A Candid Examination of Dr. Mayhew's Observations on the Charter and Conduct of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts. Interspers'd with a few brief reflections upon some other of the doctor's writings. To which is added, A letter to a friend, containing a short vindication of the said Society against the mistakes and misrepresentations of the doctor in his observations on the conduct of that Society. By one of its members
Boston: Thomas and John Fleet / Green & Ruslell [sic] / Edes & Gill, 1763. Very Good -. Item #25788
Boston, New-England: Printed and Sold by Thomas and John Fleet, in Cornhill; and Green & Ruslell [sic], and Edes & Gill, in Queenstreet, 1763. First Edition. Octavo (19.5cm.); removed, remnants of old sheep along spine; [4],93,[1]pp. ([A2] B4 B-M4, lacking final blank). First two gatherings separated but present, texblock a bit toned, partly-trimmed contemporary ownership signature at head of title page; a Good to Very Good example, internally clean and sound.
Anonymously-penned response to Jonathan Mayhew's hugely important treatise, published the same year and titled "Observations on the Charter and Conduct of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel," which sounded the alarm against the presence of members of the Church of England arriving in New England in search of converts and colonial taxes. Adams, in major part due to Mayhew's tract, listed Mayhew as one of the five men who began the American Revolution (see Mark G. Spencer [ed.], "Encyclopedia of the American Enlightenment," (2015), p. 697).
This counter-attack attributed to Henry Caner (1700-1793), a prominent member of the offending party the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. The appended "Letter to a Friend" has also been attributed to Samuel Johnson, and opens with the harsh statement that "It is too evident from the general current of Dr. Mayhew's performance, That, it is his aim to beget a prejudice, and an odium in his readers, against his antagonist, and against the church of England, and the Society" (p. 81).
Quite uncommon: we locate no other copies in the trade as of February, 2023. Last seen at auction in 1997.
EVANS 9360; ESTC W30204; SABIN 10681.
Price: $850.00