I SOLEMNLY declare to all mankind, that the above dedica-
tion was made for no one Prince, Prelate, Pope, or Potentate,
-Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, or Baron, of this, or any
other Realm in Christendom;-nor has it yet been hawked
about, or offered publicly or privately, directly or indirectly,
to any one person or personage, great or small; but is
honestly a true Virgin-Dedication untried on, upon any soul
living.
I labour this point so particularly, merely to remove any
offence or objection which might arise against it, from the
manner in which I propose to make the most of it;-which
is the putting it up fairly to public sale; which I now do.
-Every author has a way of his own in bringing his
points to bear;-for my own part, as I bate chaffering and
niggling for a few guineas in a dark entry;-l resolved
within myself, from the very beginning, to deal squarely
and openly with your Great Folks in this affair, and try
whether I should not come off the better by it.
If therefore there is any one Duke, Marquis, Earl, Vis-
count, or Baron, in these his Majesty's dominions, who
stands in need of a tight, genteel dedication, and whom the
above will suit, (for by the bye, unless it suits in some degree,
I will not part with it)-it is much at his service for fifty
guineas;-which I am positive is twenty guineas less than
it ought to be afforded for, by any man of genius.
My Lord, if you examine it over again, it is far from being
a gross piece of daubing, as some dedications are. The design,
your Lordship sees, is good, the colouring transparent,-the
drawing not amiss;-or to speak more like a man of science,
-and measure my piece in the painter's scale, divided into
20,-l believe, my Lord, the outlines will turn out as i2i-
the composition as 9,-the colouring as 6,-the expression
13 and a half ,-and the design,-if I may be allowed, my
Lord, to understand my own design, and supposing absolute
perfection in designing, to be as 20,-l think it cannot well
fall short of 19. Besides all this,-there is keeping in it, and
the dark strokes in the HOBBY-HORSE , (which is a secon-
dary figure, and a kind of back-ground to the whole) give
great force to the principal lights in your own figure, and
make it come off wonderfully;-and besides, there is an
air of originality in the tout ensemble.
Be pleased, my good Lord, to order the sum to be paid
into the hands of Mr Dodsley, for the benefit of the author;
and in the next edition care shall be taken that this chapter
be expunged, and your Lordship's titles, distinctions, arms,
and good actions, be placed at the front of the preceding
chapter: All which, from the words, De gustibus non est
disputandum, and whatever else in this book relates to
HOBBY-HORSES , but no more, shall stand dedicated to
your Lordship.-The rest I dedicate to the MOON, who, by
the bye, of all the PATRONS or MATRONS I can think of,
has most power to set my book agoing, and make the world
run mad after it.

Bright Goddess,
If thou art not too busy with CANDID and Miss CUNE-
GUND's affairs,-take Tristram Shandy's under thy pro-
tection also.