The Gentleman Instructed, In the Conduct of a Virtuous and Happy Life. In Three Parts. Written for the Instruction of a Young Nobleman. To which is added, A Word to the Ladies, by way of Supplement to the First Part. The Sixth Edition

London, Printed by J. Heptinstall for E. Smith..., 1716. 8vo, 190 X 110, pp. [xxii], 584, contemporary panelled calf; front joint cracked, top and base of spine chipped, other general wear to binding; a fair copy. William Darrell (1651–1721) "entered the Society of Jesus on 7 September 1671. He entered the novice college at Watten in November 1672, and studied philosophy at the English College, Liège, from 1673 to 1675" (ODNB). He was a bit of a polemical author, but his most popular and enduring work, The Genleman Instructed, first published in 1702, was perfectly in tune with the climate of opinion and the received mores of the early 18th century. It is in this work when the student of 18th century literature will encounter the assertion that it was Hobbes's wit which contributed to his "atheism," and in the present work it is young Theomachus who "once intoxicated with Atheistical Wit...was soon bewitch'd with Atheisical Arguments." Small wonder that witty writers, however innocent, were considered dangeroous.