2»"> S. X. Sept. 15. '60.J 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



203 



"Asked how he came to advertise with the respective 

 Answers of each Correspondent if there is no Letter of 

 any Lord Printed in the Book. Says that it was his 

 Ignorance, he only meant by Correspondents such persons 

 as had answer'd the Letters, and Says there is not any 

 Letter of any Lord printed in the Book, he read every 

 Line of y* Book before he published it. 



" Notice taken to him of a Note in the Book which 

 mentions that a letter from the D. of Chandos to Mr. P., 

 may be printed in the 2nd volume. Says he knows no- 

 thing at present of a 2d Volume, but if ever he should 

 publish a 2d Volume, he will not print anj'- Letter of the 

 Duke of Chandos, or of any other Lords, without their 

 Leave. 



" Ask'd whether he has any other Original Letters be- 

 sides the Correspondence with H. C. which he had from 

 Mrs. Thomas. Says he has not, but he believes he shall 

 have others, he has been promis'd 'em. 



" Ask'd who promis'd 'em him. Saj's the promise was 

 made him by a Penny Post Letter, he do's not know from 

 whom it came, when he has 'em he shall be very willing 

 to produce 'em. 



"Ask'd whether he ever saw P. T. Says he never 

 did. 



■"Ask'd whether he has any other Copy of this Book. 

 Says he has not, he deliver'd 'em all to the officers of the 

 House. 



" Ask'd whether any other Edition was publish'd by 

 any body else. Says he knows of no other Edition. 



" Ask'd whether he did not sell some of the Books before 

 The Lords Order came to him. Says he sold about 50. 



" Then he was directed to withdraw. 



" The Lord in the Chair acquainted the Com" That he 

 had turn'd over the said Book, and did not find any Letter 

 of any Lord in it, and proposed that it should be declared 

 That it did not appear to the Com" that there was any 

 Letter of any Lord printed in the said Book. 



" After further Debate. ^ 



" It was Proposed to adjourn till tomorrow, and that 

 the Clerk should keep the said Book in his Custody, and 

 that the Black Rod should deliver to him some Copies of 

 the said Book, and that he should against tomorrow 

 look into the said Copies to see if the above-mentioned 

 Letter to Mr.. Jervas was in any of 'em. 



" And the same being agreed to, It was Ordered accord - 

 ingly. Intimation to be given to Curll to attend the 

 Com" tomorrow, and bring with him the original letters 

 which he has in his Custody. 



" Adjd. till tomorrow Morning 10 o'clock. 



The Committee met again accordingly the next 

 morning ; but, as will be seen by the following 

 minute of their proceedings, their search for the 

 Letters to noble Lords, and for the passage in the 

 letter to Jervas, at p. 117. of Lord Islay's copy, 

 was attended with no better success : — 



« Die Jovis, 15° Maij, 1735. 



" Comph. of Pullishing Collection of Letters. — lA Dela* 

 war in the Chair. 



" The Order of Reference to this Committee Read. 



" The Standing Ord"' of the 31st of Jan-"? 1721, declaring 

 it to be a Breach of Privilege to print Lords' Works, &c., 

 also read. 



" And the Lord in the Chair acquainting the Committee 

 that he had carefully look'd over the said Book, and did 

 not find an}' letter of any Lord therein, and other Lords of 

 the Committee declaring the same also, 



" It was proposed to report to The House That the 

 Committee not finding any Letter of a Lord printed in the 

 said Book, they conceive that the printing of the Book is 

 not contrary to the said Standing Order, and are of 



opinion that the said Books should be delivered back to 

 the said Curll. 



" And the same being agreed to, Report was Ordered to 

 be made to the House accordingly." 



The Committee reported accordingly, and the 

 following extract from the Journals shows how 

 the matter ended, so far as the House of Lords 

 was concerned : — 



« Die Jovis, 15° Maij, 1735. 



" Books Ordered to he returned to Mr. Curll. — The Lord 

 Dela Warr reported from the Lords' Committee appointed 

 to consider the Matter of the Complaint made of an Adver- 

 tisement printed in the News Paper, intituled The Daily 

 Post Boy, Monday, May 12, 1735, ' giving Notice, That 

 on that day was published, Mr. Pope's Literary Corre- 

 spondence for Thirty Years, from 1704 to 1734, printed 

 for E. Curll, in Rose Street, Covent Garden : ' That the 

 Committee have looked into the Book prodticed before 

 them by The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod pur- 

 suant to the Order of the House ; and having examined 

 the same, do not find that there is any Letter of any Lord 

 printed therein ; and therefore conceive, that the Printing 

 of the said Book is not contrary to the Standing Order of 

 the House of the 31st of January, 1721 ; and the Com- 

 mittee are of opinion, that the Books seized by the said 

 Gentleman Usher should be delivered back to the said 

 E. Curll. 



" Which Report being read by the Clerk, was agreed 

 to by the House : and Ordered accordingly.'' 



Thus ended Curll's attendance before the Lords : 

 not so his warfare with Pope. He had no doubt 

 served Pope's turn by calling public attention to 

 his Correspondence., and awakening in the public 

 a desire to be furnished with an authorised edi- 

 tion of the Poet's Letters. But Curll had played 

 his cards so well that his edition of the Corre- 

 spondence was also sought for. The success at- 

 tending the first volume induced him to publish 

 a second. The following saucy advertisement 

 announces his intention to publish a third : — ■ 



" E. CURL TO THE PUBLIC. 



" From Pope's Head, in Rose Street, 

 Covent- garden, July 26th, 1735. 

 " Mr. Pope having put me under a Necessity of using 

 him as he deserves, I hereby declare that the First Volume 

 of his Letters which I publish'd on the 12th of May last, 

 was sent me readj' printed by himself, and for six hun- 

 dred of which I contracted ivith his Agent, R. Smythe, 

 who came to me in the Habit of a Clergyman. I paid 

 the said R. Smythe half the sum contracted for, and have 

 his Receipt in full for Three Hundred Books, tho' it has 

 since, by him, been lionestly own'd that he delivered me 

 but Two Hundred and Forty Books, and those all imper- 

 fect. For this Treatment I shall have Recourse to a 

 Legal Remedy. Mr. Pope, in the Grub-street Journal 

 (a Libel wherein he has been concerned from its Original), 

 the Daily Journal, and the Daily Post Boy declared these 

 letters to be Forgeries, and complained of them to the 

 House of Lords; which Falsehood was detected before 

 that most August Assemblj' ; and, upon my Acquittal, he 

 publishes a very idle Narrative of a Robbery committed 

 upon two Manuscripts — one on his own, and the other 

 in the Earl of Oxford's Library. This Fallacy being 

 likewise expos'd, he now Advertises he shall with all con- 

 venient speed publish some Jyetters himself, particularly 

 relating to his correspondence with the Bishop of Roches- 

 ter. But the Publick may be assured that, if any Letters 



