Many at that time did imagine the history of John Bull, and the personages mentioned in it, to be allegorical, which the author would never own.  Notwithstanding, to indulge the reader’s fancy and curiosity, I have printed at the bottom of the page the supposed allusions of the most obscure parts of the story.

[Footnote 166:  A Member of Parliament, eminent for a certain cant in his conversation, of which there is a good deal in this book.]

[Footnote 167:  A cant word of Sir Humphrey’s.]

[Footnote 168:  Another cant word, signifying deceived.]

[Footnote 169:  Act restraining the liberty of the press, &c.]

[Footnote 170:  The engraver of the cuts before the Grub Street papers.]

XXIV.  THE HISTORY OF JOHN BULL.

    The Occasion of the Law-suit.

I need not tell you of the great quarrels that have happened in our neighbourhood since the death of the late Lord Strutt[171]; how the parson[172] and a cunning attorney got him to settle his estate upon his cousin Philip Baboon, to the great disappointment of his cousin Esquire South.  Some stick not to say that the parson and the attorney forged a will; for which they were well paid by the family of the Baboons.  Let that be as it will, it is matter of fact that the honour and estate have continued ever since in the person of Philip Baboon.

You know that the Lord Strutts have for many years been possessed of a very great landed estate, well-conditioned, wooded, watered, with coal, salt, tin, copper, iron, &c., all within themselves; that it has been the misfortune of that family to be the property of their stewards, tradesmen, and inferior servants, which has brought great incumbrances upon them; at the same time, their not abating of their expensive way of living has forced them to mortgage their best manors.  It is credibly reported that the butcher’s and baker’s bill of a Lord Strutt that lived two hundred years ago are not yet paid.

When Philip Baboon came first to the possession of the Lord Strutt’s estate, his tradesmen,[173] as is usual upon such occasion, waited upon him to wish him joy and bespeak his custom.  The two chief were John Bull,[174] the clothier, and Nic.  Frog,[175] the linen-draper.  They told him that the Bulls and Frogs had served the Lord Strutts with drapery-ware for many years; that they were honest and fair dealers; that their bills had never been questioned, that the Lord Strutts lived generously, and never used to dirty their fingers with pen, ink, and counters; that his lordship might depend upon their honesty that they would use him as kindly as they had done his predecessors.  The young lord seemed to take all in good part, and dismissed them with a deal of seeming content, assuring them he did not intend to change any of the honourable maxims of his predecessors.

    How Bull and Frog grew jealous that the Lord Strutt intended to
    give all his custom to his grandfather, Lewis Baboon.