Transcribed from the 1771 S. Bladon edition ,
A
LETTER
TO
JOHN WILKES, Esq;
Sheriffof LONDON and
MIDDLESEX;
INWHICH
The EXTORTIONand OPPRESSION
of Sheriffs Officers, with many
other alarming Abuses, are ex-
emplified and detected; and a
Remedy proposed:
The infamousPractice of Attornies
CLEARLY POINTED OUT;
And many other realGrievances which
the Common People have long groaned
under without Relief.
ILLUSTRATEDWITH
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE POLICY
and Advantage of Arrests in
general, &c. &c.
Careless of censure, nor too fond offame,
Still pleas’d to praise, yet not afraid toblame.Pope.
By ROBERT HOLLOWAY, Gent.
Of Gray’s-Inn.
LONDON:
Printed for S. Bladon, in Pater-nosterRow.
M DCC LXXI.
p. vTO THE
PUBLIC.
A Dedication seems as necessary toa publication as legitimacy to a child; but as I have no blown-upfool to flatter, no private end to answer, no itch to become anauthor, thirst for praise, nor dread of censure, I shalltherefore commit the annexed sheets to your protection; in thecourse of which the reader will find my pen a most faithfulamanuensis to truth. And if so weak a monitor contributesbut a mite to general utility, the end is fulfilled; if no, theintention is equally laudable. I have sowed the seeds ofreformation; it is you must manure the land, and give theincrease. The task is undertook at infinite peril; anaccumulation of enemies p. vienemies is the certain consequence,whilst a creation of friends amounts not to a glimmeringhope. To raise a party or private emolument, I have quittedthe turnpike-road, and omitted every thing necessary for thepurpose; viz. libelling the most respectable characters in thenation, and giving scurrility and falshood a preference totruth.
It may be said with more envy than justice, that the subjectmatter is but the consequence of a private quarrel between theauthor and ONE of the partiesalluded to. Such squibs of malice, and other obstacles ofthe like nature, I am well aware of, and am provided with properart