TO THE
READER.

THE Condition of an Author is much like that of a Strumpet, both exposing our Reputations to sup­ply our Necessities, till at last we contract such an ill habit, thro’ our Practices, that we are equally troubl’d with an Itch to be alwas Doing; and if the reason be requir’d, Why we be­take our selves to so Scandalous a Profession as Whoring or Pamphleteering, the same excusive Answer will serve us both, viz. That the unhappy circumstances of a Narrow Fortune, hath forc’d us to do that for our Subsistance, which we are much asham’d of.

The chiefest and most commendable Tallent, admir’d in either, is the knack of Pleasing; and He or She amongst us that hap­pily arives to a Perfection in that sort of Witchcraft, may in a little time (to their great Honour) enjoy the Pleasure of being Celebrated by all the CoxcombsThe foolishly conceited men who would boast about such sexual encounters. Literally, a coxcomb is the cap of a professional fool, modeled on rooster’s (cock’s) comb; colloquially, as Samuel Johnson defined it in his Dictionary of the English Language (1755), “A fop; a superficial pretender to knowledge or accomplishments.” in the Nation.

The only difference between us is, in this perticular, where in the Jilt has the Advantage, we do our Business First, and stand to the Courtesie of our Benefactors to Reward us after; whilst the other, for her Security, makes her Rider pay for his Journey, before he mounts the Saddle.