Though the _Reply_ to the _Dean_ of _York_ is not declared, in the
_Title-Page_, or elsewhere, to be wrote by you,—Yet I take that Point
for granted; and therefore beg Leave, in this public Manner, to write
to you in Behalf of myself; with Intent to set you right in two Points
where I stand concerned in this Affair; and which I find you have
misapprehended, and consequently (as I hope) misrepresented.
The _First_ is, in respect of some Words, made use of in the
Instrument, signed by Dr _Herring_, Mr _Berdmore_ and myself.—Namely,
_to the best of our Remembrance and Belief,_ which Words you have
caught hold of, as implying some Abatement of our Certainty as to the
Facts therein attested. Whether it was so with the other two Gentlemen
who signed that Attestation with me, it is not for me to say; they are
able to answer for themselves, and I desire to do so for myself; and
therefore I declare to you, and to all Mankind, That the Words in the
first Paragraph, _to the best of our Remembrance and Belief_, implied
no Doubt remaining upon my Mind, nor any Distrust whatever of my
Memory, from the Distance of Time;—Nor, in short, was it my Intention
to attest the several Facts therein, as Matters of Belief—But as
Matters of as much Certainty as a Man was capable of having, or giving
Evidence to. In Consequence of this Explanation of myself, I do declare
myself ready to attest the same Instrument over again, striking out the
Words _to the best of our Remembrance and Belief_ which I see, have
raised this Exception to it.
Whether I was mistaken or no, I leave to better Judges; but I
understood those Words were a very common Preamble to Attestations of
Things, to which we bore the clearest Evidence;—However, Dr _Topham_,
as you have claimed just such another Indulgence yourself, in the Case
of begging the _Dean_’s Authority to say, what, as you affirm, you had
sufficient Authority to say without, as a modest and Gentleman-like Way
of Affirmation;—I wish you had spared either the one or the other of
your Remarks upon these two Passages:—_Veniam petimus, demusque
vicissim_.
There is another Observation relating to this Instrument, which I
perceive has escaped your Notice; which I take the Liberty to point out
to you, namely, That the Words, _To the best of our Remembrance and
Belief_, if they imply any Abatement of Certainty, seem only confined
to that Paragraph, and to what is immediately attested after them in
it:—For in the second Paragraph, wherein the main Points are minutely
attested, and upon which the whole Dispute, and main Charge against the
_Dean_, turns, it is introduced thus:
“_We do particularly remember_, That as soon as Dinner was over, &c.”
In the second Place you affirm, “That it is not said that Mr. _Sterne_
could affirm he had heard you charge the _Dean_ with a Promise, in its
own Nature so very extraordinary, as of the Commissaryship of the Dean
and Chapter”:—To this I answer, That my true Intent in subscribing that
very instrument, and I suppose of others, was to attest this _very
Thing;_ and I have just now read that Part of the Instrument over; and
cannot, for my Life, affirm it either more directly or expresly, than
in the Words as they there stand;—therefore please to let me transcribe
them.
“But being press’d by Mr. _Sterne_ with an undeniable Proof, That he,
(Dr. _Topham_) did propagate the said Story, (viz: _of a Promise from
the Dean to Dr._ Topham _of the Dean and Chapter’s Commissaryship_)—Dr.
_Topham_ did at last acknowledge it; adding, as his Reason or Excuse
for so doing, That he apprehended (or Words to that Effect) he had a
_Promise_ under the _Dean’s own Hand_, of the _Dean and Chapter’s
Commissaryship_.”
This I have attested, and what Weight the Sanction of an Oath will add
to it, I am willing and ready to give.
As for Mr. _Ricard_’s feeble Attestation, brought to shake the Credit
of this firm and solemn one, I have nothing to say to it, as it is only
an Attestation of Mr. _Ricard_’s Conjectures upon the Subject.—But this
I can say, That I had the Honour to be at the Deanery with the learned
Counsel, when Mr. _Ricard_ underwent that _most formidable_ Examination
you speak of,—and I solemnly affirm, That he then said, He knew nothing
at all about the Matter, one Way or the other; and the Reasons he gave
for his utter Ignorance, were, first, That he was then so full of
Concern, at the Difference which arose between two Gentlemen, both his
Friends, that he did not attend to the Subject Matter of it,—and of
which he declared again he knew nothing at all. And secondly, If he had
understood it then, the Distance would have put it out of his Head by
this Time.
He has since scower’d his Memory, I ween; for now he says, That he
apprehended the Dispute regarded something in the Dean’s Gift, as he
could not _naturally_ suppose, &c. ’Tis certain, at the Deanery, he had
_naturally_ no Suppositions in his Head about this Affair; so that I
with this may not prove one of the After-Thoughts you speak of, and not
so much a _natural_ as an _artificial_ Supposition of my good Friend’s.
As for the _formidable_ Enquiry you represent him as undergoing,—let me
intreat you to give me Credit in what I say upon it,—namely,—That it
was as much the Reverse to every Idea that ever was couch’d under that
Word, as Words can represent it to you. As for the learned Counsel and
myself, who were in the Room all the Time, I do not remember that we,
either of us, spoke ten Words. The Dean was the only one that ask’d Mr.
_Ricard_ what he remembered about the Affair of the Sessions Dinner;
which he did in the most Gentleman-like and candid Manner,—and with an
Air of as much Calmness and seeming Indifference, as if he had been
questioning him about the News in the last _Brussels Gazette_.
What Mr. _Ricard_ saw to terrify him so sadly, I cannot apprehend,
unless the Dean’s _Gothic_ Book-Case,—which I own has an odd Appearance
to a Stranger; so that if he came terrified in his Mind there, and with
a Resolution not to _plead_, he might _naturally suppose_ it to be a
great Engine brought there on purpose to exercise the _Peine fort et
dure_ upon him.—But to be serious; if Mr. _Ricard_ told you, That this
Enquiry was _most formidable_, He was much to blame;—and if you have
said it, without his express Information, then _You_ are much to blame.
This is all, I think, in your _Reply_, which concerns me to answer:—As
for the many coarse and unchristian Insinuations scatter’d throughout
your _Reply_,—as it is my Duty to beg God to forgive you, so I do from
my Heart: Believe me, Dr. _Topham_, they hurt yourself more than the
Person they are aimed at; and when the _first Transport_ of Rage is a
little over, they will grieve you more too.
—_prima est hæc Ultio_.
But these I hold to be no answerable Part of a Controversy;—and for the
little that remains unanswered in yours,—I believe I could, in another
half Hour, set it right in the Eyes of the World: But this is not my
Business.—And if it is thought worth the while, which I hope it never
will, I know no one more able to do it than the very Reverend and
Worthy Gentleman whom you have so unhandsomely insulted upon that
Score.
As for the _supposed Compilers_, whom you have been so wrath and so
unmerciful against, I’ll be answerable for it, as they are Creatures of
your own Fancy, they will bear you no Malice. However, I think the more
positively any Charge is made, let it be against whom it will, the
better it should be supported; and therefore I should be sorry, for
your own Honour, if you have not some better Grounds for all you have
thrown out about them, than the mere Heat of your Imagination or Anger.
To tell you truly, your Suppositions on this Head oft put me in Mind of
_Trim_’s twelve Men in _Buckram_, which his disordered Fancy
represented as laying in Ambush in _John_ the Clerk’s House, and
letting drive at him all together. I am,
SIR,
_Your most obedient_
_And most humble Servan_t,
LAWRENCE STERNE
Sutton on the Forest,
Jan. 20, 1759
P.S. I beg Pardon for _clapping_ this upon the _Back_ of the
_Romance_,—which is done out of no Disrespect to you.—But the _Vehicle_
stood ready at the Door,—and as I was to pay the whole Fare, and there
was Room enough behind it,—it was the cheapest and readiest Conveyance
I could think of.