a Regia).

Two years elapsed in silence: but in the spring of 1761 I yielded to the
authority of a parent, and complied, like a pious son, with the wish
of my own heart. My private resolves were influenced by the state of
Europe. About this time the belligerent powers had made and accepted
overtures of peace; our English plenipotentiaries were named to assist
at the Congress of Augsburg, which never met: I wished to attend them as
a gentleman or a secretary; and my father fondly believed that the proof
of some literary talents might introduce me to public notice, and second
the recommendations of my friends. After a last revisal I consulted
with Mr. Mallet and Dr. Maty, who approved the design and promoted the
execution. Mr. Mallet, after hearing me read my manuscript, received it
from my hands, and delivered it into those of Becket, with whom he made
an agreement in my name; an easy agreement: I required only a certain
number of copies; and, without transferring my property, I devolved
on the bookseller the charges and profits of the edition. Dr. Maty
undertook, in my absence, to correct the sheets: he inserted, without
my knowledge, an elegant and flattering epistle to the author; which
is composed, however, with so much art, that, in case of a defeat, his
favourable report might have been ascribed to the indulgence of a friend
for the rash attempt of a young English gentleman. The work was printed
and published, under the title of Essai sur l'Etude de la Litterature,
a Londres, chez T. Becket et P. A. de Hondt, 1761, in a small volume in
duodecimo: my dedication to my father, a proper and pious address, was
composed the twenty-eighth of May: Dr. Maty's letter is dated June 16;
and I received the first copy (June 23) at Alresford, two days before I
marched with the Hampshire militia. Some weeks afterwards, on the same
ground, I presented my book to the late Duke of York, who breakfasted in
Colonel Pitt's tent. By my father's direction, and Mallet's advice, many
literary gifts were distributed to several eminent characters in England
and France; two books were sent to the Count de Caylus, and the Duchesse
d'Aiguillon, at Paris: I had reserved twenty copies for my friends at
Lausanne, as the first fruits of my education, and a grateful token of
my remembrance: and on all these persons I levied an unavoidable tax of
civility and compliment. It is not surprising that a work, of which
the style and sentiments were so totall