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ouffi
X/.t^
THE
WORKS
OF
Alexander Pope, Efq.
A NEW EDITION.
IN TEN VOLUMES.
VOL. IX.
Stnban and Piefhm,
New-Scieet S^uac^, London.
THE
WORKS
OF
Alexander Pope, Efq
IN VERSE AND PROSE.
CONTAINING
THE PRINCIPAL NOTES OF
DRS. WARBURTON AND WARTON :
ILLUSTRATIONS, AND CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY REMARKS^
By JOHNSON, WAKEFIELD, A. CHALMERS, F.S. A.
AND OTHERS.
TO WHICH ABE ADDED, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED,
SOME ORIGINAL LETTERS,
WITH ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS^ AND MEMOIRS OF THE
LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.
By the Rev. WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES, A. M.
PBBBBNDAEY OF 8ALISBVBT, AND
CHAPLAIN TO HIS BOTAL HIGHNESS THE PBINCB OF WALES.
IN TEN VOLUMES.
VOL. IX.
LONDON:
Printed for J. Johnfon, J. Nichols and Son, R. Baldwin, P. and C. Rivington,
W. Otrtdge and Son, W. J. and J. Richardfon, R. Faulder and Son,
T. Payne, Wilkie and Robinfon, Scatcherd and Letterman, J. Walker,
Vernor Hood and Sbarpe, R. Lea, J. White, J. Nunn, Lackington Allen and
Co., J. Stockdale, Cuibell and Martin, Longman Hurft Rees and Orme,
Cadell and Davies, Pote -and Williams, Ogilvie and Son, £. JefiFery,
J. Booker, J. and A. Arcfa, Blacks and Parry, S. Bagfter, J. Mawman,
and J. Afpeme.
1806.
CONTENTS
OF THE
NINTH VOLUME.
99BmBfsssetsaarswtm
{Tie jfrticUs marietltbus f were not infertedin Dr. Warbu&ton'i
Edition.]]
LETTERS to and from Dr. JONAIHAN
SWIFT, etc.
Page
I. JL o Dr. Swift. Retired from Court fome months
before the Queen's death - '3
n. From Dr. Swift, at Dublin. How little he cares
to think of England : Concern at the viol^ce of
Party. Of the firft Volume of Mr. Pope's Tranf-
lation of Homer. His circumftances in Ireland 6
III. Mr. Pope's love and memory of Dr. Swift. The
calumnies and flanders upon him, on account of
religion, turned into raillery - - IX
iV. Dr. Swift's Anfwcr. His enquiry concerning Mr.
P.'s principles. Poets generally follow the Court.
Raillery on the fubjeft of his enemies, and his
religion. A Quaker-paftoral, and a Newgate-
paftoral, propofed as fubje£ts for Mr. Gay 14
V. Dr. Swift to Mr. Pope : An apology for his con-
du£t and writings after the Queen's death : With
an account of his principles in politics - 18
VI. Dn Swift to Mr. Gay - - -36
A3 VII. Mr.
vi CONTENTS.
Letter Page
Vn. Mr. Pope to Dr. Swiftj occaGoned by the for-
mer : An account of his conduA and maxims
in general - - - 40
VIII. From the L. Bolingbroke, a Poftfcript to the
foregoing Letter, with fome account of his
own fentiments and Ctuation in private life 44
IX. Dr. Swift's Anfwer - . - 51
X. From Mr. Pope to Dr. Swift. An invitation
to England - - "55
XI. From Dr. Swift : Of Gulliver's Travels, and
his fcheme of mifanthrdpy : Concerning a
Lady at Court : Charadler of Dr. Arbuthnot 57
XII. To Dr. Swift. Chara jier of fome of his friends
in England ; with further invitations - 62
XIII. Dr. Swift's Anfwer. Death of Lord Oxford's
fon : Something concerning Ph — s : More of
his niifanthropy - - 67
XIV. Expectations of Dr. Swift's journey to England.
Charajier of low enemies and detradorsj
with what temper they are to be bom. The
amufements of his friends in England. —
Lord B.'s Poftfcript on the fame occafion ' 70
XV. From Dr. Swift, preparing to leave England
again - - - 74
XVI. Anfwer from Mr. Pope. The regret of his
departure, remembrance of the fatisfaftion
paft, wiflies for his welfare " " 75
XVn. Defires for his return and fettlement in Eng-
land : The various fchemes of his - other
friends, and his own - • 78
XVIII. From Mr. Gay and Mr. Pope. An account of
the reception of Gulliver's Travels in England 80
XIX. On the fame fubje£l from Mr. Pope. Advice
againft party-writing - - 84
XX. From
CONTENTS. vtt
LCTT£R Page
XX* From Dr. Swift. About Gulliven and of a
fecond journey to England - - 87
XXI. From the fame. Concerning party, and de-
pendency: And of the projeft of a joint
Volume of Mifcellanies - - 89
XXn. The Anfwer. On the fame fubjcQs - 92
XXIIL On Dr. Swift's fecond departure for Ireland - 96
XXIV. From Dr. Swift : His reafons for departing - 98
XXV. From Dr. Swift: His remembrance of Mr.
P.'s friendihip ; with fome confideration of
his circumftances - - 100
XXVI. From Mr. Gay. Raillery: What employ-
ment was offered him at Courts and why he
refufed it - - - 103
XXVli. Dr. Swift to Mr. Gay. On the refufal of
that employment, and his quitting the Court.
Of the Beggars Opera - - 10^
XXVIII. From Lord Bolingbroke and Mr. Pope. Of
the Dunciad. Advice to the Dean in the
manner of Montaigne. — Of Courtiers, and
of the Beggars Opera - - no
XXIX. Of a True Jonathan Gulliver in New-Eng-
land : The Dunciad, and the Treatife of toe
Bathos. Refle£lions on mortality and de-
cay : What is defirable in the decline of life iia
XXX. From Dr. Swift. Anfwer to the former : His
fituation in Ireland - - 116
XXXI. From the fame. His own^ and Mr. Pope's.
temper - - - - ii8
XXXII. Lord Bolingbroke's life in the country. More
about the Dunciad - - - 123
XXXni. From Dr. Swift. Advice how to publiffi the.
Dunciad: Concerning Lord B. and Mr. Gay 125
XXXIV. From Bath. The pleafure of being abufed
in company with worthy men - 131
A 4 XXXV. From
Till CONTENTS.
Letter p^^^,
XXXV. From Dr. Swift. His manner of living
with a friend in the country. The death
of Mr. Congrcve. Charader of an indo-*
lent friend - - r '33
XXXVI. Dr. Swift to Lord BoUngbroke. Exhort-
ation to him to write hiftory. The
Dean's temper, his prefent amufements,
and difpoiition - - - 136
XXXVII. From the Same, on the fame fubjefts, and
concerning economy; his fentiments on
the times, and his manner of life^— of the
love of fame and diftindion. His friend-
fliip for Mr. Pope - - '39
XXXVIII. From the Same. His condition : 'Ihe ftate
of Ireland: Charafter of Mrs. Pope : Re-
flexions on Mr. Pope's and Mr. Gay's
circumftances - - - 145
XXXIX. Mr. Pope's Anfwer : His fituation and con-
tentment: An account of his other friends 148
XIj. Lord Bolingbroke to Dr. Swift : A review
of his life, his thoughts of economy, and
concerning fame - - 151
XLI. Dr. Swift's Anfwer. The misfortunes at-
tending great talents : Concerning fame^
and the deCre of it - - 157
XLII. Dr. Swift to Mr; Pope. Concerning the
Dunciad, and of his Htuation of life - 160
XLIII. Lord Bolingbroke to Dr. Swift. That the
fenfe of fricndfhip increafes with increafe
of years. Concerning a Hiftory of his
own Times, and Mr. P.'s Moral Poem 164
XLIV. Of the ftyle of his Letters, of his condi-
tion of life, his paft friendflnps, diflike of
party-fpirit, and thoughts of peniions and
preferment -^ - - 167
XLV. Of
CONTENTS. ix
Letter Page
XLV. Of Mr. Wcftlcy's Diffcrtations on Job-— •
Poftfcript by Lord Bol. on the pleafure
wc take in reading letters - - 172
XLVI. From Lord B. to Dr. Swift. Inviting him
to England, and concerning reformation
of manners by writing - - 175
XLVn. From the Same. The temper proper to
men in years: An account of his own.
The charader of his Lady. — Poftfcript
by Mr. P. on his mother, and the efiefls
of the tender paffions - - 178
XLVm. From the Same. Of his ftudies, particularly
a metaphyfical work. Of retirement
and exercife. — Poftfcript by Mr. P. His
wifli that their ftudies were united in
fome work uftful to manners, and his
diftafte of all party-writings - i8a
LETTERS of Dr. SWIFT to Mr. GAY.
Letter
XFJX. Concerning the Duchefs of Q^-y. Per-
fuafions to economy - - 187
L. On the fame fubje^is - - 189
LL A letter of raillery - - 192
LII. In the fame ftyle, to Mr. Gay and the Du-
chefs - - - - 196
Lin. A ftrange end of a law-fuit. His way of
life, etc. Poftfcript to the Duchefs 200
LIV. t The laft Letter Mr. Pope ever wrote to
Dr. Swift . - - 204
LV. Two
K CONTENTS.
Letter Fji#
LV. Two new pieces of the Dean's: Ahfwcr
to his invitation into England. Advice to
write, etc. - - - 213
LVI. More on the fame fubjeds. A happy union
againft corruption. Poftfcript to the Duke
of Q^and to the Duchefs - - iif
LVII. Mr. Gay to Dr. Swift. His account of him-
felf : His lad Fables : His economy. — ^Poft-
fcript by Mr. Pope, of their common ail-
ments, and economy; and againft party-
fpirit in writing - - - 22(1
LVIII. From Dr. Swift to Mr. Gay. Congratula-
tion on Mr. Gay's leaving the Court: Lord
Combury's refufal of a penfion : Character
of Mr. Gay - - - az6
LIX. From the Same. Concerning the writing of
Fables : Advice about economy, and pro-
vifion for old age ; of inattention, etc.
Poftfcript to the Duchefs - - 230
LX. From the Same to Mr. Gay, and a Poftfcript
to the Duchefs, on various fubje£ls - 234
LXL From the Same, concerning the opening of
letters at the Poft-office. The encourage-
ment given to bad writers. Reafons for
his not living in England. Poftfcript to
the Duchefs; her charadcr; raillery on
the fubje£): of Mr. Gay himfelf - 240
LXIL From Dr. Swift to Mr. Pope. An account
of feveral little pieces or tra£l8 publiftied as
his ; which were, or were not genuine 244
LXin. From Mr. Pope and Dr. Arbuthnot to Dr.
Swift : On the fudden death of Mr. Gay 249
LXIV. From Dr. Swift. On the fame fubjeft. Of
Mr. Pope's Epiftles, and particularly that
on the ufe of riches - - 251
LXV. From
CONTENTS. »
Letter ^s®
LXV. From Mr. Pope, on Mr. Gay : His care of
his memory and writings ; concerning the
Dean's and his own ; and of feveral other
things - - " ^54
LXVI. More of Mr. Gay, his papers, and epitaph.
Of the fate of his own writings, and the
purpofe of them. Invitation of the Dean
to England . - - 260
LXVII. From Dr. Swift. Of the paper called The
Life and Charafter of Dr. Swift. Of Mr.
Gay, and the care of his papers. Of a
libel againft Mr. Pope. Of the edition of
the Dean's works in Ireland, how printed 263
LXVni. Of the Dean's verfes, called A Libel on Dr. D.
the fpurious charafler of him : Lord Bol.'s
writings : The indolence of great men in
years - - - - ^68
J.XJX^ From Dr. Swift. On Mrs. Pope's death.
Invitation to Dublin. His own fituation
there, and temper - - 271
LXX. Anfwer to the former. His temper of mind
fince his mother's death. The union of
fentiments in all his acquaintance - 274
LXXI. Concern for his abfence. Of a libel againft
him. Reflexions on the behaviour of a
worthlefs man - - - 277
LXXII. Melancholy circumftances of the feparation
of friends. Impertinence of falfe pretend-
ers to their friendfhip. Publiihers of
flight papers. Of the Efiay on Man, and
of the colleftion of the Dean's works. —
Poftfcript by Lord Bolingbroke, concern-
ing his metaphyfical works - 279
LXXni. From Dr. Swift. The Anfwer. Of his own
amufements, the Eflay on Man, and Lord
B.'s writings - - - 284
LXXIV. Of
xii C O NT E N T S.
LETTER p^^
LXXIV. Of the plcafures of his convcrfation : Of
Dr. Arbuthnot*s decay of health : Of the
nature, of moral and philofophijcal writ-
ings - - - 287
LXXV. From Dr. Swift. On the death of friends 290
LXXVI. From the Same. On the offence taken at
their writings. Of Mr. Pope's Letters.
Charafter of Dr. Rundle, Biihop of Derry 292
LXXVn. Concerning the Earl of Peterborow, and
his death at Lifbon. . Charities of Dr.
Swift - - - 2yg
LXXVIIL From Dr. Swift. Of writing Letters : Se-
veral of the ancients writ them to pub-
lifli. Of his own Letters. The care he
fhall take of Mr. Pope's, to prevent their
being printed - - 297
LXXIX. From Dr. Swift. On the denth of friends.
What fort of popularity he has in Ireland.
Againft the general corruption - 299
LXXX. From the Same. His kindnefs for Mr. P*
and his own infirm condition - 301
LXXXL Mr, P. to Dr. Swift. His plan for the fe-
cond book of Ethic Epiftlesi of the ex-
tent and limits of human reafon and
fcience j and what retarded the execu-
tion of it. Of Lord B.'s writings.
New invitations to England - 303
LXXXIL From Dr. Swift. His refolution to pre-
ferve Mr. Pope's Letters, and leave them
to his difpofal after his death. His de-
fire to be mentioned in the Ethic Epif-
ties. Of the lofs of friends, and decays
of age - - - 306
LXXXIII. What fort of letters he now writes, and
the contraftion qf his corrcfpondence.
Of the human failings of great geniufes,
4 and
CONTENTS. xiu
LsnTTER page
and the allowance to be made them.
His high opinion of Lord Bolingbroke
and Dr. Swift as writers - 309
LXXXIV. From Dr. Swift. Of old age, and death
of friends. More of the Ethic Epiftles 31 ^
LXXXV. Of the complaints of friends. One of
the bed comforts of old age. Some
of his Letters copied in Ireland, and
printed. Of Lord Bolingbroke's re-
tirement. Of fome new friends, and of
what fort they are - - 315
LXXXVL The prefent circumftances of his life and
his companions. Wiflies that the laft
part of their days might be paiTed to-
gether - - - 3^9
LXXXVIL From Dr. Swift. Reafons that obftruft
his coming to England. Defires to be
remembered in Mr. Pope's Epiftles.
Many of Mr. Pope's Letters to him, loft,
and by what means - - - 32:3
LXXXVIIL From Dr. Swift. Mention again of the
chafm in the Letters. Obje6iions in
Ireland to fome paiTages in Mr. Pope's
Letters publiihed in England. The
Dean's own opinion of them ' - 326
LXXXIX. From Dr. Swift. Of his declining ftate
of health. His opinion of Mr. P.'s
Dialogue, intitled, One Thoufand Seven
Hundred and Thirty-eight. The entire
colledion of his and Mr. Pope's Letters,
for twenty years and upwards, found,
and in .the hands of a lady, a worthy and
judicious relation of the Dean's. — This is
a miftake ; not in hers, but in fome other
fafe hands. - - - 329
XC. t A very
xiv CONTENTS,
Letter Page
XC. t A very curious Letter of Dr. Swift to Sir
William Temple - - - 333
XCI. t Letter of Dr. Swift on Mr. Long's death 336
XCIL f Mr. Pope to Mr. Allen, conjeming Swift's
publication of his Letters - - 338
LETTERS 10 BROOK TAYLOR, Efq.
Letter
L f From Lord Bolingbroke concerning a MS. of
the Hiftory of the Caefars by Eunapius, at
Venice - - - 34'
n. f From the Same. Obfervations on a new ex-
planation of Daniel's prophecy ; an enquiry
into the caufes and origin of moral evil| &c. 349
IIL f From the Same, acknowledging the receipt
of fome books on chronology and ancient
hiftory, with his opinion thereoo - 344
f Infcriptions in the Gardens of the Chateau
de la Source near Orleans, written by
Lord Bolingbroke during his exile - 347
LETTERS to RALPH ALLEN, Efq.
Letter
L Of the ufe of pifiures and fculpture, both for
civil and religious purpofes - - 349
IL Of a new edition of his Letters, and the ufe
of them - - -35^
IIL Of the cultivation of his own gardens - 354
IV. Re-
CONTENTS. X,
LfiTTER Pa2[e
IV. Reflexions on a falfe report concerning his
own death - - '35^
V. On the Queen's death - "357
VI. Concerning an obje£l of their common charity 359
VII. His folicitude for his friends - - 360
VIII. An account of his ill date of health in his lali
illnefs - - - 362
LETTERS to Mr. WARBURTGN-
Letter
I. His acceptance of the Commentary on the
EssAT ON Man ... 26$
II. On the fame ... ^55
III. On the fame ... ^6^
rV. On the fame - • - 369
V. On the fame - - - 271
VT. His ezpefiation of feeing him in town - 373
VIL His opinion of the Divine Legation ; and his
defire to have the Essay on Man thought
as favourable to the interefts of religion as
of virtue - - "375
Vni. His projed of procuring a profe tranflation .
of his Eflay into Latin^ and his approbation
of a fpecimen fent to him of it - 378
IX His chagrin on fomebody's having printed a
new volume of his Letters in Ireland - 380
X. His fatisfaflion in the profpefl of meeting his
friend in town - - "3^3
XI. Acquainting him with his obligations to a
noble Lord .... ibid.
Xn. An account of his projedi for adding a fourth
book to the DuNciAD - - 386
4 XIII. Invites
xn CONTENTS.
Fage
XilL In^tes his £ricnd to Bath - « 387
XlV. On the fame fubje£l - - 390
XV. Relating to the projected edition of his works 392
XVL On the fame, and the fourth book of die
DuNciAD - - - 294
XVII. On the fame - - - 397
XVIIL On a noble Lord, who made profeflions of
finrice - - - 401
XIX. A chara£ter of their common friend, — his
amufements in his garden, and folicitode
for the proje^ied edition - • 402
XX. Defires his friend to corre£k the Eflay on Homer 404
XXI. Thanks him for having done it - 405
XXII. Account of the publication of the Dunciad 407
XXIII. Of his ill ftate of health.— The edition of his
works. The laureat and the clergy ibid.
XXIV. The increafe of his diforder and the forefight
of its confequences - - 409
XXV. On the fame - - - - 4x1
GUARDIANS.
N"
4-
March i6, 1713.
- - 413
N"
II.
March 24, 1 713.
- 420
N°
40.
April a?, 1713.
- 426
N°
61.
May ai, 1713.
- 437
N"
78.
June 10, 1 7 13.
- 447
N°
91.
June 25, 17x3.
- 415
N°
pa.
June a6, 1713.
- 420
N*
»73-
September jp, 1713.
- 46s
Pre&ce to the Works of Shakzspear • .473
LET-
i:, E T T E R S
TO. AND FROM
Br. JONATHAN S\nFT, etp.
From the Year 1714 tQ I737f
TOI«« ix<
I
L
^IFT.
4 Ct^-e^J>,fm/ a/tZte'u.
I
» 1 «
* At the time this Letter was written. Swift was high in
fiTDur with the Minilier, Lord Oxford* The Queen died th^ '
Attgoft foUowingi which terminated his political importance^
B9
LETTERS
TO AND FROM
D*. JONATHAN SWIFT, etc.
From the Year 1714 16 1737^
LETTER I.
MR. POPE TO DR. SWIFT.
June 189 1 7 14.
TTTTHATEVER ApoIogics it might become me to
make at any other time for ^writing to you, I
ihaU ufe none now, to a man who has owned him-
felf as fplenetic as a Gat in the Gomitry. In that
circumftance, I know by experience a letter is a very
ufeful, as well as amufing thing; if you are too bufied *
in date affairs to read it, yet you may find entertain-*
ment in folding it into divers figures, either doubling
it into a pyr^midical, or twifting it into a Terpentine
form;
* At the time this Letter was written. Swift was high ia
&?our with the Minifter, Lord 0](foixi. The Queen died th^ '
Augii& foUowiogi which terminated his political importance^
sa
4 LETTERS TO AND
form : or, if your difpofidon ihould iiot be fo ma«
thematical, in taking it v/ith you to that phce vherQ
men of ftudious minds are apt to fit longer than or-
dinary ; where, after an abrupt divifion of the paper,
it may not be unplealant to try to fit and rejoin the
broken lin^ together. All thefe amufements I am
no ftranger to in the Country, and doubt not but
(by this time) you begin to relifh them, in your prc-
fent contemplative fituation,
' I remember a man who was thought to have fome
knowledge in the world, ufed to adirm, that no
people in .town ever complained they were forgotten
by their Friends in the country : but my increafing
experience convinces me he was miflaken, for I find
a great many here grievoufly complaining of you
upon this fcore. I am told further, that you treat the
few you correfpond with in a very arrogant ftyle, and
tell them you admire at their infolence in difturbing
your meditations, or eyen inquiring of yo\ir retreat * :
but this I will not pofitively aflert, becaufe 1 never
received any fuch infulting Epiftle from you.- My Lord
Oi^ord fays you have not written to him once fmce
you went ; but this perhaps may be only policy, iu
him or you : and I, who am half a Whig, muft not
entirely credit any thing he affirms. At Button's h
is reported you ^e gone to Hanover, and that Gay
goes
* Some time before the death of Queen ^011^9 vhen her Mi*
nifters were quarrelling* and the Dean could not reconcile them^
he retired to a Friend's boufe at Letcomb in Bcrkftiire, and never
few them after, Warton,
t^koM bit. swirr, etc* i
goes only on an Embafly to you *. Others ;q>prehend
Ibme dangerous State treatife from your retirement ;
and a Wit^ who afi^£b to imitate Balfac, fays that the
Miniftry now are like thofe Heathens of old who
received their oracles from the Woods. The Gea-
tlenioi of the Roman Catholic perfuafion are not un*
willing to credit me, when I whifper, that you arf
gone to meet fome Jefuits commiffipned from the
Court of Rome> in order to fettle the mod cohyo*
nient methods to be taken for the commg of the Pre*
tenderi. Dr, Arbuthnot is fingular in his opinion,
and imagines your only defign is to attend at full lei-
f ure to the life and adventures of Scriblerus \ This
indeed muft be granted of greater Importance than all
the reft ; and I wifli I could promife. fo well of you*
The top of my own ambition is to contribute to that
great work, and I (hall tranflate Homer by the bye#
Mr. Gay has acquainted you what progrefs I have
made
* Gay was fent at this time oa the embafly to Hanover^ with
CraggSf to announce the illnefs of Queea Anne.
^ This projeft (in which the pnndpal perfons engaged wet^
Dr. Arbudinot, Dr. Swift^ and Mr. Pope] was a very noble on^*
It was to write a complete (atire k profe upon the abufeain every
branch of fcieace, comprifcd in the hiftory of the life and writings
of Scribleras ; the ifliie of which was only fome detached parts
and fragments} fuch aa the Memoirs of ScribkruSf the Travels of
GuUiver^ the Treatife of the Profunda the literal Criticijnu on
Firgilf etc. WAaioafON.
The ibree laft*mentianed Worki were not at all in the cha*
tafter of Dr. Scriblerus. Wmtoh*
6 LETTERS TO AND
made b ir. I can't name Mr. Oay, without a)l the
acknowledgments which I (hall erer owe you, on his
account* If I write this in verfe^ I would tell you,
you are like the fun, and whiTe men imagine you to
be retired or abfent, are hourly exerting your indul-
gence, and bringing things to maturity for their ad-
vantage. Of all the world, you are the man (with-
out flattery) who fenre your friends with the leaft
oftentatlon ; it is almoft ingratitude to thank you *,
confidering your temper ; and this is the period of all
my letter which I fear you will think the moft ixth
perdnent. I am, with the trueft affe£tion,
Yours, etc
LETTER n.
FROM DR. SWIFT TO MR. POPE.
DubIio» Jane 289 X7r5.
IlMY ^ Lord Bifhop of Oogher gave me your kind
letter full of reproaches for my not writing.
I am naturally no very exadt correfpondent, and when
I leave
* Swift was at this time earneftly foliciting, among his great
friendSf fubfcriptiohs for Pope's Homer.
• Dr, St. Georgt AJh^ formerly a Fellow of Truuty-Cclkge^
JMBuf (to whom 'the Dean was a Papil^) afterwards Bi(hop of
Clogher^
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. y
1 leave a country without a probability of ititumlng,
I think as feldom as I can of what I loved or efteemed
in it, to avoid the Defiderium which of all things makes
life moft uneafy. But you muft give me leave to add
one thing, that you talk at your eafc, being wholly
unconcerned in public events t For, if your friends
the Whigs continue *, you may hope for fome favour ;
if the Tories return t, you are at lead fure of quiet.
Tott
i^te
Cloghcr, and tranflatcd to the See of Deny in 1716-17. It wu
he who married Swift to Mrs. Johnfon, 1 716, and performed the
ceremony in a garden.
* No man perhaps was ever lefs entitled to the honouiaUe
iiaine of a Whig, than Pope : every thing conncded with the
Houfc of Hanover, was his avctfion. Poffibly, however, there
w«s fome fn^€ in his profciEons : when things were m dMo^ it
might be political to have fuch a charader as he dcfcribct
bimlelf afterwards,
<« In moderation placing all ray glory^
Whilft Tories call me Whig, and Whigs a Tory.**'
Bnt when the ifluc was determined ; when the Whigs fuccecded,
and he was not thought of, at Icgft by the Court; his afperity
gradually increafcd againft every thing conneaed with the Whig
intcrcft ; hence his perfonal animofity againft the King and Queen,
— bia affcAed contempt of their eftabHniinent,-.and his dcrifion of
the/«i«iy and Julmfs (as he aflfeas to fpcak) of the refidcnce at
St. James's and Windfor.
fin a Manufcript Letter of Lord- Bolingbroke, it is faid,
*f «^'^^ ^^^ ^"'^ ^^^ °"^ ^'^'^ Hanover with a refolution
Of oppreffing no fet of men that would be quiet fubjeds. But as
foon as he come into Holland, a contrary refolution was taken, at
Ind ?f folTrSi '^ '^^""' *"^ ^'^^'""^'^y -f HeinHus,
and of fome of the Whigs. Lord Town/hend came triumphantly
to acquamt Lord Somers with all the meafures of profLS
and of perfecnuon which they intended, and to which the Lg
* ^ had
8 tfetTtils to Atiti
iTou kn^w how well I loved both Lord Ostlbrd Hai
^Uogbroke, and how dear the Duke of Ormond b
tQ me* X Dq you imagine I tzn be eafy while thd^
Hn^miei ^re endeavouring to take off thdr heads ?
/ tmnc ei 'O^ftu Ucum meditare canoros^'^o you ima*
ffffiQ \ can be eafy, when I thii^ of the probable eon-
iequ^ceg of thefe proceedings, perhaps opoH the very
pe$u:e of the nation^ hot certainly of the minds of fo^
m«ny hundred thoufand good ftibje^s? Upon the
whole, you may truly attribute my fitence to the
Eclipfe, but it w^s that Eclipfef which happened oh xktt
firit of Auguft«
I borrowed your Homer ffbm the fiifliop (mine is
not yet landed) atid read it ottt in two etenmgs. If
it pleafeth others as well as me, you have got yout*
end in profit and reputation ; yet I am angry at fome
bad Rhymes and Triplets, and pray in your next
do not let me have fo many unjuft^able Rhymes \
10
had act Uft confented. The old Peer aflced hi^ what he meanty
ind (hed tears on the forefight of mcafttrea like thofe of the
Roman Trhimvirate.'* WaKtoit^
^ The warmth -of Swift in favour of hia frienda is natural and
intereiling4 He difdained the idea of not teeetin|f manfully what«
tver might be brought againft him, though he inew the public
mind was inflamed. Bolingbroke thought it bcft to abfcond.
f There was a great Eclipfe at this time. He alludes to the
death of the Queen the ifl of Auguft.
% He was frequently carping at Pope for bad Rhymes in man^
Other parts of bis works. His own were remarkably exad.
■
V
t^ROM Dk. sWiFt, etc. ^
to ioar and ^^^/j. I tell you all the faults I know^
oiUy in one or two places you are a little obfcure ;
but I expeSed you to be fo in one or ttro and twenty.
t have heard no foul talk of it here, for indeed it is
not come over; nor do we very much abound in
judges, at lead I have not the honour to be ac-
quainted with them. Your notes are perfeAly good^
and fo are your Preface and Effay ♦. You are pretty
bold in mentioning Lord Bolingbroke in that Preface.
I law the Key to the Lock but yefterday : I think you
«
have changed it a good deal, to adapt it to the pre-
fent times ''•
God be thanked I have yet no Parliamentary bufi->
nefs, and if they have done with me, I (hall never
feek their acquaintance. I have not been very fond
of theih for fome years paft, not when I thought
them tolerably good ; and therefore, if I can get leave
to be abfent, I (hall be much inclined to be on that '
fide, when there is a Parliament on this ; but truly
I mud be a little eafy in my mind f before I can thiilk
of Scriblerus.
You
* Givra to him bjr Paraell ; and with which Pope told Mr.
Spence^ he was never well fatisfiedt though he corrt^ed it again
and a^jrain. Wartor«
' Put thefe two laft obfervations together, and it will appear^
that Mr. Pope was never wanting to. hia friends for fear of Party^
Dor would he infult a Miniftry to humour them. He faid of him*
fclf, and I believe he faid truly, that he never turote a line to gratify
the ammofiiy of any one parly at the expence 0/ another. See the
Letter to a Noble Lord. WARBuaroN-
f Never >ya8 exhibited fo ftrong and lamentable a pidkure of
4ifappoiQted ambition, aa in thefe Letters of the Dean. When
4o LETTERS TO aUH
You art to underftand that I live in the comer erf*
1 vaft unfumifhed houfe ; my family confifts of a
fteward> a groom, a helper in the ftable, a footmad^
and an old maid, who are all at board wages, and
when I do not dine abroad, or make an entertain*
roent (which laft is very rare), 1 eat a mntton pye^
and drink half a pint of wine : My amufements are,
defending my fmall dominions againft the Archbifliop^
and endeavouring to reduce niy rebellious Choir.
Perditur
we confider the fidelity and ability with which he ferved ttie
Queen's lad Miniilryy we are furprifed that they ga^e him no
higher preferment, but bani(hed him, as it were, to Ireland. The
fa^ isi that he had fo infuperably difgttfted many grave
Divines^ and the Queen herfelfy by his Tale of a Tuby that (he
never would hear of his advancement in the Church *. And this
difguft was kept alive by the inftic^ations of Archbiihop Sharp,
and the Duchefs of Somerfet» whom he had wantonly lam-
pooned. It was in vain hew^te^ to take olt thefe impref&ons, his
incomparable Treatifes, A ProjeB for the Advanciment of ReTtgioa;
and the Sentiments of a Church of England Man, ' The truth i8»
bis friends the Minifters had it not in their power to do more
for him than they did ; but, as is the conftant pradlice of all Mini*
ders, artfully concealed from him their inability to ferve him, to
keep him iteady in his dependence on them. War ton.
^ Warton fpeaks here of the Minifters of Queen Anne, who (particularly. Ox*
ford) expreiTed the greatel^ attachment and obligations to Swifi. The fuhfequent
caHfe of his difappoiniment is to be found (as hith been already mentioned) in
Coxe*s Memoirs. I cannot, howe\*er9 perceive any great caufe of complaint,
when a perfon^ although of eminent talents, yet being horn to no pattimony,
talks (at the fume time that he expreflcs his dii'appoiniment) of ** having
njimardt a groom, » kflper in the ftables, a footman, and ayioldnMidt** " who
cats a mution-pie, and diinks half a pint of wine, when he does not dine abroad*
or give an entertainment ;" and '* whofe amti/emenis are, defending hU/mall <A».
minioat again ft the Archbilliop, and endeavouring to reduce his rebeiliottt choir !*'
He may fay of himfelf, " Ftfrdilur /uee itiiet mykro lur ;** but how many men
of equal talents, if not fuperior virtues, :ire there, who stobM think their tjilenn
amply remunerated by half his income ?.
FROM DR. SWlFTj etc. it
Btur bac inter mifero lute. I dcfire you will prt-
fcnt my humble fervice to Mr. Addifoiif Mr. Con-
greve, Mr. Rowe, and Gay. I am, and wHl b«
always^ extremely
Yours, eto
f
LETTER in.
MR. POPE* TO DR. SWIFT.
June 20, 17 1 A
^ CANNOT fuffer a friend to crofs the Irifh feas trith-
out bearing a teftimony from me of the conilant
efteem and afie&ion I am both obliged and inclined to
have for you. It is better he fhould tell you than I^
how often you are in our thoughts and in our cups,
and how I learn to fleep lefs" and drink more when-
ever you are named among us. I look upon a friend
in Ireland as upon a friend in the other world, whom
(popilhly fpeaking) I believe conftantly well difpofed
towards me, and ready to do me all the good he can,
in that (late of reparation, though I hear nothing
from
♦ All Popc*s Letters to Swift fccm more than ufually affcftcd,
and laboured.
* Alluding to his conftant cudom of fleeping after dinner.
Warburtoh.
14 LETTERS TO AND
from him, and make addrefies to him but very raretv*
A proteftaut divine cannot take it amifs that I treat
him in the fame niannef with my patron Saint»
1 can tell you no news, but what you will not
fufficiently wonder at, that I fuffer many things as an
author militant : whereof in yoUr days of probation
you have been a fharer, or you had not arrived in
that triumphant (late you now defervedly enjoy in
the Church. As for me, I haVe not the leaft hopes
of the Cardinalat, tho' I fuffer for my religion in
Jilmoft every weekly paper* I have begun to take a
pique at the Pfalms of David (if the wicked may be
credited, who have printed a fcandalous one ^ in my
Jiame *). This report I dare not difcourage too much^
in a profpeft 1 have at prefent of a poft under th^
Marquis de Langallerie^ wherein if I can do but
fome fignal fervice againft the Pope, I may be con*
fiderably advanced by the Turks, the only religious
p^ple I dare confide in. If it fhould happen here*
after that I Ihould write for the holy law of Mahomet^
I hope it may make no breach between you and me )
every one muft live, and I beg you will not be th«
man to manage the controvcrfy againft me. The
Church
' In Curl's Collcftion. Warburton^
• Warton fays, " It is obferva1}Ie that he docs not deny his
being the writer of it/^ I have litde doubt that he was fo« The
Pfalm 13 printed in the " Additions to Pope's Works."
* One who made a soife th^j as Count Sooneval has done
iu3C«* ' WA&BVftTON«
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. ij
Church of Rome* I judge (from many modem
fyoqitoms, as well as ancient prophecies) to be in 2^
declining condition ; that of England will in a fhort
' time be fcarce able to maintain her own family : fo
Churches fink as generally as Banks in Europe, and
for the fame reafon ; that Religion and Trade, which
^t firfl; were open and free, have been reduced into
the Management of Companies, and the Roguery of
Piredors.
I don't know why I tell yo\» all this, but that I
idways loved fo talk to you ; but this is not a time
for any man to talk to the purpofe. Truth is a kind
of contraband commodity, which I would not venture
to export, and therefore the only thing tending that
dangerous way which I (hall fay, is, that I am, and
fdways will be, with the utmofl: fincerity.
Yours, etc,
#
♦ Thefc words arc remarkable. What would he have faid, if
)ie had feen what has happened in France, 1 794 ? and what is
likely to happen, by the diffaiion of Learning and Science, in all
the other Catholic Countries of Europe ? Such events are ftu*
pendous ; — Kon h^cjine nundne Divum eveniunt, Wartoh,
And what would he have fatd, if he had feen ihtjlnale of that
terrible Dratta id Fiance, called the Revolution ? Let me, how*
ever, fpeak of one fingular man, as far as my own feelings go (
and. odious as are his atrocities, Hill 1 fhould confefs, if I were
a Frenchmanf ony obligations to him, for fav'mg me from the
bloody mercies of thofe whom Mr. Southey calls, more «nthufi«
^ically than wifely,
« The M-mighty People I
Who luUPd they would ht free ! r
14 LETTERS TO AND
LETTER IV.
JrHOM DR, SWIFT TO MR. POPE.
Augfuft 301 X7i6b
T HAD the favour of yours by Mr. F. of whom, be-
fore any other queftiop relating to your health or
fortune, or fuccefs as a Poet, I enquired your prin«
cipka in the common form, " Is he Whig, or a Tory ?■*
I am fprry to find they are not fo well tallied to the pre-
fent juncture, as I could wiih. I always thought the
tprms of fa6lQ and 'Jure had been introduced by the
Poets, ^d (hat f^ofleflion of any fort in Kings was
held an unexceptionable title in the Courts of Par-
naifus. If you do not grow a perfeft good fubjed
in all its prefent latitudes, I Ihall conclude you are
become rich, and able to live without dedica-
tions to men in power, whereby one great in-
conveniency will follow, that you and the world
and poflerity will be utterly ignorant of (heir Virtues.
For, cither your brethren have miferably deceived us
thefe hundred years paft, or Power confers Virtue, as
paturally as five of your Popiih facraments do Grace.
—You fleep lefs, and drink more— But your mafter
Horace was Vimfomnique benignw : -and, as I take it,
^th are proper for your trade. As to mine, there
^e a thoufand poetical texts to confirm the one } and
j as
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 15
as to the other, I know It was anciently the cufloia
to fleep in Temples for thofe who would confult the
Oracler, <* Who dilates to me* numbering %**
etc
You ore an ill Cs^holic, or a worfe Geographer^
for I can affure you, Ireland is not Paradife f, and I
appeal even to any Spanifh diving, whether Addrefles
were ever made to a friend in Hell, or Purgatory ?
And who are all thefe enemies you hint at ? I can
only think of Curl, Gildon, Squire Burnet, Black?
more, and a few others^ whofe names I have forgot ;
Took^ in my opinion, as neceilary for a good writer,
as pen, ink, and paper. And befides, I would £3[in
know whethet every Draper doth not fhew you three
or four damtiM pieces of ftuff to fet off his good one?
However, I will grant, that one thorough Bookfelling-
ILogue is better qualified to vex an author, than ^
his cotemporary fcribblers in Critic or Satire, not only
|>y ftolen Copies of what was inconc& or unfit for the
public, but by downright laying other men's dulnefii
at your door. I had long a defign upon the Ears of
that Curl, when I was in credit, but the Rogue
would
* The 00I7 time Stuiji cyot alludes to Milton : who wai of an
«rder of writeit very dxffcfeot from what Swift admired, and imi«
fated. Warton.
^ ISJkaiu Warburtqn*
t According to Spencers ane^tes, Swift was not bom in Ire<f
^j as i^lms fbmctimcs been tlSsfilc^ but ^ Lcicefter, 1667.
WARTOIft
i6 LETTERS TO AND
would never allow me a fair ftioke at them, ^thOugli
my penknife was ready drawn and fhztp. I can hardlj
believe the relation pf his being poifoned, although tb^
liiftoriap pretend^ to have been an eye-witnefs : Sut I
beg p^rdon^ Sack might do it) although Rats-bane
would not^ I n^ver faw the thing you mention as
falfely imputed to you; but I think the frolicks of
merry hours, ev^n when we are guihy, fliould not
be left to the mercy of our befk friends, until Curl
and his refemblers are hanged*
With fubmiiTron to the better judgment pf you and
your friends, 1 take your projeft of* an employment
under the Turk$ to be idle and unneceflary^ Jflzvt
a little patience, and you will find more merit and
encouragement at home by the fame methods. Yott
are ungrateful to your country ; quit but your own
Religion, and ridicule ours, and that will allow you
a free choice of any other, or for none at all, and
pay you Well into the bargain. Therefore prtty do
hot run and difgrace us among the Turks, by telling
them you Were forced to leave your native home, be-
caufe we would. oblige you to be a Chriftian ; Where*
as we will make it appear to all the world, that ws
only compelled you to be a Whig.
There is a young ingenious Quaker in this town,
who writes verfes to his miflrefs, not vpry corref^,^
but in a flrain purely what a poetical Quaker fh6ul4
do, commending her look and h^bir, etc. ]( gav^
4 roe
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 17
me a hint that a fet of Quaker paftorals might fuc-
ceed, if your friend Gay ^ could fancy it, and I think
it a fruitful fubjedl ; pray hear what he fays. I be*-
lieve further, the paftoral ridicule is not exbaufled ;
and that a porter, footman, or^ chairman's paftoral
might do well. Or what think you of a Newgate
paftoral, among the whores and thieves there ?
Laftly, to conclude, I love you never the worfe
for feldom writing to you» I am in an obfcure fceney
where you know neitl^er thing nor pcrfon. I can
only anfwer yours, which I promife to do after a fort
whenever you think fit to employ me. But I can
aflure you, the fcene and the times have deprefted
me wonderfully, for I will impute no defe£l to thofe
two paltry years which have flipped by fince I had
the happinefs to fee you.
I am with the trueft efteem,
Yours, etc.
' Gay did write a paftoral of this kind, which is publiflied in
liis works* Warton*
^ Swift hifflfdf wrote oae of this kind, intitled Dermot and
Shidab. WAaTOM.
XOU IX.
18 LETTERS. TO AND
-^ *
'LETTER y^
FROM DR. SWIFT TO MR. POPE.
l!)ublmy Jan . lOy 1 7 ^ f «
A THOUSAND things • have vexed me of late years,
upon which I am determined to lay. open my
mind to you. I rather chufe to appeal to you than
'to my Lord Chief Juftice Whitlhed, under the
Situation I am in. For, I take this caufe properly to
He before you : You are a much fitter Judge of what
concerns the credit of a Writer, the injuries that are
done him, and the reparations he ought to receive.
Befides, I doubt whether the arguments I could
fuggeft to prove my own innocence, would be of
much weight from the gentlemen of the Long-robe
to ,thofe in Furs, upon whofe decifion about the dif-
ference of Style or Sentiments, I ihould be very im*
^willing to leave the merits of my Caafe.
pive me leave then to put you in mind (although
•jou cannot eafily forget it) that about ten weeks, b^ore
the Queen's death, I left the town, upon occafion
of that incurable breach among the great men at
Court) and went down to Berkihire, where you may
remember /
' This Letter Mr. Pope never receiTed. Fops. Nor did he
believe it viras ever fent. W a r b u rton .
* No piece of Swift contain more political knowledge, more
love of the £ngli(b ConftitucioUy and national JLibcrtji than ap.
pears in this celebrated letter ; and it is not 1 little wonderful that
Pope (hould afibm he never received it* . . Wa&toii*
tHOM DR. SWIFT, etc. 19
•
ttRnember that you gave me the favour of a vifit.
t^Thile I was ia that retirement, I writ a difcourfe
which I thought might be ufeful in fuch a jundure
pf affairs^ and fent it up to London ; but, upon fome
difference in opinion between me and a certain great
Minifter * now abroad, the publifhing of it was de-
ferred fo long, that the C^een died, and I recalled
my copy, which hath been ever lince in fafe hands,
•In a few weeks after the lofs of that excellent Prin-
cefs, I came to my flation here j where I have con-
tinued ever fincc in the greateft privacy, and utter
ignorance of thofe events, which are moll commonly
talked of in the world. I neither know the names
... 81.
nor number of the Royal Family which now reigns,
further than the Prayer-book informs me. I can*
not tell who is Chancellor, who are Secretaries,
nor with what nations we are in peace or war. And
this manner of life was not taken up out of any fort
of Affeftation, but merely to avoid giving offence,
and for fear of provoking Party -zeal.
1 had indeed written fome Memorials of the four
laft years of the Queen's reign, with fome other in-
formations, which I received, as neceffary , ihaterials
to qualify me for doing fomething in an employment
then defigned me " : But, as it was. at the difpofal qf
a perfon who had not the fmalleft fhare of ileadinefs
«r fincerity, I difdained to accept it.
Thefc
^ BoSiigbrc^Cr /* HiftoriogT^pbcr. .Wartok.
e 2
20 LETTERS TO AND
Thefe papers at my few hours of health and leiflir^^
I have been digefting * into order by one flieet at a
time, for I dare not venture any further, left the
humour of fearching and fei^ng papers fliould re-
vive ; not that I am in pain of any danger to my-
felf, (for they contain nothing of prefent Times or
Perfons, upon which I (hall never lofe a thought
while there is a Cat or a Spaniel in the houfe,) but to
preferve them from being loft among Meftengers and
Clerks.
I have written in this kingdom, a* difcourfe to
perfuade the wretched people to wear their own Ma-
nufadures inftead of thofe from England. This
Treatife foon fpread very faft, being agreeable to the
fentiments of the whole nation, except of thofe
gentlemen
■ Thcfe papers fomc years after were brought finifhcd by the
Dean into England, with an intention to publifh them. But L*
'BoL on whofe judgment he relied, diffuadcd him from that de«
fign. He told the Dean, there were feveral fads he knew to be
"hKcf and that the whole was fo much in the fpirit of party- writ-
ing, that though it might havemade a feafonable pamphlet in the time
of the adminiftration, it was a difhonour to juil hiftory. It is to
' be obferved that the Treafurer Oxford was the Hero of the ftory.
•The Dean would do nothing againft his friend's judgment, yet it
extremely chagrined him. And he told a common friend, that
' fince L. B. did not approve his hiftory, he would caft it into the
JbrCf though it was the bcft work he had ever written. However,
it did not undergo this fate, and is faid to be yet ia being. — It has
been fince publiftied. ' Warburtom.
Lord Bolingbroke, in a Letter to Sir William Wyndham,
exprefles his opinion of this work as very partial and defedlive.
* A Propofal for thC'UiiiverfalUfe of Irilh^Manufadures.
Po?s.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. at
gentlemen who had employments, or were Expeft-
ants. Upon which a perfon in great office here im-
mediately took the alarm : He fent in hafte for the
Chief Juftice, and informed him of a feditious, fac-
tious, and virulent Pamphlet, lately publiflied with a
defign of fetting the two Kingdoms at variance ; di-
reSing at the fame time that the Printer fhould be
profecuted to the utmoft rigour of law. The Chief
Juftice had fo quick an underftanding, that he re-
folved, if poflible, to outdo his orders. The Grand-
Juries of the county and city were pradUfed efFeftu-
ally with to reprefent the faid Pamphlet with all
a^ravating Epithets, for which they had thanks fent
them from England, and their Prefentments publifbed
for feveral weeks in all the news-papers. The Printer
was feized, and forced to give great bail : After his
trial the Jury brought him in Not Guilty, although
they had been culled with the utmoft induftry ; the^
Chief Juftice fent them back nine times, and kept
them eleven hours, until being perfedly tired out,
they were forced to leave the matter to the mercy of
the Judge, by what they call a Special Verdifl:. Du-
ring the trial, the Chief Juftice, among other fingu-
larities, laid his hand on his breaft, and protefted
folemnly, that the Author's defign was to bring in the
Pretender; although there was. not a fmgle fyllable
of Party in the whole Treatife, and although it was
known that the moft eminent of thofe who profeffed
his own principles, publicly difallowed his proceed-
« 3 ings.
21 LETTERS TO AND
ings. But the caufe being fo very odious and unpo*
pular, the trial of the VerdiQ: was deferred from one
term to another, until, upon the Duke of G-ft^n the
Lord Lieutenant^s arrival, his Grace, after mature
advice, and permiflion from England, was pleafed to
grant a noliprofequL
This is the more remarkable, becaufe it is faid that
the man is no illdecider in common cafes of property^
where Party is out of the queftion; biit when that
intervenes, with ambition at heels to pufh it forward,
it muft heeds confound any man of little fpirit, and
low birth, who hath no oiKer endowment than that
fort of Knowledge, which, however poflcffed in the
higheft degree, can pdflibly give tio one good quality
to the mind %
It
' This it a very ftrange iflertion. To fuppofe that a confuBi'*
mate knowledge of the Lavs* by which civilized Jbcietics are
governed, can ^'t^ no on^gwui quality to the mmd^ is making Ethics
(of which public laws are fo confiderable a part) a very unprofit«
able {lady. The bed divifion of the fciences is that old one of
Plato, into Ethics, Phyfics, and Logic. The feverer Philofoi
phers condemn a to^al application to the two latter^ becaufe they
have no tendency to mend the heart ; and recommended the fixi^
tA our' principal ftudy, for its efficacy in this important fervic<^
And fiire, if any human fpeculitions have this effeft, they maft b^
thofe which have man for their obje^, as a reafonable, a focial,
and a civil being. And thefc are all included under Ethics j whe^
ther you call the iciencc Morality or Ijavf* With fegard to the
Common Law of England, we may juftly apply to it what Tully
fays of the law of the Twelve Tables ; <' Fremant omnet licet^
** dicam quod fentio : bibliothepas mehercule omnium Philofophu^
** rum unum miht videtur PtodeAanim volumen et authoritatia
* • ■ " » _ »
^ pondcre ct utilitatis ubertate fuperarCt'* Sut the ^ft evidence
of
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 33
«
It is true, I have been much concerned, for feveral
years paft, upon account of the public as well as for
myfelf, to fee how ill a tafte for wit and fenfe prevails
in the world, which Politics^ and South-fea, and
Psarty, and Operas, and Mafquerades, have antro^
duced. For, befides many infipid papers which the
malice of fome hath entitled me to, there are many
perfons appearing co wi(h me well, and pretending to
be judges of my (lyle and manner, who have ypt
afcribed fame writings to me, of which any man of
common fenfe and literature would be heartily
afliamed. I cannot forbear inltandng a Treatife callf:d
a Dedication upon Dedications ^ which many would have
to be mine, although it be as empty, dry, and fi^rile
a compofition, as I remember at any time to have
read. But above all, there is one circumftance
which makes it impoflible for me to have been Au-
thor of a Treatife, wherein there are feveral pages
containing a Panegyric on King George, of whofe
charafter and perfon I am utterly ignorant) nor ever
had once the curiofity to inquire into either, living
at fo great a diftance as I do, and having long done
with wbatev^ can relate to public matters.
Indeed,
of its moral ({Ecacy ia the manners of its. Profefiors 9 and thefe,
io evcrj agCi have been (uch a^ werq. the bft improved, and the
bft corrupted* Wa&burton.
04
34 LETTERS TO AND
Indeed, I have formerly delivered my thoughts very
freely, whether I were afked or no; but never af-
fedted to be a Counfellor, to which I had no manner
of call. I was humbled enough to fee myfelf ib far
out-done by the Earl of Oxford in my own trade as
a Scholar, and too good a courtier not to difcover
his contempt of thofe who would be men of import-
ance out of their fphere. Beiides, to fay the truth,
although T have known many great Minifters ready
enough to hear opinions, yet I have hardly feen one
that would ever defcend to take Advice; and this
pedantry arifeth from a Maxim themfelves do not
believe at the fame time they pradife by it, that there
is fomething profound in Politics, which men of
plain honefl fenfe cannot arrive to.
I only wiib my endeavours bad fucceeded better in
the great point I had at heart, which was that of
reconciling the Minifters to each other *. This might
have been done, if others, who had more concern
and more influence, would have aded their parts;
and, if this had fucceeded, the public intereft both of
Church and State would not have been the worfe,
nor the Proteftant Succeilion endangered.
But, whatever opportunities a contiant attendance
of four years might have given me for endeavouring to
do good offices to particular perfons, I deferve at leaft
to
* His ineffe£t!ial tttempts to produce reconciliation between
Bolingbroke and Oxford.
8
FROM DR. SWIFT^ etc. «j
to find tolerable quarter from thofe of the other Party ;
for many of which I was a conftant advocate with the
Earl of Oxford •, and for this I appeal to his Lord-
fliip : He knows how often I prefled him in favour of
Mr. Addifon, Mr. Congreve, Mr. Rowe, and Mn
Steel ; although I freely confels that his Lordfliip's
kindnefs to them was altogether owing to his generous
notions, and the efteem he had for their wit and parts,
of which I could only pretend to be a remembrancer.
For I can never forget the anfwer he gave to the late
Lord Halifax, who, upon the firft change of the
Miniftry, interceded with him to fpare Mr. Congreve:
It was by repeating thefe two lines of Virgil :
Non obtufa adeo geftamus ptStorz Pocni,
Nee tarn averfus equos Tyria Sol jungit ab urbc.
Purfuant to which, he always treated Mr. Congreve
with the greateft perfonal civilities, aiTuring him of
' his conftant favour and protedion, and adding that
be would ftudy to do fomething better for him.
I remember it was in thofe times a ufual fubjeft of
raillery towards me among the Minifters, that 1 never
came to them without a Whig in my fleeve : "Which
I do not fay with any view towards making my
Court: For the new Principles^ fixed to thofe of
that
* A ftrikmj^ trait of Swift's liberality and kindocfsi as well as
of Lord Oxford's.
* He means particularly the principle at that time charged upon
them by their Enemies^ of an intention to frofcribe the Tories.
Warbv&ton.
i6 LETTERS TO AND
diat denomination, I did then, and do now from my
heart abhor, deteft, and abjure, as wholly degenerate
from their predeceiTors. I have converfed in fome
freedom with more Minifters of State of all parties
than ufually happens to men of my level, and, I con*
fefs, in their capacity as Minifters, I look upon them
as a race of people whofe acquaintance no man
would court, otherwife than upon the fcore of Vanity
or Ambition. The firft quickly wears off, (and is the
Vice of low minds, for a man of fpirit is too proud
to be vain,) and the other was not my cafe. BeiideSj^
having never received more than one fmall favour, I
was under no necellity of bemg a Have to men in
power, but chofe my friends by their perfonal mmt^
without examining how far their notions agreed with
the politics then in vogue. I frequently converfed
with Mr. Addifon, and the others I named (except
Mr. Steel) during ,all my Lord Oxford's Miniftry,
and Mr. Addifon's friendfliip to me continued invio^
lable, with as much kindnefs as when we ufed to meet
at my Lord Somers • or Halifax, who were leaders
of the oppofite Party,
I would
« The following curious account of Swift's political conduA ift
given by the rcfpcaable Dr. Salter, late Mafter of the Charter,
houfe. *• Lord Somers recommended Swift at his own very
cameft requeft to Lord Wharton, when that Earl went Lieutenant
to Ireland in 1708, but without fuccefs ; and the anfwer Whar-
ton is faid to have given was never forgotten or forgiven by Swift;
but it fccms to have laid the foundation of that peculiar rancour
with which he always inentions Lord Wharton. I fcw and read.
tva
FRbM Dfe. SWIFT, itc. if
T would infer from all this, that it is with great inu
juftice I have thefe liiany years been pelted by yout
Pamphleteers, merely upon account of fom6 regard
which the Queen's laft Minifters were pleafed to have
for me : And yet in my cbnfdehce I think I am a paru
taker in every ill deCgn they had againft the Proteft^
ant^uccef&on, or die Liberties and Religion of their
Country ; and can fay with Cicero, ^< that I ihould
^ be proud to be included with them in all their
*^ affions tanqtcafn in equo Trojano.^ But Jf I have
never difcovered by my words, writings, or adions,
any party virulence % or dangerous deiigns againft the
prefent powers ; if my friendfhip and converfation
were* equally ihewa among thofe who liked or di£>
approved the proceedings then at Court, and that!
was
two Letters of Jonathan Swift, then prebendary of St. Patrick's
Dabliny to Lord.Somers : the firft eameiliy intreating his favour,
pleading his poverty* and profeffing the moll unalterable attach*
mcnt to his Lordfhip's perfon, friends, and caufe ; the fccond
acknowledging Lord Somcrs's kindnefs in having recommended
him ; and concluding with the like ^lemn profeffiont, not more
than a year before Swift d^rferted Lord Somers and all his friends,
writing avowedly on the contrary fide, and (as he boafts himfelf )
libelling all the junto round. I faw alfo the very letters u^dh
Lord Somers wrote to Lord Wharton, in which Swift is very hear«
tily and warmly recommended ; and I well remember the (hort and
very fmart anfwer Lord Wharton is faid to have given ; which, tis
I have obferved, Swift never forgave or forgot : it was to this pur-
pofe ; *' Oh, my Lord, we mud not prefer or countenance tliofe
fellows ; we have not charaAer enough ourfdves." Wartoh.
' The Examinerjf I fuppofe, were not then publilhed amongft
the Dean's works. 'WARBVRToir,
^9 LETTERS TO AND
was known to be a common Friend of all deferving
perfons of the latter fort, when they were in diftrefs :
I cannot but think it hard, that I am not fuffered to
run quietly among the common herd of people, whofe
opinions unfortunately differ from thofe which lead to
favour and preferment.
I ought to let you know, that the Thing we called
a Whig * in England, is a creature altogether differ*
ent from thofe of the fame denomination here ; at
leaft it was fo during the reign of her late Majefty.
Whether thofe on your fide have changed or no, it
hath not been my bufmefs to enquire. I remember
my excellent friend Mr. Addifon, when he iirft came
over hither Secretary to the Earl of Wharton, then
Lord Lieutenant, was extremely offended at the
condud and difcourfe of the Chief Managers here :
He told me they were a fort of people who feemed to
think^ that the principles of a Whig confifted in
nothing elfe but damning the Church, reviling the
Clergy, abetting the Diflenters, and fpeaking con-
temptibly of revealed Religion.
I was difcourfing fome years ago with a certain Mi-
nifter about that whiggifli or fanatical Genius, fo
prevalent among the Engliffi of this kingdom : His
Lordfliip accounted for it by that number of Crom-
well's Soldiers, adventurers eftabliffied here^ who
were
* On a moderate computation^ how manj times have Whigs and
Toriet changed their principles, or rather their names ! When
Swift firft fct out in lifei be was as true a Whig as Addifon.
WAaroir*
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 39
Vrere all of the foureft leaven, and the meaneft birth,
and whofe poflerity arc now in pofleffion of their
lands and their principles. However, it muft be con«
feffed, that of late fome people in this country are
grown weary of quarrelling, becaufe intereft, the
great motive of quarrelling, is at an end ; for, it is
hardly worth contending who fhall be an Excifeman,
a Country. Vicar, a Cryer in the Courts, or an Under-
Clerk.
You will perhaps be inclined to think, that a perSbn
fo ill-treated as I have been, muft at fome time or
other have difcovcred very dangerous opinions in
govemaient ; in suifwer to which, I will tell you what
my political Principles were in the time of her late
glorious Majefty, which I never contradicted by any
aftion, writing, or difcourfe.
Fir ft, I always declared myfelf againft a Popifh
Succeflbr to the Crown, whatever Title he might
have by the proximity of blood : Neither did I ever
regard the right line, except upon two accounts:
firft, as it was eftablifhed by law ; and fecondly, as
it hath much weight in the opinions of the people,
for neceflSty may abolifli any Law, but cannot alter
the fenliments of the vulgar ; Right of inheritance
bdng perhaps the moft popular of all topics ; and
therefore in great Changes, when that is broke, there
^ will remain much heart-burning and difcontent among
the meaner people ; which (under a weak Prince and
corrupt
^ LETTERS TO AND
corrupt Adminiftration) may have the worft co&fef
qpfspces upon the peace of any ftate.
As to what is tailed a Revolution principle *, m^^
opinion was this ; That whenever thofe evils, which
ufually attend and follow a violent change of Govern'*
menty were not in probability fo pemiclous as th^
grievance we fuller under a prefent power, then the
public good will juftify fuch a Revolution* And this
I took to have. been the cafe in the Prince of Orange's
Expedition, although in the confequences it produced
fome very bad effe^, which are likely to flick long
enough by u$«
I had likewife in thofe days k mortal antipathy
againfl; Standing Annies in times of Peace. Becaufe
I always took Standing Armies to be only fervants
hired by the Mafter of the femily for keeping his own
children in flavery ; and becaufe I conceived, that a
Prince, who could not think himfelf fecure without
Mercenary Troops, muft needs have a feparate in«
lereft from that t)f his Subjects. Although I am not
ignorant of thofe artificial Neceflities which a cor«
rupted Miniftry can create, for keeping up Forces to
fupport a Faftion againft the public Intereftk
As
* A full) (horty but folid defence of the j>rinciple$ on which the
Rerolution was built; As the preceding" paragraph contains aU
that can be fcnfibly urged in favour of Herfdkwry Rigit, Tha^
tppic he has enlarged upon, and placed in a perfpicuous light, iit,
the admirable ** Sentiments of a Church of England Man.**
Waktoii*
PROM DR. SWIFT, etc. Jt
As to Parliaments •, I adored the wifdom of that
'GotMc IniUtQtion which made them amiual : and I
was confident our Liberty could never be placed upoa
a firm foundation until that ancient law were re«
ftored among us. For, who fees not, that, while
fucfa Aflemblies are permitted to have a longer dura*
lioa, there grows up a commerce of corruption
between the Miniftry and the Deputies, wherein they
both
^ When Ein^r tTiIilam heiitated about pafling the Bill for
'ttiauttdi ParliaiiKntSv (for annual feem impradicabk, and out of
the qiieftion,) and fcntdowa to Sir IVtlBam Temple^ who had retired
from public bufiaefst to defire be would give him his free opinion
on thii important meafure. Sir tVilliam difpatched Swifts then &
young man, and who lived in bis houfe^ with a letter to bis
Majcfty, informing him, that the mcflfenger was fully inftrudted
to give him all poffible information on the fubjeft. The King
liftened to Swft with patience and attention,' and gave his affcnt
to the Bill. As to <xtcn£ng the duration of Parliament, in the
Reign of George I. Dr. Johnfon has ezpreiTed bimfelf with great
cmphafisy by faying, ^ *rhat the fudden introdudion of twelve
new Peers at once by Queen Anne, was an a£t of authority vio«
lent enough, yet certainly legal ; and by no means to be compared
with that contempt of national rights with which fome time after-
wards, by the inftigation of IVbiggtfm^ the Cmmani, chofen by
the Petpk for ihree years, chofe them/elves forjtven,*'
He Ihould bave faid at the inftigation of fome who cal/ed them*
iielTes H^ifigs, It is in alluiion to this fentiment of Swftf relating
to Parliaments, that Dr. Stopford^ the learned and amiable Biihop
of Cloyne^ thus expreffes bimfelf in a Latin Panegyric on Sw/U
** Inconruptus inter peffimos mores ; magni atqne conftantis
aasmi; Libertatis iiemper ftudiofif&mus, atque nodri Reipublier
ftatus, a Gcotbis quondam £ipicnter in ft ituti,. laudator perpetuus,
propugnator acerrimus. Cujus tamen formam, ambitu et lar-
gitione adeo foedatam, nt vix nunc dignofci -poiBti £»pius indigna*
''kuidiis ploraviu'' Wa&ton.
aa LETTERS TO AND
both find their accounts, to the manifefl danger of
Liberty ? which traffic would never anfwer the defign
nor expence, if Parliaments met once a year.
I ever abominated that Scheme of Politics (now
about thirty years old) of fetting up a monied Inte«
reft in oppofition to the landed. For I conceived, there
could not be a truer maxim in our government than
this. That the Poireifors of the foil are the beft judges
of what is for the advantage of the kingdom. If
others had thought the fame way, Funds of Credit
and South-fea Projeds would neither have been felt
nor heard of.
I could never difcover the neceffity of fufpending
any Law upon which the Liberty of the moft inno-
cent perfons depended ; neither do I think this Prac-
tice hath made the tafte of Arbitrary Power fo agree-
able, as that w^ fhould defire to fee it repeated.
Every Rebellion fubdued and Hot difcovered, contri-
bute to the firmer eftablifhment of the Prince : In the
latter cafe, the knot of Confpirators is entirely broke^
and they are to begin their work anew under a thoufand
diladvantages : So that thofe diligent enquiries into
remote and problematical guilt, with a new power of en«»
forcing them by chains and dungeons to every perfoa
whofe face a Minifter thinks fit to diflike, are not only
oppofite to that Maxim, which declareth it better that
ten guilty men fhould efcape, than one innocent
fuSer i but likewife leave a gate wide open to the.whole
tribe
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 33
tribe of Informers, the moft accurfed, and profUtute,
and abandoned race, that God ever permitted to
plague mankind.
It is true the Romans had a cuflom of chufing a
Diaator, during whofe adrainiftration the Power of
other Magiftrates was fufpended ; but this was done
upon the greateft emergencies; a War near their
doors, or fome civil Diffention : For Armies myft be
governed by arbitrary power. But when the Virtue
of that Commonwealth gave place to luxury and am-
bition, this very office of Diftator became perpetual
in the perfons of the Csefars and their Succeflbrs, the
moft infamous Tyrants that have any where appeared
m flory.
Thcfe are fome of the fentiments I had relating to
public affairs, while I was in the world : What they
are at prefent, is of little importance either to that or
myfelf ; neither can I truly fay I have any at all, or,
if I had, I dare not venture to publifli them : For
however orthodox they may be while I am now
writing, they may become criminal enough to bring
me into trouble before midfummer. And indeed I
have often wiflied for fome time part, that a political
Catechifm might be publilhed by authority four times
a year, in order to inftruft us how we are to fpeak,
write, and aft during the current quarter. I have by
experience felt the want of fuch an inftruftor ; for, in-
tending to make my court to fome people on the pre-
vailing fide by advancing certain old whiggilh prin-
voL. IX.' D ciples.
34 LETTERS TO AND
ciples, which, it feems, had been exploded about a
month before, I have pafTed for a difaSe&ed perfon*
I am not ignorant how idle a thing it is, for a man in
ebfcurity to attempt defending his reputation as a
Writer, while the fpirit of Faftion hath fo univerfally
poffeffed the minds of men, that they are not at leifurc
to attend any thing elfe. They will juft give them-
felves time to libel and accufe me, but cannot fpare a
ininute to hear my defence. So in a plotrdifcovering
age, I have often known aix innocent man feized and
imprifoned, and forced to lie feveral months in chains ,
while the Minifters were not at leifure to hear his
petition, until they had profecuted and hanged the
number they propofed.
All I can reafonably hope for by this letter, is to
convince my friends, and others who are pleafed to
wifh me well, that I have neither been fo ill a Sub-
jed nor fo ftupid an Author, as I have been repre-
fented by the virulence of Libellers, whofe malice
hath taken the fame train, in both, by fathering dan-
gerous Principles in goverment upon me, which I
never maintained, and iniipid Produdions, which 1
am not capable of writing. For, however I may
have been foured by pei'fonal ill treatment, or by me-
lancholy profpe&s for the public, I am too much a
politician* to expofe my own fafety by offenfive
words*
* Swiftf in one fentence only, of kis admirable ** Sentimento
of a Church of Eugland Man/' demolifhed the flavilh and abfurd
dodrine of pafiiTe obedience and nen-re&ftance. ** Many of the
FROM DR* SWIFT, etc.
35
words. And, if my genius and fpirit be funk by in*
creafing years, I have at lead enough difcretion left,
not to miflake the meafure of my own abilities, by at-
tempting fubjefts where thofe Talents are neceflary
which perhaps I may have loft with my youth f*
•i^tm^mmmti
Clergy/' (273 he, " and other learsed men, miftook the obje£k to
which paflivc obedience was due. By the Supreme Magiftrate i$
{noperly uoderftood the Legiilative Power, which in all Govern-
Jncttts nnift be abfolate and unlimited. But the wbrd Mo^
lijtrakt fcennog to denote Vijingle peffon, and to exprcfs the ex^cU*
6ve Power, it came to pafs that the obedience due to the Legifla-
ture was, for want of knowing or conlidering this eafy diftin6tion,
ihHappiied to the Admnlflfatlon. War to (I*
f The following is a curious Letter from Eraffflus Lewis, £fq« to
Dr. Swift, concerning the lad Minifters of Queen Anne.
*« Sir,
** 1 never differed from yott, in my opinion, in any point fo rtlucH,
is in your propofal to accommodate matters between the dragon
aad his quondam friends. I will venture to go fo far with you»
IS to fay be contributed to his own difgrace, by his petiteiTes,
Bore than tbey did, or e^er had it in their power to do. But iince
they would admit of no terms of accommodation, when he offered
to ferve them in their own way, I had rather fee his dead carcafe*
than that he (hould now tamely fubdiit to thofe, who have loaded
him with all the obloquy malice could fuggeft, and tongues utter*
Have not Charteris, Brinfden, and all the runners, been employed
fo call htm dog, villain, fot, and worthlefs ? And (hall he, after
this, join them? To what end ? I have great tendemefs for Lady
Mafham, and think her beft way is to retire, and enjoy the com*
tms of a domeftie life. But fure (he has not produced fuch
immfters as Lord Boling^roke and his companion, probably the
Loid ChanCcUdr Hafcourt or the Bifhop of Rocheiler. The taft'
openly avows he never had obligations to the Dragon, loads him
with ten thonfand crioies \ though his greateft, in reality, was pre-
ferring him. But to come out of this rant ; What (hould they be
firicnds for ? CiH htmo ? Are we in a dreanr ? Is the Queen alive
*ffami Can ioAflSiiSlxuDk hereafter make any figurci but be a
36 LETTERS TO AND
LETTER VI.
DR. SWIFT TO MR. GAY.
Publin, Jan. 8, I72«-J.
piOMiNG home after a fliort Chriftmas. ramble, I
found a letter upon my table, and little expedted
when I opened it, to read your name at the bottom*
I'he beft and greateft part of my life, until thefe lafl
eight years, I fpent in England: there I made my"
friendlhips, and there I left my defires. I am con-
demned for ever to another country j what is in pru*
dence to be done ? I think, to be oblitufque meorum^
oblivifcendus et illis. What can be the defign of your
letter but malice, to wake me out of a fcurvy fleep,
which however is better than none ? I am towards nine
years older fince I left you, yet that is the leaft of my
alterations ;
perfona muta in a drama \ If the Dragon declares againfl the Man
of Mercury, he may flrike in with the terttum quid, that .will pro-
bably arife ; but with him he never can be otberwife than fpurned
and hated. The natural refult of this is, that however I may, for
my private fatisfafliony defire to fee you here, I cannot but think
you (hould go to Ireland to qualify yourfelf, and then return hither,
when the chaos will be jumbled into fomc kind of order. If the
King keeps fome Tories in employment, the notion of Whig and
Tory will be loft ; but that of Court and Country will arife. The
Regency has declared in favour of the Whigs in Ireland. I be-
lieve Mr. Thomas will {land his ground. We (hall be difiblved as
foon as we have fettled' the Civil Lift. We have no appearance
that any attempt will be formed by the Pretender." Wartoii»
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 3v
alterations ; my bufiriefs, my diverfions, my conver-
iations, are all entirely changed for the worfe, and fo
are my ftudies and my amufements in writing ; yet,
after all, this humdrum way of life might be paffable
enough, if yon would let me alone. I fhall not be
able to relifh my wine, my parfons, my horfes, nor
my garden, for three months, until the fpirit you have
raifed fhall be difpoITefled. I have fometimes won-
dered that I have not viftted you, but I have, been
ftopt by too many reafons, befides years and lazinefs,
and yet thefe are very good ones. Upon my return
after hall a year amongft you, there would be to me
Defiderio nee fudor nee modus. I was three years re-
conciling myfelf to the fcene, and the bufinefs, to
which fortune hath condemned me, and flupidity was
what I had recourfe to. Befides, what a figure fhould
I make in London, while my friends are in poverty,
exile, diftrefs, or imprifonment, and my enemies with
rods of iron ? Yet I often threaten myfelf with the
journey, and am every fummer pradifing to get health
to bear it : the only inconvenience is, that I grow
old in the experiment. Although I care not to talk
to you as a Divine, yet I hope you have not been
author of your colic : do you drink bad wine, or
keep bad company? Are you not as many years
older as I ? It will not always Et tibi quos mihi dempferit
apponet annos. I am heartily forry you have any
dealing with that ugly diilemper, and I believe our
friend Arbuthnot will recommend you to temperance
^ 3 and
3l LETTERS TO AND
and exercife. I wi(h they could have a$ good an
effeft upon the giddinefs I am fubjeft to, and which
this moment I am not free from. I ftiould have been
glad if you had lengthened your letter by telling me
the prefent condition of many of my old acquaintance,
Congreve, Arbuthnot, Lewis, etc. but you mentioa
only Mr. Pope, who I believe is lazy, or clfe he
might have added three lines of his own. I am ez«
tremely glad he is not in your cafe of needing great
men's favour, and could heartily wifh that you were
in his. I have been confidering why Poets have fuch
ill fuccefs in making their court, fmce they are al«
lowed to be the greateO: and beft of all flatterers.
The defeft is, that they flatter only in print or in
writing, but not by word of mouth : they will give
things under their hand which they make a confcience
of fpealdng. Befides, they are too libertine to haunt
anti- chambers, too poor to bribe Porters and Foot^
men, and too proud to cringe to fecond-hapd fa*
vourites in a great family. Tell me, are you not
under Original fin by the dedication of your Eclogues
to Lord Bolingbroke ? I am an ill Judge at this dif«
tance ; and befides am, for my eafe, utterly ignorant
^f the commonefl things that pafs in the world ;
but if all Courts have a famenefs in them (as the
Parfons phrafe it) things may be as they were in my
time, when all employments went to Parliament*
men's Friends, who had be^ ufefiil in EledioDSj^
amd ih^c was always a huge Lift of names in arran
6 at
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 39
at the Treafury, which would at leaft take up your
feven years expedient to difcharge even one half,
I am of opinion, if you will not be oflFended, that the
fureft courfe would be to get your Friend who
lodgeth in your houfe to recommend you to the
next chief Governor who comes over here for a
good civil employment, or to be one of his Secre-
taries, which your Parliament-men are fond enough
of, when there is no room at home. The wine is
good and reafonable; you may dine twice a week
at the Deanery-houfe ; there is a fet of company in
this town fufficient for one man ; folks will admire
you, becaufe they have read you, and read of you ;
and a good employment will make you live tple-
rably in London, or fumptuoufly here ; or if you
divide between both places, it will be for your
heahh.
I wifli I could do more than fay I love you. I
left you in a good way both for the late Court, and
the SuccefTors j and by the force of too much honefty
or too little fublunary wifdom, you fell between two
ftools. Take care of your health and money j be
lefs modeft and more aftive ; or elfe turn Parfon and
get a Bilhopric here: Would to God they would
fi^d us as good ones from your fide !
I am ever, etc*
1>4
40 LETTERS TO AND
LETTER Vn.
MR. POPE TO DR. SWIFT.
Jan. t2, 1725.
T FIND a rebuke in a late Letter of yours, that both
flings and pleafes me extremely. Your faying that
I ought to have writ a Poftfcript to my friend Gay's,
makes me not content to write lefs than a whole let-
ter J and your feeming to take his kindly, gives me
hopes you will look .upon this as a fincere effeft of
Friendfhip. Indeed as I cannot but own the Lazi-
nefs with which you tax me, and with which I may
equally charge you, for both of us have had (and
one of us hath both had and given*) a Surfeit of
writing ; fo I really thought you would know your-
felf to be fo certainly entitled to my Friendfhip, that it
,was a poffeflion you could not imagine flood in need
of any further Deeds or Writings to affure you
of it.
Whatever you feem to think of your withdrawn
and feparate flate at this diflance, and in this Ab-
fence. Dean Swift lives flill in England, in every
placp and company where he would chufe to live, and
I find him in all the converfations I keep, and in all
the Hearts in which I defire any fhare.
Wc
' Alluding to his large work on Homer. . Warburton.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 41
"We have never met thefe many years without men-
tion of you. Beiides my old Acquaintance, I have
found that all my friends of a later date are fuch as
v/ere yours before : Lord Oxford, Lord Harcourt,
and Lord Harley, may look upon me as one entailed
^pon them by you * : Lord Bolingbroke is now re-
turned (as I hope) to take me with all his other Here-
ditary Rights : and, indeed, he feems grown fo much
a Philofopher, as to fet his heart upon fome of them
as little, as upon the Poet you gave him. It is fure
ray ill fate, that all thofe I mod loved, and with
ivhom I molt lived, mud be banifhed : after both of
you left England, my conftant Hoft was the Bilhop of
Rochefter \ Sure this is a nation that is curfedly afraid
of being over-run with too much Politenefs, and can-
not regain one great Genius, but at the expence of
another "*• I tremble for my Lord Peterborow
(whom I now lodge with) ; he has too much Wit, as
well as Courage, to make a folid General "* : and if
he
* This circumftance is curiouS) as it (hews to whom P<^e was
primarily indebted for his introdu^ioa to Lords Oxfordj Har-
court, and Bolingbroke.
' Dr. Attcrbiiry. Warburtov.
" The Bifhop of Rochefter thought this to be indeed the cafe ;
and that the price agreed on for Lord B.'s return, was his baniih-
nient : an imagination which fo ftrongly pofleiFed him when he
went abroad, that all the expoftulations of his friends could not
coDfince him of the folly of it. Warburton*
• This Mr. Walfh fcrioufly thought to be the cafe, where, in
m letter to Mr. Pope, he fays " When we were in the North,
^ my Lord Wharton ihewed mc a letter he Md received from a
** certaia
4« LETTERS TO AND
he efcapes being baniibed by others, I fear he will
baniih himfelf. This leads me to give you fome ac-
count of the manner of my Life and Converfation,
which has been infinitely more various and diffipated^
than when you knew me and cared for me } and
among all Sexes, Parties, and ProfeiCons *. A Glut
of Study and Retirement in the firft part of my life
caft me into this ; and this, I begin to fee, will throw
roe agsun into Study and Retirement.
The Civilities 1 have met with from opposite Sets
of people, have hindered me from being violent or
four to any Party ; but at the fame time the Obfer-
vation and Experience I cannot but have colleded^
have made me lefs fond of, and lefs furprized at^
any : I am therefore the more afflided and the more
angry at the Violence and Hardfliips I fee praftifed by
either. The merry vein t you knew me in, is funk into
a Turn of Reflexion, that has made the world pretty
indifferent to me ; and yet I have acquired a Quietnels
of mind, which by fits improves into a cectain degree
of
^pi^y^y^"^ ■ ' ■ ' *^i" f ■>■■■ ■■■» ■— ^^^i^a^— ^wfc
I
« certain great General in Spain [Lord Pcterb.] ; I told him I
** would by all means have that General recalled^ and fet to
<' writing here at home, for it was iinpoflible that a man with fo
** much wit as he (hewed, could be fit to command an army^ or do
•* any other bufincf8.".—Zif//. V. Sepi. 9, 1766. Wa&burton.
* Thi« alTe^led cant has been properly adverted on by Joh«»
{on*
•\ Whatever might have beeii his mtrry vetn^ **his Satires" are
so proofs of his ^* Qmetnefs of mind, wbkb by JU* smfrovet kU%
Cbeerfrlrtefi:*
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 43
df Cheerfulnefs, enough to make me jufl: fo good*
bnmoured at to viih that world well. My Friend*
fliips are increafed by new ones, yet no part of the
warmth I felt for the old is diminifhed. Averfions I
hare none but to Knares, (for Fools I have learned
to bear with,) and fuch I cannot be commonly dvil
to ; for I think thofe men are next to Knaves who
converfe with them. The greatefl: man in power of
this fort &all hardly make me bow to him, unlefs I
had a perfonal obligation, and -that I will take care
not to have. The top pleafure of my life is one I
learned from you both how to gain and how to ufe ;
the Freedom of Friend(hip with men much my Supe«
riors* To have pleafed great men, according to
Horace, is a praife; but not to have flattered
them, and yet not have difpleafed them, is a
greater. I have carefully avoided all intercourfe
with Poets and Scribblers*, unlefs where by great
chance I have found a modeft one. By thefe means
I have had no quarrels with any perfonally ; none
have been Enemies, but who were alfo Strangers to
me : and as there is no great need of Eclairciilement
with fucht whatever they writ or fald I never retaliated^
not only never feeming to know, but often really
never knowing, any thing of the matter. There are
very few things that give me the Anxiety of a wifh ;
the ilrongeft I have would be to pafs my days with
you,
« This affcded difdain of <« PtfOs and ScrMkn^* is in kb
44 LETTERS TO AND
yoa, and a few fuch as you : but Fate has difperfed
them all about the world ; and I find to wifh it is as
▼ain, as to wifli to fee the Millennium and the King*
dom of the Juft upon earth *.
If I have finned in my long filence, confider there
is one to whom you yourfelf have been as great a
finner. As foon as you fee his hand, you will learn
to do me juftice, and feel in your heart how long a
man w&j be filent to thofe he truly loves and refpei^hs.
LETTER Vm.
LORD BOLINGBROKE TO DR. SWIFT.
T AM not fo lazy as Pope, and therefore you mud
not expeft from me the fame indulgence to Lazi«
nefs; in defending his own caufe he pleads yours,
and becomes your Advocate while he appeals to you
as his ^\xdge. You will do the fame on your part ;
and I, and the reft of your common Friends, fliall
have great juflice to ezpe& from two fuch righteous
Tribunals : you refemble perfeftly the two Ale-
houfe-keepers in Holland, who were at the fame time
Burgomafters of the Town, and taxed one another^
Bills alternately. I declare before-hand I will not
ftand to the award ; my Title to your Friendfhip is
goody and wants neither Deeds nor Writmgs to con-
7 firm
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 45
finn it: but annual acknowledgments at lead are
neceflary to preferve it : and I begin to fufped by
your defrauding me of them, that you hope in time
to difpute it, and to urge prefcription againft me. I
would not fay one word to you about myfelf (fince it
is a fubje£t on which you appear to have no curiofity)
was it not to try how for thecontraft between Pope's
fortune and manner of life, and mine, may be car-
ried.
I have been, then, infinitely more uniform and lefs
diflipated than when you knew me and cared for me.
That Love which I ufed to fcatter with fome profiifion
among the female kind *, has b^en thefe many years
devoted
* Bolingbroke was a man of intngucy and offeQed to be fo.
His real fentiments on this point are thus expreiTed to Charles
Wyodham :
Egremont ^
Fapen. \ "Chantelon, Dec. 26, I735<
«« Your Letter, my dear Friend, is this moment brought to me,
and you will receive one with a large pacquet from me to-morrow,
or next day, by young Dupin, who is gone with his Mamma to
Paris. I want to know feveral circumftances about your prefent
palfion, which I hope and believe • » # « « «.
If it be for the Goflein, or the DangeviUe, the only two Ladies
of the Comedy that I know by fight, you muft tell me which. I
want Ukewife to know whether you are happy, and by what
medium, whether by money, or ftark love and kindnefs. With
all Ladies, with thofe particularly, good engeneers proceed by
aflaults, not lapps. ••»««^*«* «
• ••* ••••••••.#
# • • • Whilft I loved much, 1 never laveti long ; hvt
was mconfiani to them all, for the f ah of alL • • * •
#•*••••* * Above all' things,
kt her have no hopes of your fighing, or • * # *
This
4^ LETTERS TO AND
devoted to one objed *. A gteat many miaf<»titfiei
(for fo they are called, though fometimes very im^
properly) and a retirement from the.world, have
made that juft and nice difcrimiaation between my
Acquaintance and my Friends, which we have fddoni
fagacity enough to make for ourfelves j thofe infeQ:t
of various hues, which ufed to hum and buz about
me while I flood in the fun-fhine, have difappeared
fince I lived in the (bade^ No man comes to a Her-
mitage but for the lake of the Hermit } a few philo<«
fophical Friends come often to mme, and they are
fuch as you would be glad to live with, if a dull
climate and duller. company have not altered you ex*
Iremely from what you was nine years ago.
The hoarfe voice of Party was never heard in this
quiet place; Gazettes and Pamphlets are banifhed
from it, and if the Lucubrations of Ifaac Bickerftaff be
admitted, this dlftindion is owing to fome ftrokes by
which it is judged tlutf this illuftrious Philofopher had
(like the Indian Fohu, the Grecian Pythagoras, the
Perfian. Zoroafter, and others his Precurfors among
the Zabians, Magians, and the Egyptism Seers) both
hi»
This 18 very wholefome adtice, and fuch as a man of your age
may pra^fe. I miih you grace to follow h. Adieu! I
am interrupted, but will write to yoa foon again, AdieUy dearcii
Charles P'
* Bolingbroke's firft wife, with whom he fived unhappily, wta
defcended from the famous Jack of Newbery. Notwitbflanding
his Lordfhip's former gallantriee, no one was more fificerdy a»i
fiffedionatcly attached afterwards to his wife*
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 47
bis outward and his inward Dodrine, and that he was
of no fide at the bottom. When I am there, I forget I
ever was of any Party myfelf ; nay, I am often fo hap-
pily abforbed by the abftrafted reafon of things, that
I am ready to imagine there never was any fuch mon-
fier as Party. Alas, I am foon awakened from the
pleafing dream by the Greek and Roman Hiflorians,
by Guicciardine, by Machiavel, and Thuanus ; for I
have vowed to read no hiftory of our own country,
till that body of it, which you promife to finifh^
appears '•
I am under no apprehenfion that a glut of Study
and Retirement * fhould caft me back into the hurry
of
' Sec the firft Note on Letter V. of this Volume. Wa ab u&ton •
^ Bolingbroke, like Pope^ deceived hxmfelfy or fpoke exadly
cmtrary to what he felu No man was more a^ri/tg amd ambU
HoMSf and bo roan ever enjoyed left that phUt^opbtcal retirewuiU
which he afieAed to prize. He adorned his houfe with pifturei
9f rural implements, rakes^ J^ades^ barrows; and perhaps per*
foaded himfelfy for a little while, that he was the perfe£l tranquil
heirmit of the (hades : but no one is really tranquil by effort; the
ytxj parade of contentment he aflumes, proves the contrary. When
he was in France, he amufed himfelf chiefly by hunting in the
Royal Forefts.
In a Letter to Sir Charles Wyndham^ he fays :
E^mont 7
Papers, j " Chantelon. March 14, 1736*
*< As to the fnuff-boxes, dear Charles, get them as foon as you
can, and in the mean time be under no concern about the delay.
When you fend them, take care that they be of the very befi
Tami(h« and carefully put up. As to the pleafnre of expe£iationf
I never found it would do alone, whilft I had dealings with the
Ladies. I thought them extremely patient, if they could wait for
one bawblcy whiUt they played With another. I thank you for
fpeaking
48 LETTERS TO ANt)
of the world ; on the contrary, the fingle regret
which I ever feel, is that I fell fo late into this coorfe
of
fpeaking to your father and Lord Gower^ and dcfire you feafon*
ably to remind them, in the next month I fhall fend for the dogs
oven I make you my compliments on the continoance of your
folly : indulge it, 'tis wifdom to do fo. When difguft fucccedst
or provocation happens, change it for fome other. That pleafure
is languid, when the imaginationis not wanned. • mm
*^ Your orders (hall be obferved, and you (hall know whatever
comes to my knowledge. A new tragedy of Voltaire's has been
a6led lately, with the greateft applaufe imaginable^ and M"^
Goffein has even more of this applaufe than the Author. She has
drawn tears from every eye in Paris. I take the hint you give
me, and will write accordingly. Since your father talks of going
fo early to Orchard, all ideas of a fummePs ramble are gone out of
his thoughts for this year ; and, as glad as I (hould have been to
fee him on this fide of the water, fince I do not intend to^ go to
yours, I cannot be forry for it. What you fhould do at Orchardy
I cannot fee. Was yourfelf to come over to the Continent, dear
Charles, every zephyr will puff you forward. The Tritons will
fmooth the waves before you ; and Alzire, with expanded arms,
• #*•«* # * • will wait for you oa
the (hore. You imagined right, her Grace * and his Grace are ftill
here. Their fervants inhabit the little houfe ; and all they get by
hiring it is, I think, a law fuit with the joiner they employed to
fit it up. Adieu ! I embrace you with all my heart.
** I forgot to tell you, that Mr. Levefon is now here, and that,
after feeing him, and turning him round, I am quite of my firft.
opinion, and determine to place him at Dalynaft's Academy at
Paris.
*^ I hear that fome people at London report I play the Celadon
in this country. The intention is to ^ve me a ridicule, I fuppofe;
and fuch it would be if the report was true. Who the Aftraea is^
I cannot guefs, tmlefs they mean our little Dupin ; and how muck
a Celadon I am to her, you knew."
* Probably the Duchcfs of fiisckingluB*
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 49
nf life ; my niilofophy grows confirmed by habit,
and if you and I meet again, I will extort this appro-
batbn from you : yam non cimjilio bonus 9 fed more i0
peraudusy ut non tantum reile fatere^ pofftmy fed niji
reBe facere non pofftm. The little incivilities I have
met with from oppofite fets of people, have been fo
£u- from rendering me vioknt or four to any, that I
think myfelf obliged to them all ; fome have* cured
me of my fears, by ihewing me how impotent the
malice of the world is ; odiers have cured me of my
hopes, by ihewing how precarious popular friendihips
are \ all have cured me of furprize. In driving me
out of Party, they have driven me out of curfed con\«
pany \ and in dripping me of Titles and Rank and
Eftate, and fuch trinkets, which every man that
will may fpare, they have given me that which no
man am be happy without.
Refleftion and habit have rendered the world lb
indifferent to me, that I am neither afflided nor re-
joiced, angry nor pleafed, at what happens in it, any
farther than perfonal friendihips interefl: me in the
affairs of it, and this principle extends my cares but
a little way. Perfe£l Tranquillity; is the general tenour
of my Efe: good digeftion&, ferene weather, and
iomz other mechanic fprings, wind me above it now
and then, but I never fall bdow it j I am foraetimes
gay, but I am never fad. I have gained new friends,
and have. loijb fome old ones } my acquifitions of this
kind give me a good deal of pleafure, becaufe they
VOL. ix« s have
S6 LETTERS TO AND
faave not been made fightly: I know no vows f<9
folemn as thofe of friendfliip, and therefore a pretty
long noviciate of acquaintance jQiould methinks pre^
cede them : my lofles of this kind give me but
tittle trouble ; I contributed nothing to them ; and a
friend who breaks with me unjuftly, is not worthr
preferving^ As foon as I leave this Town (which
will be in a few days), I (hall fall back into that
courfe of life^ which keeps knaves and fools at a
great diftance from me : I have an averfion to
them both, but in the ordinary courfe of life I think
lean bear the fenfible knave better thsm the foot
One muft indeed with the former be in fome or other
of the attitudes of thofe wooden men whom I have
feen before a fword-cutler's fhop in Germany ; but
even, in thefe conftrained poftures the witty Rafcal
will divert me ; and jlie that diverts me does me a
great deal of good, and lays me under an obliga-
tion to him, which I am not obliged to pay hioi:
in another coin. The fool obliges me to be almofl:
as much upon my guard as the knave, and he
makes me no amends ; he numbs me like the Tor-
por, or he teazes me like the Fly. This is the 'Pic-
ture of an old Friend, and more like him than that
will be which you once aiked, and which he will fend
you, if you continue (till to defire it.-*-— Adieu,
dear Swift, with all thy fauks I love thee entirely ^
make an effort, andlove me on with all mine*
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. S«
LETTER IX.
FROM DR- SWIFT.
Dublin, September 20» ijt}*^
T)£TURKiKO from a fummer expedition of four
months on account of my healthy I found a letter
from you, with an appendix longer than yours from
Lord Bolingbroke. I believe there is not a more
mi&rable malady than an unwillingnefs to write let-
ters to our beft friends, and a man might be philofo-
pher enough in finding out reafons for it. One thing
is clear, that it (hews a mighty difference betwixt
Friendfhip and Love, for a lover (as I have heard) is
always fcribbling to his miftrefs. If I could permit
myfelf to believe what your civility makes you fay,
that I am -ftill remembered by my friends in England,
I am in the right to keep myfelf hcre^-^Non fum qua*
lis eram. I left you in a period of life when one
' year does more execution than three at yours, to
which if you add the dulnefs of the^air, and of the
people, it will make a terrible fum. I have no very
ftrong faith in you pretenders to Retirement * ; you
are not of an age for it, nor have gone through
either
^ Swift was too fenfible an obferver of nature to be deceived
by the hnguage of Bolingbroke or Pope^ however they might per*
haps dective thcmfilvit*
B a
L
54 LETTERS TO AND
»
Cither good or bad fortune enough to go into a
comer, and form conclufions de contemptu muncU &f
fuga faculty unlefs a Poet grows weary of too much
applaufe, as Minifters do of too much weight of bufi-
nefs.
Your happinefs is greater than your Merit.; in
chufing your Favourites fo indifferently among either
Party ; this you owe partly to your . Education, and
partly to your genius employing you in an Art in
which Faftion has nothing to do, for I fuppofe Virgil
and Horace are equally read by Whigs and Tories*
You have no more to do with the Conftitution of
Church and State, than a Chriftian at Conflanti-
nople ; and you are fo much the wifer and the hap-
pier, becaufe both Parties will approve your Poetry as
long as you are known to be of neither.
. Your notions of Friendfliip are new to me ^ ; I be-
lieve every man is bom with his quantum^ arid he
cannot give to one without robbing another. I very
well know to whom I would give the firfl places in
my Friendihip, but they are not in the way : I am
condemned to aiiother fcene, and therefore I diftri-
bute it in Penny-worths to thofe about me, and who
difpleafe me lead ; and fliould do the fame to my feU
iow*prifoners if I were condemned to jail. I can
likewife tolerate Knaves much better than Fools, be-
caufe their knavery does me no hurt in the com*
mcrce
' Yet they are the Chriftian ncljofit. Warburton.
S
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 55
merce I have with them, which however I own is
more dangerous, tho' not fo troublefome, as that of
Fools. I have often endeavoured to eftablifh a Friend*
ihip among all men of Genius, and would fain have
it done : they are feldom above three or four Con»
temporaries, and, if they could be united, would drive
the world before them *• I think it was fo among the
Poets in the time of Auguftus ; but Envy, and Party^
and Pride, have hindered it among us. I do not
include the Subalterns, of which you are feldom
without a large Tribe. Under the name of Poets and
Scribblers I fuppofe you mean the Fools you are con-
tent to fee fometimes, when they happen to be modeff;
which was not frequent among them while I was in
the world.
I would defcribe to you my way of living, if smy
method could be. fo called in this Country. I chufe
my companions among thofe of leaft confequence and
mod compliance : I read the mod trifling books I
can find, and whenever I write, it is upon the moft
trifling fubje^ts : but riding, walking, and fleeping
take up eighteen of the twenty-hour hours. I pro-
craitinate
* Swift, the moment he has (hewn his fuperiority of under*
ftandiog over BoHngbrokc and Pope, fcems willing, in his turn,
(fo weak is Nature,) to make full amends, by uttering fentiments
as narrow-minded, and much more arrogarvt. Hit ideas are more
abfurd than theirs, and more unworthy of a man of fcnfe, as theirs
is the expreflion of unperc^ved felf-love, and did'ated by their own
immediate feelings ; whild his feems to be the refult ofgenerair efUc*
Umt on human nature*
«3
54 LETTERS TO AND
icraftinate more than I did twenty years ago, and have
feveral things to iinifli which I put off to twenty
years hence ; Hac eft viiafolutarum^ He. I fend you
the compliments of a friend of yours, who hath pafled
four months this funimer with two grave acqusunt*
ance at his country-houfe without ever once going to
Dublin, which is but eight milesdiftant; yet when
Jie returns to London, I will engage you Ihall find
him as deep in the Court of Requefb, the Park, the
Operas, and the Coffee-houfe, as any man there. I
am now with him for a few days,
Tou mud remember me with great affe£lion to Dr.
Arbuthnot, Mr. Congrcve, and Gay. — ^I think there
are no more eodem tertio*s between you and me except
Mr. Jervas, to whofe houfe I addrefs this for want of
knowing where you live : for it was not clear from
your laft whether you lodge with Lord Peterborow^
or he with you.
I am ever, etc*
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. $5
LETTER X.
Sq>tember 14, I7a5«
T NEED not tell yoii^ vith ivhat real delight I (hould
have done any thing you defired, and in particular
any good offices in my power towards the bearer of
your Letter, who is this day gone for France. Per-
haps 'tis with Poets as with Prophets, they are fo
much better liked in another country than their own,
that your Gentleman, upon arriving in England, loft
his curiofity concerning me. However, had he tried,
he had found me his friend ; I mean he had found
me yours. I am difappointed at not knowing better
a man whom you efteem, and comfort myfelf only
vrith having got a Letter from you, with which (after
all) I fit down a gainer ; fince to my great pleafure it
confirms my hope of once more feeing you. After fo
many difperfions and fo many divifions, two or three
of us may yet be gathered together : not to plot, . not
to contrive filly fchemes of ambition, or to vex our
own or others' hearts with bufy vanities, (fuch as per-
haps at one time of life or other take their Tour in
every man,) but to divert ourfelves, and the world too,
if it pleafes ; or, at worft, to laugh at others as inno-
cently and as unhurtfuUy as at ourfelves. Your
Travels * I hear much of j my own, I promife you,
(hall
f Gulliver. Warxueton.
5^ LETTERS TO AND
ihall never more be in a ftrange land, but a diligent,
I hope ufefiil, inTeftigation of my own Territories * *•
I mean jxo more Tranilations, but fomethihg do-
meftic, fit for my own country, and for my own
dme«
If you come to us. Til find you elderly Ladies
enough that can halloo, and two that can nurfe, and
they are too old and feeble to make too much noife ;
as you will guefs, when I tell you they are my own
mother, and my own nurfe. I can alTo help you to
a Lady who is as deaf, tho' not fo old, as yourfelf s
you'll be pleafed with one another, TU engage, tbo'
you don't hear one another ; you'll converfe like
fpirits by intuition. What you'll mod wonder at is,
jhe is confiderable at Court, yet no party-woman, and
lives in Court, yet would be eafy, and make you
cafy.
One of thofe you mention (and I dare fay always
will remember). Dr. Arbuthnot, is at this time ill of
a very dangerous diftemper, an impofthume in the
bowels; which is broke, but the event is very un^
certain. Whatever that be (he bids me tell you, and
I write this by him) he lives or dies your faithful-
friend ; and one reafon he has to defu-e a litde longer
lifei is the wifh to fee you once more*
He
* The Eflayon Man. Warburtok.
* This is the firft notice he gives Swift of his great work ; and
is fo obfcure an hint, that Swift certainly couM not guefs at the
fybjed, wmten 1725. Waeton.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 57
He is gay enough in this circumftance to tell you^
he wou'd give you (if he could) fuch advice as might
cure your deafnefs, but be would not advife you, if
you were cured, to quit the pretence of it ; becaufe
you may by that means hear as much as you will;
and anfwer as little as you pleafe. Believe me
Yours, etc.
LETTER XI.
FROM DR. SWIFT.
September 29, 1725.
1 AM now returning to the noble fcene of Dublin,
into the grand Monde, for fear 0/ burying my parts:
to fignalize myfelf among Curates and Vicars, and
conned all corruptions crept in relating to the weight
of bread and butter, through thofe dominions where
I govern. I have employed my time (befides ditch^
ing) in iiniihing, correding, amending, and tranfcrib*
ing my * Travels *, in four parts complete, newly
augmented^
'Gullivcr'g Travels. Warburtow.
• Thcfc Travels and the Talc of a Tub arc indifputaWy the
two moft capital works of Swift. It is remarkable that he never
would own himfelf to be the author of the latter ; nor is the
flighteft hint of it to be found in any of his writings I have very
lately been authentically informed, that Swift ufed to be mortified
at Sir William 'f'emple's frequent cenfv^re and contempt of bur-
Jefi^ue writings ; and was much hurt at the la& paragraph of Sir
WiUiam't
58 LETTERS TO AND
augmented, and intended for the preTs Vfhen the
world ihali deferve them, or rather \A\eti a Printer
' Jhall be found brave enough to venture hia ears. I
like the fcheme of our meeting after diflrefieg and
difperiions ; but the chief end I propofe to myfelf ia
all my labours, is to vex the world, rather than di-
vert it; and if I could compafs that defign without
hurting my own perfon or fortune, I would be the
moft indefatigable writer you have ever feen, witbocit
reading. I am exceedingly pleafed that you have
done with Tranllations ; Lord Treafurer Oxford often
lamented that a rafcally world fliould lay you under a
necelfity of mifemploying your genius for fo long a
time. But (ince you will now be fo much better em-
ployed, when you think of the workl, give it one laih
the more ac my requeft. I have ever hated all Na-
ti(»s, Profeilions, an4 Communities; and all my
love is towards Individuals : for inftance^ I hate the
Tribe of Lawyers, but I love Counfellor Such*a-one,
and Judge Such-a-one : 'tis fo with Fhyficianis, (I will
not
William^B firft Eflay in his MifceUanea ; where he fajs, ** I wi(h
the vein of ridiculing all that is ferious apd good, all Honour
and Virtue, as well as Learning and Piety, may have no worfe
tSe€t on any State ; 'tis the itch of our age and climate i and hat
over-run hoth the Court and the Suge, enters the Houfe of the
Lords and Commons^ as holdly as a CofTee-houfe ; debates of
Council as well as private convcrfation i and I have known in my
life, more than one or two minifters of State, that would rather
have faid a witty thing, than have done a wife one ; and made the
Company latigh, rather than the Kingdom rejoice.*' Wartoh«
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 59
not fpcak of my own Trade,) Soldiers, Englifli,
Scotch, French, and^the reft. But principally I hate
and detefl: that animal called Man *, although 1 hearti-
ly lore John, Peter, Thomas, and fo forth. This
b the fyftem upon which I have governed myfelf
many years, (but do not tell,) and fo I fhall go on till
I have done with them. I have got materials towards
a Treadfe, provmg the faUity of that definition Ani-^
md ratwnale f, and to (hew it Ihould be only ratioms
capax, . Upon this great foundation of Mifanthropy
(the* not in Timon's manner) the whole building of
my Travels is ereded ; and I never will have peace of
mind, tiU all honeft men are of my opinion : by con«
fequence you are to embrace it immediately, and
procure that all who deferve my efteem may do fo
too. The matter is fo clear, * that it will admit of no
<%ate ; nay, I will hold a hundred pounds that you
and I agree in the point.
I did not know your OdylTey was finiflied, being
yet in the country, which I (hall leave in three days*
I thank you kindly for the prefent, but ihall like it
three-fourths the lefs for the mixture you mention of
^^her hands j however, I am glad you faved yourfelf
^ much drudgery.— I have been long told by Mr.
Ford
A fentiment that diflionours him, z% a Man, a Chnftian,
^^ 3 Philofopher ! as indeed did his condu6fc.to wards Mifs Van«
Qomrighy and hi« cruelty to Mrs. Johnfon : which cannot be pal-
**tcd nor pardoned. Warton.
t There is no peribn fo capable of doing the greateft injury to
P<^blic morals, as a man of great talents, but of miftaken and per-
W«d fcnfibility.
6o
LETTERS TO AND
Ford of your great atchievements in building and
«
planting, and efpecially of your fubterranean paflage
to your garden, whereby you turned a Blunder into
a Beauty, which is a piece of jfrs Poetica.
I have almoft done with Harridans, and fhall fooa
become old enough to fall in love with girls of four-
teen. The lady * whom you defcrihe to live at Court,-
to be deaf, and no party-woman, I take to be My.
thology, but know not how to moralize it. She can*
not be Mercy, for Mercy is neither deaf, nor lives at
Court: Juilice is blind, and perhaps deaf, but nei-
ther is fhe a Court-lady : Fortune is both blind and deaf,
and a Court-Lady, but then (he is a mod damo*
able Parry-woman, and will never make me eafy, as
you promife. It mufl be Riches, which anfwers all
your defcription : I am glad ihe vifits you, but my
voice is fo weak, that I doubt (he will never hear me,
Mn Lewis fent me an account of Dn Arbuthnot's
illnefs, which is a very fenfible Affliftion to me, who
by living fo long out of the world, have loft that
hardnefs of heart coniraSed by years and general
converfation. I am daily lofmg friends, and neither
fceking nor getting others. Oh if the world had but a
dozen of Arbuthnots in it f, I would burn my Travels !
But,
* This was written in 172J. Perhaps Pope meant Mrs*
Howard* wtth whom Swift might not at this time be ac-
quainted.
f Had Swift looked farther, and with a more liberal eye,
}ie might perhaps have found in the world more than a dozen
Axbttthnotal! This is fomething like poor Cowper's idea, who.
being
FROM DR, SWIFT, etc 6t
But, however, he is not without fault. There is a
paflage in Bede, highly commending the piety and
learning of the Irifh in that age, where after abund*
ance of praifes he overthrows them all, by lamenting
that, alas ! they kspt « Eafter at a wrong time of the
year. So our Doftor has every quality and virtue
that can make a man amiable or ufeful; butsalas!
he hath a fort of ilouch in his walk ! I pray God pro*
teS him, for he is an excellent Chridian, though not
a Catholic.
I hear nothing of our Friend Gay, but I find the
Court keeps him at hard meat. 1 advifed him to
c6me over here with a Lord Lieutenant. Philips
writes Little Flams (as Lord Leicefter called thofe fort
of vcrfes) on Mifs Carteret. A Dublin Blackfmith,
a great poet, hath imitated his manner in a poem to
the fame Mifs. Philips is a complainer, and on this
occafion I told Lord Carteret, that Complainers
never fucceeded at Court, though Railers do.
Are
being difgufted with the world, fell in love with the Brft venerable
gentlewoman he faw at Huntingdon^ and wondered ail the world
waft not like her ; when probably he would have met with ^ being
jnil'as good in the firfl refpetiable old Lady he faw on a Sunday
going to church at Brentford ! What heart, however, can blame
Cowper, when we confider his general philanthropy and kindnefs,
his fenfibilitiea and energies, perverted like Swift's, but always
amiable; knd even ta their greateft weaknefTes commanding
refped, veneration, and fympathy : and who but mud fpeak with
tendernefi of a mind that produced the patheiic and affcding
Stanzas «• to Mary/'
6i LETTERS TO AND
Are you altogether a country gentleman? that t
niufl addrefs to you out of London, to the hazdrd of
your lofing this precious letter, which I will now
conclude, altho' fo much paper is left* I have an ill
Name, and therefore (hall not fubfcribe it, but yo«
will guefs it comes from one who cfteems and loves
you about half as much as you deferve, I mean, as
much as he' can.
I am in great concern, at what I am juft told is in
fome of the news-papers, that Lord Bolingbroke is
much hurt by a fall in hunting *• I am glad he has fo
much Youth and vigour left, (of which he hath not
been thrifty,) but I wonder he has no mors Difcretion.
n-- ■ ■
LETTER IIL
OAober 15, 172^.
J AM wonderfully pleafed with the fuddennefs of yotir
kind anfwer. It makes me hope you are coming
towards us, and that you incline more and more to
your old friends, in proportion as you draw nearer to
them J and are getting into our Vortex. Here is
One
« From Bolingbroke's lettert to Sir Wilfiam Wyndbam^ it
appears how attached he was, or at leaft thought hirorelf, t»
this diveriioa ; which probaUy was, like his farmng^ a mere
attempt
*< To beguile the thing he was.
By /cming oiherv;tfi," Otrslm*
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc* gj
One *, who was once a powerful planet, but has now
(after long eaq)erience of all that comes of ihming)
learned to be content, with retummg to his firft pointy
without the thought or ambition of fhinlng at alL
Here is Another, who thinks one of the gresueft
glories of his Father was to have diflinguiihed and
loved you, and who loves you hereditarily. Here is
Arbuthnot, recovered from the jaws of death, and
more pleafed with the hope of feeing you again, than
of reviewing a world, every part of which, he has
long defpifed, but what is made up of a few men like
yourfelf. He goes abroad again, and is more chear-
ful than even health can make a man ; for he has a
good confcieuce into the bargain (which is the mod
Catholic of all remedies, tho' not the mod Univerfal).
I knew it would be a pleafure to you to hear this, and
in troth that made me write fo foon to you.
Fax fbrry poor P. is not promoted in this age ; for
certainly if his reward be of the next, he is of all
Poets
* Boliugbroke* It is fiud, in a Letter which is printed in
his name, that there were only three men capable of governing ;
one was bimftlff another Pope 1 1 Laughable as this may appear^
I do not think it very unlikely he fliould have faid fo. A
man, who rates his own abilities at the higheft, in proportion
«$ the world in general negleds thero» thinks thai perfon only
fit to rank m^it to him, who alone has difcernment enough
to appreciate his tranfcendental talents ! I Pope fays in this Letter*
that his friend is,
** PauUo minuj ah angeiis*** —
This was probably his Lordihip's own opinion, and hence his
admiration of his friend's dtfcernmcnt !
When Bolingbroke talks of retirement ^ it is the language
of vexation and dif appointment affecting the tonq of pLilofophy.
64 LETTERS TO AND
Poets the moft miferable. Tm alfo forry for another
reafon ; if they don't promote him, they'll fpoil the
conclufion of one of my Satires, where having en*
deavoured to correft the Tafle of the town in wit and
criticifm, I end thus.
But what avails to lay down rules for fcnfc ?
In ^'s Reign thefc fruitlcfe lines wefc writ.
When Ambrofe Philips was preferred for Wit !
Our friend Gay is ufed as the friends of Tories are
by Whigs (and generally by Tories too), Becaufe
he had humour, he was fuppofed to have dealt with
Dn Swift; in like manner as when any one had
learning formerly, he was thought to have dealt with
the Devil. He puts his whol€ truft at Court in that
Lady ^ whom I defcribed to you; and whom you take
to be an allegorical creature of fancy : I wiih ihe really
were Riches for his fake; though, as for yours, I
queftion whether (if you knew her) you would
change her for the other.
Lord Bolingbroke had not the leafl harm by his
fall; I wifli he had received no more by his other
fall ; Lord Oxford had none by his. But Lord Bo-
lingbroke is the moft ' improved Mind fince you law
him, that ever was improved without fhifting into a
new body, or being : paullo minus ab angelis. I have '
often imagined to myfelf, that if ever all of us meet
iagain, after fo many varieties and changes, after fo
much of the old world and of the old man in each of
us
* Mrs. Howard. How woefully Gay was dilappointed ii
now well known, and the caufe of it.
FROM DR- SWIFT, etc. 65
us ha^ been altered, that fcarce a fingle thought of the
one, any more than a fingle atom of the other, re-
mains juft the fame; I've fancied, I fay, that we
ihould meet like the righteous in the Millennium, quite
in peace, divefted of all our former Paffions, fmiling
at our paft follies, and content to enjoy the kingdom
of the Jufl, in tranquillity. But I find you would
rather be employed as an avenging Angel of wrath,
to break your Vial of Indignation over the heads of
the wretched creatures of this world: nay, would
make them Eat ymir Book^ which you have made
(1 doubt not) as bitter a pill for them as poifible.
I won't tell you what deflgns I have in my head
(befides writing a fet of Maxims in oppofition to all
Rochefoucauk's principles "" *) till I fee you here, face
to £ice. Then you ihall have no reafon to complain
of me for want of a generous difdain of this world,
though I have not lod piy Ears in yours and their fer-
vice. Lord Oxford too (whom I have now the third
time mentioned in this letter, and he deferves to be
always mentioned in every thing that is addceifed to
you, or comes from you) experts you : that ought to
be
* This waa only {aid aa an oblique reproof of the horrid mifan-
ihropy in the foregoing Letter ; and which he fuppofed> might be
chiefly occafioned by the Dean's fondnefs for Rocbefoucauby whofe
Maxims are founded on the principle of an univerfal felfiflinefs in
human nature. Warburton,
• *« Who is the great Phdofopher^^ fays AdJlfim^ « for admi-
mftering of cohfolatioa to the idle, the envious, and wofthlefs part
of mankind." W4RT0M,
YOL. m. F
6§ LETTERS TO AND
be eiiough to bring you hither ; 'tis a better reafon
tiiai) if the natioq expeded you. For I realty enter
•s fully as you can defire, into your principle of love
pf Individuals : and I think the way to have a public
fpirit is iirft to have a private one ; for who can be-
lieve (&id a friend of mine) that any man can care for
a hundred thoufand people, who never cared for one ?
No ilUhumoured man can ever be a Patriot, any more
than a Friend.
I def\gned to have left the following page for Dr.
Arbuthnot to fill, but he is fo touched with the
period in yours to me concerning him, that he in*
tOt^ to anfwer it by a whole letter. He too is bufy
i^bout a book, which I guefs he will tell you of. So
adieu — what remains worth telling you ? Dean
Berkley is well, and happy in the profecution of his
l^heme *• Lord Oxford and Lord £oIingbroke in
health, Duke Difney f fo alfo ; Sir William Wynd-
)iam better, Lord Bathurft well. Thefe, and (ome
ptheirs, pref^rve their ancient honoxu* and ancient
friendihip. Thofe who do neither, if they were d-«--d,
what is it to a Proteftant pried, who has nothing to
dp with the dead ? I anfwer for my own part as a Pa-
pift, I would rot pray them out of Purgatory.
Mf
^ His Scheme for a religious fettlement at Bermudas.
'f Duke Difney is often mentioned with afFe6liooate and fa-
iQJliar kiodnefs by the party. He lived at Grecnwichi aa appmrs
ffqm Gay's ballad :
*« I hear facetious Difney fay,
Duke, that's the room for Pope, and that for Gay*"
My name is as bod an 6ne as yours^ sihd hated bj^
ill bad Poets, frbm Hopkins and Sternhold to Gildoii
and Cibbcr. The firft prayed againft mc with th€
Turk; and a modern Imitator of theirs (whom I
leave you to find out) has added the GbriftKlil to
^cm^ with proper definitions of each in this mSdOHQtp,,.
The Pope^s tRe Whote of Babylon,
The Turk he is a Jew :
The Chriftiail is an Infidel
That fitteth in a Pew.
W - "^j^mtA^iii^tikta^atimdmmi^ltLm^^mM^d^
LETTER XUh
FROM DR. SWIFT*
t swduLD foonct have acknbwiedgecf yoursj Jf a fei
veriffi diforder and the relics of it had itot difabkcJ
fee for a fortnight* I now begin to matke excufes,
becaufe I hope 1 am pretty near feeing you, and there^
Fore! would cultivate an acquaintance j becaufe, if yotf
do not know me when we meet, you need only keep
enc of my letters, and comparre it whh my fece, fof
toy face and letters are counterparts of m^ he^ot. I
fear I haVe not expreffed that right, but I mcatti- weffi
ttid I hate Wots-: I look in your lettci*, and in my coti^
fcience you fey the fame thing, but in af bettek* inaa^^
If a MX.
«8 LETTERS TO AND
ncr. Pray tell my Lord Bolingbroke that I ^niOh he
vere baniflied again, for then I Ihould bear from hinfl^
when he was full of philofophy, and talked de contempfu
mundi. My^Lord Oxford was fo extremely kind as
to write to me immediately an account of his fon's
birth; which I immediately acknowledged, but be*
fore the letter could reach him, I wiflicd it in the fea :
I hope I was more aiHided than his Lordfhip. HTis
bard that Parfons and Beggars fliould be over-run
with brats, while fo great and good a £aimily wants an
heir to continue it. I have received his father'^
pidure, but I lament (fub JtgtUo confeJftonU) that it
is not fo true- a reiemblance as I could wi(h. Drown
the world ! I am not content with defpifing it, but I
would anger it, if I could with fafety. I wifh there
were an Hofpital built for its Defpifers, where one
might a6l with fafety, and it need not be a large
building, only I would have it well endowed. P** is
fort ebanceUant whether he Ihall turn Parfon or no.
But all employments here are engaged, or in rever«
fion* Caft Wits and caft Beaux have a proper fanc«
tuary in the church : yet we think it a fevere judge*
snent, that a fine gentleman, and fo much the finer
for hating EcdefialUcs, fhould be a domeftic humble
Ittamer to an Iri(h Prelate. He is neither Secretary
nor Gentleman* uiher, yet ferves in both capacities*
He hath publifhed fereral ireafons why^ he never came
toiee me^ but the bed is, that Ihave not waited on
8 his
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 69
his Lordfiiip. We have had a Poem fent from Lon-
don in imitation of that on Mifs Carteret. It is on
Mils Harvey, of a day old ; and we fay and think it is
yours. I wife it were not, becaufe I am againft mo-
nopolies.— You might have fpared me a few more lines
of your Satire, but I hope in a few months to fee it alL
To hear boys, like you, talk of Millenniums and
tranquillity! I am older -by thirty years^ Lord Bo-
lingbroke by twenty, and you but by ten, than when
we lad were together; and we (hould differ more
than ever, you coquetting a maid of honour, my
Lord looking on to fee how the gamefters play, and I
railing at you both. I dedre you and all my friends
will take a fpecial care that iViy Difaffe^on to the
world may not be imputed to my Age, for I have
credible witneifes ready to depofe, that it hath never
varied from the twenty-firft to the f--ty.eighth year of
my life (pray fill that blank charitably). I tell you
after ail, that I do not hate mankind, it is votis autres
who hate them, becaufe you would have them rea*
fonable Animals, and are angry at being difappointed :
I have always rejeded that definition, and made
another of my own. I am no more angry with—
than t was with the Kite that lad week flew away
with one of my chickens ; and yet I was pleafed when
one of my fervants (hot him two days after. This I
lay, becaufe you are fo hardy as to tell me of your
intentions to write Maxims in oppofition to Roche*
foucault, who is my favourite, becaufe I found my
V F 3 wholt
i-ETTEItS to AND
whole chara^r in him ^ ; however I wHI read him
agiun, becaufe it is poflible I may have fince under*
gone fome alterations.-<^Take care the bad Poets do
not out'Wir you, as they have fcrved the good oneg
in every age, whom they have provoked to tranfmit
their names to pofterity. Msevius is as well known aa
Virgil, and Gildon will be as well kno^im as you, if
bis name gets into your Verfes : and as to the difference
between good and bad fame *, 'tis a perfed trifle,
I aik a thoufand pardons, and fo leave you for this
time, and will write again without concerning myfelf
whether you write oi: no,
I am, etc«
1— l»^P~ i.» mi» I I ■<i| m ' !■■■■ II I 1 ■ p 111 •^mmm^mm^mrmm^mmmm n | iiNT
LETTER XIV.
DeGrmber lo* I7ij«
V FtKB myfelf the better acquainted with you for a
long Abfence, as men are with themfelves for a
long AiHiftion : Abfence does but hold off a Friend,
te make one fee him the more truly. I am infinitely
more pleafed to hear you are coming near us, than at
iny^ thing you fi^em to think in my favour ; an opinion
which
* This, methinksy it do great cotDplimeot to his owq
lictit, Warburtoh.
♦ »* I dffirc Fame/* fays a certain Philofopher : ** Let thk
occur; if I ad well I fliall have the cfteem of all my acquaintaqcei
and what is all the reft to nc ?'* WAaroii.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. ft
which has perhaps been aggrandized by .the didancd
or dulnels of Ireland, as objeds look larger throogh
a medium of Fogs : and yet 1 am infinitely pleslfdd
with that too. I am much the happier for fiildiii^
(a better thing than our Wits) our Judgments jaxapi
in the notion that all Scribblers (hould be pa^d by hi
filence. To vindicate one's felf againft fuch nafty
flander, is much as wife as it was in your coontry^i
man, when the people imputed a ftink to him, to
prove the contrary by (hewing his backfide. So tet
Gildon and Phillips reft in peace ! What Virgil had to
do with Masvius *, that he fhould wear him Qpon his
ileeve to all eternity, I don't know. Tve been the
longer upon this, that I may prepare you for the re»
caption both you and your works may poflibly meet
in England. We your true acquaintance ivill look
upon you as a good man, and love you ; othersr will
look upon you as a Wit, and bate you. So ypu
know the word; unlefs you are as vindictive as
Virgil, or the aforefaid Hibernian. .
I wifli as warmly as you for an Hofpital in which
Co lodge the Defpifers of the world ; only I fear it
would be filled wholly like Ch^lfea, with maimed
Sokliers, and fuch as had been difabled in its fervice.
I would rather have thofe, that out of fuch generous
prindples as you and I, defpife it, fly in its face, than
retire from it ; it would v^x one more to be knocked
on
. f X>r Pope with TUbalJ, Concantn, and Snudkjf, kC. WahtoH.
F4
71 LETTERS TO AND
on the head with a Pifs-pot ♦, than by a Thunder-
bolt. As to greater OpprefTors, they are like Kites
or Eagles, one ezpeds mifchief from them; but to
be fquirted to death (as poor Wycherley faid to me
on his death-bed) by Apothecaries Apprentices, by
the underftrappers of under-fecretaries to fecretaries
who were no fecretaries — ^this would provoke as dull
a dog as Ph«*— s f himfelf.
So much for enemies, now for friends. Mn L— -*
thinks all this indifcreet : the Dr. not fo ; he loves
mifchief the bed of any good-natured man in Eng-
land. Lord B.^ is above trifling : when he writes of
any thing in this world, he is more than mortal : if
ever he trifles^ it mujl be when he turns a Divine. Gay
is writing Tales for Prince William : I fuppofe Mr.
Phillips will take this very ill, for two reafons ; one
that he thinks all childifh things belong to him, and
the other becaufe he'll take it ill to be taught that one
may write things to a child without being childifh.
What have I more to add ? but that Lord Oxford
defires eameftly to fee you : and that many others
whom you do not think the worfl of, will be gratified
by it ; none more, be aflured^ than
Yours, etc.
P.S. Pope
* Dr. Dehny, from bis partiality to Swift^ is of opinion, that
the Dean caught his love of grofs and filthy objefts from Pope.
The contrary feems to be the fa£^. One would think this love
contagious ; fee two palTages in the Vutv of L^rd Bormghroh/i
PUofipbyy Letter IL pages 67 and 220. ' Warton*
t PhiUipt.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc- 73
P. S. Pope and you are very great '\^its, and 1
think very indifferent Philofophers : if you defpifed
the world as much as you pretend, and perhaps be-
lieve, you would not be fo angry with it. The
feunder of your feft *, that noble Original whom you
dunk it fo great an honour to refemble ^ was a Have
to the worft part of the world, to the Court ; and all
his big words were the language of a flighted Lover,
who deiired nothing fo much as a reconciliation, and
feared nothing fo much as a rupture. I believe the
world bath ufed me as fcurviiy as moil people, and
yet I could never find in my heart to be thoroughly
angry with the iimple, falfe, capricious thing. I
ihould blufli alike to be difcovered fond of the world,
or piqued at it. Your definition of Animal rationis
capax^ inftead of the common one Animal Rationale^
will not bear examination: define but Reafon, and
you will fee why your diftindtion is no better than
that
• Very different is the opinion that Lord Shaftclbury has
given of Seneca, the perfon here alluded to. •* *Ti8 not," iayi
he finely, '* the perfon, charader, or genius, but the ftyle and
manner of this great man, which we prefumc to cenfare. We
acknowledge his noble fentiments and worthy aftions : we own
th« Patriot and good Minifter ; but we rejef^.the Writer. Where
an univerfal Monarchy was a6tually eflablifhed, and the intereft
of a whole world concerned ; he furely mud have been efleemed
a Guardian Angel, who, as a Prime Mini{ler, could, for feverai
years, turn the very worft of Courts, and worft-conditioned of all
Princes, to the fatherly care and juft government of mankind.
Such a Minifter was Seneca, under an Agrippina and a Nero." —
Charaaerijiuif vol. iii. p. 2j. WAaToa,
f Seneca. WAmuaroN.
74 LETTERS tO ANI>
that of the Pontiff Coffa; between mala ratio^ and
bona ratio. But enough of this : make us a vifit, and
ril fubfcribe to any fide of thefe important queftions
which you pleafc. We differ lefs than you imagine,
perhaps, when you wifhed me banifhed again : but I
am not lefs true to you and to Philofophy in Eng-
land, than I was in France.
Tours, etc. B.
LETTER XV.
TROM DR. SWIFT.
London, May 4, 1726.
T HAD rather live in forty Irelands than under the
frequent difquiets of hearing you are out of order.
I always apprehend it moft after a great dinner ; for
the lead Tranfgreffion of yours, if it be only two bits
tnd one fup more than you ftint, is a great de*
bauch ; for which you certainly pay more than thofe
fots . who are carried dead drunk to bed.. My Lord
Peterborow fpoiied every body's dinner, but efpecially
mine, with telling us that you were detained by fick*
nels. Pray let me have three lines under any hand
or pot-hook that will give me a better account of yonr
health : which concerns me more than others, becaufe
I love and efteem yoa for reafons that moft oAerS'baTtf
fitde
r I
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 75
little to do with, and would be the fame although you
bad never touched a pen further than with writu^ to
me.
I am gathering up my luggage, and preparing for
my journey : I will endeavour to think of you as little
as I can, and when I write to you^ I will ftriye not to
think of you ; this I intend in return to your kind-
nefs ; and further, I know nobody has dealt with me
Jo cruelly as you, the cot^eqqences of which ufage I
fear will lafl as long as my life, for £6 long flull I be
{in fpite of my heart) entirely Tours.
LETTER XVL
Auguft 22, 172$.
*% I^AKY a Ihort figh you coft me the day I left you,
and many more you will coft me, till the day
you return, I really walked about like a man ba*
niflied, and when I came home found it no home.
'Tis a fenfaUon like that of a limb lopped off, one is
trying- every minute unawares to ufe it, and finds it is
not. I may fay you have ufed me more cruelly than
you have done any other man ; you have made it
more impoflible for me to live at,eafe without you ;
habitude itfelf would have done that, if I had lefs
friendfhip in my nature than I have. Befides my na->
tural memory of you, you have made a local one,
whick
76 LETTERS TO AND
which prefents you to mc in every place I frequent ;
I fliall never more think of Lord Cobham's, the
woods of Ciceter*, or the pleafmg profpeS of
Byberry t, but your Idea muft be joined with *era ;
nor fee one feat in my own garden, or one room
in my own houfe, without a Phantom of you,
fitting or walking before me. I travelled with you to
Chefter. I felt the extreme heat of the weather, the
inns, the roads, the confinement and clofenefs of the
uneafy coach, and wifhed a hundred times I had either
a Deanry or a Horfe in my gift. In real truth, I have
felt my foul peevifli ever fmce with all about me, from
a warm uneafy defire after you. I am gone out of
myfelf to no purpofe^ and cannot catch you* Iniiat
in pedes was not more properly applied to a poor dog
after a hare, than to me with regard to your depart-
ure J. I wifh I could think no more of it, but lie
down and fleep till we meet again, and let that day
(how far foever oflF it be) be the morrow. Since I
cannot, may it be my amends that every thing you
wiih may attend you where you are, and that you
may find every friend you have there, in the ftate
you wifli him, or her : fo that your vUits to us may
have no other effed, than the progrefs of a rich man
to
• Circnccfter. f Bybuiy.
X It it poflible Pope could feci all this, or Swift believe it?
Swift had been on a vifit to Pope, but left him abruptly ; at he
faya himfelf, becaufe ** two fick friends" cannot do together.
Pope was perhaps fearful of fome oflFence having been taken j and
tberefare ihews the greater kindncfs and regret on his departure
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 77
to a remote eftate, which he finds greater than he ex.
peded ; which knowledge only ferves to make him
live happier where he is, with no difagreeable profpe£t
if ever he (hould choofe to remove. May this be your
ftate till it become what I wifh. But indeed I cannot
esprefs the warmth with which I wifh you all things,
and myfclf you. Indeed you are engraved elfewhere
than on the Cups you fent me (with fo kind an in-
(cription), and I might thro\y them into the Thames
without injury to the giver. I am not pleafed with
them, but take them very kindly too : and had I fuf*
pedcd any fuch ufage from you, I (hould have en«
joyed your company lefs than I really did, for at this
rate I may fay.
Nee tecum poflum vlvere, nee Gne te.
I will bring you over juft fuch another prefent, when
I go to the Deanry of St. Patrick's ; which I promife
you to do, if ever I am enabled to return your kind-
netL Donarem Pateras^ efc. Till then I'll drink
(or Gay (ball drink) daily healths to you, and FU
add to your infcription the old Roman vow for years
to come, VOTIS'X. VOTIS XX. My Mother's
age gives me authority to hope it for yours. Adieu.
78 LETTERS TO ANO
LETTER XVn*
itroj^RS to Mr. Gay gave inc greater (ztiBhStiou
than that to me (though that gave me a great
deal) ; for to hear you were fafe at your journey's end^
exceeds the account of your fktigues while in the way
to it ; otherwife, believe me, every tittle of each i$
important to me, which fets any one thing before my
cyc8 that happens to you. I writ you a long letter^
which I guefs reached you the day after your arrivals
Since then I had a conference with Sir •^— , who ex-
preflfed his defire of having feen you again before you
left us. He faid he obferved a willingnefs in you to
Hve among us; which I did not deny; but at th^
fame time told him you had no fuch defign in your
coming this time, which was merely to fee a few of
thofe you loved: but that indeed all thofc wiihed
it, and particularly Lord Peterborow and myfelf^
who wiflied you loved Ireland lefs, had you any reafon
to love England more. I faid nothing but what I
think would induce any man to be as fond of you as
I, plain Truth, did they know either it or you. t
can't help thinking (when I confider the whole fliort
Lift of our friends) that none of them except you and
I are qualified for the Mountains of Wales. The
Dr.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 7^
Dr. * goea tq Cards, Gay to Court j one lofcs Money,
one lofes his time : another of our incnds labours to
be unambitious, but he labours in an unwilling foil.
One Lady you like has too much of France to be fit
for Wales : another is too much a fubjeft to Princes
and Potentates, to re&fii that wild Tafte of liberty and
poverty. Mr. Coi^reve is too ikk to bear a thin
air ; and ibe * that leads him too rich to enjoy any
thing. Lord Peterborow can go to any climate, but
never (lay in any. Lord Bathurft is too great an
hufbandman to like barren hills, except they are his
own to improve. Mr. Bethel indeed is too good and
too honeft to Eve in the world, but yet 'tis fit, for
its example, he (hould. We are left to ourfelves in '
my opinion, and may live where we pleafe, in Wales,
Dublin, or Bermudas : and for me, I afTure you I love
the world fo well, and it loves me fo well, that I
care not in what part of it I pafs the reft of my days.
I fee no funfiilne but in the face of a friends
I had a glimpfe of a letter of yours lately, by
which I find you afe (like the vulgar) apter to think
well of people out of power, than of people in power ;
perhaps 'tis a miftake, but however there's fomething
in it generous. Mr. * * takes it extreme kindly, I
can perceive,, and he has a great mind to thank you
£3r that good opinion, for which I believe he is only to
thank his ill fortune : for if I am not in an error, he
would rather be in power, than out.
To
• Arbuthnot.
* The Duchcft of Marlborough. Warton.
8o LETTERS TO AND
To (hew you how fit I am to live in the mountains^
I will with great truth apply to myfelf an old fentence :
^' Thole that are in, may abide in ; and thofe that
^ are out, may abide out : yet to me, thofe that are
^' in fhall be as thofe that are out, and thofe that are
^^ out (hall be as thofe that are in."
I am indifferent as to all thofe matters, but I mifs
you as much as 1 did the firft day, when (with a fhort
figh) I parted. Whefevcr you are, (or on the moun-
tains of Wales, or on the coafl of Dublin,
Tu mihi, feu magni fuperas jam faxa Timavx,
Sivc cram lUyrici Icgis aequoris, )
I am, and ever ihall be, Yours, etc.
LETTER XVHL
MR. GAY TO DR. SWIFT.
November 17, 1726.
A BOUT ten days ago a Book was publiflied here of
the Travels of one Gulliver, which hath been the
converfation of the whole town ever fince : the whole
impreflion fold in a week ; and nothing is more di-
verting than to hear the different opinions people
give of it, though all agree in liking it extremely.
*Tis generally faid that you are the Author : but I am
told, the Bookfeller declares, he knows not from
what
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 8i
What hand it came. From the higheft to the loweft
it is uiuverfally read, from the Cabinet-council to the
Nurfery. The Politicians to a man agree, that it is
free from particular refleftlons, but that the Satire
on general fodeties of men is too fevere. Not but
we now and then meet with people of greater perfpi-
cuiry, who are in fearch for particular applications
in every leaf; and 'tis highly probable we fhall have
keys publiflied to give light into Gulliver's defign.
Lord — — * is the perfon who Icall approves it, blam.
ing it as a defign of evil confequence to depreciate
human nature, at which it cannot be wondered that
he takes moft offence, being himfelf the nioft ac-
compliflied of his fpecies, and fo lofing more than '
any other of that praife which is due both to the
dignity and virtue of a man^. Your friend, my
Lord Ilarcourt, commends it very much, thougli he
thinks in fome places the matter too far carried. The
Duchefs Dowager of Marlborough is in raptures at
it ; flie fays Ihe can dream of nothing elfe fmce flie
read it : flie dechires, that (he hath now found out
that her whole life hath. been loft: in carefiing the
worfl part of mankind, and treating the befl: as her
foes ; and that if fhe knew Gulliver, tho' he had been
the
* Bolingbroke.
^ It is no wonder a mnn of real merit fhoiild condemn a fatire oa
k!8 fpjcics J as it injures Virtue and violates Truth : and, as little,
that a corrupt or worthlefs man (hould approve fuch a fatire,
btcaufe it jultincs his principles and tends to cxcufe his pradicc.
Warpurton.
VOX;. IX. O
8« LETTERS TO AND
the vrorft enemy ihe ever had, fte would give ap ftef
prefent acquaintance for his friendfliip. Tou may fee
by this, that you are not much injured by being fup-
pofed the Author of this piece. If you are, you have
difobliged us, and two or three of your bed friends^
HI not giving us the leaft hmt of it while you were
with us ; and in particular Dr. Arbuthnot, who fays
it is ten thoufand pities he had not known it, he
could have added fuch abundance of things upon
every fubjeft. Among Lady-critics, fome have found
out that Mr. Gulliver had a particular malice to
Maids of honotir. Thofe of them who frequent the
Church fay, his defign is impious, and that it is
depreciating the works of the Creator. Notwithftand-
ing, I am told the Prineefs * hath read it with great
pleafure. As to other Critics, they think the flying
illand is the lead entertaining ; and fo great an
opinion the town have of the impoflibility of Gulliver*^
writing at all below himfelf, 'tis agreed that part was
not writ by the fame hand, tho^ this hath its defenders
too. It hath pafTed Lords and Commons, nemine
contradicente ; and the whole town, men, women, and
children, are quite full of it.
Perhaps I may all this time be talking to you of a
Book you have never feen, and which hath not yet
reached Ireland j if it hath not, I believe what we
have (aid will be fufEcient to recommend it to your
reading,
♦ Afterwards Queen CaroUne.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 83
leading, and that you will order me to fend It to
you.
But it will be much better to come over yourfelf,
and read it here, where you will have the pleafure of
variety of commentators, to explain the difficult paf-
fages to you.
We all rejoice that you have fixed the predfe time
of your coming to be cum hirundine prima ; which
we modem naturalifts pronounce ought to be
reckoned, .contrary to Pliny, in this northern lati-
tude of fifty-two degrees, from the end of February,
Styl. Greg, at furtheft. But to us, your friends, the
coming of fuch a black fwallow as you, will make
a fummer in the worft of feafons. We are no lefs
glad at your mention of Twickenham and Dawley ;
and in town you know you have a lodging at
Court.
The Princefs is clothed in Iriffi filk ; pray give our
fervice to the Weavers. We are ftrangely furprized
to hear that the Bells in Ireland ring without your
money. I hope you do not write the thing that is
not. We are afraid that B hath been guilty of
that crime, that you (like Houynhnm) have treated
him as a Yahoo *, and difcarded him your fervice. I
fear
* By this circiimftance it is clear that Gay knew Swift to
be the author of Gulliver ; though the whole Letter pleafantly
goci on the idea of Swift's being a flranger to the work.
Wartoh.
G 2
84 LETTERS TO AND
fear you do not underftand thefe modiA terms, whidi
every creature now underftands but yourfelf.
Tou tell us your Wine is bad, and that the Clei^
do not frequent your houfe, whidi we look upon to
be tautology. The beil advice we can give you is, to
make them a prefent of your wine, and come away
to better.
You fancy we envy you, but you are miftaken ;
we envy thofe you are with, for we cannot envy the
man we love. Adieu.
LETTER XIX.
November i6, i'ji6,
T HAVE refolved to take time ; and in fpite of all mif-
fortunes and demurs, which ficknefs, lamenefs, or
difability of any kind can throw in my way, to write
you (at intervals) a long letter. My two leaft fingers
of one hand hang impediments to the other *, like ufe-
lefs dependents, who only take up room, and never
are a£Uve and affiftant to our wants : I ihall never be
much
' This was occalioned by a bad accident as be was returning
home in a friend's chariot j which in paffing a bridge was over-
turned, and thrown with the horfes into the river; The glafles
being np, and Mr. Pope unable to break them, he was in imme-
diate danger of drowning, when the poftilions who had juft reco-
vered himfelfy beat the gUfs which lay uppermoft to pieces : a
fragment of which cut one of Mr. Pope's hands Tcry daogerouily.
Wa&burtoh.
FROM DR, SWIFT, etc. 85
much the better for *em.-— I congratulate you firft
upon what you call your Coufin's wonderful Book,
which 18 piiblica triia manu at prefent, and I prophefy
will be hereafter the admiration of all men. That
countenance with which it is received by fome ftatef-
men, is delightful ; I wifh I could tell you how every
fingle man looks upon it, to obferve which has been
my whole diverfion this fortnight. I have never been
a night in London fmce you left me, till now for this
ytrj end, and indeed it has fully anfwered my expefb-
atbns.
I find no confiderable man very angry at the book :
fome indeed think it rather too bold, and too general
a Satire : but none, that I hear of, accufe it of parti-
cular refledlions } (I mean no perfons of confequence,
or good judgment ; the mob of Critics, you know,
always are defirous to apply Satire to thofe they envy
for being above them ;) fo that you needed not to have
been fo fecret upon this head. Motte received the
copy (he tells me) he knew not from whence, nor
from whom, dropped at his houfe in the dark, from
a Hackney-coach : by computing the time, I found it
was after you left England, fo, for my part, I fufpend
my judgment.
I am pleafed with the nature and quality of your
Prefent to the Prmcefs. The Irifh ftuff* you fent to
Mrs.
* Waxton obfervee, that << the Dean at this time courted the
Frincet^ and waa in hopes of getting his Iriih Deanery changed
03 for
86 LETTERS TO AND
Mr&. H. her R. H. laid hold of, and has made up
for her own ufe. Are yoii determined to be national
in every thing, even in your civilities ? You are the
greateft Politician in Europe at this rate ; but as you
are a rational Politician, there is no great fear of you,
you will never fucceed.
Another thing in which you have pleafed me, was
what you fay to Mr. P. by which it feems to me that
you value no man's civility above your own dignity,
or your own reafon. Surely, without flattery, you
are now above all parties of men, and it is high time
to be fo, after twenty or thirty years obf€r\'ation of
the great world.
Nullius addiflus jurare in verba magiftri.
I queftion not, many men would be of your intimacy,
that you might be of their intereft ; but God forbid
an honeft or witty man (hould be of any, but that of
his country. They have fcoundrels enough to write
for their paflions and their defigns ; let us write for
truth, for honour, and for pofterity. If you muft
needs write about Politics at all, (but perhaps it is fiill
as wife to play the fool any other way,) furely it ought
to be fo as to preferve the dignity and integrity of your
chara&er
#ki
for fome preferment in England." This i& true : but Warton
goes a ftep too far when he thinks he was not " brought on
this fide the water^ becaufc Sir Robert Walpole dreaded liia
abilUies /"
FROM DR. SWIFT, fete. 8^
charader ^th thofe times to come, which will molt
impartially judge of you.
I wiih you had writ to Lord Peterboi^ow, no man
is more affedionate towards you. Don't fancy none
but Tories are your friends } for at that rate I mud
be, at moft, but half your friend, and fmcerely, I
am wholly fo. Adieu, write often, and come foon,
for many wiih you well, and all would be glad of
your company*
LETTER XX.
FROM DR. SWIFT,
Dublin, November 17, 1726.
T AM juft come from anfwering a letter of Mrs. H — *s,
writ in fuch myftical terms, that I fhould never
have found out the meaning, if a Book had not been
fent me called Gulliver's Travels^ of which you fay
fo much in yours. I read the Book over, and in the
fecond volume obferved feveral paffages, which ap-
pear to be patched and altered ^, and the ftyle of a
different fort (unlefs I am much miftaken). Dr.
Arbuthnot
^ This was the faft, which is complained of and redreffcd in the
Publio Edition of the Dean's works. , Warburton.
04
88 LETTERS TO AND
Arbuthnot likes the Projeflors lead'; others^ you
tell me, the Flying Ifland ; fome think it wrong to be
fo hard upon whole Bodies or Corporations, yet the
general opinion is, that refleftions on particular pern
fons are mod to be blamed : fo that in thefe cafes, I
think the bed method is to let cenfure and opinioa
take their courfe. A Bifhop here faid, that book
was full of improbable lie$, and, for his part, he
hardly believed a word of itj and fo much for
Gulliver.
Going to England is a very good thing, if it were
not attended with an ugly circumftance of returning
to Ireland. It is a ihame you do not perfuade your
Minifters to keep me on that fide, if it were but by
a court expedient ^of keeping me in Prifon for a
Plotter ; but at the fame time I muft tell you, that
fuch journies very much fhorten my life, for a month
here is longer than fix at Twickenhslm.
^ How comes friend Gay to be fo tedious? another
man can publilh fifty thoufand Lies fooner than he
can fifty Fables.
I am juft going to perform a very good ofGce, it is
to affift with the Archbifliop, in degrading a Parfon'
who couples all our beggars, by which 1 (hall make
one happy man : and decide the great queftion of an
indelible charafter in favour of the principles in
falhion j this I' hope you will reprefent to the Miniftry
in
Becaufe he underflood it to be intended as a fatire on the
Royal Soi. icfy, Wa rb u R ton .
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 89
in my favour, as a point of merit ; fo farewell till I
return.
I am come back, and have deprived the Parfon,
who by a law here is to be hanged the next couple
he marries : he declared to us that he refolved to be
hanged, only defired that when he was to go to the
gaDows the Archbifhop would take off his Excom-
munication. Is not he a good Catholic ? and yet he
is but a Scotch-man, This is the only Irifh event I
ever troubled you with, and I think it deferves notice.
Let me add, that, if I were Gulliver's friend, I
would defire all my acquaintance to give out that his
copy was bafely mangled, and abufed, and added to,
and blotted out by the Printer ; for fo to me it feems,
in the fecond volume particulariy.
Adieu.
LETTER XXL
FROM DR. SWIFT.
■
December 5, 1726*
T BELIEVE the hurt in your hand affefts me more
than it does yourfelf, and with reafon, becaufe I
may probably be a greater lofer by it. What have
accidents to do with thofe who are neither jockeys,
por fox-biwters, nor bullies, nor drunkards ? And
7 yet
90 LETTERS TO AND
yet a rafcaiiy Groom (hall gallop a foundered horfe ten
miles upon a caufeway, and get home fafe.
I am very much pleafed that you approve what was
fent, becaufe I remember to have heard a great man
fay, that nothing required more judgment than mak-
ing a prefent * ; which when it is done to thofe of high
rank, ought to be of fomething that is nc^ readily
got for money. You oblige me, and at the fame
time do me juftice in what you obferve as to Mr. P.
Befides, it is too late in life for me to a£t otherwife,
and therefore I follow a very eafy road to virtue, and
purchafe it cheap. If you will give me leave to join
us, is not your life and mine a ftate of power, and
dependence a ftate of flavery? We care not three
pence whether a Prince or Minifter will fee us or no :
we are not afraid of having ill offices done us, nor
are at the trouble of guarding our words for fear of
giving oflfence. I do agree that Riches are Liberty,
but then we are to put into the. balance how long
our apprenticefhip is to laft in acquiring them.
Since you have received the verfes fj I moft ear-
neftly intreat you to burn thofe which you do not ap-
prove, and in thofe few where you may not diilike
fome parts, blot out the reft, and fometimes (though
•
♦ The prefent to the Princefs of Wales of Irifh ftuff.
f A juft character of Swift's poetry, as well as bis profe» is»
that it " confifts of proper words in proper places.'* Johnfon
faid once to me, fpeaking of the fimplicity of Swift's ftyle, ** The
Rogue never hazards a figure." Warton.
•
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 91
it be againft the lazlnefs of your nature) be fo kind
to make a few corre£Uons, if the matter will bear
them. I have fome 'few of thofe things I call
Thoughts moral and diverting ; if you pleafe, I will
fend the belt I can pick from them, to add to the
new volume. I have feafon to chufe the method you
mention of mixing the feveral verfes, and I hope
thereby among the bad Critics to be entitled to more
merit than is my due.
This moment I am fo happy to have a letter from
my Lord Peterborow, for which I entreat you will
prefent him with my humble refpeds and thanks,
though he all-to-be Gullivers me by very ftrong in*
fimiations. Though you defpife Riddles, I am ftrong-
ly tempted to fend a parcel to be printed by them-
felves, and make a ninepenny jobb for the book-
feller* There are fome of my own, wherein I exceed
mankind, Mira Poeniata ! the moft folemn that ever
were feen; and fome writ by others, admirable in-
deed, but far inferior to mine ; but I will not praife
myfelf* You approve that writer who laughs and
makes others laugh ; but why fliould I who hate the
world, or you who do not love it, make it fo happy ?
therefore I refolve from henceforth to handle only
fcrious fubjeSs, nift quid iu^ dode Trebati^ Dijentis.
Yours, etc*
^a LETTERS TO AND
LETTER XXn.
March 89 1726-7.
^I^R. Stopford ^1 be the bearer of this letter, for
"whofe acquaintance I am, among many other
favours, obliged to you : and I think the acquaint-
ance of fo valuable, ingenious, and unaffeded a man.
Id be^none of the leaft obligations.
Our Mifcellany is now quite printed. I am pro-
digioufly pleafed with this joint-volume, in which,
methinks, we look like friends, fide by fide, ferious
and merry by turns, converting interchangeably and
walking down hand in hand to pofterity ; not ia the
ftiff forms of learned Authors, flattering each other,
and fetting the reft of mankind! at nought ; but in a
free, unimportant, natural, eafy manner; diverting
others juft as we diverted ourfelves. The third vo-
lume confifts of Verfes, but I would chufe to print
none but fuch as have fome peculiarity, and may be
diftinguiflied for ours, from other writers. There's
no end of making Books, Solomon faid, ;aid above
all of making Mifcellanies, which all men can inake,
j^or unlefs there be a chara£ter in every piece, like
the mark of the £le£t, I ihould not care tp be one of
the Twelve-thoufand figned.
You received, I hope, fome commendatory verfes
from a Horfe and a Lilliputian, to Gulliver ; and aa
heroif: Epiftle of Mrs. Gulliver. The Bookfeller
W01LI4
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 93
would fain have printed them before the fecond Edi-
tion of the Book, but I would not permit it without
your approbation : nor do I much like them. You
fee how much like a Poet I write, and yet if you were
with us, youM be deep in Politics. People are very
warm, and very angry, very h'ttle to the purpofe,
but therefore the more warm and the more angry ;
Non mjlrum ejl^ Tantas componere Hies. I ftay at
Twit'nam, without fo much as reading news-papers,
votes, or any other paltry Pamphlets : Mr. Stopford
will carry you a whole parcel of them, which are fent
for your diverfion, but not imitation. For my own
part, methinks 1 am at Glubdubdrib with none but
ancients and fpirits about me.
I am rather better than I ufe to be at this feafon,
but my hand (though, as^ you fee, it has not loft
its cunning) is frequently in very aukward fenfations
rather than pain. But to convince you it is pretty
well, it has done fome mifchief already, andjuft
been ftrong enough to cut the other hand, while it
was aiming to prune a fruit tree.
Lady Bolingbroke has writ you a long, lively
letter ♦, which will attend this : {he has very bad
health,
• The reader might perhaps like to fee an original Letter
from Lady Bolingbroke. It is written in conclufion to the
foUowing of Lord Bolingbroke :
?^**°* \ To Sir William Wyndham.
*^P*"- ^ " Oa.^, 17x3.
« Your Letter, of the 7th of laft month, relieved rac from
the greateft anlsicty of mind which I have felt this long time ;
fof
94 LETTERS TO AND
health, he very good. Lord Peterborow has Writ
twice to you ; we fancy fome letters have been
intercepted^
for I was noty my dear friend, fo happy as to hear of Lady
Katherine's illnefs, and of her recovery at the fame time. The
Gazette firft, and after that a Letter from the Bath, fpoke of
her being dangeroufly ill, but mentioned no other circumftancei
We were waiting with great impatience for fome further account*
when your mod welcome Letter arrived, and gave the Marquefe
and me as much joy as it is poifible to conceive, and much more
than it is pofiible to exprefs. Receive both our congratulations oa
this happy occafion. You will receive none more fmcere. May
the fame good Providence which has reftored Lady Katharine
to you, preferve you long in health and profperity, and render
you mutually a blefiing to one another. I obferve, that you call
the (its apople6lick, but I hope that they are not to be looked
upon like other apoplexies. M' de SurviUe, a daughter of the
late Marihal d'Humieres, is now very old, and very healthful, and
(he many years ago fell into the very fame cafe in which Lady
Katherine has been, immediately after baring been brought to
bed, and I fmcerely hope the parallel will hold in every part.
My heart makes no di(Ference between your good or bad fortune
and my own, and you are too clofely united to me not to be the
object even of my. felf-love. I partook of your affliction, my
dear friend, and I partake of your joy, in all its extent ; for
I know the full value of the prefent, which heaven has renewed to
you. Let me defire you to fay fomething for me to Lady Kathe-
rine. You can never err in faying from me what your own heart
indites. Yours may always anfwer for mine. We are drinking
the waters, >^hicti both of us wanted extremely. I cannot fay
hitherto, that we feel much advantage from the uie of them, but
that advantage may perhaps be the e(FeA of time. One effed
they have had on me* They gave me the gout aknoft as foon as I
began to drink them ; my foot is ftiU fwelled, and now and then a
little painful ; if it grows no worfe, and helps to confume that hu«
mour which has brought fo many agues upon me, I (hall make nq
unlucky compcfition. I am going apace to that age when few
men
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 95
intercepted, or loft biy accident. About ten thou-
fand things 1 want to tell you : I wifli you were as
impatient to hear them, for if fo, you would, you
muft come early this fpring. Adieu. Let me have
a line from you. I am vext at lofing Mr. Stopford
as foon as I knew him : but I thank God I have
known him no longer. If every man one begins to
value muft fettle in Ireland, pray make me know no
more of them, and I forgive you this one.
men live without infirmities, — Suheunt morhi trifltfque fenc3us. They
are happy who compound for fuch aa give the lead pain, and take
away the lead part of the pleafurea of human Ufe. Many thanks to
yoa for the care which you take of the two commilfions I troubled
you about. I reckon that it will be time to fend for them towards
the end of this months and that will fall out luckily enough*
6nce I (hall be returning to Paris in about three weeks. Let me
defire you to have a particular attention about the four hounds
which are for Nouitd, he is a brother fportfman, and one whom
you would like in a very fingular chara6ter. I hope your fpaniel
is made by this time. As foon as he is (leady he (hall be fent you ;
there is not in all France a finer dog, nor a better breed : let me
hear from you as foon as you can. My flay here will be long
enough to receive the anfwer to this bef*ire I remove, if you write
by the firft pod, and I trull to your friend(hip that you will do fo.
Direcl to Mr. Tewis Marchand a Aix la Chapelle, and put . your
Letter under the cover. Adieu, my dearell friend. I am faith*
fully and mod unalterably yours. ''
Aix la Chapelle, Od. 2, 1723.
[In another hand. 3
•* Though my Lord has done me the juftice in his Letter to tell
you how iinccre a part I have taken in your afHi6lion, and do take
in your joy, yet I muft have the plcafure of telling you the fame
thing in my own hand ; my Lord and you are too nearly united
by ^endihip, for me not to think myfelf to Lady Katherine.
Je deiire de tout mon coenr, Monfieur, dc meiiter I'honnair de fe»
bonnes graces et de pouvoir vous perfuadcr combien je m'intereile
ttndrement a tout cc qui vous regarde Tun et I'autre."
96 LETTERS TO ANI*
LETTER XXni.
TT is a pcrfeft trouble to me to write to you^
and your kind letter left for me at Mn Cay's a£*
fe&ed me fo much', that it made me like a girf. t
can't tell what to fay to you ; t only feel that I wi(h
you well in every circumftance of life ; that 'tis almoft
as good to be hated as to be loved, confidering the
pain it is to minds of any tender turn, to find them-
felves fo utterly impotent to do any good, or give
any eafe to thofe who deferve moft from us. I would
very fidn know, as foon as you recover your com-
plaints, or any part of them. Would to God I could
eafe any of them, or had been able even to have al-
leviated any ! I found I was not, and truly it grieved
inc. I was forry to find you could think yourfelf
cafier in any houfe than in mine,' though at the fame
time I can allow for a tendemefs in your way of think-
ing, even when it feemed to want that tendemefs ; I
can't explain my meaning, perhaps you know it.
But the beft way of convincing you of my indulgence,
will be, if 1 live, to vifit you in Ireland, and z&
there as much in my own way as you did here ift
yours. I will not leave your roof, if I am ill. To
your bad health I fear there was added fome difagree-
able
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. , 97
able n^ws from Ireland, which might occafion your
fo fudden departure * : for the laft time I faw you,
you aflured me you would not leave us this whole
winter, unlefs your health grew better, and I don't
find it did fo. I never complied fp unwillingly in my
life with any friend as with you, in (laying fo entirely
from you ; nor could I have had the conftancy to do
it, if you had not promifed that before you went we
fliould meet, and you would fend to us all to come. I
have given your remembrances to thofe you mention in
yours : we are quite forry for you, I mean for our-
felves. I hope, as you do, that we (hall meet in a
more durable and more fatisfaftory (late ; but the lefs
fure I am of that, the more I would indulge ic'in this.
We are to believe, we (hall have fomething better than
even a friend there, but certainly here we have no-
thing fo good. Adieu for this time ; may you find
every friend you go to as pleafed and happy, as every
friend you went from is forry and troubled,
■
Yours, etc.
♦ Swnft left Twickenham without afligning any reafon. He
afterwards faid, the caufe of his leaving his friends fo abruptly was,
becaufe " twoficlt** perfons could not agree : in reality, the caufe
was« bis agonized feelings, which he kept to himfclf, refpcdihg the
illnefs of Mrs. Jobnfon. The reader will find an affcAing Letter
00 this occafion, written to him at this time by Dr. ShcriiiQ.
Swift's diilrcfs of mind is viGble in his Anfwcr.
VOJL. XX* K
$S tETTERS Ta Alflf
LETTER XXIV,
FROM DR. SWIFT.
V
Dublin^ 06k. 12, 1727*
T nAvn been long reafoning -with myfelf upon the
condition I am in, smd in conclufion have thought
it befl: to retnm to what fortune hath made my home ^
I, hare there a large houfe, and ienrants and con-
Teniences about me. I may be worfe than I am, and
I have no where ta retire. I therefore thought it bed
fo return to Ireland, rather than to go to any diftaat
place in England. He]?e is my maintenance, and
here my convenience. If it pkafes God to reftore
me to my health, I ftiall readily make a third journey;,
if not, we muft part as all human creatures have
parted. You are the beft and kmdeft friend in the
world, and I know nobody alive or dead to whom I
am fo much obliged ; and if ever you made me angry,
it was for your too much care about me, I have oftea
wifhed that God Almighty would be fo eafy to the
weaknefs of mankind as to let old friends be ac-*
iquainted in another flate ; and if 1 were to write aft
Utopia for heaven, that would be one of my fchemes^
This wildnefs you muft allow for, becaufe I am giddy
and deaf.
I find it more convenient to be fick here, - without
the vexation of making my friends uneafy ; yet my
giddinol^
feiddinefs alone would not have done, if that unfociable
tomfortlefs deafhefs had not quite tired me« And I
believe I fhould have returned from the inn, if I had
not feared it was only a fhort ihtenili(fiori, aUd the
year was late^ aiid my licence expiring. Surely be«
iides all other faults, I ihould be a very ill udg6, to
doubt your friendfliip and kindnefs* But it hath
pleafed God that you are not in a ftate of healthy to
be mortified with the Car£ and iicknefs of a friend*
Two fick frfends never did well together; fuch an
office is fitter f6r fervants and hutnble c6mpanlons^
to whonr it is wholly indifferent whether we give them
trouble of no. The cafe would be quite otherwife if
you were with me j you could refufe to fee any body^
and here is a large houfe where we need not hear each
other if we were both fick. I have a race of orderly
elderly people of both fexes at command, who are of
no confequence, and have gifts proper for attend*
ing us ; who can bawl when I am deaf, and tread foftly
when I am only giddy and would ffe^p;
I had another rcafon for my haft6 hither, w&ich
was changing my Agent, the old one having terribly
iiivolved my little affairs; to which however I &m'
grown fo indifferent, that I believe I fhaH lofe two 6t
three hundred pounds rather than plague myfelf with:
accompts j fo that I am very well qualified ta be ar
Lord, and put into Peter Walter's hands.
Pray God continue and increafe Mr. Cdngreve^i
ameDdmeiit, &ough he dbe^ not deftrve it like your
n 2 having
ioo LETTERS TO AND
having been too lavilh of that health which Nature
gave him.
I hope my Whitehall-landlord is nearer to 9 place
than when I left him; as the preacher faid, '^ the
*< day of judgment was nearer than ever it had been
« before."
Pray God fend you health, det falufeniy det opes ;
animam aquam iiln ipfe parabis. You fee Horace
vdfhed for money, as well as health ; and I would
hold a crown he kept a coach ; and I fhall never be a
friend to the Court, till you do fo too.
Yours, etc.
LETTER XXV.
FROM DR. SWIFT.
Oftobcr30, 17^7-
rpHE firft letter I writ after my landing was to Mr.
Gay ; but it would have been wifer to dired to
Tonfon or Lintot, to whom I believe his lodgings are
better known than to the runners of the Pofl;-of&ce«
In that Letter you will £nd what a quick change I
made in feven days from London to the Deanery^
through many najdons and languages unknown to the
civilized world. And I have often reflefted in how
few hours, with a fwift horfe or a ilrong gale, a man
may come aniong a p^epple as unknown to him as the
5 . . Antipodes.
TROM DR. SWIFT, etc. loi
Antipodes. If I did not know you more by your
converfation and kindnefs than by your letter, I
might be bafe enough to fufpeft, that in. point of
iriendfhip you a^ed like fome Philofophers who writ
much better upon Virtue than they pradifed it. In
anfwer, I can only fwear that you have taught
me to dream, which I had not done in twelve
years further than by inexpreffible nonfenfej but
now I can every night diflindly fee Twicken-
ham and the Grotto, and Dawley, and many other
et cetera'5, and it is but three nights fmce I beat
Mrs* Pope. I muft needs confefe, that the pleafure
I take in thinking of you is very much leflened by the
pain I am in about your health ; you pay dearly for
the great talents God haih given you ; and for the
confequences of them in the efteem and diftin£Uon
you receive from mankind, unlefs you can provide a
lolerable ftock of Iiealth ; in which purfuits I cannot
much commend your conduft, but rather entreat you
would mend it by following the advic6 of my Lord
Bolingbroke and your other Phylicians. Wlien you
talked of Cups and impreiCons, it came into my head
to imitate you in <juoting Scripture, not to your
advantage ; I mean what was l^id to David by on«
of his brothers : '* I knew thy pride and the naughti^
*' nefs of thy heart ;'* I remember when it grieved
your foul to fee me pay a penny more than my club at
an inn, when you had maintained me three months
3t bed and board ; for which, if I had dealt with you
in the Smithfield way, it would h^ve cod me a hun-
H 3 dred
|o» LETTERS TO AND
dred pounds^ for I live worfe here upon more* Di4
you ever coufider that I am for life almoft tvirice a^
rich as you, and pay no rent, and dnnle French wine
twice as cheap as you do Port, and have neither Coach,,
Chair, nor Mother? As to the world, I think you
ought to fay to it with St, Paul, If we bavefnvn untk
you fpiritual things^ is it a gre^t thing if wefhall reap,
your carnal things ? This is more proper ftiU, if you
confider the French vford Jpirituajj in which fenfe the
world ought to pay you better than they do. If yoi^
made me a prefent of a thoufand pound, I Would not
R
allow myfelf to be m your debt ; but if I made you ^
prefent of two, I would not allow myfelf to be out of
it. But I have not half your pride; witnefs what
Mr. Gay Cays in his letter, what I was cenfured for
begging Prefents, though I limited them to ttn fliil-
jings. I fee no reafon (at lead my friendOiip and
vanity fee none) why you fliould not give me ^
vifit, when you fh^ill happen to be difengaged : I will
fend a perfon to Chefter to take care of you, and yoq
ihall be ufed by the bed folks we have here, as well a$
civility and goodrnature can contrive ; 1 believe local
motion will be no ill phyfic, and I will haye your
• coming infcribed on ipy Tomb, and recorded in never^
dying verfe.
I thank Mrs. Pope for her prayers, byt I know the
myftery. A perfon of my acquaintance, who ufed to
correfpond with the lafl: Great Duke of Tufcany,
Ihewing one of the Duke's letters to a friend, and
profeffing grej^t fenfe of his Highnefs's friendfliip,
4 reaci
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 103
Twd this paOage out of thefe ktter^, / would give one
tf-mj fingeri to frticwre "jour real good^ The perfon to
whom this was read^ and who khew the Duke well^
fiiid^ the meaning of real good was only that the other
might turn a good Catholic. Pray aik Mrs. Pope whe*
ther this ftory is applicable to her and me ? I pray
God blefs her, for I am fure (hb is a good ChrifUan^
and (which is almoft as rare) a good Woman.
Adieu.
LETTER XXVI.
MR. GAY TO DR. SWIFT,
OAobcr 22, i737»
rpHE C^een's family is at laft fettled, and in the lift
I was appointed Gentleman-uflier to the Princefs
Louifa, the youngeft Princefs ; which, upon account
that I am fo far advanced in life, I have declined ac-
cepting * ; and have endeavoured, in the bed manner
I could, to make my beft excufes by a Letter to
her Majefty. So now all my expeftations are va-
nilhedj and I have no prbfpeft, but in depending
wholly upon myfelf, and my own condufl:. As I am
ufed
* This appointment was treated by all the friends of Gayy as
• great indignity ; and he is faid to have felt the difappointment
▼cr/ fcTcrely, and was ^oo much dtjecltrd on the occafion.
Warton.
H4
104 LETTERS TO ANO
ufed to difappointments, I can bear them ; but as I can
have no more hopes, I can no more be difappointedy
fo that I am in a blefled condition. — ^Tou remember
you were adviiing me to go into Newgate to finifli my
fcenes the more corre£kly — ^I now think I ihall, for I
have no attendance to hinder me ; but my Opera is
already finiflied. I leave the reft of this paper to Mr.
Pope*
Gay is a Free-man, and I writ him a long Congra-
tulatory Letter upon it. Do you the fame: it will
mend him, and make him a better man than a Court
could do. Horace might keep his coach in Au-
guftus*s time, if he pleafed ; but I won't in the time
of our Auguftus. My Poem fwhich it grieves me
that I dare not fend you a copy of, for fear of the
Curl's and Dennis's of Ireland, and ftill more for
fear of the worft of Traitors, our Friends and Ad-
mirers)— my Poem, I fay, will fhew what a diftin-
guiihing age we lived in : your name is in it, with
fome others under a mark of fuch ignominy as you
will not much grieve to wear in that company. Adieu,
and God blefs you, and give you health and fpirits.
Whether thou chufe Cervantes' ferious air,
Or laugh and (hake in Rab'lais' eafy chair.
Or in the graver Gown inftruft mankind.
Or, filent, let thy morals tell thy mind.
Thefe two verfes are over and, above what I've faid of
you in the Poem K Adieu.
«
' We fee by this, with what judgment Mr. Pope correded and
erafed. Wa&burton.
FROM DR. S^IFT, etc. 105
LETTER XXVIL
DR. SWIFT TO MR. GAY.
Dublin, Nov. 27, i;!;.
T ENTIRELY approve your refufal of that employ-
ment, and your writing to the Queen. I am per-
fe6dy confident you have a keen enemy in the Mi-
niftry *. God forgive him, but not till he puts him-
felf in a ftate to be forgiven. Upon reafoning with
myfelf, I fhould hope they are gone too far to difcard
you quite, and that they will give you fomething;
which, although much lefs than they ought, will be
(as far as it is worth) better circumftantiated : and
iince you already jud live, a middling help will make
you juft tolerable. Your latenefs in life (as you fo
foon call it) might be improper to begin the world*
with, but almoft the eldeft men may hope to fee
changes in a Court. A Minifter is always feventy :
you are thirty years younger j and confider, Crom-
well himfelf did not begin to appear till he was older
than you. I beg you will be thrifty, and learn to
value a (hilling, which Dr. Birch faid was a ferious
thing. Get a ftronger fence about your 1000/. and
throw the inner fence into the heap, and be advifed
by
* S09 in another place, all the blame is laid on Walpole :
•* Till Bob, the Poet's foe, poffcfft'd her car.'*
tc6 LETTERS TO AND
by your Twickenham landlord and me about an
annuity. You are the moft refra&ory, honeft, good-
natured man I ever have known ; I could argue out
this paper. ■ I am very glad your Opera is finiihed,
and hope your friends will join the readier to make it
fucceed, becaufe you are ill ufed by others.
I have known Courts thefe thirty-fix years, and
know they differ; but in fome things they are ex«
tremely conftant : Firfl *, in the trite old maxim of
a Minifter's never forgiving thofe he hath injured ;
Secondly^ in the infincerity of thofe who would be
thought the beft friends ; Thirdly, in the love of
fawmng, cringing, and tale-bearing : Fourthly, in fa«
crificing thofe whom we really wifh well, to a point
of intereft, or intrigue : Fifthly, in keepmg every
thing worth taking, for thofe who can do fervice or
dif-fervice.
Now why does not Pope publifii his Dulnefs ? the
rogues he marks will die of themfelves in peace, and
fo will his friends^ and fo there will be neither puniflx-
ment nor reward — ^Pray enquire how my Lord Su
John t does ? there's no man's health in England I an\
more
* Warton fays, " Let every cxpcfiant of preferment, m Church
and State, carefully attend to, and remember, thefe^<D^ refiefUona
.of a man well verfcd in Courts." Which *« five refledions" arc
the five refle6lion8 (and no doubt five more equally fagacious might
b« added) of almoil all thofe who
** Ploravere fuis non rcfpondcre favorcm
Speratum mentis."
f Father of Lord BoUngbroke,
--^
FROM DR. SWIFt, etc- 107
more concerned about than his.— I wonder whether
you begin to tafte the pleafure of independency ; or
'whether you do not fometimes leer upon the Court,
^ulo retorto f Will you not think of an Annuity, when
you are two years older, and have doubled your pur-
^afe-tnoney ? Haye your dedi(:ated your Opera, an4
got the ufual dedication-fee of twenty guineas ? How
js the Dodor? does he not chide that you never
called upon him for hints ? Is my Lord Bolingbroke
^t the moment I am writing, a planter, a philofopher,
pr a writer ? Is Mr. Pulteney in expe^ation of a fon^^
pr my Lord Oxford of a new old manufcript ?
I bought your Opera to-day for fixpencc *, a curfed
print. I find there is neither dedication nor pre-
face, both which wants I approve : it is in the grand
gout.
We are all as full of it pro modulo mjlro as London
can be ; continually adling, and houfes crammed, and
the Lord lieutenant feveral times there laughing his
|ieart out I did not underftand that the fcene of
;(x)c1f^t and Pe^chum's quarrel was an imitation of one
l)etween Brutus and Caflius, till I was told it. I ttdfh
Mackheath t» when he was going to be hanged, had
imitated
* Some of thofc Songs, that contained the feycreft fatire againft
tlie Court, were written by Pope ; particularly,
** Thro' all the employments of Life," —
fXkA alfoy
** Since Laws were made," &c. WAaroN^
f A hint that might have been worked up with n^uch humour :
^ W92 the quarrel of Loclet and feacbum* Wai^TPn*
io8 LETTERS TO AND
'imitated Alexander the Great when he wa« dying : I
would have had his fellow-rogues defire his commands
about a Succefibr, and he to anfwer,- Let it be the
moft worthy, &c. We hear a million of (lories about
the Opera, of the applaufe of the fong That was levePd
at me^ when two great Minifters were in a box toge-
ther, and all the world (taring at them. I am heartily
glad your Opera hath mended your purfe, though
perhaps it may fpoil your court.
Will you de(ire my Lord Bolingbroke, Mr. Pul-
tcney, and Mr. Pope, to command you to buy an
i annuity with two thoufand pounds ? that you may
laugh at Courts, and bid Minifters
Ever preferve fome fpice of the Alderman, and pre^
pare againft Age and Duln^fs, and Sicknefs, and Cold-
nefs or Death of Friends. A Whore has a refource
left, that (he can turn bawd; but an old decayed Poet
is a creature abandoned, and at mercy, when he can
find nope. Get me likewife Polly *s MeflTo-tinto ♦.
Lord !
* This was Mifs Lavlnia Fenton, She afterwards became
Duchefs of Bolton. She was vei-y accomplifhed ; was a moft
agreeable companion ; had much wit, and ftrong good fenfe, and
ajuft tafte in polite literature. Her perfon was agreeable and
well-made ; though (he could not be called a beauty. I have had
the pleafure of being at table with her, when her convtrfation was
much admired by the firft charadlers of the age, particularly thp
old Lord Bathurfti and Lord GranvlUr, Quin thought the fuc-
cefs of this Opera fo doubtful, that he would not undertake to
play the part of Macheath^ but gave it up to Walker. And indeed
it had liked to have mifcarried and been damned, till Polly fung in
a moft tender and affedling manner, the word^
*« For
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 109
Lord ! how the fchool-boys at Weftminfter, and Uni-
verfity lads adore you at this junfture ! Have you
made as many men laugh, as Minifters can make
weep?
I will excufe Sir ■ the trouble of a letter : when
Ambafladors came from Troy to condole with Tibe-
rius upon the death of his Nephew, after two years ;
the Emperot anfwered, that he likewife condoled
urith them for the untimely death of Hedor. I always
loved and refpe£ted him very much, and do flill as
much as ever ; and it is a return fufficient, if he
pleafes to accept the offers of my mod humble fervice.
The Beggar's Opera hath knocked down Gulliver;
I hope to fee Pope^s Dulnefs knock down the Beggar's
Opera, but not till it hath fully done its job.
To expofe vice, and make people laugh with inno-
cence, does more public fervice than all the Minifters
of ftate from Adam to Walpole, and fo adieu.
** For on the rope that hangs my dear,
** Depends poor Polly's life."
This is the Air that is faid irrcfiftibly to have conquered the I^over
^ho afterwards married her. Warton.
The Puke of Argyle, in a Letter to Dodington, 172S,
(ays,
" AD the news we have in this part of the world is, that the
Dokc of Boumonville is trying to get Gibraltar, and the Duke of
Bolton has got Polly,''
ito LETTERS TO ANt)
LETTER XXVln.
LORD BOLlNGBROKE TO DR. SWlFt.
IpoTE charges himfelf with this lettef ; he has beeil
here two days, he is now hurrying to Londdn, he
will hurry back to Twickenham in two days mpre^ and
before the end of the week he will be, lor aught I
know, at Dublin. In the mean time his ""Dulnefat
grows and fiourifhes as if he was there afa^ady. It
will indeed be a noble work : the many will ftare at
it, the few will fmile, and all his Patrons from
BickerftaiF to Gulliver will rejoice, to fee themfelve^
adorned in that immortal piece.
I hear that you have had fome return of your ilk
nefs which carried you fo fuddenly from us (if indeed
it was your own Illnefs which made you in fuch hafte
to be at Dublin). Dear Swift, take care of your
health ; Til give you a receipt for it, a Id Montagne^
or which is better i la Bruyere. Nouriffer bien HjStre
corps ; ne U faiiguer jamais * .• tatffef rouillsr Vifprit^
meuble inutil^ voire outil dangereux : laijfer fanner v&i
cloches le matin pour eveiller les chanoinesy et pour f aire
dormir le Doyen d^un fommeil doux et profond^ qui luy
procure
*. The Dunciad. Warburtom.
* The whole of this pleafant receipt ia taken from the Lutnn
cf Boileau. Wa&toi».
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. in
procure de beaux fonges : lever vous tardj et aller i
fEgli/ey pour vous fair e payer (P avoir bien dorm et bien
iqeuni. As to myfelf (a perfon about whom I con*
com myfelf very little) I muft fay a word or two out
of complaifance to you. I am in my farm, and here I
ihoot ftrong and tenacious roots : I have caught hold
of the earth (to ufe a Gardener's phrafe), and neither
my enemies nor my friends will find it an eafy matter
to tranfplant me again *• Adieu. Let me hear from
you, at lead of you : I love you for a thoufand things,
for none more than for the juft efteem and love you
have for all the fons of Adam.
P. S. According to Lord Bolrngbroke's account I
fhall be at Dublin in three days. I cannot help add*
ing a word, to deiire you to expeft my foul there
with yoil by that time ; but as for the jade of a body
that is tacked to it, I fear there will be no dragging
it after. I affure you I have few friends here to de-*
tain me^ and no powerful one at Court abfolutely to
forbid my journey. I am told the Gynocrafy are of
opinion, that they want no better writers than Gibber
and the Britiih Joumalift; fo that we may live at
quiet, and apply ourfelves to our mod abftrufe iludtes.
The only Courtiers I Imow, or have the Jionour to
call my friends, are John Gay and Mr. Bowry ; the
former is at prefent fo employed in the elevated airs
of
* Tet in t ▼eiy Iittk while he tranj^ttd bimfelf agab to Paris^
Mug difappointcd ia hit political ?iews«
iia LETTERS TO AND
of his Opei'ay and the latter in the exahation of hfe
high dignity (that of her Majefty's Waterman), that I
can fcarce obtain a categorical anfwer from either to
any thing I fay to 'em. But the Opera fucceeds ex-
tremely, to yours and my extreme fatisfaftion, of
which he promifes this poft to give you a full account*
I have been in a worfe condition of health than ever
and think my immortality is very near out of my en-
joyment : fo it muft be in you, and in pofterity to
make me what amends you can for dying young*
Adieu. While I am, I am yours. Pray love me,
and take care of yourfelf.
LETTER XXIX.
March 2 J, 1727-y.
T SEND you a very odd thing, a paper printed in
Bofton in New England, wherein you'll find a real
perfon a member of their Parliament, of the name
of Jonathan Gulliver. If the fame of that Traveller
hath travelled thither, it has travelled very quick to
have folks chriftened already by the name of the fup-
pofed Author. But if you objed): that no child fo
lately chrirtened could be arrived at years of maturity
to be eleded into Parliament, 1 reply (to folve the
riddle) that the perfon is an anabaptiji^ and not
chriftened till full age, which fets all right. How-
ever
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc- 113
ever it be, the accident is very fingular, that thefe
two names (hould be united*
Mr. Gay's Opera has been a£led near forty days
running, and will certainly continue the whole feafon.
So he has more than a fence about his thoufand
pounds ° : he'll foon be thinking of a fence about his
two thoufand. Shall no one of us live as we would
wifh each other to live ? Shall he have no annuity,
you no fettlement on this fide, and I no profpe£t of
getting to you on the other ? This world is made for
Cxiar— as Cato faid, for ambitious, falfe, or flatter-
ing people to domineer in : nay they would not, by
their good-will, leave us our very books, thoughts,
or words, in quiet. I defpife the world yet, I affure
pu, more than either Gay -or you, and the Court
more than all the reft of the world. As for thofe
Scribblers for whom you apprehend I would fupprefs
my Dtilnefsj (which by the way, for the future, you
are to call by a more pompous name The Dunciad^
how much that neft of Hornets are my regard, will
eaiily appear to you, when you read the Treatife of
the Bathos.
At
" Before Mr. Gay had fenced hid thoufand pounds, he had a
coofulution with his friends about the difpofal of it. Mr. Lewis
adTifed hiai to intruft it to the funds» and live upon the intertft :
Dr. Arbuthnot, to intrufl: it to Providence, and live upon the
principal % and Mr. Pope was for purchafing an annuity for life.
In this uncertainty he could only fay with the old man in Terence,
fcctfiu pr6be%
Ineertiorfum multo, quam dudum. War burton.
VOL. IX. I
114 LETTERS T'O AJ^'
At all adventures^ yours and my name fiisfll ftarfd
linked as friends to pofterity, both in vcrfe and profe,
and (as Tully calls it) in confuetudine * Studiorum.
Would to God our perfons could but as "weH, and \&
furely, be infeparable ! I find my other Ties dropping
from me : fome worn off, fome torn off, others relaic*
ing daily : my greateft, both by duty, gratitude^ arid
humanity, Time is fhaking every moment, and it
now hangs but by a thread ! I ara -many years t^ie
older, for living fo much with one fo old; mucth the
more helplefs, for having been To long helped and
tended by her ; nruch the more cbilfiderate 'and teh-
der, for a daily contmerce with one who required ^mc
juftly to be both to her ; and confequcnily the more
melancholy and thoiightfiil; and the lefe fit ^
others, who want only, in a companJon or a friend,
to be amufed or entertained. My conftitution too has
had its fhare of decdy, as well as my fpirits, and L
am as much in the decline at forty as you at fixty. 1
believe wc Ihbuld be fit to live together, could I get a
little more health, which might tnake me not quite hi-
fupportable : your Deafnefs would agree with my Dul-
nefs ; you would not want me to fpeak when you could
not bean But God forbid you ihould be as deftitute
of the focial comforts of life, as I muft when I lofe
my mother ; or that ever you ftiould lofe your more
ufeful acquaintance fo utterly, as to turn your
thoughts to fuch a broken reed as I am, who could To
ill fapply your wants, I am extremely troubled at
the
, FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 115
the returns of your deafhefs ; you cannot be too par-
ticular in the accounts of your health to me ; every
thing you do or fay in this kind obh'ges me, nay, de.
lights me, to fee the juftice you do in thinking me
concerned in all your concerns ; fo that though the
pleafanten: thing you can tell me be that you are bet-
ter or eafier ; next to that it pleafes me^ that you
make me the perfon you would complain to.
As the obtaining the love of valuable men is the
happieft end I know of this life, fo the next felicity
is to get rid of fools and fcoundrels ; which I cannot
but own to you was one part of my defign in falling
upon thefe Authors, whofe incapacity is not greater.
than their infincerity, and of whom I have always
found (if I may quote myfelf )
That each bad Author is as bad a Friend.
This Poem will rid me of thcfe infefks,
Cedite, Romani Scriptores, cedite, Graii (
NefcM quid, majus nafcitur Iliade%
I mean than my Iliad; and I call it Ne/cio quidy which
is a degree of modefty ; but however if it filence
thefe fellows", it muft be fomelhing greater than
any Iliad in Chriftendom.
Adieu.
* It did, io a little timcj eficfluallj fileoce them. Warburton.
I 2
u6 LETTERS TO AND
LETTER XXX.
FROM DR. .SWIFT.
Dublin, May to, 172S.
Y HAVE with great pleafure (hewn the New England
News-paper with the two names Jonathan Gulli-
ver, and I remember Mr. Fortefcue • fent you an ac-
count from the aflizes, of one Lemuel Gulliver who
had a Caiife there, and loft it on his ill reputation of
bang a liar. Thefe are not the only obfervations I
have made upon odd ftrange accidents in trifles,
which in things of great importance would have been
matter for Hiftorians. Mr. Gay^s Opera hath been
a£ted here twenty times, and my Lord Lieutenant
m
tells me, it is very well performed } he hath feen it
often, and approves it much.
Tou give a moft melancholy account of yourfelf,
and which I do not approve. I reckon that a man
fubjed like us to bodily inBrmities, ihould only oc-
cafionally converfe with great people, notwithftand-
ihg ^ thdr good qualities, eafmeiTes, and kindnefles.
There is another race which I prefer before them, as
Beef and Mutton for conftant Diet before Partridges :
I niean a middle kind both for underftanding and
fortune, who are perfeftly eafy, never impertinent,
complymg in every thing, ready to do a hundred
little
* Mr. Juftice Fortefcue.
FROM DR. SWIFT, ttc. iif
little offices that you and I may often want, who dine
and fit with me five times for once that I go with
them, and whom I can tell without offence, that I
am otherwife engaged at prefent. This you cannot
cxpe£k from any of thofe that either you or I or both
are acquainted with on your fide ; who are only fit
for our healthy feafons, and have much bufinefs of
their own. God forbid I (hould condemn you to
Ireland (^^anquam Of) and for England I defpair.;
and indeed a change of affairs would come too late at
my feafon of life, and might probably produce nothing
on my behalf. You have kept Mrs. Pope longer,
and have had her care beyond what from nature you
could expeft ; not but her lofs will be very fenfible,
whenever it (hall happen. I fay one thing, that both
fummers and winters are milder here than with you;
all things for life in general better for a middling
fortune : you will have an abfolute command of your
company, with whatever obfequioufnefs or freedom
you may expeft or allow. I have an elderly houfe-
keeper, who hath been my W — i/h^^Ie abpve thirty
years, whenever I lived in this kingdom. 1 have the
command of one or two villas near this town : you
have a warm apartment in this houfe, aed two gar-
dens for amufement. I have faid enough, yet not
half. Except abfence from friends, I confefs freely
that I have no difcontent at living hore ; befides what
arifes from a filly fpirit of» Liberty, which as it neither
fours my drink, nor hurts my meat, nor fpoils my
13 . flomach
'8 LETTERS TO AND
ftomaeh farther than in imagination, fo I refolve to
throw it oflF,
You talk of this Dunciad, but I am impatient to
have it volare per ^rij— ^-^thcre is now a vacancy for
£ime ; the Beggar's Opera hath done its ta(k, difcedai
uii conviva fatur^
Adieu*
LETTER XXXL
FROM PR. SWIFT.
June I, 1718,
T LOOK Upon ray Lord Bolingbroke * and us two, as
a peculiar Triumvirate, who have nothing to expe£t,
or to feai' ; and fo far fitteft to converfe with one
another ;
« The following Letters from Lord Bolingbroke on this fub-
jeA will be read with intcreft, however we might doubt the truth
of his Lordfhip's profcffions. All his Letters to his friend. Sir
W. Wyndham, are eloquent and plcafing fpecimens of familiar
snd friendly correfpondence. '
Egrcraont \ JjOrd BoLlNGBROKB tO Sir W. WyHDHAM,
Pipers. J "Sunday.
" I thank you for your Letter, my dear Sir William, and am
glad to hear that the fymptoms arc abated by abilinence. Thia
experience points out the caufe, and (hews the cure. I (hould
be the weakeft of men, if retreat was not my choice. It is from
the hotiom of my heart; and this 1 judge to be the very moment
wherein I ought to take that decifivc part. Sooner it might
Jiavff been called dcfcrtipn, or have received other malicious inter-
pretationa \
FRftrW DR. SrWI^T, etc. 119
aiodier : only he. and I are a little fubjeft to fchemes,
and ooe of us (I ^oa*t lay which) upon very weak
^ appear-
fUta£ojnt.;:Igt£tiit WZJ be. imprafticablct Qt have a much worfe
Trace on many accounts. If, thercforcr I can give any dignity to
my retreat, by the time and manner of it, this refolution will^vC
it,- Aa to that dignit)!^ which depends on the place and employ-
ment of a man's retreat, 1 lay little weight on the firft : he that
mires in good earteft may be as retired as the old man of Verona,
though the city was at one end of the alley, and his houfe at tlie*
other. This will therefore tnm ' on private clrcumjlances and
4amtfic eoiuittgenciet chiefly, 'Aa to th^ coQdu6l and employ-
ment of my retreat, I will endeavour to make them fuch as fhall
leave bo room t^-fay, either that I entertain in it the leaft hope or
Sefire of retmning to the hujy fcene of lifcy or that I am deprejfed
by the redu^ion of my fortune, or that r/y^/rrV i/3r(?/6f by dif-
appoiatmenta, by contradi^ions, and a multitude of other dif-
agreeable incidents ; or tha^ I abandon myfelf to (loth, or live like
the Romani over the door of whofe retreat fomebody writ, as if he
had writ on a tomb-done, " hie f tut efi Fattia,** Your Letter
gave me occafion to fay this, and a mind full of thefc thoughts.
Adieu. In a few days I hope to embrace you.
** I fend this Letter by John Brinfdcn, who goes to town in
order to fee what fuccefs my Lord Morpeth will have in introv
daqing his wine to-morrow at your Club. Poor John is in a peck
of troubles, having, I believe, a large (lock on his hands. I
£ancy you will be ready to afllil ont who has wanted neither
bonefty nor zeal in oqr cau{e."
^ '^ 1.1 '
It has been obferved, that Bulingbroke, with an afiPeflation
^ot uncommon to perfons in his iltuation, whiKl he v/tl^ panting
for a place in the councils of his country, pretends to have
his thoughts occupied only with the pleafures of retirement, or
the bufineb of the chace. How eameftly he followed this
anuifemeut whilft abroad, will be fcen from the following ex-
trad: and who but mud fmile to find the accomplifhed,
the philofophic, the political, the high-afpiring and ambitious
Solingbrokej fo minutely entering into the important concerns
14 of
' T'V
t
120 LETTERS TO AND
appearances^ and this you have nothing to do with. I
do profefs without affeftation, that your kind opinion
of me as a Patriot (fmce you call it fo) is what I
do not.deferve; becaufe what I do is owing to
perfed rage and referitment, and the mortifying fight
of
of the ** wolfchace.^* The Letters, however, are higlilj amufing,
as defcriptive of his thoughts and mode of life.
To Sir William Wyndham,
« #♦•♦♦" It is very true, . my dear friend,
that I do not dcAre health more eameftly than I deBre to he deli*
vercd irom fuffenfcy and enahled fome'where or other to enjoy thai
quictf which is the only objeci I propofe to myfelf for the reft of
my life.
•• The fecond part of your Selllon is now begun ; and I hear
that your Houfe is like to be very full,, though I do not hear of
any bufinefs you have which deferves much vivacity. That which
relates to me cannot furely create any.
** Little Jack has brought mc; horfcs to fill my ftable, and I
think of going in a few days to try whether 1 have got (Irength
enough for a *wolf*cbaee. Mod of the hounds attack the beaft
very ftoutly, fome fntak off when he comes to (land, though they
hunt him well enough. Thofe I have from Lord Gore are the
moil hardy. 1 hope you will help me to get fome young ones
this fpring, of a year or fifteen months old, in fhort unentered.
They teU me tliat his huntfnuin Afhley breeds and fells. You
can oblige the fellow to give me fome of his beil crofles, in which
^afe I (hall be glad to buy fome couples, when I fend over, as
I intend to do in a month or fix weeks. You will have a dog^
which the Count dc Hautefort has given mc, and he is excellent.
There are two making for you by the bed fchoolmafter in all this
coiintry> and I have a bitch, the hapdfomeft creature, and of the
beft breed, but too tender. She cannot hunt above an hour at a
time, I will fend her, however, for her beauty and her family.
Adieu, my dear friend ; ten thoufand refpec^ful compliments to
Lady Katherine ; and believe that your own heart cannot be more
true to you than mine*"
Jaa. 3^> ^7^5-
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 12
of flavery, folly, and bafenefs about me, among
which I am forced to live. And I will take my oath
t)iat you have more Virtue in an hour, than I in feven
years ; for you defpife the follies, and hate the vices
of mankind, without the lead ill effeft on your
temper : and with regard to particular men, you are
inclined always rather to think the better, whereas
with me it is always dire&ly contrary. I hope, how-
ever, this is not in you from a fuperior principle of
virtue, but from your fit nation, which hath made all
parties and inlerefts indifferent to you, who can be
under no concern aboSt high and low church, Whig
and Tory, or who is firft Minifter— Your long
letter was the lad I received, till this by Dr. Delany,
although you mention another fince. The Dr. told
me your fi^ret about the Dunciad, which does not
pleafe me, becaufe it defers gratifying my vanity in
the mofl tender point, and perhaps may wholly dif-
appoint it. As to one of your enquiries, I am cafy
enough in great matters, and have a thoufand paltry
vexations in my little ftation, and the more contempt-
ible, the more vexatious. There might be a Lutrin
writ upon the tricks ufed by my Chapter to teafe me.
I do not converfe with one creature of Station or Title,
but I have a fet of eafy people whom I entertain when
I have a mind; I hive formerly defcribed them to
you, but when you come, you fhall have the honours
of the country as much as you pleafe, and 1 (hall on
that account make a better figure as long as I live.
8 Pray
122 ' LETtERS to AND
Pray God preferve Mrs. Pope for your fake and eife;
1 love and efteem her too much to wifli it for her
own : if I were five-and-twtnty, 1 would wifli to be
of her age, to be as fecure as (he is of a better life,
Mrs. P. B. * has writ to me, and is one of the bed
Lctter-writers I know ; very good fenfe, civility and
ftiendfliip, without any lliffhefs or reflraint. The
Dunciad has taken wind here, but if it had not, you
are as much known here as in England, and the
Univerfity^lads will crowd to kifs the hem of your
garment. I am grieved to hear that my Lord Boling.
broke's ill health forced him to the Bath. Tell me, is
not Temperance a neceflary virtue for great men,
fmce it is the parent of Eafe and Liberty ; fo neceflfary
for the ufe and improvement of the mind, and which
Philofophy allows to be the greatefl: felicities of life ?
I believe, had health been given fo liberally to you, it
would have been better hufbanded without ihame to
your parts.
"^ Patty Blount. She had czprefTed a wifli to have a Letter
from Swifty which Letter is publifhed, and will be found in the
|o^ Vol. of this cdi(iQii» from the original in his hand-witting«
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc, laj
LETTER XXXn.
«
Dawley^ June *S,- 1728.
T NOW hold the pen for my Lord Bolingbroke, who
is reading your letter between two Haycocks ; but
his attention is fomewhat diverted by cafting his eyes
on the clouds, not in admiration of what you fayt
but for fear of a fiiower. He is pleafed with your
placing him in the Triumvirate between yourfelf and
me ; though he fays that he doubts he (hall fare like
licpidus^ while one of us runs away with all the
power like Auguftus, and another with all the plea**
fures like Anthony. It is upon a foreiight of this,
that he has fitted up his farm, and you will agree,
that his fcheme of retreat at leail is not founded upon
weak appearances. Upon his return from the Bath,
all peccan( humours, he finds, are purged out of him ;
and his great Temperance and Oeconomy are fo
fignal, that the firft is fit for my conflitution, and the
latter would enable you to lay up fo much money as
to buy a Bifhoprick in England. As to the return of
his health and vigour, were you here, you might
enquire of his Haymakers ; but as to his temperance,
J can anfwcr that (for one whole day) we have had
nothing for dinner but mutton-broth, beans and ba*
pon^ and a barn-door fowl*
Now
124 LETTERS TO AND
Now his Lordfliip is run after his Cart, I have a
moment left to jnyfelf to tell you, that I overheard
him yefterday agree with a Painter for 200L to paint
his country.hall * with Trophies of rakes, fpades,
prongs, &c. and other ornaments, merely to coun-
tenance his calling this place a Farm — ^now turn over
a new leaf —
He bids me affure you, he fhould be forry not to
have more fchemes of kindnefs for his friends, than of
ambition for himfelf : there, though his fchemes may
be weak, the motives at lead are ftrong j and he fays
further, if you could bear as great a fall, and decreafe
of your revenues, as he knows by experience he caB,
vou would not live in Ireland an hour.
The Dunciad is going to be printed^ in all pomp,
with the infcription, which makes me proudeft. It
will be attended with Proeme^ Prolcgomma^ Tejiimonia
Seriptorunij Index Autborum^ and Notes Variorum.
As to the latter, I defire you to read over the Text,
and make a few in anyway you like beft ' ; whether
dry raillery, upon the ftyle and way of commenting of
trivial Critics ; or humorous, upon the authors in the
poem ; or hiftorical, of perfons, places, times ; or
explanatory ; or colle6Ung the parallel paflages of the
Ancients.
♦ Nothing can (hew the effhrts of, SfappohttcJ awliiionto ftronglj-,
as this abfurdity, with which he endeavoured to pkaie and decdv9
himfelf.
' Dr. ^wift did fo. WAaavaroN*
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 125
Ancients. Adieu. I am pretty well, my Mother
not ill ; Dr. Arbuthnot vexed with his fever by in-
tervals ; I am afraid he declines, and we (hall lofe a
worthy man : I am troubled about him very much.
I am, etc.
ae
LETTER XXXIII.
FROM DR. SWIFT.
July 1 6, 1728.
T HAVE often run over the Dunciad in an Iriih edition
(I fuppofe full of £iults) which a gentleman fent
me. Th.e notes I could wifli to be very large, in
what relates to the'perfons concerned; fbr I have
long obferved that twenty miles from London nobody
underftands hints, initial letters, or town hL&& and
paflages ; and in a few years not even thofe^ho live
in London. I would have the names of thofe fcrib-
biers printed indexically at the beginning or end of
the Poeni, with ^ account of their works, for th«
reader to refer to. I would have all the Parodies (as
they are called) referred to the author they imitate-
When I began this long paper, I thought I (hould
have filled it with fetting down the feveral paflages I
had marked in the edition I had ; but I find it un-
neceffary, fo many of them falling under the fame
rule.
126 LETTERS TO AND
rule. After twenty times reading the whole^ I nevel'
in my opinion faw fo much good fatire, or more good
fenfe, in fo many lines* How it paiTes in Dublin, I
know not yet ; but I am fure it will be a great dif*
advantage to the Poem, that the perfons and fads
will not be underftood, till an explanation comes out,
and a v^ry full onew I imagine it is not to be pub*
lifhed till towards winter, when folks begin to gather
in town. Again I infift, you mufl: have your After-*
iiks filled up with fome real names of real Dunces.
I am now reading your preceding letter, of June
d6, and find that all I have advifed above is men-
tioned there. I would be glad to know whether the
quarto edition is to come out anonymouily, as pub-
lifhed by the Commentator, with all his pomp of pre-
feces, etc. and among many complaints of fpurioua
editions ? I am thinking whether the Editor (hould
not follow the old ftyle of, This excellent author, etc.
and refine in many places where you meant no re-*
finement ; and into the bargain take all the load of
naming the dunces, their qualities, hiftories, and per^
^ormances ?
As to yourfelf, I doubt you want a fpurrer-on to
exercife and to amufements ; but to talk of decay at
your feafon of life is a jeft. But you are not fo
regular as I. You are the moft temperate Man God-
ward, and the moft intemperate your felf-ward, of
moft I have known. I fuppofe Mr. Gay will return
from
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. fij
from the Bath Avkh twenty pounds more flefh, and
two hundred lefs in money : Providence never defigned
him to be above two and twenty^ by his thoughtleff-
nefs and Gullibility. He hath as little fore-fight of
age, ficknefs, poverty, or lofs of admirers, as a girl at
fifteen. By the way, I muft obferve, that my Lord
Bolingbroke (from the effeds of his kindnefs to me)
argues mod fophiftically : the fall from a million to a
hundred thoufand pounds is not fo great, as from
eight hundred pounds a year to one * : befides, he is a
controller
♦ lo Bolingbroke's Letters, which have been often referred
to, there b a full account of the (late of his income, and the
maaagcnient of his pecuniary aSairs. The following^ Letter
will explain the difficulties he had to ovetxrome, and his ar«
ran^caientsjn rrgard to his circumftanccs. His farm at Daw-
ley* which he adorned with pictures of rakes, and other em*
blecnatical reprefcntations qI rural happinefi, he fold in i/jS.
f $ cnaont l 7-^ ^y WiLLIAM WywDHAM.
Ki^rs. J *«New.year's-Dsy, 173!
** By a Letter from Brinfdcn, which is come this day to my hands,
I learn that you was to be at London the loth of the laft month,
your Stile, my dear Sir William. I learn likewife, that Dod's
TruUccs are in treaty for Swallowfield, and that Mr. Corry has
taken up the particular he had given them. I have made wron^
j-id^ments and wrong calculations many limes in my life, but I
never miiVeckoncd more than about' Dawley. When I began to
think, after the late King's death, and confequently after my
^reat cxpcnce there, that I might be determined fooner Or later by
ibe turn of affairs to fell that eftate, I always expedtd to lofe
vadly by it; but I hoped, and found, that perfons of better
judgment than myfelf in matters of that kind believed, that it
woidd fell for fome little advance above what it had coll me in the
wild aiid naked condition in which I had found it : for this I would
part
ia8 LETTERS TO AND
controller of Fortune, and Poverty dares not look a
great minifter in the face under his loweft declenfion.
I never
part with it, and ftill it hangs on my hands. I have borne this
di£ippointment as well as I couldy and have lived on expedients
till now. But when you confider all circumftances, you will think
as I doy that it is time to make an end o^ this fcheme of expedient
aiid expedation, and to form one a little more f<^d, by making
the mofl I can of Pawley, I conforming my life to my remainrng
fortune* whatever that be. Nine months hence I fhall be three-
fcore ; 1 owe Matignon 10O9OO0/. which he advanced almoU
again!!: my will, and for which he has no fecurity but my honefty ;
the exchange finks upon us moft cruelly* and will continue to fink.
I had lad year 2250/. for loo/. (lerling, which is a good deal below
par* but now I have no more than 2 1 8o/. ; and as the remittances
France made during her (hort war kept the exchange a little in oor
favour* fo it has turned* and mud turn againft us* this reafon
cealing* and not being likely to be renewed. I am more and more
determined every year to pafs the reft of my life abroad* and by
confequence it becomes every year more and more reafonable
to have fome eftate* fome fecure revenue at leaft* in the country
where I (hall probably end my days, inftead of having fuch
an effedi as Dawley* in a coimtry where I don't propofe ever again
to fettle. I huddle all thefe confiderations together, and I might
add others that determine me to finifh one way or other, and with
fomebody or other, the fale of Dawley this year ; and for this pur-
pgfe to go into England, and to continue there till, this being done,
I (hall have no more to do there. In the mean time let me tell you
the plan I (hould have in view if I was on the fpot, that you and
my friends may fini(h it with me if you can, or prepare for its
being (ini(hed* if that be poilible. I would endeavour to fell the
houfe and eftate for 25,000/., if I could get no more without the
furniture. This would pay all I owe* and leave me. as much fund
free as I defire or want. But then more revenue being necefiary
during my father's life than thefe funds would make up, to keep
me upon the fame foot that I now am, and that I muft continue
unlefs I fend my wife to her convent* and retire totally myfclf,
I would
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 129
I never knew him live fo great and expenfively as he
hath done fince his return from Exile ; fuch mortals
have
I vrould propofe ta a purchafer to leave him the houfe furnifhed at
it IB, except fome little, very little part that I might waut, on
condition that he fiiould pay me an annuity proportionable to th£
value of the goods left, and of my Lord St. John's life, and
determinable on his death or mine, which (hall happen firfl ; and
this valuation I would leave to be made by upholders and fcriveners,
or any proper ptrfons. I (hall write no more on the fubjc6l now,
for it muft be a fort of srambe repetita to you, nor indeed here-
after, uidefs your anfwers give me occafion to do fo. I hope the
Letters I feut you fome time ago, came fafe to your hands. You
(bould hear from me oftener, if fafe conveyances were more frequent;
but it is difagreeable to write under conHraint to one, to whom
my heart is open. I have writ to Mr. Corry, but have had no
Letter from him ilnce that in which he told me he expe6ied to fee
Judge Denton ; I caOly imagine the reafon of his filence to be this,
that he had nothing to fay. Let me defire you to prefent my
fervice to htm. As to the time of my making you a viiit, I am not
detenx^iqed, nor (hall I determine it till a little more of the winter
be fpent. I dare fay, you believe I (hould be heartily pleafed to
embrace you and yours, and yet you will not blame me, if I fay,
I wiih this journey might be fpared me ; but, in good earned, if ic
be not fo by a fale, I will take it, and fpare my friends the mortifi-
cation of making a bad bargain for me, by making it for myfelf.
I thini;. that I feel age grow more heavy upon me this winter, than
I have yet done, I have no reafon to be much concerned about it,
but it is a reafon the more for getting rid of a place, which might
have been the comfort, and which becomes the incumbrance of my
age. Is there any foundation fpr a report that is revived, I hear,
that Walpolc goes into the Houfe of J^ords, and Pelham takes his
poft^ I (hould imagine the former would be fonder of this remove
now, than fome months ago. How arc you with the latter ? I
had ^moft forgot to tell you that a Letter from Brinfdcn fome
time ago, preparing me to fee the negociation with Judge Denton
M, prepared me for a little jealoufy in cafe it did fail, of the
kind that you m^y remember was fuggcftcd lail year. He may
▼01- IX- % wifh.
130 LETTERS TO AND
have refources that others are not able to comprehencL
But God blefs you, ivhofe great genius has not fo
tranfported you as to leave you to the courtefy of
Mankind ; for wealth is liberty, and liberty is a
bleffing fittefl: for a Philofopher — ^and Gay is a Slave
juft by two thoufand pounds too little — ^And Horace
was of my mind, and let my Lord contradift him, if
he dares.—
\v'\(h, perhaps, for be waits fometimcs for dead men's (hoesi that-
Trapp (hould die before I fell Dawley. It is of confequence to
difcover whether t^re has been any management of tbis fort*
Looking over my Letter, it comes into my mind to add tbis pro*
pofal to you, whicb you may agree upon, and I will ratify ;
I will fell the eftate for 23,000/. which is within 200/. wbat
the whole coll me, provided the purchafer pay me but 20,co6/.
down, and for the other 3000/. give me 1000/. a year till tbe
death of my Lord St. John, or till my own. As to the good8»
I will leave them at the price they (hall be appraifed ^o be worth
at an audion, or have them fold fo at my charge and rifjue.
What think you of tbis offer, my friend ? Will any man who is able
to make fuch a purcbafe refufc it ? Adieu, dear Sir William i
I embrace you moft tenderly, and am devoted to all your houfe<»
hold."
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 131
LETTER XXXIV.
Bath, Nov. 12, 1728.
^ K AVE pad fix weeks in quefl: of health, and found
it not ; but I found the folly of follcitude about
it in a hundred inflances ; the contrariety of opinions
and prances, the inabiliry of phyficians, the blind
obedience of fome patients, and as blind rebellion of
others. I believe, at a certain time of life, men are
either fools * or phyficians for themfelves, and zealots
or divines for themfelves.
It was much in my hopes that you intended us a
winter's vifit, but laft week I repented that wife, hav-
ing been alarmed with a report of your lying ill on
the road from Ireland ; from which I am juft relieved
by an aifurance that you are ftili at Sir A 's t plant-
ing and building; two things that I envy you for,
befides a third, which is the fociety of a valuable
lady. I conclude (though I know nothing of it) that
you quarrel with her, and abufe her every day, if fee
is ib. I wonder I hear of no Lampoons upon her,
either
• An old Englifh adage that a man is either ^ fool or phyjlcian at
fortf.
f Sir Arthur Atchlfon's. Swift fpent a great part of his time
vcTT plcafantly there, and amufed the family with idle verfcs, the
moft celebrated of which is Hamilton's Bawn.
K Z
lit LETTERS TO AND
either made by yourfelf, or by others, bccaufe yoii
efteem her. I think it a vaft pleafure that xvhenever
two people of merit regard one another, fo many
fcoundrels envy and are angry at them ; 'tis bearing
teftimony to a merit they cannot reach j and if you
knew the infinite content I have received of late, at
the finding yours and my name condantly united in
any filly fcandal, I think you would go near to fing
Jo Triumphe ! and celebrate my happinefs in verfe }
and, I believe, if you won't, I fhalK The infcription
to the Dunciad is now printed, and inferted in the
Poem. Do you care I fhould fay any thing further
how much that poem is yours ? fmce certainly with-
out you it had never been. Would to God we were
together for the reft of our lives ! The whole weight
of Scribblers would juft ferve to find us amufement,
and not more. I hope you are too well employed to
mind them ; every ftick you plant, and every ftone
you lay is to fome purpofe j but the bufinefs of fuch
lives as theirs is but to die daily, to labour, and raife
nothing. I only wifli we could comfort each other
under our bodily infirmities, and let thofe who have
fo great a mind to have more Wit than we, win it and
wear it. Give us but eafe, health, peace, and fair
weather ! I think it is the bed wifh in the world, and
you know whofe it was. If I lived in Ireland, I fear
the wet climate would endanger more than my life }
my humour, and health ]} I am fo Atmofpherical a
creature.
I mull
FROM DR- SWIFT, etc. 133
I muft not omit acquainting you, that what you
heard of the words fpoken of you in the Drawing-room,
was not true. The fayings of Princes are generally as
ill related as the fayings of Wits. To fuch reports
little of our regard (hould be given, and lefs of our
condu£l influenced by them.
=M-«.
LETTER XXXV.
FROM DR. SWJFT.
Dublin, Feb. i$f 1748.
T .LIVED very eafily in the country : Sir A. is a man
of fenfe, and a fcholar, has a good voice, and my
Lady a better ; (he is perfedly well bred, and deiirous
to improve her underftanding, which is very good,
but cultivated too much like a fine Lady *• She was
my pupil there, and feverely chid when fhe read
wrong ; with that, and walking, and making twenty
little amufing improvements, and writing family verfes
of mirth by way of libels on my Lady, my time paffed
very well, and in very great order ; infinitely better
than here, where I fee no creature but my fervants
and
♦ How very different at that time muft have been the chara6tcr
of a Ladf /to what it is at prefeut !
"^3
134 LETTERS TO AND
and my old Prefbyterian houfe-keeper, denyiag myfelf
to every body, till I fliall recover my cars.
The account of another Lord Lieutenant was only
in a common news^paper, when I was in the country ;
and if it fhould have happened to be true, I would
have deiired to have had accefs to him as the fituation I
am in requires. But this renews the grief for the death
of our friend Mr. Congreve *, whom I loved from
my
* He was certainly one of the moft polite, pleafing, and well-
bred men of all his contemporaries. And it might have been iaid
of him, as of Cowleyt *' Vou would not, from his conYerfation,
have known him to be a Wit and a Poet» it was fo unafTuming
and courteous/' Swift had always a great regard and affedion for
him 4 and introduced him, though a (Irenuous Whig, to the fa-
vour of Lord Oxford. It is remarkable that, on itci fird publxca*
tion, Congrlive thought the Talt of a Tub grab and infipid.
Swift, in a copy of Verfes to Dr. Delany, fpeaks thus of Con-
greve't fortune and fituation :
Thus, Congreve fpent in writing Playst
And one poor Office, half his days :
While Montague, who daim'd his ftatioa
' To be Mecxnas of the Nation,
For Poets open tables kept,
But ne'er confider'd where they (lept :
Himfelf, as rich as fifty Jews,
Was eafy tho' they wanted (hoes ;
And crazy Cong^reve fcarce cou'd fpare
A (hilling to difcharge his Chair ;
Till prudence taught him to appeal
From Pzan's Fire to party Zeal ;
Not owing to his happy vein
The fortunes of his latter fcene ;
Took proper principles to thrive $
And fo might every Dunce alive.
This piAure is unfair and over-charged ; for the honour of Go-
vernment, Congreve had feveral good places conferred on him,
and enjoyed an affluent income. Wartom.
FROM DR- SWIFT, etc. 135
my youths and \(^bo furely, befides his other talents,
was a very agreeable companion. He had the mis-
fortune to fquander away a very good conftitntion in
his yomiger days ; and I think a man of fenfe and
merit like him, is bound in confcience to preferve his
health for the lake of his friends, as well as of him
felf. Upon his own account, I could not much de-
fire the continuance of his life under fo much pain,
and fo many infirmities. Years have not yet hard-
ened me J and I have an addition of weight upon my
fpirits fince we lofl him ; though I faw him fo feldom,
and poflibly if he had lived on, Ihould never have feen
him more. I do not only wifli, as you afk me, that I
was unacquainted with any deferving perfon, but *
almoft that I never had a friend. Here is an ingenious
good-humoured Phyfician, a fine gentleman, an ex-
cellent fcholar, ealy in his fortunes, kind to every
body, hath abundance of friends, entertains them
often and liberally, they pafs the evening with him at
cards, with plenty of good meat and wine, eight or a
dozen together; he loves them all, and they him.
He has twenty of thefe at command ; if one of them
dies, it is no more than. Poor Tom ! he gets another,
or takes up with the reft, and is no more moved than
at the lofs of his cat : he offends nobody, is eafy with
ftvery body ■ -Is not this the true happy man ? I
was defcribing him to my Lady A , who knows
him loo, but flie hates him mortally by my character,
and will not drink his health : I would give half my
K 4 fortune
136 LETTERS TO AND
fortune for the fame temper, and yet I cannot fay I love
it, for I do not love my Lord who is much of the
Doftor's nature. I hear Mr. Gay's fecond Opera,
which you mention, is forbid } and then he will be
once more fit to be advifed, and rejed your advice.
Adieu.
LETTER XXXVL
DR. SWIfT TO LORD BOLINGBROKE.
Dublin, March 2I9 1729.
XT^ou tell mc you have not quitted the defign of
coUe&ing, writing, etc. This is the anfwer of
every (inner who defers his repentance. I wifli Mr.
Pope was as great an urger as I, who long for nothing
snore than to fee truth under your hands, laying all
detraction in the duft.— — I find myfelf difpofed every
year, or rather every month, to be more angry and
revengeful ; and my rage is fo ignoble, that it defcends
even to refent the folly and bafenefs of the enflaved
people among whom I live. I knew an old Lord in
Leicefterfhire, who amufed himfelf with mending
pitchforks and fpades for his Tenants gratis. Yet I
have higher ideas left, if I were nearer to objeds on
which I might employ them ; and contenming my
private fortune, would gladly crofs the channel and
8 iland
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. i^f
nand by, while my betters were driving the Boars
out of the garden, if there be any probable expe&a^
tion of fuch an endeavour. When I was of your
age I often thought of death, but now, after a dozen
years more, it is never out of my mind, and terrifies
me lels. I conclude that Providence hath ordered our
iears to decreafe with our fpirits ; and yet I love la
bagatelle better than ever ; for finding it troublefomc
to read at night, and the company here growing tafte-
leis, 1 am always writing bad profe, or worfe verfes
other of rage or raillery, whereof fome few efcape to
give offence or mirth, and the reft are burnt.
They print fome Iri(h traih in London, and charge
it on me, which you will clear me of to my friends,
for all are fpurious except one paper ', for which Mr.
Pope very lately chid me. I remember your Lord*-
ihip ufed to fay, that a few good fpeakers would in
time carry any point that was right ; and that the
common method of a majority, by calling. To the
queftion, would never hold long when reafon was on
the other fide. Whether politics do not change like
gaming by the invention of new tricks, I am igno-
rant ; but I believe in your time you would never, as
a Minifter, have fuffered an Ad to pafs through the
H, of C s, only becaufe you were fure of a ma-
jority in the H. of L s to throw it out : beciufe
it would be unpopular, and confequently a lofs of re-
putation.
^ Entitled A Libel on DrJ)ekinyt and a ctrtain ^reat Lord.
Warburtox.
i3« LETTERS TO ANI>
putation. Yet this we are told hath been the cafe k^
the Qualification-Bill relating to Penfioners. It fhould
ieem to me, that Corruption, like Avarice, hath no
bounds* I had opportunities to know the proceed-
ings of your minirtry better than any other man of
my rank ; and having not much to do, I have often
compared it with thefe lafl: fixteen years of a profound
peace all over Europe, and we running feven millions
in debt. I am forced to play a fmall game, to fet the
beafts here a madding, merely for want of better
game, Tentanda via eft qua me quoque poffitn^ etc. i '
The D take thofe politics, where a Dunce might
govern for a dozen years together. I will come in
perfon to England, if I am provoked, and fend for
the Dictator from the plough. 1 difdain to fay, Ob
mihi frateritos^'^hut cruda deo viridifque fenedlm*
Pray, my Lord, how are the Gardens ? have you
taken down the mount, and removed the yew hedges I
Have you not bad weather for the fpring corn ? Has
Mr. Pope gone farther in his Ethic Poems? and is the
head-land Town with wheat ; and what fays Polybius ?
and how does my Lord St. John ? which laft queftion
is very material to me, becaufe I love Burgundy, and
riding between Twickenham and Dawley. 1 built
-a wall five years ago, and when the mafons played
' the knaves *, nothing delighted me fo much as to ftand
by, while my fervants threw down what was amifs :
I have
*
♦ Wbat a ftrangc penrci4ion of hnmanity and fcafe I
1
■
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc- 139
I have likewife feen a Monkey overthrow all the difhe^
and plates in a kitchen, merely for the pleafnre of
feeing them tumble and hearing the clatter they
made in thar fall. I wiih you would invite me to
fiich another entertainment; but you think, as I
ov^bt to think, that it is time for me to have done witl^
the world, and fo I would if I could get into a better
hdoTC I was called into the beft, and not die here in a
nge, like a poifoned rat in a hole. I wonder you are
not afliamed to let me pine away in this kingdom whils
you are out of power.
I come from lo<^ng over the Melange above-
written, and declare it to be a true copy of my preT^nt
difpofition, which muft needs pleafe you, iince no-
thing was ever more difpleafing to myfelf. I defire
you to prefent my moft humble refpe£ts to my Lady.
LETTER XXXVIL
DR. SWIFT TO LORD BOLINGBROKE.
Dublin, April 5, 1729.
I DO not think it would be poiSble for me to hear
better news than that of your getting over your
Icurvy fait, which always hung as a dead weight on
my heart: I hated it in all its circumftances, as it
afieded your fortune and quiet, and in a fituation of
Ufc
146 LETTERS TO AND
life that mull make it every way vexatious. Ahd as
I am infinitely obliged to you for the juftice you do
me in fuppofmg your affairs do at leaft concern roe as
miieh as my own ; fo I would never have pardoned
your omitting it« But before I go on, I cannot for-»
bear mentioning "Whdt I read lafl: fummer in a newf*
paper, that you were writing the hiftory of your
own times. I fuppofe fuch a report might arife
from what was not fecret among your friends, of
your intention to write another kind of hiftory ; which
you often promifed Mr* Pope and me to do ! I know
he defires it very much, and I am fure I defire nothing
more, for the honour and love I bear you, and the
perfeft knowledge I have of your public virtue. My
Lord, I have no other notion of Oeconomy than that
it is the parent of Liberty and Eafe, and I am not the
only friend you have who hath chid you in his heart
for the negled of it, though not with his mouth, as
I have done. For there is a filly error in the world,
even among friends otherwife very good, not to in-
termeddle with men's affairs in fuch nice matters.
And, my Lord, I have made a maxim, that fliould
be writ in letters of diamonds. That a wife man ought
to have Money in his head, but not in his heart.
Pray, my Lord, enquire whether your Prototype,
my Lord Digby, after the Reftoration, when he was
at Briflol, did not take fome cai« of his fortune^
notwithflanding that quotation I' oiice fent you out Of
his fpeech to the H. of Commons? In my confidence,
I believe
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 141
I believe Fortune, like other drabbs, values a mai)
gradually Icfs for every year he lives. I have de-
nronftration for it ; becaufe, if I play at piquet for fix*,
pence with a man or woman two years younger than
myfelf, I always lofe ; and there is a young girl of
twenty, who never fails of winning my money at
Backgammon, though flie is a bungler, and the game
be EcclefiafUc. As to the public, I confefs nothing
could cure my itch of meddling with it, but the(e fre-
quent returns of deafhefs, which have hindered me
from paHing laft winter in London ; yet I cannot but
confider the perfidioufnefs of fome people, who I
thought when I was lad there, upon a change that
happened, were the mod impudent in forgetting their
profeflions that I have ever known. Pray will you
pleafe to take your pen, and blot me out that. politic
cal maxim from whatever book it is in, that Res mlunt
diu male adminijlrari ; the commonnefs makes me not
know who is the author, but fure he muft be fome
Modem.
I am forry for Lady fiolingbroke's ill health ; but I
proteft I never knew a very deferving perfon of that fex,
who had not too much reafon to complain of ill health*
I never wake without finding life a more infignificant
thmg than it was the day before ; which is one great
advantage I get by living in this country, where there
is nothing I (hall be forry to lofe. But my greatest
mifery is recoIIeSing the fcene of twenty years part,
iOid then all on a fudden dropping into the prefent.
I remember,
142 LETTERS TO AND
I remember, when I was a little boy, I felt agreat fift
at the end of my line, which I drew up almoft on
the ground, but it dropt in, and the difappointment
Texes me to this very day ; and I believe, it was the
type of all my future difappointments. I fliould be
afliamed to fay this to you, if you had not a fpirit
fitter to bear your own misfortunes, than I have to
think of them. , Is there patience left to refleft, by
what qualities wealth and greatnefs are got, and by
what qualities they are loft ? I have read my friend
Congreve's verfes to Lord Cobham, which end with
a vile and falfe moral, and I remember is not in
Horace to Tibullus, which he imitates, •* that aU
•' times are equally virtuous and vicious,** wherein
he differs from all Poets, Philofophers, and Chriflians
that ever writ. It is more probable that there may
be an equal quantity of virtues always in the world,
but fometimes there may be a peck of it in Afia, and
hardly a tbimble-fuU in Europe. But if there be no
virtue, there is abundance of lincerity ; for I will
venture all I am worth, that there is not one human
creature in power, who will not be modeft enough
to confefs that he proceeds wholly upon a principle of
Corruption. I fay this, becaufe I have a fcheme, in
fpite of your notions, to govern England upon the
principles of Virtue, and when the nation is ripe for
it, I deiire you will fend for me« I have learned this
by living like a Hermit, by which I am got back-
9vards about nineteen hundred years in the Era of
• 7 the
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc, 143
the world, and begin to wonder at the wickednefe of
men. I dine alone upon half a difli of meat, mix
water with my wine, walking ten miles a day, and
read Baronius. Hie explicit Efiijiola ad Dqiu. Boling-
broke, et incipit ad amicum Pope,
Having finifhed my Letter to Ariftippus, I now bo-
gin to you. I was in great pain about Mrs, Pope,
having heard from others that fhe was in a very dan-
gerous way, which made me think it unfeafonable to
trouble you. I am afhamed to tell you, that when I
was very young I had more defire to be famous than •
erer iince ; and fame» like all things elfe in this life,
grows wth me eveiy day more a trifle. But you who
are fo much younger, although you want that health
you deferve, yet your fpirits are as vigorous as if your
body were founder. I hate a crowd, where I have
not an eafy place to fee and be feen. A great Library
always makes me melancholy *, where the beft Au-
thor is as much fqueezed, and as obfcure, as a Porter
at a Coronation. In my own little Library, I value
the compiiements of Grsevius and Gronovius, which
make thirty-one volumes in folio, (and were given mc
by my Lord Bolingbroke,) more than all my books
befides ; becaufe whoever comes into my clofct, cafts
his eyes immediately upon them, and will not vouch-
(afe to look upon Plato or Xenophon. I tell you it is
almoil
• In MontefqmmU Perftan LcUcn^ there is an admirable one
Ufoa this fubjed. Wa&ton.
144 LETTERS TO AND
almoft incredible how opinions change by the decline
or decay of Spirits, and I will further tell you, that all
my endeavours from a boy to diflinguifh myfelf, were
only for want of a great Title and Fortune, that I
might be ufed like a Lord by thofe who have an
opinion of my parts ; whether right or wrong, it is
110 gr^t matter ; and fo the reputation of wit or great
learning does the office of a blue ribband, or of a
coach and fix horfes. To be remembered for ever
on the account of our friendfhip, is what would ex-
ceedingly pleafe me ; but yet I never loved to make a
▼ifit, or be feen walking with my betters, becaufe
they get all the eyes 2^d civilities from me. 1 no
fooner writ this than I corre&ed myfelf, and remem-
bered Sir Fulk Grevil's Epitaph, " Here lies, etc. who
♦* was friend to Sir Philip Sidney/' And therefore
I moit heartily thank you for your defire that I would
record our f^iendihip in verfe, vhich if I can fucceed
in, I will never defire to write one niore line in poetry
while I live. You mud prefent my humble fervice to
Mrs. Pope, and let her know I pray for her continu*
^nce in the world, for her pwn reafoQ, that (he may
live to take care of you^
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc.
HS
LETTER xxxvnr.
FROM DR. SWIFT.
Y AM very fenfible tbat in a former letter I talked
very weakly of my own affairs, and of my imper«
fe£b wifhes and defires, which however I find with
fome comfort do now daily decline, very fuitable to-
my ftaie of health for fome months paft. For my
head is never perfeftly free from g/ddinefs, and efc
pecially towards night. Tet my diforder is very mo-
derate, and I have been without a fit of deafoefs this
half year ; fo I am like a horfe, which, though off
his mettle, can trot on tolerably ; and this compari-
fon puts me in mind to add, that I am returned to be
a rider, wherein I wifh you would imitate me. As
CO this country*, there have been three terribly
years dearth of corn, and every place ftrewed with
beggars } but dearths are common in better climates,
and our evils here lie much deeper. Imagine a nation
the two thirds of whofe revenues are fpent out of ir,
and i^ho are not permitted to trade V^ith the other
thirds
* There are many acute aod new Qbferrations t>d tbe ihu
of Ireland, in Berkley*! ^Jf^rt/ls by 'which he appears Co be as
great a Pah-loi and PoBtUian, at in bit other works he k a PhUo*
fopber aod Divine. WMto^,
vol. IS. X.
146 LETTERS TO AND
third, and where the pride, of women will not fuSer
them to wear their own manufaftures even where
they excel what come from abroad : this is the true
ftate of Ireland in a very few words. Thefe eviU
operate more every day, and the kingdom is abfo-
lutely updone, as I have been telling often in print
thefe ten years pa(l»
. What I have faid requires forgivenefs, but I had z
mind for once to let you know the (late of our affairs,
and my reafon for being more moved than perhaps
becomes a Clergyman, and a piece of a Philofopher :
and perhaps the increafe of years and diforders may
hope for fome allowance to complaints^ efpecially
when I may call myfelf a flranger in a ftrange land*
As to poor Mrs. Pope, (if (he be ftill alive,) I heartily
pity you and pity her : her great piety and virtue
will infallibly make her happy in a better life, and her
great age hath made her fully ripe for heaven and the
grave, and her beft friends will mofl wifli her eafed
of her labours, when fhe hath fo many good works
to follow them. The lofs you will feel by the want
of her care and kindnefs, I know very well ; but fhe
has amply done her part, as you have yours. One
•
reafon why I would have you in Irelan4 when you
ihall be at your own difpofal, is that you may be
mafler of two or thre6 years' revenues, provifa frugis
in annds copia^ fo as not to be pinched in the leafl
.when years increafe,^ and perhaps your health im-
• pair^ : and when this kingdom is utterly at an end«
8 you
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 147
you may fapport me for the few years I fhall happen
to live ; and who knows but you may pay me exor-
bitant intereft for the fpoonful of wine, and fcraps of
a chicken, it will cod me to feed you ? I am confident
you have too much reafon to complain of ingrati-
tude ; for I never yet knew any perfon, one tenth
part fo heartily difpofed as you are, to do good offices
to others, without the lead private view.
Was it a Gafconade to pleafe me, that you faid
your fortune was increafed loo/. a year fince I left
you ? you (hould have told me how. Thok /ubfidia
fene^uii are extremely defirable, if they could be got
with juftice, and without avarice; of which vice
though I cannot charge myfelf yet, nor feel any ap-
proaches towards it, yet no ufurer more wifhes to be
richer (or rather to be furer of his rents). But I am
not half fo moderate as you, for I declare I cannot live
cafily under double to what you are fatisfied with.
I hope i\lr. Gay will keep his 3000 /. * and live on
the intereft without decreafing the principal one
penny ;
• He gained, we fee, a confiderablc fum by hitf writings.
Enough has been faid of Milton's felling his Paradife L.Jl for ten
pounds. Tonfon gave Dry den only two hundred and fifty gruineaa
for ten thoufand terfes to make up thf volume of his Fables. It
may be of ufe to inform young adventurers, that Thomfon fold
his WhUer to Millar for only three guineas. He gained but little
more for his Summer^ The year after, when he rofc in repu-
tatioHy 1738, Andrew Miller gaVe him fifty guineas for his
Sbringm This was his firfl connection with Thomfon, whom he
ever afterwards honoured and aflifted if called upon. Dr. Young
tccdved of Dodfley two hundred guineas for the three firft Nlghi
L 2 • Thoughis.
148 LETTERS TO AND
penny; but 1 do not like ydur feldom feeing him«.
I hope he is grown more difengaged from his intent-
nefs on his own affairs, which I ever difliked, and is
cjuite the reverfe to you, unlefs you are a very
dextrous difguifer. I defire my humble fervice to
Lord Oxford, Lord Bathurit, and particularly to Mrs.
B— , but to no Lady at Court *. God blefs you for
being a greater Dupe than I \ I love that character too
ni^felf, but want your charity. Adieu^ ^.
LETTER IXXIX.
OAobcr 9, 1720^
TT pleafes me thai you received my books at laft : but
you have never once told me if yon approve the
whole, or difapprove not of fome parts of the Com-
mentary, etc. It was my principal aim in the entire
work to perpetuate the frienddiip between us, and to
fiiew
Thoughts, Dr* Akenfide one hundred and twenty guineas for bis
PUafura of Imagination ; and Mallet the fame fun fur his Jimymtor
and Theodora. Wartom.
* Swifty it has been obferTed, paid great court to Mrs.
Howard, in hopes of exchanging his preferment, through her
intereft. This is the firft fymptom of his anger, on finding thcr«
was a probability of his being diiappointed : ** / defire ny tumUt
fervke, ^c, particularly to Mrs. B* but to no Lady at Court* God
blcfs you for being a grtater Uufe than I."
1^
V-
V
I
FROM DR, SWIFT, etc. 149
ihew that the friends or the enemies of one were
the friends or enemies of the other : if in any parti-
cular any thing be dated or mentioned in a diflferent
manner from what you like, pray tell me freely, that
the new Editions now coming out here may have it
rectified. YouMl find the 06lavo rather more correft
than the Quarto, with fome Additions to the Notes
and Epigrams caft in, which I wi(h had been increafed
by your acquaintance in Ireland. I rejoice in hear-
' ing that DrapiersHill is to emulate Pamaffus; I fear
the country about it is as much impoverifhed. I truly
I fliare in all that troubles you, and wi(h you removed
i from a fcene of diftrefs, which I know works your
compaflionate temper too ftrongly. But if we are
not to fee you here, I believe I fliall once in my life
fee you there. You think more for me and about
me than any friend I have, and you think better for
me. Perhaps you'll not be contented, though I am,
that the additional ico/. a-year is only for my life.
My mother is yet living, and I' thank God for it :
ihe will never be troublefome to me, if (he be not fo
to herfelf : but a melancholy ohjed it is, to obferve
the gradual decays both of body and mind, in a perfoa
to whom one is tied by the links of both. I can't tell
whether her death itfelf would be fo affli£Hng.
I You are too careful of my \yorldly affairs ; I am
I rich enough, and I can afford to give away a i oo/. a-
ri year. Don't be angry j I will not live to be very
Ij old; I have Revelations to the contrary. I would
1-3 not
P
I- '
t
ISO LETTERS TO AND
not crawl upon the earth without doing a little .good
when I have a mind to do it : I will enjoy the plea,
fure of what I give, by giving it alive, and feeing an-
other enjoy itt When I die, I fliould be afliamed to
leave enough to build me a monument, if there were
a wanting friend above ground.
Mr. Gay aflures me his 3000/. is kept entire and
facred ; he feems to languifli after a line from you,
iand complains tenderly. Lord Bolingbroke has told
me ten times over he was going to write to you.
Has he, or not ? The Dr. * is unalterable, both in
friendfhip and Quadrille : his wife has been very near
death lad week : his two brothers buried their wivea
within thefe fix weeks. ,Gay is fixty miles off, and
has been fo all this fummer, with the Duke, and
Duchefs of Quecnlbury. He is the fame man : fo is
every one here that you know : mankind is unamend-
able. Optimus Hie J^i minimis urgetur-^Foor Mrs. * is
like the reft, ihe cries at the thorn in her foot, but
will fuffer nobody to pull it out. The Court-Lady I
have a good opinion of, yet I have treated her more
negligently than you would do, becaufe you like to ^
fee the infide of a Court, which I do not. I have
feen her but twice. You have a defperate hand at
daQiing out a charafter by great ftrokes, and at the
fame time a delicate one at fine touches. God
forbid you fhould draw mine, if I were confcious of
any guilt: but if I were confcious only of folly,
God
♦ Arbuthnot.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 151
God fen4 it ! for as nobody can deteft a great faolc
fo well as you, nobody would fo well hide a fmall
one. But after all, that Lady means to do good *,
and does no harm, which is a vaft deal for a Cour«
tier. I can afTure you that Lord Peterborow always
fpeaks kindly of you, and certainly has as great
a mind to be your friend as any one. I muft
throw away my pen j it cannot, it will never tell you,
what I inwardly am to you* ^od nequeo monjirare^
et fentio tantum.
LETTER XL.
LORD BOLINGBROKE TO DR. SWIFT.
Bniflels, Sept. 27, 1729.
Y HAVE brought your French acquaintance thus for
on her way into her own country, and confider-
ably better in- health than (he was when ihe went to
Aix. 1 begin to entertain hopes that Ihe will recover
fuch a degree of health as may render old age fupport-
able. Both* of us have clofed the tenth Luftre, and
it is high time to determine how we (hall play the lafl:
ad
* Pope was dill willing to pcrfuade his friend, that " the Lady
9t Court" was (incere \ as moft probably (he was : but what he
£xpc^ed irom her was not in her power to gaiuw
!• 4
i5» LETTERS TO AND
a6k of the Farce. Might not my life • be entitled
much more properly a Wbat'cPye'Call-it than a Farce ?
ibme Comedy, a great deal of Tragedy, and the
igihxAt interfperfed with fcenes of Harlequin, Scara*
mooch, and Dr. Baloardo, the prototype cS your
Hero. I ufed to think fometimes formerly of old
age and of death : enough to prepare my mind ; not
enough to anticipate forrow, to dafli the joys of youth,
and to be all my life a-dying. I find the benefit of
this prance now, and find it more as I proceed
on
-* ^Bolmgbroke is reported to a I^tcr written to Pmalfy to
kive faid, '* You, and !» and Popc^ are the only tliree men liYing
fit to reign." Voltairei in the xiith volume of his Letters, denies
this anecdote ; and adds, *< J'aime mieux ce que difait a fes com*
pagnons la plus fameufe Catin dc Loodres ; Mes fcears, Boling*
broke eft declare aujourdhui Secretaire d'Etat ; fept miile guinces
de rente, mes fceurs ; et tout pour nous ! " It appean, by Vohmrii
Letters, vol. i« p. 13, that in the year i]^22, he was at La Saurpc
4itarOrUamf with Lord BoRngirate; to whom he communicated
•the .firft iketches of the ffefur$4ute^f and received fyom him the
higheft commendations. Waktoh,
•f* The following Letter from Horace Walpole, refpeAing Voltaive*s journey
t» England to get hit Focpa printed, it curious, li iswiiuen toDodingtoo :
*« Di Aa S|R, Paris, May 19, 1716.
*' Mr. Voltaire, a French Ppat, who bas wrote feveral pieces -wi|h greil fuccds
.iiere, being gone for Englnnd in order to print by fufafcription an excellent Poem,
' called H^my iV. which, on account of ibme boM ftroket io it againft per(ectttioo
Andtbe pricils; cannot be printed here; M> de Morrille, the Macaenas, or, I may
tnjty fay, ike Dudingion here, fur the encuuragenient of wit and learning, has
.earneftly recomroer>ded it to me to ufe my credit and intereft for pmmoting this
fubfcriptiun aack>ng roy friends ; on which account^ as well as ibr the fake of
merit, I thought I coutd apply myfelf no where more properly than to you | aod
I hope this will answer the particu'ar view and intereft^ which I have in it myfelf
which is, to renew a oorrefpondeuce lb agreeable to me; who am, with ih^
gicateft truth and^eAki^ ^r,
^ Your iap(^ obetfienl an^ moil bumble ferrant,
•• ». WALPOU,"
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 153
qm my jouraey : little regret when I look badkwar4s9
tittle apprebeofion when I look forward. You com*
plain grievoufly of your fituation in Ireland : I
would complain of mine too in England, but I will
not, nay I ought not ; for I find by long experience
that I can be tmfortunate without being unhappy. I
do not approve your joining together xhtjlgure cf liv^
ing^ and the pleafure cf giving ^ though your old prat,
ing friend Montague * does fomething like it in one of
his Rhapfodies. To tell you my reafons would be to
write an eflay, and I (hall hardly have time to write a
Letter; but if you will come over, and live with
Pope and me, Vl\ ihew you in an inftant why thofe
two things fliould not alkr de pair^ and that forced
3;etrcnchments on both may be made, without making
w eren uneafy. You know that I am too expenfive,
and all mankind knows that I have been cruelly plun«*
dered $ and yet I fed in my mind the power of de^
£cending without anxiety two or three ftages more.
In ihort (Mr. Dean) if you will cpme to a certain
(arm in Middlefex, you ihatl find that I can live fru«-
gaily without growling at the world, or being peeviih
with thofe whom fortune has appointed to eat my
bread, inftead of appointing me to eat theirs : and
yet I have naturally as little difpofition to frugality as
any man alive. You fay, you are no pbilofopher^
and I think you are in the ri^t to diilike a word
which
* Yet there are few writere that give us fudi an infight into
l^imian astore, at ihis old Prater. WAaTON.
154 LETTERS TO AND
which IS fo often abufed ; but I am furc you like to .
follow reafon, not cuftom (which is fometimes the
reafon and oftener the caprice of others, of the mob
of the world). Now to be fure of doing this, you
muft wear your philofophical fpedacles as conftantly
as the Spaniards ufed to wear theirs. Tou muft
make them part of your drefs, and fooner part with
your broad-brimmed beavfer, your gown, your fcarf,
or even that emblematical veftment, your furplice.
Through this medium you will fee few things to be
Vexed at, few perfons to be angry at : and yet there
will frequently be things which wc ought to wifh
altered, and perfons whom we ought to wifh hanged.
In your letter to Pope, you agree that a regard for
fame becomes a man more towards his Exit, than at
his Entrance into life ; and yet you confefs, that the
longer you live, the more you grow indifferent about
it. Tour fentiment is true and natural ; your reafon-
ing, 1 am afraid, is not fo upon this occafion. Pm-
dence will make us defire Fame, becaufe it gives us
many real and great advantages in all the affairs of
life. Fame is the wife man's means j his 6nds are his
own good, and t*he good of fociety. You Poets and
Orators have inverted this order ; you propofe Fame
as the end ; and good, or at leaft great adions, as
the means. You go further : you teach our fdf-love
to anticipate the applaufq which we fuppofe will be
paid by pofterity to our names ; and with idle notions
of immortality you turn other heads befides your own ;
lam
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 15^
I am afraid this may have done fome harm in the
world.
Fame is an objed which men purfue fuccefsfully
by various and even contrary courfes. Your doc-
trine leads them to look on this end as eiTential, and
on the means as indifferent; fo that Fabricius and
Craffus, Cato and Caefar, prefled forward to the
fame goal. After all perhaps it may appear, from a
confideration of the depravity of mankind, that you
could do no better, nor keep up virtue in the world
without calling this paffion or this dire£Uon of felf-
love, into your aid : Tacitus has crowded this excufe
for you, according to his manner, into a maxim,
Contempiu fama^ coniemni *uiriutes* But now whe-
ther we confider Fame as an ufeful inftrument in all
the occurrences of private and public life, or whe-
ther we confider it as the caufe of that pleafure which
our felf-love is fo fond of; methinks our entrance
into life, or (to fpeak more properly) our youth, not
our old age, is the feafon when we ought to defire it
mod, and therefore when it is mod becoming to d^
fire it with ardour. If it is ufeful, it is to be defired
mod when we have, or may hope to have, a long
fceiie of adion open before us : towards our exit, this
fcene of aftion is or fliould be clofed ; and then, me-
tlimks, it is unbecoming to grow fonder of a thing
which we have no longer occafion for. If it is plea-
fant, the fooner we are in poffeffion of fame the longer
we ihall enjoy this pleafure. When it is acquired
early
156 LETTERS TO AND
early in life, it may tickle us on till old age ; but
v^hen it is acquired late, the fenfation of pleafure mil
be more faint, and mingled with the regret of our
not having tafted it fooner.
From my Farm^ 08. 5.
I am here ; I have feen Pope, and one of my firft
inquiries was after you. He tells me a thing I am
forry to hear : you are building, it feems, on a piece
of land you tB8ive acquired for that purpofe, in fome
county of Ireland. Though I have built in a part of
the world, which I prefer very little to that where you
have been thrown and confined by our ill fortune and
yours, yet I am forry you do the fame thing. I have
repented a thoufand times of my refolution^ and I
hope you will repent of yours before it is executed.
Adieu, my old and worthy friend ; may the phyficai
evils of life fall as eafily upon you, as ever they did
on any man who lived to be old ; and may the moral
evils which furround us, make as little imprefiion on
you, as they ought to make on one yvho has fuch
fuperior fenfe to eftimate things by, and fo much
virtue to wrap himfelf up in.
My wife defires not to be forgotten by you ; (he's
faithfully your fervant, and zealoufly your admirer.
She will be concerned and difappoihted not to find
you in this ifland at her return, which hope both ihe
and I had been made to entertain before I went
abroad.
FROM DR, SWIFT, etc 157
LETTER XLI.
DR. SWIFT TO LORD BOLINGBROKE.
Dublin, Odobcr ji, 1729.
T RECEIVED your Lordfliip's travelling letter of
feveral dates, at feveral (lages, and from different
nations, languages, and religions. Neither could any
thing be more obliging than your kind remembrance
of me in fo many places. As to your ten Luftres, I
remember, when I complained in a letter to Prior,
that I was fifty years old, he was half angry in jeft,
and anfwered me out of Terence, ijla commemoratio eji
quaji exprobraiio. How then ought I to rattle you,
when I have a dozen years more to anfwer for, all
monaftically paffed in this Country of liberty and
delight, and money, and good company ! I go on
anfwering yoiw letter : it is you were my Hero, but
the other ' never was ; yet if he were, it was your
own fault, who taught me to love him, and often
vindicated him *, in the beginning of your miniftry,
from my accufations. But I granted he had the
greateft inequalities of any man alive, and his whole
fccne was fifty times more a What-d'ye-call-it than
yours ;
* Lord Oxford. Wa&buhton.
* This is a remarkable fentence ; as it conveys a depreciating
idea of Lord Oxford^ whom tve had imagined ^wft preferred to
BoSngbrote. 2 Wartow.
15$ LETTERS TO AND *
yours: for, I declare yours was ume^ and I wiffi
you would fo order it, that the world may be
as wife as I upon that article : Mr. Pope wilhes it
too, and I believe there is not a more honeft man
in England, even without wit. But you regard
us not. I was forty-feven • years old when I be-
gan to think of death, and the reflections upon it
now begin when I wake in the morning, and end
when I am going to fleep. — ^I writ to Mr. Pope, and
not to you. My birth, although from a family not
undiftinguiihed in its name, is many degrees inferior
to yours ; all my pretenfions from perfon and parts
infinitely fo ; I a younger fon of younger fons > you
bom to a great fortune : yet I fee you, with all your
advantages, funk to a degree that you could never
have been without them ;• but yet I fee you as much
efieemed, as much beloved, as much dreaded, and
perhaps more (though it be almoft impofEble) than
ever you were in your highefl exaltation— only ■ I
grieve like an Alderman that you are not fo rich.
And yet, my Lord, I pretend to value money as little
as you, and I will call five hundred witneffes (if you
will take Irifli witneffes) to prove it. I renounce
your whole philofophy, becaufe it is not your pradice.
By the figure of livings (if I ufed that expreffion to
Mr. Pope,) I do not mean the parade, but a fuitable-
nefs to your mind : and as for the pleafure of giving^
I know your foul fuffers when you are debarred of it.
Could
The year of Qiiccn Annc*8 death. Warburtoh.^
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 159
Could you, when your own generofity and contempt
of outward things, (be not offended, it is no Eccle-
fiaftical, but an Epiftedan phrafe,) could you, when
«
thefe have brought you to it, come over and live with
Mr. Pope and me at the Deanry ? I could almoft wi(h
the experiment was tried No, God forbid, that
ever fuch a fcoundrel as Want fhould dare to ap-
proach you. But, in the mean time, do not brag ;
Retrenchments are not your talent. But as old Wey-
mouth faid to me in his Lordly Latin, Pbilofopha
'uerbuj ignava opera : I wilh you could learn Arith-
metic, that three and two make five, and will never
make more. My philofophical fpeSacles which you
advife me to, will tell me that I can live on 50/. a
year, (wine excluded, which my bad health forces me
to,) but I cannot endure that Otium fhould htjine
dignitate. — My Lord, what 1 would have faid of Fame
is meant of fame which a man enjoys in his life ; be-
caufe I cannot be a great Lord, I would acquire what
is a kind oi fubjidium^ I would endeavour that my
belters Ihould feek me by the merit of fomething
diftmguifliable, inftead of my feeking them. The
defire of enjoying it in after-times is owing to the fpirit
and folly of youth : but with age we learn to know
the houfe is fo full, that there is no room for above
one or two at moft in an age, through the whole
world*. My Lord, I hate and love to write to
you,
♦ When Bolingbroke was very old, in bis retirement at Batter-
fca, it was cuftomary for many people to pay their rcfpcdla to him,
chiefly
t6<y LETTERS TO AND
jovLj it gives me pleafnre, and kills me trith melaK«
choly* The D*-^«-^ take ftupidity, that it ^ill not
come to fupply the want of philofophy.
LETTER XLH-
FROM DR. SWIFT.
O&obcr 31, 17^9.
X70tT \^ere fo careful of fending me the Dundad,
that I have received five of them» and have
pleafed four friends. I am one of every body mrho
approve every part of it. Text and Comment j but
am one abftraded from every body, in the happinefs
of being recorded your friend, while wit, and hu«
mour, and poUtenefs Ihall have any memorial among
us. As for your o£lavo edition, we know nothing
of it, for we have an odavo of our own, which hath
fold wonderfully, confidering our poverty, and dul«
nefs the coniequence of it.
I writ this poft to Lord B. and tell him in my letter,
that, with a great deal of lofs for a frolick, I will fly
as
chiefly with the view of feeing and converfing with a cbara^er fo
diflinguiihed. Among otherty Lord Chatham, then a young
many called on him ; but found him pedaoticy fretful, angry with
hu wife, &c. Such 18 the melancholy ptdure of the laft ftage of
eullence.
ZCcmmttmeaiedfyLorJaaxhMmpfQtBebNi
Marqm of Lanfdowne. j
yROM DR. SWIFT, etc- i6i
as foon as build ; I have neither years, nor fpirits,
nor money, nor patience^ for fuch aniufements. The
frolick is gone off, and I am only looA the poorer.
But this kingdom is grown fo exceifively poor, that
we wife men muft think of nothing but getting a little
ready money. It is thought there are not two hun-
dred thoufand pounds in fpecie in the whole ifland ;
for we return thrice as much to our Abfentees, as we
get by trade, and fo are all inevitably undone ; which
I have been telling them in print thefe ten years, to
as little purpofe as if it came from the pulpit. And
this is enough for Irilh politics, which I only men-
tion, becaufe it fo nearly touches myfelf. I mufl: re«
peat what, I believe, I have faid before, that I pity
you much more than Mrs. Pope. Such a parent and
friend hourly declining before your eyes is an objeft
very unfit for your health, and duty, and tender dif-
poduon ; and I pray God it may not affect you too
much. I am as much fatisfied that your additional
I go/, fer annum is for your life as if it were for even
You have enough to leave your friends, I would not
have them glad to be rid of you ; and 1 Ihall take
care that none but my enemies will be glad to get
rid of me. Tou have embroiled me with Lord B
about the figure of living, and the pleafure of giving.
I am under the neceflity of fome little paltry figure
m the flation I am : but I make it as little as pofbble *.
As
* [ aeed not, I truft, make any apology to the reader for ictro^
duciog another of Lord Bolingbroke's Letters, as it relates to this
70L. IX. M fubjedy
i62 LETTERS TO AND
As to the other part, you are bafe, becaufe I thought
myfelf as great a giver as ever was, of my ability ;
and
fuBjc^ly and (hews his ideas. It w of advfcc to Sir Charles Wynd-
liamy refpefting the management of his affairs after the death oi
his father.
Egremoni 1
l^apert. J Loni Bolingbroke to Sir C. Wyndham.
** Dear Sir, . Oa. 6, 1740.
" 1 received yours of the 27th of Auguft, from Orchard, very
lately ; and yet I fhould have anfwered it fooner, if I had not been
hindered, in part by waiers and other remedies I have ufed, in hope
to get rid of a troublefome bilious difpofitibn that has hung about
me long ; and in pait by fome vifits of friendfhip I have been
obliged to pay. You was in the right, ntoft certamly, to condiid
yourfelf at the General Meeting as your father always did, and as
you had declared yau wo old do. I do not pretend to guefs at the
quarter from which the oppofition to you came ; but this I may
fajf and ntfhberlefs examples will jullify what I fay, that thofe
whom we called our ftiends arc, of all the men in the world, the
leaft fenfible of fervices whilft they receive them, and the moil apt
to forget them. You are well employed, (ince you are employed
in fettling and ordering your affairs. When that is once pru-
dently done ; when a fcheme of expence is framed in proportion to
the flate of the man's fortune, and a plan of life is determined in
proportion to this fcheme ; a principal part of wh^t muR confti-
tute our cafe and well-being, is provided for : I may add, a prin-
cipal part of what mufl fecure our integrity, for that is never fo
lafe w in a ftatc of independency ; nor can o\ir independency be
fecure without this order and economy.
•• Since the fmall-pox rages fo violently at Oxford, it may be
prudent to defer feuding your brother thither for fome time ; but
t really .think that this time fhould be as (hort as in prudence it
can be. He lofes time at the fchool, though it be true that he
would lofe his time more any where elfe, to fay nothing of habits
he might contraS. The account you give of unfeafonable wea-
ther, and its fatal confequences, might fcrve for this country as
Well AR that where you are. Every thing neceffary to animal life
11
FROM DR* SWIFT, etc. 163
^d yet in proportion you exceed, and have kept it
till now a fecret even from me, ivhen I wondered how
you were able to live with your whole little revenue*.
Adieu.
* Pope^s rcTeniie, it is fskid^ was 8o3 /• per anmtm.
k fcarccy every thing is out of all reafonable price. The poor arr
miferablcy and the rich lirtle at their eafe* Befides all this, aqA
pmly in confcquence of it, we hstve had great ficknefs and morta*
iitr* God defend you from the fame. You fay nothing in your
hft of the trip you propofed in your former to take into France;
and I am not without apprehcnfion that the clouds which gather
in the political fky, and an early meeting of your parliament, may
divert yoa from it. My wife ia at prefent at Sens, but I can
anfwer for her fentiikients. They are full pf affe£lion*and kind
coacem for you and youn. Make my beft compliments to my.
Lady Blandlbrd, to Mrs* Wyndham, and to Percy. They have
in me a very uGelefs, but a very faithful ieryant. Adieu, dear Sir
Charies : I am too intimately and too fincerely attac4l to yoUf to
by myfclC forth in alTurancca and compliments."
MS
1 64 LETTERS TO AND
LETTER XLUL
LORD BOLINGBROKE TO DR. SWIFT.
November x 9* 17 29.
T FIND that you have laid afide your projed of
building in Ireland » and that we ihall fee you in
this ifland cum zepbyrisy et birundine prima. I know
not whether the love of fame increafes as we advwce
in age ; fure I am that the force of friendfhip does.
I loved you almoft twenty years ago, I thought of
you as well as 1 do now, better was beyond the
power of conception, or, to avoid an equivoque,
beyond ^ extent of. my ideas. . Whether you
are more obliged to me for loving you as well
when I knew you lefs, or for loving you as well
after loving you fo many years, I Ihall not deter-
mine. What I would fay is, this : whilft my mind
grows daily more independent of the world, and feels
lefs need of leaning on external objeds, the ideas of
friendfhip return oftener, they bufy me, they warm me
more : is it that we grow more tender as the moment
of our great feparation approaches ? or is it that
they who are to live together in another ftate, (for
vera amkitia nm nift inter bonosj) begin to fed more
ftrongly that divine fympathy which is to be the great
band
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 165
band of their future fodety ? There is no one thought
which foothes my mind like this : I encourage my
imagination to purfue it, and am heartily affli&ed
when another Acuity * of the inteUeft comes boiften-
oufly in, and wakes me from fo pleafing a dream, if
it be a dream. I will dwell no more on Oecono-
mics than I have done in my former letter. Thus
much only I fay, that oiium cum dignitate is to be had ^
with 500/, a-year as well as with 5000: the difference
will be found in the value of the man, and not in that
of the eftate* I do aifure you, that I have never
quitted the defign of colleding, revifing, improving,
and extending feveral materials which are ftill in my
power ; and I hope that the time of fetting myfelf
about this lad work of my life is not far off. Many
papers of much curiodty and importance are loft,
and fome of them in a manner which would furprize
and
• Viz. Reafon. Tully (to whom the Letter-writer feeing to
attade) obfenres fomething like this on the like occafion, wherey
fpeaking of Plato's famous book of the Soul, he fays, Nefcio
quomodot dum lego^ aJfentlor : enm pofm rdnrumy ft mecum ipfe de mi*
moriaJifatc animorum cxp't co^tare^ adfsntio lUa omnis dahltur* Cicero
fccms to have had but a confuted notion of the caufc of the flip-
pery nature of this affent, which the Letter-writer has here ex-
plained, namelf , that the imaginaiton is always ready to indulge
fo flattering an idea, but feverer reafon correds and difclaims it.
As to Religion, that is out of the quellion ; for TuUy wrote to
his few philofophic friends ; though, as has been the fate of his
I^rd/hip's^/y? Pbllofofby^ (where this whole matter is explained
at large,) it came at laft into the hands of the Public.
Warburtom*
M3
i66 LETTERS TO AND
srikd anger you. However, I fiiali be able to. convey
fieveral great truths to poftcrity, fo clearly and fo au-
thentically, that 4he Bumets and the Oldmixons of
another age may rail, but not be able to deceive.
Adieu, my friend. I have taken up more of this paper
than belongs to me, fince Pope is to write to you ; no
matter, for, upon recolle&ion, the rules of propor-
tion ^re not broken ; he will fay as much to you in
one page, as I have faid in three. Bid him talk to
you of the work he is about, I hope in good eameft ;
it is a fine one ; and will be, in his hands, an original '',
His fole complaint is, that he finds it top eafy in thp
execution. This flatters his lazinefs, it flatters my
judgment, who always thought that (univerfal as his
talents are) this is eminently and peculiarly his, above
all the writers I know living or dead ; I do not except
Horace.
Adieu.
^ E^ay on Man, Warburtok.
On whichj theicfore, it appears, be was employed in 1729.
Warton.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc 167
LETTER XLIV.
November 2 8» i / 29.
rpHis letter (like all mine) will' be a Rhapfody ; it
is many years ago fince I wrote as a Wit*»
How many occurrences or informations mud one
omit, if one determined to fay nothing that one could
not fay prettily ! I lately received from the widow of
one dead correfpondent, and the father of another,
feveral of my own letters of about fifteen and twenty
years old ; and it was not unentertaining to myfelf to
obferve, how and by what degrees I ceafed to be a
witty writer ; as either my experience grew on the one
hand, or my affeftion to my correfpondents on the
other. Now as I love you better than moll 1 have ever
met with in the world, and efteem you too the more,
the longer I have compared you with the reft of the
world ; fo inevitably I write to you more negligently
that is, more openly, and what all but fuch as love
one another will call writing worfe. I fmile to think
how Curl would be bit, were our Epiftles to fall intq
his hands, and how glorioufly they would fall fliort of
every ingenious reader's expeftaiions !
You can't imagine what a vanity it is to me, to have
fomething to rebuke you for in the way of Oeconomy,
I love
* He afcd to value himCelf on this particular. WARBUftTOv.
M 4
-i68 LETTERS TO AND
I love the man that builds a houk fubUo ingenicj and
makes a vail for a horfe : then cries, *^ We wife men
'' muft think of nothing but getting ready money.**
I am glad you approve my annuity : all we have in this
world is no more than an annuity, as ro our own en-
joyment : but I will increafe your regard for my wif-
dom, and tell you, that this annuity includes alfo the
life of another "", whofe concern ought to be as near
to me as my own, and with whom my whole pro-
fpe£ts ought to finiih. I throw my javelin of hope no
farther. Cur brevt fortes jactdamur a'ua— etc.
The fecond (as it is called, but indeed the eighth)
edition of the Dunciad, with fome additional notes
and epigi'ams, fhall be fent you, if I know any op-
portunity ; if they reprint it with you, let them by all '
means follow that oSavo edition. — ^The Drapier's
letters are again printed here, very laudably as to
paper, pri^t, etc. for you know I difapprove Iri(h
politics, (as tny Commentator tells you,) being a
ftrong and jealous fubjecl of England. The Lady
you mention, you ought not to complain of for not
acknowledging your prefent; Ihe having lately re-
ceived a much richer prefent from Mr. Knight of the
South Sea ; and you are fenfible (he cannot ever
return it to one in the condition of an out-law. It's
certain, as he can never expeft any favour', his
motive
*. Hit Mother's. Warbukton.
' He WM niftaken in this. JCnight was pardoned, and came
home in the year 1742* WAaBu&TON.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 169
motive muft be wholly dlfinterefted. Will not this
reflefUoa make you blufli ? Your continual deplorings
of Ireland make me wifli you were here long enough
to forget thofe fcenes that fo affi£k you : I am only
in fear if you were, you would grow fuch a patriot
here too, as not to be quite at eafe, for your love of
old England. — ^It is very poflible, your journey, in
the time I compute, might exaCtly tally with my
intended one to you ; and if you muft foon again
go back, you would not be un-attended. For the
poor woman decays perceptibly every week; and
the winter may too probably put an end to a
very long, and a very irreproachable fife. My
conftant attendance on her does indeed affed my
mind very much, and leflen extremely my defires of
long life ; fince I fee the beft that can come of it is a
miferable benedi£Uon. 1 look upon myfelf to be
many years older in two years fince you faw me:
The natural imbecility of my body, joined now
to this acquired old age of the mind, makes me at
ieaft as old as you, and we are the fitter to crawl
down the hill together : I only defire I may be able
to keep pace with you. My firft friendfhip at fixteen,
was contra&ed with a man of feventy, and I found
him not grave enough or confiftent enough for me,
though we lived well to his death. I fpeak of old
Mr. Wycherley ; fome letters of whom (by the bye)
and of mine, the Bookfellers have got and printed
not without the concurrence of a noble friend of
mine
I/O LETTERS TO AND
mine and yours \ I don't much approve of it i
though there is nothing in it for me to be afhamed of»
becaufe I vfil\ not be aOiamed of any thing I do not
do myfclf, or of any thing that is not immoral but
merely dull (as for inftance, if they printed this
letter I am now v^riting t> which they cafily may, if
the underlings at the Poft-office pleafe to take a copy
of it), I admire, on this confideration, your fending
your lad: to me quite opcn^ without a j[eal, wafer, or
any clpfure whatever, manifefling the utter open^els
of the writer. I would do the fame by this, but fear
It would look like a6e£lation to fend two letters fo
together.— I will fully reprefent to our friend (and,
I doubt not, it will touch his heart) what you fo feeU
ingly fet forth as to the badnefs of your Burgundy,
etc. He is an extreme honeft man, and indeed ought
to be fo, confidering how veiy indifcreet an4 un«
referved . he is : but I do not approve this part of his
chara3er, and will never join with him in any of his
idleneifes in the way of wit. You know my maxin^
to keep as clear of all offence, as I am clear of all
intereft in either party. I was once difp^eafed befoxe
at you, for complaining to Mr. « of my not having a
penfion, and ani fo again at your naming it to a cer-
tain
* See the occaHon in the fecond and third Paragraphs of the
Preface to the firft Volume of Letters. Warbv^ton.
f His own importance, as it has been obfcrved, is always uppcr-
moft. The " underlings of the Pod-Office" were othcrwifc cm^
ployed, and moil probably cared as little about the Letters of
Alexander Pope, Efq. as of any other perfon.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 171
tain Lord. I have given proof, in the courfe of my
whole Life, (from the time when I was in the friend-
fliip of Lord Bolingbroke and Mr. Craggs, even to
this when I am civilly treated by Sir R. Walpole,)
that I never thought myfelf fo warm in any party's
caufe as to deferve their money ; and therefore would
never have accepted it: but giye me leave to tell
you, that of all mankind the two perfons I would
leaft have accepted any favour from, are thofe very
two, to whom you have unluckily fpoken of it. 1
defire you to take off any impreffions which that dia-
logue may have left on his Lordfhip's mind, as if I
ever had any thought of being beholden to him, or
any other, in that way. And yet, you know, I am
no enemy to the prefent Conftltution ; I believe, as
fmcere a well-wifher to it, nay, even to the church
edablifhed, as any Minifter in or out of employment
whatever ; or any Bifhop of England or Ireland. Yet
am I of the Religion of Erafmus, a Catholic y fo t
live, fo I {hall die ; and hope one day to meet you,
Bifhop Atterbury, the younger Craggs, Dr. Garth,
Dean Berkley, and Mr. Hiitchenfon, in that place j
to which God of his infinite mercy bring us, and
every body I
Lord B/s anfwer to your letter I have jufl: received,
and join it to this pacquet. The work he fpeaks of
with fuch abundant partiality, is a fyftem of Ethics in
^he Horatian way *.
* No wonder Lord B fpoke fo partially, as it was his own
philofophy, &c. put into verfe.
172 LETTERS TO AND
LETTER XLV.
April T4, I7JO-
rr^His is a Letter extraordinary, to do and fay nothing
but recommend to you (as a Clergyman, and a
charitable one) a pious and a good work, and for a
good and an honeft man : moreover he is above
feventy, and poor, which you might think included
in the word honeft. I (hall think it a kindnefs dohe
myfelf, if you can propagate Mr. Weftlcy's fubfcrip-
tion for his Commentary on Job, among your Di-
vines, (Bifljops excepted, of whom there is no hope,)
and among fuch as are believers, or readers, of Scrip-
ture : even the curious may find foraething to pleafe
them, if they fcom to be edified. It has been the
labour of eight years of this learned man's life i I call
him what he is, a learned man, and I engage you
will approve his profe more than you formerly could
his poetry. Lord Bolingbroke is a favourer of it, and
allows you to do your beft to ferve an old Tory, and
a fufferer for the Church of England, though you
are a Whig, as I am.
We have here fome verfes in your name, which I
am angry at. Sure you would not ufe me fo ill as to
flatter me! I therefore think it fome other weak
Irifhman.
P.S.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 173
P. S. I did not take the pen out of Pope's hands, I
proteft to you. But fince he will not fill the re-
mainder of the page, I think I may without offence.
I fcek no epiftolary fame, but am a good deal pleafed
to think that it will be known hereafter that you and
I lived in the moft friendly intimacy together *. — ^Pliny
writ his letters for the public t, fo did Seneca, fo did
Balfac, Voiture, etc. Tully did not, and therefore
ihefe give us more pleafure than any which have come
down to us from antiquity. When we read them,
\re pry into a fecret which was intended to be kept
fr0m us. That is a pleafure. We fee Cato, and
Brutus, and Pompey, and others, fuch as they really
were, and not fuch as the gaping multitude of their
own age took them to be, or as Hiflorians and Poets
have reprefented them to ours. That is another plea*
fure. I remember to have feen a proceiEon at Aix la
Cbapelle^ wherdn an image of Charlemagne is carried
on the fhoulders of a man, who is hid by the long
robe of the imperial Saint. Follow him into the
veftry, you fee the bearer flip from under the robe,
and the gigantic figure dwindles into an image of the
ordinary fizQ, and is fet by among other lumber.—.
I agree much with Pope, that our climate is rather
better
* In writing with Pope and Swifty he feems at times to have
caoght fomething of their cant; but he is, notwithflanding, a niuch
better Letter- writer than either.
f A ju(i and fenfible criticifm on Epiftolary writings, which
we fliould bear is our mbds whilft we arc reading this colle^^ion of
Letters. Warton.
174 LETTERS TO AND
better ihan that you are in, and perhaps your public
fpirit would be lefs grieved, or oftener comforted^
here than there* Come to us therefore on a tiiit at
leaft. It will not be the fault of feveral perfons here^
if you do not come to live v^th us. But great good
will, and little power produce fuch flow and feeblel
effeds as can be acceptable to heaven alone, and
heavenly men.— I know you will be angry with me^
if I fay nothing to you of a poor woman, who is (lill
on the other fide of the water in a moft languifliing
date of health. If flie regains flrength enough to
come over, (and fhe is better within thefe few weeks,)
I ihall nurfe her in this farm with all the care and
tendemefs ^flible. If flie does not, I mufl pay her
the laft duty of friendfliip wherever flie is, though I
break through the whole plan of life which I have
formed in my mind. Adieu. I am moft faithfully
and affe&ionately yours.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc 17s
LETTER XLVI.
LORD B. TO DR. SWIFT.
Jan. 17, 1730-31.
T BEGIN my letter by telling you chat my wife has
been returned from abroad about a month, and
that her health, though feeble and precarious, is
better than it has been thefe two years *• She is much
your
* Bolingbroke's cooftaut attachment to this amiable and inte-
refting Lady is a veiy captivating trait in hit» charader. In pro*
portion aa he ftood, from incrcafing years and difappotntment^.
forloro in the world, he felt the more ftrongly her kindnefs, her
attachment, and tender fidelity. She certainly looked up to him
as the firft of human beings. The following paffage occurs in a
Letter, from the Townfend papers, written from France to
Walpole, by one whom he appears to have employed on purpofe
CO give him intelligence :
" Paris, Dec. 2, 1730.
** I was with Monfieur D*Albin, who is an intimate acquaint-
ince of Lady Bolingbroke's ; and he afitired me, that he was in
a private conference with her fome days before ihe departed,
which gave him an occaiion to found her principles in regard to
the Pretender, which (he parried by ambiguous replies for fome
time; but afterwards became more open, and confefTed herfelf to
be his friend ; but concluded, that he was an ill judge of men i—
io particular, his contempt for her Lord, whofe great capacity
would have been of more ufe than all the reft of his friends put
together : which gave D'Albin an occafion to a(k her about the
Bifhop ; to which (he anfwered, that he was a great man for fome
things, but a wretched politician ; that there were others that had
the iamc point in view, but aded with more prudence, by taking
i more effcdlual road to come at it.— ;Tlus D'Albin aflured mc to
8 mean
iy6 LETTERS TO AND
your fenrant, and as fiie has been her own phyiician
with fome fuccefs, imagines (he could be yours widi
the fame.
Would to God you was within her reach ! She
would, I believe, prefcribe a great deal of the medi'
ana animij without havixig recourfe to the Books of
Trifmegiftus. Pope and I fiiould be her principal
apothecaries in the courfe of the cure ; and though
our beft Bcftanifts complain, that few of the herbs
and fimples which go to the compofition of thefe
remedies, are to be found at prefent in our foil, yet
there are more of them here than in Ireland ; befides,
by the help of a little chemiftry, the mod no^dous
juices may become falubrious^ and rank pcufon a fpe*
cific^
mean her hufband, and the fa6lion he influences; who muft either
be in his fecrety or deceived by his craft i and I think proper to
mention it as reported, word for word, as I think it the mofl open
confeflSon I have heard of the kind ; but as it was to a Frenchmant
I prefume (he thought (he ran no rifk. She was conflantly with
the Duchefs of Buckingham, who is certainly gone to Rome on
the Bi(hop's errand (as I told you in my former), and I hope
to come at the bottom of it : he is always a(king roe what the
world fays of her, and her journey to Italy. He fays, it is remark-
able what pains Sir Robert takes to become popular ; and that one
of his views to appeafe the Parliament was to difband the Heflian
troops ; and that, in (hort, he wants to patch up matters at anj
rate ; to fecurc his retreat, and retire from bu(inefs ; with a thou-
fand fuch idle remarks, to dcmonftnte how much he (ticks in their
ftomachs, and is never to be digefted i and, when they hear of his
generodty and honourable adionsy turn pale, as if they were mor«
tified and galled. It would be needlefs to fay morCf than I fee it
is a matter impoffiblc for Us Majefly's enemies ever to love Si
Robert Walpole
»»
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 177
dfic. — Pope is now in my library with me, and writes
to the world, to the prefent and to future ages,
whilft I begin this letter which he is to finiih to you.
What good he will do to mankind I know not ; this
comfort he may be fure of, he cannot do lefs than you
have done before him. I have fometimes thought,
that if preachers, hangmen, and moral-writers keep
vice at a ftand, or fo much as retard the progrefs of
it, they do as miich as human nature admits ; a real
reformation * is not to be brought about by ordinary
means ; it requires thofe extraordinary means which
become puniihments as well as leflbns : National cor«
ruption muft be purged by national calamities.—-
Let us hear from you* We deferve this attention,
becauie we defire it, and becaufe we believe that
you defire to hear from us.
^ Boliogbroke has enlarged on this topic in his Philofophical
«n>rki» inteodiog to depreciate Chriftianity by (hewing that it has
not had a general effedk on the morals of mankind, nor produced
a real Reformation :— an argument nothing to the purpofe, nor
any impeachment of the Dodrines of the Gofpel ; even if it were
well founded, as it certainly is not. Wakton*
VOL. IX. N
178 LETTERS TO AND
LETTER XLVII.
LORD B. TO PR, SWIFT.
Marcli l^»
T HAVE delayed feveral pofts anfwering ydur letter of
January laft, in hope^ vf being able to fpeak to
you about a projeft which concerns tis both, but mfe
the moft, fmce the fuccefs of it would brmg us
together. It ha^ been a good whifc in my head, «iid
at my heart ; if it can be fet a going, you (hall husti
more of it. I was ill in the beginning t>f Ac -winrer
for near a week, but in no danger either from the na«
ture of my diftemper, or from the attendance of three
phyiicians. Since that bilious intermitting fever, t
have had, as I had before, better health than the
regard I have paid to health deferves. We we 4>oth
in the decline of life, my dear Dean^ and have been
fome years gobg down the hill} let as tnake tke
pafTage as fmooth as we can. Lee ms fbftce againft
phyfical evil by care, and the ufe of thofe means
which experience muft have pointed out to us : let us
fence againd moral evil by philofophy. I renounce
the alternative you propofe. But we may, nay, (if
we will follow nature, and do not work up imagina-
tion againft her plaineft diftates,) we (hall of courfe
grow every year more indifferent to life, and to the
affairs and interefts of a fyftem out of which we are
icon
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 179
fixMi to go. This U much better Aan ftupidity. The
decay of paifion firength^s philofophy, for paflion
may decay, aad ftupidity not fucceed. Pqffi$ns (fays
Pope, our Divine *» as you will fee one time or other)
are the Gales of life : let us .not complain that they
do not blow a ftorm. What hurt does age do us, in
fiibduing what ^we toil to fubdue all our lives ? It h
now fix in die morning : I recal the time (and am
glad it is over) vhen about tliie hour I ufed to be
g(»ng to bed, forfeited vith pleafure, or jaded with
bttfinefs : my bead often full of fchemes, and my
heart as often full of anxiety. Is it a misfortune,
think you, that I rife at this hour refreihed, ferene,
and calm f that the pad, and even the prefent a&irs
of life (land like objeds at a diftance from me, where
lean ke^ off the difagreeable fo as not to be ftrongly
affeded by them, and from whence I can draw the
others nearer to me ? Paffions, in their force, would
bring all thefe, nay even future contingencies, about
my ears at once, and reafon would but ill defend me
in the fcuffle.
I leave Pope to fpeak for myfelf, but I mud tell
you how much my Wife is obliged to you. She fays
flie would find ilrength enough to nurfe you, if you
was
* Pope took the image from Lord Bacon : — <* The mind would
be temperate and fta^edj if the affeSktons^ as wlndt^ did not put it
kto tumuk," &c.
N 2
i8o LETTERS TO AND
was here, and yet, God knows, (be is extremely
weak: the flow fever works under, and mines the
conflitution ; we keep it off fometimes, but ftill It
returns, and makes new breaches before nature can
repair the old ones. I am not afhamed to (ay to you,
that I admire her more * every hour of my life : death
is not to her the King of Terrors ; fhe beholds him
without the leaft. When flie fuffers much, Ihe wiihes
for him as a deliverer from pain ; when life is tole-
rable, fhe looks on him with diflike, becaufe he is to
feparate her from thofe friends to whom (he is more
attached than to life itfel£ ^You (hall not ftay for
my next, as long as you have for this letter ; and in
every one, Pope ihall write fomething much better
than the fcraps of old Philofophers, which were the
prefents, Munufcula, that Stoical Fop Seneca ufed to
fend in every Epiille to his friend Lucilius.
P. S. My Lord has fpoken juftly of his Lady :
why not I of my Mother ? Yefterday was her birth-
day, now entering on the ninety-firft year of her age ;
her memory much diminifhed, but her fenfes very litde
hurt,
* She was niece to Madame de Maintcnon, educated at St.
Cyr, and was a woman of- a very beautiful perfon, and very agree-
able manners. Her Letters are written in very elegant French.
She was a woman of much obfervation. Madame de Maktencn
mentions her in Iier Letters. Dr. Trapp told me that Lord Bo-
* lingbroke boafting one day of his former galiantriesy fhe faid to
him» fmiling, ^< When I look at you, mctbinks I fee the rqiDS
of a fine old Roman aquedud.'' Wa&ton.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. i8r
hurt, her fight and hearing good ; (he fleeps' not ill,
eats moderately, drinks water, fays her prayers ; this
is all fhe does. I have reafon to thank God for con-
tinuing fo long to me a very good and tender parent,
and for allowing me to ezercife for fome years, thofe
cares which are now as neceflary to her, as hers have
been to me. An object of this fort daily before one's
ejes very much foftens the mind, but perhaps may
hinder it from the willingnefs of contrafling other
ties of the like domeftic nature, when one finds how
painful it is even to enjoy the tender pleafures, I have
formerly made fome ftrong efforts to get and to de-
ferve a friend : perhaps it were wifer never to attempt
it, but live extempore, and look upon the worid only
as a place to pafs through, juft pay your hofls their
due, difperfe a little charity, and hurry on. Yet am'
I juft now writing (or rather planning) a book *, to
make mankind look upon this life with comfort and
pleafure, and put morality in good humour. — ^And
juft now too I am going to fee one I love very ten-
derly ; and to-morrow to entertain feveral civil people,
whom if we call friends, it is by the courtefy of
England.
* He meana his EfTay on Man ; and alludes to the arguments
he ufc« to make men fatisfied cvea with their prejent ftatc,
without looking to another. Young wrote his Night Thouglu^
is dtrc6i oppodtfon to this view of human life, but which, in
truthi Young has painted in colours too d^irk and uncomfortably,
Warton.
N3
iS) LETTERS TO AND
England. — Srr, Jic jtevat ire fuh umbras. While vft
do live, we muft make the beft of life,
Canianies licet ufque (minus via Ixdet) eaxnus,
as the fhepherd faid in Virgil, when the road was
long and heavy, I am
Yours.
^^^m^mm^^mi^^mm
LETTER XLVm.
LORD BOLINGBROKE TO DR- SWIFT.
^Tou may affurc yourfelf, that if you come over this
fpring, you will find me not only got back into
the habits of ftudy, but devoted to that hiilorical taik,
which you have fet me thefe many years. I am \x\
hopes of fome materials which will enable me to work
in the whole extent of the plan I propofe to myfelf.
If they are not to be had, I muft accommodate my
plan to this deficiency. In the mean thne Pope has
given me more trouble than he or I thought of ; and
you will be furprized to find,, that I have been pardy
drawn by him and partly by myfelf, to write a pretty
large volume upon a very grave and very important
fubjeft ; that I have ventured to pay no regard what-
ever
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 183
ever to any antbority except facred authority t, and
that I have ventured to ftart a thought, which muft,
if it is pulhed as fuccefsfully, as I think it is, render
all your Metaphyfical Theology both ridiculous and
abominable. There is an expreiBon in one of your
letters to me, which makes me believe you will come
iolQ my way of thinking oa this fubjcA ; and yet I
m perfuaded that Divines and Free-thinkers would
both be clamorous againft it, if it was to be fubmitted
to their cenfure, as I do not intend that it flialL The
paflage I mean, is that where you lay that you
told Dr. * the Grand points of Chriilianity ought to
be taken as infallible Revelations % etc.
It has happened, that, whilft I was writing this to
you, the Dr. came to make me a vidt from London,
where I beard he was arrived fome time ago : he was
in hafte to return, and is, I perceive, in great hade
to
f Did his Lordfhip pay much regard to facred authority^ whcA
ke fayt, in his Letters on Hiftoryy fpcaking of falfe hiftorians,
* I wiH not offcndy by adding Mo/u to the number ?" 1 forget
the cxa£k words.
* In this maxim all ttgotted Divines and free-tbinking Po&icianj
agree : the oncy for fear of difturbing the ellablifhed Religion ;
the othcr» left that difturbancc fhould prove injurious to their ad-
mimftration of the date. And would they be content to take thefe
points for granted themfelves, without injuring thofe, in their
fortunes and reputation, who are for inquiring into, and fettling
tkem 0O9 their right grounds, I think nobody would envy their
fiety or their wfdom : but when they begin to pcrfecute thofc
who venture to aifume this natural liberty, then they unma/k their
hypocrify and Machiavelianifm. Wa&9VRton*
N 4
x84 LETTERS TO AND
to print. He left me vith eight diflertations *, a
fmall part, as I underftand, of his work, and defired
me to perufe, confider, and obferve upon them
againfl Monday next, when he will <:ome down agaun.
By what I have read of the two firft, I find myfelf
unable to ferve him. The principles he reafons upon
are begged in a difputation of this fort, and the
manner of reafoning is by no means clofe and conclu-
five. The fole advice I could give him in confcience
would be that which he would take ill and not follow.
I will get rid of this talk as well as I can, for I efteem
the man, and ihould be forry to difoblige him where
I cannot ferve him.
As to retirement, and exercife, your notions are
true : the firft fhould not be indulged fo much as to
render us favage, nor the laft negleded fo as to im-
pair
* The work here alluded to, was the firft volume of Dr. Dc-
lany's " Revelation examined with Candour ;'' puhliflied 1732 :
a work written in a very florid and declamatory ftyle, and with a
greater degree of learning and ingenuity, than of found reafon and
argument. Witnefs, the firft Difiertation on the forbidden Fruit;
tlve fecond, concerning the Knowledge of the Brute World con>
veyed to Adam : the third, of the Knowledge of Marriage given
to Adam : the fixth, concerning the DifBcuities and Objcdions
that lie againft the Mofaic Account of the Fall : the fifteenth,
on fome Difficulties relating to Noah's Ark conGdered. The
fame may be faid of this Author's Life of King David* The heft
of his works fecm to be his RefleBioru on Polygamy. Dr. Delany
was an amiable, a benevolent, and virtuous man ; a cbara&er far
fuperior to that of the ableft controverfial writer. His defence of
Revelation is of a very different caft from fuch folid and mafterly
works as the Biihop of LandaiPs apology for the Bible, and Arch-
deacon ^dlcj's Evidences of Cbrifiianity, Wartoh.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. i8j
pk health. But I know men, who, for fear of
being favage, live with all who will live with them ;
and who, to preferve fhdr health, faunter away half
ifadr time. Adieu. Pope calls for the paper.
P. S. I hope what goes before will be a ftrong mo*
tive to your coming. God knows if ever I (hall fee
Ireland ; I fliall never defire it, if you can be got
Imher, or kept here. Yet I think I (hall be, too
foon, a Free^man.— Your recommendations I con-
ftaatly give to thofe you mention ; though fome of
'em I fee but feldom, and am every day more re«
tired. I am lefs fond of the world, and lefs curious
about it: yet no way out of humour, difappointed,
or angry : though in my way I receive as many in«
juries as my betters, but I don't feel them, therefore
1 ought not to vex other people, nor even to return
iojiiries. I pafs almoft all my time at Dawley and at
home ; my Lord (of which I partly take the merit
to myfelf) is as much eftranged from politics as I am.
Let Philofophy be ever fo vain, it is lefs vain now
than Politics, and not quite fo vain at prefent as DU
raity : I know nothing that moves ftrongly but Sa-
tire, and thofe who are afiiamed of nothing elfe, are
fo of being ridiculous. I fancy, if we three were
together but for three years, fome good might be
done even upon this age.
I know you'll defire fome account of my health :
it is as ufual, but my fpirits rather worfe. I write
little
x86 LETTERJS, etc.
little or nothing. You know I never had either si
tafte or talent for Politics, and the world miada no*
thing elfe. I have perfoaal obligations, which I will
ever prderve, to men of different fides, and I vnikk
nothing fo much as public quiet, except it be my own
quiet, 1 think it a merit, if I can take off any man
from grating or fetirical fubje&s, merely <m the fcor^
of Party : an4 it is the greateft vanity of my life Um
I've contributed to turn my Lord Bolingbroke to
fiibjeda moral, ufefuU and more worthy his pen*
pr. ■ J- *s Book is what 1 can't commend fo mnch
as Dean Berkley's % though it has many things ix^;t*
nious in it, and is not deficient in the writing part :
but the whole book, diough he meant it ad Papukim^
is, I think, purely ad Cl$rum. Adieu^
* A very lively and ingenious book, called. The Minute Pbilo^
Jhpher* Warburton,
A book thai deferres a nsveb higher encomium than being ^fy
and ingefuom; as containing, perhaps, a ftro^iger defence of Rewla^
^tm than the Divine Legation ^ Mofeu Warton..
C »87 3
LETTERS
DR. SWIFT TO MR. GAY,
From the Year 1729 to 1732*.
LETTER XLH.
Dublin^ March ip, 1729^
^ DENT It. I do write to you according to the old
ftipulation^ for^ when you kept your old com^
pany, when I writ to one^ I writ to all. But I am
ready to enter into a new bargain fince you are got
mto a new world, and will anfwer all your letters*
Tou are firft to prefent my n^ofl humble refpeds to
the Duchefs of Qiueenlberry, and let her know that I
never dine without thinking of her, although it be
with fome difEculiy that I can obey her when I dine
with forks that have but two prongs, and when the
iiauce is not very confident. You muft likewife tell
her Grace *, that ihe is a gen^Toaft among all honed
folka
* Found among Mr. Gay's Papers, and returned to Dr. Swift
by the Duke pf Queen(berry and Mr. Pope. Pqpi.
^ In the Correfpondence of the Tenth Volume will be feen aa
original Letter of her Grace's to M. Blount.
8
i88 LETTERS TO AND
folks here, and particularly at the Deanery, even in
the face of my Whig fubjeds. — I will leave my money
in Lord Bathurft's hands, and the management of it
(for want of better) in yours : and pray keep the
interefl: money in a bag wrapt up and fealed by itfeif,
for fear of your own fingers under your careleflhefs.
Mr. Pope talks of you as a perfe& ftranger ; but the
different pi^rfuits and manners and interefts of life,
as fortune hath pleafed to difpofe them, will never
fuffer thofe to live together, who by their inclinations
ought never to part. I hope when you are rich
enough, you will have Ibme little oeconomy of your
own in town or country, and be able to give your
friend a pint of Fort ; for the domeftic feafon of life
will come on. I had never much hopes of your
vampt Pby, although Mr. Pope feemed to have, and
although it were ever fo good : but you fliould have
done like the parfons, and changed your Text, I
mean the Title, and the names of the perfons. After
all, it was an effed of idlenefs, for you are in the
prime of life, when invention and judgment go to-
gether. I wifli you had looL a-year more for
horfes — ^I ride and walk whenever good weather in-
vites, and am reputed the belt walker in this town and
five miles round. I writ lately to Mr. Pope : I wifli
you had a little Villakin in his neighbourhood ; but
you are yet too volatile, and any Lady with a coach
and fix horfes would c?irry you to Japan.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc- 189
LETTER L.
Dublin, Nov. lo, 1730.
TxrHEN my Lord Petcrborow in the Queen's time
went abroad upon his Embaflies, the Miniftry
told me, that he was fuch a vagrant, they were
forced to write at him by guefs, becaufe they knew
not where to write to him. This is taiy cafe with you ;
fometimes in Scotland, fometimes at Ham-walks,
fometimes God knows where. You are a man of
bufinefs, and not at Idfure for infignificant corre-
fpondoice. It was I got you the employment of
bemg my Lord Duke's premier Mini/ire: for his
Grace having beard how good a manager you were
of my revenue, thought you fit to be intruded with
ten talents. I have had twenty times a ftrong incli*
nation to fpend a fummer near Salifbury-downs, hav*
ing rode over them more than once, and with a
young parfon of Salifbury reckoned twice the Stones
of Stonehenge, which are either ninety-two or ninety-
three. I defire to prefent my mod humble acknow-
ledgments to my Lady Duchefs in return of her
civility. I hear an ill thing, that ihe is matre pulchra
filia pulchrior : I never faw her fince fhe was a girl,
and would be angry ihe fliould excel her mother who
was long my principal Goddefs. I defire you will
tell her Grace, that the ill management of forks is
tot to be helped when they are only bidential, which
I happens
190 LETTERS TO AND
happens in all poor hotifes, efpecially thofe of Poets j
upon which account a knife was abfolutely iieceflary
at Mr. Pope's, where it was morally impoffible with
a bidential fork to convey a morfel of beef, with the
ittcumbrttice of muftard and turnips, into your
tnouth at once. And her Grace hath coft me thirty
pounds to provide Tridents for fear of ofbnxiiog her^
vrhich fum I defire Ibe will pleafe to retnm me. I
wax fick enough to go to the Bath, but have not heard
k will be good for my diforder* I have a ftraag
mind to fpend my 200 A next iummer in France;
I am glad I have it, for there is hardly twice that
fum left in this kingdom. You want no fedJemcaot
(I call the family where you live, and the foot yott
are upon, a fettlement) till you increafe your fortune
to what will fuf^ort you with eafe and plenty, a ^oo4
JbouTe and a garden. The want of this I much dread
&)T you : for I have often known a She<ouiia of a
good family and fmall fortune pafling months among
all her relations, living in plenty, and taking her
circles^ till flie grew an old Maid, and every body
weary of her. Mr. Pope complains of ieldom jfeeing
you ; but the evil is unavoidable, for different cifcum*
itaaces of life have always fq)afated thofe whom
friendibip would join : God hath taken csu'e of this^
to prevent any prqgre& towards veal happineOi here,
which would make life more defirahle, and death too
dreadful. I hope you have now one advantage that
you always wanted before, and the waot of wbkb
made
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. i^t
made your friends as uneafy as it did yourfelf ; I
mean the removal of that folicitude about your own
affairs, which perpetually £Ued your thoughts and
difturbed your converfation. For if it be true what
Mr. Pope ferioafly tells me, you will have opportu-
idty of faving every groat of the intereft you receive ;
tod fo by the time he and you grow weary of each
other, yoft will be able to pafs the reft of your wine-
lefs life, in eafe and plenty, with the additional
triumphal comfort of never having received a penny
from thofe taftelefs ungrateful people from Whom you
deferved fo much, and who deferve no better Genius's
Aan thofe by whom they are celebrated.— If you fee
Mr. Celar, prefent my humble fervice to him, and
let lum know that the Tcrub Libel printed againft me
here, and reprinted in London, for which he fliewed
t kind concern to a friend of us both, was written by
loyfelf, and fent to a Whig-printer: it was in the
%le and genius of fuch icoundrels, when the humour
of libelling ran in this drain againft a friend of mine
whom you know — ^But my paper is ended.
ii)2 LETTERS TO AND
LETTER LL
Doblio, Not. 19^ I739«
T WRIT to you a long letter about a fortnight paft,
concludmg you were in London^ from whence I
underftood one of your former was dated : nor did I
imagine you were gone back to Aimlbury fo late in
the year, at which feafon I take the Country to b^
only a fcene for thofe who have been ill ufed by a
court on account of their Virtues ; which is a (late of
happinefs the more valuable^ becaufe it is not ac-
companied by Envy, although nothing deferves it
more. I would gladly fell a Dukedom to lofe favour
in the manner * their Graces have done. I believe
my
* After the amazing facceCi of the Beggar's Opera» Gay pro-
duced another, with the name (which was now become fo popular)
of Polly. Thisy as it was fuppofed to contain fevere and pointed
iarcafms on the Cbnrtf and thofe in power, was forbid to be a6ked
by the Lord Chamberlain. In confequence of the Duke an4
Duchefs of Queenfberry's warmly taking up Gay's caufcy they
were forbid the Court. The following hlgb-J^iriied Letter was
fent by the Duchefs to the King and Queen, copies of which
were generally circulated :
** That the Duchefs of Queen(berry is furprizedy and well
pleafedy that the King has given her fo agreeable a conunand as
to ftay from Court, where (he never came for diverfion, but to
beftow a great civility upon the King and Queen.
*^ She hopes, by fuch an unprecedented order as this, that the
King will fee as few as he wifhes at his Court, particularly fuch aa
dare to think, or fpeak truth : I dare not do otherwife, nor ought
not I nor could have imagined^ that it would not have been the
▼cry
'
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 193
my Lord Carteret *, fince he is no longer Lieutenant,
may not wifli me ill, and I have told him often that
I only hated him as Lieutenant : I confefs he had a
genteeler manner of binding the chains of this kingdom
than moft of his predeceflbrs, and I confefs at the fame
time, that he had, fix times, a regard to my recom-
mendation, by preferring fo many of my friends in the
church ; the two laft ads of his favour were to add
to th€ dignities of Dr, Delany and Mr. Stopford, the
laft of whom was by you and Mr. Pope put into Mr»
Pultney's hands. I told you in my lafl, that a con*
dnuance of giddinefs (though not in a violent degree)
prevented my thoughts of England at prefent. For
in my cafe a domeftic life is neceiTary, where I can
with the Centurion fay to my fervants. Go, and he
goeth, and Do this, and he doth it. 1 now hate all
people
Tery highcft compliment I could poflibly pay the King, to endci*
voar to fapport truth and innocence in liis houfc.
" C. QUEBMSBIRRY."
" Particularly when the King and Queen had both told me
that they had not read Mr. Gay's Play. I have certainly dooe
right then to ftand by my own word, rather than by bis Grace of
Grafton's, who has neither made ufe of truth, judgment, or
honour, through this whole affair, either for himfelf, or his
friends.*' [^Dodington Papers^ March the ^h^ 1728-9.]
* The lines which he quoted from Homer, on his death-bed*
to Mr. Wood, on occadon of the Peace, were as happily applied,
as the apology he ufed to Swift, for fome harfli meafures in Ire*
land.:
Regni noviuu me taRa coglt
MoRri^ War,tom»
VOL. IX. O
194 LETTERS TO AND
people whom 1 cannot command^ and confequently a
Duchefs is at this time the hatefuilefl Lady in the
world to me, one only excepted, and I beg her
Grace's pardon for that exception ; for, in the way
I mean, her Grace is ten thoufand times more hate-
ful. I confefs 1 begin to apprehend you will fquander
my money, becaufe I hope you never lefs wanted it ;
and if you go on with fuccefs for two years longer,
I fear Ifhall not have a farthing of it left. The
Doftor hath ill-informed me, who fays that Mr.
Pope is at prefent the chief Poetical Favourite, yet
Mr, Pope himfelf talks like a Philofopher, and one
wholly retired. But the vogue of our few honeft
FolKs here is, that Duck is abfolutely to fucceed
Eufden in the laurel, the contention being between
Concannon or Theobald, or fome other Hero of the
Dunciad. 1 never charged you for not talking, but
the dubious flate of your affairs in thofe days was too
much the fubjeft, and I wifh the Duchefs had been
the voucher of your amendment. Nothing fo much
contributed to my eafe as the turn of affairs after the
Queen's death ; by which all my hopes being cut off,
I could have no ambition left, unlefs I would have
been a greater rafcal than happened to fuit with my
temper. 1 therefore fat down quietly at my morfel,
adding only thereto a principle of hatred to all fucceed-
ing Meafures and Miniltries, by way of fauce to relifh
my meat : and 1 confefs one point of condud in my
Lady Duchefs's life bath added much poignancy to it.
There
FROM DR, SWIFT, etc. 195
There is a good Irifli pra^cal bull towards the end
of your letter, where you fpend a dozen lines in tell-
ing me you muft leave off, that you may give my
Lady Duchefs room to write, and fo you proceed to
within two or three lines of the bottom ; though I
would have remitted you my 200/. to have left place
for as many more.
To the Duchess *.
Madam,
My beginning thus low is meant as a mark of re-
fped, like receiving your Grace at the bottom of the
ftairs. I am glad you know your Duty ; for it hath
been a known and eftabliflied rule above twenty years
in England, that the firft advances have been con-
ftantly made me by ail Indies who afpired to my ac-
quaintance, and the greater their quality, the greater
were their advances. Yet, I know not by what
weaknefs, I have condefcended gracioufly to dif-
penfe with you upon this important article. Though
Mr. Gay will tell you that a namelefs perfon fent
me eleven meffages t before I would yield to a vifit :
I mean a perfon to whom he is infinitely obliged, for
being the occafion of the happinefs he now enjoys
under the protection and &vour of my Lord Duke
and
• la not this Letter like a labjiired attempt to tzj fomahing
about nothing ?
f He means Queen Caroline ; and her neglefl of 6^» which
Etcommendcd him to the Duchefs of Qnecnlberry. WAitT^K.
O 2
196 LETTERS TQ AND
and your Grace. At the fame time, I cannot for-
bear telling you. Madam, that you are a little im-*
perious in your manner of making your advances.
You fay, perhaps you fhall not like me ; I affirm you
are miilaken, v^hich I can plainly demonftrate ^ for I
have certain intelligence, that another perfon <fiflikes
me of late, T¥ith whofe likings yours have not for
fome time pafl: gone together. However, if I (hall
once have the honour to attend your Grace, I will
out of fear and prudence appear as vain as I can,
ihat I may not know your thoughts of me. This is
your own dire&ion, but it was needlefs. For Dio-
genes himfelf would be vain, to have received the
honour of being one moment of his life hi the thoughts
of your Grace.
LETTER LII.*
Dublin, April 13, 1 730-1.
X70UR fituation is an odd one ^ the Duchefs is your
Treafurer, and Mr. Pope tells me you are the *
Duke's. And I had gone a good way in fome Verfes
on
* One might imagiuc thefe Letters to Gaj were written on
purpofe to be ihewn to the Duchefs. Her Grace, indeed, is
much more the time of them, than Gay, Of the language, I
ihall fay nothing.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 197
on that occafion, prefcribing leflbns to direft your
condud, in a negative way, not to do fo and fo, etc#
like other Treafurers; how to deal with Servants,
Tenants, or neighbouring Squires, which I take to be
Courtiers, Parliaments, and Princes in alliance, and
fo the parallel goes on, but grows too long to pleafe
mc : I prove that Poets are the fitteft perfons to be
treafurers and managers to great perfons, from their
virtue aftd contempt of money, etc. ^Pray, why
did you not get a new heel to your fhoe ? unlefs you
would make your court at St. James's by affe&ing to
imitate the Prince of Lilliput. ^But the reft of your
letter being wholly taken up in a very bad chara&er
of the Duchefs, I (hall fay no more to you, but ap*
ply myfelf to her Grace.
Madam, fince Mr. Gay affirms that you love to
have your own way, and fince I have the fame per-
feftion ; I will fettle that matter immediately, to pre-
vent thofe ill confequences he apprehends. Your
Grace fhall have your own way, in all places except
your own houfc, and the domains about it. There^
and there only, I exped: to have mine, fo that you
^ have all the world to reign in, bating only two or
three hundred acres, and two or three houfes in town
and country. I will likewife, out of my fpecial grace,
certain knowledge, and mere motion, allow you to be
in the right againft all human kind, except myfelf, and
to be never in the wrong but when you differ from me.
o 3 You
198 LETTERS TO AND
You fhall have a greater privilege in the third article
of fpeaking your mind ; which I (hall gradoufly allow
you now and then to do even to myfelf, and only
rebuke you when it does not pleafe me.
Madam, I am now got as far as your Grace's letter,
which having not read this fortnight, (having been
out of town, and not daring to truft myfelf v^ith the
cSirriage of it,) the prefumptuous manner in which you
begin had flipt out of my memory. But I forgive
you to the feventeenth line, where you begin to
banifli me for ever, by demanding me to anfwer all
the good Charafter fome partial friends have given
me. Madam, I have lived fixteen years in Ireland,
^ ith only an intermiflion of two fummers in England ;
and confequently am fifty years older than I was at
the Queen's death, and fifty thoufand times duller,
and fifty million times more peevilh, perverfe, and
morofe ; fo that under thefe difadvantages I can only
pretend to excel all your other acquaintance about
fome twenty bars* length. Pray, Madam, have you
a clear voice? and will you let me fit at your left
hand at leaft within three of you, for of two bad
ears, my right is the befl ? My Groom tells me that
he likes your park, but your houfe is too little. Can 4
the Parfon of the parifh play at back-gammon, and
hold his tongue ? is any one of your wonfen a good
nurfe, if I ihould fancy myfelf fick for four and
twenty hours ? how many days will you maintain me
and my equipage? When thefe preliminaries are
fettled,
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 199
fettled, I muft be very poor, very fick, or dead, or
to the lad degree unfortunate, if I do not attend you
at Aimfbury. For, I profefs, you are the firft Lady
ihat ever I defired to fee, fince the firft of Auguft
1714 *, and I have forgot the date when that defiref
grew ftrong upon me, but I know I was not then in
England, elfe I would have gone on foot for that
happinefs as far as to your houfe in Scotland. But
I can foon recoUedb the time, by afking fome Ladies
here the month, the day, and the hour when I began
to endure their company ; which, however, I think was
a fign of my ill judgment, for I do not perceive they
mend in any thing but envying or admiring your
Grace. I diflike nothing in your letter but an affefted
apology for bad writing, bad fpelling, and a bad pen^
which you pretend Mr. Gay found fault with j where-
in you affront Mr. Gay, you affront me, and you
affront yourfelf. Falfe fpelling is only excufeable in
a Chamber-maid, for I would not pardon it in any of
your Waiting- women. ^Pray God preferve your
Grace and family, and give me leave to expeft that
you will be fo juft to remember me among thofe who
have the greateft regard for virtue, goodnefs, pru-
dence, courage, and generofity ; after which you muft
conclude
• 'ITic day on which Qjjcen Anne died, when all his hopes of
more preferment were loft. Warton.
f Swifty with all his affeded independence^ had not forgot the
language of a courtier.
04
aoo LETTERS TO AND
conclude that I am, with the greateft refpeft and
gratitude, Madam, your Grace's moft obedient and
nioft humble fervant, etc.
To Mr. Gay.
I have juft got yours of February 24, with a poft^
fcript by Mr. Pope. I am in great concern for him j
I find Mr. Pope dictated to you the firft part, and
with great difficulty fome days after added the reft*
I fee his weaknefs by his hand-writing. How much
does his philofophy exceed mine ? I could not bear to
fee him : I will write t6 him foon.
LETTER LHI.
Dublin, June 299 1731,
•pVER fince I received your letter, I have been upon
a balance about going to England, and landing
at Briftol, to pafs a month at Aimfbury, as the
Duchefs hath given me leave. But many difHculties
have interfered : firft I thought I had done with my
law-fuit, and fo did all my lawyers : but my adver-
fary, after being in appearance a Proteftant thefc
twenty years, hath declared he alfo was a Papift, and
confequently, by the law. here, cannot buy nor (I
think)
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. aoi
think) fell ; To that I am at fea again, for almoft all
I am worth. But I have (till a worfe evil ; for the
giddineis I was fubjed to, inftead of coming feldom
and violent, now conftantly attends me more or iefs,
though in a more peaceable manner, yet fuch as will
not qualify me to live among the young and healthy :
and the Duchefs in all her youth, fpirit, and grandeur,
will make a very ill nurfe, and her women not much
better. Valetudinarians mud live where they can
command, and fcold ; I muft have horfes to ride, I
muft go to bed and rife when I pleafe, and live where
all mortals are fubfervient to me. I mufl talk non^
■
fenfe when I pleafe, and all who are prefent muft
commend it. I muft ride thrice a week, and walk
three or foiu^ miles, beHdes, every day.
I always told you Mr. — was good for nothing
but to be a rank Courtier. I care not whether he
ever writes to me or no. He and you may tell thig
to the Duchefs, and I hate to fee you charitable, and
fuch a cully, and yet I love you for it, becaufe I am
one myfelf.
You are the fillieft lover in Chriftendom ; if you
like Mrs. — — , why do you not command her to take
you ? if (he does not, fhe is not worth purfuing ; you
do her too much honour ; flie hath neither fenfe nor
tafte, if (he dares to refufe you, though fhe had ten
thoufand pounds. I do not remember to have told
^ou of thanks that you have not given, nor do I un-
derfland
202 LETTERS TO AND
derftand your meaning, and I am fure I had never the
lead thoughts of any myfelf. If I am your friend, it is
for my own reputation, and from a principle of felf*
love, and 1 do fometimes reproach you for not
honouring me by letting the world know we are
friends.
I fee very well how matters go with the Duchefs in
regard to me. I heard her fay *, Mr. Gay, fill your
letter to the Dean, that there be no room for me, the
frolic is gone far enough, I have writ thrice, I will do
no more ; if the man has a mind lo come, let him
come J what a clutter is here ? pofitively I will not
write a fyllable more. She is an ungrateful Duchefs,
confidering how many adorers I have procured her
here, over and above the thoufands (he had before. —
I cannot allow you rich enough till you are worth
7000 /. which will bring you 300 /. per annum^ and
this will maintain you, with the perquifite of fpunging
while you are young, and when you are old will
afford you a pint of port at night, two fcrvants, and
an old maid, a little garden, and pen and ink^
provided you live in the country ^Have you no
fcheme
• Warton fays, " There is cxquifite humour and pleafantry iq
the affcAcd bluntncfs of this Letter, and the elegant complimcnta
paid under the appearance of rudenefs ; that P'oiturc has nothing
more delicate ; that Waller's to SaccharifTa on her marriage, is in
the fame ftrain, and is a mafter-picce of panegyric under the
appearance of fatire." My opinion is totally different. The reader
muft determine, if he can bear to read it through.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 203
fcheme either in verfe or profe ? The Duchefs ihould
keep you at hard meat, and by that means force you
to write ; and fo I have done with you.
Madam,
Since I began to grow old, I have found all ladies
become inconfiftent without any reproach from their
confdence. If I wait on you, I declare that one of
your women (whichever it is that has defigns upon
a Chaplain) muft be my nurfe, if I happen to be iick
or peevifh at your houfe, and in that cafe you muft
fufpend your dommeering claim till I recover. Your
omitting the ufual appendix to Mr. Gay's letter hath
done me infinite mifchief here ; for while you con-
tinued them, you would wonder how civil the Ladies
here were to me, and how much they have altered
frnce. I dare not confefs that I have defcended fo
low as to write to your Grace, after the abominable
negled you have been guilty of; for if they but
fufpefted it, I Ihould lofe them all. One of them,
who had an inkling of the matter (your Grace will
hardly believe it) refufed to beg my pardon upon her
knees, for once negledKng to make my rice-milk.-^
Pray, confider this, and do your duty, or dread the
confequence. I promife you fhall have your will fijc
minutes every hour at Aimfbury, and feven in Lon*
don, while I am in health : but if I happen to be fick,
I muft govern to a fecond. Yet, properly fpeaking,
there is no man alive with fo much truth and refpeA
your Grace's moft obedient and devoted fervant.
204 LETTERS TO AND
LETTER LIV.
[It is thought proper to fubjoin the very laft Letter
our Author ever wrote to Dr. Swift.]
Deaieft Sir, Ma^ 17, ly^^.
ipvERV time I fee your hand, it is the greateft
fatisfa&ion that any writing can give me ; and
I am in ptx>pQrtion grieved to find, that feveral of
my Letters to teftify it to you, milcarry ; and you a(k
me the fame qucftions again, which I prolixly have
anfwered before. Your laft, which was delivered me
by Mr. Swift, enquires where and how is Lord Bo*
lingbroke * ? who, in a paragraph in my laft, under his
own hand, gave you an a^ccount of himfelf j and I
employed almoft a whole letter on his affairs after*
wards. He has fold Dawley for twenty-fix thoufand
pounds, much to his own fatisfa^ion f. His plan of
life
* In Coxe^s Memoirs the circumdance is Ihentioned of Boling*
brokers ifitrodii6lion to George the Second. It was fuppofcd
that Walpole was obliged to retire^ and that Bolingbroke at lad had
fucceeded to that dation, for which all his life he had panted. This
was his laft effort. He retired foon after to France again.
-|- The following is Bolingbroke's account of the difficulties
attending the fale of Dawley, of his diverdons, and political feo-
timentSy abroad :
figrcmont 1 ^^ j BOLIMQBROKE tO Sir W. WymDHAM.
Papers. J
"March the i6th, 1738,
<* I anfwer your's of the 23d of laft month, and that of the
7th. The former came to mj hand juft as I arrived at Aubigoy*
where
FROM BK. SWIFT, etc, 205
Hfe is now a very agreeable one, in the fineft country
of France, divided between ftudy and exerciie ; for
he
» ■ T*
where I paiTed fome time in hunting, our woods being then im*
pradicable, and not yet very dry. The other I found at my
return home. I am obliged to youy my dear Sir WiUiam> ex*>
tretneiy, for trying* with all the care and folicitude it has given
jw, to procure me apurchafer for Dawley. My difappointment
oa this head has vexed, as well as incon^moded me the more,
becaufe I confefs to you I had never fuppofed that effedl could lie
00 my hands, if ever my circumftances or iAclinaiioda fhould lead
me to part with it at lofs. In this I have been much deceived,,
and in this alone ; for I meafurcd the ftrength ^f my mind well
enough, and find myfelf able to bear as well, nay better than I
fappofed I (hould, any revolution of fortune, and any change in
my form of life. This form of life would be the fame as it has
been, and as good as I delire it, if even now I coUld get a tole*
nblc price for Dawley, and help my revenue by fome annuities
lor my Lord St. John's life. If I cannot fell it fo, I muft fell it
tt an intolerable price, and in another form, concerning which
you will fee what I wnte to Mr. Corry ; and in this cafe I have
nothing hard to do, in order to conform myfelf to fuch circum^
ftaoces. An uncertain iiate, a flate of expedients, is the only
ibte I cannot bear : in any decided ftate of fortune I know how
j to be happy. You pulhed your converfation with the Chancellor
hr enough, and could do no otherwife than to drop it, iince he
had dropped it. What turn young Dod, or his truftees, may
take, I know not : but I fee Mr. Corry hopes, fome way or
other, to deliver me out of this incumbrance, and I wi(h his
induftry and facility may fucceed. If they do fo, my party will
be taken chat inftant, conformably to the event ; and when it is fo,
1 will inform you of it. I hope you are before now quite free
from the gout ; and if you have better health after it, which often
happens, I rejoice very much ; for you canoot be more fenfible of
uy advantage that accrues to yourfelf, than I am. As to the
jealoufies and fufpicions that abound, there is no room to be fur*
prifed at them, even fuppofing them void of all real foundation,
M yott fay you think them. Parties, who fee oothing done,
imagine
2o6 LETTERS TO AND
he (till reads or writes five or fix hours a day, and
generally hunts twice a week. He has the whole
toreft
imagine always that their leaders are doing fomething they do not
fee* One of thefe two confequenccs naturally and generally fol-
lows : if it appears, after fonne time, that nothing at all was doing,
no meafures taking, nor opportunity of afting with better cfFtd
preparing, they fall from jealonfy and fufpicion into defpondcncy;
if the contrary appears, they aflume greater fpirit, and the next
time they are put upon adion, and are prepared to have lefs jea-
loufy, and fufpicion, and impatience ; the next time they are reduced
to inadlivity*
*< It it true I have ncTer laid afide the dtBgn I formed, fome
years ago, of tranfmitting to pofterity, in a Work addreffed to
you, the courfe of events, and the fecKt councils, deftgns, and
motives that were the fpringrs of them, from the death of Charles
the Second of Spain, to that of our good and gracious Miftrefs ;
but it is true likewife, that I have been difappointed of feverat
helps neceffary to make this work worthy of you, and, if I may-
fay fo, of myfelf. One particttkrly I had fccured, by which I
fhould have been able to repair the K)fs of many papers, and to
have developed dearly and authentically fome principal points that
have been kept much in the dark, or have been mo^ falfcly repre-
fented. I cannot explain to you by Letter what this particular
help was : but you may guefs perhaps ; you, who know fo well
how wide the efie6ts of changes in Courts fpread, and to how
many private as well as public circumflances they extend. I fay,
however, on this occaiion, what was faid on another, and apply
to the perfc6Uon of fuch a work as I have meditated, what has
been applied to the perfe^ion of condu£^ in life, '* EJl quodam
prodire tenui fi non daiur ultra,** Something I (hall be able to do*
and fomething that I flatter myfelf will not only be confidcrable a|
far as it may go, but will caft much light on the dark parts to
which it may not reach. There are many things wherein I fhall
occafionally give you the trouble of inquiring or colledling. Two
or three I will mention here ; — ^a general ilate of the public
revenue, as it ftood on the abdication of James the Second, and
King William's acceffion, for I chink there was no public debt at
that
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. fio;
foreft of Fontainbleau at his command, with the King's
ftables and dogs, &c. his Lady's fon-in-law being
Governor of that place. She refides moft part of the
year with my Lord, at a large houfe they have hired,
and the reft with her daughter, who is Abbefs of a
Royal Convent in the neighbourhood.
I never faw him in ftronger health, or in better
humour with his friends, or more indifferent and
difpaflionate to his enemies. He is feriouily fet upon
writing fome parts of the hiftory of his times, which
he has begun by a noble introdudion, prefenting a
view of the whole ftate of Europe, from the Pyrenean
treaty. He has hence deduced a fummary fketch of
the
that time ; the fame general (late) as it flood at the acceiiion of
Queen Anne> and a lUte of the national debt contra£^cd in her
predcccffor's reign ; the fame general ftate, both of public revenue
and public debts, as they ftood on the late King's accelSon. I
have many other inquiries to make of you, which you (hall receive
as occafion requires or oifers. I mention only thefe, as a fample
of them. As foon as I can fix my retreat, and fecure my quiet,
you will hear often from me oo fuch fubjects ; and greater retreat,
and greater mediocrity, than 1 have been yet acquainted with, will
htlp to advance the work I prcpofe to leave behind me, as a
monument of my friendfhip for you, and a votive draught of great
tranfadions, which I confccratc and hang up in the temple of
Truth. Adieu, my friend. May health attend you ; and all the
happinefs a man who loves his country can tafte, whilft lie beholds
the true intcrefts of it dcftroycd by fome, neglcdlcd by others,
and confequently facrificed by both to their avarice and ambition
on one fide, to indolence, long views, and cunning, as this ftands
diftinguifiied from wifdoro, on the other.
" Receive the compliments of this houfe, in which two or three
of your humble fervants are aflembled at this time. Make mine,
as well as my wife^s, to all yours/'
ao8 LETTERS TO AND
the natural and incidental interefts of each kingdom^
and how they have yaried from, or approached to,
the true politics of each, in the feveral adminiftrations
to this time. The hiftory itfelf will be particular
only on fuch hSts and anecdotes as he perfonally
knew, or produces vouchers for^ both irom home
and abroad. This ' puts into my mind to tell you a
fear he expreifed lately to me, that fome fads in your
hiftory of the Queen's laft years (which he read here
with me in 1727) are not exa&ly ftated, and that he
may be obliged to vary from them, in relation, I believe^
to the conduft of the Earl of Oxford, of which great
care furely fhould be taken. And he told me, that
when he faw you in 1727, he made you obferve them,
and that you promifed you would take care.
We very often commemorated you during the five
months we lived together at Twickenham. At which
place could I fee you again, as I may hope to fee him,
I would envy no country in the world ; and think not
Dublin only, but France and Italy, not worth the
vifiting once more in my life. The mention of tra-
velling introduces your old acquaintance Mr. Jervas,
who went to Rome and Naples purely in fearch of
health. An afthma has reduced his body, but his
fpirit retains all its vigour : and he is returned, de-
claring life itfelf not worth a day's journey, at the
ezpence of parting from one's friends.
Mr. Lewis every day remembers you. I lie at his
houfe in town. Dr. Arbuthnot's daughter does not
8 degenerate
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 1109
degenerate from the humour and goodnefs of her
father. I love her much. She is like Gay, very idle,
very ingenious, and inflexibly honed. Mrs. Patty
Blount is one of the moft confiderate and mindful
women in the world towards others, the leaft fo in
regard to herfelf. She fpeaks of you conftantly. I
fcarce know two more women worth naming to you ;
the reft are ladies, run after mufic, and play at
cards.
I always make your compliments to Lord Oxford
and Lord Mafliam, when I fee them. I fee John
Barber feldom : but always find him proud of fome
letter from you. 1 did my beft with him, in behalf
of one of your friends, and fpoke to Mr. Lyttelron •
for the other ; who was more prompt to catch, than
I to give fire, and flew, to the Prince that inftant,
who was as pleafed to pleafe me.
You a(k me how I am at Court ? I keep my old
walk, and deviate from it to no Court. The Prince
ihews me a diftinSion beyond any merit or pretence
on my part ; and I have received a prefent from him
of fome marble heads of poets for my library, and
fome urns for my garden. The minifterial writers
rail at me ; yet I have no quarrel with their matters,
nor think it of weight enough to complain of them :
I am
* Lyttelton was Secretary to the Prince. Pope hai mentioned
the great confidence between them, in hit Verfes :
" What youth is that ?" Slc.
VOL. IXp F
flio LETTERS TO AND
I am very well with the Courtiers I ever was, or would
be acquainted with. At leaft they are civil to me ;
■
which is all I alk from Courtiers, and all a wife man
will exped from them. The Duchefs of Marlborough
makes great court to me ; but I am too old for her,
.mind and body ; yet I cultivate fome young people's
friendfhip, becaufe they may be honeft men : whereas
the old ones experience too often proves not to be fo ;
I having dropped ten where 1 have taken up one, and
I hope to play the better with fewer in my hand.
There is a Lord Combury *, a Lord Polwarth t, a
Mr. Murray {, and one or two more, with whom I
would never fear to hold out againft all the corruption
of the world.
You compliment me in vain upon retaining my
poetical fpirit \ I am finking fad into profe : and if
I ever write more, it ought (at thefe years, and in
thefe times) to be fomething, the matter of which
will give a value to the work, not merely the manner.
Since my proteft (for fo I call my Dialogue § of
1738) I have written but ten lines, which I will fend
you. They are an infertion for the next new edition
of the Dunciady which generally is reprinted once in
two years. In the fecond Canto, among the authors
nrho dive in Fleet-ditchy immediately after Arnal^
verfe 300, add thefe :
Next
* Son of the Earl of Clarendon » before fpoken of.
f Afterwards Earl of Marchmont. Wartoh.
% The late Lord Chief Juftice Mansfield. Wartos.
\ Epilogue to the Satires*
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 211
Next plung*d a feeble, but a defp'rate pack.
With each a fickly brother, at his back*^;
Sons of a day ! juft buoyant on the flood.
Then numbered with the puppies in the mud.
Afk ye their names ? I could as foon difclofe
The names of thofe blind puppies, as of thofe.
Fall by, like Niohe, her children gone.
Sits mother 0/borne f , ftupified to (lone ;
And needful Paxton J tells the world with tears,
Thefe are, ah ! no ; thefe were my Gazetteers.
Having nothing to tell you of my poetry, I come
to what is now my chief care, my health and amufe-
ment. The firft is better, as to head-achs ; worfe as;:
to weaknefs and nerves. The changes of weather
affeA me much, otherwife I want not fpirits, except
when indigeftions prevail. The mornings are my
life ; in the evenings I am not dead indeed, but fleep,
and am ftupid enough. I love reading dill, better
than ccmverfation : but my eyes fail, and at the hours
when moft people indulge in company, I am tired,
and find the labour of the pad day fufficient to weigh
nie down. So I hide myfelf in bed, . as a bird in hi$
neft, much about the fame time, and rife and chirp
the
• The Gazetieeri were daily papers. They were printed oo one
fide of a (heet, and the other fide fervcd for the paptF of the next
day.
f On>onie was the affumed name of the Publiftier of the
Gaxetteer*
X A Solicitor^ who procured and paid thofe writei^l. Mr.
Pope's MS. note. The line is now, changed :
And monumental brafg this record heart,
Thefe are, 9cc. Wajhtqit.
P 2
217, LETTERS TO AND
the earlier Jn the morning, I often vary the fcene
(indeed at every' friend's call) from London to
Twickenham ; or the contrary, to receive them, or
be received by them.
Lord.'Bathurft is ftill my conftant friend, and
yours ; but his country-feat is now always in Glou-
cefterfhire, not in this neighbourhood. Mf. Pul-
tcney has no country-feat ; and in town I fee him
feldom J but he always afks after you. In the fummer,
X generally ramble for a month to Lord Cobham's,
the Bath, or elfewhere. In all thefe rambles, my
mind is full of you, and poor Gay, with whom I tra-
veiled fo delightfully two fummers. Why cannot I
crofs the fea ? The unhappieft malady I have to com-
plain of; the unhappieft accident of my whole life,
is that weaknefs of the breaft, which makes the pby-
ficians of opinion that a ftrong vomit would kill me.
I have never taken one, nor had a natural motion that
way in fifteen years. I went, fome years ago, with
Lord Peterborow about ten leagues at fea, purely to
^ if I could fail without fea-ficknefs, and with no
other view than to make yourfelf and Lord Boling-
broke a vilit before I died.
But the experiment, though almoft all the way near
the coaft, had almoft ended all my views at once.
Well then, I muft fubmit to live at the diftance which
fiojTtune has fet us at : but my memory, my afifedHons,
my efteem, are infeparable from you, and will, my
4iaff iricnd, be for ever yours.
P. S.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc, 215
P. S. This I end at Lord Orrery's, in company
with Dn King. Wherever I can find two or three
that are yours, I adhere to them naturally, and by
that title they become mine. I thank you for fending
Mr. Swift to me j he can tell you more of me *.
LETTER LV.
FROM DR. SWIFT TO MR. GAY.
Auguft 28, i73t.
xrou and the Duchels ufe me very ill, for, I pro*
fefs, I cannot diftinguifh the flyle or the hand-
writing of either. I think her Grace writes more like
you than herfelf, and that you wrijte more like her
Grace than yourfelf. I would fwear the beginning
of your letter writ by the Duchefs, though it is to
pafs for yours ; becaufe there is a curfed lie in it^
that fhe is neither young nor healthy, and befides it
perfe&ly refembles the part fhe owns. [ will like*
wife fwear, that what I mufl fuppofe is written by the
Duchefs, is your hand ; and thus I am puzzled and
perplexed
^ This 18 a moil interefting, kind, and fetifible Letter ; and
fuch an account as this* of himfclf^ of his connedlions, habits,
an4 iludieSj no one can read without kindncfs and fympathj.
P3
«i4 LETTERS TO AND
•
perplexed between )X)u, but I will go on in the inno-
cency of my own heart. I am got eight miles from
our famous metropolis, to a country Parfon's, to
whom I lately gave a City-living, fuch as an Englifli
Chaplain would leap at. I retired hither for the
public good, having two great works in hand : one
to reduce the whole politenefs, wit, humour, and
ftyle of England into a (hort fyftem, for the ufe of all
perfons of quality, and particularly the maids of
honour *. The other is of almoft equal importance ;
I may call it the Whole Duty of Sa-vants, in- about
twenty feveral ftations, from the fteward and waiting*
woman down to the fcuUion and pantry-boy ^— I be*
lieve no mortal had ever fuch fair invitations, as to
be happy in the beft company of England ; I wifli I
had liberty to print your letter with my own com-
ments upon it. There was a f(?llow in Ireland, who
from a fhoe-boy grew to be feveral times one of the
chief governors, wholly illiterate, and with hardly
common fenfe : a Lord Lieutenant told the firft King
George, that he was the greateft fubjeft he had in
both kingdoms ; and truly his charader was gotten
and preferved by his never appearing in England,
which was the only wife thing he ever did, except
purchafing
* WagRajfs Dialogues of Polite Converfailon^ publiflied in hit
lifc-time. Warburtoh.
' An impcrfc^l thing of this kind, called DireSions to ServanU
in general, has been publiHied fince his death. Waubv&toh.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 21^
purchafing fixteen thoufand pounds a year. — —Why,
you need not ftare : it is^ eafily applied : I nfiuft be
abfent, in order 10 preferve my credit with her
Grace— Lo, here comes in the Dachefs again (I,
know her by her dd*s j but am a fool for difcbvcring
my Art) to defend herfelf againft my conjedkure of
what (he laid— Madam, I will imitate your Grace,
and write to you upon the fame line. I own it is a
bafe unromantic fpirit in me, to fufpend the honour
of watting at your Grace's feet, till I can finifli a
paltry law-fuit. It concerns indeed almoft all my
whole fortune ; it is equal to half Mr. Pope's, and two^
thirds of Mr. Gay's, and about fix weeks* rent of
your Grace's. This curfed accident hath drilled away
the whole fummer. But, Madam, underfland one
thing, that I take all your ironical civilities in a literal
&nfe, and whenever I have the honour to attend
you, (hall expe£t them to be literally performed* :
though perhaps 1 fliall find it hard to prove your
hand-writing in a Court of Juflice ; but that will not
be much for your credit. How miferably haih your
Grace been miftaken in thinking to avoid Envy by
running into exile, where it haunts you more than
ever
* Nothing can fhcw fo clearly Swlfl's anxioiiR attention to the
Great I as this, and indted all his Letters, With aflfe^ed preten-
iions tg the character of coma)unly dcfpiling thofe whofe llationa
were more exalted than his own, no man, confcious of great
abilities and many virtues, ever exhibited fuch degrading obfc-
^uicnce.
P4
Jie LETTERS TO AND
ever it did even at Court ? Non te dvitasj rum Repa
domus in exilium miferuni^ fed iu utrafque. So fays
Cicero, (as your Grace knows,) or fo he might have
£iid.
I am told that the Craftfman in one of his papers
is offended with the publifliers of (I fuppofe) the laft
edition of the Dunciad ; and I was afked whether
you and Mr. Pope were as good friends to the new
difgraced pcrfon * as formerly ? This I knew nothing
6f, but fuppofe it was the confequence of fom^. miff
fake. As to writing, I look on you juft in the prime
of life for it, the very feafon when jqdgment and in-
rcntion draw together. But fchemes are perfeftly
accidental f ; fome will appear barren of hints and
matter, but prove to be fruitful ; and others the con-
trary : and what you fay, is paft doubt, that every
one can beft find hints for himfelf : though it is
poffible that fometimes a friend may give you a lucky
one juft fuited to your own imagination. But this is
almoft paft with me : my invention and judgment are
perpei ually at fifty-cuffs, till they have quite difabled
each other ; and the mereft trifles I ever wrote are
ferious philofophical lucubrations, in comparifon to
what I now bufy myfelf about ; as (to fpeak in the
«
author's phrafe) the world may one day fee ^
• Bolingbroke.
f As were the fubjeds of the Luinn, and Raffe of the Loci,
and the Difpetifary. Warton.
< His ludicrous predi£lion was, fince bis death, and very much
to his diihonour, fcrioully fulfilled. Warburtoh.
FROM DR, SWIFT, etc- 117
LETTER L\a.
Sq)tcmbcr lo, 1731.
TF your ramble was on horfeback, I am glad of it
on account of your health ; but I know your arts
of patching up a journey between ftage-coaches and
friends coaches : for you are as arrant a cockney
as any hofier in Cheapfide. One clean ihirt with two
cravats, and as many kandkerchiefs, make up your
equipage ; and as for a night-gown, it is clear from
Homer, that Agamemnon rofe without one. 1 have
often had it in my head to put it into yours, that you
ought to have fome great work in fcheme, which
may take up feven years to finifli, befides two or
three undertones, that may add another thoufand
pound to your flock : and then I fhall be in lefs pain
about you. I know you. can find dinners, but you
love twelve-penny coaches too well, without confider-
ing that the intereft of a whole thoufand pounds
brings you but half a crown a-day. I find a greater
longing than ever to come amongfl you ; and reafon
good, when I am teazed with Dukes and DuchefTes
for a vifit, all my demands complied with, and all
excufes cut off. You remember, ** O happy Don
" Quixote ! Queens held his horfe, and DuchefTes
^* puUed off his armour," or fomething to that pur-
pofe. He was a mean-fpirlted fellow } I can fay ten
times
2i8 LETTERS TO AND
times more ; O happy, etc. fuch a Duchefs was de«
iigned to attend him, and fuch a Duke invited him
to command his Palace. Nam ijlos reges taieros me»
mot are nolo^ bominum piendicabula : go read your
Plautus, and obferve Strobilus vaporing after he had
found the pot of gold.*'— I will have nothing to do
with that Lady : 1 have long hated her on your ac-
count, and the more, becaufe you are fo forgiving
as not to hate her ; however, (he has good qualities
enough to make her efteemed; but not one grain
of feeling. I only wifli ihe were a fool. — ^I have
been feveral months writing near five hundred lines
on a pleafant fubjeft, only to tell what my friends
and enemies will fay on me after I am dead \ I (hall
finifh it foon, for I add two lines every week; and
blot out four, and alter eight. I have brought in
you and my other friends, as well as enemies and
detraftors.— It is a great comfort to fee how cor-
ruption and ilUconduft are inftrumental in uniting
virtuous perfons and Lovers of their country of all
denominations : Whig and Tory, High and Low-
church, as foon as they are left to think freely, all
joining in opinion. If this be difaffedion, pray God
fend me always among the difaffefled ; and \ heartily
wiih
• •
^ This has been publlfhed, and is amongft tlie bed cf his
Poems. Wahburtok.
Verfes on his own Death : in which, fpeaking of the iniprefiioa
his death will make amon^jr his friends, he fays,
" Poor Pope will grieve a month,— : Gay,
A week,-p^and Arbuthooti a day."
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 219
wilh you joy of yorft- fcurvy treatment at Court,
which hath given you leifure to cultivate both public
and private Virtue, neither of them likely to be foon
met with within the walls of St. Jameses or Weft-
minfter.— But I muft here difmifs you, that I may
pay my acknowledgments to the Duke for the great
honour ha hath done me.
My Lord,
I could have fwom that my Pride would be always
able to preferve me from Vanity ; of which I have
been in great danger to be guilty for fomc months
paft, firft by the conduft of my Lady Duchefs, and
now by that of your Grace, which had like to finifh
the work; and I fhould have certainly gone about
fliewing my letters under the charge of fecrecy to every
bkib of my acquaintance ; if I could have the lead
hope of prevailing on any of them to believe that a
man in fo obfcure a comer, quite thrown out of the
prefent world, and within a few fteps of the next,
fliould receive fuch condefcending invitations from
two fuch perfons to whom he is an utter ftranger,
and who know no more of him than what they have
heard by the partial reprefentations of a friend. But
in the mean time, I muft defire your Grace not to
flatter yourfelf, that I waited for Your Confent to
accept the invitation. I muft be ignorant indeed
not to know, that the Duchefs, ever lince you met,
bath been moft politic kly employed in encreafing
thofe
\
220 LETTERS TO AND
thofe forces, and iharpening thofe arms with which
fhe fubdued you at firft, and to which, the braver
and the wifer you grow, you will more and more
fubmit. llius I knew myfelf on the fecure fide, and
it was t mere piece of good manners to infert that
claufe, of which you have taken the advantage. But
as I cannot forbear informing your Grace, that the
Duchefs's great fecret in her art of government, hath
been to reduce both your wills into one ; fo I am
content, in due obfervance to the forms of the
world, to return my moft humble thanks to your
Grace for fo great a favour as you are pleafed to
offer me, and which nothing but impoilibilities (hall
prevent me from receiving, fince I am, with the
greateft reafon, truth, and refpeft.
My Lord,
Your Grace's moft obedient, etc^
Madam,
I have confulted all the learned in occult fciences
of my acquaintance, and have fate up eleven nights
to difcover the meaning of thofe two hieroglyphical
lines in your Grace's hand at the bottom of the
laft Aimft)ury letter, but all in vain. Only *ds
agreed, that the language is Coptic, and a very
profound Behmift affures me, the ftyle is poedc,
containing an invitation from a very great perfon of
the female fex to a ftrange kind of man whom ihe
never faw } and this is all I can find, which, after
fo
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 221
fo maoy former invitations, will ever confirm me in
that relpcQ, wherewith I am.
Madam,
Your Grace's moft obedient, etc. ♦
LETTER LVn.
MR. GAY TO DR. SWIFT.
December i, 1731.
TTOU ufed to complain that Mr. Pope and I would
not let ' you fpeak : you may now be even with
me, and take it out in writing. If you don't fend to
me now and then,, the poft-office will think me of
no conlequence, for I have no correfpondent but
you. You may keep as far from us as you pleafe,
you cannot be forgotten by thofe who ever knew you,
and therefore pleafe me by fometimes {hewing that I
am not forgot by you. I have nothing to take me
off from my friendfliip to you : I feek no new ac-
quaintance, and court no favour; I fpend no (hiU
lings in coaches or chairs to levees or great vifits,
and, as I don't want the afllftance of fome that I for-
merly converfed with, I will i^ot fo much as feem to
feek
* After what has been before faid, nothing need be added
refpefUng Swift'« Lettera to the Duh aad Duchefi.
8
222 LETTERS TO AND
feek to be a dq)endant. As to my ftudies, I have
not been entirely idle, though I cannot fay that I
have yet perfeded any thing. What I have done is
fomething in the way of thofe fables I have already
publifhed *. All the money 1 get is oy faving, fo that
by habit there may be fome hopes (if I grow richer)
of my becoming a mifen All mifers have their ex-
cufes ; the motive to my parfimony is independence.
If I were to be reprefented by the Duchefs (Ihc is
fuch a downright niggard for me), this charafter
might not be allowed me ; but I really think I am
covetous enough for any who lives at the court-
end of the town, and who is as poor as myfelf :
for I don't pretend that I am equally faving with
S— ^ — ^k. Mr. Lewis defired you might be told that
he hath five pounds of yours in his hands, which he
fancies you may have forgot, for he will hardly
allow that a Verfe-man can have a juft knowledge of
his own affairs. When you got rid of your law-
fuit, I was in hopes that you had got your own,
and was free from every vexation of the law;
but Mr. Pope tells me you are not entirely out
of your perplexity, though you have the fecurity
how in your own poffeffion; but flill your cafe
is not fo bad as Captain Gulliver's, who was
ruined by having a decree for him with cofts. I
have had an injun&ion for me againft pirating book-
fellers, which I am fure to get nothing by, and
will,
* The fecond Fart of his Fables.
. FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 223
will, I fear, in the end drain me of fome money.
When I began this profecution, I fancied there
would be fome end of it ; but the law flill goes on,
and 'tis probable I ihall fome time or other fee an
Attorney's bill as long as the Book. Poor Duke
Difoey is dead, and hath left what he had among
his friends, among whom are Lord Bolingbroke,
500/. Mr. Pelham, 500 /. Sir William Wyndham's
youngeft fon, 500/. Gen. Hill, 500/. LordMaflam's
Ion, 500 A
You have the good wiflies of thofe I converfe with ;
they know they gratify me, when they remember you ;
but I really think they do it purely for your own fake.
I am fatisfied with the love and friendlhip of good men,
and envy not the demerits of thofe who are mod con-
fpicuoufly diftinguiflied. Therefore, as I fet a juft
value upon your friendfliip, you cannot pleafe me
more than letting me now and then know that
you remember me (the only fatisfa£tion of diflant
fnends !)
P. S. Mr. Gay's is a good letter, mine will be a
very dull one ; and yet what you will think the worft
of it, is what (hould be its excufe, that I write in a
head-ach that has lafted three days. I am never ill but
I think of your ailments, and repine that they mutu-
ally hinder our being together : though in one point
I am apt to differ from you, for you fhun your
friends when you are in thofe circumft^nces, and I
defire them ; your way is the more generousi mine
the
224 LETTERS TO AND
the more tender. Lady • took your letter very
kindly, for I had prepared her to expe£t no anfwer
under a twelve-itionth i but kindnefs perhaps is a
word not applicable to courtiers. However fhe is an
extraordinary woman there, who will do you common
juftice. For God's fake why all this fcruple about
Lord B— — *s t keeping your horfes, who has a park ;
or about my keeping you on a pint of wine a day ?
We are infinitely richer than you imagine } John Gay
fliall help me to entertain you, though you come like
Kjng Lear with fifty Knights. ^Though fuch pro*
fpefts as I wifh, cannot now be formed for fixing you
with ur, time may provide better before you part
again : the old Lord J may die, the benefice may drop ;
or, at worft, you may carry me into Ireland. You
will fee a work of Lord B ■ 's and one of mine )
which, with a juft negleft of the prefent age, confult
only pofterity ; and, with a noble fcom of politics,
afpire to philofophy. I am glad you refolve to med-
dle no more with the low concerns aiid interefts of
Parties, even of Countries (for Countries are larger
Parties) ^id verum aique decensy curare^ et rogarCj
nojlrumjiu I am much pleafed witiT your defign upon
Rochefoucault's maxim, pray finifh it '. I am happy
whenever
* Howard. t Bolingbrokc*
X Lord St. John, father of Bolingbroke, at this time of great
age ; upon whofe death, a confiderable acccflion of income would
devolve to Lord Bolingbroke.
* The Poem on his own death, formed upon a maxim of
Rochcfoucaulf. It is one of the beft of his performances, but
very charadcriilic. War b u rto m.
FROM DR. swift; etc. 215
whenever you join our names together : fo would
* Dr. Arbuthnot be, but at this time he can be pleafed
vith nothing : for his darling fon is dying in all prQ-
bability, by the melancholy account I received this
morning.
The paper you afk me about is of little value. It
might have been a feafonable fatir^ upon the fc^ndal-
ous language and paflion with which men of condition
have ftoop'd to treat one another ; furely they facrifice
too much to the people, when they facrifice their Own
charaders, families, etc. to the diverfion of that rabble
of readers, I agree with you in my contempt of moil
popularity, fame, etc. even as a writer I am cool in
it, and whenever you fee what I am now writing *,
you'll be convinced I would pleafe but a few, and (if I
could) make mankind lefs Admirers, and greater Rea-
Ibners. I ftudy much more to render my own
portion of Bebg eafy, and to keep this peevilh frame
of the human body in good humour. Infirmities have
not quite unmannM me, and it will delight you to
hear they are not increafed, though not dimini(hed.
I thank God, I do not very much want people to
attend me, though my Mother now cannot. When
I am fick, I lie down ; when I am better, I rife up :
I am ufed to the head-ach, etc. If greater pains
arrive (fuch as my late rheumatifm) the fervants bathe
and
* Thii was faid whilft he was employed on the ^fbj pn Man,
«Q| yet pabli(bed| 1731. Waatd^*.
VOL. 1X4 . • <L. r . - 4 J'
ai6 LETTERS T6 AND
and plafter me^ of the furgeon fcaiifies me, and I
bear it, becaufe 1 muft. Thi$ is the evil of Nature ^,
not of Fortune. I am juft now as veil as when you
was here : I pray God you were no worfe. I fincerely
wifh my life were paflfed near you, and, fuch as it is, I
would not repine at it ^AU you mention remember
yoU| and wiih you here.
^====rr
:m ■■■ J-
LETTER LVIIL
DR. SWIFT TO Mft. GAY.
Dublin, May ^ i^jf.
r AM now as lame as when you writ your letter, and
almoft as lame as your letter itfelf, for want of
that limb from my Lady Duchefs, which you pro*
mifed, and without which I wonder how it could
limp hither. I am not in a condition to make a true
ftep even on Aimibury Downs, and I declare-4bat a
Qorporeal falfe ftep is worfe than a polidcal one ; nay
worie than a thoufand political ones, for which I
appeal to Gouits and Minifters, who hobble on and
fthfytr^ wMiout the fenfe of feeling. To talk of
riding
* Wben we wet Vesdy to blsrae Pope's extreme brntsiHitff
IreuriglW. to rencmber the natural effe6U of fuoh infimiitiei altl
was deftined, from youth to age, to ftniggle with.
PROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 227
riding and walking is infuhing me, for I can as foon
fly as do either. It is your pride or lazinefs, more
than chair-hire, that makes the town expenfive. No
honour is loft by walking in the dark ; and in the
day, you may beckon a black-guard-boy under a
gate, near your vifiting-place, (experio crede) fave
eleven pence, and get a half a crown's worth of
heahh. The worft of my prefent misfortune is, that
I eat and drink, and can digeft neither for want of
exerdfe ; and, to increafe my mifery, the knaves are
fare to find me at home, and make huge void fpaces
in my cellars. I congratulate with you, for lofing
your Great acquaintance ; in fuch a cafe, philofophy
teaches that we muft fubmit, and be content with
good ones. I like Lord Combury's refufing his pen«
fion, but I demur at his being ele£ted for Oxford ;
which, I conceive, is wholly changed ; and entirely
devoted to new principles ; fo it appeared to me the
two laft times I was there.
I find by the whole caft of your letter, that you
are as giddy and volatile as ever, juft the reverfe of
Mr. Pope, who hath always loved a domeftic life
from his youth. I was going to wifli you had fome
little place that you could call your own, but I pro«
fels I do not know you well enough to contrive any
one fyftem of life that would pleafe you. You pre*
tend to preach up riding and walking to the Duchefs,
yet, from my knowledge of you after twenty years,
you always joined a violent defire pf perpetually flitfu
aaS LETTERS TO AND
ing places and company, wiih a rooted lazdnefs, and
an utter impatience of fatigue. A coach and fix
horfes is the utmofl: exerdfe you can bear, and this
only when you can fill it with fuch company as is
beft fuited to your tafte^ and how glad would you be
if it could waft you in the air to avoid jolting ? while
I, who am fo much later in life, can, or at leaft
could, ride 500 miles on a trotting horfe. You
mortally hate writing, only becaufe it is the thing you
chiefly ought to do : as well to keq> up the vogue
you have in the world, as to make you eafy in your
fortune : you are merciful to every thing but money,
your beft friend, whom you treat with inhumanity.
Be aflured, I will hire people to watch all your mo-
tionsx and to return me a faithful account. Tell me,
have you cured your abfence of mind ? can you attend
to trifles ? can you at Aimfbury write domeflic libels
to divert the family and neighbouring fquires for five
miles round * ? or venture fo far on horfeback, with*
out apprehending a ftumble at every ftep ? can you
*
fet the footmen a laughing as they wait at dinner i
and do the Duchefs's women admire your wit? in
what efteem are you with the Vicar of the parilh?
can you play with him at back-gammon? have the
|^.mers found out that you cannot diflinguifh rye
from barley, or an oak from a crab*tree ? You are
fenfible
^ ♦ We might form fomc opinion'of the tqjiioi the day, when
ft vMXi of genips'^was 'expedcd to write D6nfenfe» •" to divert the
^^tres five miles round>" and << Xs> fet the footmen a laughing ! !"
FROM DR. SWIFT, «c. Mgr
fenfible that I know the full extent of your country
ftill is in fiihing for Roaches, or Gudgeons at the
higheft.
I love to do you good ofGces with your friends,
and therefore defire you will fliew this letter to the
Duchefs, to improve her Grace's good opinioa of
your qualifications, and convince her how ufefiil you
are like to be in the family. Hei; Grace ihall have
the honour of my correfpondence again when fhe
goes to Aimfbury. Hear a piece of Irifh news, I bu-
ried the famous General Meredith's father laft nighf
in my Cathedral; he was ninety-fix years old: fo
that Mrs. Pope may live feven years longer. You
&w Mr. Pope in health ; pray is he generally more
healthy than when I was amongft you ? I wpuld know
how your own health is, and how much wine you
drink in a day ? My flint in company is a pint at
noon, and half as much at night, but I often dine at
home like a hermit, and then I drink littl^ or none at
alL Yet I differ from you, for I would have fociety,,
if I could get what I like, people of middle under-
ftanding, and middle rank^
Adieu/
«
Q.3
«3« LETTERS TO AND
LETTER LIX.
Dublin, July xo, 173s.
T MAD your letter by Mr. Ryres a long time after the
date, for I fuppofe he flayed long in the \ay.
I am glad you determine upon fomething ; there is
no writing I efteem more than Fables, nor any thmg
fo difficult to fucceed in, which however you have
done excellently well, and I have often admired
your happinefs in fuch a kind of poformances, which
I have frequently endeavoured at in vain. I remem-
ber I a&ed as you feem to hint ; I found a Moral firft
and ftudied for a Fable, but could do nothing that
pleafed me, and fo left off that fcheme for ever. I
Yemember one, which was to rq>refent what fcoundrds
arife in armies by a long War, wherein I fuppoled the
Lion was engaged, and having loft all his animals
of worth, at laft Serjeant Hog came to be Brigadier,
and Corporal Ais a Colonel, etc. I agree with you
likewife about getting fomething by the ftage, which,
when it fucceeds, is the beft crop for poetry in £ng«
land: but, pray take fome new fcheme, quite dif-
ferent from any thing you have already touched.
The prefent humour of the players, who hardly (as
I was told in London) regard any new play, and
your prefent iituatioa at the Court, are the difficulties
to
I
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. »3i
«
to be overeome ; but thofe drcumftances may have
alt^ed (at leaft the former) fince I left you. My
fcbeme was to pafis a mopth at Aimibury, and itken
go to Twickenham, and live a winter between that
and Dawley, and fbmetimes at Riikinsy ixdthont
going to London, where I now can have no occa«
iiopal lodgings: but I am not yet in any conclitioii
for fuch removals. I would fajn have you get enough^*
againft you grow old, to have two or three iervantf
about you and a convenient houle* It is hard tQ
want thoie/ubfidiajine^uti^ when a man grows har4
to pleafe, and &w people care whether he be pleale4
or no. I have a large houfe, yet I ihould hardly pre-
vail to find one vifitor, if I were not able to hire him
with a bottle of wine : fo that, when I am not abroad
on horfeback, I generally dine alone, and am thanks
ful, if a friend will pa& the evening with xpe. I am
npw with the remainder of my pint before me, an4
fo here's your health— -f-^and the fecpnd and chief
is to my Tunbridge acquaintance, my Lady Duchei^
M ■■ and I tell you that I fear my Lord Bolingbroke
and Mr. Pope (a couple of Philofophers) would
ftarve me, for even of port wine I ihould reqtiire
half a pint a day, and as much at night : and you
were growing as bad, unleis your Duke and Duchefs
have mended you. Your cholic is owing to intern^
perance of the philofophical kind ; you eat without
care, and if you drink lels than I, you drink to^
QA little.
a3i LETTERS TO AND'
little. But your Inattention I cannot pardon, becaufe
I imagined the caufe was removed, for 1 thought it
lay in your forty millions of fchemes by Court-hopes
and Court.fears. Yet Mr. Pope has the fame defeft,
iand it is of all others the moft mortal to converfation ;
neilher is my Lord Bolingbroke untinged with it : all
for want of my rule, Vive la Bagatelle/ but the
Doftor is the King of Inattention. What a vexatious
life fliould I lead among you ? If the Duchefs be a
reveufej I will never come to Aimfbury ; or, if I do,
I will run away from you both, to one of her women,
and the Iteward and chaplain.
Madam,
I mentioned fomething to Mr. Gay of a Tun«
bridge-acquaintance, whom we forget of courfe ^heni
we return to town, and yet I am aflured that if they
meet again next fummer, they have a better title to
refume their commerce. Thus I look on my right
of corrfefponding with your Grace to be better efta-
blifbed upon your return to Aimfbury ; and I (hall
at this time defcend to forget, or at lead: fufpend
iny refentments of your negle£): all the time you were'
in London. I ftill keep in my heart, that Mr. Gay
had no fooner turned his back, than you left xht
place in this letter void which he had commanded
you to fill : though your guilt confounded you fo far,
"^hat you wanted prefence of mind to bk)t out the laft
line.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 233
line, vhere that command ftared you in the face.
But it is my misfortune to quarrel with all my ac-
quaintance, and always come by the worft ; and for«
tune is ever againft me, but never lb much as by
purfuing mc out of mere partiality to your Grace, for
which you are to anfwer. By your connivance, fhe
hath pleafed, by one ftumble on the flairs, to giv^
me a lamenefs that fix months hath not been able
perfedly to cure ; and thus I am prevented from re«
venging myfelf by continuing a month at Aimfbury,
and breeding confiifion in your Grace's family. No
difappointment through my whole life hath been fo
vexatious by many degrees ; and God knows whether
I fliall ever live to fee the invincible Lady to whom
I was obliged, for. fo many favours, and whom I never
beheld fince fhe was a bratt in hangmg-Heeves. I am^
and fhall be ever, with the greateft refped; and grati?
tude, Madam, your Grace's moft obedient, and molt
humble, etc*
»34 LETTERS TO AND
LETTER LX.
DubBny Auguft ia» 1732.
T KNOW not what to fay to the account of your
ftewardOiip, and it is monftrous to me that the
South-fea * fhould pay half their debts at one clap.
But I will fend for the money when you put me into
the way, for I ihall want it here, my affairs being m
a bad condition by the miferies of the kingdom, and
my own private fortime being wholly embroiled,
and worfe than ever ; fo that I fliall foon petition the
Duchefs, as an objed of charity, to lend me three
or four thoufand pounds to keep up my dignity. My
one hundred pound will buy me fix hogfbeads of
wine, which will fupport me a year ; prcvifa frugis
iti annum Copia. Horace defired no more ; for I
will conftruc frugis to be wine. You are young
enough to get fome lucky hint which muil come by
chance,
^ Gajy as well as his friend Pope, ventured fonie money in
the famous South*fea fcheme. And there was a print by Hcgarth^
reprefenting Pope putting one of his hands into the pocket of a
large fat perfonage> who wore a hornbook at his girdle, defigned
for a 6gure of Gay; and the hornbook had reference to his
Fables, written for the young Duke of Cumberland. To fuch
fubjefts it is to be wifhed that Hogarth had always confined the
powers of his pencil* " His Sigifmunda^*^ fays Mr. Walpole, *« is
a maudlin ftrumpet, juft turned out of keeping, and with eyes red
with rage and ufquebaugh, tearing off the ornaments her keeper
had given her. And. as to his fcene from Milton, Hell and
Dtatb have loft their terrors ; and Sin is divcfted of all powers of
temptation.'* Wai^tom.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 235
chance, and it (hall be a thing of importance, quod
it bunc in annum vivat et in plures\ and you fhall not
finish it in hade, and it fhall be diverting, and ufefuUy
fadrical, and the Duchefs Ihall be your critic ; and be^
twixt you and me, I do not find ihe will grow weary
of you till this time feven years. I bad lately an offer
to change for an Englifh living, which is juit too (hort
1>y 300/. a-year : and that mud be made up out of the
Duchefs's pin-money before I can confent. I want
to be Minifter of Aimfbury, Dawley, Twickenham,
Riikins, and Prebendary of Weftminfter, elfe I will
not ftir a ftep, but content myfelf with making the
Duchefs miferable three months next fummer. But
I keep ill company : I mean the Ducheis and you,
who are both out of favour ; and fo I find am I, by
a few verfes wherein Pope and you have your paru#
You hear Dr. D — ^y has got a wife with 1600/. a^
year ; I, who am his governor, cannot take one under
two thoufand ; I wifh you would enquire of fuch a
one in your neighbourhood. See what it is to write
godly books ! I profefs I envy you above all men in
England; you want nothing but three thoufand
pounds more, to keep you in plenty when your friends
grow weary of you* To prevent which laft evil at
Aimlbury, you muft learn to domineer and be
peevifh, to find fault with their victuals and drink,
to chide and dired the ienrants, with fome other
kflbns, which I Ihall teach you, and always pra&ifcd
d myfelf
2^6 LETTERS TO AND
myfelf with fuccefs. I believe I formerly defired to
know whether the Vicar of Aimfbury can play at
back-gammon ? Pray alk him the queftion^ and give
him my fervice*
To the Duchess.
Madam,
I was the moft miwary creature in the world *,
when, againft my old maxims, I writ firfl: to you f,
upon your return to Tunbridge. I beg that this
condefcenfion of mine may go no &rther, and that
you
* Oqc of the lafty and moft elegant compliments, which this
(ngular Lady, after having been celebrated by fo many former
Wits and Poets, received, was from the amiable Mr. WUliam
Whitehead, in the third volume of his Works, p. 65, which
compliment tmns, with a happy propriety, on the peculiar cir*
cumftance of her Grace's having never changed her drefs, ac-
cording to the fafhion, but retained that which had been in vogue
when (he was a young beauty :
Say, {hall a Bard, in thcfe late times.
Dare to addrefs his trivial rhimes
To her whom Prior, Pope, and Gay,
And every Bard, who breathM a lay
Of happier vein, was fond to chufe
The Patronefs of levery Mufe ? • • -
Say, can he hope that you, the theme
Of partial Swift's fevere efteem,
You, who have borne meridian rays,
And triumphed in poetic bhze,
Ev'ji vrith indulgence fhould receive
The fainter gleams of ebbing eve ? Wartoit.
f A Letter, from an original in her Grace'*s hand-writing, wifl
be found in the laft Volume, to Martha Blount.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc, 237
yoa will not pretend to make a precedent of it. I never
knew any man cured of any inattention, although
die pretended caufes were removed. When I was
widi Mr. Gay laft in London, talking with him on
feme poetical fubjeds, he would anfwer ; ^ Well,
^ I am determined not to accept the employment
(< of Gentkman-ttiher :" and of the fame difpofi.
don were all my poedcal friends, and if you can-
not cure him, I utterly defpair«— -As to yourfelf^
I will fay to you, (though comparifons be odious,)
what I laid to the , that your qw^lity ihould be
never any motive of efteem to me: my compliment
was then loft, but it will not be fo to. you. For
Iknow you more by any one of your letters, than
I xottld by fix months converfing. Your pen is
always more natural and fincere and unaffe£l:ed
than your tongue; in writing, you are too lazy
to give yburfelf the trouble of a£Ung a part,
and have indeed aded fo indifcreetly that I
have you at mercy; and although you ihould
arrive to fuch a h^ght of immorality as to deny
your hand, yet, whenever . I produce it, the world
will. unite in fwearing this miift come from you
only.
1 will anfwer your (juefti^n. Mr. Gay is not dif-
creet enough to live alcme, but he is too difcreet
to live alone; and yet (unlefs you mend him) he
iwll Uve alone 'even in your Grace's company.
Your
fl38 LETTERS TO AND
Tour quarrelling vrhh each other upon the fnbjeft
of bread and butter, is the mod ufaal thing in tlie
world ; Parliaments, Courts, Cities, and Kingdooui
quarrel for no other caufe; from hence, and from
hence only, arife all the quarrels betvttn WI^
and Tory ; between thofe who are in the Miniftry,
and thofe who are out; between all pretenders to
employment in the Churchy the Law, and die
Army : even the common proverb teaches you diis,
when we fay, It is none of my hreaid and butter,
meaning it is no bufmefs of mine. Therefore I de*
fpair of any reconcilement between you till the
affiur of bfead and butter be adjufted, wherein I
would gladly be a mediators If Mahomet fliould
come to the mountain, how happy would an ex*
xellent Lady be who lives a few miles from this
town ? As 1 was teHing of Mn Gay's way of living
at Almfbury, fhe offered fifty guineas to have you
both at her houfe for one hour over a bottle of
Burgumly, which we were then drinking. To your
qucHidi I anfwer, dnt your Grace flxMild pull me
by the fleeve till you tore it off, and when joa
laid yon were weary of me, I would prefoid to be
deaf, and think (according to another proverb) d»t
you tore my cloaths lo keep me from going*. I
never
* In the fame ftyle of caur^l^f which Pope frequeotly «fed
whe^ he' wifhcd to gain particulaT norice from the Great. la a
Letter
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. ^39
never will believe one word you fay of my Lord
Duke, unlefs I fee three or . four lines in his own
band at the bottom of yours* I have a concern in
the whole family, and Mr. Gay muft give me a par-
ticular account of every branch, for I am not
alhamed of you though you be Duke and Duchefs,
though I hav€ been of others who are, etc. and I
do not doubt but even your own fervants love you,
even down to your pofUlIons } and when I come to
Aimibury, before I fee your Grace I will have an
hour's converfation with the Vicar, who will tell me
bow famiUarly you talk to Goody Dobfon, and alt
the neighbours, as if you were their equal, and that
yoa were god^nother to her fon Jadcy.
I am, and ihall be ever, with the greats re^
fpea.
Tour Grace's moft obedient, etc.
Letter to Dr. Sheridan, in 1719, we trace tlie fame mode of
obliqnc advances, with the langaage of affeded pride : ** I ^oa!4
prefaii my humble ferrice to Lady MountcaAel, but truly I.
thought (he would have made iidvetncei to have been acquainted with
mc, asjhcfrdendcd /**
440 LETTERS TO AND
LETTER LXL
«
Dublin, O&obet Sf ijsh
T USUALLY write to friends after a paufe x>( a few
weeks, that I may not intemipt them in better
company, better thoughts, and better diveriions. I
believe I have told you of a great man, who faxi to
me, that be never once in his life received a good letter
from Ireland ; for which there are reafons enough with-
out affronting our underftandings. For there is not
one perfon out of this country,^ who regards any events
that pafs here, unlefs he hath an eftate or employment
I- I cannot tell that you or I ever gave ttie leaft
provocation to the prefent Miniftry, much lefs to the
Court } and yet I am ten times more out of favour
than' you. For my own part, I do not fee the politic
of opening common letters, diredied to perfons gene-
rally known; for a man's underftanding would be
very weak to convey fecrets by the poft, if he knew
any, which I declare I do not : and befides I think
the world is already fo well informed by plain events,
that I queftion whether the Minifters have any fecrets
at all. Neither would I be under any apprehenix>n
if a letter fhould ht fent me full of treafon ; becaufe
I cannot hinder people from writing what they pleafe,
nor fending it to me ; and although it fhould be dif-
covered to have been opened before it came to my
hand.
r
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc- 241
hand, I would only bum it and think no funher. I
approve of the fcheme you have to grow fomewhat
richer, though I agree, you will meet with dtfcourage-
meots ; and it is reafonable you ihould, confidering
what kind of pens are at this time only employed and
encouraged*. For you mud allow that the bad painter
was in the right, who, having painted a cock, drove
away all the cocks and hens, and even the chickens,
for fear thofe who paffed by his (hop might make a
comparifon with his work. And I will fay one thing
in fpite of the Poft-ofBcers f, that fince Wit and Learn*
ing began to be made ufe of in our kingdom^, they
were never profefledly thrown afide, contemned and
puniChed, till within your own memory ; nor Dulnefs
and Ignorance ever fo openly encouraged and pro-
moted. In anfwer to what you fay of my living
among you. If I could do it to my eafe ; perhaps you
have heard of a fcheme for an exchange in Berkfhire
propofed by two of our friends ; but, befides the
difficulty of adjufting certain circumdances, it would
not anfwer. I am at a time of life that feeks eafe
and independence ; you'll hear my reafons when you
fee thofe friends, and I concluded them with faying;
That
* He probably alludes to tbe profeflTed patronage of Stephen
Duck, by Queen Caroline, and the Court.
f Pope and Swift were conftantly declaiming againft the Gen-
tlemen of the Poft-office. Whether their obfervations virere true
or not» we cannot fail to contrail the liberality of the pre&nt
Conduf^qrt, and particolarly of the worthy Secretary i Mr. FrecUng*
VOL. IX. R
242 LETTERS TO AND
That I would rather be a freeman among flaves, than
a flave among freemen. The dignity of my prefent
ftation damps the pertneTs of mferior puppies and
fquires *, v;hich, without plenty and eafe on your fide
the channel, would break my heart in a month.
JMadam,
See what it is to live where I do. I am utterly
ignorant of that fame Strado del Poe ; and yet, if
that Author be againft lending or giving money, I
cannot but think 'him a >good Courtier; which, I am
fure, your Grace is not, no not fo much as to be a
maid of honour. For I am certainly informed, that
you are neither a free-thinker, nor can fell bargains ;
that you can neither fpell, nor talk, nor write, nor think
like a Courtier ; that you pretend to be rcfpefted for
qualities which have been out of fafhion ever (ince you
were almoft in your cradle ; that your contempt for
a fine petticoat is an infallible mark of difaffedion ;
which is further confirmed by your ill-tafte for Wit,
in preferring two old-faihioned poets before Duck or
Cibber. Befides, you fpell in fuch a manner as no
court-lady can read, and write in fuch an oM-fafhioned
ftylc^ as none of them can underftand. You
need not be in pain about Mr. Gay's flock of health.
I promife
* He could not Lave paid a higher compliment to the good
fcnfe of the country. But what he paid in fervile adulation bimfelf,
he expe£^ed to receive^ of he could not have mentioned, with fuch
am air of fupMority, the picafurc of ** damping the pertnefs of
irferior fuffUs and fpares P'
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 245
I promlTe you he will fpend it all upon lazinefs, and
run deep in debt by a winter's repofe in town ; there-
fore I entreat your Grace will order him to move his
chops lels and his legs more the fix cold months, elfe
he will fpend all his money in phytic and coach-hire. I
am in much perplexity about your Grace's declara-
tion, of the manner in which you difpofe what yoa
call your love and refpeft, which you fay are not paid
to Merit but to your own Humour. Now, Madam^
my misfortune is, that I have nothing to plead but
abundance of Merit, and there goes an ugly obferva-
tion, that the HumoUr of ladies is apt to. change*
Now, Madam, if I fhould go to Aimfbury, with a
great load of Mbrit, and your Grace happen to be
out of humour, and will not ptirchafe my merchan-
dize at the price of " yopr refpect, the goods may be
damaged, and nobody elfe will take them off my
hands. Befides, you have declared Mr. Gay to hold
the firft part, and I but the fecond ; which is hard
treatment, fince I (hall be the neweft acquaintance by
fome years ; and I will appeal to all the reft of your
fex, whether fuch an innovation ought to be allowed?'
I fliould be ready to fay in the common forms, that
I was much obliged. to the Lady who Mifhed fee
could give the bell living, etc. if I did not vehemently
fufpeft it was the very fame Lady who fpoke many
things to me in the fame ftyle, and alfo with regard
to the gentleman at your elbow when you writ, whofe
Dupe he was, as well as of her Wiiting-woman j but
R. 2 they
^44 LETTERS TO AND
they were both arrant knaves, as I told him and a
third friend, though they will not believe it to this
day. I defire to prefent my mioft humble refpe&s to
my Lord Duke, and with my heartieft prayer for the
profperity of the whole family, remain
Your Grace's, etc.
m
. LETTER LXn.
*
Xa MR. POPE.
t>nblin, Jont T2, ^73^,
T DOUBT, halHt hath little power to reconcile us with
ficknefs attended by pain. With me, the lownefo
of fpirits hath a moft unhappy effed ; X am grown leiii
patient with folitude, and harder to be pkafed with
company * } which I coiild formerly better d^eft^ when
I could
* Swift ka« bcaufifiiUy aiprdTed kit fecSngs of the mcreaf-
mg forrowt of dccliftiiig age, in fait Letter to Mrs. Moore :
^ God til his wffdom hath beco pleafed to )ofid our decUoing
yean wkh many foflFeringftt with difeafet* >od decays of nature \
frith the death of many friends, and the ingratitude of more;
fbioetimet with the lofs or diminution of our fortnnes» when onr
infirmities rooft need them ; often with contempt from the world,
smd always with negled from ity &c. ; with a want of reh(h for
worldly enjoyments ; with a general diflike of peribns aod things ;
and though thefe ar^very natural effeds of increafing year?, yet
they were intcodedji by the Author of our heing» to wean us gia*
dually from our fondnefs of life^ the ncam wc approach towarda
the cad of it/'
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 145
I could be eafier without it than at prefeaf. As to
icxuling yoa any thing that I have written lin^e I left
you (either Terfi: or psofe) I can only iay, that I have
ordered by my WHl, that all my papers of any kind
Ihall be delivered you to difpofe of as you pleafe. I
have feveral things that I have had fdiemes to finifli,
or to attempt]) but I very fiaoUfhly put off the ^oubk»
as finners do their repentance ; for I grow every day
more averfe from writing, which is very natural, aad^
when I take a pen, % to myfetf a thoufand times,
wn'^ ianii. M to thofe papers of four or five
years pad, that ^ou are pleafed to require foon^
they confiil of little accidental things* written in
the country; family amufements, never intended
further than to divert ourfelves and fome neigh«
boun : or fome tScQtf of anger on Public Griev*
ances here, which would be infignificant out of
this kingdom* Two ojr three of us had a fancy, three
years ago, to write a Weekly paper, and called it an
Intelligencer. But it continued not long; for the
whole Volume (it was reprinted in London, and, I,
find^ you have feen it) was the work only of two,
myfelf and Dr. Sheridan. If we could have got fome
ingenious young man to have been the manager, who
(hould have publiibed all that might be fent to him,
it
* Thefe were publifbed in their Mifcellanies ; and of maoy it
were to be wiiked that they had never been kiM>wn beyond tl|S
(xnall circle they were originally written to amufe.
»3
^46
LETTERS TO AND
it might have continued longer, for there were hinl$
enough. But the printer here could not afford fucEt
a young man one farthing for his trouble, the fale
being fo fmall, and the price one halF-penny : and fa
it dropt. In the Volume you faw (to anfwdr your
queftions) the i, 3, 5, 7, were mme. Of the 8th I
writ only the Verfes, (very uncorre£i, but againft a
fellovr we all hated), the 9th mine, the loth only
the Verfes, and of thofe not the four laft llovenly
lines ) the 1 5th is a Pamphlet of mine printed before
*rith Dr. Sh — 's • Prefece, merely for lazinefs, not to
difappoint the town; and fo was the 19th, which
contains only a parcel of hSts relating purely to the
miferies of Ireland, and wholly ufelefs and unenter-
taining. As to other things of mine fince I left you ;
there are in profe a View of the State of Irdand ; a
Projeft for eating Children ; and a Defence of Lord
Carteret : in Verfe, a Libel on Dr. D — t and Lord
Carteret ; a Letter to Dr. D — on the Libels writ
againft him ; the Barrack (a (tolen Copy) ; the Lady's
Journal J ; the Lady's Dreffing-room (a ftolen Copy);
the Plea of the Damn'd (a ftolen Copy) ; all theCf
have
* Sheridan.
f Dclany.—A very ludicrous Anfwer to this unmanly fcurrilily
was written by Lady M. W. Montagu, It is not pubii{hcd» aod^
indeed has been properly fupprefied by the worthy Editor of her
Works.
i Pope fpeaks of this work in a Letter to Dr. Sheridan : '* I
am much pleafed with mod of the Inteltsgenurs ; but I am a little
piqued at the Author of them» for not once doing me the honour
of a mention upon fo honourable an occaiion as being flandcred
by the Dunces, together with my friend the Deau.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc- .247
fca?e been printed in London. (1 forgpt to tell you
that the Tale of Sir Ralph was fcnt from England,)
Bcfidcs thefe, there are five or fix (perhaps more)
Papers of Verfes writ in the North, but perfeft
Family-things *, two or three of which may be toler-
able ; the reft but indifferent, and the humour only
local, and fome that would give offence to the times.
Such as they are, I will bring them, tolerable or bad,
if I recover this lamenefs, and live long enough to fee
you ttther here or there. I forget again to tell you,
that the Scheme of paying Debts by a Tax on Vices,
18 not one fyllable mme, but of a young Clergyman
whom I countenance; he told me it was built
upon a paffage in Gulliver, where a ProjeSor hath
fomcthing upon the fame Thought. This young
Man t is the moft hopeful we have : a book of his
Poems was printed in I-ondon ; Dr. D — is one of
his Patrons: he is married and has children, and
makes up about 100/. a-year, on which he lives de-
cently. The utmoft ftretch of his ambition is, to
gather up as much fuperfluous money as .wiU give
him a fight of you, and half an hour of your pre-
fence 1
• A very excellent najnc for fuch fort of famil&r verfes, which
never rife above daily topics, and the chat of the times. The
greatcft part of Swift's poetry is of this kind. Wartoh.
t His name was Pilkington, and he wa» hwfband of the Lady
who wrote Memoirs of her own bfe. WARTQ^• .
114
548 LETTERS TO AND
fence ; after which he will return home in full fatif-
fadion, and in proper time die in peace.
My poetical fountain is drained, and, I profefs, I
grow gradually fo dry, that a Rhime with me is
almoft as hard to find as a Guinea ; and even profe
fpeculations tire me almoft as much. Yet I have a
thing in profe, begun above twenty-eight years ago,
imd almofl finifhed. It will make a four fhilling
Volume, and is fuch a perfe£tion of folly, that you
ftall never hear of it till It is printed, and then you
fliall be left to guefs\ Nay I have another of the
iame age, which will require a long time to perfeft,
and is worfe than the former, in which I will ferve
you the fame way. I heard lately from Mr. — , who
promifes to be lefs lazy in order to mend his fortune.
But women who live by their beauty, and men by
their wit, are feldom provident enough to confider
that both Wit and Beauty will go off with years, and
there is no living upon the credit of what is paft.
•I am in great concern to hear of my Lady Boling-
broke's ill health returned upon her, and, I doubt,
my Lord will find Dawley too folitary without her.
In that, neither he nor you are companions young
enough for me, and, I believe, the beft part of the
reafon why men are laid to grow children when they
are old, is becaufe they cannot entertain themfelves
with thinking ; which is the very cafe of little boys
and
^ Polite CottfeHatioo. WAUBvuToir.
PROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 249
and girls, who love to be noify among their play,
fellows. I am told Mrs. Pope is without pain, and I
have not heard of a more gentle decay, without un-
eaiinefs to herfelf or friends ; yet I cannot but pity
you, who are ten times the greater fufferer, by har-
mg the perfon you mod love, fo long before you,
and dying daily ; and I pray God it may not affed
your mind or your health.
} Hi..
LETTER LXm.
'MR. POPE TO DR, SWIFT.
December 5, 173 a.
T T is not a time to complain that you have not an-
fwered me two letters (in the laft of which I was
impatient under fome fears) : it is not now indeed a
time to think of myfelf, when one of the neareft and
longeft tyes I have ever had, is broken all dn a fud-
den, by the unexpeded di^ath of poor Mr. Gay. An
inflammatory fever hurried him out of this life in
three days. He died lafl: night at nine o'clock, not
deprived of his fenfes entirely at lafl, and poflefling
theta
' '^ On my dear friend Mr. Gay's death : received December
** I5thy but not read till the 20th| by an impulfe, foreboding
** fome Misfdrttfne." [This note is indorfed on the original Let*
ter in Dr. Swift's hand.] Pope.
8
250 LETTERS TO AND
them perfeftly rill within five hours. He afked of
you a few hours before, when in acute torment by
the inflammation in his bowels and breaft. His
effefts are in the Duke of Queenfbury's cuftody. His
fifters, we fuppofe, will be his heirs, who are two
widows; as yet it is not known whether or no he left
a will. Good God ! how often are we to die before
we go quite oflf this ftage ? In every friend we lofc a
part of ourfelves, and the bed part. God keep thofe
we have left ! few are worth praying for, and one's
felf the leaft of all.
I Ihall never fee you now, I believe; one of your
principal calls to England is at an end. Indeed he
was the moft amiable by far, his qualides were the
gentled ; but I love you as well and as firmly. Would
to God the man we have lod had not been fo amiable^
nor fo good I but that's a wifli for our own fakes, not
for his. Sure if Innocence and Integrity can d^fervc
Happinefs, it mud be his. Adieu, I can add nothing
to what you will feel, and diminifli nothing from it.
Yet write to me, and foon. Believe no man now
living loves you better, I believe no man ever did,
than
A. POPE.
Dr. Arbuthnot, whofe humanity you know^ hear-
tily commends himfelf to you. All pof&ble diligence
and a£fe£tion has been fhewn, and continued attend-
ance on this melancholy occafion. Once more adieu,
and write to one who is truly difconfolate.
Dear
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 251
Dear Sir,
I am forry that the renewal of our correfpondence
fhould be upon fucb a melancholy occalion. Poor
Mr. Gay died of an inflammation, and, I believe, at
iail a mortification of the bowels ; it was the molt
precipitate cafe I ever knew, having cut him oflT in
three days. He was attended by two Phyficians be-
fides myfelf. I believed the diftemper mortal from
the beginning. I have not had the pleafure of a line
from you thefe two years ; I wrote one about your
health, to which I had no anfwer. I wifh you all
health and happinefs, being with great zScQdon and
rerpeft,Sir,
Yourj etc.
ARBUTHNOT-
LETTER LXIV.
Dublin, 1 732-3*
T RECEIVED yours with a few lines from the Doctor,
and the account of our lofing Mr. Cay, upon
which event I (hall fay nothing. I am only concerned
that long living hath not hardened me : for even in
this Kingdom, and in a few days pad, two perfons of
great merit, whom I loved very well, have died in
the prime of their years, but a little above thirty. 1
would
25* LEttERS TO AND
"would endeavour to comfort myfelf npoti the lofs of
friends, as I do upon the lofs of money ; by turning
to my account-book, and feeing whether I have
enough left for my fupport ; but in the former cafe I
find 1 have not, any more than in the other ; and I
know not any man who fe in a greater likelihood than
myfelf to die poor and friendlefs* You are a much
greater lofer than me by his death, as being a more
intimate fiiend, and oft^n his companion; n^hich
latter I could never hope to be, except perhaps once
more in my life for a piece of a fummer. I hope be
hath left you the care of any writings he may have
left, and I wiih, that with thofe already extant, they
could be all pubUfiied in a fair edition under your
JA^eQion. Your Poem on the TJfe of Riches hath
been juft printed here, and ve have no objedion but
the obfcurity of feveral parages by our ignorance in
iaOis and perfons, which makes us lofe abundance of
the Satire. Had the printer given me notice, I would
have honeftly printed the names at length, where I
happened to know them ; and writ explanatory notes,
which however would have been but few, for my
•long abfence hath made me ignorant of what pafies
^ut bf the fcene where I am. I never had the leaft
bint from you about this woric, any more than of
your former, upon Tafte. We are told here, that
you are preparing other pieces, of the fame bulk, to be
infcribed to other friends, one (for inftance) to my
l.ord Bolingbroke, another to Lord Oxford^ and fe
on.
FKOM DR. SWIFT, Wc. ^$2
QiL«-— -Dodor Dcbny prefents you his moft humble
fenrice : he bebsites hiinfelf very commendably, con«
veiies only with his former friends, makes no parade*,
but entertains them conftantly at ap elegant plentiful
table, walks the ftreet& as ufual by day-Hght, ' does
many a&s of charity and gen^ofity, cultivates a
country-houfe two miles diftant, and is one of thofe
Very few within my knowledge on whom a great
accefs of fortune hath made no manner of change*
And particubrly he is often without money, as he
was before* We have got my Lord Orrery among us,
bdng forced to continue here on the ill condition of
his eftate by the knavery of an Agent ; he is a moft
worthy Gentleman, whom, I hope, yoa will be ac-
qusunted with. I am very much obliged by your
fisivour to Mr. P— — , which, I defire, may continue
no longer than Jbe (hall deferve by his Modefty, a
virtue I never knew him to want, but is hard for
young men to keep, without abundance of ballaft. If
you are acquainted with the Duchefs of Queenfbury,
I defire you will prefent her my moft humble fervice :
I think ihe is a greater lofer by the death of a friend
than either of us. She feems a Lady of excellent
fenfe and fpirit. I bad often Poftfcripts from her iu
our friend's letters to me, and her part was fome-
times longer than his, and they made up great part
of the little happinefs I could have here. This was
the
* The DoAor, it has been before toentiooed, was married to a
Ltdj of coDfiderable fortune.
254 LETTERS TO ANb
the more generous, becaofe I never iaw her fincc flie
was a girl of five years old, nor did I envy poor Mr.
Gay for any thing fo much as being a domeftic friend
to fuch a Lady. I defire you will never fail to fend
me a particular account of your health. I dare
hardly enquire about Mrs. Pope, who, I am told, is
but juft among the living, and confequently a con-
tinual grief to you : Ihe is fenfible of your tendemefs,
which robs her of the only happinefs fhe is capable
of enjoying. And yet I pity you more than her ; you
cannot lengthen her days, and I beg fhe may not
ihorten yours*
LETTER LXV.
Feb. 16, 1732-3.
T T is indeed impoffible to fpeak on fuch a fubjeS as
the lofs of Mr. Gay, to me an irreparable one.
But I fend you what I intend for the infcription on
his tomb, which the Duke of Queenfbury will fet up
at Weftminfter. As to his writings, he left no Will,
nor fpoke a word of them, or any thing elfe, during
his fhort and precipitate illnefs, in which I attended
him to his lall breath. The Duke has a&ed more
than the part of a brother to him, and it will be
ftrange if the fifters do not leave his papers totally to
his
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 25$
his difpofai, who will do the fame that I would with
them. He has managed the Comedy ♦ (which our
poor friend gave to the play*houfe the week before
bis death) to the utmod advantage for his relations ;
and propofes to do the fame with fome Fables he left
finiihed.
There is nothing of late which I think of more than
Mortality, and what you mention, of collefting the
beft monuments we can of our friends, their own
images in their writings ; (for thofe are the bed,
when their minds are fuch as Mr. Gay's was, and as
yours is)« I am preparing alfo for my own, and have
nothing fo much at heart, as to ihew the filly world
that men of Wit, or even Poets, may be the moft
moral of mankind. A few loofe things f fometimes
fall
* It was intitledy Thf Wife of Bath ; in truth it is but an in*
different Comedy. This fecond volume of the Fables is much
inferior to the firft : particularly on account of the long and
languid introduAions to each fable ; which read like party-
pamphlets. W a a to k •
f If Pope claimed this indulgence for his " few loofe things,"
why might not oiber IVUs do fo, and vaunt at the fame time, as
much as btmfelf« of being the moft moral of mankind ? By what«
ever trifles a man of genius or wit may amufe himfelf in a " loofe
momenty" if he publifhes them, he does it dertberaiely j andy
bcaotiful as they are, the Epiftle of Sappho, and Eloifa^ which
fpeak to ^tfajfioru in the mod powerful way, and will be quoted
by romantic fenfualifts as long as the Englifh language lafts, are
not fuch as a fevere Moralift would pride himfelf upon, as if he was
the ^nljf Wit who was moral: to fay nothing of the ofF<fn(ive Imita-
tion from Horace, and his many giofs images and reflcd^ions,
which perhaps 0|Ught rather to be attributed to the want of deli-
eac^ in the cxifting manners.
2s6 LETTERS TO AND
fall from them, by which cenforious fools judge as III
of them as poflibly they can, for their own comfort :
and ijideed, when fuch unguarded and trifling Jewe
4rEfprit have once got abroad, all that prudence or
repentance can do, fince they cannot be deny'd, b
to put 'em fairly upon that foot; and teach the
public (as we have done in the preface to the four
volumes of Mifcellanies) to diftinguifii betwist our
fludies and our idlenefles, our works and our weak-
nefles. That was the whole end of the laft Volume
of Mifcellanies, without which our former declaradon
in that prefiice, ^' That thefe volumes contained all
^* that we have ever offended in that way,'' would
have been difcredited. It wait indeed to my heart,
to omit what you called the Libel on Dr. D , and
the beft Panegyric on myfelf, that either my own
times or any other could have afforded, or will ever
afford to me. The book, as you obferve, was
printed in great hade ; the caufe whereof was, that
the bookfellers here were doing the fame, in collefldog
your pieces, the com with the chaff; I don't mean
that any thing of yours is chaff, but with other wit
of Ireland which was fo, and the whole in your
name. I meant principally to oblige them to feparate
what you writ ferioufly from what you writ carele&Iy;
and thought my own weeds might pafs for a fort of
wild flowers, when bundled up with them.
It was I that fent you thofe books into Ireland, and
fo I did my Epiftle to Lord Bathurit even before it
was
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 257
was publiflied, and another thing of mine, which is a
Parody" from Horace, writ in two mornings. I
never took more care in my life of any thing than of
the former of thefe, nor lefs than of the latter : yet
every friend has forced me to print it, though in truth
my own fingle motive was about twenty lines toward
the latter end, which you will find out.
I have declined opening to you by letters the
whole fcheme of my prefent Work, expefting ftill to
do it in a better manner in perfon : but you will fee
pretty foon, that the letter to Lord Bathurfl* is a
part of it, and you will find a plain connexion between
them, if you read them in the order juft contrary to
that they were publiflied in. I imitate thofe cunning
tradefmen, who (hew their bed filks lafl ; or (to give
you a truer idea, though it founds too proudly) my
works will in one refpedt be like the works of Na-
ture, much more to be liked and underllood when
confidered in the relation they bear with each other,
than when ignorantly looked upon one by one ; and
often, thofe parts which attract mod at firfl fight,
will appear to be not the moft, but the leafl: con-
fiderable.
I am pleafed and flattered by your expreflion of
Orna me^ The chief pleafure this work can give me
is,
" Sat. i. Lib. ii. Warburtom.
* He himfelf^ we fee^ calls this piece a Letter^ not a Dialogue^
as it was afterwards cntided. Wa&tok.
VOL. IX. s
258 LETTERS to AND
is, that I can in it, with propriety, decency, and
juftice, infert the name and charafter of every friend
I have, and every man that deferves to be loved or
adorned. But I fmile at your applying that phrafe to
my vifiting you in Ireland ; a place where I might
have fome apprehenfion (from their extraordinary
paflion for Poetry, and their boundlefs Hofpitality)
of being adorned to death, and buried under the
weight of garlands, like one I have read of fomewhere
or other. My Mother lives (which is an anfwer to
that point), and, I thank God, though her memory
be in a manner gone, is yet awake and fenfible to me,
though fcarce to any thing elfe ; which doubles the
reafon of my attendance, and at the fame time fweetens
it. I wilh (beyond any other wifli) you could pafs
a fummer here ; I might (too probably) return with
you, unlefs you preferred to fee France firft, to which
country, I think, you would have a ftrong invitation *.
Lord Peterborow has narrowly efcaped death, and
yet keeps his chamber : he is perpetually fpeaking
in the moft affedionate manner of you: he has
written you two letters, which you never received, and
by that has been difcouraged from writing more. I
can well believe the poft-ofHce may do this, when
fome letters of his to me have met the fame fate,
and two of mine to him. Yet let not this difcourage
you from writing to me, or to him inclofed in the
common way, as I do to you : innocent men need
fear
* Frofn Bolingbrokc,
FROM DR. SWIFr^ «c. 459
fear no detedion of their thoughts ; and for my part,
I would give 'em free leave to fend all I write to Curl>
if moft of what I write^was not too filly.
I defire my fincere fervices to Dr. Delany, who, I
agree with you, is a man every way efteemable : my
Lord Orrery is a molt virtuous and gopd-naturod
Nobleman, whom I (hould be happy to know. Lord
B. received your letter through my bands ; it is not
to be told you how much he wiihes for you : th#
whole lift of perfons to whom you fent your fervices,
return you theirs, with proper fenfe of the diftin^on^
^Your Lady friend is Semper EadeiUy and I hav«
written an Epiftle to her on that qualification ill a fe*
male charader * j which is thought by my chief Critia^
in your abfence, to be my Cbrfd^Oewtxre: but it can«
not be printed perfe&ly, in an age fb fore of Satire^
and fo willing to miiapply choraders.
As to my own health, ic is as good as ufual. I have
Iain ill feven days of a flight fever (the com|daint here)^
but recovered by gentle fweats, and the care of Dr«
Arbuthnot. The play Mr. Gay left, fticceeds very
weU ; it is another original in its kind. Adieu. God
pre&rve your life, your health, your limbs, your fpiritss,
and your friendihips !
• The Epiftle on the « Charafiers of Women/* addrcffcd to
Mairtba Blounu In th« firft cdkion* he alTerted, <* vfm Sm
kommtp" that no charaftcr was- taken. fr<M» li£i»
8 t
a6o LETTERS TO AND
LETTER LXVI.
April 2, 173 J.
^ou fay truly, that death is only terrible to us as
it feparates us from thofe we love, but I really
think thofe have the worft of it who are left by us,
if we are true friends. I have felt more (I fancy) in
the lofs of Mr. Gay, than I ihall fuffer in the thoughts
of going away myfelf into a (late that can feel none
of this fort of lofTes. I wilhed vehemently to have
feen him in a condition of living independent, and
to have lived in perfect indolence the reft of oar days
together, the two moft idle, moft innocent, undefigning
Poets of our age. I now as vehemently wifh you and
I might walk into the grave together, by as flow fteps
as you pleafe, but contentedly and chearfully : whe-
ther that ever can be, or in what country, I know
no more, than into what country we (hall walk out
of the grave. But it fuffices me to know it will be
exa^Iy.whac region or ft ate our Maker appoints, and
that whatever //, is Right. Our poor friend^s papers
are partly in my hands, and for as much as is fo, I
will take care to fupprefs things unworthy of him.
As to the Epitaph, Tm forry you gave a copy, for it
will certainly by that means come into print, and I
would correal it more, unlefs you will do it for me
7 (and
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 261
(and that I fhall like as well): upon the whole, I
eameftly wifli your coming over hither, for this
reafon among many others, that your influence may be
joined with mine to fupprefs whatever we may judge
proper of his papers. To be plunged in my Neigh-
bour's and my papers, will be your inevitable fate as
foon as you come. That I am an author whofe cha*
ra&ers are thought of fome weight, appears from the
great noife and buftle that the Court and Town make
about any I give : and I will not render them lefs
important, or lefs interefting, by fparing Vice and
Folly, or l)y betraying the caufe of Truth and Virtue:
I will take care they (hall be fuch, as no man can be
angry at but the perfons I would have angry. Your
are fenfible with what decency and juftice I paid:
homage to the Royal Family, at the fame time that
1 fatirized falfc Courtiers, and Spies, etc. about *em.
1 have not the courage however to be fuch a Satirift
as you, but I would be as much, or more, a Philo-
fopher. You call your fatires. Libels ; I would rather
call my fatires, Epiftles : they will confift more of
Morality than of Wit, and grow graver, which you
will call duller, I fhall leave it to my antagonifts to
be witty (if they can) and content myfelf to be ufe-
ful, and in the right. Tell me your opinion as to
Lady — 's or Lord #'8 performance t : they are
certainly
f Lady Montague and Lord Hahrey^s Epiftk to tbe Imitator
of Horace.
as ' " - '
902 LETtEXS TO ANt)
certainly the Top-wits of the Court, and you raty judge
by that fingle piece what can be done a^aft me ;
fer it was laboured, correded, pre-commended and
poft^difapproved, fo far SB to be difiswned by them-
selves, after each had highly cried it up for the
other's. I have met with ibme complaints *, and
heard at a diftance of fome threats, occaiioned fay tny
verfes : I fent &ir meflfages to acquaint them where I
was to be fotmd in town, and to offer to call at their
boufes to iatisfy them, and fo H dropped* It is very
poor in any one to rail and threaten at a diftance, and
have nothing to fay to you when they fee you«-^I am
glad you periift and abide by fo good a thing as that
Poem% in which I am immortal for my Morality : I
Bever took any praife fo kindly, and yet, I think, I
deferve that praife better than I do any other. When
does your Colle£tion come out, and what will it con*
fiftof? I have but laft week finiihed another of my
^piflles, in the order of the fyftem ^ and this week
(exercitandi gratia) I have tranflated (or rather pa-
Tody'd) another of Horace's, in which I introduce
you advifing me about my expenses, houfekeeping,
etc. But thefe things {hall lie by, till you come to
carp at 'em, and alter rhimes, and grammar, and
triplets, and cacophonies of all kinds. Our Parlia*
ment will fit till Midfummer, which, I hope, may be
a motive
* JUdMltJBictfcBn was a gnat outcry among all the Courtiers,
•gainft the kecnoefs of his Satires. WAaroK.
! The ironical libdon Dr. Pduy^ WAaauaToa.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 263
a rnqtave to bring you rather in fumnier than fo late
as autumn : you ufed to love what I hate, a hurry of
politics, etc Courts J fee not. Courtiers I know
not. Kings I adore not, Queens I compliment not;
To I am never like to be in fafhion, nor in dependance.
I heartily join with you in pitying our poor Lady * for
her unhappinefs, and (hould only pity her more, if
(he had more of what they at Court call happinefs*
Come then, and perhaps we may go all together into
France t at the end of the feafon, and compare the
liberties of both kingdoms. Adieu. Believe me»
dear Sir, (with a thoufand warm wiflies, mixed with
Aort figbs,) ever yours.
««MiM.^MiHHMi^«iMMHBMMaBMMH.«MMMi.«MMMMH«MMi^HBHHMiMiMMafeMi
LETTER LXVn.
TO MR. POPE.
Dublin, May i, 1733,
T ANSWER your Letter the fooncr, becaufe I have
a particular reafon for doing fo. Some wedcs ago
came over a poem called, The Life and Charader (f
Dr. S. written by bimfelf. It was reprinted here, and
is dedicated to you. It is grounded upon a Maxim
ill
* Mre. Howard.
f They tod proje&ed a fcheme to go to Fnnce, 00 a vifit to
BoKogbrokc-
S4
264 LETTERS TO AND
in Rochefoucault, and the dedication, after a formal
ftory, fays, that my manner of writing is to be found
in every line. I believe I have told you, that I writ
a year or two ago near five hundred lines upon the
fame Maxim in Rochefoucault, and was a long time
about it, as that Impoftor fays in his Dedication, with
many circumftances, all pure invention. I defire
you to believe, and to tell my friends, that in this
fpurious piece there is not a fmgle line, or bit of a
line, or thought, any way refembling the genuine
Copy, any more than it does Virgil's JBneis ; for I
never gave a Copy of mine, nor lent it out of my
iight. And although I (hewed it to all common ac-
quaintance indifferently, and fome of them (efpecially
one or two females) had got many lines by heart,
here and there, and repeated them often ; yet it
happens that not one fingle line, or thought, is con-
tained in this Impofture, although it appears that
they who counterfeited me, had heard of the true
one. But even this trick ihall not provoke roe to
print the true one, which indeed is not proper to be
feen, till I can be feen no more : I therefore defire
you will undeceive my friends, and I -will order an
Advertifement to be printed here, and tranfmit it to
England, that every body may know the delufion, and
acquit me, as I am fure you mud have done your-
felf, if you have read any part of it, which is mean,
and trivbl, and full of that Cant that I moft defpife :
I would fmk to be a Vicar in Norfolk rather than be
charged
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc- t6s
charged vfith fuch a performance. Now I come to
your letter.
When I was of your age, I thought every day of
death, but now every minute ; and a continual giddy
diforder more or lefs is a greater addition than that of
my years. I cannot affirm that I pity our friend Gay,
but I pity his friends, I pity you, and would at lead
equally pity myfelf, if I lived amongft you ; becaufe
I fhould have, feen him oftener than you did, who are
a kind of Hermit, how great a noife foever you make
by your Ill-nature in not letting the honefl Villains of
the times enjoy themfelves in this world, which is
their only happinefs; and terrifying them with an-
other. I ihould have added in my libel, that of all
men living you are the moft happy in your Enemies
and your Friends : and I will fwear you have fifty
times more Charity for mankind than I could ever
pretend to. Whether the produdion you mendon
came from the Lady or the Lord, I did not imagine
that they were at lead fo bad verfifiers. Therefore,
facit indignatio verfus^ is only to be applied when the
* indignation is againft general Villany, and never
operates when fome fort of people write to defend
themfelves, 1 love to hear them reproach you for
dulnefs ; only I would be fatisfied, fince you are fo
dull*, why are they fo angry? Give me a (hilling, and
Iwill
♦ It is fingular, be (hould not here confidcr for a nioment how
veil this obfervation applied to Pope : Mutato nommt^ de te fahula
narratur. — If Cibbcr, Dennis, &c. were fo duUy why was Pope fo
266 LETTERS TO AND
I will enfure you, that pofterity fliall never know you
had one finglc enemy, excepting thofe whofe memory
you have prcferved,
I am forry for the iituation of Mr. Gay*8 papers.
You do not exert yourfelf as much as I could wifli in
this 2Szir. I had rather the two fifters ^'ere banged
than fee his works fwelled by any lofs of credit to
his memory. I would be glad to fee the moft
valuable printed by themfelves, thofe which ought
not to be feen burned immediately, and the otben
that have gone abroad printed feparately like opuf-
cula, or rather be ftifled and forgotten. I thought
your Epitaph was immediately to be engraved, and
therefore I made lefs fcruple to give a copy to Lord
Orrery, who eameftly defired it, but to nobody elfe ;
and, he tells me, he gave only two, which he will
recal. I have a ihort Epigram of his upon it, wherein
I would correct a line or two at moft, and then I will
fend it you (with his permiilion). I have nothing
againft yours, but the laft line, Striking their aching ,*
the two participles, as they are fo near, feem to found
too like. I (hall write to the Duchefs, who hath lately
honoured me with a very friendly letter, and I will
tell her my opinion freely about our friend's papers.
I want health, and my affairs are enlarged ; but I
will break through the latter, if the other mends.
I can ufe a courfe of medicines, lame and giddy. My
chief deiign, next to feeing you, is to be a fevere
Critic
FROM DR- SWIFT, etc. i6j
Ciidc on ycHi aad yoor neighbour*; but firft kill his
father, that he may be able to maintain me in my
own way of living, and particularly my horfes. It
coft me near 600/. for a wall tx^ keep mine, and I
never ride without two fer^knts for foar of accidents ;
bic vivimus ambkirfa fcatpertate. Ton are both too
poor for my acquaintance, but he much the poorer*
With you I will fhid grafs, and wine, and fervants,
but with him not. — ^The Colleton you fpeak of is
this. A Printer! came to me to dcfire he might
print my works (as he called them) in four volumes,
by fubfcription. I laid I would give no leave, and
ihould be forry to fee them printed here. He faid
they could not be printed in London. I anfwered
they could, if the Partners agreed. He faid, he
^^ would be glad of my permiflion, but as he could
'^ print them without it, and was advifed that it
" could do me no harm, and having been affured of
'^ numerous fubfcriptions, he hoped I would not be
" angry at his purfuing his own intereft,'* etc. Much
of this difcourfe pad, and he goes on with the mat*
ter, wherein I determine not to intermeddle, though
it be much to my difcontent ; and I wi(h it could be
done in England, rather than here, although I am
grown
* The neighbour is Lord Bolingbrokei and he evidently hints at
the dodrines of the Effay on Man. — Bolingbrokt's father. Lord
St. John, was (lill living.
\ George Faulkner^ of Dublin, who printed thefc four volumes
of his works.
68 LETTERS TO AND
grown pretty indifferent in every thing of that kind.
This is the truth of the ftory.
My Vanity turns at prefent on being perfonated in
your ^a Virtus^ etc. You will obferve in this letter
many marks of an ill head and a low fpirit ; but a
heart wholly turned to love you with the greatell
Eameftnefs and Truth*
LETTER LXVIU,
May aS, 173^.
T HAVE begun two or three letters to you by
fnatches, and been prevented from finifliing them
by a thoufand avocations and diflipations. I muft
firft acknowledge the honour done me by Lord
Orrery*, whofe praifes are that precious ointment
Solomon
* Curl fay8» in the account of his examination before the Houfe
of Peers, that he ** had more Lords than Pope."
Perhaps Lord Orrery and Bathurfl were the moft refpe£bble
noblemen with whom Pope could boaft much communication;
but» with all his aire£ied contempt of greatnefs, he was fufficicntly
ready to offer incenfe wherever he thought it might be acceptable,
and fomctimes his flattery was fuch as a truly wife and virtuous man
(To virtue only, and her friends a friend,)
would difdain* — Swift and himfelf were equally fervile in their
adulation^ in general, to thofe noblemen by whom they were coun-
tenanced, as they were petulant to thofe whom they affcded to
defpife.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc, 269
Solomon fpeaks of, which can be given only by men
of Virtue : all other praife, whether from Poets or
Peers, is contemptible alike: and I am old enough
and experienced enough to know, that the only
praifes worth having, are thofe beftowed by VvctMtfor
Virtue. My Poetry I abandon to the critics, my
Morals I commit to the teftimony of thofe who know
me; and therefore I was more pleafed with your
Libel, than with any verfes I ever received. I wifli
fuch a collection of your writings could be printed
here, as you mention going on in Ireland. I was
furprifed to receive from the Printer that fpurious
piece, called. The Life and Charafter of Dr. Swift,
with a letter telling me the perfon " who publiflied it,
** had alTured him the Dedication to me was what I
^ would not take ill, or elfe he would not have
" printed it." I can't tell who the man is, who took
fo fer upon him as to anfwer for my way of thinking:
though, had the thing been genuine, I ihould have
been greatly difpleafed at the publiflier's part in doing
it without your knowledge.
I am as earneft as you can be, in doing my bed to
prevent the publifliing of any thing unworthy of Mr.
Gay; but I fear his friends* partiality. I wiQi you
would come over. All the myfteries of my philofo-
phical work fliall then be cleared to you*, and you will
not
* It is clear from this paflage, that Swift doubted the tendeocy
of the EiFay on Man, which was founded on fiolingbroke's
Pbilofophical Creed.
.♦
^
a/o LETTERS TO AND
not think thai I am not merxy enough, nor angry
enough : it iviU not want for Satire, but as for Anger
I know it not ; or at leaft only that (on of which the
Apoftle fpeaks, *^ Be ye angry, and (in not."
My neighbour's writings * have been metaphyfical,
and will next be hiftoricaL It is certainly from him
only that a valuable Hiflory of Europe in thefe latter
times can be expelled. Come, and quicken him;
Cor age, indolence, and contempt of the world, grow
vpos men apace, and may often make the wifefl in*
di&rcnt whether poflerity be any wifer than we. To
a man in years. Health and Quiet become fuch rari*
ties, and confequently So valuable, that he is apt to
think of nothing more than of enjoying them when-
ever he can, for the remainder of life ; and this, I
doubt not| has caufed fo many great men to die witb*
out leaving a fcrap to pofterity.
I am fincerely troubled for the bad account you
^ve me of your own health. I wiih every day to hear
a better, as nmch as I do to enjoy my own, I faith«
fully aflure you.
* Bolhigbroke's plulofophical works.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 27X
LETTER LXII.
FROM DR. SWIFT.
Dublin, July 8, 1733*
Y MUST condole with you for the lofs of Mrs. Pope,
of whofe death the papers have been full. But I
would rather rejoice with you, becaufe, if any circum-
ftances can make the death of a dear Parent and Friend
a fubjefl for joy, you have them all. She died in an
extreme, old age, without pain, under the care of the
moft dutiful Son that I have ever known or heard of,
which is a felicity not happening to one in a million.
The word eflfea of her death falls upon me, and fo
much the worfe, becaufe I expefted aliquis damno ufus
in illo^ that it would be followed by making me and
this kingdom happy with your prefence. But I am
told, to my great misfortune, that a very convenient
ofiFer happening, you waved the invitation preffed on
you, alleging the fear you had of being killed here
with eating and drinking. By which I find that you
hav^e given fome credit to a notion, of our great
plenty and bofpitality. It k true, our meat and wine
is cheaper here, as it is always in the poorefl coun*
tries, becaufe there is no money to pay for them : I
belieire there are not in this whole city three Gentle-
men oat of Employment, who are able to give eup
tertainments once a month. Th$2fe who are in em-
A ployments
S72 LETTERS TO AND
ployments of church or ftate, are three parts in foxit
from England, and amount to little more than a
dozen : thofe indeed may once or twice invite their
friends^ or any perfon of diftindion that makes a
voyage hither. All niy acquaintance tell me, tlicy
know not above three families where they can occa-
fionally dine in a whole year j Dr. Delany is the only
gentleman I know, who keeps one certain day in. the
week to entertain feven or eight friends at dinner, stnd
to pafs the evening, where there is nothing of e^ccefs,
either in eating or drinking. Our old friend Southern*
(who hath juft left us) was invited to dinner once
or twice by a judge, a bifliop, or a commiiSoner of
the revenues, but mod frequented a few particular
friends, and chiefly the Doctor f, who is eafy in his
fortune, and very hofpitable. The conveniencies
of taking the air, winter or fummer, do far e^cceed
thofe in London. For the two large ftrands jtift at
the two ends of the town are as firm and dry ^
winter as in fummer. There are at leaft fix or eight
gentlemen of fenfe/ learning, good humour 9 ^"^
tafle, able and defirous to pleafe you ; and orderly
females, fome of the better f©rt, to take care of y^^
Thefe were the motives that I have frequently ixiade
ufe of to entice you hither. And there would he
no failure among the beft people here, of any ho-
nours that could be done you. As to myfelf, I "^'
clare,' my health is fo uncertain that I dare ^^
♦ The Poet. f Delany.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. i^i
venture amongft you at prefent. I hate the thoughts
of London, where I am not rich enough to live
otherwife than by (liifting, which is now too late.
Neither can I have conveniencies in the country
for three horfes and two fervants, and many others,
which 1 have here at hand. I am one of the go-
vernors of all the hackney-coaches, carts, and car-
riages round this town, who dare not infult me,
like your rafcally .waggoners or coachmen, but give
me the wayj nor is there one Lord or Squire for
a hundred of yours, to turn me out of the road, or
run over me with their coaches and fix. Thur,
I make fome advantage of the public poverty, and
, give you the reafons for what I once writ, why I'
chufe to be a freeman among flaves, rather than a
flave among freemen. Then, I walk the ftreets in
peace, without being joftled, nor even without a
thoufand bleffings from my friends the vulgar. I
am Lord Mayor of 120 houfes, I am abfolute Lord
of the greateft cathedral in the kingdom, am at
peace with the neighbouring Princes, the Lord
Mayor of the city, and the Archbifliop of Dublin,
only the latter^ like the K. of France, fometimes
attempts encroachments on my dominions, as old
Lewis did upon Lorrain. In the midfl: of this
raillery, I can tell you with ferioufnefs, that thefe
advantages contribute to my eafe, and therefore I
value them. And in one part of your letter relating
VOL. IX. T to
274
LETTERS TO ANl)
to my Lord B * and yourfelf, you agree with me
entirely, about the indifference, the love of quiet,
the care of health, etc. that grow upon men in ye^rs.
And if you difcover ihofe inclinations in my Lord and
yourfelf, what can you expedl from me, whofe health
is fo precarious ? and yet at your or his time of life,
I could have leaped over the moon f .
LETTER LXX.
Sept. I, 1733,
7 HAVE every day wiflied to write to you, to fay
a thoufand things ; and yet, I think, I (hould not
have writ to you now, if I was not fick of writing any
thing, fick of myfelf, and (what is worfc) fick of my
friends too. - The world is become too bufy for me ;
every body is fo concerned for the public, that all
private enjoyments are loft, or difrelifhed. 1 write
more to fhow you I am tired of this life, than to tell
you any thing relating to it. I live as Idid, 1 think
as
* Bolingbroke.
f S*ift had been remarkably aAive. The laft place of his
refidence in England was Letcomb in Berkfliire, where there i»a
hill, which the village-tradition fays he was in the habit of running
up every morning before brcakfaft. In his declining years, it is
known that, for exercifc, which he could not take abroad, he pttr-
fued the plan, ftrangc as it may appear, of running violently up
and down the ilairs. 7
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 27$
as I did, I love you as I did ; but all thefe are to no
purpofe ; the world will not live, think, or love, as I
do. I am troubled for, and vexed at, all my friends
by turns. Here are fome whom you love, and who
love you ; yet they receive no proofs of that afFedion
from you, and they give none of it to you, There is
a great gulph between. In earneft, I would go a
thoufand miles by land to fee you, but the fea I dread.
My ailments are fuch that I really believe a fea-fick-
nefs (confidering the oppreffion of colical pains, and
the great weaknefs of my breaft) would kill me : and
if I did not die of that, I muft of the exceflive eating
and drinking of your hofpitable town, and the ex-
ceflive flattery of your moft poetical country. I hate
to be crammed either way. Let your hungry poets,
and your rhyming poets, digeft it, I cannot. Mike
much better to be abufed and half-flarved, than to be
fo over-praifed and over-fed. Drown Ireland ! for
having caught you, and for having kept you : I only
referve a little charity for her, for knowing your
value, and efteeming you : you are the only Patriot
I know, who is not hated for ferving his country.
The man who drew your Character and printed it
here, was riot much in the wrong in many things he
faid of you : yet he was a very impertinent fellow,
for faying them in words quite different from thofe
you had yourfelf employed before on the fame fub-
jeft: for furely to alter your words is to prejudice
(hem ; and I have been told, that a man himfelf can
T 2 hardly
276 LETTERS TO AND
hardly fay the fame thing twice over with equal hap-
pinefs I Nature is fo much a better thing than
artifice.
I have written nothuig this year : it is not affe£lation
to tell you, my Mother's lofs has turned my frame
of thinking. The habit of a whole life is a ftronger
thing than all the reafon in the world, 1 know I
ought to be eafy, and to be free j but I am dejefted,
I am confined : my whole amufement is in reviewing
my pad life, not in laying plans for my future. I
wifli you cared as little for popular applaufe as 1 • ;
as little for any nation in contradidindion to others,
as I ; and then I fency you that are not afraid of the
fea, you that are a ftronger man at fixty than ever I
was at twenty, would come and fee feveral people
who are (at laft) like the primitive Chriftians, of
one foul and of one mind. The day is come t, which
I have often wifhed, but never thought to fee ; when
every mortal, that I ejleem, is of the fame fentiment in
Politics and Religion.
Adieu. All you love, are yours j but all are bufy,
except (dear Sir) ypur fincere friend.
* '* The reft of liis life,** fays Johnfon, «* was fpcnt in Ireland .
in a country to which not even power almoft defpoticf nor fiotaj
almoft idolatrotiSy could reconcile him." See preceding l»etter,
f This is a remarkable paragraph. At this timci therefore»
1733, he and Bolingbroke were of the fame fentiment in Religion
as well as Politics. Wa&ton.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. ^^^
LETTER LXXL
Jan. 6tb, 1734.
I NEVER think of you and can never write to you
now, without drawing many of thpfe fliort fighs
of which we have formerly talked ; the refle£Uon
both of the friends we have been deprived of by
Death, and of thofe from whom we are feparated
almoft as eternally by Abfence, checks me to that
degree that it takes away in a nianner the pleafure
(which yet I feel very fenfibly too) of thinking I am
now converfing with you. You have been filent to
me as to your Works ; whether thofe printed here
are, or are not genuine? but one, I am fure, is
yours ; and your method of concealing yourfelf puts
me in mind of the Indian bird I have, read of, who
hides his head in a hole, while all his feathers and tail
ftick out. You'll have immediately by feveral franks
(even before 'tis here publiflied) my Epiftle to Lord
Cobham, part of my Opus Magnum^ and the laft
Effay on Man, both which, I conclude, will be
grateful to your bookfeller, on whom you pleafe to
beftow them fo early. There is a woman's war de-
clared againft me by a certain Lord • : his weapons are
the fame which women and children ufe, a pin to
fcratch, and a fquirt to befpatter ; I writ a fort of
anfwer,
• Harvey.
T3
278 LETTERS TO AND
anfwer, but was afhamed to enter the lifts with him,
and, after fhewingit to fome people, fuppreffed.it:
otherwife it was fuch as was worthy of him and
worthy of me. I was three weeks this autumn with
Lord Peterborow, who rejoices in your doings,' and
always fpeaks with the greateft affeftion of you* I
need not tell you who elfe do the fame ; you may be
fure almoft all thofe whom I ever fee, or defire to fee.
I wonder not that B — — * paid you no fort of civility
while he was in Ireland : he is too much a half-wit
to love a true wit, and too much half-honeft, to
efleem any entire* merit. I hope and I think he hates
me too, and I will do my beft to make him : he is fo
infupportably infolent in his civility to me when he
meets me at one third place, that I muft affront him
to be rid of it. * That ftrift neutrality t as to public
parties, which I have conftantly obferved in all my
writings, I* think gives me the more title to attack
fuch men as flander and belie my character in private,
to thofe who know me not. Yet even this is a liberty
I will never take, unlefs at the fame time they are
Ppfts to private fociety, or mifchievous members of
the public ; that is to fay, unlefs they are enemies to
all men as well as to me. — Pray write to me when
you can : if ever I can come to you, I ^ ill : if not,
may
♦ E is perhaps Bifl.op Boulter, the friend of Phillips, of
whom he fays,
'* Still to one Bifiop, Phillips feems a Wit.**
f Warton fays, " Which he afterwards broke through in
I ;^S." I rather think, which he never truly poffcfFcd.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 279
may Providence be our friend and our guard through
this iioiple world, where nothing is valuable, but
fenle and friendfliip. Adieu, dear Sir ; may health
attend your years, and then may many years be
added to you.
P. S. I am juft now told, a very curious Lady *
intends to write to you to pump you about fome
poems faid to be yours. Pray tell her that you have
not anfwered me on the fame quefiions, and that I
(hall take it as a thing never to be forgiven from
you, if you tell another what you have concealed
from me.
LETTER LXXIL
Sept. 15, 1734.
T HAVE ever thought you as fenfible as any man I
knew, of all the delicacies of friendfhip, and yet I
fear (from what Lord B. tells me you faid in your
laft letter) that you did not quite underftand the rea-
fon of my late filence. I aflure you it proceeded
wholly from the tender kindnefs I bear you. When
the heart is full, it is angry at all words that cannot
come up to it ; and you are now the man in all the
world
* Probably M. Blount, concerning the ofFcnfive Vcrfes, " The
Lady's Drcfling-room," " Strcphon and Chloe,'* &c.
T4
a8o LETTERS TO AND
world I am moft troubled to write to, for you are
the friend I have left whom I am moft grieved about.
Death has not done worfe to me in feparating poor
Gay, or any other, than difeafe and abfence in divid-
ing us. I am afraid to know how you do, fmce moft
accounts I have, give me pain for you, and I am un-
willing to tell you the condition of my own health. If
it were good, I would fee you ; and yet if I found
you in that very condition of deafnefo, which made
you fly from us while we were together, what com-
fort could we derive from it? In writing often I
Ihould find great relief, could we vi^rite freely ; -and
yet, when I have done fo, you feem by not anfwer-
ing in a very long time, to feel either the fame un-
eafinefs as I do, or to abftaJn, from fome prudential
reafon. Yet, I am fure, nothing that you and I
would fay to each other (though our own fouls were
to be laid open to the clerks of the poft-office) could
hurt either of us fo much, in the opinion of any
honeft man or good fubjeft, as the intervening, offici-
ous impertinence of thofe Goers between us, who in
England pretend to intimacies with you, and in Ire-
land to intimacies with me. I cannot but receive any
that call upon me in your name, and in truth they
take it in vain too often. I take all opportunities of
juftifying you againft thefe Friends, efpecially thofe
who know all you think and write, and repeat your
flighter verfes. It is generally on fuch little fcraps
that Witlings feed, and it is hard the world fliould
6 judge
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 2§i
judge of our houfe-keeping from what we fling to
our dogs, yet this is often the confequence. But
they treat you ftill worfe, mix their own with yours,
print them to get money, and lay them at your door.
This I am fatisfied was the cafe in the Epiftle to a
Lady ; it was juft the fame hand (if I have any judg-
ment in ftyle) which printed your Life and Charafter
before, which you fo ftrongly difavowed in your
letters to Lord Carte^ret,. myfelf, and others. I was
very well informed of another faft, which convinced
me yet more ; the fame perfon who gave this to be
printed, offered to a bookfeller a piece in profe as
yours, and as commiflioned by you, which has fince
appeared, and been owned to be his own. I think
(I fay once more) that I know your hand, though
you did not mine in the Effay on Man. I beg your
pardon for not telling you, as I (hould, had you been
in England : but no fecret can crofs your Irifti Sea,
and every clerk in the poft-office had known it. I
fancy, though you loft fight of me in the firfl of
thofe Effays, you faw me in the fecond. The defign
of concealing myfelf was good, and had its full effed;
I was thought a Divine, a Philofopher, and what
not • ; and my doftrine had a fandion I could not
have given to it. Whether I can proceed in the fame
grave march like Lucretius, or muft defcend lo the
gayeties of Horace, I know not, or whether I can do
cither ; but be the future as it will, I (hall colleft all
the paft in one fair quarto this winter, and fend it
you,
• The EfTay was at firll attributed to Hartc, &c.
38a LETTERS TO AND
you, ^here you will find frequent mention of your-
felf. I was glad you fufFered your writings to be
colleded more completely than hitherto, in the
volumes I daily exped from Ireland : 1 wifhed it had
been in more pomp, but that will be done by others :
yours are beauties, that can never be too finely dreft,
for they will ever be young. I have only one piece
of mercy to beg of you ; do not laugh at my gravity,
but permit me to wear the beard of a Philofopher,
till I pull it oflF, and make a jeft of it myfelf. 'Tis
juft what my Lord B. is doing with Metaphyfics. I
hope, you will live to fee *, and ftare at the learned
figure he will make, on the fame fhelf with Locke
and Malbranche.
You fee how I talk to you (for this is not writing) ;
if you like I fliould do fo, why not tell me fo ? if it
be the leaft pleafure to you, 1 will write once a week
moft gladly ; but can you abftraft the letters from the
perfon who writes them, fo far, as not to feel more
vexation in the thought of our feparation, and thofe
misfortunes which occafion it, than fatisfadion in the
Nothings he can exprefs ? If you can, really and from
my heart, I cannot. I return again to melancholy.
Pray, however, tell me, is it a fatisfaftion ? that will
make it one to me; and we will think alike, as
friends ought, and you fhall hear from me pundually
juft when you will.
P. S. Our
* After reading tfiis paflagCy can it be believed that Pope di<i
not know the real principles of Bolingbroke ? Warton-
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 283
P. S. Our friend*, who is jufl: returned from a
progrefs of three months, and is fetting out in three
days with me for the Bath, where he will (lay till
towards the middle of October, left this letter with
me yefterday, and I cannot feal and difpatch it till I
have fcribbled the remainder of this page full. He
talks very pompoufly of my Metaphyficsf, and places
them in a very honourable ftation. It is true, I have
writ fix letters and an half to him on fubjeds of that
kind, and I propofe a letter and an half more, which
would fwell the whole up to a confiderable volume.
But he thinks me fonder of the Name of an Author
than I am. When he and you, and one or two
other friends have feen them, fatis magnum Theatrum
mibi ejiisy I fhall not have the itch of making them
more public. I know how little regard you pay to
writings of this kind. But I imagine that if you can
like any fuch, it mufl: be thofe that ftrip Metaphyfics
of all their bombaft, keep within the fight of every
well-conftituted Eye, and never bewilder themfclves,
whilft they pretend to guide the reafon of others. I
wric to you a long letter fome time ago, and fent it by
the port. Did it come to your hands ? or. did the in-
fpcSors of private correfpondence flop it, to revenge
themfelves of the ill faid of them in It ? Vjle, ct mc
arna.
• Bolingbroke,
f It is fufficichtly acknowledged, " that the decline of the Eflay
oa Man was received from Bolingbroke. What Bolingbroke
fapplied could be only the firft principles : the order, illuftration,
and cmbellifhmentSi mull be all Pope's." Johnson.
284 LETTERS TO AND
LETTER LXXIIL
FROM DR. SWIFT.
Nov. r, I7J4,
I HAVE yours with my Lord B 's * Poflfcript of
September 1 5 : it was long on its way, and for
fome weeks after the date I was very ill with my two
inveterate diforders, giddinefs and deafncfsf. TheJ
latter is pretty well off ; but the other makes me totter
towards evenings, and much difpirits me. But I
continue to ride and walk, both of which, although
they be no cures, are at leaft amufements. I did
never imagine you to be either inconftant, or to want
right notions of friendfhip, but I apprehend your
want of health ; and it hath been a frequent wonder
to mc how you have been able to entertain the
world fo long, fo frequently, fo happily, under fo
many bodily diforders. My Lord B. fays, you have
been three months rambling, which is the bed thing
you can poffibly do in a fummer feafon j and when
the winter recals you, we will, for our own interefts,
leave you to your fpeculauons. God be thanked I
have done with every thing, and of every kind that
requires writing, except now and then a letter, or
like a true old man, fcribbling trifles only fit for
cliildren or fchool-boys of the loweft clafs at bcft,
which
* Bolingbroke.
f I know not whether it has been obferved, but the real c«ufc
of Swift's giddinefs and dcafncfs appears, from every fymptoiOi
In have been what is call-d Hydrocephalus.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 285
\i^hich three or four of us read and laugh at to-day,
and burn to-morrow. Yet, what is fingular, I never
am without fome great work in view, enough to take
up forty years of the mod vigorous healthy man :
although I am convinced that I (hall never be able to
finifli three Treatifes, that have lain by me feveral
years, and want nothing but corredion. My lord
B. faid in his Poftfcript, that you would go to Bath
in three days : we fince heard that you were danger-
oufly ill there, and that the news-mongers gave you
over. But a gentleman of this kingdom, on his
return from Bach, affured me he left you well, and
fo did fome others whom I have forgot. I am
forry at my heart that you are peftered with
people who come in my name, and I profefs to you,
it is without my knowledge. I am confident I fliall
hardly ever have occafion again to recommend, for
my friends here are very few, and fixed to the free-
•
hold, from whence nothing but death will remove
them. Surely I never doubted about your Eflay on
Man ; and I would lay any odds, that I would never
fail to difcover you in fix lines, unlefs you. had a mind
to write below or befide yourfelf on purpofe. I con-
fefs I did never imagine you were fo deep in Morals,
or that fo many new and excellent rules could be
produced fo advantageoufly and agreeably in that
fclence, from any one head, I confefs in fome places
I was forced to read twice j I believe I told you be-
fore what the Duke of Dorfet faid to me on that
occafion,
aS6
LETTERS TO AND
occafion, How a judge here, who knows you, told
him that on the firil reading thofe Eflays, be was
much pleafed) but found fome lines a little dark :
on the fecond, mod of them cleared up, and his
pleafure encreafed: on the third, he had no doubt
remained, and then he admired the whole. My
Lord B— 's attempt of reducing Metaphyfics to
intelligible fenfe and ufefulnefs, \^ill be a glorious \m^
dertaklng, and as t never knew him fail in any thing
he attempted, if he had the fole management *, fo I
am confident he will fucceed in this. I defire you
will allow that 1 write to you both at prefent, and fo
I fhall while I live : it faves your money and my
time ; and he being your Genius, no matter to which
it is addrefled. I am happy that what you write is
printed in large letters ; otherwife, between the weak-
nefs of my eyes, and the thicknefs of my hearing, I
fliould lofe the greateft pleafure that is left me. Pray
command my Lord B— to follow that example, if
I live to read his Metaphyfics. Pray God blefs you
both. I had a melancholy account from the Doftorf
of his health. I will anfwer his letter asfoon as I can.
I am ever entirely yours.
• His Loidfhip's "ybZf management" probably alludes to the
circumftance when he was at variance with Lord Oxford. Hit
Lordfhip's fuccefs in Metaphyfics was nearly on a par with hit
fucccfsin Politics.
f Arbuthnot.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 287
LETTER LXXIV.
Tveickenham, Dec. 19, 1734.
JAM truly forry for any complaint you have, and
it is in regard to the weaknefs of your eyes that I
write (as well as print) in folio. You'll think (I
know you will, for you have all the candour of a
good underftanding) that the thing which men of
our age feel the moft, is the friend (hip of our equals ;
and that therefore whatever aflFefts thofe who are ftept
a few years before us, cannot but fenfibly aflfeft us
who are to follow. It troubles me to hear you com-
plain of your memory, and if I am in any part of my
conftitution younger than you, it will be in my re-
membering every thing that has pleafed me in you,
longer than perhaps you will. The two fummers * we
pafled together dwells always on my mind, like a
vifion which gave me a glimpfe of a better life and
better company than this world otherwife afforded.
I am now an individual, upon whom no other de-
pends; and may go where I will, if the wretched
carcafe I am annexed to did not hinder me. I rambled
by very eafy journies this year to Lord Bathurft and
LorH Peterborow, who upon every occafion comme-
morate, love, and wifti for you. I now pafs my days
between Dawley, London, and this place, not ftu-
dHoas, nor idle, rather polifhing old works than hew-
ing out new. I redeem now and then a paper that
hath
* lyiC'ljt when the Dean was at Twickenham.
288 LETTERS TO AND
hath been abandoned feveral years ; and of this fort
you'll foon fee one, which I infcribe to our old friend
Arbulhnot.
Thus far I had written, and thinking to finilh my
letter the fame evening, was prevented by company,
and the next morning found myfelf in a fever highly
difordered, and fo continued in bed for five days;
and in my chamber till now ; but fo well recovered
as to hope to go abroad to-morrow, even by the ad-
vice of Dr. Arbuthnot. He himfelf, poor man, is
much broke, though not worfe than for thefe two laft
months he has been. He took extremely kind your
letter *. I wi(h to God we could once meet again,
before that reparation, which yet, I would be glad to
believe, (hall re-unite us ; but he who made us, not
for ours but his purpofes, knows only whether it be
for the better or the worfe, that the affections of this
life ihould, or (hould not continue into the other:
and doubtlefs it is as it ihould be. Yet I am fure that
.while I am here, and the thing that I am, I (hall be
imperfefl: without the communication of fuch friends
as you ; you are to me like a limb loft, and buried
in another country ; though we feem quite divided,
every accident makes me feel you were once a part of
me. I always confider you fo much as a friend, that
I forget you are an author, perhaps too much, but
^is as much as I would defire you would do to me.
However,
* In proportion as we become difpleafed with the worlds we are
the more attached to particular friends. Pope's life particahrlj
exempli F.es this.
■ i
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 289
However, if I cou Id infpirlt you to beftow corre6Kon
upon thofe three Treat ifes, which you fay are fo near
completed, Ifliould think it a better work than any I
can pretend to of my own, I am almoft at the end
of my Morals, as Tve been long ago, qf my Witj
my fyftem is a fhort one, and my circle narrow.
Imagination has no limits, and that is a fphere in
which you may move on to eternity; but where
one is confined to truth (or to fpeak more like a hu-
man creature, to the appearances of truth) we foon
find the fliortnefs of our Tether. Indeed, by the help
of a metaphyfical chain of Ideas, one may extend
the circulation, go round and round for ever, with-
out making any progrefs beyond the point to which
Providence has pinned us : but this does not fatisfy
me, who would rather fay a little to no purpofe, than
a great deal. Lord B. is voluminous, but he is vo-
luminous only to deftroy volumes. I (hall not live^
I fear, to fee that work printed ; he is fo taken Up ftill
(in fpite of the monitory hint given in the firft line
of my Eflay •) with particular men, that he negleds
mankind, and is fUll a creature of this world, not of
the
• Awake, my St, John ; leave all meaner things
To low Ambition, and the pride of Kings.
His Lordfhip wa^, howrver, fo much taken up wiih the ioivfr
and more paitry concerns of poUttcs^ that he would at any period
of life have relinquiflied all his fublime philofophy, all his hermit
ideas of retirement^ to have gained what was the conftant ohjcdl
ef his ambitioni the direction of the affairs of Government.
VOL, IX, V
290
LETTERS TO AND
the Univerfe : this world, which is a name wc give
to Europe, to England, to Ireland, to London, to
Dublin, to the Court, to the Caflle, and fo diminifh-
ing, till it comes to our own affairs, and to our own
perfons. When you write (either to him or me, for
we accept it all as one) rebuke him for it, as a divine
if you like it, or as a Badineur, if you think that more
effe£tual.
What I write will (hew that my head is yet weak.
I had written to you by that gentleman from the
Bath, but I did not know him, and every body that
comes from Ireland, pretends to be a friend of the
Dean's. I am always glad to fee any that are truly
fo, and therefore do not mUlake any thing I faid,
fo as to difcourage your fending any fuch to me*
Adieu.
LETTER LXXV.
FROM DR. SWIFT.
May 12, 1735.
xrouR letter was fent me yefterday by Mr. Stop-
ford *, who landed the fame day, but I have not
yet feen him. As to my filence, God knows it is
my great misfortune. My little domeilic affairs are
in
* Mr. Stopford was a Fellow of the College of Dubltn. He
ii honourably mentioned in Swift's Letter to Lord Carteret. He
was afterwards Bifliop of Cloyne.
FROM DR. SWII't, eti. ^gi
hi great confufioil by the Villany of agents, and
the miferies of this kingdom, where there is no
tnoney to be had : nor am I unconcerned to fee all
things tending towards abfolute power, in both na-
tions (it is here in perfeftion already) ahhough I
fliall not lire to fee it eflabliflied. This condition
of things, both public and perfonal to myfelf, hath
given me fuch a kind of defpondency, that I am
almoft Unqualified for aiiy company, diverfion, or
amufement. The death of Mr. Gay and the Doftor *^
hath been terrible wounds near my heart. Their
living would have been a great comfort to liie, al-
though I fhould never have feen them ; like a futn
of money in a bank, from which 1 fliould receive at
leaft annual intereft, as I do from you, and havd
done from my Lord Bolingbroke. To fhew in how
much ignorance I live, it is hardly a fortnight fince
I heard of the death of my Lady Maftiam, my con-
ftant friend in all changes of times. God forbid that
t fhould expert you to make a voyage that would iit
the leaft aflfeft your health 2 but in the mean time
how unhappy am I, that my beft friend fliould have
|jerhaps the only kind of diforder for which a fea-
toyage is not in fonie degree a remedy ? The old
Duke of Ormond faid, he would not change hi^ dead
fon (Offory) for the beft living fon in Europe*
Neither would I change you my abfent friend for the
h%Sk prefent friend round the Globe.
♦ Arbuthnot.
v» thavtf
202 LETTERS TO AND
I have lately read a letter imputed to Lord B, called
a Diflertation upon Parties *. I think it very mafterly
written.
Pray God reward you for your kind prayers : I
believe your prayers will do me more good than thofe
of all the Prelates in both kingdoms, or any Pcelates
in Europe except the biOiop of Marfeillesf- And
God preferve you for contributing more to mend the
world, than the whole pack of (modern) Parfons in
a lump.
I am ever entirely yours.
LETTER LXXVL
FROM DR. SWIFT.
September 3, 1735.
rpHis letter will be delivered to you by Faulkner the
Printer, who goes over on his private affairs.
This is an anfwtr to yours of two months ago, which
complins of that profligate fellow CurL I heartily
wiQi
* The befty pcrhapSi of all Bolingbrokc's works ; written with
great force of rcafoning, and in a ftyle equally fpirited and cle«
gant*
One of the fevercft attacks ever made on Sir Robert Walpole,
was the Dedication prefixed to this DifTertationy when the papers
that had been iiril feparately printed in the Craftfmanf were col*
leded into one volume ofbvo. Wa&toh.
f Pope has worthilj commemorated this truly apgftolic
Prelate :
• " Marfcilles* good BiQiop drew not purer breath."
FROM DR, SWIFJ, etc. 293
wifli you were what they call difafFe£led, as I am»
I may fay as David did, I have finned greatly, but
what have thefe flieep done? You have given no
oiFence to the Miniftry, nor to the Lords, nor Com-
mons, nor (^een, nor the next in Power. For you
are a man of virtue, and therefore mud abhor vice
and all corruption, although your difcretion holds
the reins. " You need not fear any confequence in
" the commerce that hath fo long pafled between
" us ; although I never deftroyed one of your letters.
" But my Executors are men of honour and virtue,
" who have ftricl orders in my will to burn every
** letter left behind me.** Neither did our letters
contain any Turns of Wit, or Fancy, or Politics, or
Satire, but mere innocent Friendfhip : yet I am loth
that any letters, from you and a very few other
friends, (hould die before me. I believe we neither
of us ever leaned our head upon our left hand to ftudy
what we fhould write next ; yet we have held a con-
ftant intercourfe from your youth and my middle
age, and from your middle age it muft be continued
till my death, which my bad flate of health makes
me expeft every month. I have the ambition, and
it is very earned as well as in hafte, to have one
Epiftle infcribed to me while I am alive, and you juft
in the time when wit and wifdom are in the heights
I muft once more repeat Cicero's dcfire to a friend j
Orna me. A month ago were fent me over by a
friend of mine, the works of John Hughes, Efq,
u 3 They
494 LETTERS TO AND
They are in verfe and profe. I never heard of the
man in my life, yet I find your name as a fubfcriber
too. He is too grave a Popt for me, and, I think,
among the mediocribus in profe, as well as verfe,
I have the honour to know Dr. Rundle ; he is indeed
worth all the reft you ever fent us, but that is faying
nothing, for he anfwers your charafter ; I have dined
thrice in his company. He brought over a worthy
clergyman of this kingdom as his chaplain, whicl^
was a very wife and popular aftion. His only feult
is, that he drinks no wine, and I drink nothing elfe.
This kingdom is now abfolutely fl^rving, by the
means of every oppreflion that can be infli&ed on
manl^ind-— Shall I not vifit for thefe things? faith
the Lord. You advife me right, not to trouble my?
felf about the world : but oppreflion tortures me,
^nd I cannot liv^ without meat and drink, nor get
either without money ; and money is not to be had,
except they will make me a Bi(hop, or a Judge, or 2^
^plon^l, or a Cpmmi|Iioner of fhe R^venu^s. A^i^u^
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. ic^s
jt
LETTER LXXVIL
nro anfwer your queftion as to Mr. Hughes, what
he wanted as to genius he made up as an honeft
man : but he was of the clafs you think him *•
I am glad you think of Dr. Rundle as I do. He
will be an honour to the Bilhops, and a difgrace to
one Bifhop, two things you will like ; but what you
will like more particularly, he will be a friend and
bcnefaftor even to your un-friended, un-benefited
Nation ; he will be a friend to the human race, where*
ever he goes. Pray tell him my beft wifhes for his
health and long life : I wifli you and he came over to-
gether, or that I were with you. I never faw a man
fo feldom whom I liked fo much as Dr. Rundle f.
Lord Peterborow J I went to take a laft leave of, at
his fetting fail for Lifbon ; no Body can be more
wafled,
♦ But was the Author of fuch a Tragedy as the Siege ofDamafcus
one of the nudiocrtbus ? Swift and Pope feem qot to recollect the
value aod the rank of an Author who could write fuch a Tragedy,
May I venture, on this occalion, to give a little table of the dif.
ferent forts of Poets, ranged in order according to their merits ? —
Writers of occqfional and mfcellaneouj Family-thiogs, and tea'tahk
Mifcellanies ; writers of Pqflorah ; of Epiflles; of Satires; of di*
daSic Poems; oi Odes; of Tragedies; of £pic Poems. WAarON.
f On this account he is celebrated by Pope :
<( _ Rundle has a heart."
His Letters have been publifhcd by Dallaway.
X In the tenth Volume will be feen a very intereftiQg Letter of
Pope, to M. Blount, relating the fufferings and heroic conduft of
Lord J^eterborowi
U4
2g6 LETTERS TO AND
wafted, no Soul can be more alive. Immediately
after the fevereft operation of being cut into the
bladder for a fuppreffion of urine, he took coach,
and got from Briftol to Sou^amptpn. Tl^is is a man
that will neither live nor die like any other mortal.
Poor Lord Peterborow! there is another ftring
^oft, that would have helped to draw you hither!
He ordered on his death-bed his Watch to be given
me (that which had accompanied him in all his travels)
with this reafon, ** That I might have fomething tq
*^ put me every day in mind of him." It was a pre-
fent to him from the King of Sicily, whofe arms and
Jnjignia are graved on the inrier-cafe ; on the outer, I
have put this infcription : Vidor Amadcus^ Rex Sich
lia. Dux Sabaudi(2j etc. etc. Carolo Mordatint^ Qi-
miti de Peterborow^ D. D. Car. Mor. Cam. de Pet.
jjlcxandro Pope moriens legayit, 1735.
Pray write to me a little oftener : and if there be a
thing left in the world thatpleafes you, tell it one who
will partake of it. I hear with approbation and
pleafure, that your prefent care is to relieve the moft
helplefs of this world, thofe objefts "* which moft want
our compailion, though generally made the fcom of
their fellow-creatures, fuch as are lefs innocent than
they. You always think generoufly ; and of all cha-
rities, this is the moft difmterefted, and leaft vain-
glorious, done to fuch as never will thank you, or
can praife you for it.
God
* Ideots. Warburton.
FROM DR- SWIFT, etc. 297
God blefs you with eafe, if not with pleafure ; with
a tolerable (late of health, if not with its full enjoy-
ment ; with a refigned temper of mind, if not a very
chearful one* It is upon thefe terms I live myfelf,
though younger than you, and 1 repine not at my lot,
could but the prefence of a few that I love be added
to thefe. Adieu.
LETTER LXXVIIL
FROM DR. SWIFT.
OAobcr 21, 1735,
T ANSWERED your letter relating to Curl*, etc. I be-
lieve my letters have efcaped being publifhed, be-
caufe I writ nothing but Nature and Friendfhip, and
particular incidents which could make no iigure in
writing. 1 have obferved, that not only Voiture, but
likewife Tully and Pliny, writ their letters for the
public view, more than for the fake of their corre-
fpondents ; and I am glad of it, on account of the
Enfertainment they have given me. Balfac did the
fame thing, but with more ftiffnefs, and confequently
lefs diverting. Now I muft tell you, that you are
to look upon me as one going very faft out • of the
world ; but my flefh and bones are to be carried to
pply-head, for 1 will not lie in a Country of flaves.
It
» *
• Curl bad jufk publiAied Pope's Letters.
298 LETTERS TO AND
It pleafeth me to find that you begin to diilike things
in fpite of your Philofophy ; your Mufe cannot for-
bear her hints to that purpofe. I cannot travel to
fee you ; otherwife, I folemnly proteft I would do it.
I , have an intention to pafs this winter in the country
with a friend forty miles off, and to ride only ten
miles a day ; yet is my health fo uncertain that I fear
it will not be in my power. I often ride a dozen
miles, but I come to my own bed at night : my bed
way would be to marry, for in that cafe any bed
would be better than my own. I found you a very
young man, and I left you a middle-aged one j you
knew me a middle-aged man, and now I am an old
one. Where is my Lord * ? methinks, I am en-
quiring after a Tulip of laft year.——" You need not
'* apprehend any Curls meddling with your letters to
" me; I will not deftroy them, but have ordered
** my Executors to do that office." I have a thoufand
things more to fay, longavitas ^ garrula^ but I muft
remember I have other letters to write if I have time,
which I fpend to tell you fo.
I am ever, dearefl Sir,
Your, etc^
* Perhaps " Harvey."
FROM DR, SWIFT, etc, 299
I.ETTER LXXIX,
FROM DR. SWIFT,
February 9, 17J5-6,
T CANNOT properly call you my beft friend, becaufe
I have not another left ^who deferves the name,
fuch a havock have Time *, Death, E^ile, and Ob-
livion made. Perhaps you would have fewer com^
plaints of my ill health and lownefs of fpirits, if they
were not fome excufe for my delay cf writing even
to you. It is perfeflly right what you fay of the
indifference in common friends, whether we are fick
or well, happy or yniferable. The very maid fervants
in a family have the fame notion ; I have heard them
often fay. Oh, I am very fick, if ?iny body cared
for it ! I am vexed when my vifitors come with the
compliment ufual here, Mr. Dean, I hope you are
very well. My popularity that you mention, is wholly
confined to the common people, who are more con-
ftant than thofe we mif-call their betters. I walk the
ftreets, and fo do my lower friends, from whom, and
from whom alone, I have a thoufand hats and blefiings
upon old fcores, which thofe we call the Gentry
have
^ All thefe lad Letters of Swift are curioui and interefting, at
thcT give us an account of the gradual decay of his intelle£t9 and
temper, and ftrength of naind and body ; ^nd fill us with many
melancholy but ufeful reflections. We fee the ilept by which this
great genius funk into difcontatt^ into puvtjbnefsy into indignaiiont
into torpor^ into infamty! Willi TOif.
300 LETTERS TO AND
have forgot. But I have not the love, or hardly the
civility, of any one man in power or ftation ; and I
can boaft that I neither vifit nor am acquainted with
any Lord Temporal or Spiritual in the whole king-
dom ; nor am able to do the leaft good office to the
moft deferving man, except what I can difpofe of
in my own Cathedral upon a vacancy. What hath
funk my fpirits more than even years and ficknefs,
is refleding on the moft execrable Corruptions that
run through every branch of public management.
I heartily thank you for thofe lines tranflated.
Singula de nobis mmi^ etc. You have put them in a
ftrong and admirable light ; but however I am fo
partial, as to be more delighted with thofe which are to
do me the greateft honour I (hall ever receive from
pofterity, and will outweigh the malignity of ten
thoufand enemies. I npver faw them before, by
which \i is plain that the letter you fent me mifcar-
ried — — ^I do not doubt that you have choice of new
acquaintance*, and fomeof them may be deferving;
for youth is the feafon of Virtue ; Corruptions grow
with years, an4 I believe the oldeft rogue in England
is the greateft. You have years enough before you
to watch whether thefe new acquaintance will l^eep
their Virtue, when they leave you and go into
the world ; how long will their fpirit of inde-
pendency laft againft the temptations of future Mi-
nifters,
* His new acquaintance were, probably, Lyttleton, Murray,
Lord Combury, &c. '
FROM DR, SWIFT, etc. 301
nlfters, and future Kings.— As to the new Lord
Lieutenant, I never knew any of the fcimily ; fo that
I fhall not be able to get any jobb done by him for
any deferving friend.
LETTER LXXX.
FROM DR. SWIFT.
February 7, 1735-6.
T T is fome time fince I dined at the Bifliop of Derry 's,
where Mr. Secretary Gary told me with great
concern, that you were taken very ill. I have heard
nothing fince, only I have continued in great pain
of mind, yet for my own fake and the world's more
than for yours ; becaufe I well know how little you
value life both as a Philofopher and a Chriftian,
particularly the latter, wherein hardly one in a million
of us heretics can equal you. If you are well re-
covered, you ought to be reproached for not putting
me efpecially out of pain, who could not bear the
lofs of you J although we muft be for ever diftant as
much as if I were in the grave, for which my years
and continual indifpofition are preparing me every
feafon. I have ftaid too long from prefling you to
give me- fome eafe by an account of your health ;
pray do not ufe me fb ill any more. I look upon
you as an eftate from which I receive my bed annual
rents, although I am. never to fee it. Mr. Ticke'-
5 was
ioi LEtTERS TO AND
was at the fame itieeting tinder the hmd real concern ;
and fo i^'ere a hundred others of this town^ /who had
never feen you.
I read to the Bifhop of Derry the paragraph m
your letter which concerned him, and hh Lordlhip
expreffed his thankfulnefs in a manner .that became
him- He is efteemed here as a perfon of learning
and converfation and humanity^ but he is beloved by
all people.
I have nobody now left but you : fft^ay be fo kind
to out-live me, and then die as foon as you pleafe,
but without pain ; and let us meet in a better place,
if my Religion will permit, but rather my Virtuey
although much unequal to yours. Pray, let toy
Lord Baihurft know how mtich I love him j I ftill
infift on his remembering me, although he is toor
much in the world to honour an abfefit friend with
his letters* My (late of health is not to boaft of;
my giddinefs is more of lefs too conftant ; I ileep ill,-
and have a poor appetite. I can as eaiily write a
Poem in the Chinefe language as my own : I am a?
fit for Matrimony as invention ; and yet I have daily
fchemes iar innumerable Eifays iti profe, and proceed
fometimes to no lefs than half a dozen lines, which
the next morning become wafte paper. What vexes
me moft iss that my female friends, uho could bear
me very well a dozen of years ago, have now forfaken
me, although I am not fo old in proportion to them^
as I formerly was : which I can prove by AritkmetiCy
for
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 303
for then I was double their age, which now I am
not. Pray, put me out of fear as foon as you can,
about that report of your illnefs ; and let me know
who this Chefelden * is, that hath fo lately fprung up
in your favour ? Give me alfo fome account of your
neighbour t who writ to me from Bath: I hear he
reiblves to be ftrenuous for taking off the Teft ; which
grieves me extremely, from all the unprejudiced
reafons I ever was able to form, and againft the
maadms of all wife Chriflian governments, which
always had fome eftablifhed Religion, leaving at beft
a toleration to others.
Farcwel, my deareft friend ! ever, and upon every
account that can create friendfbip and efteem.
LETTER LXXXL
March 2^, 1736.
t F ever I write more Epiftles in Verfe, one of them
(hall be addreffed to you. I have long concerted
it, and begun it, but I would make what bears your
name as finiihed as my lafl: work ought to be, that
is to fay, more finiflied than any of the reft. The
fubjeft is large, and will divide into four Epiftles,
which
* The celebrated Surgeon and Anatomift.
t Allen of Prior park.
6
3^4
LETTERS TO AND
which naturally follow the Effay on Man, viz. i*
Of the Extent and limits of Human Reafon and
Science, a. A View of the ufeful and therefore
attainable, and of the un-ufefiil and therefore un-
attainable. Arts. 3. Of the Nature, Ends, Applica-
tion, and Ufe of different Capacities. 4- Of the Ufc
of Learning, of the Science of the World, and of Wit.
It will conclude with a Satire againft the mif-appKca-
tion of all thefe, exemplify'd by pidures, charafiers,
and examples.
But alas ! the tafk is great, and non fum qualis
eram! My underftanding indeed, fuch as it is, is
extended rather than diminiflied : I fee things more
in the whole, more confident, and more clearly de-
duced from, and related to, each other. But what
I gain on the fide of philofophy, I lofe on the fide of
poetry : the flowers are gone, when the fruits begin
to ripen, and the fruits perhaps will never ripen pcr-
feftly. The climate (under our Heaven of a Court)
is but cold and uncertain ; the winds rife, and the
winter comes on. I find myfelf but little difpofed to
build a new houfe ; I have nothing left but to gather
up the reliques of a wreck, and look about me to fee
how few friends I have left. Pray, whofe efteem ©r
admiration (hould I defire now to procure by my
writings ? whofe friendlbip or converfation to obtain
by them ? I am a man of defperate fortunes, that is,
a man whofe friends are dead : for I never aimed at
any other fortune than in fiiends.. - As foon as I had
fent
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 3^5
fcnt ray laft letter, I received a mod kind one from
you, exprefling great pain for my late illnefs at Mr.
Chefelden's. I conclude you was eafed of that
friendly apprehenfion in a few days after yoa had
difpatched yours, f6r mine mufl: have reached you
then. 1 wondered a little at your quaere, who Che-
felden was ? It (hews that the trueft merit does not
travel fo far any way as on the wings of poetry ; he
At the mofl noted, and mod deferving man, in the
whole profeflion of Chirurgery j and has faved the
lives of thoulands by his manner of cutting for the
ftone. — '—I am now well, or what I mud call fo.
1 have lately feen fome writings of Lord B.*s, (ince
he went to France. Nothing can deprefs his Genius :
whatever befals him, he will ftill be the greateft maa
m the world, either in his own time, or with pof-
terity*.
Every man you know or care for here, enquires of
you, and pays you the only devoir he can, that of
drinking your health. I wifli you had any motive to
fee this kingdom. I could keep you, for I am rich ;
that is, I have more than I want. I can aflFord room
for yourfelf and two fervants ; I have indeed room
enough, nothing but myfelf at home ; the kind and
hearty houfe-wife is dead ! the agreeable and inftruc-
tivc neighbour is gone ! yet my houfe is enlarged,
and
* Difcedo Alczus pundlo illiue ! ilk xneo quis ?
Quis nili Callimackus ?
VOL. I^ X
3o6 LETTERS TO AND
and the gardens extend and flourifli, as knowing
nothing of the guefts they have loft. I have more
fruit-trees and kitchen-garden than you have any
thought of: nay, I have good Melons and Pine-apples
of my own growth. I am as much a better Gardener,
as I am a worfe Poet, than when you faw mc but
gardening is near a-kin to Philofophy, for Tully fayr,
Agricultura proxima fapienlia. For God's fake, why
fliould not you (that are a ftep higher than a Philofo-
pher, a Divine, yet have too much grace and wit
than to be a Biihop) e'en give all you have to the
poor of Ireland, (for whom you have already done
every thing elfe,) fo quit the place, and live and die
with me? And let Tales anima Concordes, be our
Motto and our Epitaph.
LETTER LXXXII.
FROM DR. SWIFT.
Dublin, April 22, 1736.
TiyTY common illnefs is of that kind which utterly
difqualliies me for all converfation ; I mean my
Deafnefs; and, indeed, it is that only which difcou*
rageth me from all thoughts of coming to England;
becaufe I am never fure that it may not return in
a week. If it were a good honeft Gout, I could catch
an interval, to take a voyage, and in a warm lodging
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 307
get an eafy chair, and be able to hear and roar among
my friends. " As to what you fay of your Letters,
iince you have many years of life more than I, my
refolution is to direfl: my Executors to fend you all
" your letters, well fealed and pacquetted, along with
** fome legacies mentioned in my will, and leave
•* them entirely to your difpofal : thofe things are all
** tied up, endorfed, and locked in a cabinet, and I
** have not one fervant who can properly be faid to
" write or read: no mortal ihall copy them, but
" you {hall furely have them when I am no more/'
I have a little repined at my being hitherto flipped by
you in your Epiftles, not from any other ambition
than the Title of a Friend, and in that fenfe I expeft
you ihall perform your promife, if your health and
leifure and inclination will permit. I deny your lofing
on the fide of Poetry ; I could reafon againft you a
little from experience ; you are, and will be fome
years to come, at the age * when invention ftill keeps
its ground, and judgment is at full maturity; but
your fubjeds are much more diiEcult when confined
to Verfe. I am amazed to fee you exhauft the whole
fcience of Morality, in fo maflerly a manner. Sir
W. Temple faid, that the lofs of Friends was a Tax
upon long life : it need not be very long, fince you
have had lb great a (hare, but I have not above one
left : and in this Country I have only a few general
companions
* Pope was at thig time in his 48th year. Swift in hia
69th.
X 2
\
3^8 LETTERS TO AND
companions of good nature and middling undcrftand*
ings. How fhould I know Chefelden ? On your fide,
men of feme ftart up and die before we here (at leaft
I) know any thing of the matter. I am a Kttle com-
forted with what you fay of Lord B/s Genius ftill
keeping up, and preparing to appear by effefts worthy
of the author, and ufefiil to the world. — Common
reports have made me very uneafy about your neigh-
bour Mr. P. * It is affirmed that he hath been very
near death : I love him for being a Patriot in mofl
corrupted times, and highly efteem his excellent un-
derftanding. Nothing but the perverfe nature of my
diforders, as I have above defcribed them, and which
are abfolute difqualifications for converfe, could hinder
me from waiting on you at Twickenham, and nurfing
you to Paris. In fhort, iny Ailments amount to a
prohibition, although I am, as you defcribe yourfelf,
what / mujl call well^ yet I have not fpirits left to ride
out, which (excepting walking) was my only diver-
fion. And I muft exped: to decline every month,
like one who lives upon his principal fum, which
muft leflen every day : and, indeed, I am likewife lite-
rally almoft in the fame cafe, while every body owes
me, and nobody pays me. Inftead of a yoong race
of Patriots on your fide, which gives me feme glimpfe
of joy, here we have the dired contrary, a race of
young
* Pultency, of whom Pope afterwards wrote, —
" He foams a Patriot, to fubfidc a Peer."
Which exadly happened ; for Pultcney was created Lord Batli^
after Pope's fcvcrt Satire, entitled " 1740," was written.
FROM DR. SWIFT^ etc. 309
young Dunces and Atheifts, or old Villains and
Monfters, whereof four-fifths are more wicked and
ftupid than Chartres. Your wants are fo few, that
you need not be rich to fupply them ; and my wants
are fo many, that a King's feven millions of guineas
would not fupport me»
LETTER LXXXIII.
Auguft 17, 1736.
y FIND, though I have lefs experience than you, the
truth of what you told me fome^ time ago, that
increafe of years makes men more talkative, but lefs
writative : to that degree, that I now write no letters
but of plain bufineis, or plain how-d*ye's to thofe few
I am forced to correfpond with, either out of necef-
fity or love : and I grow Laconic even beyond Laco«
nicifme ; for fometimes I return only Yes, or No, to
queftionary or petitionary Epiftles of half a yard long*
Tou and Lord Bolingbroke are the only men to
\vhom I write, and always in folio. You are indeed
aloiofl the only men I know, who either can write in
this age, or whofe writings will reach the next : others
are mere mortals. Whatever failings fuch men may
have, a refped is due to them, as Luminaries whofe
exaltation renders their motion a little irregular, or
X 3 rather
3IO LETTERS TO AND
rather caufes it to feem fo to others. I am afraid to
cenfure any thing I hear of Dean Swift, becaufe I
4iear it only from mortals, blind and dull : and you
fliould be cautious of ^enfuring any a&ion or motion
of Lord B. becaufe you hear it only from ihallov,
envious, or malicious reporters. What you write to
me about him, I find to my great fcandal repeated in
one of yours to m . Whatever you might hint to
me, was this for the profane? The thing, if tiiie,
ihould be concealed * } but it is, I aiTure you, abfo-
lutely untrue, in every circumflance. lie has fixed in
a very agreeable retirement near Fountainbleau, and
makes it bis whole bufinefs vacate Uteris. But tell
me the truth, were you not angry at his omitting to
write to you fo long ? I may, for I hear from him
feldomer than from you ; that is, twice or thrice a
year at moft. Can you poflTibly think he can negleft
you, or difregard you ? If you catch yourfelf at
thinking fuch nonfenfe, your parts are decayed : for,
believe me, great Geniufes muft and do efteem one
another, and I queftion if any others can efteem or
comprehend uncommon merit. Others only guefs at
that merit, or fee glimmerings of their minds: a
Genius has the intuitive faculty : therefore, ima^ne
what you will, you cannot be fo fure of any man's
efteem as of his. If I can think that neither he nor
you
• One of BoIingbrokeS Letters to Sir Charlei Wyodham
feems ^o explain this circumflance, written in the fame year, in
which he fays, «< it is reported among you, that I play the Cdadon
here, ac." The LctUr is printed in this volume.
I
!•
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 311
you defpife me, it is a greater honour to me by far,
and will be thought fo by pofterity, than if all the
Houfe of Lords writ Commendatory Verfes upon me,
the Commons ordered me to print my Works, the
Univerfities gave me public thanks, and the King *,
Queen, and Prince crowned me with Laurel. You
are a very ignorant man ; you don't know the figure
his name and yours will make hereafter : I do, and
will preferve all the memorials I can, that I was of
your intimacy; longOyfedpreximusj intervallo. I will
not quarrel with the prefent Age ; it has done enough
for me, in making and keeping you two my friends.
Do not you be too angry at it, and let not him be
too angry at it ; it has done and can do neither of
you any manner of harm, as long as it has not, and
cannot burn youf works : while thofc fubfift, you'll
both appear the greatefl: men of the time, in fpite of
Princes and Minifters ; and the wifeft, in fpite of all
the little Errors you may pleafe to commit.
Adieu. May better health attend you, than, I
fear, you poiTefs : may but as good health attend you
always as mine is at prefent : tolerable, when an eafy
mind is joined with it.
♦ ** The King's Queen," is a mode of cxprcffion, by which he
may be Tulgarly (aid to ^* kill two birds with one ftone ;'' meaning
to exprefs the greateft contempt for both George II. aad
? Queen Caroline.
I X 4
312 LETTERS TO AND
LETTER LXXXIV.
FROM DR. SWIFT.
DecemHier-2, 1736,
J THINK you owe me a letter, but whether you
do or nbtj I have not been in a condition to write.
Years and Infirmities have quite broke me ; I mean
that odious continual diforder in my head. I neither
read, nor write, nor remember, nor conVcrfe. All
i have left is to walk and ride; the firft'l can do
•tolerably ; but the latter, for want of good weather
at this feafon, is feldom in my power ; and having
not an ounce of fleih about me, my Ikin come off
in ten miles riding, becaufe my {kin and bone can-
not agree together. But I am angry, becaufe you
will not fuppofe me as fick as 1 am, and wiite to
me out of perfeft charity, although I fhould not be
able to anfwer. I have too many vexations by my
ftation and the impertinence of people, to be able
to bear th^ mortification of not hearing from a very
few diflant friends that are left; and, confidering
how time and fortune have ordered m^itters, I have
hardly one friend left but yourfelf. What Horace
fays. Singula de nobis anni pr^dantvr^ I feel everj^
month, at fart heft j and by this computation, if
I hold out two years, 1 {hall think it a miracle. My
comfort is, you begun to diftinguiih fo confounded
early,
FROM DR, SWIFT, etc. 313
early, that your acqusuntance with diftinguilhcd men
of all kinds was almoft as ajicient as mine. I mean
Wycherley, Rowe, Frioc, Congreve, Addifon, Par-
nel, etc. and in fpite of your heart, you have owned
me a Cotemporary. Not to mepition Lords Oxford,
BoJingbroke, Harcourt, Peterborow : in fliort, 1
was t'other day recoUeding twenty-feven great Mi*
jiifters, or Men of Wit and Learning, who are all
dead, and all of my acquaintance, within twenty
years pad ; neither have I the grac^ to be forry, that
the prefent times are dfawn to the dregs as well as
my own life. ■ May my friisnds be happy in this
and a better life, but I value not what becomes of Poi^
terity when I confider from what Monfters they are to
fpring. ■ My Lord Orrery writes to you to-morrow,
and you fee I fend this under his cover, or at lead
franked by him. He has 3000/. a-year about Cork,
and the neighbourhood, and has more than threoy
years' rent unpaid : this is our condition, in thefe
blefled times. I writ to your ndghbour about a
month ago, and fubfcribed my name : I fear he hath
not received my letter, and wifli you would a(k him .
but perhaps be is ftill a-rambling ; for we hear of him
at Newmarket, and that Boerhaave hath reftored his
health.— -How my fervices are leflened of late with
the number of my friends on your fide! yet, my
Lord Bathurfl and Lord Maiham and Mr. Lewis re-
main, and being your acquaintance, I defire when
you fee them to deliver my compliments j but chiefly
6 tq
314 LETTERS TO AND
to Mrs* P. B, • and let me know whether (he be as
young and agreeable as when I faw her laft ? Have
you got a fupply of new friends to make up for thofe
who are gone ? and are they equal to the firft ? I
am afraid it is with friends as with times ; and that
the laudator temporis afii fe puero^ is equally appli-
cable to both. I am lefs grieved for living here,
becaufe it is a perfed retirement, and confequently
fitted for thofe who are grown good for nothing:
for this town and kingdom are as much out of the
world as North-Wales.— — My head is fo ill that
I cannot write a paper full as I ufed to do ; and yet
I will not forgive a blank of half an inch from you.
I had rcafon to cxpeQ: from fome of your letters,
that we were to hope for more Epiftles of Morality ;
and, I aflure you, my acquaintance refent that they
have not feen my name at the head of one. The
fubje£ls of fuch Epiftles are more uftful to the
public, by your manner of handling them, than any
of all your writings : and although, in fo profligate
a world as ours, they may poffibly not much mend
our manners, yet pofterity will enjoy the benefit,
whenever a Court happens to have the leaft reliih for
Virtue and Religion.
♦ Patty BlouDt,
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc.
3^5
LETTER LXXXV.
TO DR. SWIFT.
December 30, 1736.
TT'OUR very kind letter has made me more melan*
choly, than almoft any thing in this world now
can do. For I can bear every thing in it, bad as it U,
better than the complaints of my friends. Though
others tell me you are in pretty good health and in
good fpirits, I find the contrary when you open your
mind to me : and indeed it is but a prudent part, to
feem not fo concerned about others, nor fo crazy
ourfelves. as we really are : for we ihall neither be
beloved nor efteemed the more, by our common ac-
quaintance, for any affli£tion or any infirmity. But
to our true friend we may, we muft complain, of
what ('tis a thoufand to one) he complains with us ;
for if we have known him long, he is old, and if he
has known the world long, he is out of humour at it.
If you have but as much more heahh than others at
your age, as you have more wit and good temper,
you (hall not have much of my Pity : but if you
ever live to have lefs, you ihall not have lefs of my
A5e6Hon. A whole people will rejoice at every year
that (hall be added to you, of which you have had a
late inftance in the public rejoicings on your birth.
day.
3i6
LETTERS TO AND
day. I can aflure you, fomething better and greater
than high birth and quality mufl: go toward acquiring
thofe demonftrations of public efteem and love. I
have Teen a royal birth-day uncelebrated, but by one
vile Ode, and one hired bonfire* Whatever yean
may take away from you, they will not take away
the general efteem, for your Senfe, Virtue, and
Charity.
The moft melancholy effeft of years is that you
mention, the catalogue of thofe we loved and have
loft, perjpetually increafing. How much that Re-
flexion ftruck me, you'll fee' from the Motto I have
prefixed to my Book of Letters which fo much againft
my inclination has been drawn from me. It is from
Catullus :
Quo dcfidcrio vctercs rcvocamus Amorcs,
Atque olim amifTas flemus Amicitias !
I detain this letter till I can find fome fafe con^
veyance ; innocent as it is, and as all letters of mine
muft be, of any thing to offend my fuperiors, except
the reverence I bear to true merit and virtue. ^* But
I have much reafon to fear, thofe which you have
too partially kept in your hands will get out in
fome very difagreeable fhape, in C2fe of our mor-
^' tality : and the more reafon to fear it, fince this
*' laft month Curl has obtained from Ireland two
*' letters (one of Lord Bolingbroke and one of mine,
*' to you, which we wrote in the year 1723) j and he
«« ha$
44
««
c<
<c
cc
PROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 317
has printed them, to the beft of my memory^
rightly, except one paffage concerning Davley,.
which mult have been llnce inferted, fince my
Lord had not that place at that time. Your
•• anfwer to that letter he has not got j it has never
•• been out of my cuftody ; for whatever is lent is
** loft (Wit as well as Money) to thefe needy poeti*
** cal readers.**
ITie world will certainly be the better for his
change of life. He fecms in the whole turn of his
letters to be a fettled and principled Philofopher,
thanking Fortune for the Tranquillity,* he has been'
led into by her averfion, like a man driven by a vio-
lent wind, from the fea into a calm harbour. Tou
aik me if I have got any fupply of new Friends to
make up for thofe that are gone ? I think that im-
poiiible, for not our friends only, but fo much of
ourfelves is gone by the mere flux and courfe of years,,
that were the fame friends to be reftored to us, we
could not be reftored to ourfelves, to enjoy them.
But as when the continual wafliing of a river takes
away our flowers and plants, it throws weeds and
fedges in their room ^ j fo the courfe of time brings
us
* As retirement and tranqoillity were conftantly the topics
of Bolingbrokc'^ Letters, his profeflioos may be as mach believed as
Pope's, who fays of his own Letters, that " they had been drawn
from him fo much agatnfi his own incUnailon**
' There are fomc ftrokes in this Letter, which can be accounted
for DO otherwife th^n by the Author's extreme compaflton and
tcndcrnefs
3i8 LETTERS TO AND
us fomething, as it deprives us of a great deal ; and
inftead of leaving us vi^hat we cultivated, and expeded
to flouriih and adorn us, gives us only what is of feme
little ufe, by accident. Thus I have acquired, with-
out my feeking, a few chance-acquaintance*, of
young men, who look rather to the pad age than the
prefent, and therefore the future may have fome hope&
of them. If I love them, it is becaufe they honour
fome of thofe whom I, and the world, have loft, or
are lofing. Two or three of them have diftinguilhed
themfelves in Parliament, and you will own in a very
uncommon manner, when I tell you it is by their
afierting of Independency, and Contempt of Cor-
ruption. One or two are linked to me by their
love of the fame ftudies and the fame authors : but
I will own to you, my moral capacity has got fo much
the better of my poetical, that I have few acquaintance
on the latter fcore, and none without a cafting weight
on the former. But I find my heart hardened and
blunt to new impreffions^ it will fcarce recdve or re'
tain aflFe£tions of yefterday; and thofe friends who
have been, dead thefe twenty years, are more prefent
to
tendernefs of heart, too much affeftcd by the complaints of a
peeviih old man (labouring and impatient under bis lofirmities) .
and too intent in the friendly office of mollifying them.
Warbdrtok.
♦ Warton fays, " Some of thefe new friends were, he knew, dif-
pleafed at the manner in which they are mentioned in this Letter."
He probably means Lord Littleton.
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 319
to mc now, than thofe I fee daily. You, dear Sir,
are one of the former fort to me in all refpe£ls but
that we can, yet, correfpond together. I don't know
whether 'tis not more vexatious, to know we are
both in one world, without any further intercourfe.
Adieu. 1 can fay no more, I feel fo much : let me drop
into common things. — Lord Mafliam has jufl married
his fon. Mr. Lewis has jufl buried his wife. Lord
Oxford wept over your Letter* in pure kindnefs.
Mrs. B. fighs more for you, than for the lofs of
youth. She fays, fhe will be agreeable many years
hence, for fhe has learned that fecret from fome re-
ceipts of your writing.— Adieu.
LETTER LXXXVI.
March 23, i7.^6»»7.
TT HOUGH you were never to write to me, yet what
you defired in your lafl, that I would write
often to you, would be a very eafy tafk j for every day
I talk
* Thefe Lettcre that almoft^ us among the very perfons who
wrote them, create, with all their faults, a melancholy intereft. We
hear of their acquaintance, friends, purfuits, ftudies, as if we knew
them ; we fee the progrefs of their years and infirmities, and follow
them through the gradations from youth to age, from hope to dif,
appointment; and partake of their feelings, '.heir partialities,
averfioDSi hopes, and forrowt, till all is daft and filencc.
8
320
LETTERS TO AND
1 talk with you, and of you, in my heart ; and I
need only fet down what that is thinking of. The
nearer I find myfelf Verging to that period of life
which is to be labour and forrow, the more I propr
myfelf upon thofe few fupports that are left me.
t^eople in this Q:ate are like props indeed ; they cannot
ftand alone,' but two or more of them can ftand, lean*
ing and bearing upon one another. I wifh you and I
might pafs this part of life together. My only ne-
ceffary care is at an end. I am now my own mafter
too much ; my houfe is too large ; my gardens fumifli
too much wood and provifion for my ufe. My fenrants
are fenfible and tender of me; they have inter-
married, and are become rather low friends than
fervants : and to all thofe that I fee here with plea-
fure, they take a pleafure in being ufefiil. I con-
clude this is your cafe too in your domeftic life,
and I fometimes think of your old houfe-keeper as
my nurfe; though 1 tremble at the fea, which
only divides us. As your fears are not fo great
■
as mine, and, I firmly hope, your ftrength ftifl
much greater, is it utterly impoflible, it might once
more be fome pleafure to you to fee England?
My fole motive in propofing France to meet in,
was the narrownefs of the psiflage by fea from
hence, the Phyficians having told me the weaknels
of my bread, etc. is facb, as a fea-ficknefs might
endanger my life. Though one or two of our
friends are gone,, fince you faw your native country,
there
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 321
there remain a few mofe who will laft fo till death,
and who, I cannot but hope, have an attraftive
power to draw you back to a Country •, which can-*
not quite be funk or enflaved, while fiich fpirits
remain. And let me tell you, there are a few
more of the fame fpirit, who would awaken all
your old ideas, and revive your hopes of a future
recovery and Virtue. Thefe look up to you, with
reverence, and would be animated by the fight
of him at whofe foul they have taken fire, in his
writings, and derived from thence as much Love of
their fpecies as is confident with a contempt for the
knaves of it.
I could never be weary, except at the eyes, of
writing to you ; but my real reafon (and a ftrong
one it is) for doing it fo feldom, is Fear ; Fear
of a very great and experienced evil, that of my
letters being kepc by the partiality of friends, and
pafGng into the hands and malice of enemies ; who
publiQi them with all their Imperfedions on their
head ; fo that I write not on the common terms of
faoneft men.
Would
r ^ It has been obferved, that the lafl place of Swift's refidence ia
I England^ was Letcombe. He retired there to the houfe of hia
r friend, juft before Queen Anne's death, when he found it impof-
fible to reconcile Oxford and Bolingbroke. In this village he
wrote his " Free Thoughts on the prefent State of Affairs.'' Hia
friend was the Rev. Mr. Geary, redlor of the place : and there is
a kind of Cloifter in the garden, where he ufed to walk in wet
weather, which is ftill called ** Dean Swift's Cloifter/'
VOL. IX. Y
22% LETTERS TO AND
Would to God you wo\fld come over with Lord
Orrery, whofe care of you in the voyage I could
fp certainly depend on; and bring with you your
old houfe-keeper and two or three fervants. I have
room for all, a heart for all, and (think what you
will) a fortune for all. We could, were we to-
gether, contrive to make our laft days eafy, and
leave fome fort of Monument, what Friends two
Wits could be in fpite of all the fools in the world.
Adieu.
LETTER LXXXVIL
FROM DR. SWIFT.
Dublin, May 3 1, 1737.
T T is true, I owe you f6me letters, but it has {leafed
God, that I have not been in a condition to pay
you. When you (hall be at my age, perhaps you
may lie under the fame difability to your prefent or
future friends. But my age is not my difability, for
I can walk fix or feven miles, and ride a dozen.
But I am deaf for two months together ; this deaf^
nefs imquallfies me for all company, except a few
friends with counter-tenor voices, whom I can call
names, if they do not fpeak loud enough for my ears.
It is this evil that hath hindered me from venturing
to the Bath, and to Twickenham ; for deafnefs being
not
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 323
not a frequent diforder,- hath no allowance given it (
and the fcurvy figure a man affedied that way makes
in company, is utterly infupportable.
It was I began with the petition to you of Orna ine^
and now you come like an unfair merchant to charge
me with being in your debt } which by your way of
reckoning I muft always, be, for yours are filways
guineas, and mine farthings ; and yet I have a pre-
fence to quarrel with you, becaufe I am not at the
head of any one of your Epiftles. 1 am often won-
dering how you come to excel all mortals on the
fubjeft of Morality, even in the poetical way ; and
fliould have wondered more, if Nature and Education
had not made you a profeffor of it from your infancy.
** All the letters I can find of yours, I have faftened
'* in a folio cover, and the refl in bundles endorf^d :
but, by reading their dates, I find a chafm of
fix years, of which I can find no copies ; and
yet I keep them with all poffible care : but I have
** been forced, on three or four occafions, to fend
** all my papers to fome friends ; yet thofe papers
** were all fent fealed in bundles, to fome faithful
" friends : however, what 1 have, are not much
" above fixty." 1 found nothing in any one of
them to be left out : none of them have any thing
to do with Party, of which you are the cleareft of
all men by your Religion, and the whole tenor of
your life ; while I am raging every moment againfl:
y a the
cc
cc
324 LETTERS TO AND
the Corruption of both kingdoms, efpecially of this ;
fuch is my weaknefs.
I have read your Epiftle of Horace to Auguftufi :
it was fent me in the Englifli Edition, as foon as it
could come. They are printing it in a fmall oftavo.
The curious are looking out, forae for Flattery, fomc
for Irfcnies in it 5 the four folks think they have found
out fome: but your admirers here, I mean every
man of tafte, affeft to be certain, that the Profeffion
of friendfliip to Me in the fame poem, will not fuffcr
you to be thought a Flatterer. My happinefs is that
you are too far engaged, and in fpite of you the ages
to come will celebrate me, and know you were a
friend who loved and efteemed me, although I died
the objeft of Court and Party hatred.
Pray, who is that Mr. Glover, who writ the Epic
poem called Leonidas *, which is reprinting here,
and
* Few Poems, on their fir ft appearance, have been received
with greater applaufe than Leonidas. Lord Lyitelton, in the
paper called Common Senfif gave 1% a very high encomium. Dr.
Pemberton wrote a long and critical examination of its merits^
equalling it to Homer and Milton. Nothing elfc was read or
talked of at Lelcefter-houfe ; and by all the Members that were in
Oppofition to Sir R. Walpole ; and particularly by Lord Cohbam
and his friends, to whom the Poem was dedicated. If at 6rft it
was too much admired, it certainly of late has been too much
pegleded. Many parts of it are commendable; fuch as» the
parting of Leonidas with his wife and family ; the dory Kii Atnana
and T^erihovLus; the hymn of the Magi; the dream of Leonidas;
the defcription of his (hield ; the exa(^ defcription of the vaii
fkrmy of Xerxes, taken from Herodptus i the burning the camp
I
I
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 3^5
and bath great vogue? We have frequently good
Poems of late from London *. I have juft read one
upon Converfation t, and two or three others. But
the crowd do not incumber you, who, like the Orator
or Preacher, ftand aloft, and are feen above the reft,
more than the whole affembly below.
1 am able to write no more ; and this is my third
endeavour, which is too weak to finifh the paper.
I am, my deareft friend, yours entirely, as long as
I can write, or fpeak, or think.
of Xerxet; and the laft confiidl and death of the hero. Many
of the charadlers are drawn with difcrimination and truth. The
'ftylct which fomettmcs wants eleyation, is remarkably pure and
perfpicuous : but the numbers want variety, and he has not enough
availed him£elf of the great privilege' of bUink verfe, to run hta
▼erfes into one another, with dififertnt paufes. And I have often
(as I bad the pleafure of kno>ving him well) difputed with him
9n his favourite opinion, that only Iambic feet (hould. be ufed xil
our heroic verfes,; without admitting any Tfochaic, His Medea
is ftill a£led with applaufe. He was one of the bed and moft
accurate Greek fcholars of his time : and a man of great probity,
iotegrity, and fweetnefs of manners. He has left behind him fome
curioui Memoirs, which, it is hoped, will be one day publifhed.
Wartom.
• Glover, Thomfon, &c. indeed, wrote in fuch a fuperior ftyle
of poetry, that he might fay with great truth, " We have frequently
l^ood Poems from London.''
\ By Mr. Stillingfleet, publifhed afterwards in Dodjley^s Mif*
ceBantea. He was a leam«l, modedi and ingenious man ; a great
and ikiiful Botanift. Wartok*
Y3
3a6
LETTERS TO AND
LETTER LXXXVIIL
FROM DR. SWIFT.
Dublin, July 23, 1737.
T SENT a letter to you fome weeks ago, 'which my
Lord Orrery incloftd in one of his, to which I
received as yet no anfwer, but it will be time
enough when his Lordflbip goes over, which will be,
as he hopes, in about ten days, and then he will take
with him " all the letters I preferved of yours, which
are not above twenty- five. I find there is a great
chafm of fome years, but the dates are more
early than my two laft journeys to England, which
makes me imagines, that in one of thofe journeys
I carried over another Cargo." But I cannot
truft my memory half an hour \ and my diforder of
deafnefs and giddinefs increafes daily *. So that I am
declining as faft as it is eafily poflible for me, if I were
a dozen years older.
We have had your volume of letters, which, 1 2«n
told, are to be printed here: fome of thofe who highly
efteem you, and a few who know you perfonally,
are grieved to find you make »o diftinftion between
the Englifh Gentry of this Kingdom, and the fayage
old
cs
«c
«c
cc
cc
♦ Who can read the flow |)rogrcfs of a diforder, that gradually
undermined his faculties, and -funk him at lall in helplefs decays
without a figh, whatvvcr might kive been his faults ?
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 327
old Irifh (who arc only the vulgar, and fome Gen-
tlemen who live in the Irifli pjtrts of the Kingdom); but
the Englifli Colonies, who are three parts in four,
are much more civilized than uvtnj Counties in
England, and fpeak better Englifli, and are much
better bred. And they think it very hard, that an
American, who is of the fifth generation from Eng-
land, fhould be allowed to preferve that title, only
I
becaufe we have been told by fome of them that their
names are entered in fome parifli in London. I have
three or four Coufins here who were born in Portu-
gal, whofe parents took the fame care, and they are
all of them Lortddners. Dr. Delany, who^ as I take
it, is of an Irifli family, came to viGt me three days
ago, on purpofe to complain of thofe paflages in
your Letters ; he will not allow fuch a diflperence be-
tween the two climates, but will aflTert that North-
Wales, Northumberland, Yorkfliire, and the other
Northern Shires, have a more cloudy ungenial air
than any part of Ireland^ In fliort, I am afraid your
friends and admirers here will force you to make a
Palinody.
As for the other parts of your volume of Letters,
my opinion is, that there might be collected from
them the befl: Syftem that ever was wrote for the Con-
duct of human life, at lead to fliame all reafonable
men out of their Follies and Vices. It is fome re-
commendation of this Kingdom, and of the tafte of
the people, that you are at lead as highly celebrated
Y 4 here
3^S LETTERS TO AND
here as you are at home. If you will blame us for
Slav^, Corruption, Athdfm, and fuch trifles, do it
freely, but include England, only with an addition
of every other Vice. — ^I wifli you would give orders
againft the corruption of Englifh by thofe Scribblers,
who fend us over their trafh in Profe and Verfe, with
abominable curtailings and quaint modemifiaM.— I
am now daily expefting an end of life : I have loft
all fpirit, and evety fcrap of health: I fometimes
recover a little of my hearing, but my head is ever
out of order. While I have any ability to hold a
commerce with you, I will never be filent, and this
chancing to be a day that I can hold a pen, I will
drag it as long as I am able. Pray let my Lord Orrery
fee you often ; next to yourfelf, I love no man fo
well ; and tell him what I fay, if he vifits you. I
have now done, for it is evening, and my head grows
worfe. May God always proteft you, and prefervc
you long, for a pattern of Piety and Vitrue.
Farewell, my dearefl and almoft only conftant
friend. I am ever, at leaf): in my efteem, honour, and
aflfe£tion to you, what I hope you expeft me to be,
Yours, etc»
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 325
LETTER LXXXIX.
FROM DR. SWIFT.
r.
My dear Friend, Dublin, Aug. 8, 1738.
IT HAVE yours of July 25, and firft I defire you will
look upon me as a man worn with years^ and funk
by public as well as perfonai vexations. I have en-
tirely loft my memory, uncapable of converfation by
a cruel dealhefs, which has lafled almoft a year, and
I defpair of any cure. I fay not this to encreafe your
compafliony (of which you have already too great a
part,) but as an excufe for my not being regular in my
Letters to you, and fome few other friends. I have
an ill name in the Poft-ofBce of both Kingdoms,
which makes the Letters addreifed to me not feldom
mifcarry, or be opened and read, and then fealed in
a bungling manner before they come to my hands.
Our friend Mrs. B. * is very often in my thoughts, an4
high in my efteem ; I defire, you will be the meflenger
of my humble thanks and fervice to her. That fupe-
rior univerfal Genius t you defcribe, whofe hand- writ-
ing- I know towards the end of your Letter, hath
made
* See an origrinal Letter of Swift^8) in the tenth Volume»
beginniog, — " Madam Pat."
f Bolingbroke. 6
33& LETtEfeS TO AND
made me both proud and happy ; but by what ht
writes I fear he will be too foon gone to his Foreft
abroad *. He began in the Queen's time to be my
Patron, and then defcended to be my Friend.
It is a great Favour of Heaven that your health
grows better by the addition of years. I have abfo-
lutely done with poetry for feveral years pad, and even
at my beft times I could produce nothing but trifles :
I therefore rejeft your compliments on that fcore, and
it is no compliment in me j for I take your fecond Dia-
logue that you lately fent me, to equal almoll any
thing you ever writ ; although I live fo much out of
the world, that I am ignorant of the fa£ts and per*
fons, which, I prefume, are very well knpwn front
Temple-bar to St. James's (I mean the Court ex-
clufive).
" I can faithfully affure you, that every Letter you
" have favoured me with, thefe twenty years and
•* more, are fealed up in bundles, and delivered to
** Mrs. W t, a very worthy, rational, and judici-
" ous Coufin of mine, and the only relation whof6
•* vifits I can fufier : all thefe letters flie is direfted to
*' fend fafely to you upon my deceafe.''
My Lord Orrery is gone with his Lady to a part cf
her eftate in the North : fhe is a perfon of very good
underftanding as any I know of her fex. Give me
leave to write here a (hort anfwer to my Lord B.'s
letter in the laft page of yours.
My
• The Foreft of Fontaiableau. f Mrt. Whiteway.
5
FROM i)R. SWIFT, etc.. 331
My dear Lord,
I am infinitely obliged to your Lordfhip for the
honour of your Letter, and kind remembrance of me.
I do here confefs, that I have more obligations to
your Lordfliip than to all the world befides. You
never deceived me, even when you were a great
Minifter of State : and yet 1 love you ftill more, for
your condefcending to write to me, when you had
the honour to be an Exile. I can hardly • hope to
live till you publifh your Hiftory, and am vain enough
to wifli that my name could be fqueezed in among the
few Subalterns, quorum pars parva fui : if not, I will
be revenged, and contrive fome way to be known to
futurity, that I had the honour to have your Lordfliip
for my bell Patron 5 and I will live and die, with the
higheft veneration and gratitude, your moft obedient,
etc.
P. S. I will here in a Poftfcript correfl: (if it be
pouible) the blunders I have made in my letter. I
ihewed my Coufin * the above letter, and (he aiTures
me, that a great Colledion of • your me,
letters to
are put up and fealed, my you,
and
* Mrs. Whitcway.
• 'Tis written juft thus in the Original. The Book that is now
printed feems to be part of the Collcftion here fpoken of, as it
contains not only the Letters of Mr. Pope but of Dr. Swift, botli
to him and Mr, Gay, which were returned him after Mr. Gay 'a
death : though any mention made by Mr. P. of the Return or Ex-
change of Letters has been induftroufly fupprcffed in the Publica-
tion, aad only appears by fome of the Anfwers. Warburtom.
332
LETTERS TO AND
and in fome very fafe hand '. I am, my
moft dear and honoured Friend, entirely
Yours, etc.
It is now jiug. 24,
1738.
Sir,
' The Earl of OtLt^EKY to Mr, Pope.
I am more and more convinced that your Letters are neither
lod nor burnt ; but who the Dean means by ^i/afi band in Ireland,
is beyond my power of guefling, thouj^h I am particularly ac-
quainted with moft, if not all, of his friends. As I knew yon
had the recovery of thofe Letters at heart, I took more than
ordinary pains to find out where they were ; but my cnquirict
were to no purpofe, and, I fear, whoever has them is too tenaci-
ous of them to difcover where they lie, " Mrs, W did aflnrc
'* me (he had not one of them, and feemed to be under great
*< uneafinefs that you (hould imagine they were left with her.
" She likewife told me (he had (lopped the Dean's Letter which
<< gave you that information ; but believed he would write foch
** another; and therefore defired me to aflure you, from her,'
** that (he was totally ignorant where they were."
You may make what ufe you pleafe, either to the Dean or any
other perfon; of what I have told you. I am ready to teftify it ;
and 1 think it ought to be known, *< That the Dean fays they
<* are delivered into a fafe hand, and * Mrs. W declares (he hat
** them not. The Confequence of their being hereafter publiChed
« may give uneafinefs to fome of your Friends, and of courfe to
*^ you : fo 1 would do all in my power to make you entirely eafy
** in that point."
This is the firft time that I have put pen to paper fioce my late
misfortune, and I (hould fay (as an excufe for this Letter) that it
has cod me fome pain, did it not allow me an opportunity to afiaie
you, that I am^
Dear Sir,
With th«true(l efteem.
Your very faithful and obedient Servant,
Marfton, OBt. 4. 1738. ORRERY*
* Tbifl Lady fince gave Mr. Pope the ftrongeft aflunnccs that (be bad
ufed her utmuil Endeavours to prevent the Pu^Ucttion j aay, Yeot fo far at lb
ficttU
FROM DR, SWIFT, etc. 333
LETTER XC-
fThc following is a very curious Letter of Swift to Sir W.
Temple, hitherto uDpublifhed ♦.^
May it pleafe your Honour, Dublin, Oa. 6, 169^.-
'pHAT 1 might not continue the many troubles I
have given you, I have all this while avoided one,
which I fear proves neceffary at laft. I have taken all
due methods to be ordained, and one time of ordina*
tion is already elapfed fmce my arrival for effeding it.
Two or three bifhops, acquaintance of our family,
have fignified to me and them, that after fo long
ftanding in the Univerfity, it is admired I have not
entered upon fomething or other, (above half the
* clergy in this town being my Juniors,) and that it
being fo many years fmce I left this Kingdom, they
<:ould not admit me to the miniflry without fome
certificate of my behaviour where I lived ; and my
Lord Archbifhop of Dublin was pleafed to fay a great
deal
^ Tranfcribed from the original to Sir W. Temple ; cndorfcd by
Mr. Temple, *' Swift's penittntial Letter ;" copied by Dr. Ship-
man, late Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and Re<flor of
ComptoQ near Wincheder, who was a relation of Sir W. Temple.
• Wartow.
fierett the book, till it was commanded from her, and delivered to the Dublin
Printer } thereupon her fon-in-law, D. Swift, Efq. inftfted upon wiiting a
Prefacr, tu juftify Mr. P. from having any Knowledge of it, and to lay it upon
thecoirupt PraAices of the Printeis in IfOndon ) but this he would not agreo
to, as not koDwicg the Truth of the Fa6t. Pof s«
34
LETTERS TO AND
deal of this kind to me yefterday ; concluding againft
all I had to fay, that he expeded I fhould have a
certificate from your Honour of ray conduct in your
family. The fence I am in, how low I am fallen in
your Honour's thoughts, has denied me affurance
enough to beg this favour, till I find it impoflible to
avoid : and I intreat your Honour to underftand,
that no perfon is admitted here to a living, without
fome knowledge of hi$ abilities for it : which it being
reckoned impoffible to judge in thofe who are not
ordained, the ufual method is to admit men firft to
fome fmall reader's place, till, by preaching upon occa-
fions, they can value themfelves for better preferment.
This (without great friends) is fo general, that if I
were four-fcore years old I muft go the fame way,
and fcould at that age be told, every one muft have
a beginning. I intreat that your Honour will con-
fider this, and will pleafe to fend me fome certificate
of my behaviour^ during almoft three years in your
family: wherein I fhall (land in need of all your
goodnefs to .excufe my many weaknefles and over-
fights, much more to fay any thing to my advantage.
The particulars expefted of me, are what rislate. to
morals and learning, and the reafons of quitting your
Honour's family, that is, whether the laft was occa-
lioned by any ill aftions. They are all left entirely to
your Honour's mercy, though in the firft I think 1
cannot reproach myfelf any further than for injir-
viiiies. .
FROM DR, SWIFT, etc. 335
•This is all I dare beg at prefent from your Honour,
linder'circumflances of life not worth your regard:
what is left me to wifh (next to the health and pro-
fperity of your Honour and family) is that Heaven
would one day allow me the opportunity of leaving
my acknowledgments at your feet for fo inany
favours I have received : which, whatever effeQ: they
have had upon my fortune, fhaU never fail to have
the greateft upon my mind, in approving myfelf upon
all occafions, your Honour's mod obedient and
moft dutiful fervant, etc
I beg my moft humble duty and fervice be pre-
fented to my Ladiiss, your Honour's Lady and
Sifter.
The ordination is appointed by the Archbiflibp by
the beginning of November, fo that if your Honour
will not grant this favour immediately, I fear it wilt
pome too jatp.
33« LETTERS TO AND
LETTER XCL
ON MRS. LONG'S DEATH.
SIR, London, December 26, 1711.
TT HAT. you may not be furprifed with a Letter utterly
unknown to you, I will tell you the occafion of
it. The Lady who lived near two years in your neigh-
bourhood, and whom you was fo kind to vifit under
the name of Mrs. Smyth, was Mrs. Ann Long, fitter
to Sir James Long, and niece of Col. Sirangeways ;
ihe wag of as good a private family as moft in England,
and had every valuable quality of body and mind that
eould make a lady loved and eftcemed- Accordingly
ihe wa$ always valued here above moft of her fcx,
«nd by moft diftinguifhed perfons. But by the un-
kindnefs of her friends and the generofity of her own
nature, and depending upon the death of a veiy old
grandmother, which did not happen till it was toQ
late, contraftcd Tome debts that made her uneafy
here; and in order to clear them, was content to
retire unknown to your town, where 1 fear her death
has been haftened by melancholy, and perhaps the
want of fuch affiftance as flie might have found here,
I thought fit to fignify this to you, partly to let you
know, how valuable a perfon you have loft; but
chiefly to defire that you will pleafe to bury her in
fome
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 337
feme part of your church near a wall where a plain
marble ftone may be fixed, as a poor monument for
one who deferved fo well ; and which , if God fends
me life, I hope one day to place there, if no other of
her friends will think fit to do it. I had the honour
of an intimate acquaintance with her, and was never
fb ienfibly touched with any one's death, as with hers.
Neither did I ever know a perfon of either fex with
more virtues, or fewer infirmities ; the only one (he
had, which was the negled of her own affairs, arifing
whoUy from the goodnefs of her temper. I write not
this to you at all as a fecret, but am content your
towa fliould know what an excellent perfon they have
had among them. If you vifited her any ihort time
before her death, or knew any particulars about it,
or of die ftate of her mind, or the nature of her dif-
eafe, I b^ you will be fo obli^g to inform me ;
for the letter we have feen from her poor maid, is fa
imperfeft by her grief for the death of fo good 9, lady,
that it only tdls the time of her death, and your let«
ter may if you pleafe be dire&ed to Dr. Swift, and
put under a cover ; which cover may be direded to
Erafinus Lewis, £fq. at the Earl of Dartmouth's
office, at White-hall. I hope you will forgive this
trouble for the occafion of it, and give fome allow-
ances to fo great a lofa not only to me, but to all who
have any regard for every perfeQion ths^t human
nature pan pc^fefs ^ and if any way I can fisrve or
Yot. IX,. z obUge
338 LETTERS TO AND
oblige you, I fliall be glad of an opportunity of obey-
ing your commands.
I am, etc.
J.SWIFT.
LETTER XCn.
[The following is a remarkable Letter of Pope to Jdx. Men,
concerning Swift's publication of his Letters.]
"jV/fY vexation about Dean Swift's proceeding h:^
fretted and employed me a great deal, in writing
to Ireland, and trying all the means poilible to retard
it ; for it is put paft preventing, by his having (with-
out afking my confent, or fo much as letting me fee
the book) printed moft of it. — ^They at laft promifc
me to fend me the copy, and that I may correct and
expunge what I will. This laft would be of fome
ufe } but I dare not even do this, for they would fay
I revifed it. And the bookfeller writes, that he has
been at great charge, etc. However, the Dean, upon
all I have faid and written about it, has ordered him
to fubmit to any expun£Uons I infift upon ; this is all
I can obtain, and I know not whether to make any ufe
of it or not. But as to your apprehenfion, that any
fufpicion may arife of my own being any way confent-
ing or concerned in it, I have the pleafure to tell you,
the whole thing is fo circumftanced and fo plain, that
it
FROM DR. SWIFT, etc. 339
it can never be the cafe. I fliall be very defirous to
fee what the letters are at all events ; and I think that
muft determine my future meafures ; for till then I
can judge nothing. The exceffive eameftnefs the
Dean has been in for publilhing them, makes me
hope they are caftigated in fome degree ; or he mull
be totally deprived of his underftanding. They now
offer to fend me the originals fwhich have been fo
long detained]], and Til accept of them, (though they
have done their job,) that they may not have them to
produce againft ine, in cafe there be any oSenfive
paflages in them. If you can give me any advice, do;
I wifli I could fliew you what the Dean's people, the
women and the bookfeller, have done and writ, on
my fending an abfolute negative, and on the agency
I have employed of fome gentlemen to flop it, as well
as threats of law, etc. The whole thing is too mani*
fed to admit of any doubt in any man : how long
this thing has been working ; how many tricks have
been played with the Dean's papers, how they were
fecreted from him from time to time, while they
feared his not complying with fuch a meafure : and
how, finding his weaknefs increafe, they have at lafl
made him the inftrument himfelf for their private
profit ; whereas I believe, before, they only intended
to do this after his death*
7 2
( 34t )
LETTERS*
TO
BROOK TAYLOR, ESQ.
ssssasssatt
LETTER L
FROM LORD BOLINGBROKE.
A h Sottrce»pret d'Orleant, May i, 1711.
T t£KD you, dear Sir, a letter vhich came luther
for jovL by the laft poft, and I thank you, at the
ftme time, for yours. My health is, I thank God,
m a much better ftate. I would not fail to ufe Dr.
Aibuthnot's prefcriptions, if I found any occafion
for thenL If you fee the Abbe Conti, afk him whe«
ther it be true, that there is at Venice a Manufcript
of the Hiflory of the Caefars, by Eunapius, of whom
it ia pretended, that Zofimus was only an abridger,
as JufUn was of Trogus Pompeius, or Hephxftion of
Dion Caffius.
Adieu. Dear Sir, I am, moft faithfully.
Your, etc.
* Tbefe Lctten have little to do with Pope ; but as Wartoa
bat admStaed them, I aai unwilliiig to njeA thtm.
»3
34* LETTERS TO MR. TAVLOR-
LETTER II.
t
PROM tHE SAMfi.
November 23, xyir.
rpHE letters which accompany this, vill explain to
you Ivhy I have been fo long without anfwering
yours of the 1 3th of the laft month ; and the fame
reafon has been in part the caufe why, now I do
write to you, I fay nothing about thofe thoughts of
an ingenious Clergyman, which you was fo kind as
to 'Communicate to me. Ever fince your letter came
into my hands, I have had too nmch company, and
my time has been too much broken, to be able to
ftudy as ufually, or to examine any fuch matter,
with due attention. Befidea, this new explanation of
Daniel's Prophecy is founded on a new reading of the
text, of which, for want of languages, 1 cannot
judge : the years, as this Commentator lays them
down, do, I believe, fall in with the vulgar .reckon-
ing, and perhaps any defcription ahno(]t of time
may fall in with this reckoning, by the rules which
have been followed, in forcing this unwieldy paffage
to an application. Upon this occaiion, I'll tell you
what I have very near done, for my whole life, with
all enquiries into remote antiquity. My intention was
to fee the foundations of thofe hiflorical and chro*
nological fyftems, which have been ereded with fo
much learned pains in our Weftern world. I have
feen
LETTERS TO MR. TAYLOR. 343
fccn thein, thcfe comer ftones, and I think I have
examined them enough to be fure, that he who
cannot content himfelf to employ his time about con-
fequences, drawn from principles evidently begged,
ought not to employ it in this kind of erudition. If
ever we meet, Fll truft to your candour what I have
obferved, and what has fixed my thoughts, and put an
end to all my curiofity on this fubjeft ; after which,
you may perhaps be of opinion (if you are not fo
already) that when Varro fixed the famous epoch, (as
Cenforinus fays he did,) this learned Roman could
hardly have any better reafon for doing fo, than the
defire of including the foundation of his city within
that period; from which, the fabulous age being
ended, the hiilorical age began. I have lately read a
Book, called an Enquiry into the Caufes and Origin
of Moral Evil* : it runs in my head, that the author
has not taken all the advantages which, as a Philo-
fopher, he might have taken, againft the defender of
the Manichean Syftems ; and fure it is, that as a Di-
vine, he lies under fome additional difadvantages,
ealily underftood, and therefore not neceflary to be
explained. Is there not a Treatife, writ by the fame
author, concerning Phyfical Evil ? I take you at your
word, and fend a Secretary of mine to receive your
dire£tions about fome books which I have writ to him
for. The Abbe, who is here, and I, agree better
about poetry, than we do about philofophy ; and
fome
♦ King^s Orijrin of Evil, • - .
Z 4
344 LETTERS TO MR. TATLOR>
feme difputes which we have had, make mt vddft
to fiudy certain points which I imagine that both of
us hare talked of, more than we hare thought o£
How charmed ihould we be to fee yoa here» if you
was not better placed, and better employed where
you are ! M'*' de Caylus wrkes to you about a thing,
which I join with her in defiring you to do, if it be
to be done. You fpoke, when you was in this coun-
try, of the Cbinefe manner of making fire-woiks,
which are infinitely more admirable than ours, and
I think you mentioned one Mr. Btnmd who had the
fecret ; be fo good as to fend it to M"*" de Caylus.
It is for a young perfon, whom . you will not be forry
to oblige. Adieu, dear Sir.
' ■ ■
LETTER m.
FROM THE SAME.
Dear Sir, December ad, 1723.
^OUR letter of the 15th of November came to my
hands juft as I was leaving the country to come
to this place; and fmce my bemg here, befides a
little bufinels, I have had fome return of my ilkefs,
but it feems to be over, and was, I hope, nothing
more than the laft pang of an expiring malady.
The good intelligence you are at prefent in with
your father, gives me a mpft fenfible pleafure;
and I hope, that you will be able to fettle your
afiain
LET,TERS to MR. TAYLOR. 345
tfiurs at laft| bk foch a manner as to make you
amends for aU the trouble you have gone through.
When I endeavoured to afBft you, I believed at that
dme there was power ; I have had fince fome reafon
to befieve tibere is none : and I had rather attribute
to the want of this, than to the want of incCnation^
any coldnefs which you may find. The books were
here at my arrival ; and I am very thankful to you
ibr them. I have gone through all that I propofed
to myfelf in the way of fhidymg, wherein I was,
when you gave us your good company. I never in*
tended to do more than to examine, as well as I was
able, the foundations on which thofe fyftems of
Chronology and Ancient Hiftory which obtain in our
Wefton world are built, ijin de /(avoir i quoy nCen*
imr. I have done this ; and I have no more defire
to purfue this ftudy any further, than I have to be
a proficient in Judicial Affarology. Who can refolve
to build, with great coft and pains, when he finds
how deep foever he digs, nothing but loofe fand?
Some have been fo pleafed with a high and lofty
fituation, that they have ventured upon this proje£t ;
for my part, I incline not to imitate them ; and to
carry the fimilitude a little further, when fuch build-
ings are railed, I may be tempted to take a curfory
view of them, but I can by no means xefolve to
dwell in them, a limine falutandafunt.
Since my being here, I have feen very few people ;
our friend the Abbe Conti but once : and then, he
was
346 LETTERS TO MR. TAYLOR.
Vfz& fo much out of order, that my convafadon
him vas very fuccind. He has begun a Philofophical
Poem, which will be finiihed, I believe, long before
the Anti-Lucredus of the Cardinal de Polignac. Sir
Ifaac Newton's Syftem will make the principal beauty
of it. He recited the exorde to me, which 1 thought
very fine ; I need not tell you that he writes it in Italian.
My fellow hermit is very affedionately your bumble
fervant : flie defires you would, for the prefent, give
yourfelf no further trouble about the afiiur of Monfieur
de la Rpche Jacquelin. Adieu, dear Sir.
I am, with all poifible efteero,
• Tour^ etc.
Inscrip-
LETTERS, etc. 347
Inscriptions in the Gardens of the Chateau de la
Source, near Orleans, written by Lord Boling-
BROKE, during his Exile.
PROPTER FIDEM, ADVERSUS REGINAM
ET PARTES
INTEMERATE SERVATAM,
PROPTER OPERAM IN PACE GENERALI
CONCILIANDA,
STRENUE SALTEM NAVATAM:
IMPOTENTIA VESANiE FACTIONIS
SOLUM VERTERE CO- ACTUS,
HIC AD AQUiE LENE CAPUT
SACR^
INJUSTE EXULAT
DULCE VIVIT
* H. M. B. 1722.
SI RESIPISCAT PATRIA, IN PATRIAM
REDITURUS,
SI HON RESIPISCAT, UBIVIS MELIUS
QUAM INTER TALES GIVES FUTURUS
HANC VILLAM INSTAURO ET EXORNO
HIC, VELUT EX PORTU, ALIENOS
CASUS ET FORTUNiE LUDUM
INSOLENTEM
CERNERE SUAVE EST.
HIC, MORTEM NEC APPETENS, NEC TIMEN3,
INNOCUIS DELICIIS
DOCTA QUIETE
ET FELICIS ANIMI IMMOTA TRANQUILLITATE
FRUISCOR,
HIC, MIHI VIVAM, QUOD SUPEREST, AUT
EXILII, AUT MVl. 1722.
• Vii, Heniy Marcilly Bolingbroke. This and ihe folloving Infcription,
in the band- wriiing of Lord Bulingbrokc* vcre iaclofed in the furtgoing Letter.
( 349 )
LETTERS
TO
RALPH ALL£Nt £SQ<
LETTJSR L
MR. POPE TO MR. ALLEN*.
Twitmwit April 30* x 735.
T «AW Mr. M, yefterdajy vho has readily allowed
Mr. V. to copy the Fidure. I have iiiiquued for
At bed Ori{^i»l8 ci thofe two fubjeds, which, I
found, were fiavoorite ones with you, and well de*
Save to be fo, the difcovery of Jofeph to his Brethren,
and the Refignation of the Captive by Scipio. Of
the latter^ my Lord Qurlington has a fine one done
by Bicci, and I am p^omifed the other in a good
Ihmt frpm one of the cUef Italian Painters. Thai
of ScipiQ is of the OfzGt fize one would wiih for a
Baffq Relievo, in which manner, in my opinion,
you
* It w»8 the publication of Pope's Letters that made Allen
mnhitioas of his acquaintance. Popct it is well known» iotxoduced
Waiburton to Allen, who afteiwards married his niece, and, in
confcquencr of that connedion, became a Biihop*
7
350 LETTERS TO MR. ALLEN.
you would befl ornament your Hall, done in Chiaro
obfcuro.
A mati not only (hews his Tafte,^ but his Virtue,
in the choice of fuch ornaments : and whatever ex*
ample moft ftrikes us, we may reafonably imagine,
may have an influence upon others. So that the
Hiflory itfelf, if well chofen, upon a rich man's
walls, is very often a better leflbn than any he could
teach by iiis converfation. In this fenfe, the Stones
may be faid to fpeak when Men cannot, or will not
I can't help thinking (and I know you'll join with
me, you who have been making an Altar-piece) that
the zeal of the firft Reformers was ill-placed, in re«
moving Piilura (that is to fay, example^) out of
Churches ; and yet fuffering Epitaphs (that is to fay,
flatteries and falfe hiftory) to be the burden of
Church walls, and the ihame, as well as derifion, of
all honeft men,
I have heard little yet of the fubfcription S I in*
tend to make a vifit for a fortnight from home to
Lady Peterborow at Southampton, about the middle
of May. After my return I will enquire what has
been done ; and I really believe, what I told you will
prove true, and I fliall be honourably acquitted of a
taflc I am not fond of ^. I have run out my leaf, and
will only add my fmcere wifhes for your happineis of
all kinds. I am, etc.
* For his own Edit, of the firft VoL of his Letters, undertaken
at Mr. Allen's requefi. Warbwi.toii.
^ The printing his Letters by fubfcription. WARBuarov.
LETTERS TO MR. ALLEN. 351
LETTER II.
FROM THE SAME.
Southampton, June j, 1736.
Y KEED not fay I thank you for a Letter, which
prores fo much firiencUhip for me. I have much
more to iky upon it than I can, till we meet. But
m a word, I think your notion of the value of thole
things'" is greatly too high, as to any fervice they
can do to the public ; and, as to any advantage
they may do to my own Charader, I ought to be
content with what they have done already. I aflfure
you, I do not think it the lead of thofe advantages
that they have occafioned me the good will (in fo
l^reat a degree) of fo worthy a man ^. I fear (as I
mufl: rather retrench than add to their number, un«
lefs I would publifli my own commendations) that
the common run of fubfcribers would think themfelves
injured by not having- every thing, which difcretion
mufl: fupprefs} and this, they (without any other
confideration than as buyers of a book) would call
I
giving them an imperfect Colledtion : whereas the
I only ufe to my own character, as an Author, of fuch
a pub-
I
• His Letters. Wariuitoji'.
* Mr. AUen's fricndfhip with Mr. Pope was contraded on the
reading his Volume of Letters, which gave the former the higheft
opinion of the othei's genera] benevolence and goodnefs of heart.
War «u ft TON.
35^ LETTERS TO MR. ALLEN.
a publication, would be the fupprefEon of many
things : and as to my chara£ler as a Man, it would be
but juft where it is ; unlefs I could be fo vain, fer it
could not be virtnous* to add mort and more honeft
fentiments ; which, when done to be printed^ would
furely be wrong and weak alfo.
I do grant it would be fonie pleafure to me to ex*
punge feveral idle paflages, which will otherwiTe, if
not go down to the next age, pals, at leaft, in this,
ibr mine ; although many of them were not, and God
knows, none of them are my prefent fentiments, but,
on the contrary, wholly difapproved by me.
And I do not flatter you when I fay, that pleafure
would be increafed to me^ in knowing I fliould do
what would pleafe ytm. But I cannot periuade myfelf
to let the whole burden, even though it were a public
good, lie upon you, much lefs to ferve my private
£une entirely at another's ezpence %
But, underftand me rightly ; did I befiere half fa
well of them as you do, I would not fcruple your
ailiftance ; becaufe I am fure, that to occasion you to
contribute to a real good would be the greateft be-
ncfit I could oblige you in. And I hereby prooaife
you, if ever I am fo happy as to find any juft Gees'*
fion where your generofity and goodnefs may unite
for fuch a worthy end, I will not fcruple to draw
vpon you for any fum to effed it.
As
Mr. A. oSmd topriat the Lettcn it bisawa expmce.
WAl.BVftTOII.
r
LETTERS TO MR. ALLEN. ^SS
As to the prefent affair, that you may be con-
vinced what weight your opinion and your defires
have with me, I will do what I have not yet done :
I will tell my friends I am as willing to publiflx this
book as to let it alone. And, rather than fuffer you
to be taxed at your own rate, will publifli, in the
News, next winter, the Propofals, etc.
I tell you all thefe particulars to fliew you how
willing I am to follow your advice, nay, to accept
your affiftance in any moderate degree ; but I think
you Ihould referve fo great a proof of your benevo-
lence to a better occaflon.
Since I wrote laft, I have found, on further in-
quiry^ that there is another fine pifture on the fub-
jeS of Scipio and the Captive, by Pietro da Cortona,
which Sir Paul Methuen has a fketch of: and, I
believe, is more expreflive than that of Ricci*, as
Pietro is famous for expreffion. I have alfo met with
a fine print of the difcovery of Jofeph lo his Brethren,
a defign which, I fancy, is of La Sueur f, and will
do perfeftly well.
I am, etc.
* His colouring, fays Walpole, was chalky and without force.
He painted the Hall at Burlingtoa-houfe, and the Chapel at
Chclfca College. Warton.
t La Sueur was the beft of the French painters, for Poullin
Hudied and lived fo long in Italy, that he could hardly be calUd a
Frenchman. Warton.
VOL. IX. A A
\
554 LETTERS TO MR- ALLEN-
LETTER m.
FROM THE SAME.
November 6, 1736.
T BO not write too often to you for many reaGons }
but one, which I think a good one, is, that
Friends fhould be left to think of one another for
certain intervals without too frequent memorandums :
it is an exercife of their friendfliip, and a trial of their
memory : and moreover to be perpetually repeating
aflurances, is both a needlefs and fufpicious kind of
treatment with fu.ch as are fincere : not to add the
tautology one mult be guilty of, who can make out
fo many idle words as to fill pages with faying 6ne
thing. For all is faid in this word, lam truly yours,
I am now as bufy in planting for myfelf as I was
lately in planting for another. And I thank God for
every wet Day and for every Fog, that gives me the
head-ach, but prolpers my works. They will in-
deed outlive me (if they do not die in their Travels
from place to place ; for my Garden, like my Life,
leems, to me, every day to want corre&ion, I hope,
at lead, for the better) \ but 1 am pleafed to think
my Trees will afford fhade and fruit to others, when
I (hall want them no more. And it is no fort of
grief to me, that thofe others will not be Things of
my own poor body : but it is enough, ihey are
Creatures of the fame Species, and made by the fame
hand
LETTERS TO MR, ALLEN. sSi
hand that made me. I wifli (if a wifli would tranf-
port me) to fee you in the fame employment : and it
is no partiality even to you, to fay it would be as
pleaiing to the full to me, if I could improve your
works as my own.
Talking of works, mine in profe are above three
quaners printed, and will be a book of fifty and more
ibeets in quarto. As I find, what I imagined, the
flownefs of fubfcribers, I will do all I can to dif-
appoint you in particular, and intend to publifh in
January, when the town fills, an Advertifement, that
the book will be delivered by Lady-day, to oblige all
that will fubfcribe, to do it. In the mean time I have
printed Receipts, which put an end to any perfon's
delaying upon pretence of doubts by determining that
time^ I fend you a few that you may fee I am in
eameft, eQdeavouring all I can to favc your money,
at the fame time that nothing can leffen the obliga-
tion to me.
I thank God for your health and for my own, which
is better than ufual.
1 am, etc.
A A 2
356 LETTERS TO MR. AJLLEN.
LETTER IV.
FROM THE SAME.
June 8, 1737.
T \^As v^ry forry to hear how much concern your
humanity and friendfhlp betrayed you into upon
the falfe report which occafioned your grief. I am
now fo well, that I ought not to conceal it from you,
as the jufl: reward of your goodnefs which made you
fuffer for me. Perhaps when a Friend is really dead
(if he knows our concern for him) he knows us to
be as much miftaken in our forrow as you now were :
fo that, what we think a real evil is, to fuch fpirits
as fee things truly, no more of moment than a mere
imaginary one. It is equally as God pleafes : let us
think or call it good or eviL
I wifli the world would let me give myfelf more to
fuch people in it as I like, and difcharge me of half
the honours which perfons of higher rank beftow
on me ; and for which one generally pays a little too
much of what they cannot beftow. Time and Life.
Were I arrived to that happier drcumftance, you
would fee me at Widcombe, and not at Bath. But
whether it will be as much in my power as in my
wifi), God knows. I can only fay, I think of it with
the pleafure and fmcerity becoming one who is, etc
LETTERS TO MR- ALLEN. 357
LETTER V.
FROM THE SAME.
npHE event of this week or fortnight has fi
body's mind and mine fo much, that I
November 24, 1737.
filled every
could not
get done what you defired as to Dr. F. but as foon as
I can get home, where my books lie, 1 will fend
them to Mr. K. The death of great perfons is fuch
a fort of furprize to ally as every one's death is to
himfelf, though both ihould equally be expected and
prepared for. We begin to efteem and commend our
fuperiors, at the time that we pity them, becaufe then
they feem not above ourfelves. The Queen fhewed*,
by
♦ Warton fays, " This encomium on Queen Caroline does not
feem to agree with what he has faid of her in other parts of his
works.*' If he felt as he here expreflcs himfelf, ought it not to
have diCumcd his bitter irony againft her memory ?
« All parts performed, and all her children blcfl V*
As the account of her death is highly interefling, I fhall lay it
before the reader, in the words of the moft fenfible and judicioua
hiftorian of the day :—
•• A little before (he died, (he faid to the Phyfician, •< How
long can this laft ?" and on his anfwering, « Your Majcfty will
foon be cafed of your pains 5'' fhe replied, « The fo<yner the
better." She then repeated a prayer of her own compoiing, in
which there was fuch a flow of natural eloquence, as demonftnited
the vigour of a great and good mind. When her fpeech began to
faulter, and (he feemed expiring, ihe defired to be raifcd up in her
A A 3 bed.
n
358 LETTERS TO MR. ALLEN.
by the confeflion of all about her, the utmoft firm-
nefs and temper to her lad moments, and through
the courfe of great torments. "What charafter hifto-
rians will allow her, I do not know ; but all her do*
meftic fervants, and thofe neareft her, give her the
beft teftimony, that of fmcere tears. But the Public
is always hard ; rigid at beft, even when juft, in its opi'
nion of any one. The only pleafure which any one,
either of high or low rank, muft depend upon re-
ceiving, is in the candour or partiality of friends, and
that fmall circle we are converfant in : and it is there-
fore the greateft fatisfa£lion to fuch as wifh us well,
to know we enjoy that. I therefore thank you par-
ticularly for telling me of the continuance or rather
increafe of thofe bleflings which make your dbmeftic
life happy. I have nothing fo good to add, as to
aiTure you I pray for it, and am always faithfully and
affe&ionately, etc.
bcdy and fearing that nature would not bold out long enough
without artificial fupports, (he called to have water fprinklcd oa
her, and a little after dcfired it might be repeated. She then»
with the greateft compofure and prefence of mindy requefted her
weeping relations to " kneel down and pray for her.** Whil& they
were reading feme prayerB, (he exclaimed, ^' Pray aloud, that I may
bear ;" and after the Lord's Prayer was concluded, in which (he
joined as well as (he could, (he faid, '* So,** and, waving her hand,
Uy down and expired.** Coxe*tMemQirs, vol, ii. /. 494-5*
LETTERS TO MR. ALLEN. 359
LETTER VL
FROM THE SAME.
Twickenham, April 28, 1738.
TT is a pain to me to hear your old complaint is fo
troublefome to you ; and the fhare I have borne,
and ftill bear too often, in the fame complaint, gives
me a very feeling fenfe of it. I hope we agree in
every other fenfation befides this : for your heart is
always right, whatever your body may be. I will
venture to fay, my body is the worfl: part of me, or
God have mercy on my ibul. I can't help telling
you the rapture you accidentally gave the poor wo-
man (for whom you left a Guinea, on what I told
you of my finding her at the end of my garden) ; I had
no notion of her want being fo great, as I then told
you, when I gave her half a one. But I find I have
a pleafure to come, for I will allow her fomething
yearly, and that may be but one year, for, I think,
by her looks ihe is not lefs than eighty. I am deter-
mined to take this charity out of your hands, which,
I know, you'll think hard upon you. But fo it fhall
be.
Pray tell me if you have any objection to my
putting your name into a poem of mine, (incidentally,
not at all going out of the way for it,) provided I fay
A A 4 fomething
36o LETTERS TO MR. ALLEN.
fomething of you, which mod people will take ill,
for example, that you are no man of high birth or
quality*? You muft be perfeftly free with me on
this, as on any, nay, on every other occafion.
I have nothing to add but my wiflies for your
health ; eveiy other enjoyment you will provide for
yourfelf, which becomes a reafonable man. Adieu.
I am^ etc.
LETTER VII.
FROM THE SAME.
January 20.
T OUGHT fooner to have acknowledged yours ; but I
have been feverely handled by my Afthma, and,
at the fame time, hurried by buiinefs that gave an
increafe to it by catching cold. I am truly forry to
find that neither yours nor Mrs. A.'s diforder is totally
removed : but God forbid your pain fhould continue
to return every day, which is worfe by much than
I expedled to hear. I hope your next will give me a
better account. Poor Mr. Bethel f too is very ill in
Yorkihire.
• Pope at firft called him " low-bora" AUea : it was altered
to « humble'* Alien.
f Bethel, of whom we mud reg^rt the accounts are fo fcantf,
died fooD after. In a Letter to M. Blount, publiHied in the laft
Volume, from the MS. Pope fpeaks with great affedion of
him. 7
LETTERS TO MR- ALLEN. 351
Yorkfhire. And, I do aflure you, there are no two
men I wifli better to. I have known and efleemed
him for every moral virtue thefe twenty years and
more. He has all the charity, without any of the
weaknefs of — — ; and, I firmly believe, never faid
a thing he did not think, nor did a thing he could
not tell. I am concerned he is in fo cold and remote
a place, as in the Wolds of Yorkfhire, at a hunting
feat. If he lives till fpring, he talks of returning to
Londont and, if I pofGbly can, I would get him to
lie out of it at Twickenham, though we went back-
ivard and forward every day in a warm coach, which
\¥OuId be the propereft exercife for both of us, fince
he is become fo weak as to be deprived of riding a
horfe.
L. Bolkigbroke (lays a month yet, and I hope Mr.
Warburton will come to town before he goes. They
will both be pleafed to meet each other • : and nothing
in all my life has been fo great a pleafure to niy
nature, as to bring deferving and knowing men
together. It is the greateft favour that can be done,
either to great geniufes or ufeful men. I wiih too,
be were a while in town, if it were only to lie a little
in the way of fome proud and powerful perfons, to
fee if they have any of the beft fort of pride left,
namely, to ferve learning and merit, and by that
means diftinguifli themfelves from their predeceflfors.
I am, etc.
• Never were two people left pleafed with each other.
36a LETTERS TO MR. ALLEN.
LETTER vnr.
FROM THE SAME.
March ^*
T THANK you Ytrj kfaidly for yours. I am fare we
ihall meet with the fame hearts we evtr Ibet ; and
I could wi(h it were at Twickenham, though only to
fee you and Mrs* Allen twice there inftead df once.
But, as matters hare turned out, a decent obedience
to the goremment has iince obliged me to relide here,
ten miles out of the capital ; and therefore I muft fee
you here or no where. Let that be an additional rea-
fon for your coming and flaying what time you can.
The utmoft I can do, I will venture to tell you in
your car. I may Aide along the Surrey fide (where
no Middlefex juftice can pretend any cognizance) to
Batterfea, and thence crofs the water for an hour or
two, in a clofe chair, to dine with you, or fo. But
to be in town, I fear, will be imprudent, and thought
infolent. At leaft, hitherto, all comply with die
proclamation ^.
I write thus early, that you may let me know if
your day continues, apd I will have every room in
my houfe as warm for you as the owner always
would be. It may poffibly be, that I fhall be taking
the
' On the Intaiiosy at that time threatened from Fraace and
the Pretender. Warbvi^toh.
LETTERS TO MR. ALLEN. 363
the fecret flight I fpeak of to Batterfea, before you
come, with Mr. Warburton, whom I have promifed
to make known * to the only great man in Europe,
who knows as much as He. And from thence we.
may return the 16th, or any day, hither, and meet
you, without fail, if you fix your day.
I would not make ill health come into the fcale, as
to keeping me here (though, in truth, it now bears
very hard upon me again, and the lead accident of
Cold, or motion almofl:, throws me into a very danger-
ous and fuffering condition). God fend you long
life, and an eafier enjoyment of your breath than I
now can exped, I fear, etc.
* He brought thefe two eminent men together, but they foon
parted in mutual difgufb with each other. War.toii.
In the preceding Letter, Pope has fpoken with kindnefs and
veneration of Bethel. It may not be unacceptabljC to the Reader
to mention a circumftance, taken notice of by the Bntilh Critic
for November 1797 :
« We hare fcen a prefentation copy of Pope's Works, being
the quarto edition of 17 17* which he had given to his friend
Sethel ; in the firft leaf of which is infcribed, in the Poet's owa
band, the following Addrefs to his Friend :
Viro aatiqua probitate, et amidtia praedito,
HuGONi Bethel
Munufculum Alezandri Pope.
Te mihi junzerunt nivei fine crimine mores,
Simplicitaa, fagax, ingenuufque pudor,
£t bene nota fides, et candor frontis honefiae,
£t ftudia, a ftudiis non aliena meis.''
Thefe Lines are confidered as the lines of Pope ; but I am
iacliaed to doubt this circumftance.
( 3«5 )
LETTERS
OF
MR. POPE
TO
MR. WARBURTON.
LETTER I.
April II, 1739.
T HAVE juft received from Mr. R, two more of your
Letters^* It is in the greateft hurry imaginable
that I write this, but I cannot help thanking you in
particular for your Third Letter ^ which is fo ex-
tremely clear, Ihort, and full, that I think Mn
Croufaz ^ ought never to have another anfwer, and
deferved not fo good a one. I can only fay, you do
him too much honour, and me too much right, fo
odd as the expreflion feems, for you have made my
iyftem as clear as I ought to have done and could
not. It is indeed the fame fyftem as mine, but illuf-
trated with a ray oryour ovm, as they fay our natural
body
* CoDixnentaries on tbe EJfay on Matu Warburton.
^ A Swifs profeflbr who wrote remarks upon the philofophy of
thttJ^^. Warbu&tom.
36S
LETTERS TO
body is the fame ftill when it is glorified *• I am
fure I like it better than I did before, and fo will
every man elfe« I know I meant juft what yoti explain,
but I did not explain my own meaning fo well as
you. Tou underftand me as well as I do myfelf, but
you exprefs me better than I could exprefs myfdf.
Pray accept the fincereft acknowledgments. I cannot
but wifh thefe letters wer^ put together in one book,
and intend (with your leave) to procure a tranflation
of part, at l^ft, or of all of them into Ftench ; but 1
ihall not proceed a ftep without your confent and
opinion, etc.
LETTER 11.
Mty a6, 1739-
'T^Hz diilipation in which I am obliged to live
through many degrees of civil obligation^ which
ought not to rob a man of himfeif who pafle^ for m
independent one, and yet make me every body's
fervant mpre than my own : this, Sir, is the Qccafion
of my filence to you, to whom I really ha«re more
obligation than to almoft any man. By writing, in«
deed, I prq>ofed no moi'e than to tell you i^y fe^ife
of it : as to any corre^ons rf your Letters^ I coul4
make
* From Cowlqr to Sir W. Daveoant ;
So will our God re-build man's perilh'd frame.
And raife him up much better, yet the fame !
Wartos.
MR. WARBtJRTON. 367
make none, but what refulted from inverting the
Order of them, and thofe expreilions rekiting to my-
felf which I thought exaggerated I could not find
a word to alter in the lait Letter, which I returned
immediately to the Bookfellen I muft particularly
thank you for the mention you have made of me in
your Poflfcript *" to the laft Edition * of the Legation
ofMofes. I am much more pleafed with a compli-
ment that links me to a virtuous Man, and by the
beft fimilitude, that of a good mind, (even a better
and a (lipnger tie than the fimilitude of iludie$,) than
I could be proud of any other whatfoever. May that
independency, charity, and competency attend you,
which fets a good priefl: above a Biihop and truly
makes his Fortune ; that is, his happineis in this life
as well as in the other.
' He meansi a Vmdkatton of the Author of the Divine Legation^
againfl. fome papers in the Weekly Mifcellany : in which the Edi-
tor applied to Umfelf thofe linei in the Epiftle to Dr. Arbuthoot,
Mc Id the tender office long engage, etc, Wakburton.
* With refpefi to the chief argument in the Divine Legation^
that Mofes omitted to inculcate the do&rine of a Future States
and to the inferences made from fuch omiffion, Archbilhop
Seeker argues very acutely, ** that future Recompences were not
dire£Uy and exprefsly either promifed to good perfons, or threatened
to bad, in the Law of Mofes ; yet that might be, not becaufe
they were unknown^ but becaufe God thought them fufficiently
known.-— A life to come is not mentioned in the Laws of our
own nation neither ; though we know, they were made by fuch
ai profeffed firmly to believe it.'* Lecture zvi.
With this paflage, I am well informed, Warburton was much
< difpleafed ; and after reading it, was accuftomed to fpeak flight-
ingly of Seeker, and in terms very different from the encomiums
he before paifed on this truly learned Prelate. Wartom.
i
368 LETTERS TO
LETTER ni.
Twitenhaniy SepU 20> 1739b
T RECEIVED wIth great pleafure the paper you fent
me ; and yet with greater, the profped you give
me of a nearer acquaintance with you when you come
to Town* I (hall hope what part of your time you
can ^ afford me, amongft the number of thofe who
efteem you, will be paffed rather in this place than in
London ; iince it is here only I live as I ought, mib^
et amicis. I therefore depend on your promife j and
fo much as my conftitution fuffers by the winter, I
yet aflure you, fuch an acquifition will make the
fpring much the . more welcome to me, when it is to
bring you hither, cum T^ephyris et hirundine prima.
As foon as Mr. R. can tranfmit to me an entire
copy of your Lettersj I wifli he had your leave fo to
do; that I may put the book into the hands, of a
French gentleman to tranflate, who, I hope, will not
fubjeft your work to as much ill-grounded criticiftn
as my French tranflator ^ has fubjefted mine. In
earned, I am extremely obliged to you, for thus
cfpoufing the caufe of a ftranger whom you judged
to be injured ; but my part^ in this fentiment, is the
leaft. The generofity of your conduft deferves efteem,
your
* RefneU on whofe faulty and abfurd tranflation Croufaz founded
his moil plaufible objedion* Warburtox.
MRi WARBURTON. 363
■
your 2eal for truth deferves affeftion from every can-
did man : and as fuch, were I wholly out of the cafe,
I (hould efteern and love you for it. I will not there*
fore life you fo ill as to write in the general ftyle of
complin^ent ; it is below the dignity of the occafion :
and I can only fay (which I fay with fincerity and
warmth) that you have made me, etc.
LETTER IV.
January 4, 1739.
T T is a real truth that I (hould have written to you
oftencr, if I had not a great refped for you, and
owed not a great debt to you. But it may be no un-
neceffary thing to let you know that nioft of my friends
alfo pay you their thanks; and feme of the m^nl
knowhig, as well as mod candid Jiulges think n:e
as much beholden to you as I think myfelf. Your-
I.ettcrs^ meet from fuch with the Approbation
they merit, and J have been able to find but two
or three verv fliijfht Inaccuracies in the whole book,
which I have, upon their obfervation, altered in
an exemplar which I keep againfl a fecond Edition,
My very uncertain ftate of health, -which is fliaken
more and more every winter, drove me to Bath and
Briftol two months fmce; and I (hall not return
towards
• On the EJfay on Man. Wakburton*
VOL. IX. B B
37© LETTERS TO
towards London till February. But I have recdved
nine or ten Letters from thence on the fucceSs of your
Book ^9 which they are eameft to have tranflaced.
One of them is begun in France. A French Gentle-
man, abottt Moniieur Cambis the AmbafTadpr, hath
done the greateft part of it here. But I will retard
the impreflion till I have your diredions, or till I can
have the pleafure I eameftly wifli for, to meet you in
town, where you gave me fome hopes you fometimes
pafled a part of the fpring, for the beft reafon, I know,
of ever vifiting it, the converfation of a few Friends.
Pray, fuffer me to be what you have made me, one
of them, and let my houfe have its (hare of you : or,
if I can any way be inftrumental in accommodating
you in town during your ftay, I have lodgings and a
library or two in my difpofal; which, I believe, I
need not offer to a man to whom all libraries ought
to be open, or to one who wants them fo little ; but
that 'tis poflible you may be as much a ftranger to
this town, as I wi(h with all my heart I was. I fee by
certain fquibs in the Mifcellanies * that you have as
much of the uncharitable fpirit poured out upon you
as the Author you defended from Croufaz. I only
wifh you gave them no other anfwer than that of the
fun to the frogs, Ihining out, in your fecond boob
and the completion of your argument. No man ih
as
' The commentary on the EJay on Man* Warburtos.
» The Weekly Mifcelkny, by Dr. Wd>flcr, Dr. WaterlaoJ,
Dr. Stcbbing, MV. Vcnti, and others. Warburtok.
MR. WARBURTON. 371
as he ought to be» more, or fo much a friend t9
your merit and charader, as. Sir,
Your, etc.
*'- •^''''^'- - ■• * '!■' • ■'.-■-■>. '^^-^^
LETTER V.
January 17, t739-4^-
^pHouoH I writ to you two pofts ago, I ought to
acknowledge now a new and uiie:tpeded favout
of the Remarks on the fourth Epiftle*; which*
(though I find by yours attending them, they werd
Sent lad month) I received but this morniiig. This
was occafioned by no hult of Mr. R. but the negleCt,
I believe, of the perfon to whofe care he configned
them. I have been full three months about Bath
and Briftol, endeavouring to amend a complaint
which more or lefs has troubled me all my life : t
hope the regimen this has obliged me to, will make
the remainder of it more philofophicaJ, and improve
my refignation to part with it at laft. I am preparing
to return home, and fhaU then revife what my French
gentleman has done, and add tbis to it. He is the
fame perfon who tranflated the Effay into profe,
which Mr. Croufaz ihould have profited by, who, I
am really afn^d, when I lay the circumftances al[
together, was moved to his proceeding in fo rety
unrea-
^ Of the JEZ/iy w Man. WAamvftToir.
B B a
37« LETTERS TO
unreafonable a uay, by fome malice either of his
own, or forae other's, though I was very willing, at
firft, to impute it to ignorance or prejudice. I fee
nothing to be added to your work ; only fome com-
mendatory Deviations from the Argument itfelf, in
my favour, I ought to think might be omitted.
I muft repeat my urgent delire to be previoully
acquainted with the precife time of your vifit to Lon-
don ; that t may have the pleafure to meet a man in
the manner I would, whom I muft efteem one of die
greateft of my ]3enefa6:ors. I am, with the moft
grateful and affectionate regard *, etc.
* I (hall here infert an eztrad of a curious Letter from tie
Honourable Charles Yorke, to hit brother the lau Earl of Hard-
wicke, dated Bennct ColIege» Cambridge, June i, 1740.
" Mr. Warburton has lately been near a fortnight with Mr. Pope
at Twickenham : he fpcaks of him in ftrains of rapturous com-
mendation. He fays, that he is not a better. Poet than a Maoi
and that his vivacity 9nd wit are not more confpicuous than his
humanity and affability. He tells me that Mr. Pope is tired
with imitating Horace: — that he thinks he could make fome-
thing of the Damajippust and intends to do it> but that the great
fcheroe which he has in view is, the continuation of the £i!ay*
The firft, you know, was only a general map of Man, wherein the
extent and limits of his faculties were marked out. The fecond
is to treat of falfe Science at large ; and the third is to enquire
into the ufc and abufe of Civil Society. In a converfation which
he held with Mr. Pope one evening in his garden, the latter began
to open himfelf unrefervedly to the former upon the praifcs which
the world had bellowed upon him and his own excellencies. He
declared, with great fincerity, that be really thought he had been
exceeded in every part of writing, and on the fide of invention more
peculiarly.— *Mr. Warburton told him, that he would not offend
his modefty by entering into a particular difquifition of his merit 1
yet, he would, take the liberty to mentioft one thing in which he
thought
MR. WARBURTON. 373
LETTER VI.
April 16, 1740.
xrou could not give me more pleafure than by your
fliort letter, which acquaints me that I may hope
to fee you fo fbon. Let us meet like men wha
have
thought Mr. Pope was unrivalled and alone, and it was^ that he is
the only poet who has found out the art of uniting wit to fuh-
limity. * Your wit/ fays he, * gives a fplendour and delicacy to
your fuhlimity^ and your fubHmity gives a grace and dignity to
your wit.* — They both agreed in condemning Biihop Atterbury's
judgment on the Arabian Tales ; and upon my obferving to Mr*
Warburton that they were very unequal, fcveral of them being
finely imagined, and conveying an exquifite fentiment of moraUty,
while others were mean in the device^ conducted with flatnefs and
a want of fpirit, with nothing remarkably inftrudUve in the con-
clullons to be drawn from them ; he fatisfied me with this ingenious
reafon for it, which is built on an hypothefis of his own. * YoU
know/ (ays he, * they were tranfiated by a Frenchman, from an
original Arabic manufcript, in the King of France's Library ; but
there is pot above one tenth of the original tranfiated. The
Arabian colledor appears to have been a man of Httle tafte ; for in
order to give a due conne6kion to the whole, he has laid the fcene
of his narration in the mofl flourifhing date of that Empire for Arts
Learningt Power^ and has at the fame time introduced into it'
fables concerning things which happened above a thoufand years
after, juft as if one ihould fuppofe a llory to be told in the reign of
William the Conqueror, which related to George I.. Now,' con-
tinued he, ' the noblell fables in the coUedion fell in naturally with
the fcene which he has laid, fo that they are tranfcribed from the
w6rks of fome famous author in thofe days, and the reft, which
you fpeak of as poor and trifling, are taken from fome later fabuUftt,
who had neither invention to contrive nor thought enough to giv^
a fcnfc and meaning to their ftorics,' — He added, ' that from
« B 3 the
374 ItlTERS TO
have been many years acquainted with each other *,
and whofe friendftiip is not to begin, but continue.
All forms fhould be paft, when people know each
other's mind fo well : I flatter myfelf you are a man
after my own heart, who feeks content only from
within, and fays to greatuefs, Tms haheto tibi res^
0g6met habebo meets. But as it is but juft your other
friends fhould have fome part of you, I infift on mj
making you the firfl vifit in London, and thence, after
a few days, to carry you to Twitenham, for as many
as you can afford me. If the prefs be to take up any
part of your time, the iheets may be brought you
hourly thither by my waterman : and you will have
more leifure to attend to any thing of that fort than
in town, I believe alfo I have moft of the Books you
can want, or can ealily borrow them. I eameftly
defire a line may be left at Mn R.'s, where and when
\ ihall call upon you, which I will daily enquire for,
whether
the Arabian tables, you might gather the coonpleteft notion of the
Eaflcm ceremonies and manners.* — Mr. Pope communicated to
Mr. Warburton, Lord Bolingbroke's rules for the reading of
Hiftory, which he thinks a very fine performance. That treadfe,
9md the account of his own times, are to be publiflied together,
after his death. In {hort» Mr. Warburton declares he never fpcnt
a fortnight fo agreeably any where as ^t Twickenham ; he was
prefentcd to all Mr, Pope's friends, who entertained him with fin-
gular civility, and received him with an engaging freedom."
Wartom.
* Their very firft interview was in Lord Radnor's garden, juft
\j Mr. ?ope*s at Twickenham. Dodflcy was prcfent ; and waf^
j^Q told me, aftonifhed at the hic;h compliments paid him by Pope
M he approached him. Wa&toh.
MR. WARBURTON. 375
whether I chance to be here, or in the country. Be-
lieve me. Sir, with the trued regard, and the fiu-
cereft wifli to deferve.
Yours, etc.
LETTER VIL
Twitenham, June 24, 1740.
T T is true that I am a very unpunftual correfpondent,
though no unpundual agent or friend ; and that,
in the commerce of words, I am both poor and lazy.
Civility and Compliment generally are the goods that
letter-writers exchange, which, with honeft men,
leems a kind of illicit trade, by having been for the
moil part carried on, and carried furtheit by de*
figning men. I am therefore reduced to plain in-
quiries, how my friend does, and what he does?
and to repetitions, which I am afraid to tire him
with, how much I lov€ him. Your two kind letters
gave me real fatisfaflion, in hearing you were fafe
and well; and in ihewmg me you took kindly my
unaffeded endeavours to prove my efteem for you,
and delight in your converfation. Indeed my languid
flate of health, and frequent deficiency of fpirits, to-
gether with a number of diflipations, et aliena negoiia
tentum^ all confpire to throw a faintnefs and cool ap«
pearance over my conduft to thofe I beft love j which
I perpetually feel, and grieve at : but in eameft, no
BB 4 man
2,y6 LETTERS TO
man is more deeply touched with merit in general,
or with particular merit towards me, in any one
You ought therefore in both views to hold yourfelf
Tvhat you are to me in my opinion and affedion;
fo high in each, that I may perhaps feldom attempt
to tell it you. The greateft juftice, and favour too
that you can do me, is to take it for granted.
Do not therefore commend my talents, but in-
ftruft me by your own. I am not really learned
enough to be a judge in works of the nature and
depth of yours. But I travel through your book as
through an amazing fcene of ancient Egypt or
Greece ; ftruck with veneration and wonder ; but
at every ftep wanting an inftruftor to tell me all
I wifh to know. Such you prove to me in the walks
of antiquity ; and fuch you will -prove to all man-
kind : but with this additional character, more than
any other fearcher into antiquities, that of a genius
equal to your pains, and of a tafte equal to your
learning.
I am obliged greatly to you, for what you bavc
projefted at Cambridge, i|i relation to my Effay * * ;
but
' Mr. Pope de fired the Editor to procure a good tranflatioa of
the EJfay on Man into Lathi profe. Warburtoh.
♦ The following is a Letter from our Author to MrXhriftopkcr
Slmart :
« SIR, Twickenham, Nov. 18.
" I thank you for the favour of yours ; I would not give you
the trouble of tranilating the whole EfTay you mention ; the two
firft
MR. WARBURTON. 377
but more for the motiye which did ori^nally , and does
confequentially in a manner, animate all your good-
nefs to me, the opinion you entertain of my honefl:
intention in that piece, and your zeal to demonftrate
me no irreligious man. I was very fincere with you
in what I told you of my own opinion of my own
charafter as a poet, and, I think, I may confcien-
tioufly fay, I fhall die in it. I have nothing to add,
but that I hope fometimes to hear you are well, as
you (hall certainly now and then hear the beft I can
tell you of myfelf.
firft Epiftles arc already well done, and if you try, I could wifh
it were on the laft, which is lefs ab(lra£^ed» and more cailly fallt
into poetry, and comoion place. A few lines at the beginning
and the conclufion, will be fufficient for a trial whether you
yourfelf can like the taflc or not. I believe the Effay on Criticifm
will in general be the more agreeable, both to a young writer,
and to the majority of readers. What made me wifh the other
well done, was the want of a right undcrftanding of the fiibject,
which appears in the foreign vcrfions, in two Italian, two French,
and one German. There is one, indeed, in Latin verfc, printed
at Wirtemberg, very faithful, but inelegant ; and another ia
Ercnch profe; but in thefe the fpirit of poetry is as much
loll, as the fcnfe and fyftem itfclf in the others. 1 ought to take
this opportunity of acknowledging the Latin tranflation of my
Ode, which you fent me, and in which I could fee little or no-
thing to alter, it is fo exaft. Believe me. Sir, equally deHrous
pf doing you any fervice, and afraid of engaging you in an art fo
little profitable, though fo well defcrving, as good poetry.
"I am, your moll obliged and fincere humble Servant,
» A. POPE.*'
Wart on-
378 LETTERS TQ
LETTER Vlir.
Odobcr 27, 1740.
T AM grown fo bad a correfpondcnt, partly through
the weaknefs of my eyes, which has much in-
creafed of late, and partly through other difagreeable
accidents, (almoft peculiar to me,) that my oldeft as
well as bed friends are reafohable enough to excufe
me* I know you are of the number who deferve
all the teftimonies of any fort, which I can give you
of efteem and friend(hip ; and I confide in you, as a
man of candour enough, to know it cannot be other-
wife, if I am an honed one. So I will fay no more
on this head, but proceed to thank you for your con-
ftant memory of whatever may be ferviceable or re-
putable to me. The Tranflation ^ you are a much
better judge of than I, not only becanfe you under-,
ftand my work better than I do myfelf *, but as
your continued femiliarity with the learned languages,
makes you infinitely more a mafter of them, I
would only recommend that the Tranflator's atten-
tion to TuUy's Latinity may not preclude his ufagc
of fome Terms which may be more precife in modem
philofophy
^ Of his EJfay on Man into Latin prafe. Warburtov.
* This is one of the mod fingular conceffioDS ever msdcby
any author. Wartoh.
MR* WARBURTON. 379
philofophy thaa fuch as he could fcrve himfelf of,
efpecially in matters metaphy Heal. I think this fpe-
cimen clofe enough, and clear alfo, as far as the«
claffical phrafes allow ; from which yet I would rather
he fometimes deviated, than fufiered the fenfe to be
either dubious or clouded too much. You know my
mind perfedly as to the intent of fuch a verfion,
and I would have it accpmpanied with your own re«
marks tranllated, fuch only I mean as are general, or
explanatory of thofe paffages which are concife to any
degree of obfcurity, or which demand perhaps too
minute an attention in the reader.
I have been unable to make the journey I defigned
to Oxford, and Lord Bathurft's, where I hoped to
have made you of the party. I am going to Bath for
near two months. Yet pray let nothing hinder me
fometimes from hearing you are well. I have bad
that contentment from time to time from Mr. G.
Scriblerus^ will or will not be publifhed, accord-
ing to the event of fome other papers coming, or not
coming out, which it will be my utmoft endeavour
to hinder ". I will not give you the pain of acquaint-
ing you what they are. Your fimile of B. and his
nephew would make an excellent epigram. But all
Satire is become fo ineffeftual (when the lad Step
that Virtue can ftand upon, Jhame^ is taken away)
that Epigram mud expe^ to do nothing even in its
own
* The Memoirs of Scnhievus . W A R B u R to n .
'^ Ibc Letters publi(bcd by Dr. Swift. Warbvrton.
38o LETTERS TO
own Uttle province, and upon its own little fubjc£b.
Adieu. Believe I wifh you nearer us ; the only
power I wifli, is that of attachmg, and at the fame
time fupporting, fuch congenial bodies as you are
to, dear Kr,
Your, etc-
LETTER n.
Bath, Feb. 4, 1740-1.
T F I had not been made by many accidents fo fick
of letter-writing, as to be almoft afraid of the
Ibadow of my own pen, you would be the perfon I
ihould ofteneft pour myfelf out to : indeed for a good
rcafon, for you have given me the ftroiigeft proofs
of underftanding, and accepting my meaning in the
bed manner ^ and of the candour of your heart, as
well as the clearnefs of your head. My vexadons
I would not trouble you with, but I mu(t juft men-
tion the two greateft I now have. They have printed
in Ireland, my letters to Dr. Swift, and (which is
the ftrangefl: circumftance) by his own confent and
direftion \ without acquainting me till it was done.
The other is one that will continue with me nil
fome
" N. B. This was the ftrongcft refentment he crcr cxprcffcd of
this indifcretion of his old friend^ as being perfuaded that it pro-
ceeded from no ill-will to him, though it expofed him to the lU-
will of others. Warbuitox.
MR, WARBURTON. 381
feme profperous event to your fervice fhall bring us
Bearer to each other. I am not content v^ith thofe
glimpfes of you^ which a ihort fpring vifit affords ;
and from which you carry nothing away with you
but my fighs and wifhes, without any real benefit.
I am heartily glad of the advancement of your
Jecond Volume " ; and particularly of the Digre/Jions^
for they are fo much more of you ; and I can truft
your judgment enough to depend upon their being
pertinent*. You will, I queftion not, verify the
good proverb, that the furtheft way about, is the
neareft way home: and much better than plunging
through thick and thin, more Theologorum ; and per-
filling in the fame old track, where fo many have
cither broken their necks, or come off very lamely.
This leads me to thank you for that very entertain-
ing t, and, I think, inflruftive ftory of Dr. W # * # ,
who was, in this, the image of # # #, who never ad-
mit
• Oi the Divine Legalion . Warburtok.
* The DigreiHons arc many of them learned, curious, and en*
lertaining; but feme good judges will not allow them to be perti-
nent- • I Warton.
f This ftory concerning Dr. JVaterlandi is related with much
pleafantry by Dr. Middleton^ in the following words : ** In his
laft journey firom Cambridge to London, being attended by Dr.
Plumtree, and Dr. Chefelden the furgeon, he lodged the fecond
night at Hodiden ; where being obferved to have been coftive on
the road, he was advifed to have a clyfter, to which he confented.
The Apothecary was prefently fcnt for, to whom Dr. Plumtrce
gave his onlers below ftairs, while Dr.Waterland continued above ;
upoa which the Apothecary ' could not forbear cxpref&og his
7 great
38a LETTERS TO
mit of any remedy from a hand they diflike. But I
am ferry he had fo much of the modem Chriftkn
rancour, as, I believe, he may be convinced by this
time, that the kingdom of Heaven is not for fuch.
I am juft returning to London, and fhall the more
impatiently expe£t your book's appearance, as I
hope you will follow it; and that I may have as
happy a month through your means as I had the laft
ipring.
I am, etc.
great fcnfe of the honour which he receiveds in being called to
the affiftance of fo celebrated a perfon, whofe writings he was well
acquainted with. The company dgnified fome furprife to Bnd a
country Apothecary fo learned ; but he >airured them, that he
was no ft ranger to the merit and chara^er of the Do6ior, but had
lately read his ingenious Book with much pleafure. The Dvolne
Legation of Mofet. Dr. Plumtree» and a Fellow of Magdalen,
there prefent, took pains to convince the Apothecary of hit
miftake, while C n ran up ftairs with an account of his blunder
to Waterland, who, provoked by it into a violent paffion, called
the poor fellow a puppy, and blockhead* who muft needs be ig-
norant in his profeifion, and unfit to adminifter any thing to him,
and might poffibly poifon his bowels ; and notwithftanding Dr.
Plum tree's endeavours to moderate his difpleafure, by reprefent-
ing the expediency of the operation, and the man's capacity to
perform it, he would hear nothing in his favour, but ordered him
to be difcharged, and poftponed the benefit of the clyfter till he
reached hiy next ftage." W artos .
MR. WARBURTON. 383
LETTER X-
April 149 J74T.
X ^ou are every way kind to me ; in your partiality
to what is tolerable in me ; and in your free-
dom where you find me in an error. Such, I own,
is the inftance given of— — ^You owe me much friend-
Ihip of this latter fort, having been too profufe of the
former.
I think every day a week till you come to town,
which, Mr. G. tells me, will be in the beginning of
the next month : when, I expeS, you will contrive
to be as beneficial to me as you can, by pafling with
me as much time as you can : every day of which
it will be my &ult if I do not make of fome ufe to
me, as well as pleafure. This is all I have to tell
you, and, be affured, my fincereft efleem and affec-
tion are yours.
LETTER XL
Twitenham, Aug. 129 1741.
rr^}1E general indifpofiiion I have to writing, unlels
upon a belief of the neceflity or ufe of it^ muft
plead my excufe in not doing it to you. I know it
is not (I feel it is not) needful to repeat affurances
8 of
384 LETTERS TO
of the true and conftant friendfhip and efteem I b^r
you. Honed and ingenuous minds are fure of each
other's; the tie is mutual and falid. The ufe of
writing letters refolves wholly into the gratification
given and received in the knowledge of each other's
welfare : unlefs I ever fhould be fo fortunate (and a
rare fortune it would be) to be able to procure, and
acquaint you of, fome real benefit done you by my
means. But fortune leldom fuffers one difinterefted
man to ferve another. *Tis too much an infult upon her
to let two of thofe who mod defpife her favours, be
happy in them at the fame time, and in the fame in-
ftance. I wifh for nothing fo much at her hands, as
that (he would permit fome great Perfon or other to
remove you nearer the banks of the Thames ; though
very lately a nobleman whom you efteem much more
than you know, had deftined, etc.
I thank you heartily for your hints ; and am afraid
if I had more of them, not on this only, but on other
fubjefts, 1 ftiould break my refolution, and become
an author anew : nay a new author, and a better
than I yet have been ; or God forbid I (hould go on
jingling only the fame bells !
I have received fome chagrin at the delay of your
Degree at Oxon''. As for mine, I will die before
I re-
• ' This relates to an accidental affair which happened this fum-
mcr, in a ramble that Mr. P. and Mr. W. took together, m
>vhich Oxford fell in their way, where they parted ; Mr. P. after
one day's Hay going weft ward, and Mr. W. who ftaid a day after
bim,
MR. WARBURTON. 385
I receive one, in an art I am ignorant of, at a place
where there remains any fcruple of bellowing one on
you, in a fcience of which you are fo great a mafter.
In fliort, I will be dodored with you, or not at all.
I am fure, wherever honour is not conferred on the
deferving, there can be none given to the unde*
ferving ; no more from the hands of Priefts, than of
Princes. Adieu. God give you all true BleJJings. •
MaM*>«
bim, to Tifit tbe Dean of C. C. returning to Loodon. On this day
the Vicc-cbaoccnor, the Rev. Dr. L. fent him a mefTage to his
lodgings, by a per£bn of eminence in that plage, with an unufual
compliment^ to know if a Dolor's degree in Divinity would be
acceptable to him : to which fuch an anfwer was returned as fo
civil a meflage deferved. About this time, Mr. Pope had thtf
fame offer made him of a Dodor's degree in Law. And to tho
llTuc of that unafked and unfought compliment thefe words allude.
WARBURtOK.
* What Pope (ays in this Letter relating to a Nobleman, and
his hopes that Warburton might be removed to the banks of the
Thames, feems to be explained, by a converfation faid by Ruff-
bead to have taken place between Pope and Warburton :
** It was," fays he, ** but the other day, that a Noble Lord in
my neighbourhood, whom till then I had much miftaken, told me
in converfation, that he had a large benefice to beftow, which he
did not know what to do with. *< Give it to me," (aid I, ** and
I will promife to beftow it on one who will do honour to your patron-
age.** He faid I (hould have it. I believed him ; and, after wait-
ing fome time without hearing farther of it, I reminded him o^
what had pafled ; when he faid with fome confufion, that hi»
fteward had difpofed of it, unknown to him or his Lady."
vov ^^- c c
i^6 LETTERS TO
LETTER XIL
September 20, 1741.
1 T is npt my friendflilp, but the aifcernttient of that
nobleman "* I mentioned, which ycu are to thank
for his intention to fei-ve you. And his judgment is
fo uncontroverted, that it would really be a pleafure
to you to owe him any thing ; inftead of a (hame,
which often is the cafe in the favours of men of that
rank. I am forry I can only wifh you well, and not
do myfelf honour in doing you any good. But I
comfort myfelf when I refleft, few men could make
you happier, none more deferving than you have
made yourfelf.
I don't know how I have been betrayed into a pa-
ragraph of this kind. I afk your pardon, though it
be truth, for faying fo much.
If I can prevail on myfelf to complete ' the Dun-
ciad, it will be publifhed at the fame time with a gc-
neral edition of all my Verfes (for Poems I will not
call them) ; and, 1 hope, your Friendfliip to me will
be then as well known, as my being an Author 4
and go down together to Pofterity: I mean to as
much of Poflerity as poor modems can reach to;
where
^ Lord ClicilerfiJd. Warburton.
' He had then communicated his intention to the Editor^ of aid-
ing a-fourth book to it, in purfuance of the Editor's advice.
Warbvutoii.
MR. WARBURTON. 387
where the Commeniator (as ufual) will lend a crutch
to the weak Poet to help him to limp a little further
than he could on his own feet. We ihall take our
degree together in fame, whatever we do at the
Univerfity: and I tell you once more*, 1 will not
have it there without you.— —
LETTER XIII.
Bath, Nov. 12, 1741.
T AM always naturally fparing of my letters to my
Friends ; for a reafon I think a great one ; that
it Is needlefs after experience, to repeat affurances of
Friendfhip ; and no lefs irkfome to be fearching for
words, to exprefs it over and over. But I have
more calls than one for this letter. Firft, to exprefs
a fatis&^on at your refolution not to keep up the
ball
' This was occafioned by the Editor's requefting him not to
flight the honour ready to be done hitn by the Univerfity ; and
cfpecially, not to decline it on the Editor's account, who had no
reafon to think the afifront done him of complimenting him with
an offer, and then contriving to evade it, the a6l of that illuftrious
body, but the exploit of two or three particulars, the creatures
of a man in power, and the ilaves of their own palfions and pre-
judices. However, Mr. P. could not be prevailed on to accept of
•ny honours from them, and his rcfcntment of this low trick
gave birth to the celebrated lines, of Apollo's Mayor and Alder-
men, in the fourth Dunciad. WAaBU&TON.
C C 2
388 LETTERS TO
ball of difpuie with Dr. M. *, though, I am latisfid,
you could have done it ; and to tell you that Mr. L.
is pleafed at it too, who writes me word upon this
occafion, that he muft infinitely efteem a Diviue^
and an Author, who loves peace better than Vidory.
Secondly, I am to recommend to you as an author,
a bookfeller in the room of the honed one you have
loft, Mn G. and I know none who is fo worthy, and
has fo good a title in that charader to fucceed him,
as Mn Knapton. But my third motive of now trou-
bling you is my own proper intereft and pleafure.
I am here in more leifure than I can poflibly enjoy ever
in my own houfe, vacate Uteris. It is at this place,
that your exhortations may be moft eSedual, to
make me refume the ftudies I have almoft laid afide,
by perpetual avocations and diflipations. If it were
practicable for you to pafs a month or lix weeks from
home, it is here f I could wifh to be with you : and
if you would attend to the continuation of your own
noble work, or unbend to the idle amufement of
comtnenting upon a poet, who has no other merit
than
^ Dr. M. means Dr. MiddUton, and Mr. L. means Mr. Ljt-
tclton, and Mr. G. Mr. Gyles. Warton.
f This was the Letter which brought Dr, Warburton to Hr.
Allen's houfe at Bath ; which vifit laid the foundation of bis
fortnne. Bifhop Hare, having, recommended him to Queen Ca-
rolinci 17379 a little before her death, dcfired him, as we are
informed by Dr. Hurd, to alter or omit a paflage in the firft toL
of the Divine Legation^ which contained a ftroke of pleafantry on
Woolafton's Religion of Nature, becfufe her Majffty affcfted to
be fond of that Trcatifc. Wahtob.
MR. WARBURTON. 389
than that of aiming by his moral ftrokes to merit
feme regard from fuch men as advance Truth
and Virtue in a more effedual v'ay j in either cafe,
this place and this houfe would be an inviolable
afylum to you, from all you would defire to avoid,
in fo public a fcene as Bath. The worthy man who
is the mafter of it, invites you in the (Irongeft terms ;
and is one who would treat you with love and vene>-
ration, rather than what the world calk civility and
regard. He is iincerer and plainer than almoil any
man now in this world, antiquis moribus. If the
waters of the Bath may be ferviceable to your com
plaints, (as I believe from what you have told me of
them,) no opportunity can ever be better. It is juft the
beft feafon. We are told the Bifliop of Salifbury •
is expefted here daily, who I know is your friend :
at lead, though a bifhop, is too much a man of
learning to be your enemy. You fee I omit nothing
to add to the weight in the balance, in which, how-
ever, I will not think myfelf light, fince I have known
your partiality. You will want no fervatit here.
Your room will be next to mine, and one man will
ferve us. Here is a Library, and a Gallery lynety
feet long to walk in, and a coach whenever you
would take the air with me. Mr. Allen tells me,
you
• Some years afterwards Mr. Towne, the . intimate friend of
Warburton, publtHied fome fcvcre remarks on Sherlock's incom-
parable Sermons, who had .contradicted fomc tenets in the Divine
Legation. Wartok.
CC3
390 LETTERS TO
you might on horfeback be here in three days ; it Is
lefs than i oo miles from Ncwarke, the road through
Leicefter, Stow in the Wolde in Gloucefterfliire, and
Cirencefter by Lord Bathurft's. I could engage to
carry you to London from hence, and I -would accom-
modate my time and journey to your conveniency.
Is alLthis a- dream ? or can you make it a reality?
can you give ear to me ?
Audiilin' ? an me ludlt amabllis
Infania ?
Dear Sir, adieu ; and give me a line to Mr. Allen's at
Bath. God preferve you ever.
LETTER XIV.
November 22, 1741.
XT-OURS is very full and very kind, it is a friendly
and fatisfaftory anfwer, and all 1 can defire.
Do but inftantly fulfil it.— *Only I hope this wiU
find you before you fet out. For I think (on all
confiderations) your bcft way will be to take Lon-
don in your way. It will fecure you from accidents
of weather to travel in the coach, both thither and
from thence hither. But^ in particular, 1 think you
ihould take fome care as to Mr. G.'s executors.
And I am of opinion, no man will be more fervice-
able in fettling any fuch accounts than Mr. Knapton,
who fo well knows the trade, and is of fo ac-
knowledged a credit in it. If you can flay but a few
8 days
MR. WARBURTON. 391
days there, I fliould be glad ; though I would not
have you omit any neceffary thing to yourfelf. I wilh
too you would juft fee ♦ # ♦, though when you have
pafled a month here, it will be time enough for all
we have to do in town, and they will be lefs bufy,
- probably, than juft before the Seflion opens, to think
of men of letters.
When you are in London I beg a line from you^
in which pray tell us what day you (hall arrive at Bath
by the coach, that we may fend to meet you, an4
bring you hither.
You will owe me a real obligation by being made
acquainted with the mafter of this houfe ; and by.
iharing with me, what I think one of the chief fatif-
fa&ioas of my life, his Friend (hip ♦. But whether
I ihall owe you any in contributing ta make me 2k
fcribbler again \ '1 knbw not*
♦ Warburton was introduced by Pope to Allen, and, it is well
known, afterwards married his niece. After Pope had introduced
his friendf he introduced alfo his female cAere amis, Martha Blount.
Martha, prcfuming on being Pope's favourite, gave herfclf fuffi-
cicnt airs, and an inexpiable quarrel enfued : Pope took Martha's
part againft them. Some curious Letters relating to it will be'
found, among others now firft publifhed, in the lad Volume : they
will (hew, better than a thoufand volumes, Pope's Jincerity, and
real feelings ; he who, when Swift was alive, proftfled he had a
heart and a fortune for both ; who mentions him, after his death«
with DO other words than " Dr. Swjft ;" who wrote all thefe fine
things to Allen and Warburton ; in his confidential Letters to*
Martha, fpeaks a very different language.
* He had concerted the plan ,of the fourth book of the Dun-
clad wilh the Editor the fummer before ; and had now written a
great part of it ; which he was willing the Editor ihould fee.
Warburton.
c c 4
39a LETTERS TO
LETTER IV.
April 23, T74J.
11 TV letters arc very fliort, partly becaufe I could
by no length of writings (not even by fuch
tft lai«7crs write) conwy to you more than you have
already of my heart and efleem ; and partly be-
eaufe I want rime and eyes. I can't fufficiently tell
you both my pleafure and my gratefulnefs, in and for
your two lad letters, which (hew your zeal fo ftroiig
for that piece of my idlenefs, which was literally
written only to keep me from fleeping in a dull
winter, and perhaps to make others deep unleb
awakened by my Commentator ; no uncommon cafe
among the learned. I am every day in cxpc&ation
of Lord Bolingbroke's arrival : with whom I fhall
feize all the hours I can : for his flay (I fear by what
he writes) will be very (hort. 1 do not think it
impoffiblc but he may go to Bath for a few weeks,
to fee (if he be then alive, as yet he is) his old fer-
vant. — ^In that cafe I think to go with him, atnl if it
ihould be at a feafon when the waters are bene*
ficial, (which agree particularly with him too,) would
it be an impoffibility to meet you at . Mr. Allen *s ?
whofe houfe, you know, and heart, are yours.
Though this is a mere chance, I ihould not be forry
you faw fo great a genius, though he and you
were
MR. WARBURTON- 393
were never to meet again. Adieu. The world
is not what I wifh it ; I will not repent being in it
while two or three live *.
I am^ etc.
* Dr. Warburton has given the following account of the caufet
of the rupture betwixt him and Lord Bolingbroke :
^ About the year 1742, a little before Lord Bolingbroke't
return to England, thia Criik was with . Mr. Pop: at T. who
(hewed him a printed book of LetUrt on the Siudy and life of
Hiftory^ and defired his opinion of it. It was the firft volume of
the work fince publifhed under that name. Mr. W. on turning
over the bbok, told him his thoughts of it with great ingenuity.
What he fa id to Mr. Pope of the main fubjedl is not material 1
but of the DigrefHon concerning the Authenticity of the Old
Teflamenty he told his friend very frankly, that the Author's
aiguments, poor as they were, were all borrowed from other wri*
tersy and had been confuted to the full fatisfadion of the learned
world : that the Author of thefe Letters^ whoever he was, had
midaken fome of thofe reafoninga ; had mifreprefented others ;
and had added fuch miflakes of his own, as mud difcredit him
with the learned, and difhonour him with all honeft men : that
therefore, as he underftood the Author was his friend, he could
not do him better fsrvice than advife him to (Irike out this digref*
fion ; a digreiiion that had nothing to do with the fubjed, and
would fet half his readers again il the work, which, without
thia occafion of fcandal, would have much ado to make head
agaioft the other half, whenever it (hould appear. Mr. Pope faid,
his friend (whofe name he kept fccret) was the mod candid of
all writers ; and that he, the Author of the D. L. could not do
him a greater pleafure than to tell him his thoughts with all free-
dom on this occafion. He urged this fo warmly, that his friend
complied, and, as they were then alone, fcribbled over half a dozen
(heets of paper before he rofe from the table where they were then
fitting. Mr. Pope read what was written ; and, as he had a
wonderful partiality for thofe he loved, approved of them ; and to
convince his friend (the Scribbler^ as my Lord rightly calls him)
that he did fo, he took up the printed volume, and eroded out the
word Dtgrejfwn. The remarks were written, as you may well
fuppofcf.
394 LETTERS TO
LETTER X\^.
Bath, Nov. 27, J 742.
npHis Will ihew you 1 am ftill with our friend, but
It is the lad day ; and I would rather you heard
of me pteafed, as I yet am, than chagrined, as I ihall
1)6 In a few hours. We are both pretty well. I wifli
you
fuppofc, with all the civility Mr. W. was likely to ufc to a friend
Mr. Pope appeared fo much to reverence : but the word frrvari-
cation^ or fomething like it^ chanced, it'fecms, to efcape his pen.
Tlie papers were fent to Parisi and received with unparalleled
indignation. Little broke out ; but fomething did : and Mr.
Pope found he had iiot paid his court by this officiou s piece of
fcrvicc. However, with regard to the writer of the papers, all
was carried, when his Lordfhip came over, with fingular com«
plaifance : fuch as men ufe when their defign is to draw on thofe
whofe homage they purpofe to gain. In the mean time, hit
Lordihip was meditating and compiling an angry and elaborate
anfwer to this private, hafty, and impertinent, though well -meant
Scrihhk ; and it was as much as they could do^ who had mofl in-
fluence over him, to prevail with him at length to burn it. For the
truth of aU this, I might appeal to a Noble Perfon, one of the
greatcfi charadlcrs of this, or indeed of any age; who being
much courted by his Lordfhip, (for fuperior virtue will force
nomage from the mofl unHke,) was for fome time able, and at all
times moft defirous, of reilraining the extravagance of that j^
Phtlofophy^ which he detefted and defpifed.
** The event has fince (hewn, that it would have been happy for
his Lordfhip's reputation, had the advice to ftrike out the Di-
greffion been approved : for it is this which firft funk him in the
popular opinion ; and made men overlook the merit of the very
btfft of his compofiticDS.
"Mr.
MR. WARBURTON. 395
you had been more explicit if yoor leg be quite well.
You fay no more than that you got home well. I
exped
*• Mr. Pope, however, was ftill flattered and carefied ; and
the Tengcance treafured up againft him, for the impiety of erafiog
thofe facred papers, did not break out till after the Poet's death :
then, indeed, it came forth with redoubled vehemence, and on the
noft ridiculous pretence. Pope had, as his Lordfhip pretended^
unknown to him, printed an edition of the Patriot Prince^ or
Patriot Klngy (for it had two titles> as his Lordfhip's various oc-
cafions required^) a very innocent thing, which might have been
proclaimed by the common cryer, without giving the lead um-
brage or offence. To £ay the truth, it was a mere fchool decla-
mation, which, in great pomp af words, informs us of this fecret.
That if a Prince could once be brought to love his Country ^ he would
always aEtfor the good of it* As extraordinary as this difcovery ap-
pears, there was much odd pra£iice employed to give a colour of
necefiity for the publifhing it. However, publifhcd it was, and
the memory of Pope traduced in fo cruel, fo fcandalous a manner,
that the reader is fuffered to conclude, even Curl himfelf could
not have afied a more infamous or rafcally part : for it mull be
owned his Lord(hip has dealt one equal meafure to his Country,
his Religion^ and his Friend. And for what was all this out-
rage ? To fpeak the worll of the offence, for one of thofe private
offices of indifcreet good-will which generous men are always
ready to forgive, even when they fee themftlves molt incommoded
by it.
*< The public ftood amazed, and thofe who had any regard for
the Poet's memory, waited with impatience to fee which of hit
old Friends would refcue it from his Lordihip's talons. Con-
tempt, I fuppofe, of fo cruel a treatment, kept them aU filent*
However, the fame contempt at length provoked an anonymous
vn-iter to publifh a Letter to the Editor of the Patriot King ^
for his Lordlhip had divided himfelf into two perfonagcs of JSdiior
and Author. This Letter, written with all the refpcft due to his
rank and chamber, he thought fit to afcribe to the Author of the
Divii^
396 LETTERS TO
expert a more particular account of you when you
have repofed yourfelf a while at your own fire^fide.
I iball inquire as foon as I am in London^ which of
my friends have feen you ? There are two or three
who know how to value you : I wi(h I was as fure
they would ftudy to fcrve you.-— A projeft has arifen
in my head to make you, in fome meafure, the Editor
of this new edition of the Dunciad"*, if you have no
fcruple of owning fome of the graver notes, which are
now added to thofe of Dr. Arbuthnot. I mean it
as a kind of prelude, or advertifement to the public,
of your Commentaries, on the EJfay on Matty and on
Criticifmy which I propofe to print next in another
volume proportioned to this. I only doubt whether
an avowal of thefe notes to fo ludicrous a poem -be
fuitable to a charafter fo eftabliflied as yours for more
ferious (Indies. It was a fudden thought fince we
parted ; and I would have you treat it as no more ;
and tell me if it is not better to be fupprefled ; freely
and friendlily. I have a particular reafon to make you
intereft yourfelf in me and my writings. It will caufe
both them and me to make the better figure to pof-
terity.
Divine Legation \ fo that you need not wonder if it espofcd the
fufpe&ed writer to all his Lordfhip's rage, and to all the nbaldrjr
x>i his fycophantSy of which fome, that was faid to pafs through
this great man's hands, was in language bad enough to difgrace
even gaols and garrets." War to m.
" That is, of the four books conr.plctc. Wa&bu&tom*
MR. WARBURTON- * 397
terhy, A very mediocre poet, one Drayton *, is yet
taken fome notice of becaufe Selden writ a few notes
on one of his poems.*—
Adieu. May every domeflic happinefs make you
unwilling to remove from home ; and may every
friend, you do that kindnefs for, treat you fo as to
make you forget you are not at home !
I am, etc.
LETTER XVII.
December 28, I742,
T HA VE always fo many things to take kindly of you,
that I don^t know which to begin to thank you for«
I was willing to conclude our whole account of the
Dunciad, at lead, and therefore (laid till it was finifhed.
'ITie encouragement you gave me to add the fourth
book firft determined me to do fo ; and the approba-
tion you feemed to g^ve it was what iingly determined
me to prmt it. Since that, your Notes and your
Difcourfe in the name of Ariftarchus have given iu
lad finifhings and ornamrnts.— ^^ am glad you wilt
refrefh
* Drayton deferves a much higher cKaradier. He abounds in
xnanj beautiful and natural dcforiptions, and fome very harmonic
ous lines. And SeldefC% notes arc full of curious antiqutrian
refearches. Pope was as much fupcrior to Drajfton> as Selden
was to Warbiirton. Wartok.
398 LETTERS TO
refrefli the memory of fuch readers as have no other
faculty to be readers, efpccially of fuch works as the
Divine Legation *. But I hope you will not take too
much
* One of the mod {hrewd and acute objc^ions ever urged againll
the reafoning of the Divine Legatiouy is in the following Letter of
Dr. MlJdleton to IVarhurton :
*' When I was laft in London^ I met with a little Piece, written
with the fame view and on the fame plan with yours : an auonymom
Letter from Geneva, evincing the divine Miifion of Mofcs, from
the Inflitution of the Sabbatic year. The author fets out, like
you, from this (ingle Pollulatum, that Mofes was a confummate
Law-giver ; and (hews that he could never have enjoined a Law fo
whirofical, impolitic, and hazardous, expofing the people to certain
famine, as oft as the preceding or following year proved barren, if
hcy who has all Nature at command, had not warranted the fuccefs
of it. The letter is ingenious and fprightly^ and drcffcs out, in a
variety of colours, the abfurdity of the inftitution, on the fuppofition
of its being human. It is in French, and publi(hcd in Bibliothcque
Germaniqucy tom. xxx.
'* But will not this gaiety of cenfuring the Law be found too
adventurous, and expofe your Poftulatum itfelf to fome hazard >
cfpecially when there is a fa^ generally allowed by the l^med,
that feems to overturn all this fpecious reafoning at once ; viz,
that this Law of the Sabbatic year- was never obferved. For, if
fo, it may be objeded, with fome (hew of reafon, that Mofes
had charged himfelf with the {(fue of events too delicate, and be-
yond his reach, and imprudently enjoined what ufe and experi-
ence (hewed to be impraAicable. I am apprchenfive likewife that
your work will not (land wholly cle^r of obje£iions : your fcheniCi
as I take it, is to (hew, that fo able a man as Mofes could not
pofiibly have omitted the dod^rine of a future ftate, thought fo
necc(rary to government by all other Legiflators, had he not done
it by exprefs dircdlion of the Deity ; and that, under the mira-
culous difpcnfations of the Theocracy, he could neither want it
himfelf for the inforcing a refpcft to his laws, nor yet the people,
for
MR. WARBURTON. 399
much notice of another and a duller fort ; thofe "who
become writers through malice, and mufl die when*
ever you pleafe to (hine out in the completion of the
Work : which 1 wifli were now your only anfwer to
any of them : except you will make ufe of that (hoit
and excellent one you gave me in the ftory of the
reading'glafs.
The world here grows very bufy. About what
time is it you think of being amongft us ? My health,
I fear, will confine me, whether in town or here, io
that I may expeft more of your company as one good
refulting out of eviL
I write.
for the encouragement of their obedience. But what was the con-
fequence I Why the people were perpetually apoftaiizing either
to the Superflitions of Egypt or the Idolatries of Canaan ; and
tired with the load of their Ceremonies, wholly dropped them at.
lad, and funk into all kinds of vice and profanentfs ; till the Pro-
phets, in order to revive and prefervc a fenfe of Religion amongft.
thpm, began to preach up the rational duties of Morality, and in-
Anuate the dotSlriae of a future ftatc." — LetUr to Mr. V/arluriony
Srpt. II, 1736.
Our author did not perhaps know that his learned and cxccDert
friend, Bifhop Berkley, had remarked, long before the Divine Lega-
tion waspublifhed, " That Mofcs, indeed, doth not infill on a future
flatr, the common bafis of all political Inditutions ; nor do other
Law -givers make a particular mention of all things neceflary, but
fuppofc fome thinp^s as generally known and believed. The belief
of a future ftate, (which it is manifeft the Jews were poffcffcd of
long before the coming of Chrift,) feems to have obtained among
the Hebrews from prirr.aeval Tradition ; which might render it
unneceflary for Mofcs to iui'ill on that article." — j1 Dlfcourfe ad*
drtjfed to Ma/tftrata. W a r t o k .
400 LETTERS TO
I write, you know, very laconically. I have but
one formula which fays every thing to a friend, ^ I
'^ am yours, and beg you to continue mine.'' Let
me not be ignorant (you can prevent my being fo of
any things but firft and principally) of your health and
well being ; and depend on my fenfe of all the Kind*
nefs over and above all the Jujiice you fhall ever do
me«
I never read a thing with more pleafure than an
additional (heet to * Jervas's preface to Don Quixote.
Before I got over two paragraphs I cried out, Aui
Erafmus aut Diabolus / I knew you as certainly as the
ancients did the Gods by the firft pace and the very
gait. I have not a moment to exprefs myfelf in, but
could not omit this which delighted me fo greatly.
My Law-fuit with L. is at an end. — Adieu ! Believe
no man can be more yours. Call me by any title you
will, but a Doff or of Oxford; Sit tibi cura mei^Jit tibi
cura tuu
* On the origia of the books of Chivalry. Wa&bu&tok,
MR. WARBURTON. 401
LETTER XVm.
January i8, 1742.
T AM forced to grow every day more laconic in my
letters, for my eyefight grows every day (horter and
dimmer. Forgive me then that I aufwer you fummarily.
I can even lefs bear an equal part in a correfpondence
than in a converfation with you. But be affured once
for all, the more I read of you, as the more I hear from
you, the better 1 am inftrufted and pleafed. And this
misfortune of my own dulnefs, and my own abfence,
only quickens my ardent wifli that fome good fortune
would draw you nearer, and enable me to enjoy both,
for a greater part of our lives in this neighbourhood ;
and in fuch a fituation, as might make more benefi-
cial friends, than I, eftecm and enjoy you equally*
I have again heard from Lord * # and another hand,
that the Lord ^ I writ to you of, declares an intention
to ferve you. My anfwer (which they related to him)
was, that he would be fure of your acquaintance for
life if once he ferved, or obliged you ; but that, I was
certain, you would never trouble him with your ex-
peflacion *, though he would never get rid of your
gratitude.
y Granville. Warburtok.
* This is nearly what Pope himfelf faid to Lord Halifax :
*• I diftruft neither your wil nor your memory, wHcn it h to do
good ; but if ever I become troublefome or folicitous, it muft uoi
be out of expeSation^ but out oi gratitude,**
VOL. IX. b o
402 LETTERS TO
gratitude. — Dear Sir, adieu, and let me be fomc-
times certified of your health. My own is as ufual ;
and my afiedion the fame, always yours.
LETTER XIX.
Twitenham, March 24, 1743.
T WRITE to you amongft the very few I now defirc
to have my Friends, merely, SI valeas^ valeo. *Tis
in effeft all I fay : but it is very literally true, for I
place all that makes my life defirable in their welfare.
I may truly afErm, that vanity or intereft have not
the leaft fhare in any friendfliip I have ; or caufe me
now to cultivate that of any one man by any one
letter. But if any motive fhould draw me to flatter a
great man, it would be to fave the friend I would
have him ferve from doing it. Rather than lay a
deferving perfon under the neceflity of it, I would
hazard my own charader and keep his in dignity.
Though, in truth, I live in a time when no meafures
of condud influence the fuccefs of one's applications,
and the bed thing to truft to is chance and oppor-
tunity.
I only mean to tell you, I am wholly yours, how
few words foever I make of it — A greater pleafure to
me kf that I chanced to make Mr. Allen fo, who is
not only worth more than —— intrinfically ; but, I
forefee,
MR. WARBURTON. 403
forefee, will be efFeSually more a comfort and glory
to you every year you live. My confidence in any man
lefs truly great than an honed one is but fmall. —
1 have lived much by myfelf of late, partly through
ill health, and partly to amufe myfelf with little im-
provements in my garden and houfe, to which pof-
fibly I fliall (if I live) be foon more confined. When
the Dunciad may be publifhed, I know not. I am
more defirous of carrying on the beft, that is your
edition of the reft of the Epijiles and EJfay on Criticifm^
etc. I know it is there * 1 fhall be feen moft to ad-
vantage. But I infift on one condition, that you
never think of this when you can employ yourfelf in
iinifhing that noble work of the Divine Legation
(which is what, above all, iterum iterumque monebo *)
or any other ufeful fcherae of your own. It would
be a fatisfaftion to me at prefent only to hear that
you have fupported your health among thefe epidemi-
cal diforders, which, though not mortal to any of
my friends, have afflitted almoft every one.
* The judgment he here jpaffcs on his own works is remarkable,
and worth attending to. Warton.
* Either his friendfhip for the Editor, or his love of Rehgion,
made him have tht« very much at heart ; and almoll the lall words
he faid to the Editor as he was dying, was the conjuring him to
iiniOi the lad Volume ; which indignation, as he fuppofcd, at the
fpurrilities of a number of namelefs fcribblers, had retarded.
W-HtBURTON,
D D 2
404 LETTERS TO
LETTER XX.
June 5.
J WISH that mftead of writing to you once in two
months, I could do you fome fei^ice as often ; for
I am arrived to an age when I am as fparing of words,
as mod old men are of money, though I daily find
lefs occafion for any. But I live in a time when
benefits are not in the power of an honeft man to be-
ftow ; nor indeed of an honed man to receive, con-
fidering on what terms they are generally to be had.
It is certain you have a full right to any I could do
you, who not only monthly, but weekly of late, have
loaded me with favours of that kind, which are mod
acceptable to veteran Authors ; thofe garlands which
a Commentator weaves to hang about his Poet, and
which are flowers both of his own gathering and paint-
ing too J not bloffoms fpringing from the dry Au-
thor.
It is very unreafonablfe after this, to give you a
fecond trouble in revifmg the EJfay on Horner^. But
I look upon you as one fwom to fuffer no errors in
me : and though the common way with a Commen-
tator be to ered: them into beauties, the bed office of a
Critic is to correct and amend them. There being a
new
• The Editor did revife and correct it a's it now ftands in the laft
edition. WARByaioK.
MR. WARBURTON. 405
new edition coming out of Horner^ I would willingly
render it a little Icfs defedive, and the bookfcUer will
not allow me time to do fo myfelf.
Lord B. returns to France very fpeedily, and it is
poffible I may go for three weeks or a month to Mr.
Allen's in the fummer ; of which I will not fail to
advertife you, if it fuits your conveniency to be there
and drink the waters more beneficially.
Forgive my fcribbling fo haftily and fo ill. My eyes
are at lead as bad as jny head, and it is with my
heart only that I can pretend to be, to any real pur-
pofe,
Your, etc.
LETTER XXI.
July 18.
"^ov may well expeft letters from me of thanks :
but the kind attention you fhew to every thing
that concerns me is fo manifeft, and fo repeated, that
you cannot but tell yourfelf how neceflarily I mufl:
pay them in my heart, which makes it almoft imper-
tinent to fay fo. Tour alterations to the Pre&ce and
Eflay ^ are jufl ; and none more obliging to me than
where you prove your concern, that my notions in
my
^ Prefixed to his Homer's Iliad. WAiBURxaM.
DD 3
Ao6 LETTERS TO
my firft writings fliould not be repugnant to thofe in
my laft. And you will have the charity to think,
when I was then in an error, it was not fo much that I
thought wrong or pcrverfely, as that I had not thought
fufficiently. What I could correft in the diffipated
life I am forced to lead here, I have : and fome there
are which ftill want your help to be made as they
fliould be. — Mr. Allen depends on you at the end of
the next month, or in September, and I will join him
as foon as I can return from the other party ; I believe
not till September at fooneft. — ^You will pardon me
(dear Sir) for writing to you but juft like an attorney
or agent. I am more concerned for your Finances ^
than your Fame ; becaufe the firft, I fear, you will
never be concerned about yourfelf ; the fecond is
fecure to you already, and (whether you will or not)
will follow you.
I have never faid one word to you of the public. I
have known the greater world too long to be very
fanguine. But accidents and occafions may do what
"Virtue would not ; and God fend they may ! Adieu.
Whatever becomes of public Virtue, let us prefervc
our own poor (hare of the private. * Be affured, if I
have any, I am with a true fenfc of your merit and
friendfhip, etc.
• His debt from the Executor gf Mr. Gyles. Warburtok.
MR. WARBURTON. ' 407
LETTER XXII.
Oftobcr 7.
J HEARTILY thank you for yours, from which I
learned your fafe arrival. And that you found
all yours in health, ^as a kind addition to the ac-
count ; as I truly am interefted in whatever is, and
deferves to be dear to you, and to make a part of
your happinefs. I have many reafons and experiences
to convince me, how much you wifh health to me,
as well as long life to my writings. Could you make
as much a better man of me as you can make a better
author, I were fecure of Immortality both here and
hereafter by your means. The Dunciad I have or-
dered to be advertifed in quarto. Pray order as many
of them as you will ; and know that whatever is mine
is yours.
-0t
LETTER XXIII.
January 12, 1743.
A N unwillingnefs to write nothing to you, whom
' I refpefl: ; and worfe than nothing (which would
afflia you) to one who wifhes me fo well, has hitherto
kept me filent. Of the Public I can tell you nothing
worthy the refleftion of a reafonable man ; and of
myfelf only an account that would give you pain ;
D D 4 for
4o8 - LETTERS TO
for my allhma has increafed every week fince yoa laft
heard from me, to the degree of confining me totally
to the fire-fide ; fo that I have hardly feen any of my
friends but two ^, who happen to be divided from the
world as much as myfelf, and are conftantly retired
at Batterfea. There I have paffed moft of my traie, and
often wifhed you of the company, as the beft 1 know
to make me not regret the lofs of all others, and to
prepare me for a nobler fcene than any mortal great-
nefs can open to us. I fear by the account you gave
me of the time you defign to come this way, one of
them (whpm I much wifli you had a glimpfe of) will
be gone again, unlefs you pafs fome weeks in London
before Mr. Allen arrives there in March. My prefent.
kidifpofition takes up almoft all my hours, to render
a very few of them fupportable : yet I go on foftly to
prepare the great edition of my Things with your
Notes, and as faft as I receive any from you, I add
others in order.
I am told the Laureat is gomg to publifh a very
abufive pamphlet. That is all I can defire ; it is
enough, if it be abufive and if it be his. He threatens
you ;' but, I think, you will not fear or love him fo
much as to anfwer him, though you have anfwered
one or two as dull. He will be more to me than a
dofe of hartlhorn : and as a (link revives one who has
been opprefled with perfumes, his railing will cure
me of a courfe of flatteries.
I am
* Lord and Lady Bolingbrokc.
MR. WARBURTON. 409
I am much more concerned to hear that fome of
your Clergy are offended * at a verfe or two of mine ^,
becaufe I have refpecl for your Clergy (though the
Verfes are harder xx^onours). But if they do not
blame you for defending thofe Verfes, I will wrap my-
felf up in the layman's cloak^ and fleep under your
ihield.
1 am forry to find by a letter two pods fince from
Mr. Allen, that he is not quite recovered yet of all
remains of his indifpofition, nor Mrs. Allen qiute
well. Don't be difcouraged from telling me how you
are : for no man is more yours than, etc.
LETTER XXIV.
y F I was not afliamed to be fo behind-hand with you,
that I can never pretend to fetch it up, (any more
than I could, in my prefent ftate, to overtake you in a
race,) I would particularize which of your letters I
fhould have anfwered firft. It muft fufEce to fay I
have received them all j and whatever very little rc-
fpites
♦ It was furely impofllble for them not to take offence, at oirc
of the fevcreft, and we hope, undefcrved farcafms ever caft on their
order. And it i» not a little furprifing that the friend under
whofe guidance our Poet had now placed himfclf, did not prevail
on him to fupprcfs thcfe injurious lines. Warton.
* Vcr. 355 to 3 j8. fccond book of the Dunciad. War burton.
4IO LETTERS TO
fpites I have had, from the daily care of my malady,
have been employed in revifing the papers on the Ufe of
Riches^ which I would have ready for your laft revife
againft you come to tovm, that they may be begun
with while you are here. — ^I own, the late encroach-
ments upon my conftitution make me willing to fee
the end of all further care about me or my works. I
would reft for the one, in a full refignation of my
being to be difpofed of by the Father of all mercy ; and
for the other (though indeed a trifle, yet a trifle may
be fome example) I would commit them to the can*
dour of a ferifible and reflefting judge, rather than to
the malice of every fhort-fighted and malevolent critic,
or inadvertent and cenforious reader. And no hand
can fet them * in fo good a light, or fo well turn their
b«ft fide to the day, as your own. This obliges me
to confefs I have for fome months thought myfelf
going, and that not flowly, down the hill. The
rather as every attempt of the phyficians, and ftill
the laft medicines more forcible in their nature, have
utterly failed to ferve me. I was at laft, about feven
days ago, taken with fo violent, a fit at Batterfea, that
my friends Lord M. t and Lord B. fent for prefent help
to the furgeon ; whofe bleeding me, 1 am perfuaded,
faved my life, by the inftantaneous eflFe£t it had ; and
which
* Without incurring, I hope, the ccnfure of being a (hort-Gghted
and nfialcvolcnt critic, I venture to fay, that our Author's fond ol-
pedation of his Commentator's fetting his works in the bed light,
was extremely ill-founded. Wartos.
f Marchmont and Bolingbroke.
MR. WARBURTON. 417
which has continued fo much to amend me, that I
have pafled five days without oppreilion, and reco-
vered, what I have three months wanted, fome degree
of expeftoration, and fome hours together of fleep. I
am now got to Twitenham, to try if the air will not
take fome part in. reviving me, if I can avoid colds :
and between that place and Batterfea with my Lord
B* I will pafs what I have of life, while he flays
(which I can tell you, to my great fatisfadion, will
be this fortnight or three weeks yet). What if you
came before Mr. Allen, and flaid till then, inftead of ,
poflponing your journey longer? Pray, if you write,
jufl tell him how ill I have been, or I had wrote again
to him : but that I will do, the firfl day I find myfelf
alone with pen, ink, and paper, which I can hardly
be, even here, or in any fpirits yet to hold a pen.
You fee I fay nothing, and yet this writing is labour
to me.
I am, etc
LETTER XXV-
April 1744.
J AM forry to meet you with fo bad an account of
myfelf, who fhould otherwife with joy have flown
to the interview. I am too ill to be in town ; and
within this week fo much worfe, as to make my
journey
412 LETTERS, etc.
journey thither, at prefent, imprafticable, even if there
was no Proclamation in ray way •. I left the town
in a decent compliance to that ; but this additional
prohibition from the higheft of all powers I mull bow
to without murmuring. I wiflx to fee you here. Mr.
Allen comes not till the i6th, and you will probably
chufe to be in town chiefly while he is there. I
received yours juft now, and I writ to hinder — —
from printing the Comment on the Vfe of Riches too
haftily, fince what you write me, intending to haye
forwarded it otherwife, that you might revife it dur-
ing your flay. Indeed, my prefent weaknefs will make
me lefs and lefs capable of any thing. 1 hope at lead,
now at firft, to fee you for a day or two here at
Twitenham, and concert meafures how to enjoy for
the future what I can of your friendihip *.
I am, etc.
* It is a finjTular circumftance, that Popc^ through life
the enemy of the Revolution, was born on the very year the
Revolution commenced, 1688, and died only the year before the
lajl effort was made by the Grandfon of JanOes II. to regain the
throne of his anceftors.
The account of his gradual decline is very interefting, par-
ticularly as his Letters to Warburton feem ta exhibit more
unaffeded warmth^ more plain good fenfe, and more fincere kindnefs»
than thofe Letters which were written in the inflation of felf-
applaufe. A fevere judge, however, might imagine, that he faw,
in one^ a Poet, attentive only to pofthumous fame \ in the other*
a Divine^ felicitous for his rifing fortunesy and future preferment.
* He died May 30, following. Wakbui^ton*
( 413 )
GUARDIANS*
N" 4. March 16, 1713.
rPHouGH moft things which are wrong in their
own nature, are at once confefled and abfolved
in that (ingle word, the Cuftom ; yet there are fome,
which
* It is obfervable tbat our author wrote no one paper in the
SpeSaior : though his friend Parnell did feveral, chiefly in the
way of Vifions^ and in a ftyle forced and inflated, and much in-
ferior to thefe eight papers of our author. Addifon vrrott fifty-two
papers in the Guardian^ the plan of which was far inferior to that
of the Spe84aor, For what had the Guardian of the Sparkler to
do with fubjcds of Criticifm and Philofophy I The fecret charm
of the SpeAator confiftcd in interefUng the reader in the charadlers
and a£lioR8 of the fcveral members of the clab, and confequently
in the dramatic eaft given to thofe EiTays. The fucceiibrs of the
Spe&atOTf even thofe that have been mod popular, feem to have been
unfortunate in the Titles they alTumcd. Who would fuppofc that
the Rambler (il Vagabondo, as the Italian tranflator termed it)
was a feric* of the graved and mod moral Eflays ? The Adven^
iurery it feems, alluded to its being a kind of Knight Errantry to
attack tlic Vices and Follies of Men. The Connoijfeur^ though you
would naturally expcd it from the title, yet contained nothing
that related to the fine Arts. The World was an appropriated
and happy title, becaufe it pointed out the chief defign of touch-
ing on the topics of the day, and the living manners of the times.
And this fignificant title was given to it, by the fenCble Publifhcr
of it, Mr.. Robert Dodfley, at a meeting of fcveral of tl.c author*3
friends, who univeifiilly gave the preference to his pr.-pofal agalnil
their own . W a r t o k .
414 THE GUARDIAN.
which as they have a dangerous tendency, a thmking
man will the lefs excufe on that very account. Among
thefe I cannot but reckon the common pradHce of
Dedications^ which is of fo much the worfe confe*
quence as it is generally ufed by people of politenefs,
and whom a learned education for the moft part
ought to have infpired with nobler and jufter fenii-
. ments. This proftitutlon of Praife is not only a
deceit upon the grofs of mankind, who take their
notion of chara&ers from the Learned ; but alfo the
better fort mud by this melans lofe fome part at leaft
of that defire of Fame which is the incentive to gene-
rous aftions, when they find it promiTcuoufly beftowed
on the meritorious and undeferving. Nay, the au-
thor himfelf, let him be fuppofed to have ever fo true
a value for the patron, can find no terms to exprefs
it, but what have been already ufed, and rendered
fufpeded by flatterers. Even Truth itfelf in a Dedi-
cation is like an honed man in a difguife or Vizor-
Mafque, and will appear a Cheat by being dreft fo
like one. Though the merit of the perfon is beyond
difpute, \ fee no reafon, that, becaufe one man is
eminent, therefore another has a right to be imperti-
nent, and throw praifes in his face. It is juft the
reverfe of the praftice of the ancient Romans, when
a perfon was advanced to triumph for his fervices :
they hired people to rail at him in that Circumftance,
to make him as humble as they could ; and we have
fellows to flatter him, and make him as proud as they
can.
V
THE GUARDIAN. 4^5
can. Suppofing the.writer not to be mercenary, yet
the great man is no more in reafon obliged to thank
him for his piSure in a Dedication, than co thank the
painter for that on a fign^pofl ; except it be a lefs
injury to touch the moft facred part of him, his cha-
rafter, than to make free with his countenance only.
I fhould think nothing juftified me in this point, but
the patron's permiffion before hand, that I (hould
draw him as like as I could ; whereas moft authors
proceed in this affair jnft as a dauber I have heard of,
who, not being able to draw portraits after the
life, was ufed to paint faces at random, and look out
afterwards for people whom he might perfuade to be
like them. To exprefs my notion of the thing in a
word : to fay more to a man than one thinks, with a
profpcft of intereft, is difhoneft; and without it,
foolifh. And whoever has had fuccefs in fuch an
undertaking, muft of neceflity at once think himfelf
in his heart a knave for having done it, and his
patron a fool for having believed it.
I have fometimes been entertained with confidering
Dedications in no very common light. By obferving
what qualities our writers think it will be moft pleaf-
ing to others to compliment them with, one may
form fome judgment which are moft fo to therafelves ;
and, in confequence, what fort of people they are.
Without this view one can read very few Dedications,
but will give us caufe to wonder, either how fuch
things came to be faid at all, or how they were faid
to
4i6 THE GUARDIAN.
to fuch perfons. I have known an Hero compli-
mented upon the decent raajefty and ftate he affumed
after a viftory : and a nobleman of a different charac-
ter applauded for his condefcenfion to inferiors.
This would have feemed very ftrange to me but that
I happened to know the authors : he who made the
firft compliment was a lofty gentleman, whofe air and
g2Ut difcovered when he had publiflied a new book ;
and the other tippled every night with the fellows who
laboured at the prefs while his own writings were
working off. It is obfervable of the female poets and
ladies dedicatory, that there (as elfewhere) they for
exceed us in any drain or rant. As beauty is the
thing that fex are piqued upon, they fpeak of it
generally in a more elevated ftyle than is ufed by the
men. They adore in the fame manner as they would
be adored. So when the authorefs of a famous mo-
dem romance begs a young nobleman's permiflion to
pay him her kneeling adorations^ I am far from cenfur-
ing the expreflion, as fome Criticks would do, as de-
ficient in grammar or fenfe ; but I refleQ, that adora-
tions paid in that poflure are what a lady might ex-
peft herfelf, and my wonder immediately ceafes.
Thefe, when they flatter mofjt, do but as they would
be done unto ; for as none are fo much concerned at
being injured by calumnies, as they who are readied
to caft them upon their neighbours ; fo it is certain,
none are fo guilty of flattery to others, as thofe who
moft ardently defire it themfelves.
8 What
J
THE GUARDIAN. 417
What led me into' thefe thoughts, was a Dedication
I happened upon this morning. The reader mud un-
derftand, that I treat the lead inftances or remains qf
ingenuity with refpeft, in what places foever found,
or under whatever circumftances of difadvantage.
From this love to letters I have been fo happy in my
fearches after knowledge, that I have found unvalued
repofitories of learning in the lining of band-boxes. I
look upon thefe pafteboard edifices, adorned with the
fragments of the ingenious, with the fame veneration
as antiquaries upon ruined buildings, whofe walls
preferve divers infcriptions and names, which are no
where elfe to be found in the world. This morning,
when one of Lady Lizard's daughters was looking
over fome hoods and ribbands, brought by her tire-
woman with great care and diligence, I employed no
lefs in examining the box which contained them ; it
was lined with certain fcenes of a tragedy, written (as
appeared by part of the title there extant) by one of
the fair fex. What was mod legible was the Dedica-
tion ; which, by reafon of the largenefs of the charac-
ters, was leaft defaced by thofe Gothic ornaments
of flourifhes and foliage, wherewith the compilers of
thefe fort of ftruftures do often induftrioufly obfcure
the works of the learned. As much of it as I could
read with any eafe, I (hall communicate to the reader as
follows. • * # *' Though it is a kind ofprophana-
" tion to approach your Grace with fo poor an ofFer-
*5 ing, yet when I refleft how acceptable a facrifice of
VOL. IX. E E " firft-
cc
<C
C<
<C
€i
CC
CC
cc
cc
4*8 TH£ GUARDIAN.
^< firft-fruits was to Heaven, in the earlieft and puteft
^' ages of reb'gion, that they were honoured with
^^ folemn feafts, and confecrated to altars by a Divine
command ; • • • Upon that confideration, as an
argument of particular zeal, I dedicate • • • It is
impoiCble to behold you without adoring; yet
dazzled and awed by the glory that furrounds you,
men feel a facred power, that refines their flames,
and renders them pure as thofe we ought to offer
to the Deity. • * • • The fhrine is worthy the
divinity that inhabits it. In your Grace we fee
what woman was before fbe fell, how nearly allied
to the purity and perfedion of angels. And we
adore and blefs the glorious work ! '
Undoubtedly thefe, and other periods of this mod
pious Dedication, could not but convince the Ducheis
of what the eloquent authorefs aiTures her at the end,
that fhe was her fervant with moil ardent devodon.
I think this a pattern of a new fort of ftyle, not yet
taken notice of by the Critics, which is above the
fublime, and may be called the Celeftial; that is,
when the moft facred praifes appropriated to the
honour of the Deity, are applied to a mortal of good
quality. As I am naturally emulous, I cannot but
endeavour, in imitation of this Lady, to be the in*
ventor, or, at lead, the firft producer, of a new kind
of Dedication, very different from hers and moil
others, fince it has not a word but what the author
religioufly thinks in it. It may ferve for almoft any
book.
tHE GUARDIAN. 419
book, either Profe or Verfe, that has, is, or fhall be
publiihed j and might run in this manner.
THE AUTHOR TO HIMSELF*
Moft Honoured Sir,
'T'HfiSE labours, upon many confiderations, fo pro-
perly belong to none as to you : firft, that it
was your mod eameft dcfire alone that could prevail
upon me to make them public : then, as I am
feciire (from that conftant indulgence you have ever
Ihovtrn to all which is mine) that no man will fo
readily take them into proteftion, or fo zealoufly de-
fend them. Moreover, there's none can fo foon
difcover the beauties ; and there are fome parts which
it is poflible few befides yourftlf are capable of un-
derftandingk Sir, the honour, affedtion, and value I
have for you are beyond cxpreffion ; as great, I am
furcj or greater, than any man elfe can bear you.
As for any defefts which others may pretend to dif-
cover in you, I do faithfully declare I was never
a
able to perceive them ; and doubt not but thofe
perfons are aSuated purely by a fpirit of malice
or envy, the infeparable attendants on (hining merit
and parts, fuch as I have always efteemed yours to '
be. It may, perhaps, be looked upon as a kind of
violence to modefty, to fay this to you in public ;
but you may believe me, it is no more than I have a
thoufand times thought of you in private. Might I
EEC follow
420 THE GUARDIAN*
follow the impulfe of my foul, there is no fubjed
I could launch into with more pleafure than your
panegyric: but (ince fomething is due to modefty,
let me conclude by telling you, that there is nothmg
I fo much defire as to know you more thoroughly
than I have yet the happinefs of doing. I may then
liope to be capable to do you fome real fervice ; but
till then, can only affure you, that I (hall contiuue to
be, as I am more than any man alive,
Deareft SIR,
Your afFedionate Friend, and
The greateft of your Admirers.
N" 1 1. Tuesday, March 24, 171 3.
Hue proprii^a me,
Dum doceo infanire omnes, vos ordine adite.
Hor. Sat. iii. lib. ii. ver. 80.
" To the Guardian.
" SIR,
" A ^ y^^ profefs to encourage all thofe who any
way contribute to the Public Good, I flatter
myfelf I may claim your Countenance and Pro-
" teftion. I am by Profeffion a Mad-Doftor, but
*^ of a peculiar kind, not of thofe whofe Aim it
*' is to remove Phrenzies, but one who makes it
" my Bufinefs to confer an agreeable MadneCs on
" my Fellow-Creatures, for their mutual Delight
« and
A
it
I
u
€C
THE GUARDIAN. 421
•* and Benefit. Since it is agreed by the Philo-
!* fophers, that Happinefs and Mifery confift chiefly
in the imagination, nothing is more neceffary to
Mankind in general than this pleafmg Delirium,
which renders every one fatisfied with himfelf, and
^* perfuades him that all others are equally fo.
I have for feveral Years, both at home and
abroad, made this Science my panicular Study,
*' which I may venture to fay 1 have improved in
^' almofl: all the Courts of Europe } and have re«
'* duced it into fo fafe and eafy a Method, as to
^' pradife it on both Sexes, of what Difpofition,^
" Age, or Quality foever, with Succefs. What
^' enables me to perform this great work, is the
** ufe of my Obfequium Catholicotiy or the Grand
** Elixir J to fupport the Spirits of human Nature.
This remedy is of the moft grateful Flavour in
the World, and agrees with all Taftes whatever.
It is delicate to the Senfes, delightful in the
Operation, may be taken at all Hours without
^^ Confinement, and is as properly given at a ball
^* or Playhoufe as in a private Chamber. It re-
" (lores and vivifies the moft dejefted Minds, cor-
*< refts and extracts all that is painful in the Know-
<« ledge of a Man's felf. One Dofe of it will in-
** ftantly difperfe itfelf through the whole Animal
<« Syftem, diffipate the firft Motions of Diftmft, fo
«^ as never to return, and fo exhilarate the Brain,
^< and rarify the Gloom of Reflection, as to give
E E 3 « the
cc
4ai THE GUARDIAN.
" the Patients a new flow of Spirits, a Viraqty of
^^ Behaviour, and a pleadng Dependence upon their
*' own Capacities.
cc
€C
Let a Perfon be never fo. far gone, I advife
him not to defpair ; even though he has beeii
troubled many years with reftlefs tlefieftions,
which by long Neglefl: have hardened into fettled
** (joniideration* Thofe that hav^ been ftung with
Satire, may here find a certain Antidote, which
infallibly difperfes all the Remains of Poifon that
•* has been left in the Underftanding by bad Cures.
It fortifies the Heart againft the Rancour of
Pamphlets, the Inveteracy of Epigrams, and the
Mortification of Lampoons; as has beeu often
experienced by feveral perfons of both Sexes,
during the Seafons of Tunbridge and the Bath.
** I could, a$ further inftances of my Succefs,
produce Certificates and TefUmonials from the
Favourites and Ghoftly Fathers of the moft
eminent Princes of Europe ; but {ball content
' myfelf with the mention of a few Cures, which
!* 1 have performed by this my Grand Univerfal
Refiorative^ during the Practice of one Month
*^ only fince I came to this City.
** Cures in the Month ^February, 1713.
** George Spondee, Efq j Poet, and Inmate of the
** Parifh of St. Paul's Covent-Garden, fell into vio-
*^ lent Fits of the Spleen upon a thin Third Night.
"He
cc
*
cc
cc
THE GUARDIAN. 4*3
** He had been frighted into a Vertigo by the Sound
** of Cat-calls on the Krft Day ; and the frequent
*' Hiflings on the Second made him unable to en-
" dure the bare Pronunciation of the Letter S. I
** fearched into the Caufes of his Diftemper ; and»
^ by the Prefcription of a Dofe of my Obfeqmum
^^ prepared fecundum Artem, recovered him to his
^ natural State of Madnefs, I cafl: in at proper
Intervals the Words, /// Tajie of the Town^ Envy of
Critics J Bad Performance of the Adors^ and the like*
^^ He is fo perfedly cured, that he has promifed to
bring another Play upon the Stage next Winter.
A Lady of profeffed Virtue of the Parifli of
** St. James's, Weftminfter, who hath defired her
^' Name may be concealed, having taken Offence
^^ at a Phrafe of double Meaning in Converfation,
undifcovered by any other in the Company, fud-.
denly fell into a cold Fit of Modefty. Upon a
right Application of Praife of her Virtue, I threw
<* the Lady into an agreeable waking Dream, v fettled
^^ the Fermentation of her Blood into a waroi
^^ Charity, fo as to make her look with Patience
^' on the very Gentleman that offended.
« HQaria, of the Parifli of St. Giles's in- the
^^ Fields, a Coquette of long Praftice, was, by the
^' Reprimand of an old Maiden, reduced to look
*^ grave in Company, and deny herfelf the play of
^^ the Fan. In (hort, fhe was brought to fuch me«
^^ kmcholy Circumilances, that flie would fome**
E E 4 ^* times
C€
424 THE GUARDIAN.
•* times unawares fall into Devotion at Church. I
** advifed her to take a few innocent Freedoms^ with
oceqfional Kiffes^ prefcribed her the Exerdfe of the
Eyesy and immediately raifed her to her former
" State of Life. She on a fudden recovered her
*' Dimples, furled her Fan, threw round her
*' Glances, and for thefe two Sundays lafl: paft has
** not once been feen in an attentive Pofturc. TTiis
** the Church- Wardens are ready to atteft upon
« Oath.
*^ Andrew Terror, of the Middle-Temple, Mo-
*^ hock, was almoft induced, by an aged Bencher
** of the fame Houfe, to leave oflF bright Conver-
fation, and pore over Coke upon Littleton. He
was fo ill that his Hat began to flap, and he was
^* feen one Day in the laft Term at Weftminfter-
" Hall. This Patient had quite loft his Spirit of
** Contradidion ; I, by the Diftillatlon of a few
of my vivifying Drops in his Ear, drew him from
his Lethargy, and reftored him to his ufual viva*
" cious Mifunderftanding. He is at prefent very
^ eafy in his Condition^
" I will not dwell upon the Recital of the in-
*' numerable Cures I have performed within Twenty
" Days laft paft ; but rather proceed to exhort all
« Perfons of whatever Age, Complexion, or Quality,
** to take as foon as poffible of this my intelledual
" Oil ; which, applied at the Ear, fdzcs aH the
" Senfes with a moft agreeable Tranfport, and dif-
** covers
Cf
THE GUARDIAN. 423
^ covers it$ Effeds, not only to the Satisfaction of
^^ the Patient, but all who converfe with, attend
^ upon, or any way relate to him or her that re-
^^ ceives the kindly Infe£lion« It is often admi«
♦' niftered by Chamber-maids, Valets, or any the
^^ mod ignorant Domeftic ; it being one peculiar
*^ Excellence of this my Oil, that it is moft pre-
^^ valent, the more unOdlful the Perfon is, or ap-
^ pears, who applies it. It is abfolutely neceflary
^^ for Ladies to take a Dofe of it juft before they
^^ t^ke Coach to go a vifiting.
*' But I offend the Public, as Horace faid, when
** I trefpafs on any of your Time. Give me leave
*^ then, Mr. Ironiide, to make you a Prefent of a
<* Drachm or two of my Oil; though I have caule
to fear my Prefcriptions will not have the Effeft
upon you I could wifh : Therefore I do not en-
<< deavour to bribe you in my Favour by the Pre-
** fent of my Oil, but wholly depend upon your
^* public Spirit and Generofity ; which, I hope,
<* will recommend to the World the ufefiil Endea-
♦' vours of,
« SIR,
^* Your moft obedient, moft faithful,
** moft devoted, moft humble
*^ Servant and Admirer,
« GNATHO."
«« •!* Beware of Counterfeits, for fuch are abroad.
« N. B,
4^6 THE GUARDIAN.
^^ N. B. I teach the Arcana of my Art at rea<
^^Ibnable rates to Gentlemen of the Univerfities,
** who dcfire to be qualified for wnting Dedica*
^' tions ; and to young Loirers and Fortune-hunterr»
'* to be paid at. the day of Marriage, I inftrud
^< Perfons of bright Capacities to flatter others, and
^ thofe of the meaneft to flatter themfelves.
<< I was the firft Inventor of Pocket Looking*
♦* glafles/'
I >i I
N' 40. Monday, Aprjju 27, 1713*
Being a Continuation of fome former Papers on tho
Subjed of Pastorals.
Compulerantquc greges Corydon etThyrfis in imiun :
Ex illo Corydon, Corydon eft tempore nobis.
I. T DESIGNED to have troubled* the reader with
no further difcourfes of Fkftoral ; but being
informed that I am taxed of partiality in not men-
tioning an Author whofe Eclogues are publiflied in
the fame volume with Mr. Philips's, I fliall employ
this
* The irony of this paper was conduftcd with fuch delicacy
and ikill that the drift of it was not at firft perceived. The
Wits at Button's thought it to be a ikrcafin on Pope's Paftorak^
Steele heiitated about publiflung it $ but Ad£ffm immediately faw
the defign of it. Waetok,
THE GUARDIAN. 427
tiiis Piper in obferrations upon him, written in the
fiee Spirit of Criticifm^ and without any apprehen^p
(ion of offending that Gentleman, whofe charader
it i$, that he takes the greateft care of his works
before they are publifhed^ and has the lead concern
for them afterwards.
2. I have laid it down as the firft rule of PaL
toral, that its idea fhould be taken from the man*
ners of the Golden Age, and the Moral formed
upon the reprefentation of Innocence ; 'tis there-
fore plain, that any deviations from that defign
d^raded a Poem from being truly paftoraL In this
view it will appear, that Virgil can only have two
of his Eclogues allowed to be fuch : his firfl; and
ninth muft be rejeded, becaufe they defcribe the
ravages of armies, and oppreffions of the innocent :
Cory don's criminal paffion for Alexis throws out
the fecond: the calumny and railing in the third,
i|re not proper to that ftate of concord : the eighth
reprefents unlawful ways of procuring love by en-
chantments, and introduces a fhepherd whom an
inviting precipice tempts to felf-nxurder : As to the
fourth, fixth, and tenth, they are given up by
Heinnus% Salmafius, Rapin, and the critics in
general. They likewife obferve, that but eleven
of all the Idyllia of Theocritus are to be admitted
a$ paftorals: and even out of that number the
greater
f See Rapin, dc Carin. par. iii.
428 THE GUARDIAN.
greater part will be excluded for one or other of
the reafons above-mentioned.' So that when I re-
marked in a former paper, that Virgil's Eclogues,
taken altogether, are rather Sele£k Poems than
Paftorals ; I might have faid the fame thing, with
no lefs truth, of Theocritus. The reafon of this
I take to be yet unobferved by the critics, viz.
They never meant them all for Paftorals.
Now it is plain Philips hath done this, and in that
particular excelled both Theocritus and Virgil.
3. As Simplicity is the diftinguiihing charac*
teriftic of Paftoral, Virgil hath been thought guilty
of too courtly a ftyle ; his language is perfe&ly pure,
and he often forgets he is among peaiants. I have
frequently wondered, that flnce he was fo converfant
in the writings of Ennius, .he had not imitated the
rufticity of the Doric as well by the help of the
old obfolete Roman Language, as Philips has by the
antiquated Englifh : For example, might he not hav^
faid qUoi inftead of cut; quoijum for cujum ; void for
vult^ etc. as well as our modern hath welladay for
alas J whileome for of old^ make mock for deride^ and
witlefs younglings for Jimple lambsy etc. by which
means he had attained as much of the air of
Theocritus, as Philips hath of Spencer ?
4* Mr. Pope hath fallen into the fame error with
Virgil. His clowns do not converfe in all the
fimplicity
THE GUARDIAN. 429
fimplidty proper to the country : His names are bor*
rowed from Theocritus and Virgil, which are im^
proper to the fcene of his Paftorals. He introduces .
Daphnis, Alexis, and Thyriis on Britilh plains, as
Virgil hath done before him on the Mantuan:
whereas Philips, who hath the ftri£teft regard to
propriety, makes choice of names peculiar to the
country, and more agreeable to a reader of delicacy ;
fuch as Hobbinol, Lobbin, Cuddy, and Collin
Clout.
5. So eafy as paftoral writing may feem (in the
fimplidty we have defcribed it) yet it requires great
reading, both of the ancients and moderns, to be
a matter of it. Philips hath given us manifeft proofs
of his knowledge of books. It muft be confefled
his competitor hath imitated fome fingle thoughts
of the ancients well enough (if we confider he had
not the happinefs of an Univerfity education) ; but
he hath difperfed them here and there, without that
order and method which Mr. Philips obferves, whofe
whole third Paftoral is an inftance how well he hath
ftudied the fifth of Virgil, and how judicioufly re-
duced Virgil's thoughts of the ftandard of Paftoral ;
as his contention of Collin Clout and the Nightin-
gale (hows with what exaftnefs he hath imitated
every line in Strada.
6. When
430 THE dUAkblAit;
6. When I remarked it as a principal fauk, to
introdnce fruits and flowers of a foreign growth, in de-
fcriptions where the fcene lies in our own country, I
did not deiign that obfervation Ihould extend alfo to
animals, or the fenfitiTe life ; for Mr. Philips hath with
great judgment *, defcribed Wolves in England in his
firft Pkftoral. Nor would I have a Poet flavilhly con-
fine himfelf (as Mn Pope hath done) to one particular
Seafoii of the year, one certain Time of the day, and
one unbroken Scene in each Eclogue. It is plain
Spencer negle£ted this pedantry, who^ in his Paftoral
of November, mendons the mournful fong Of the
Nightingale,
<< Sad Philomel her ibng in tears dbth fteep.'^
And Mr. Philips, by a poetical creation, hath raifed
up finer beds of flowers than the moft induftrious
gardeners; his rofes, endives, lilies, kingcups, and
daflidils, blow all in the fame feafon.
7. But the better to difcover the merits of our
two contemporary Paftoral writers, I fhall en.
deavour to draw a parallel of them, by fetting
feveral of their pardcular thoughts in the fame
light, whereby it will be obvious how much Philips
hath the advantage^ With what fimplicity he intro-
duces two fhepherds finging alternately ?
noBA.
* This paflage alone might have (hewn the fine irony of
the Paper, Wartok-
THE GUARDIAN. 4^1
ROBB*
*< Come, RofaUndi O comei for without thee
<< What pleafuTt can the country hate for me t
" Come, Rofalind, O, come ; my brindled kine,
^ My fnowy fheep, my farm, and all, is thine.
<< Come, Rofalind, O come ; here ihady hovers,
" Here are cool fountains, and here fpringing flowers*
** Come, Rofalind ; here ever let us ftay,
" And fweetly wafte our liye-long time away.**
Our other paftoral writer, in expreifing the fame
thought, deviates into dovmright Poetry :
STREPH*
<< In Spring the fields, in Automn hills t loVe,
<< At mom the plains, at noon the ihady grove,
^< But Delia always i forc'd from Delia's fights
<< Nor plains at morn, nor groves at noon delights
DAPH*
*< Sylvia's like Autumn ripe, yet mild as May,
^< More bright than noon, yet frefli as early day ;
<< Ev'n Spring difpieafes, when (he fliines not here ;
*< But bleft with her, 'tis Spring throughout the year."
In the firfl of thefe authors, two (hepherds thus
innocently defcribe the behaviour of their miftrefles :
BOBB.
<< As Marian bath'd, by chance I paiied by,
<< She bluih'd, and at me caft a fide-long eye :
<< Then fwif t beneath the cryftal wave flie trfd
<' Her beauteous form, but all in vain, to hide.
43* THE GUARDIAN,
*< As I to cool in6 bath'd one fultrjr day,
<< Vpnd Ljdia lurking in the fedges laj.
*< The'vranton laugh'd, and feem'd in haite to fly;
<< Y^ oft^n ftopp'd, and often tomM her eye.**
The other modem (who it muft be confeflfed hath
a knack of verfifying) hath it as follows :
STREPH.
<< Me gentle Delia beckons from the plain,
*< Then, hid in ihades, eludes her eager fwain ;
<' But feigns a Laugh, to fee me fearch around,
<' And by that Laugh the willing fair is found.
DAPH.
« The fprightly Sylvia trips along the green,
<^ She runs, but hopes ihe does not run unfeen ;
<< While a kind glance at her purfuer flies,
<< How much at variance are her feet and eyes !"
There is nothing the writers of this kind of
poetry are fonder of than defcriptions of paftoral
Prefents. Philips fays thus of a Sheep-hook,
« Of feafon'd elm ; where ftuds of brafs appear,
<* To fpeak the giver's name, the month and year ;
<< The hook of polifh'd fteel, the handle tum'd,
<< And richly by the graver's fldll adorn'd."
The other of a bowl emboflfed with figures :
«* where wanton ivy twines,
<< And fwelling clufters bend the curling vines }
<« Four figures rifing from the work appear,
<< The various feafons of the rolling year ;
<< And, what is that which binds the radiant flcy,
" Where twelve bright figns in beauteous order lie i"
The
THE GUARDIAN- 433
The fimpUcity of the fwain in this place, who for-
gets the name of the Zodiac, is no ill imitation of
Virgil : but how much more plainly and unaffefted-
ly would Philips have dreffed this thought in his
Doric ?
«« And what that height, which girds the welkin (heen,
«« Where twelve gay figns in meet array are feen V*
If the reader would indulge his curiofity any
further in the comparifon of particulars, he may jead
f
the firft paftoral of Philips with the fecond of his
contemporary, and the fourth and fixth of the
former with the fourth and firft of the latter ; where
feveral parallel places will occur to every one.
Having now fliown fomc; parts, in which thefe
two writers may be compared, it is a juftice I owe
to Mr. Philips to difcover thofe in which no man
can compare with him. Firft, That beautiful ruf-
ticity, of which I (hall only produce two inftances
out of a hundred not yet quoted :
" O woeful day ! O day of woe ! quoth he,
" And woeful I, who live the day to fee 1"
The fimplicity of diction, the melancholy flowing
of the numbers, the folemnity of the found, and the
eafy turn of the words in this Dirge (to make
ufe of our author's expreflion) are extremely
elegant.
In another of his paftorals, a ftiepherd utters a
Dirge not much inferior to the former, in the fol-
lowing lines :
VOL. IX. F F « Ah
434 THE GUARDIAN.
<< Ah me the while ! ah me ! the lucklefs izff
'< Ah lucklefs Ud ! the rather might I fay }
<< Ah filly I ! more filly than my flieepj
** Which on the flow'ry plains I once did keep "
How he ftill charms the ear with thefe artful re*
petitions of the epithets ; and how fignifkant is the
Jaft verfe ! I defy the moft common reader to repeal
them, without feeling fome motions of compaiGon.
In the next place I fliall rank his Proverbs, m
which I formerly obferved he excels : for example :
<< A rolling ftone is ever bare of mofs ;
<< And, to their coft, green years old proverbs crdis*
— ** He that late lies down, as late will rife,
" And fluggard-like, till noon-day fnoring lies.
— ** Againft Ill-luck all cunning forefight faSs ;
<< Whether we fleep or wake, it nought avails :
— *^ Nor fear, from upright fentence, wrong."
Laftly, his elegant Dialed, which alone migbc
prove him the eldeft bom of Spencer, and our only
true Arcadian. I fhould think it proper for the
feveral writers of Paftoral, to confine thenifelves to
their feveral Counties. Spencer feems to have been
of this opinion : for he hath laid the fcene of one of
his Paftorals in Wales; where, with all the fimpli-
city natural to that part of our ifland, one (bcpherd
bids the other good-morrow, in an unufual and ele-
gant manner :
^< Dlggon Davy, I bid hur God -day :
** Or Diggon hur is, or I mif-fay."
Diggon
THE GUARDIAN. 43s
t>iggon anfwers :
'< Hur was hur, ii^hUe it was day-light ;
<< But now hur 18 a mod wretched wight/' etc*
But the mod beautiful example of this kind that
I ever met u-itb, is in a very valuable piece which I
chanced to find among feme old manufcripts, efi-
titled, A Pafloral Ballad 1 which t think^ for its na-
ture and fimplicity, may (notwithftanding the mo-
defty of the title) be allowed a perfect PaftoraL It
is compofed in the SomerfetQiire dialeft, and ihe
names fuch as are proper to the country people. It
may be obfervedf, as a further beauty of this Paftoral,
the words Nymph, Dryad, Naiad, ^a^n, Cupid^ or
Satyr, are not once mentioned throughout the whole.
I fliall make no apology for inferting fome few lines
of this excellent piece. Cicily breaks thus into the
fubjefl:, as fhe is going a-milking :
ClCILY.
•* Rager, go vetch tha** Kee, or elfe tha Zun
** Will quite bcgo, bevore c'have half a don.
ROGER.
*' Thou (houldft not ax nxa twecce, but I've a bee
" To dreve our bull to bull tha Parfon's Kce."
It is to be obferved, that this whole dialogue is formed
upon the paffion of jfea/oufy ; and his mentioning the
Parfon's Kine naturally revives the jealoufy of the
fhepherdefs Cicily, which (lie expreffes as follows :
CICILY.
" Ah Rager, Rager, ches was zore avraid,
« When in yon Vield you kifs'd tha Parfori's itaid :
* That 19, the Kinc or Cows. * Warbvrton.
F F 2
436 THE GUARDIAN.
" Is this the love that once to me you zed,
" When from the Wake thou brought'ft me ginger-
•" bread?
ROGER.
*
«< Cicily, thou charged me valfe — ^111 zwear to thcc,
«• Tha Parfon's maid is ftill a maid vor me.**
In which anfwer of his, are exprefled at once that
fpirit of Religion, and that innocence of the Golden
Age, fo neceflary to be obferved by all writers of
Paftoral.
At the concluiion of thi3 piece, the author recon-
ciles the Lovers, and ends the Eclogue the molt
fimply in the world :
^ So Rager parted vor to vetch tha Kee,
<< And vor her bucket in went Cicily."
I am loth to ihew my fondnefs for andquity fo £ur as
to prefer this ancient Britifh author to our prefent
Englifh Writers of Paftoral; but I cannot avoid
making this obvious remark, that Philips hath hit
into the fame road with this old Weft Country Bard
of ours.
After all that hath been faid, I hope none can
think it any injuftice to Mr. Pope that I forbore to
mention him as a Paftoral writer ; fince, upon the
whole, he is of the fame clafs with Mofchus and Bion,
whom we have excluded that rank ; and of whofe
Eclogues, as well as fome of Virgil's, it may be laii
that (according to the defcription we haVe given of
this fort of poetry) they are by no means Paftorals^
but fomething better.
THE GUARDIAN. 437
N^ 61. May 21, 1713.
<< Primoque a cxde ferarum
** Incalttifle putem maculatum {anguine ferrum." Ovid.
J CANNOT think it extravagant to imagine, that
mankind are no lefs, in proportion, accountable
for the ill ufe of their dominion over creatures of the
lower rank of beings, than for the exercife of ty-
ranny over their own Species. The more entirely
the inferior creation is fubmitted to our ' power, the
more anfwerable we Ihould feem for our mifmanage-
ment of it ; and the rather, as the very condition of
nature renders thefe creatures incapable of receiving
any recompence in another life for their ill treatment
in this. •
'Tis obfervable of thofe noxious animals, which
have qualities moft powerful to injure us, that they
naturally avoid mankind, and never hurt us unlefs
provoked or neceflitated by hunger. Man, on the
other hand, feeks out and purfues even the mod in-
offenfive animals, on purpofe to perfecute and de-
ftroy them.
Montaigne thinks it fome refledion upon human
nature itfelf that few people take delight in feeing
beads carefs or play together, but almoft every one
is pleafed to fee them lacerate and worry one another.
I am forry this temper is become almoft a diftinguiih-
F p 3 ing
438 THE GUARPIAN.
ing charader of our own nadon, from the oblerra.
tion which is made by foreigners of our beloYed
paftimes, Bear-baiting, Cock-fightingy and the Uke^
We Ihould find it hard to vindicate the deftroyii^
of any thing that has life, merely out of wantonnefs ;
y^ in this principle our children are bred up, an4
one of the firft pleafures we allow them, is the &
cence of infliding pain upon poor animals : almoft ai
fopn as we are fenfible what life is ourfelves, we make
it our fport to take it from other creatures. I can-
not but believe a very good ufe might be made of the
fancy which children have for birds and infeds.
Mr. Locke takes notice of a nxoth^r who permitted
them to her children^ but rewarded or puniflied them
as they treated them well or ill* This was no other
than entering them betimes into a daily exercife of
humanity, and improving their very diverfion to ^
virtue.
I fancy too, fotue advantage might be taken oi
the conunoa notion, that ^is ominous or unlucky,
to deftroy fame forts of birds, as Swallows and Mar«
tins. This Q^nion might pofEbly arife from the con-i
fidence thefe birds feen\ to put in us by building
under our roofs, fo that it is a kind of violaido^ of
the laws of hofpkality to murder them. As for
R^hin-red-breaAs * kk pajrticular, 'tis not improbaUe
t)H^ hold their fecurity to the old ballad of fbe
Cbildrm
* *niomfon has an humane paflage on this bird's paying his
nfit to trufied man in the depth of winter. WAaToM.
THE GUARDIAN. 439
in the Wood. However it be, I don't know5
I fay, why this prejudice well improved and carried
as far as it would go, might not be made to conduce
to the preTervation of many innocent creatures, which
are now expofed to all the wantonnefs of an ignorant
barbarity.
There are other animals that have the misfortune,
for no manner of reafon, to be treated as common
enemies wherever found. The conceit that a Cat
has nine lives, has coft at lead nine lives in ten of
the whole race of them : fcarce a boy in the ftreets
but has in diis point outdone Hercules himfelf, who
was famous for killing a monfter that had but three
lives« Whether the unaccountable animofity againft
this ufefiil domeftic be any caufe of the general per-
fecution of Owls, (who are a fort of feathered cats,)
or whether it be only an unreafonable pique the mo-
dems have taken to a ferious countenance, I fliall not
determine. Though I am inclined to believe the
former ; fince I obferve the fole reafon alleged for the
deftrudion of Frogs is becaufe they are like Toads.
Yet amidfl all the misfortunes of thefe unfriended
creatures, 'tis feme happinefs that we have not yet
taken a fancy to eat them : for fhould our country-
men refine upon the French never fo little, 'tis not to
be conceived to what unheard-of torments owls, cats,
and frogs may be yet referved.
When we grow up to men, we have another fuc-
ceflion of fanguinaiy fports ; in particular, hunting.
F F4 Idaf^
440 THE GUARDIAN.
I dare not attack a diverfion ^hich has luch authority
and cuftom to fupport it ; but muft have leave to b^
of opinion, that the agitation cf that exercife^ with
the (example and number of the chafers, not a little
contribute to refift thofe checks, which compailion
would naturally fuggeft in behalf of the animal pur-
fued. Nor (hall I fay with Monfieur Fleury, that this
fport is a remain of the Gothic barbarity ; but I muit
animadvert upon a certain cuftom yet in ufe mth \is,
and barbarous enough to be derived from the Goths,
or even the Scythians ; I mean that favage compli-
ment our huntfmon pafs upon Ladies of quality, who
are prelent at the death of a Stag, when they put the
knife in their hands to cut the throat of a heiplefs,
trembling, and weeping creature:
Queftuque crucntus
Atque Imploranti fimilis.'-^
But if our fports are deftruflive, our gluttony is
more fo, and in a more inhuman manner. Lobfters
roafled alive. Pigs whipped to death. Fowls fewed
up, are teftimonies of our outrageous luxury. Thofe,
who (as Seneca expreffes it) divide their lives be-
twixt an anxious confcience, and a naufeated ftomach,
have a juft reward * of their gluttony in the difeafes
it brings with it : for human favages, like other wild
beafts, find fnares and poifon in the provifions of
Ufe,
* He ufed the Tcry fame exprelllon on the fame fubjc^ in hU
EffayonMan. Waktok*
THE GUARDIAN. 441
<
Kfey and are allured by their appetite to their de-
ftru£Ubn. I know nothing more (hocking, or horrid, .
than the profped of one of their kitchens covered
vith blood, and filled with this cries of creatures ex-
piring in tortures. It gives one an image of a Giant's
den in a romance, beftrewed with the fcattered heads
and mangled limbs of thofe who were flain by his '
cruelty.
• The excellent Plutarch* (who has more ftrokes
of good-nature in his writings than I remember in
any author) cites a faying of Cato ' to this effeft :
^ That 'tis no eafy talk to preach to the belly which
^^ has no ears. Yet if (fays he) we are afliamed to
^* be fo out of fafhion as not to offend, let us at leaft
** offend with fome difcretion and meafure. If we
kill an animal for our provifion, let us do it with
the meltings of compaffion, and without torment-
ing it. Let us confider, that 'tis in its own
nature cruelty to put a living creature to death ;
we at leaft deftroy a foul that has fenfe and per-*
" ception." In the life of Cato the Cenfor, he takes
occafion,
♦ This is a juft character of Plutarch^ whofe Liv^s are well
inonvn; but whofc Morals are not read and attended to fo much
as they dcfervc, being fome of the moll valuable remains of all
antiquity. Good editions of them have long been wanted ; but
wc hope the elegant one now publifliing at Oxford will awaken
the attention of many readers f. War ton,
f Wyuenbach*s edition, ofwbich were puMilhed, in 1795, Vol. I. and II.
410. and Vol. I. II III. and IV. 8vo. The Ujiiveffiiy ot 0.x (brd puicbakd h.j
f^apers, and printed tbiiediiiun, in a very f^lendid and coirc^ Ibini. C.
AC
4C
44^ THE GUARDIAN.
occafion, from the ierere difpofitbn of that teao, to
difcouife in this manner ; ^' It ought to be efteemed
^ a happineft to mankind, that our humanity has a
ivider fphere to exert itfelf in, than bare juftice*
It is no more than die obligation of our very birth
to pradife equity to our own kind ; but humanity
may be eatfended through the vhole order of
^^ creatures, even to the meaneft: fuch adions of
^'. charity are the over-flowings of a mild good-nature
^ on ail below us. It is certainly the part of a well«
^ natured man to take care of his horfes and
^ dogs, not only in ezpedation of their labour
^^ while they are foals and whelps, but even when
^^ their old age has made them incapable of fervice.^'
Hiftory tells us of a wife and polite nation, diat
reje&ed a perfon of the firft quality, who ftood for a
judiciary office, only becaufe he had l^een obferved
in his youth to take pleafure in tearing and murder-
ing of birds. And of another, that expelled a man
out of the fenate for dafliing a bird againil the ground
which had taken fhelter in his bofom. Every one
knows how remarkable the Turks are for their hu-
manity in this kind. I remember an Arabian author,
who has written a treatife to ihew, how iar a man,
fuppofed to have fubfifted in a defart ifland,^ without
any inftruftion, or fo much as the fight of any other
man, may, by the pure light of Nature^ attain the
knowledge of philofophy and virtue. One of the
firft things he makes him obferve is, that unfverfal
benevolence
THE GUARDIAN- 443
benevolence of nature in the protedion and preCqnra-
lion of its creatures. In imitation of which, the
firft zGt of virtue he thinks his felf«taught philofopher
would of courfe fall into is, to relieve and aflift all
the animals about him m their wants and diftrefles.
Ovid has fome very tender and pathetic lines ap«
plicable to this occafion :
Quid meruiilis^ oves, placidum pecus^ inque tegendos
Natum hominea, pleno qua fertt8 in ubare neAar ?
MoUia qtt« nobis veftras velamina lanas
Praebetis ; vitaque magis quam morte juvatis.
Quid meruere bovesj animal fine iraude dolifquCj
Innocuum, (implexi natum tolerafe labores ?
Immemor eft demum, nee fhigum munere dignust
Qm potuit, curvi dempto modo pondere aratri,
Ruricolam ma£lare fuum
Quam male confuevit^ quam fe parat ille cruori
Impius humano^ vituli qui guttura cultro
Rumpit, et iramotas pnebet mugitibus aures !
Aut qui vagitus fimiles puerilibus hc3edum
Edentem jugulare poteft ! — — *.
Perhaps
^ Imitated bj a Poet wbofe benevolence was equal to hii
genius :
— The bcaft of prey,
Bk)od-ftain'd^ defervcs to bleed ; but you, ye flocks^
What have yoa done ; ye peaceful people, what^
To merit death f You who have given us milk
In lufcious dreams, and lent us your own coat
Againft the winter's cold i and the plain Ox,
That harmlels, honeft, gntlelefs animal.
In what has he offended ? be whofe toil.
Patient and ever-ready, clothes the land
With all the pomp of harveft» fliall be bleed
And
444 THE GUARDIAN.
Perhaps that voice or cry fo nearly refembling the
human, with which Providence has endued fo mseny
different animals, might purpofely be given them to
move our pity, and prevent thofe cruelties we are
too apt to inflid on our fellow-creatures.
There is a paflage in the book of Jonas, when God
declares his unwillingnefs to deftroy Nineveh, where,
methinks, that compaffion of the Creator, which
extends to the meaneft rank of his creatures, is ex-
preffed with wonderful tendemefs — ^" Should I not
** fpare Nineveh the great city, wherein are more
*' than fixfcore thoufand perfons — And alio much
•* cattle ?" — And we have in Deuteronomy a precept
of great good nature of this fort, with a blefEng
in form annexed to it in thofe words : *' If thou flialt
** find a bird's neft in the way, thou flialt not take
" the dam with the young: but thou flialt in any
«' wife let the dam go, that it may be well with
** thee, and that thou may 'ft prolong thy days.*'
To conclude, there is certainly a degree of grati-
tude owing to thofe animals that ferve us ; as for
fuch as are mortal or noxious, we have a right to
deftroy
And ftruggling groan, beneath the cruel hands
Ey'o of the clown he feeds ? Seasons — Sprin^^
I wonder the. tender Thomfon omitted,
Immotas mu^ihiu aura ; et vagitus
Similis pueriSbus h^dum edentem :
Vr'hich Dryden charmingly tmnflates :
And imitates in vain thy children's cries. Wartok.
THE GUARDIAN. 445
delboy them; and for thofe that are neither of ad-
Tantage nor prejudice to us, the common enjoyment
of life is what I cannot thmk we ought to deprive
them of*.
This whole matter with regard to each of thefe con-
fiderations, is fet in a very agreeable light in on^ of
the Periian fables of Pilpay, with which I fball end
thi$ paper.
A traveller pafEng through a thicket, and feeing
a few fjMirks of a fire, which fome paflengers had
kindled as they went that way before, made up to it.
On a fudden the fparks caught hold of a buih, in the
midft of which lay an Adder, and fet it in flames.
The Adder intreated the traveller's affiftance, who
tying a bag to the end of his ftaff, reached it, and
drew him out : he then bid him go where he pleafed,
but never more be hurtful to men, fince he owed
his life to a man's compaflion. The Adder, however,
prepared to fting him, and when he expoflulated
liow unjuil it was to retaliate good with evil, I (hall
do no more (faid the Adder) than what you men
praftife every day, whofe cuftom it is to requite be-
nefits with ingratitude. If you can deny this truth,
let us refer it to the iirfl we meet. The man con-
iented, and feeing a Tree, put the quefUon to it,
in
* And the poor beetle that thou trcad'ft npon,
la corporal fufferance hcU a pain as great
As when a giant dies. Shaksspbar.
Wartok.
446 THE GUARDUK.
in what manner a good cam wag to be te&nnptnStd f
If yoa mean according to tbe ulage of Men (refrfied
the Tree)» by its contrary. I have been ftancKng here
thefe hundred years to proted them from the fcofch^
ing foRy and in requital^ they bate cot down my
branches, and are going to law my body into planks«
tJpon this tbe Adder infultiBg the raab, he zpipeaied
to a fecond evidence, which was granted, and im-
mediately they met a Cow. The lame demand was
made, and nrndi the iame anfirer given, that among
Men it was certainly fo : I know it, faid the Cow,
by woeful experience ; for I have ferv^ a mask this
long time with milk, butter, and cheefe, and brought
him befides a calf every year 1 but now I am old, he
turns me into this pafture, with deiign to fell me to
a butcher, who will (hortly make an end of me«
The traveller upon this ftood confounded^ but de*
fired of courtefy one trial more, to be fmaUj jiidged
by the next beail they fliould meet« This happened
to be the Fox, who, upon hearing the ftory in all its
circumftances, could not be perfuaded if was poffible
for the Adder to get into fo narrow a bag. The
Adder, to convince him, went in again; the Fox
told the Man be had now his enemy in his powa^,
and with that he faiftened the bag, and cruibed him ta
pieces.
THE GUARDIAN/ 44?
N* 78. June 10, 1713*.
Docdo
Unde par^ntUr epcs ; quiJ alaif formetque poetam*
HoR. Ars Fori*. ▼. jo^i.
I will teach to write»
Tdl what the duty of a Poet is,
Wherdn his wealth and ornament confifty
And how he may be form'd^ and how improv'd«
RoaCOMMOH.
YT 18 no fmali pleafure to me, who am zealous in the
interefts of learning, to think I may have the honour
of leading the Town into a very new and uncommon
road of criticifm. As that kind of literature is at
prefent carried on, it confifls only in a knowledge of
mechanic
* It is remarkable^ that Dr. Warton iotroduces thefe Guar-
dians with a Note, in which he fpeaks of their amounting to
mght* He ffiuft have feen his error^ had he taken the trouble Co
count them ; but it is probable, that when he wrote that Dote» h«
had fome recoUeAion that there ought to be eighty and perhaps
intended to account for the deficiency. The Paper now reprinted
has always been afcribed to Pope ; and the probable reafon of its not .
having been printed in this volume of his Works, in any former edi-
tion> is, that the principal part of it was afterwards incorporated with
•< The Art, of Sinking in Poetry/' of which it forms Chap, vk
(fee VoL vi. p. 260.} As the " Art of Sinking'' was not pub*-
IKhed until 1717» the Reader may form his conjedures on the
time of its having been onginally fketched* and perhaps completed
at irregular periods. [See British Essatists, Pfef. to the
Guardian, Vol. xvi. p. 25.] The omiflions and alterations, when
it became a part of the *' Art of Sinking,'* are deferving of atten*
tion. C.
448 THE GUARDIAN.
mechanic rules, which contribute to the ftruSure of
different forts of j>oetry; as the receipts of good
houfewives do to the making puddings of flour,
oranges, plums, or any other ingredients. It would,
methinks, make thefe my inftrudions more eafily
intelligible to ordinary readers, if I difcourfed of. thefe
matters in the flyle in which Ladies learned in CEco-
nomics didate to their pupils for the improvement of
the kitchen and larder.
I fhall begin with Epic Poetry, becaufe the Critics
agree it is the greateft work human nature is capable
of. I know the French have already laid down many
mechanical rules for compofitions of this fort j but at
the fame time they cut off almoft all undertakers from
the poffibility of ever performing them: for the fiift
qualification they unaniitioufly require in a poet, is a
genius. I (hall here endeavour (for the benefit of my
countrymen) to make it manifeft, that Epic Poems
■
may be made * without a genius,' nay without learning
or much reading. This mufl neceffarily be of great
ufe to all thofe poets who confefs they never read, and
of whom the world is convinced they never learn.
What Moliere obferves of making a dinner, that
any man can do it with money, and if a profeffed
cook cannot without, he has his art for nothing ; the
fame may be faid of making a poem, it is eafily
brought about by him that has a genius, but the ikilK
lies in doing it without one. In purfuance of this
end I fhall prefent the reader with a plain and certain
7 recipe.
THE GUARDIAN- 449
recipe^ by which even Sonneteers and Ladled may be
qualified for this grand performance.
I know it will be objected, that one of the chief
qualifications of an Epic Poet, is to be knowing in all
arts and fciences* But this ought not to difcourage
thofe that have no learning, as long as indexes and
di£tionaries may be had, which are the compendium of
all knowledge. Befides, fince it b an eftablifhed rule,
that none of the terms of thofe arts and fciences are to
be made ufe of, one may venture to affirm, our Poet
cannot impertinently offend in this point. The leam-^
ing which will be more particularly necefiary to him,
is the ancient geography of towns, mountains, and
rivers: for this let him take Cluverius, value four-
pence.
Another quality required is a complete (kill in
languages. To this I anfwer, that it is notorious
perfons of no genius have been oftentimes great
linguifts. To inftance in the Greek, of which there
are two forts; the original Greek, and that from
which our modem authors tranflate. I fhould be
unwilling to promife impoifibilities ; but, modeftly
fpeaking, this may be learned in about an hour's time
with eafe. I have known one, who became a fudden
profeflbr of Greek, immediately upon application of
the left-hand page of the Cambridge Homer to his
eye. It is, in thefe days, with authors as with other
men, the well-bred are familiarly acquainted with
them at firft fight } and as it is fufficient for a good
YOL. IX. o o general
450 THE GUARDIAN.
general to have furveyed the ground he is to conquer,
fo it is enough for a good poet to have feen the
author he is to be mafter of. But to proceed to the
purpofe of this paper.
A RECIPE TO MxVKE AN EPIC POEM.
90 R THE FABLE.
Take out of any old poem, hiftory-book, romance,
or legend (for inftance, Geffry of Monmouth, or Don
Belianis of Greece), thofe parts of ftory ^hich afford
moil fcope for long defcriptions ; put thefe pieces
together, and throw all the adventures you fancy into
one tale. Then take a hero whom you may choofe
for the found of his name, and put him into the midft
of thefe adventures : there let him work for twelve
books ; at the end of which you may take him out,
ready prepared to conquer or to marry; it being
necefiary that the conclulion of an Epic Poem be for-
tunate.
To make an Epifode. — ^Take any remaining ad-
venture of your former coUefUon, in which you
could no way involve your hero ; or any unfortunate
accident that was too good to be thrown away ; and it
will be of ufe, applied to any other perfpn ; who may
be loft and evaporate in the courfe of the work, witli-
out the leaft damage to the compofition.
For the Moral and Allegory.— Thefe you may
extrafl out of the Fable afterwards at your leifure.
Be fure you ftrain them fufficiently.
FOR
THE GIJARDIAN. 451
^OR THE MANNERS.
For thofe of the hero, take all the beft qualities you
can find in all the bed celebrated heroes of antiquity ;
tf they will liot be reduced to a confiilency, lay them
all on a heap upon hiin. But be fure they are qua^^
lities which your patron would be thought to have ;
and, to prevent any miftake which the world may be
fubje£t to, feleft from the alphabet thofe capital letters
that compofe his name, and fet them at th^ head of a
dedication before your poem. However, do not
abfolutely obferve the exaft quantity of thefe virtues,
it not being determined whether ot no it be neceflary
for the hero of a poem to be an honeft man. Fof the
tinder charafters, gather them from Homer and
Virgil, and change the names as occafion ferves«
FOR THE MACHINES.
Take of Deities, male and female, as many as you
can ufe. Separate them into two equal parts, and
keep Jupiter in the middle. Let Juno put him in a
ferment, and Venus mollify him. Remember, on all
dccafions^ to make ufe of volatile Mercury. If you.
have need of Devils, draw them out of Milton's Para-
dife, and extfa& your Spirits from Taffo. The ufe of
thefe Machines is evident ; for fmce no Epic Poem
tan poiHbly fubfift without them^ the wifeft way is to
referve them for your greateft neceffities. When you
cannot extricate your hero by any human means, or
yourfelf by your own wits, feek relief from Heaven
002 and
45t THE GUARDIAN.
and the Gods will do your bufinefs very readily.
This is according to the direft prcfcription of Horace,
in his Art of Poetry —
Nee Deus interjitj ntfi dignus vindice nodus
Inciderit ■ v. I91.
Never prcfume to make a God appear^
But for a bufinefs worthy of a God. Roscommom.
That is to fay, a poet fhould never call upon the Gods
for their afliflance, but when he is in great perplexity.
FOR THE DESCRIPTIONS.
For a Tempeft. — ^Take Eurus, Zephyr, Aufter, and
Boreas, and cad them together in one verfe. Add to
thefe of rain, lightning, and of thunder, (the loudeft
you can,) quantum fufficiu Mix your clouds and billows
well together until they foam, and thicken your
defcription here and there with a quickfand. Brew
your tempeft well in your head, before you fet it a
blowing.
For a Battle. — ^Pick a large quantity of images and
defcriptions from Homer's Iliads, with a fpice or two
of Virgil ; and if there remain any overplus^ you may
lay them by for a Hdrmiih. Seiafon it well with
fimiles, and it will make an excellent battle.
Fof burning a Town.— If fuch a defcription be
aeceflary, becaufe it is certain there is one in Virgil,
Old Troy is ready burnt to your hands. But if you
fear that would be thought borrowed^ a chapter o:
two
«
THE GUARDIAN. 453
two of the Theory of the Conflagration, well circum-
flanced, and done into verfe, will be a good fucce-
daneum.
As for Similes and Metaphors, they may be found
all over the creation, the moft ignorant may gather
them, but the danger is in applying them. Fpr .this
advife with your bookfeller.
FOR THE LANGUAGE.
(I mean the diftion.) Here it will do well to be
an imitator of Milton ; for you will find it eafier to
imitate him in this than in any thing elfe. Hebraifms
and Grecifms are to be found in him, without the
trouble of learning the languages. I knew a painter,
who (like our Poet) had no genius, make his daub«
ings to be thought originals, by fetting them in the
fmoke : you may in the fame manner give the vene-
rable air of antiquity to your piece, by darkening it
up and down with Old Englifh. With this you may
be eaiily fumiihed, upon any occafion, by the Dic-
tionary commonly printed at the end of Chaucer.
I mud not conclude, without cautioning all writers
^thout genius in one material point ; which is, never
to be afraid of having too much fire in their works. I
ihould advife rather to take their warmefl thoughts»
and fpread them abroad upon paper; for they are
obferved to cool before they are read*
003
454 THE GUARDIAN.
N^ 91. Juki 25, 1713.
« — incft fua gratia parvii/' Vx&c.
It h the great rule of behaviour to follow natuije.
The Author of the following Letter is fo much con«
vinced of this truth, that he turns what would render
a ma(i of little foul e^cceptious, humourfome, and
particular in all his adions, tp a fubjed of raillery
and mirth. He is, you niuft know, but half as tall
as an ordinary man, but is contented to be ftill at lus
friend's elbow, and has fet up a club, by which be
hopes to brin^ thoftp of his own fize into a little i^
putation.
To Nestor Ironside, E/q.
SIR,
«< T REMEMBER a faying of yours concerning per*
^^ fons in low drci^mftances of ftature, that their
*^ littlenefs would hardly be taken notice of, if they
^* did not manifeft a confcioufnefs of it themfelm
^^ in all their behaviour. Indeed the obfervatien
*' that no man is ridiculous for being what he is,
but only for the a£Fedation of being fomethifig
more, is equally true in regard to the mind and
the body.
I queftion not but it will be pleafing to you to
*' hear, that a fet of us have formed a fodety,
^ who are fwom to dare to be fhort, and boldly
<*bcar
cc
THK GUARDIAN. 455
'^ bear out the digmty of littlenefs tmder the nofes
^^ of thofe enormous engroflers of manhood, thoTe
^' hyperbolical monflers of the Species, the tali
** fellows that overlook us. .
" The day of our inftitutioii was the tenth of
** December, being the ihorteft in the year, on
** which we are to hold an annual Feaft over a
*' difli of fhrimps.
^^ The place we have chofen for this meeting is
^' in the Little Piazza, not without an eye to the
*' neighbourhood of Mr. Powel's Opera, for the
** performers of which, we have, as becomes us, a
•* brotherly affe£Uon.
'^ At our firfl: refort hither, an old woman
'* brought her fon to the Club-room, defiring he
^^ might be educated in this School, becaufe ihe faw
** here were finer Boys than ordinary. However
^^ this accident no way difcouraged our defigns.
We began with fending invitations to thofe of
a ftature not exceeding five foot to repair to
our aflembly; but the greater pari returned ex-
^' cufes, or pretended they were not qualified.
^^ One faid, he was indeed but five foot at prefent,
^* but reprefented that he ihould foon exceed that
<< proportion, his perriwig-maker and (hoe-maker
^' having lately promifed him three inches more be-
*' twixt them.
*^ Another alleged he was fo unfortunate as to
*^ have one leg fhorter than the other, and who-
*^ ever had determined his ftature to five foot, bad
G G 4 ^^ taken
cc
4s6 THE GUARDIAN,
^^ taken him at a difadvantage ; for when he was
^^ mounted on the other leg, he was at leaft • five
<^ foot two mches and a half.
*' There were fome who queftioned ihc exa£bie& •
*^ of our meafures, and others, inftead of complying,
*^ returned us informations of people yet fliorter
^' than themfelves. In a word, almoft every one
*^ recommended fome neighbour or acquaintance,
<< whom he was willing we (hould look upon to
^^ be lefs than he. We were not a little aihamed,
*^ that thofe who are paft the years of growth, and
^^ whofe beards pronounce them men, fhould be
<( guilty of as many unfair tricks, in this point, as
*< the mod afpiring children when they are meafured*
^^ We thjsrefore proceeded to fit up the Clubr
^^ room, and provide conveniendes for our accom-
*^ modation. In the firft place^ we caufed a total re^
<^ moval of all the chairs, ftools, and tables, which
<^ had ferved the grofs of mankind for many years.
^^ The difadvantages we had undergone while we
<^ made ufe of thefe, were unfpeakable. The Pre-
<^ fident's whole body was funk in the elbow-chair,
<( and when his arms were fpread over it, he ap*
*^ peared (to the great lefienitig of his dignity) like
^ a child in a go-cart ; it was alfo fo wide in the
^^ feat) as to give a wa^; occafion of faying, that
^^ notwithftanding the Prefident fat in it, there was
** a Sede Vacantia
*^ The table was fo high, that one who came by
^* €himce to the door> feeing our chins juft above the
•* pewter-
THE GUARDIAN, 457
'< pewter-diihesy took us for a circle of men that
*^ fat ready to be ihaved, and fent in half a dozen
« Barbers.
^^ Another time, one of the Club fpoke in a Iu«
^^ dicrous manner of the Prefident, imaginmg he
'^ had been abfent, when he was only eclipfed by
^^ a flaik of Florence, which flood on the table in a
** parallel line before his face.
*' We therefore now fumifhed the room in all
** refpefis proportionably to us j and had the door
^ made lower, fo as to admit no man of above five
** foot . high, without brufhing his foretop, which
^^ whoever does is utterly unqualified to fit among us.
^^ Some of the Statutes of the Club are as follow :
*• I. If it be proved upon any member, though
'* never fo duly qualified, that he drives as much
^* as poffible to get above his fize, by ftretching,
cocking, or the like } or that he hath ftood dn
tip-toe in a crowd, with defign to be taken for
^^ as tall a man as the reft ; or hath privily con-
veyed any large book, cricket, or other device,
under him, to exalt him on his feat : every fuch
^* offender fliall be fentenced to walk in pumps for
** a whole month.
«
n. If any member ihall take advantage from
^* the fulnefs or length of his wig, or any part of
^^ his drefs, or the immoderate extent of his hat, or
^ Dtherwife, to feem larger or higher than he is,
8 "it
458 THE GUARDIAN.
" it is ordered he (hall wear red heels to his fliocs,
^^ and a red feather in his hat ; which mzj ap-
'^ parently mark and fet bounds to the extre-
'^ mities of his fmall dimenfion^ that all people
<' may readily find him out between his hat and
^* his flioes.
'^ in. If any member fiiall purchafe a horfe for
^c his own riding, above fourteen hands and a half
in height; that horfe fhall forthwith be fold, a
Scotch galloway bought in its (lead for him, and
the overplus of the money fhall treat the Club.
(4
«* IV. If any member, in direft contradi£Uon to
<' the fundamental laws of the Society, (hall wear
^' the heels of his (hoes exeeeding one inch and a
^' half ; it fhall be interpreted as an open renuncia-
^^ tion of Uttlenefs, and the criminal fhall inftantly
" be expelled. Note, The form" to be ufed in ex-
•* pelling a member fhall be in thefe words j " Go
^^ from among us, and be tall if you can I**
^' It is the unanimous opinion of our whole fe-
^< ciety, that fince the race of mankind is granted
^ to have decreafed in flature, from the beginning
*^ to this prefent, it is the intent of Nature itfelf,
^* that men fhould be little ; and we believe, that
^< all human kind fhall at lafl: grow down to per-
<c fefUpn, that is to fay, be reduced to our own
<* meafure^ 1 am very literally your humble fervant,
<* Bob. Short."
THE GUARDIAN. 459
^- gi, June 26, 171 3.
Homunculi quanti funt, cum rccogito ! Plaut,
To Nestor Ironside, E/q^
^« 'vrou are now acquainted with the nature and
** defign of our inftitution; the Chara^er of
♦< the members, and the topicks of our Converfa*
^* tion, are what remain for the fubjeft of this
^' Epiftle,
** The moft eminent perfons of our aflembly • are
** a little Poet, a little Lover, a little Politician, and
*« a little Hero. The firft of thefe, Dick Diftich by
*' name, we have ele£led Prefident : not only as he
*' is the ihortefl of us all, but becaufe he has en*
tertained fo juil a fenfe of his ftature, as to go
generally in black, that he may appear yet lefs.
Nay, to that perfeftion is he arrived, that he
(loops as he walks. The figure of the man is . odd
enough ; he is a lively little creature, with long
^^ arms and legs : a Spider is no ill emblem of him :
" he has been taken at a diftance for a fmall Wind-
*' mill. But ii^deed what principally moved us in
"his
* The humour of defcribing clubs was nearly cxhaufted by
fQOie inimitable papers of Addifon in the Spe£lator. Thisac*
count of the club of Little Men, like that of Addifon's on Tall
Mcxiy is full of pleafantry, efpecially as it came from a perfoo of
qur author*s fize and make ; which however, he would not fufTer
any body to rally but himfelf. Wartoh.
46o THE GUARDIAN,
** his favour was his talent in Poetry ; for he hath
*' promifed to undertake a long work in fliort verfe
*' to celebrate the heroes of our fize. He has en-
^* tertained fo great a refped for Statius, on the
♦' fcore of that line.
Major in exiguo regnabat corpore virtusj
^ that he once defigned to tranllate the whole 'fhe-t
*• baid for the fake of little Tydeus.
^* Tom Tiptoe, a dapper black fellow, is the mod
<< gallant lover of the age. He is particularly nice
^^ in his habiliments ; and to the end juftice may be
*^ done him in that way, conftantly employs the
^* fame artifl who makes attire for the neighbouring
^* Princes and Ladies of quality at Mr. Powel's*
^^ The vivacity of his temper inclines him fometimes
" to boafl: of the favours of the Fair, He was the
*' other night excufing his abfence from the club on
^^ account of ^n affignation with a Lady (and, as
" he had the vanity to tell us, s^ tall one too) who
*^ had confented to the full accomplifliment of his
** defires that evening : but one of the company,
** who was his confident, affured us Ihe was a wo-
^^ man of humour, and made the agreement oq
^* this condition, that his toe ihould be tied to
^' hers.
** Our Politician is a perfon of real gravity, and
^* profcffed wifdom : Gravity in a man of this fizc,
*' compared with that of one of an oi*dinary bulk,
*' appears
THE GUARDIAN- 4^1
*• appean like the gravity of a Cat compared with
** that of a Lion. This gentleman is accuftomed to
•♦ talk of himfelf, and was once overheard to com-
** pare his own pcrfon to a little cabinet, wherein
** arc locked up all the fecrets of ftate, and refined
** fchemes of Princes. His face is pale and meagre,
*• which proceeds from much watching and ftudy-
ing for the welfare of Europe, which is alfo
thought to have ftinted his growth ; for he hath
** deftroyed his own conftitution with taking care
*' of that of the nation. He is what Monf. Balzac
** calls, a great Diftiller of the maxims of Tacitus :
*• when he fpeaks, it is flowly, and word by word,
** as one that is loth to enrich you too fail with
*^ his obfervations ; like a limbeck that gives you
" drop by drop, an extraft of the little that is
** in it.
" The laft I Ihall mention is, Tim. Tuck, the
•* Hero. He is particularly remarkable for the
*• length of his Sword, which interfecks his perfon
** in a crofs line, and makes him appear not unlike
a Fly that the boys have run a pin through, and
fet a walking. He once challenged a tall fellow
** for giving him a blow on the pate with his elbow,
** as he paiTed along the ftreet. But what he efpe-
** cially values himfelf upon is, that in all the cam-
" paigns he has made, he never once ducked at
" the whizz of a cannon ball. Tim. was full as
" large
€€
CC
Cfi
cc
462 THE GUARDIAN.
large at fourteen years old as he is now. Thid
we are tender of mentioning, your little Heroes
being generally cholerick.
Thefe are the gentlemen that moftly enliven
our converfation. The difcourfe generally turns
^^ upon fuch accidents, whether fortunate or un-
^' fortunate, as are daily occalioned by our fize :
^^ thefe we faithfully communicate, either as mat-
*^ ter of mirth^ or of confolation to each others
The Prefident had lately an unlucky fall, being
unable to keep his legs on a ilormy day ; where-
<c upon he informed us it was no new diiafter,
*^ but the fame a certain ancient Poet had been fut>i
*^ jed to; who is recorded to have been fo light,
^< that he was obliged to poife himfelf againft the
^* wind, with lead on one fide and his own works
** on the other. The Lover confeffed the other night
*< that he had been cured of love to a tall woman,
by reading over the legend of Ragotine in Scar-*
ron, with his tea, three mornings fuccefiively^
^' Our. Hero rarely acquaints us with any of his
<< unfuccefsful adventures : and as for the Poli-
** tidan, he declares himfelf an utter enemy to
^^ all kind of burlefque, fo will never difcompofe
** the aufterity of his afpeft by laughing at our
** adventures, much lefs difcover any of his own
^^ in this ludicrous light. Whatever he tells of
** any accidents that befal him, is by way of com-
plaint,
cc
(C
•i
C€
THE GUARDIAN. 463
plaint, nor is he ever laughed at but in his
Abfence.
We are likewife particularly careful to com-
municate in. the club all fuch paflages of hif-
tory, or charaders of iUuftrious perfonages, as
«< any way refled honour on little men. Tim.
^^ Tuck having but juft reading enough for a military
^^ man, perpetually entertains us with the fame
** (lories of little David • that conquered the mighty
^^Goliah, and little Luxembourg that made
** Louis XIV. a grand Monarque, never forget-
*< ting little Alexander the great. Dick Diftich
*^ celebrates the exceeding humanity of Auguftus,
who called Horace lepidljftmum homundolum ; and
is wonderfully pleafed with Voiture and Scarron,
for having fo well defcribed their diminutive
forms to pofterity. He is peremptorily of opinbn,
againft a great Reader f and all his adherents, that
^fop was not a jot properer or handfomer
"than
• He might have added to the Lift of Little Men, Harvey ^
CbUrmgwortbi Hcdesy Wren, Wart ON.
f AUudiDg to Bentlcy's attempting to confute, what he has
indeed done effe^ally, the vulgar notion that ^£bp was de^
fonned ; an idea firft propagated by that ignorant Monk
Flaaudes, and copied) without examination, by many fucceeding
writers. See the incomparable Differtation on Phalaris's Epiftles^
page 429 of the laft edition, in which the arguments of Coyle
and his inge&ioua afibciates (for there were many) arc completely
demolifhed. What relatrd to ^fop in Boyle's difcourfe is faid
to have been written by Dr. Freind ; and the greatcfl part of
tb; difoourfe by Smaldridge and Atterbury. Waatov*
464 THE GUARDIAN.
^ than he is reprcfented by the commofi pidure^
^^ But the Soldier believes with the learned per-
^^fon above-mentioned; for he thinks none but
^^ an impudent tall author could be guilty of fuch
^ an unmannerly piece of Satire on little warriors,
^* as his Battle of the Moufe and the Frog. The
^ Politician is very proud of a certain Bang of £gypt,
^ called Bocchor, who, as Diodorus aflures us, was
^ a perfon of a very low ftature, but far exceeded
^ all that went before him in difcretion and poli-
** ticks.
^' As I am Secretary to the club, 'tis my bu«*
^* finels, whenever we meet, to take minutes of
^* the tranfaflions : this has enabled me to fend
^* you the foregoing particulars, as I may hoe-
^ after other memoirs. We have fpies appointed
in every quarter of the town, to give us inform-
ations of the mifbehavbur of fuch refra&ory
*^ perfons as refufe to be fubjed to our ftatutes.
•* Whatfoever afpiring practices any of thefe our
** people ihall be guilty of in their Amours, fingle
^ Combats, or any indireft means to manhood, we
<c ihall certainly be acquainted with, and publiih to
*^ the world, for their punifhment and reformaticNi.
•* For the Prefident has granted me the fole pro-
** priety of expofmg and Ihewing to the Town all
*^ fuch intractable Dwarfs, whofe drcumftances
^^ exempt them from being carried about in Boxes :
•* referving only to himfelf, as the right of a Poet,
* thofe
cc
THE GUARDIAN. . 4^5
*^ thofe fmart charaSers that will fhine in Epigrams.
Venerable Neftory I falute you in the name of the
•* dub.
** Bob Short, Secretary
>f
N**i734 Sept£mb£R 29, 1713.
Nee fera eomantem
Nareiflum, aut flexi tacuiflem vimen Aeanthi,
Pallentefque hederas> at amantes littora myrtos.
ViRG.
J LATELY took a particular friend of mine to my
houfe in the country, not without foma. ap-
prehenfion, that it could afford little entertain*
ment to a man of his polite tafte, particularly in
archite&ure and gardening, who bad fo long been
converfant with all that is beautiful and great in
dther. But it was a pleafant furprize to me, to
hear him often declare he had found in my little
retirement that beauty which he always thought
wanting, in the mod celebrated feats (or, if you will.
Villas) of the nation. This he defcribed to me
in thofe verfes with which Martial begins one of his
•
epigrams :
Baiana noftri villa, Bafle, Fauftini,
Non otiofis ordinau myrtetis,
Viduaque platano, tonfilique boxeto,
Ingrata lati fpatia detinet campi •,
Sed rure vero, barbaroque laetatur*
VOL. IX. h; H Thei»
466 THE GUARDIAN.
There is certainly fomething * in the amiable fini'
plicity of unadorned Nature, that fpreads over the
imnd a more noble fort of tranquillity, and a loftier
fenfation of pleafure, than can be raifed from the
nicer fcenes of Art.
This was the tafte of the Ancients in their gar-
dens, as we may difcover from the defcriptions
extant of them. The two mod celebrated Wits of
the world have each of them left us a particular
pidure of a garden; wherein thofe great mafters
being wholly unconfined, and painting at pleaTure,
may be thought to have given a full idea of what
they efteemed moil excellent in this way. Thefe
(one may obferve) confift entirely of the ufcful part
of horticulture, fruit trees, herbs, water, etc. The
pieces I am fpeaking of are Virgil's account of the
garden of the old Corycian, and Homer's of that
of Aldnous in the feventh Odyfley, to which I refer
the reader.
Sir
• In the [Spcftator, N°4I4. 1712, were thejf/^ (IriAurcs, a
in this paper, 171 3> ihe/ecMdf that were made on the bad tafte
of Gardening in this Country. The fubje& has been itnce
treated at ktigth, and with great (kill and ability, by many inge-
nious writers, particularly by Mr. Walpole, Mr. Mafon in his
elegant Poem, and in Obfervations on Gardenkig^ by Mr. Shen*
ilone, by the ingenious and learned Mr. Kuight, in his Londjceptt
by Mr. George Mafon, and Mr. Price, It is acutely remarked
by Mr. Twining, in his ArilLotle, that the Ancients have defcribcd
no Landfcapes ; owing, in his opinion, to their not having aoy
Jandfcape painter. They had no Thomf^ns bccaufe they had n»
Clauieu Waet^m.
. THE GUARDIAN- 4^7
Sir William Temple has remarked^ that this gar«
Atn of Homer contains all the juftefl rules and
provifions which can go toward compofing the beft
gardens. Its extent was four Acres, which, in
thofe times of fimplicity, was looked upon as a
large one, even for a Prince. It was inclofed all
round for defence ; and for conveniency joined
clofe to the gates of the Palace.
He mentions next the Trees, which were ftand-
ards, and fuflfered to grow to their full height.
The fine defcription of the Fruits that never failed,
and the eternal Zephyrs, is only a more noble and
poetical way of expreffing the continual fucceflion of
one fruit after another throughout the year.
The Vineyard feems to have been a plantation
diftind from the Garden ; as alfo the beds of Greens
mentioned afterwards aft the extremity of the inclo*
fure, in the ufual place of our Kitchen Gardens.
The two Fountains are difpofed very remark-
iably. They rofe within the inclofure, and were
brought in by conduits or dufts ; one of them, to
water all parts of the Gardens, and the other under-
neath the Palace into the Town, for the fervice of the
public.
How contrary to this fimplicity is the modem
pradice of Gardening ? We feem to make it our
ftudy to recede from Nature, not only in the va-
rious tonfure of greens into the moll regular and
formal (hapes, but even in monflrous attempts be-
u H 2 yond
468 THE GUARDIAN.
yond the reach of the art itfelf : we run into fcdp-
ture, and are yet better pleafed to have our Trees
in the mofl aukward figures of men and animals^
than in the moil regular of their own.
Hinc et nexilibtis videas e frondibus hortos>
Implexos late muros^ et moenia circum
Porrigcrci et latase ramis furgere turres;
Deflexam et myrtum in puppes, atque serea roftra ^
In buxifque undare fretum, atque e rore rudentes.
Parte alia frondcre fuis tentoria cadris \
Scutaque, fpiculaqucj et jaculantia citria vallos *.
I believe it i» no wrong obfervation, that per*
foils of genius, and thofe who are mod capable
of art, are always moil fond of nature; as fuch
are chieily fenfible, that all art confifts in the
imitation and iludy of nature: on the contrary,
people of the common level of underftanding are
principally
'^ I havf in yain fearched for the author of theft Latin Verfes;
And conclude they are our Author's own Ones ; who may there-
fore be added to thofe £ng»li(h Poets that wrote alfo in Latin ; to
whom t would add a name fo dear to me, that I fear I (hall
be accufed of Partiality ; yet ftill I will venture to fay» that Motis
Caibaritus, and fome Tranflations of Greek Poems, are written
with the utmoft Purity and Tafte. See the Poems of Thomas
Warton, 1791- Waetok.
It is not at all likely^ from Pope's confined education, from his
never upon any occafion haying acknowledged hfrnfelf the author
of a Latin line, and, above ail, from his mi^ie of the quantity of
a Latin Ftnef in his tranflation of Statius, that he could have been
the author of Verfes^ which (hew fuch an intimacy with the
flru6iure and art of Latin verfe* The word I allude to in Statius
is Malea^ which, as we have already mentioned^ Pope called
Malea*
THE GUARDIAN, 469
priocipally delighted with little niceties and fan*
taftical operations of art, and conftantly think that
fined which is the lead naturaL A Citizen is no
fooner proprietor of a couple of Yews, but be
entertains the thought of ere&ing them into Giants^
like thofe of GuildhalL I know an eminent Cook,
who beautified his coimtry-feat with a Coronation-
dinner in greens, where you fee the champion
flounfhing on horfeback at one end of the table, and
the Queen in perpetual youth at the other.
For the benefit of all my loving countrymen
of this curious tafte, I fhall here publifli a cata^
logue of Greens to be difpofed of by an eminent
Town-Gardener, who has lately applied to me oa
this head. He reprefents, that for the advance-
ment of a politer fort of ornament in the Villas
and Gardens adjacent to this great city, and in
order to diflinguifli thofe places from the mere
barbarous countries of grofs nature, the world (lands
much in need of a virtuofo Gardener, who has a
turn to fculpture, and is thereby capable of improv-
ing upon the Ancients, in the imagery of Ever-greens.
I proceed to his Catalogue.
Adam and Eve in Yewj Adam a little fhattered
by the fall of the Tree of Knowledge in the
great ftorm ; Eve and the Serpent very flounfh-
ing.
H H 3 Noah's
470 THE GUARDIAN.
Noah's Ark in Holly, the ribs a little damaged for
want of water.
The Tower of Babel, not yet finiflied.
St. George in Box; his arm fcarce long enough,
but will be in a condition to flick the Dragon by
next April.
A green Dragon of the fame, with a tail of Ground-
Ivy for the prefent.
N. B. Thcfe two not to be fold feparately.
£dward the Black Prince in Cyprefs.
A Lauruftine Bear in BloiTom, with a Juniper Hunter
in Berries.
A pair of Giants ftunted, to be fold cheap.
A Queen Elizabeth in Phyllirea, a little inclining to
the green (icknefs, but of full growth.
Another Queen Elizabeth in Myrtle, which was very
forward, but mifcarried by being too near a
Savine.
An old Maid of Honour in Wormwood*
A topping Ben Jonfon in Laurel,
Divers eminent modern Poets in Bays, fomewhat
blighted, to be difpofed of a pennyworth.
A quick-fet Hog ihot up into a Porcupine, by being
forgot a week in rainy weather.
A Lavendar Pig, with fage growing in his belly.
A pair of Maidenheads in Fir, m great forward-^
nels*
He
THE GUARDIAN. 471
He alfo cutteth family pieces of men, women, and
children, fo that any gentleman may have his lady's
effigies in Myrtle, or his own in Hornbeam.
Thy Wife Jhall be as the fruitful Vine, and thy
Children as Olive-branches round thy Table *.
* Mr. Price's obfervations on this fubjed are fo fenfibk^ that
I am tempted to tranfcribe them.
** Trees and plants of every kind, (conlidered as materials for
landfcape*) (houid have room to fprcad in vanous degrees, and in
various dire£iions, and then accident will produce unthought of
Tarieties and beauties, without injuring the general defign : but
if they arc allowed to fpread in one dire6tion only, you in a great
meafure prevent the operation of accident ; and thence the Jame*
fufs and heavinefs of the outfides of clumps^ and of all clofe planta*
tions. The old gardeners of the Dutch fchool totally prevented
its operation, and imitated architedure, and thence the fliU
jgreater formality and ftiffhefs of vegetable walls, and of all that is^
called topiary work/' — Pricc^s Letter to Repton, p. 36*
^^
HH4
( 473 )
PREFACE
TO THE
WORKS OF SHAKESPEAIL
TT is not my defign * to enter into a Criticifin upon
this Author ; though to do it effefbially and not
fuperficially, would be the befl; occafion that any
juft
^ It i$ always to be lamented that Pope ever undertook this
edition of Shakefpear ; a tafk which the courfe of hit readings
and ftodies did not qualify him to execute with the ability and
ikill which it deferred^ and with which it has fioce been executed.
This Prefiice^ however, is written with tafte^ judgment^ purity,
imd elegance ; as that of Dr. Johnfon is with uncommon fpirit
and fplendor. What the latter urges againft obfenring the
Umtw pf Time and Place, in Dramatic Poetry, is unanfweraUe.
But I cannot poifibly aflent to his. opinion, that Shakefpear'a
fredomifumt exceUence lay in Comedy f not Tragedy* An Efiay
has been written on this fubjed, which may poffibly^ one day,
fee the light. It is almod impoffible to fiiy much on this greateft
of our poets, after the many curious reCcarches, unwearied in*
duftry, and accurate remaiks, crery where vifible in the ex-
cellent editions of Malooe and Sieevens. This edition of Pope
had, however, the accidental merit of making Shakefpear moic
lead and aded. Dryden's chancer of our unrivalled Poet, in hit
£ffay on Dramatic Poetry, is exquiitely written, and contains moft
«f the topics in his praifci that later critica lave only ex-
panded
474 PREFACE TO THE
juft writer could take to form the judgment and
tafte of our nation. For of all Englifti Poets,
Shakefpear muft be confeflfed to be the faireft
and fulled fubjed for criticifm, and to afford the
mod numerous, as well as moft confpicuous in-
fiances, both of beauties and faults of all forts.
But this far exceeds the bounds of a Preface,
the bufmefs of which is only to give an account of
the fate of his Works, and the difadvantages under
which they have been tranfmitted to us. We fliall
hereby extenuate many faults which are his, and
clear him from the impu^ti(^ of many which are
not:
panded and rq>eatcd. Dr.-Warburton informs us that he under-
took his edition of Shakefpear, at the eamcft perfuafion of Pope ;
<< who was defirous (he fays} that his edition ihould be mtfted
down into mine." But I do not recoIIe6fc any edition of znf
author wliatcvcr, that was ever more totally expofed and de«
inolilhed, on account of its numerous perverfe interpretations^
and improbable conje£lurcs, than this edition in queftion, by Mr.
Thomas Edwards, in his twenty- five Canons of Criticifm, which
were drawn and illuftrated, with equal humour and judgment^
from Warbprton's own notes and remarks. In vain was the
autlior thruft into a niche of the Dunciad ; thefe Canons wiU
continue to be read with equal pleafurc and convidion, as wdl
as the Ode which Akcnfide wrote to him on the fubjcd, ia which
he fays,
Then Shakefpear dcfecmnair and mild
Brought that (Irange comment forth to view I
Conceits more deep, he faid and fmil'd,
Than his own fools or madmen knew ;
But thank'd a generott4 friend above,
Who did.witk free adv«ot||rous love
. Such pageants from his tomb remove. WAaxoii*
WORKS OF SHAKESPEAR. 475
not: a defign \vhich, though it can be no guide
to future criticks to do him juflice in one way, will
at leaft be fufficient to prevent their doing him an
injuftice in the other.
I cannot, however, but mention fome of bis prin'«
cipal and charafberiftick excellencies, for which (not^
withftanding his defefb) he is juftly and univerfally
elevated above all other dramatick Writers. Not
that this is the proper place of praiHng him, but
becaufe I would not omit any occafion of doing it.
If ever any Author deferved the name of an
Original^ it was Shakefpean Homer himfelf drew
not his art fo immediately from the fountains of
Nature ; it proceeded through Egyptian drainers and
channels, and came to him not without fome tin£ture
of the learning, or fome caft of the models, of thofe be-
fore him. The poetry of Shakefpear was infpiratioii
indeed : he is not fo much an Imitator, as an Inftru*
ment, of Nature ; and it is not fo jufl to fay that he
fpeaks from her, as that fhe fpeaks through him.
His Charaders are fo much Nature * herfelf, that
it is a fort of injury to call them by fo diftant a
name a$ copies of her. Thofe of other Poets have
a conftant refemblance which (hews that they received
them from one another, and were but multipliers
of the fame image; each pidure, like a mock-
lainbow, is but the refle^lioa of a reflection. But
every
< See Mrs. Montagu's ingenious Eflay on Shakefpeari and her
coofutatioDS of fome of Voltaire's criticifms* Wartoh*
476 PREFACE TO THE
crery fingle chara&er in Shakefpear is as much an
individual, as thofe in life itfelf ; it is as impollible to
find any two alike ; and fuch as from their relation
or affinity in any refpeft appear mofl: to be twins,
will, upon comparifon, be found remarkably dif-
iind. To this life and variety of character, we
mult add the wonderful prefervation of it ; which
18 fuch throughout his Plays, that had all the fpeeches
been printed without the very names of the per-
fons, 1 believe one might have applied them with
certainty to every fpeaker.
The Fewer over our FaJJions was never poflefled
in a more eminent degree, or difplayed in fo dif«
ferent inftances. Yet all along, there is feen no
labour, no pains to raife them; no preparation
to guide or guefs to the effed, or be perceived
to lead toward it : but the heart fwells, and the tears
burft out, juft at the proper places : we are furprifed
the moment we weep ; and yet upon reflection, find
the paffion fo juft, that we fhould be furprifed if we
had not wept, and wept at that very moment.
How aftoniihing is it again, that the Paifions di-
re&ly oppofite to thefe. Laughter and Spleen^ are no
lefs at his command ? that he is not more a matter
of the great than the ridiculous * in human nature;
of
^ On the alloniffiing idea of this double power over our paifions.
Gray has formed that e^iuiritely beautiful Profopopceia of Nature
appealing to him ia his iafaacyi and faying ;
«Thit
WORKS OF SHAKESPEAR. 477
of our tobleft tendernefles, than of our vaineft
foibles; of our ftrongeft emotions, than of our
idled fen&tions !
Nor d(>es he only excel in the Paflions : in the
coolnefs of Refle£don and Reafoning he is full as
admirable. His Sentiments are not only in general
the moft pertinent and .judicious upon every fubjed;
but by a talent very peculiar, fomething between
penetration and felicity, he hits upon that particular
point on which the bent of each argument tums»
or the force of each motive depends. This is per-
fedly amazing, from a man of no education or
experience in thofe great and public fcenes of life
which are ufually the fubje£l of bis thoughts : fo
that he feems to have known the world by intuition,
to have looked through j human nature at one
glance.
'* This pencil take, whofe colours clear
*< Richly paint the Temal year ;
'* Thine too thefe golden keys, immortal Boy !
** This can unlock the g^tes of Joy ;
'* Of Horror that, and thrilling Fears,
(• Or ope the facred fource of fympathetic Tears J
The Progrefi of Poetry ^ iii» i.
Waetok.
f The truth of another of Dr. Johnfon's afTertions may, perfaap8»
be' difputcd ; that Shakefpear's peculiar and predominant excel*
knee confided in his having given jull reprefentatlons of generei
nature^ and not characters of individuals. Can this be properly
faid of the Charaaers of Falfiaff^ ' of Benedia, of Shallow f of
Pytol^ of MahoRof of CaKbofiy of Anel^ and many others i It
is finely obfcrved by Sir Jojhua Reynolds^ << that a dafli of in*
dividoalitf
f»
47* PRIIFACE TO tHi!
glance, and to be the only Author that gives ground
for a very new opinion. That the Philofopher, and
even the man of the world, may be born^ as well
Us the Poet.
It muft be owned, that with all thefe great
excellencies, he has almoft as great defects ; and
that as he has certainly written better, fo he has
perhaps written worfe, than any other. But I
think I can in fome meafure account for thefe
defefls, from feveral caufes and accidents; with*
out which it is hard to imagine that fo large
and fo enlightened a* mind could ever have been
fufceptible of them* That all thefe contingencies
fliould unite to his difadvantage feems to me almoft
as (ingularly unlucky, as that fo many various (nay
contrary) talents fhould meet in one man, was happy
and extraordinary.
It mud be allowed that Stage-poetry, of all other,
is more particularly levelled to pleafe the popuIacCi
and its fuccefs more immediately depending upon
the common fuffra^. One cannot therefore wonder,
if Shakefpear, having at his firft appearance no other
aim
dividnality it fometimes neceflary to give an interefty m Poetij
as well as Painting/' It feems an unwarrantable aflertion of Dr.
Johnfon, *' that the Tragedy of Macbeth has fo nice difciimi-
nations of charaders/' Voltaire's cenfur^s of Shakefpear are
equally Toid of tafte and judgment ; and not one of them more (b
than his Exaimen of HamUt^ which he fajs is the beft of all the
flays of Shakefpear. WAaroji*
WORKS OF SHAKESPEAH. 479
Uim hi his writings, than to procure a fubfiftencc,
direded his endeavours folely to hit the tafte and
humour that then prevailed. The audience was
generally compofed of the meaner fort of people }
and therefore the images of life were to be drawn
from thofe of their own rank : accordingly we find,
that not our Author's only, . but almoft all the old
Comedies have their fcene among TradefmeHj and
Mecbanicks: and even their hiftoricar Plays ftridly
follow the common old Jiories^ or vulgar traditions
of that kind of people. In Tragedy, nothing was
fo fure to furprize and caufe admiration^ as the
moil ftrange, unexpef^ed, and confequently mod
unnatural, events and incidents ; the mofl exaggerated
thoughts ; the mod verbofe and bombaft expreflion ;
the moft pompous rhymes, and thundering verfifica-
tion. In Comedy, nothing was fo fure io pleafe^ as mean
buffoonery, vile ribaldry, and unmannerly jefts of
fools and clowns. Yet even in thefe, our Author's wit
buoys up, and is borne above his fubjed : his genius in
thofe low parts is like fome prince of a romance in the
difguife of a (hepherd or peafant j a certam greatnefs
and fpirit now and then break out, which manifefl:
his higher extra£tion and qualities.
It may be added, that not only the common
audience had no notion of the rules of writing *, biic
few
* Bat Mr. Harris aflerts, " that there never was a time wheo
Rules did not exid ; and that th^ey always made a part of that
* " ifnmatal^
48o PREFACE TO THE •
few even of the better fort piqued tbemfelves upon any
great degree of knowledge or nicety that way i till
Ben Jonfon getting poiTeffion of the Stage, brought
critical learning into vogue * : and that this was not
done without difBcuIty, may appear from thofe fire*
quent leiTons (and indeed almoft declamations) which
he was forced to prefix to his firft plays, and put into
the mouth of his a£lors, the Grex^ CbortUj etc« to
remove the prejudices, and inform the judgment of
his hearers. Till then, our authors had no thoughts
of writing on the model of the ancients : their Tra*
gedies were only hiftories in dialogue; and their
Comedies followed the thread of any novel as they
found it, no lefs implicitly than if it had been true
hiftory*
To judge, therefore, of Shakefpear by Ariftotle's
rules t) is hke trying a man by the laws of one
country;
immutable Tmiht the natural objc^ of ereiy penetrating genius. So
that there is hardif any thing we applaud in Slrnkt/^ear^ among
his innumerable beauties* which wiU not he found ftriAly con-
formable to the Rules of found and ancient Criticifm.*'*
Philological Itifmrief 9 p. 325»
Wa&toh.
* In the Dt/c^veriis of Ben Jonfen are fereral excdlent remarks
on Dramatic Compoiition, prior to any that bad tt that time ap-
peared in France; and far beyond thofe of MefnarJUrti puUiflicd
l640t pofterior to Jonfon. Wa&ton.
^ This is ttppUcable to thofe who judge in Ms tnmmtr of Spenfer^
Anofio^ and the Italian Poets | fts is the conftant pradice of the
French critics and their Attoierpvi difciples, not excepting etfn
Boilettt and Addifon. Wakton.
WORKS OF SHAKESPEAR. 481
country, who afted under thofe of another. He writ
to the people ; and writ at firft without patronage from
the better fort, and therefore without aims of pleafing
them : without aflklance or advice from the learned^
as without the advantage of education or acquaintance
among them ; without that knowledge of the beft of
models^ the ancients, to infpire him with an emula*
tion of them : in a word, without any views of repu*
tation, and of what Poets are pleafed to call immor-
tality t fome or all of which have encouraged the
vanity, or animated the ambition, of other Writers.
Yet it muft be obfervcd, that when his perform-
ances -Jikd merited the proteftion of his Prince, and
when the encouragement of the court had fucceeded
to that of the town, the works 6f his riper years are
manifeftly raifed above thofe of his former. The
dates of his plays • fufficiently evidence that his pro-
duftions improved, in proportion to the refpeft he
had for his auditors. And I make no doubt this ob-
fervation would be found true in every inAance, were
but editions extant, from which we might learn the
exaft time when every piece was compofed, and whe-
ther writ for the town or the court.
Another caufe (and no lefs ftrong than the former)
may be deduced from our Author^s being a player \^
and
* Which Mr. Malone has endeavoured to fcttk with great
labour aod accuracy. Wartok*
f From which eircumdance it happened^' faid Cxarrick, that bis
verfes are eafier to be fpoken than ary others* Wahtom.
VOL. IX. I I
48a PREFACE TO THE
and forming himfelf firft upob the judgments of that
body of men whereof he was a member. They have
ever had a (tandard to themfelvea, upon other princi-
ples than thofe of Ari(lotle« As they live by the ma<.
jority, they know no rule but that of pleafmg the pre*
fent humour, and complying widi the wit in faibion ;
a confideration which brings all their judgment to a
fhort point. Players are juft fuch judges of what is
right, as tailors are of what is graceful. And in this
view it will be but fair to allow, that moft of our
Author's faults are lefs to be afcribed to his wrong
judgment as a Poet, than to his right judgment as a
Player,
By thefe men It was thought a praife to Shakefpear^
that he fcarce ever blotted a line* This they induftri'-
oufly propagated, as appears from what we are told
by Ben Jonfon in his Difcoveriesj and frona the pre-
face of Heminges and Condell to the firft folio edi*
tion. But in reality (however it has prevailed) there
never was a more groundtefs report, or to the con-
trary of which there are more undeniable evidences ;
as the Comedy of the Merry Wives of Windfor,
which he entirely new writ ; the Hifiory of Henry VL
which was firft publifhed under the Title of The Con-
tention of Tork and Lancajler ; and that of Henry V,
extremely improved ; that of Hamlet enlarged lo almoft
as much again as at firft, and many others. I believe
the common opinion of his want of learning proceeded
from no better ground. This too might be thought
- ^ a praife
WORKS OF SHAtESPEAR. 483
a praife by fome, and to this his errors have as inju-
dicioufly been afcribed by others. For it is certain,
were it true, it could concern but a fmall part of
them ; the moft are fuch as are not properly defefts ;
but fuperfoetotions ; and arife not from want of learn-
ing or reading, but from want of thinking or judg-
ing : or rather (to be more juft to our Author) from
a compliance to thofe wants in others. As to a
wrong choice of the fubjeft, a wrong conduft of the
incidents, falfe thoughts, forced expreflions, etc. if
thefe are not to be afcribed to the aforefaid accidental
reafons, they muft be charged upon the Poet himfelf,
and there is no help for it. But I think the two dif-
advantages which I have mentioned, (to be obliged to
pleafe the lowed of people, and to keep the word oi
company,) if the confideration be extended as far as
it reafonably may, will appear fudlcient to niiflcad and
deprefs the greateft Genius upon earth. Nay, the
more modefty with which fuch a one is endued, the
more he is in danger of fubmitting and conforming to
others againft his own better judgment.
But ns to his ivani of learnings it may be neceflary
to fay fomething more f there is certainly a vafl dif-
ference between learning and languages *. How far
he
* An end ii put for ever to the dlfpute concerning the Learning
of Shakefpear^ by the mafterly and convincing and unanfwerable
EfTay of Dr, Farmer^ on this fubje^t. We are now acquainted
from what fources Shakefpear took every one of his Plots and
Fables, except Lovers LahQur Lojl^ and the Temp^J}^ which la ft
* I I 2 1 fhould
484 PREFACE TO THE
he was ignorant of the latter, I cannot detarmine}
but it is plain he had much reading at lead, if they
will not call it learning. Nor is it any great matter^
if a man has knowledge, whether he has it ftom one
language or from another. Nothing is more evident
than that he had a tafte of natural philofophy, mecba-
nicks, ancient and modem hiftory, poetical learning
and mythology : we find him very knowing in the
cuftoms, rights, and manners of antiquity. In Corio'
ianm and Julius Cafar^ not only the fpirit, but man-
•
ners of the Romans are exadly drawn ; and ftill a nicer
diftinftion is (hown, between the manners of the
Romans in the time of the former, and of the latter.
His reading in the ancient hiftorians is no lefs con*
fpicuous, in many references to particular paflages :
and the fpeeches copied from Plutarch in CThUmm
may, I think, as well be made an inftance of his leam^
ing, as thofe copied from Qcero in Catiline^ of Ben
Jonfon's. The manners of other nations in generals
the
I (hould think is from fome Italian Novel. And this was tbe
opinion o£ my friend and fchool-feUowi Mr« William Collins, who
in the la ft vifit I ever made him with my brotheri told us, he
had feen an Italian Novel, in which was a chemical Necromancer,
who had bound a Spirit to obey his call and perform his fervices.
He imagined it was the hiftory of AureKo and Ifabella, printed at
Lyons, in 1555- On» examining this little book, now in my pof-
feffion, this appears not to be the fad. The ftory does not re-
femble that of the Tempeft. There is no allufion in Shakefpear
to any ancient clailic author, but what had been tranflated into
Engliih, before, or in hia time ; as appears from the accurate lift of
thcfe authon drawn up by Mr. Steevens^ toI. ii« p. 89. Wartoh •
WORKS OF SHAKESPEAR. 485
the Egyptians, Venetians, French, etc, are drawn with
equal prc^riety. Whatever objed: of nature, or branch
of fcience, he either fpeaks of or defcribes; it is
always with competent, if not extenfive knowledge :
his defcriptions are flill exad ; all his metaphors ap*
propriated, and remarkably drawn from the true
nature and inherent qualities of each fubjed. When
he treats of ethic or politic, we may conftantly obferve
a wonderful juftnefs of diftindipn, as well as extent
of comprehenfion. No one is more a mafter of the
poetical {lory, or has more frequent allufions to the
various parts of it : Mr. Waller (who has been cele-
brated for this laft particular) has not fhewn mora
learning this way than Shakefpear. We have tranfla«
tions from Ovid publlflied in his name, among thofe
poems which pafs for his, and for fome of which tire
have undoubted authority (being publiflied by himfelf,
and dedicated to his noble patron the Earl of South*
ampton) : he appears alfo to have been converfant ia
Plautus, from whom he has taken the plot of one of
his plays : he follows the Greek authors, and par-
ticularly Dares Phrygius, in another: (although I
will not pretend to fay in what language he read
them.) The modem Italian writers of novels he was
manifeftly acquainted with; and we may conclude
him to be no lefs converfant with the ancients of his
own country, from the ufe he has made of Chaucer
in Troilus and Crejftia^ and in the Twq Nobh Kinfmen^
II 3 . if
486 PREFACE TO THE
if that Play be his, as there goes a tradition it was ;
(and indeed it has little refembiance of Fletcher, and
more of our Author than fome of thofe that have been
received as genuine).
I am inclined to think, this opinion proceeded ori-
ginally from the zeal of the Partizans of our Author
and Ben Jonfon; as they endeavotired to exalt the
one at the expence of the other. It is ever the nature
of Parties to be in extremes ; and nothing is fo pro-
bable, as that becaufe Ben Jonfon had much the
more learning, it was faid, on the one hand, that
Shakefpear had none at all ; and becaufe Shakefpear
had much the mod wit and fancy, it was retorted,
on the other, that Jonfon wanted both. Becaufe
Shakefpear borrowed nothing, it was faid that Ben
Jonfon borrowed every thing. Becaufe Jonfon did
not write extempore, he was reproached with being
a year about every piece; and becaufe Shakefpear
wrote with eafe and rapidity, they cried, he never
once made a blot. Nay, the fpirit of oppofition ran
fo high, that whatever thofe of the one fide objedted
to the other, was taken at the rebound, and turned
into praifes ; as injudiciouily as their antagonifts be-
fore had made them objections.
Poets are always afraid of envy ; but fure they have
as much reafon to be afraid of admiration^ I'hey are
the Scylla and Charybdis of Authors; t^ofe who
efcape one, often fall by the other, PeJJimum genus
inimicorum
WORKS OF SHAKESPEAR. 487
inimicorum laudantesj lays Tacitus : and Virgil defires
to wear a charm againft thofe who praife a poet with'*
out rule or reafon : •
S) .ultra placitum laudarit, baccare frontem
Cm^tCi ne vati noceat.
But however this contention might be carried on by
the Partisans on either iid^, I cannot help thinking
thefe two great Poets were good friends *, and lived
on amicable terms, and in offices of fociety with each
other. It is an acknowledged £sid that Ben Jonfon
was introduced upon the (tage^ and his firll works
encouraged by Shakefpear. And after his death;
that Author writes To the memory of his beloved Mr.
William Shakefpear, which (hews as if the friendfliip
had continued through life. I cannot, for my own
part, find any thing invidious or /paring in thofe
verfes, but wonder Mr. Dryden was of that opinion*
He exalts him not only above all his contemporaries,
but above Chaucer and Spenfer, whom he will not
allow to be great enough to be ranked with him ; and
challenges the names of Sophocles, Euripides, and
^fcbylus,
* But Mr. Malonehas prodaced many mortlFyiog and indifput-
able marks of their avertion to each other. And there is a tradi-
tipn that the fon of Sir Walter RaU'tgh perceiving Ben yonforij who
was his tutor, to be one day extremely in liquor, procured means
to have him fqueezed into a large buck-bafket, and thrown into a
river; and that Ben Jonfon was irritated that this incident was in*
troduccd by Shakefpear into the Merry Wives of Wind/or.
Warton.
U 4
488 PREFACE TO THE
iEfchylus, nay, all Greece and Rome at once, to
equal him ; and (which is very particular) expreisly
vindicates him from the imputation of wanting art^
not enduring that all his excellencies (hould be attri-
buted to nature. It is remarkable too, that the praife
he gives him in his Difcweries feems to proceed from
a perfonal kindnefs ; he tells us, that he loved the man
as well as honoured his memory; celebrates the
honelly, opennefs, and franknefs of his temper ; and
only diflinguiflies, as he reafonably ought, between
the real merit of the Author, and the fiUy and dero-
gatory applaufes of the Players. Ben Jonfon might
indeed be fparing in his commendations, (though cer-
tainly he is not fo In this inftance,) partly from his
own nature, and partly from judgment. For men of
judgment think they- do any man more fervice in
praifmg him juftly than lavtfhly. I fay, I would fain
believe they were friends, though the violence and ill«
breeding of their followers and flatterers were enough
to give rife to the contrary report. I would hope
that it may be with partief^ both in wit and ftate,
as^ with thofe monfters defcribed by the poets ; and
that their heads at lead may have fomething , hu«
man, though their bodies and tails are wild beads and
ferpents.
As I believe that what I have mentioned gave rife
to the opinion of Shakefpear*s want of learning ;
fo what has continued it down to us may have been
the many blunder; and illiteracies of the firft pub^
lifhers
WORKS OF SHAKESPEAR. 489
Ufliers of his works. In thcfe editions their igno-
nnce ihines abnoft in every page ; nothing b more
common than AStus tertia. Exit cmnes. Enter
three witches folus *. Their French is as bad as thdr
Latin, both in conftrudion and fpelling; their very
Welih is falfe. Nothing is more likely than that
thofe palpable blunders of Hedor's quoting Arif-
totle, with others of that grofs kind, fprung from
the fame root : it not being at all credible that thefe
could be the errors of any man who had the lead
tinfture of a fchool, or the lead converfation with
fuch as had. Ben Jonfon (whom they will not
think partial to him) allows him at leafl to have had
fome Latin; which is utterly inconfiftent with mif-
takes like thefe. Nay the conftant blunders in pro*
per names of perfons and places, are fuch as mud
have proceeded from a man, who had not fo much
as read any hiftory, in any language : fo could not be
Shakefpear's.
I Ihall now lay before the reader fome of thofe
almoft innumerable errors, which have rifen from
one fource, the ignorance of the Players, both as
his aftors, and as his editors. When the nature and
- kinds of thefe are enumerated and coniidered, I
dare to fay, that not Shakefpear only, but Ariftotle
or
* Mr. Steevens obferves, that this blunder appears to be of
Pope's own invention. It is not to be found in an^ one of the
four folio copies of Macbeth, and there is no quarto edition of it
extant. C.
49^ PREFACE TO THE
or Cicero, had their works undei;gone the fame fiite,
might have appeared to want fenfe as well as leam«
ing.
It i^ not certain that any one of his Plays was
publifbed by himfelE During the time of his em-
ployment in the Theatre, feveral of his Pieces were
printed feparately in quarto. What makes me think
that mod of thefe were not pubU(hed by him, is the
exceflive careleffnefs of the pre(s: every page is fo
fcandalouily h\k fpelled, and a]moft all the learned
or unufual words fo intolerably mangled, that it is
plain there either was no corridor to the prefs at all,
or pne totally illiterate. If any were fupervifed by
himfelf, I fhould fancy the two parts of Henry lY.*
and Midfummer Ni^bt*s Dnam might have been fo :
becaufe I find no other printed with any exa£biefs ;
and (contrary to the reft) there is very litde variadon
in all the fubfequent editions of them. . There are
extant two Prefaces to the firft quarto edition of
Troilus and Creffida in 1609, and to that of Othello;
by which it appears, that the firft was publifhed
without his knowledge or confent, and even before
it was . afted, fo late as feven or eight years before
he died ; and that the latter was not printed till
after his death. The whole number of genuine Plays
which we have been able to find printed in his life-
time,
• In th^ firft Scene of the firft Part of Henry IV. is ax
extraordinary note of Dr. Jobnfoni juftifying the lawfulnefs of
the Holy Wars. Wa^tqx.
J
WORKS OF SHAKESPEAR, 491
tiime, amounts but to eleven. And of fome of thefe
i¥e meet with two or more editions by different
Printers, each of which has whole heaps of trafli
different from the other ; which I fhould fancy was
occafioned by their being taken from different copies,
belonging to different Playhoufes*
The folio edition (in which all the Plays we now
receive as his, were firil coUeded*) was publifhed by
two Players, Heminges and Condell, in 1623, feven
years after his deceafe. They declare, that all the'
other editions were ftolen and furreptitious, and af-
firm theirs to be purged from the errors of the for-
mer. This is true as to the literal errors, and no
other ; for in all refpe£ts elfe it is far worfe than the
quartos.
Firft, becaufe the additions of trifling and bom-
baft paflages are in this edition iar i^ore nume-
rous. I'or whatever had been added fmce thofe
quartos, by the Adors, or had ftolen from their
mouths into the written parts, were from thence
conveyed into the printed text, and all ftand charged
upon the Author. He himfelf complained of this
ufage in Hamlety where he wi(hes that tbofe who play
the Clowns would /peak no more than is fet down for
ihem* (Ad iii. Sc. iv.) But as a proof that he
^ould not efcape it, in the old editions of Romeo
and
f Of the two firft editions fee what Mr. Steevenshas obferved.
Wartos.
49* PREFACE TO THE
md ytdiet *, there is no hint of a great number of
the mean conceits and ribaldries now to be found
there. In others, the low fcenes of Mobs, Plebeians,
and Clowns, are vaftly fiiorter than at prefent : and
I have feen one in particular (which feems to have
belonged to their playhoufe, by having the parts
divided with lines, and the A&ors* names in the
margin) where feveral of thofe very paflages were
added in a written hand, which are fince to be
found in the folio.
In the next place, a' number of beautiful paflages
which are extant in the firil fingle editions, are
omitted in this : as it feems without any other rea-
ibn, than thdr willingnefs to fhorten fome fcenes:
thefe men (as it was faid of Procruftes) either
lopping, or ftretching an Author, to make him juft
fit for their ftage.
This edition is faid to be printed from the original
cepies. I believe they meant thofe which had lain
ever fince the Author^s days in the playhoufe^ and
had from time to time been cut, or added to, arbi-
trarily. It appears that this edition, as well as the
quartos, was printed (at leaf): partly) from no better
copies than the Prompter's bookj or piece-meal parts^
written out for the ufe of the Adors : for in fome
places
* Travellers now fifit t^beir tombs at Verona ; in wbicb city
are many (cpulcbret detached from pne another, ftaading in dif-
ferent ftrccts^ not in c^nrch^yards. Waktok.
WORKS OF SHAKESPEAR. 493
places their very * names are through cardeflhefs
fet down inftead of the perfona dranMis: and in
others the notes of diredion to the property-men for
their myoeablei^ and to the players for their entries^
are inferted into the text, through the ignorance of
the tranfcribers^
The Pkys not having been before fo much as
diftingttifhed by AUs and Scenes^ they are in this Edi*
tion divided according as they played them; often
where there is no paufe in the a£Uon, or where they
thought fit to make a breach in it^ for the (ake of
mufici mafques, or monfters.
Sometimes the Scenes are tranfpofed and fiiuffled
backward and forward; a thing which could no
otherwife happen, but by thar bdng taken from
feparate and piece-meal written parts.
Many verfes are omitted entirely, and others tranC*
pofed ; from whence invincible obfcurities have arifen,
pad the guefs of any commentator to clear up, but
juft where the accidental glimpfd of an old edition
enlightens us.
Some characters were confounded and piized, or
two put into one, for want of a competent num-
ber of Adors. Thus in the quarto edition of Mid*
fummer Nigbfs Dreamy A& v. Shakefpear intro-
duces
* Muct AJ9 ai9ut Nothingf Ad ii* Enter Prince Leonato^
Clattdio, and Jack fTsI/on, inftead of BalthaTar* And m A& ir,
Copley and Ktfnpt conftantly through a whole fcene.
Edit. FoL of 162 jy and 1632.
WiaToii*
494 PREFACE TO THE
duces a kind of a Mailer of the Revels called Fhi'
loftrate ; all whofe part is given to another chara<!-
ter (that of Egeus) in the fubfequent editions: fo
alfo in Hamlet and King Lean This too makes h
probable, that the Prompter's books were what they
called the origins] copies.
From liberties of this kind, many fpeeches alfo
were put into the mouths of wrong perfons, where
the Author now feems chargeable with making them
fpeak oQt of character : or fomettmes perhaps for
no better reafoUj than that a governing Player, to
have the mouthing of fome favourite fpeech him-
felf, would iiiatch it from this unworthy Ups of an
underling.
Profe from verfe they did not know, and they
accordingly primed one for the other throughout the
volume.
Having been forced to fay fo much of the Players,
I think I ought m juftice to remark, that the judg-
ment, as well as condition, of that clafs of people
was then far inferior to what it is in our days. As
then the beft Playhoufes were inns and taverns, (the
Globe, the Hope, the Red Bull, the Fortune, etc.)
fo the top of the profeflion were then mere Players,
not Gentlemen of the ftage: they were led into
the buttery by the Reward, not placed at the lord's
table, or lady's toilette : and confequently were en-
tirely deprived of thofe advantages they now enjoy,
in the familiar converfation of our Nobility, and
7 an
WORKS OF SHAKESPEAR. 495
»
tui indmacy (not to fay dearaefs) with people of the
firft condition.
- From what has been faid> there can be no quef-
tion but had Shakefpear publiflied his works himfelf»
(efpecially m his latter time, and after his retreat
from the flage,) we (hould not only be certain which
are genuine^ but Ihould find in thofe that are, the
errors lefTened by fome thoufands* If I may judge
from all the diftinguifhing marks of his flyle^ and
his manner of thinking and writing, I make no
doubt to declare that thofe wretched Plays^ Pericles^
Locrmej Sir John OldcaJHe^ Torkjhire Tragedy^ Lord
Cromwell^, The Puritan^ and London Prodigal^ can-
not be admitted as his. And I fhould conjedure of
fome of the others* (particularly Lovers Labour
Loji^ The Winter^ s Tale^ and Titus Andronicus) that
only fome characters, (ingle fcenes, or perhaps a
few particular paflfages, were of his hand. It is
very probable, what occafioned fome Plays to be
fuppofed Shakefpear's, was only this ; that they were
pieces produced by unknown Authors, or fitted up
for the theatre while it was under his adminiftra*
tion: and no owner claiming them, they were ad-
judged to him, as they give ftrays to the lord of
the manor : a miftake which (one may alfo obferve)
it
* Mr. Malone has with much ingenuity attempted to prove
that the three parts of King Henry the Sixth were not written
by Shakefpear ; but Mr. Steevens thinks that he bad as muck
hand in them as in many that pafs under his qame. Waiitgn.
496 PREFACE TO THE
it was not for the intereft of the houfe to remoTe
Yet the Players themfelves, Heminges and Condell,
afterwards did Shakefpear the juftice to rejed thofe
dght Plays in their edition } though they were then
printed in his name, in every body's hands, and
aded with fome applaufe (as we learn from what
Ben Jonfon fays of Pericles^ in his Ode on the New
Inn), That Tittu Androniau is one of this dafs
I am the rather induced to believe, by finding the
lame Author openly exprefs his contempt of it in
the InduHion to Bartbohmew*Fair^ in the year 1614,
when Shakefpear was yet living. And there is no
better authority for thefe latter fort, than for the
former, which were equally publiflied in his life-
time*
If we give into this opinion, how many low and
vicious parts and paflages might no longer refled
upon this great genius, but appear unworthily
charged upon him ? And even in thofe which are
really his, how many faults may have been unjuftly
laid to his account from arbitrary additions, expunc*^
tions, tranfpofitions of fcenes and lines, confufion
of charafters and perfons, wrong application of
fpeeches, corruptions of innumerable paflages by the
ignorance, and wrong corredkions of them again
by the impertinence of his firft editors ? From one
or other of thefe confiderations, 1 am verily per-
fuaded, that the greateft and the grofleft part of
what are thought his errors would vaniih } and leave
his
WORKS OF SHAKESPEAR. 497
his charader in a li^t very different from that difad*
vantageous one in which it now appears to us.
Thi« is the ftate in which Shakefpear's wridngs lie
at prefent ; for, fince the above-mentioned folio edi-
tion, all the reft have implicitly followed it, without
having recourfe to any of the former, or ever mak-
ing the comparifon between them. It is impoifible
to repair the injuries already done him ; too much
time has elapfed, and the materials are too few. In
what I have done, I have rather given a proof of my
willingnefs and defire, than of my aUlity, to do him
juftice. I have difcharged the dull duty of an Editor* '
to my beft judgment, with more labour than I eac-
ped thanks, with a religious abhorrence of all innova-
tion, and without any indulgence to my private fenfe
or conjedure. The method taken in this edition
will (hew itfelf. The various 'readings are fairly put
in the margin, fo that every one may compare them j
and thofe I have preferred into the te3tt, are conftantly
€x fide codicum^ upon authority. The alterations or
additbns which Shakefpear himfelf made, are taken
notice of as they occur. Some fufpeded pafikges
which are exceffively bad (and which feem interpo-
lations^ by being fo inferted that one can entirely
omit them without any chafm, or defidence in the
context) are degraded to the bottom of the page ;
with an afteriik referring to the places of thdr
infertion. llie fcenes are marked fo diftindly, that
every removal of place is fpecified ; which is more
vt^L. IX. K K neceflary
498 PREFACE TO THE
neceflary in this Author than in any other, fince he
fliifts them more frequently : and fometimes without
attending to this particular, the reader would have
met with obfcurities. The more obfolete or unufual
words are explained. Some of the moft fliining
paflages are diftinguifhed by commas in the margin :
and where the beauty lay not in particulars, but in
the whole, a ftar is prefixed to the fcene. Tlus
feems to me a fhorter and lefs oftentatious method
of performing the better half of Criticifm fnamdy,
the pointing out an Author's excellencies) than to
fill a whole paper with citations of fine paflages,
with general applaufes^ or empty exclamations at the
tail of them. There is alfo fubjoined a catalogue
of thofe firft editions by which the greater part of
the various readings and of the corre&ed paflages
are authorifed (moft of which are fuch as carry their
own evidence along with them). Thefe editions
now hold the place of originals, and are the only
materials left to repair the deficiencies, or reftore the
corrupted fenfe, of the Author : I can only wi(h that
a greater number of them (if a greater were ever
publifhed) may yet be found, by a fearch more fuc*
cefsful than mine, for the better accompliihment of
this end.
I will conclude by faying of Shakefpear, that vrith
all his faults, and with all the irregularity of his
drama ^ one may look upon his Works, in compa-
nion of thofe that are more finiflied and regular, as
4 • upon
WORKS OF SHAKESPEAR. 499
upon an ancient majeftic * piece of Gothic archite&are^
compared ivith a neat modem building: the hitter
is more elegant and ghuing, but the former is more
(bong and more folemUk It muft be allowed, that
in one of thefe there are materials enough to ma^
many of the other. It has much the greater variety,
and much the nobler apartments ; though we are
often conduced to them by dark, odd, and uncouth
paflages. Nor does the whole hil to ftrike us with
greater reverence, though msmy of the parts are
childiih, ilUplaced, and unequal to its grandeur.
* Of aH the many ^uloginms on the chancer of our iDtmitable
old Bard« that ol Ad&fim is perhaps the tnoft^uatiful and bril-
liant. ** Shakefpcar was indeed born with all the feeds of poetry,
and may be compared to the ftone in Pyrrhut*% ringr, whichy at
PUny tdls us, had the figure of Apollo^ and the nine Mufes in the
Tcint of it, produced by the fpontaneous hand of Naturty without
any help from Art/' WAaroif .
END OF THE NINTH VOLUME.
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