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Mr. V-C-r and the II-ds of H-s,

By their humble Servant,

THE SHAVER.

THE TWELFTH EDITION,
CORRECTED and much ENLARGED.

LONDON:

Printed for G. KEITH, in Gracechurch-Street';
J. JOHNSON, No. 72, St. Paul's Church-Yard;
and J. GURNEY, at No. 54, in Holbourn.

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EDECIS

THE

PREFACE

TO THE

CANDID READER.

You must know, my friend, that I am a gentleman in the country, and by craft a SHAVER of very confiderable fcope; notwithstanding Ihave turned preacher of late, and feem to be pretty fuccessful at my preachment, as the fale of this fermon will teftify. I have been a great man for the news, as we Shavers commonly are, and, among other papers, I ufually took in the St. James's Chronicle; a paper that is filled in all the four corners; but if you ask with what, on my word, I must refer you to people of greater penetration than I am to find that out. Well I paid and I read to no purpose for a long while; till at last I chanced to Spy An Extract of a Letter from Oxford, and I wot it pleafed me mightily.

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It told us how that, Six young men were expelled the univerfity for holding Methodistical tenets, and for praying, reading, and expounding the fcriptures in a private house. Well thought I, that may work for the good of the church; but then I did not fo much approve of the principal crime of thofe called Methodists, being faid tobe reading and expounding the fcriptures, &c. thought I, that is going fomewhat too far. Could they find nothing wor fe against them, than praying, reading and expounding the fcriptures in a private house? Could not they have proved themdrunkards? Or made it evident that they were given to wenching?-(things very common in fome places,)Or could they not have convicted the young fellows of having reviled the miracles of Chrift and of Mofes, that their expulfion might have appeared the more eligible?

Not long after, I happened to fee another account from Oxford, wrote by the Rev. Dr. Oxonienfis; and that account made me refolve upon fomething. For he tells us, that one of the Six was formerly a Publican, another had been a Blacksmith, a third a Barber, and a fourth had been a Teacher in a School under W-y.

Well,

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Well, you must know my grandfather was a publican, my uncle a blacksmith, I myself am a fhaver, which is by interpretation a barber, and my eldest fon, a promifing lad, is defigned for a fchoclmafter: therefore Seeing the honours of our family caft down into the puddle by the arrogance of Oxo-, nian priests, I began to grow furly upon it; but did not yet think of preaching. What brought me to that was, finding from the learned Dr. Oxonienfis, that thofe young men had preached without orders. Then, thought I, I will even have a trial at it myself. Well, you must know we have a good fort of a fellow to our Parfon; a gentleman who loves his bottle and his friend, if it was for a whole night together, and there is never a youth in all the parish who will fing a merrier catch, nor tell a prettier ftory than himfelf; for he is what ye may call a merry Parfon. With him I am pretty familiar, and I thought I would even borrow bis Sunday's file, and his orthodox plan, knowing him to be a true churchman, and I would try what I could do at preaching. But I had certainly been disappointed in an audience, if an happy imagination had not befriended me; but no fooner bad I beftirred my imagination, than I was wafted from Clarely-common to the great ball at Od, before the V-e C—

and

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