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A full and true AccoUNT of a horrid and barbarous REVENGE BY POISON, on the body of Mr EDMUND CURLL, bookfeller.

With a faithful copy of his laft will and teftament.

Iftory furnisheth us with examples of many fa

tirical authors who have fallen facrifices to revenge, but not of any bookfellers, that I know of, except the unfortunate fubject of the following paper; I mean Mr Edmund Curll, at the Bible and Dial in Fleetftreet, who was yefterday poifoned by Mr Pope, after having lived many years an inftance of the mild temper of the British nation.

Every body knows, that the faid Mr Edmund Curll, on Monday the 26th inftant, published a fatirical piece, intitled, Court-poems, in the preface wherof they were attributed to a lady of quality, Mr Pope, or Gay; by which indifcreet method, though he had escaped one revenge, there were still two behind in referve.

Now, on the Wednesday enfuing, between the hours of ten and eleven, Mr Lintot, a neighbouring bookfeller, defired a conference with Mr Curll, about fettling a titlepage, inviting him at the fame time to take a whet together. Mr Pope, who is not the only inftance how perfons of bright parts may be carried away by the inftigation of the devil, found means to convey himself into the fame room, under pretence of bufinefs with Mr Lintot, who, it feems, is the printer of his Homer. This gentleman, with a feeming coolnefs, reprimanded Mr Curll for wrongfully afcribing to him the aforefaid poems: he excufed himself by declaring, that one of his authors (Mr Oldmixon by name) gave the copies to the prefs, and wrote the preface. Upon this Mr Pope, being to all appearance reconciled, very civilly drank a glafs of fack to Mr Curll, which he as civilly pledged; and though the Liquor, in colour and tafte, differed not from common

fack,

fack, yet was it plain, by the pangs this unhappy ftationer felt foon after, that fome poisonous drug had been fecretly infufed therein..

About eleven a-clock he went home, where his wife obferving his colour changed, faid, "Are you not fick,

my dear?" He replied, "Bloody fick ;" and incontinently fell a vomiting and ftraining in an uncommon and unnatural manner, the contents of his vomiting being as green as grafs. His wife had been just reading a book of her husband's printing concerning Jane Wenham, the famous witch of Hertford, and her mind mifgave her, that he was bewitched; but he foon let her know, that he fufpected poifon, and recounted to her, between the in-tervals of his yawnings and retchings, every circumstance of his interview with Mr Pope.

Mr Lintot in the mean time coming in, was extremely affrighted at the fudden alteration he obferved in him': "Brother Curll, fays he, I fear you have got the vo"miting diftemper; which, I have heard, kiils in half "an hour. This comes from your not following my "advice, to drink old hock in a morning, as I do, and "abstain from fack." Mr Curll replied in a moving tone, "Your author's fack, I fear, has done y bufinefs." "Z-ds, fays Mr Lintot, my author! Why did not 66 you drink old hock?" Notwithstanding which rough remonftrance, he did in the moft friendly manner prefshim to take warm water; but Mr Curll did with great obftinacy refuse it; which made Mr Lintot infer, that he chofe to die, as thinking to recover greater damages.

All this time the fymptoms increafed violently, with acute pains in the lower belly. "Brother Lintot, fays "he, I perceive my laft hour approaching; do me "the friendly office to call my partner, Mr Femberton, "that we may fettle our worldly affairs." Mr Lintot, like a kind neighbour, was haftening out of the room, while Mr Curli raved aloud in this manner: "If I fur"vive this, I will be revenged on Tonfon; it was he "first detected me as the printer of thefe poems, and I "will reprint thefe very poems in his name." His wife admonished him not to think of revenge, but to take care of his flock and his foul: and in the fame inftant Mr Lin

tot, whofe goodnefs can never be enough applauded, returned with Mr Pemberton. After fome tears jointly fhed by these humane bookfellers, Mr Curll being, as he faid, in his perfect fenfes, though in great bodily pain, immediately proceeded to make a verbal will, Mrs Curli having firft put on his night-cap, in the following man

ner:

G

Entiemen, in the firft place, I do fincerely pray Jforgivenefs for thofe indirect methods I have purfued in inventing new titles to old books, putting authors names to things they never faw, publishing private quarrels for public entertainment; all which I hope will be pardoned, as being done to get an honeft livelihood.

I do alfo heartily beg pardon of all perfons of honour, lords fpiritual and temporal, gentry, burgeffes, and commonalty, to whofe abufe I have any or every way contributed by my publications; particularly, I hope it will be confidered, that if I have vilified his Grace the Duke of Marlborough, I have likewife afperfed the late Duke of Ormond; if I have abufed the Honourable Mr Walpole, I have alfo libelled the Lord Bolingbroke: fo that I have preferved that equality and impartiality, which becomes an honest man in times of faction and divifion.

I call my confcience to witness, that many of these things, which may feem malicious, were done out of charity; I having made it wholly my bufinefs to print for poor difconfolate authors, whom all other bookfellers refufe. Only God bless Sir Richard Blackmore! you know he takes no copy-money.

The fecond collection of poems, which I groundlessly called Mr Prior's, will fell for nothing, and hath not yet paid the charge of the advertisements, which I was obfiged to publish against him: therefore you may as well fupprefs the edition, and beg that gentleman's pardon in the name of a dying Chriftian.

The French Cato, with the criticism fhewing how fuperior it is to Mr Addison's, (which I wickedly afcribed to Madam Dacier), may be fuppreffed at a reasonable rate, being damnably tranflated.

I proteft I have no animofity to Mr Rowe, having printed part of Callipædia, and an incorrect edition of

his poems without his leave in quarto. Mr Gildon's Rehearsal, or Bays the younger, did more harm to me than to Mr Rowe; though, upon the faith of an honeft man, I paid him double for abufing both him and Mr Pope.

Heaven pardon me for publishing the Trials of Sodomy, in an Elzevir letter! but I humbly hope, my printing Sir Richard Blackmore's Effays will atone for them. I beg that you will take what remains of thefe laft, (which is near the whole impreffion, prefents excepted), and let my poor widow have in exchange the fole property of the copy of Madam Mafcranny.

[Here Mr Pemberton interrupted, and would by no means confent to this article; about which fome difpute might have arifen unbecoming a dying perfon, if Mr Lintot had not interpofed, and Mr Curll vomited.]

What this poor unfortunate man spoke afterwards, was fo indiftinct, and in fuch broken accents, (being perpetualby interrupted by vomitings), that the reader is intreated to excufe the confufion and imperfection of this ac

count.

Dear Mr Pemberton, I beg you to beware of the indictment at Hicks's-hall for publishing Rochester's bawdy poems; that copy will otherwife be my beft legacy to my dear wife, and helpless child.

The cafe of impotence was my beft fupport all the laft long vacation.

[In this last paragraph Mr Curll's voice grew more free, for his vomitings abated upon his dejections, and he Spoke what follows from his clofe-ftool.]

For the copies of noblemens and bishops last wills and teftaments, I folemnly declare, I printed them not with any purpose of defamation; but merely as I thought those copies lawfully purchased from Doctors Commons, at one fbilling apiece. Our trade in wills turning to fmall account, we may divide them blindfold.

For Mr Manwaring's Life, I ask Mrs Oldfield's pardon: neither his nor my Lord Hallifax's lives, though they were of service to their country, were of any to me: but I was refolved, fince I could not print their.

works

works while they lived, to print their lives after they were dead.

While he was speaking these words, Mr Oldmixon entered. "Ah! Mr Oldmixon, said poor Mr Curll, to "what a condition have your works reduced me! I "die a martyr to that unlucky preface. However, in "these my laft moments I will be just to all men ; you "shall have your third fhare of the Court-poems, as was ftipulated. When I am dead, where will you find "another bookfeller? Your Proteftant packet might have fupported you, had you writ a little lefs fcurrilously; "there is a mean in all things."

Here Mr Lintot interrupted. Why not find another bookfeller, Brother Curll? and then took Mr Oldmixon afide and whispered him: "Sir, as foon as Curll is dead, "I fhall be glad to talk with you over a pint at the "Devil."

Mr Curll now turning to Mr Pemberton, told him, he had feveral taking title-pages, that only wanted treatises to be wrote to them; and earnestly defired, that when they were written, his heirs might have some share of the profit of them.

After he had faid this, he fell into horrible gripings, upon which Mr Lintot advised him to repeat the Lord's prayer. He defired his wife to ftep into the fhop for a Common prayer book, and read it by the help of a candle without hefitation. He clofed the book, fetched a groan, and recommended to Mrs Curll to give forty fhillings to the poor of the parish of St Dunstan's, and a week's wages advance to each of his gentlemen-authors, with fome fmall gratuity in particular to Mrs Centlivre.

The poor man continued for fome hours with all his difconfolate family about him in tears, expecting his final diffolution; when of a fudden he was furprisingly relieved by a plentiful foetid ftool, which obliged them all to retire out of the room. Notwithstanding, it is judged by Sir Richard Blackmore, that the poifon is ftill latent in his body, and will infallibly destroy him by flow degrees in lefs than a month. It is to be hoped, the other enemies of this wretched ftationer will not further purfue their revenge, or shorten this short period of his miferable life.

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