Jem (and Sam)

by Ferdinand Mount

  That eccentric rascal John Dunton, in his memoirs The Life and Errors of John Dunton (1705), describes my six-times-great-grandfather thus:

  Mr Mount is not only a moderate, but has a natural antipathy to excess; he hates hoarding either money or goods, and being a charitable man, values nothing but by the use of it, and has a great and tender love for truth. He deals chiefly in paper and sea books, and is a hearty friend to the present government. He was Master of the Stationers Company for three years, 1717–19, and gave the Clock to their Court room.

  Such unmitigated virtue was unlikely to be forgiven. I don’t know what has become of the clock.

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  Epub ISBN: 9781409040644

  Version 1.0

  www.randomhouse.co.uk

  Published by Vintage 1999

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  Copyright © Ferdinand Mount 1998

  The right of Ferdinand Mount to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988

  First published in Great Britain in 1998

  by Chatto & Windus

  Vintage

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  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN 9780701168155