If he does not mean Sir J—— T—— I know not who he means.
By the Invention of Eggs, [Page 4.] is meant Perquisites. “He cannot conclude a Paragraph in his [5th Page], without owning he received that important Part of the History of Pudding, from old Mr. Lawrence of Wilsden Green, the greatest Antiquary of the present Age.”
This old Lawrence is a great Favourite of the D—s; he is a facetious farmer, of above eighty Years of Age, now living at Wilsden Green, near Kilburn in Middlesex, the most rural Place I ever saw: exactly like the Wilds of Ireland. It was here the D—n often retired incog. to amuse himself with the Simplicity of the Place and People; where he got together all that Rigmayroll of Childrens talk, which composes his Namby Pamby. Old Lawrence
told me, the D—n has sate several Hours together to see the Children play, with the greatest Pleasure in Life: The rest he learned from the old Nurses thereabouts, of which there are a great many, with whom he would go and smoke a Pipe frequently, and cordially; not in his Clergyman’s Habit, but in a black Suit of Cloth Clothes, and without a Rose in his Hat: Which made them conclude him to be a Presbyterian Parson.
This Mention of old Lawrence, is in Ridicule to a certain great Artist, who wrote a Treatise upon the Word Connoisseur (or a Knower) and confesses himself to have been many Years at a loss for a Word to express the Action of Knowing, till the great Mr. Prior gave him Ease, by furnishing him with the Word Connoissance. Our D—n had drawn a Drole, Parallel to this, viz. Boudineur, a Pudding Pyeman; and Boudinance, the making of
Pudding Pies: But several Men of Quality begging it off, it was, at their Request, scratch’d out, but my Friend, the Amanuensis, remembers particularly its being originally inserted.
If the Reader should ask, Who is that K— John mentioned in the [fourth Page], and which I ought to have taken in its Place. I beg leave to inform him, that by K. John is meant the late Q. ——, with whom the D— of M—— was many Years in such great Favour, that he was nick named K. John; it was in that Part of the Q—’s Reign, that Sir John Pudding, by whom is meant **** you know who, came in Favour; it is true, the Name is odd, and seems to carry an Air of Ridicule with it, but the Character given him by this allegorical Writer, is that of an able Statesman, and an honest Man.
And here, begging Mr. D—n’s Pardon, I cannot but think his Wit has out run his Judgment; for he puts
the Cart before the Horse, and begins at the latter Part of Sir **** Administration: But this might be owing to too plentiful a Dinner, and too much of the Creature. Be that as it will, I must follow my Copy, and explain it as it lies. Proceed we therefore to the Dissertation, [Page 6.]
“But what rais’d our Hero most in the Esteem of this Pudding-eating Monarch, was his second Edition of Pudding, he being the first that ever invented the Art of broiling Puddings, which he did to such Perfection, and so much to the King’s liking (who had a mortal Aversion to cold Pudding) that he thereupon instituted him Knight of the Gridiron, and gave him a Gridiron of Gold, the Ensign of that Order; which he always wore as a Mark of his Sovereign’s Favour.”