AN ADDRESS TO THE INHABIANTS [sic] OF THE TWO GREAT CITIES OF LONDON AND WESTMINSTER: IN RELATION TO A PASTORAL LETTER, SAID TO BE WRITTEN BY THE BISHOP OF LONDON, TO THE PEOPLE OF HIS DIOCESS: OCCASION'D BY SOME LATE WRITINGS IN FAVOUR OF INFIDELITY

London: Printed and Sold by J. Peele, at Locke's Head..., 1728.. 72pp. Octavo (signed in 4s). Extracted from nonce pamphlet volume, lower edges partially untrimmed. Some modest foxing early and late, extremely faint tidemark to lower portion of a number of leaves, but otherwise a very good copy. The rare first edition of this response to Bishop Gibson's pastoral letter - one of two attributed to Tindal - in which the noted freethinking Deist takes to task the Bishop's implicit elevation of faith above reason, and defends in general freedom of thought and discourse against subjugation to religious authority. In an interesting side note to Tindal's response to Gibson's assertion "That in some late Writings publick Stews have been openly vindicated...," he makes reference to the celebrated pseudonymously published 1724 pamphlet by Mandeville, A MODEST DEFENCE OF PUBLICK STEWS .... This 1728 printing is rare: ESTC locates only seven copies, of which four are in North America (BYU, UCLA, Huntington and General Theological). It was reprinted in 1729 (a much more common edition, with the spelling error on the title corrected), and again in somewhat revised form, in 1730. NCBEL notes only the 1729 and 1730 editions. ESTC N29243. NCBEL II:1868.