A Letter to the Dissenters.: [bound fourth with 11 others, see note.]

London: Printed for John Morphew,, 1713. Defoe refutes the Dissenters First edition of Defoe's pamphlet, in a contemporary volume of tracts chiefly on religious dissent and the question of tolerance, especially with regard to the debate on the Schism Act of 1714, which sought to curtail Dissenter schools and require licensing of all schools by Anglican bishops. Defoe's Letter gave "a tough admonition to the Dissenters, saying that they enjoy great privileges at present, the Queen having undertaken to maintain the Toleration and even having for long resisted the Act against Occasional Conformity. The Dissenters have their own schools, which, strictly speaking, is against the law. Thus it would be madness on their part to join with the discontented Whigs - especially as they have recently been betrayed by the Whigs. The Whig insistence on the Hanoverian succession is making the Hanoverian prince a figure of alarm, as if on accession his first preoccupation would be vengeance" (Furbank and Owens). The pamphlet was published anonymously. Many attributions of pamphlets to Defoe are speculative, but for this title Defoe made multiple references to his authorship in his letters, and in their Defoe bibliography Furbank and Owens do not hesitate to ascribe authorship. Bound with 12 others: i) A Letter to a Member of Parliament. Relating to the Bill for preventing the Growth of Schism. As also the Quaker's Reasons, Humbly offer'd to the Legislature, against the bill now depending in Parliament. London: Printed for, and sold by John Harrison. And Ferd. Burleigh, 1714. ESTC T38062. Argues that by victimizing dissenters, the government would annul its moral authority to denounce persecution by Catholics on the continent. ii) To the Queen. The Humble Supplication of certain of Her Majesty's Faithful and Peaceable subjects, called Protestant Dissenters, In the Name of Themselves, and the Whole Body of the said Protestant Dissenters in England, in relation to the Bill to prevent Schism. The Second Edition. London: printed for A. Bell, 1714. ESTC T104006. The second of three editions that year, expressing the fear that if the Schism bill passed and the Tories remained in office the Toleration Act itself would soon be under direct fire. iii) OLDMIXON, John. The Sense of the Church of England with respect to the Schism of the Dissenters. Wherein their Case is fully Stated, and the Bill now depending consider'd. Most humbly offer'd to the Consideration of My Lords the Bishops. By a churchman. London: printed for N. Cliff; and sold by J. Roberts, 1714. ESTC T47453. The tract sets out the orthodox Anglican position on the Schism Act. Partly open tear to pp. 23/4 affecting text without loss. iv) OLDMIXON, John. Remarks on the Letter to the Dissenters. London: printed for J. Roberts: T. Harrison: A. Dodd; and R. Bond, 1714. ESTC N12682. A response to Defoe's Letter, part of a virulent barrage of pamphlets which Oldmixon dedicated against Defoe, portraying him as a turncoat and lackey of the Tory administration; a second edition was published later the same year. v) PENN, William. The Tryal of William Penn, and William Mead, at the sessions held in the Old-Baily, London, the first, third, fourth, and fifth, of September, 1670; for unlawfully and tumultuously assembling in Grace-Church-Street. shewing The Arbitrary, Illegal, and Tyrannical Proceedings of the High-Church Party at that Time. London: printed, and sold by J. How; T. Harrison; and J. Baker, 1710. ESTC N13670. A reprinting of the first part of Penn's The Peoples Ancient and Just Liberties Asserted, 1670. vi) BISSET, William. The Modern Fanatick. With a Large and True Account of the Life, Actions, Endowments, &c. Of the Famous Dr. Sa-----l. London: Printed: and sold by A. Baldwin: and T. Harrison, 1710. ESTC T177581. This is the issue with the preface corrected, and half-title verso blank. The three parts of Bisset's Modern Fanatick were an attack on Henry Sacheverell, raking up his family background and publishing stories of his debts to besmirch his character. vi) BISSET, William. The Modern Fanatick. Part II. London: Printed; and sold by A. Baldwin; and T. Harrison, 1710 [1711]. ESTC T177634. vii) BISSET, William. The Modern Fanatick. Part III. London: printed for James Roberts, 1714. ESTC T41311. viii) ANNE, Queen of England. A Collection of all Her Majesty's Speeches, Messages, &c. From Her Happy Accession to the Throne, to the Twenty First of June 1712. London: [n.p.], 1712. ESTC T31. Another edition has a variant setting without established priority. ix) WILLIAM III, King of England. A Collection of all the Speeches, Messages, &c. Of His Late Majesty King William III. Of ever Glorious Memory; To which is added The English Declaration of Rights. Printed for J. Baker, 1712. ESTC T36. x) Essays Divine, Moral, and Political: viz... By the Author of the Tale of a Tub... With the Effigies of the Author. London: [n.p.,] 1714. ESTC N61265. Another edition has a variant setting without established priority. A satire on Swift, variously attributed to Sir Thomas Burnet and Sir Richard Steele. Issued with a frontispiece, not present. xi) A Report from the Commissioners Appointed To Take, Examine and State, the Publick Accompts of the Kingdom. And To determine the Debts due to the Army, &c. With a State of the Expence of the Late War. London: [n.p.,] 1714. ESTC T44655. Reporting on the national finances following the War of the Spanish Succession; complete with the folding table. Some leaves bound out of sequence but all present. Twelve works bound in a single volume, octavo (180 x 111 mm). Near-contemporary panelled calf, remains of brown morocco label, red edges. All complete including half-titles where issued, save for one pamphlet (Essays Divine, Moral, and Political) bound without frontispiece. Some wear to edges, some browning to contents, a few imprints and headings shaved. Very good. Defoe: ESTC T65936; Furbank and Owens, Critical Bibliography, 158; Moore, Checklist, 269.