. R. the whole sum stipulated for between them at first.
The Gentleman
did
write a warm Letter in Mr. F's behalf. Mr. Richardson laid before him, in answer, the state of the Case, from the Letters that had passed between Mr. Faulkner and him. The Gentleman then put the sincerity of Mr. F's offered services to the test; and was soon convinced that Mr. R. had nothing to expect from him. Mr. Richardson has not asked the Gentleman's leave to give particulars. Mr. Faulkner, about the same time, appealed to several Gentlemen of character in London, as an innocent man; and even desired them to shew what he had written to them to Mr. Richardson. These several circumstances engaged the latter to write a long Letter to him, dated the 13th and 15th of October, recapitulating the above facts—Whence the following extracts
We wish Mr. Faulkner would publish the whole Letter, and every Letter at length, that hath passed between him and Mr. R. on this subject.
.
Sir,
"You express yourself surprised that I answered not your two last Letters. One of them kept me in some little suspense about the result of the meeting you was to have with the three men who have used me so cruelly. To the other, what could I say? I had no heart to write to you. When I considered the whole tenor of your conduct in the affair before us—When I recollected the attempt you made to underpay me 30 guineas out of 70, stipulated for in the affair of
Clarissa
—Your perseverance in so wicked a partnership, which you was so little, as to creep to them for, on their own infamous terms—Your magnificent pretensions to honour in every Letter—Does it become the character of a man valuing himself for sincerity and plain-dealing, thought I, to let Mr. Faulkner imagine me such a poor creature, either in spirit or understanding, as to be blinded by his self-deception?—Was not my chief dependence on the conditions I made with him,
That the sale of the Dublin Edition should be confined to Ireland; and that that Edition should not be published till I gave leave; and by Two Volumes at a time?
Have I either of these conditions secured to me? Did he stipulate with them for me
one
favourable condition [on his admission among them]? Have they not refused terms which he (though without my desire) proposed to them; and set me at absolute defiance? Did he not deliver them up sheets I had sent him, to obtain an admission with them into so infamous a partnership? Did I not caution him, that his honour might suffer by this; and that I should be obliged to name to the Public every Partner in this base proceeding? Yet,
did
he not,
does
he not to this hour, continue his partnership with them, to the depriving me of all manner of assistance that he might have afforded me; and to the obliging me to throw myself into other hands, in order to disappoint the Confederates of the immoral gains they proposed to themselves? And shall I forbear, for the sake of
the whole Republic of Letters,
affected by so base a proceeding, endeavouring to make an example of these men, instead of meanly compromising with them, and giving a
sanction
to so vile a corruption?—These my reflexions, what unwillingness must I have to answer your Letter? Your offer, though very ungraciously made me (of the whole sum to one of my friends, of any thing UNDER the sum to
me
) might appear to you a magnificent one: But, Sir, you know me not. Could you have told me that you had been a loser by
Clarissa,
I should have contrived some way, in our future dealings, to reimburse you: And to accept of the whole sum from a fourth or fifth Sharer in profits that were to arise from an abuse of me, or
any
sum—I could not do it: Yet was it an ungrateful thing to me to be obliged to speak out; but this for your sake more than my own. This made me loth to sit down to answer your Letter; yet, in mine to one of my worthy friends, I told him, that you were very safe in making that offer to me.
"
I have seen,
say you,
your Case; and what you have said of me.
I designed you should. And have I said one word but what you have said yourself, of the part you have acted by me? Dear Sir, what self-partiality must you have to write to me as you have written of your own honour in every Letter; and so to set off the part you have acted in this transaction, as could induce one of the worthiest men in Ireland to write so warmly in your justification? I write rather with an expostulatory spirit than an angry one. Take advice of your own heart, and I shall have a test of the goodness of that heart, or otherwise, as it acquits or condemns you. Have you never been told, dear Sir, that you have too much parade?—Indeed you seem to be lost in the dust you raise about yourself by it.
"
Had I sent you the sheets from the Press as wrought
—So it is my own fault that I am thus basely invaded! But it becomes my character to tell you frankly, that I balanced in my mind, whether I should deal with you at all, tho' I offered not to engage with any other. The hint I have given of your treatment of me in
Clarissa,
was the occasion of my balancing. But, as you had seemed to approve what you had seen of the piece, when last in London, and had expectation of it, I was loth to disappoint you—And as I was resolved to publish but two Volumes at a time, as I told you, I pleased myself that you would have full time to print them, as I proceeded. Little did I think myself, with such precautions as I had taken, unsafe; for I knew not that there were in Dublin such men as those to whom you joined yourself. And is it not a grievous hardship upon the London Printers to find that Mr. Faulkner seems to think, that copies of their property are much more secure in the hands of Dublin Booksellers and Printers, than in their own, before publication."
"Indeed, Sir, you might have been of service to me, of service to yourself, and done honour to your name, your trade, your country, all affronted by this base proceeding. The fair path was before you: Why would you, by joining yourself with these men, in an action which you justly call
scandalous, wicked, unprecedented,
give a sanction to the
nefarious
proceeding? Why persevere in it; and, by so doing, deprive of all assistance, all redress by your means, the man of whose justice you had no doubt; who was in treaty with you; who confided in you?—
You blush for your Brethren,
you say in a former Letter—Ah! my dear Sir, forgive me for saying, that often and often have I blushed for you from the beginning of August last."
Mr. Richardson then quotes to Mr. Faulkner passages from several Letters that passed between them, to demonstrate, that his charge of delay had no foundation to support it; and then subjoins as follows:
"You see, Sir, by the dates (for your notice of the theft is dated Aug. 4.), that, from July 12. when your acceptance is dated, no time was lost in sending you the sheets. I have told you the reason, for which you may thank yourself, why I entered not into treaty with you before. I had no doubt of the sheets (such injunctions given) being safe in my own house. You could have no reason to expect them from me
before
we entered into engagements; which, as above, was not till in consequence of your Letter of July 12. which must be some days in coming to my hands. Whence then the reason of your outcry for my delay of sending the sheets? Whence your expectation that I would?—O Mr. Faulkner, take care of truth in any thing you shall publish or write, in an affair in which you have acted so strange a part! You are in the condition of a limed bird; the more you struggle, the more you will entangle yourself. How have you slubbered over, to a worthy Gentleman in London, the affair of your relinquishing me, of joining with the men whose baseness you so
justly decried!
and your poor offer to me of 12, 14, or 15 pounds, or such a sum, for giving a sanction to the robbery of myself, and the corrupting of my servants! For is not that the light in which you ought to have looked upon your proposal to me? And in which your late, your
too late
offer was also to be taken: An offer not made till in your Letter of the 15th of September, the worse than piracy hurrying on at four Presses, the consequence of which was to skreen them, and to justify your usage of me?
"There are other misrepresentations in your Letter to the Gentleman you wanted to prepossess in your favour—How could you say, that he might depend upon what you write to him as truth?—But, indeed, that is of a piece with your assertion, that I, in my Case," [In which you was used with an undeserved tenderness] "have not truly represented your part in the transaction. I am amazed at you: And yet my compassion for you is greater than my indignation.
"This altercation is a painful task upon me: and more in the part I am forced upon with you, than with the others. Why, once more I ask, would you join yourself with men you call
wicked,
in an action you own to be
unprecedentedly vile?
—Why, as I warned you, as I told you, what steps I would take, did you not, when you saw your error, wash your hands of them, and rather declare yourself mistaken, than seek to bribe me to give a sanction to so vile a depredation?—But I shall repeat what I have written before I saw this Letter, this strange, this inconsistent, this misrepresenting Letter of yours to Mr. *******. I wish, if you have a copy of it, you would revise it, and compare it with what I have written from facts, warranted by your own Letters and mine—Would to heaven, you had left me room to clear up and justify your conduct in this transaction! But, after such a Letter as this to Mr. *******, what can I think
of,
what can I say
for,
Mr. Faulkner; but this—That he has given a proof, that it must be an ingenuous mind only, that, having made a false step, will choose to own the fault, as the best method of extricating itself.
"The World, Sir, will not, in more favourable Cases to character than this, judge of us as we would have it. Guard against self-delusion. You are more in danger from it than any man I know, if I take my opinion of you from what has passed between you and me, from our concerns in
Clarissa
to this moment, and all the time, from your uncalled-for parade of honour in every Letter. Think me (as you
will,
if you do me justice, and that from the very freedom of my expostulation) your wellwisher, and humble servant,
S. Richardson.
London,
16
October,
1753.
We take leave to observe, that Mr. Faulkner had in his hands the Letter from which the above extracts are made, when he printed, in his own paper, the paragraph which he designed to pass for a justification of himself; the truth of every part of which he offers to attest in the most solemn manner.
But
possibly
Mr. Faulkner had not received that Letter, when he wrote the following.
Dublin,
Oct.
20. 1753.
Dear Sir,
"Notwithstanding you have not been pleased to answer any of my three last Letters, yet I think proper to acquaint you, that I have broke off all partnership with the
three
Booksellers" [The
fourth
still secreted] "who so
wickedly
and
injuriously
treated you and
me
in the History of Sir Charles Grandison; and that I have not, nor shall have, any part or share whatever in the
pirated Edition;
the copy of which was so BASELY and FRAUDULENTLY obtained. This I was determined upon
from the beginning;
and only
waited for your positive commands
" [What a man is this!] "to concur with me in these sentiments. If you print another case, or publish any advertisement relative to this affair, I make no doubt but you will do justice to the much injured, altho' very much your most obedient and most humble servant,
George Faulkner.
After this Letter, could it be credited, had it not been published by himself, that he was the Author of the paragraph of November 3. 1753. before animadverted upon; by which he would make the world believe, that, in joining with the Undertakers of this pirated Edition, he and they had done no more than was warranted by the
established, invariable, constant
customs of the Dublin Booksellers?
In a Letter written by one of Mr. Richardson's friends, dated Dublin October 27. intimation was given him, that the Associates proposed to surrender up all they had printed, which they gave in as near Two Volumes only, at prime cost, amounting to somewhat above 50 pounds. Mr. Richardson wrote back his willingness to be the purchaser; but some new chicane seemed to be designed by this overture; for, in a fortnight or three weeks after, they were ready to publish Six Volumes.
They accordingly published them; but, as hath been observed, without putting any Booksellers names to the Titles; and tho' the genuine edition was put at the price such books are generally sold for in Ireland, they, as Mr. Faulkner had foretold, undersold the Edition of the lawful Proprietor.
Mr. Richardson will not, were it true, report, that the saving of Two Shillings (in the purchase of
Six
Volumes, the price of which cannot be found fault with) will be a sufficient reason with the Gentlemen and Ladies of Ireland, to prefer the
"pirated Edition, the copy of which, to borrow Mr. Faulkner's words, in his Letter of Oct. 20. was so
basely
and
fraudulently
obtained."
But he has been heard to take comfort in the following passage transcribed from the Letter of a friend to him:
"What I fear, is, that the high merit of the Work will procure the Pirates more customers than I wish. But as it is inimitably well calculated to do good, the injury done you, will certainly afford me one satisfaction, and a great one; that the excellent Performance will be more universally read, for the bustle that hath been made about it. Who knows, dear Sir, but the glorious Sir CHARLES may teach some honesty and dignity of soul, even to him who buys it, as stolen goods, a few shillings lower from the Pirates than he could from you."
The secreting the name of the Fourth Bookseller has been often mentioned above. Mr. Richardson wrote to one of his friends in Ireland his suspicions as to the person, grounded on facts that had been communicated to him by another friend residing in Dublin. This produced the following passage in the answer of the Gentleman, dated October 22. 1753.
"From what you say of a
fourth
person, not named either to you, or to your friends here, I guess it was that very person who corrupted your servants, and furnished the three Booksellers named, with the sheets. These three name themselves in the Title-pages they at first posted up, because, perhaps, no corruption can be
proved
on them; but conceal the fourth Associate, lest he should be prosecuted. If this is the case, and nothing can be more probable (for Wilson hath, by affidavit before the Lord Mayor, purged himself of the
corruption,
and Exshaw and Saunders declare they can do the same), then Mr. ******** is still more evidently the scandalous Associate of the Corruptors, inasmuch as he conceals the most criminal, and, in some measure, abets the rest."
Be this as it may, these
three
men cannot clear themselves of the piracy founded on that corruption, and of the parts they acted, and proposed further to act, in extending the injury to France and Scotland, as charged in Mr. Faulkner's Letters of Sept. 8. and 15. before-cited.
The Pirates have endeavoured to make a National cause of the transaction. But is not the Nationality of these men a cover for the basest Selfishness? Are Messieurs Exshaw, Wilson, Saunders, and the fourth concealed person, and Mr. Faulkner joined with them, the Irish nation?
Mr. Faulkner, in one of his Letters to Mr. Richardson, suspecting Mr. Main would be employed by him, though then Mr. R. had not mentioned him, nor even thought of him, stigmatizes him
as a Scotish agent.
But may we not ask, What are these Booksellers of Dublin, that they think themselves intitled to prey upon the property of every other man in every nation round them; yet join to hunt down any other subject of the same Prince, if he attempt to get bread among, or near, them?
Mr. Richardson has been accused in an Irish public Paper, of having formerly engaged with a Mr. Bacon, of Dublin, in a scheme which, the Author of that Paper says, was likely to be very detrimental to the Printers and Booksellers of Dublin in general.
This was the fact: Mr. Bacon, an ingenious man, now in orders, an Irishman, or one who had always had his connexions with that kingdom, and professed a love even to partiality for it, kept a coffeehouse, of note and credit, in Dublin, at which were frequently held auctions for books, and merchandize. He had been concerned with the Press as a Corrector, and proposed to set up a public Paper there, and to take up his freedom of the Company of Stationers in Dublin. He did both. The latter in the month of November 1741. The Paper was called
The Gazette.
The Advertisements of the Public Offices were printed in it. He set up entirely on the Irish footing, and purposed to employ Irish Printers, to buy his paper of Irish Stationers, and to avail himself, as other Irish Printers and Booksellers made it their endeavour to do, of such copies of books published in London as he could procure early, and
fairly, by consent of the Proprietors.
—Crime enough in that, perhaps! for Mr. Faulkner, at contracting with Mr. Richardson, was desirous that his Dublin Brethren should not know that he gave
any
consideration for the liberty of reprinting
The History of Sir Charles Grandison.
Mr. Bacon was an absolute stranger to Mr. Richardson, brought to him by Mr. Thomas Osborne, of Gray's-inn; and Mr. Richardson then knowing not any other Irish Bookseller, or Printer, and being about to publish his Third and Fourth Volumes of
Pamela,
was induced to enter into agreement with him, and to furnish him with the sheets as they came from his Press,
in order to his reprinting them in Dublin.
The sheets were accordingly sent him over: But Mr. Faulkner, as is before-mentioned, p. 9. having, by his extraordinary
diligence,
clandestinely got at the sheets as printed at Mr. Richardson's, he (Mr. Bacon) was deprived of the intended benefit; and also forestalled in the sale of the genuine Edition; 250 of which were sent him, in resentment of such base treatment.
Tho' Mr. Bacon's prospects were at that time very favourable; and tho' he wanted not any other sort of
diligence,
but that for which some of his Brethren have made themselves famous; yet Mr. Richardson's concern with him, to Mr. Bacon's great regret, held but one year. And his furnishing Mr. Bacon with the sheets of
Pamela,
Vol. III. IV.
to be reprinted in Ireland;
his engagement, some years afterwards, to send over to Mr. Faulkner the sheets of
Clarissa, for the same purpose,
notwithstanding his treatment of him in
Pamela;
and those of his
Grandison
now lately, notwithstanding his treatment of him in
Clarissa;
evidently demonstrate that he had no intention to interfere with the Booksellers and Printers of Dublin, by sending over his books ready printed, till the atrocious injury he received, and the determined perseverance of the Injurers, made him think it adviseable to endeavour to anticipate Confederates, who had so vilely, by the corruption of his servants, as hath been often said, obtained the power of hurting him in a property
so absolutely his own.
This further may be said, That Mr. R. printed not a number, with a view of sending any over to Ireland: But such a one only as his friends thought rather short of answering the English demand; and it has proved, that all he sent over to Dublin would have been sold in England at a
better
price, as Printing and Paper here are more costly than in Ireland; tho' he had caused them to be sold in Dublin at the Irish price, from the first.
Mr. R. has been put to great expence by these men, and to great trouble in the altercation with them. But he is bringing himself to look upon their unprovoked treatment of him, as a punishment for assuming the pen, at the expence of his health, and to the giving up every rational amusement, when he had a business upon his hands which was enough to employ his whole attention; and which, as his
principal
care, he never neglected.
It has been more than once said, that this Cause is the Cause of Literature, in general; and it may be added, it is even
that
of the honest Booksellers and Printers of both Nations: We therefore hope that our prolixity will be forgiven.
We will take upon us to add, that
every
man in Mr. R's station has not the spirit, the will, the independence, to hang out lights to his Cotemporaries, to enable them to avoid Savages, who hold themselves in readiness to plunder a vessel even before it becomes a wreck.
London,
Feb.
1. 1754.
FINIS.