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 is 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. FINIS. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Political Romance, by Laurence Sterne