to a person of your lordship's accomplishments, would have the
appearance of flattery, especially to those who have not the honour of
knowing you; and those who have, conceive greater ideas of you than the
translator will pretend to express. Permit him, then, my lord, to crave
your lordship's acceptance of this piece, which appears to you with a
fair and correct copy of the original; but with a translation which can
be of no manner of consequence to your lordship, only as it may be of
consequence to those who _would_ understand Moliere if they
_could_. Your lordship's countenance to recommend it to such will
infinitely oblige, my lord, your lordship's most devoted, and most
obedient, humble servant, THE TRANSLATOR."

To recommend to Lord Chesterfield an author on account of "the purest
moral," or because "no man has ... in a finer manner exposed fopperies
of all kinds," appears to us now a bitter piece of satire; it may
however, be doubted if it seemed so to his contemporaries. [Footnote:
Lord Chesterfield appeared not so black to those who lived in his own
time as he does to us, for Bishop Warburton dedicated to him his
_Necessity and Equity of an Established Religion and a Test-Law
Demonstrated_, and says in his preface: "It is an uncommon happiness
when an honest man can congratulate a patriot on his becoming minister,"
and expresses the hope, that "the temper of the times will suffer your
Lordship to be instrumental in saving your country by a reformation of
the general manners."]

Dryden has imitated _The Blunderer_ in _Sir Martin Mar-all; or
the Feigned Innocence_, first translated by William Cavendish, Duke
of Newcastle, and afterwards adapted for the stage by "glorious John."
It must have been very successful, for it ran no less than thirty-three
nights, and was four times acted at court. It was performed at Lincoln's