I bought a republished book the other day, Mammon by John Harris. It tickled me to learn of its origin, as presented here in The Church of England Magazine for 1836.
Mammon; or, Covetousness the Sin of the Christian Church. By the Rev. John Harris. London, Ward and Co. 1836.
The review begins ...
About a year and a half ago, a notice was widely circulated, to the effect that Dr. Conquest, of Finsbury Square, proposed conferring a prize of one hundred guineas upon the author of the best essay on the sin of covetousness. The Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel and Dr. Pye Smith were appointed by the donor adjudicators of this prize; and after examining 143 essays —for so many were sent in—they pronounced the one before us the successful composition. Mr. Harris, therefore, appears before the public under most favourable auspices; so that we are not surprised to find that his work has already had an extensive circulation. ....
It's hard to imagine Dr Conquest didn't have his tongue in his cheek or something like that. Perhaps I'm just too cynical.
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