him there*. But it was impossible long to conceal that superiour degree of favour in which he stood with the minister. His writings, in the cause he espoused, had rendered him too conspicuous, and the adverse party were too much galled by them not to make them watchful of all his motions. He was accordingly considered by the leaders of the opposite party, as the first mover in all the ministerial measures; and many virulent speeches were made against him by name, both in the house of lords and commons, as one who was in the secret of all affairs, and without whose advice or privity nothing was done, or employment disposed of t. O lord Orrery! how little did you know of the true state of affairs at that time, when you wrote that false envious paragraph! and how utterly unacquainted must you have been with the real character of the man, whose memoirs you undertook to write, when you could suppose him so mean spirited as to be the mere tool of a ministry; and so blinded by vanity (a fault of which he had not one particle in his composition, for, as he himself has often observed, he was too proud to be vain) as not to discover whether he was only employed, not trusted!

Nor was his influence confined to England only, he was the chief person consulted in the affairs of Ireland, particularly during the duke of Ormond's administration, and few preferments passed, espe

* Jan. 15, 1712-13. "I was a court to day, and as lord treasurer came toward me I avoided him, and he hunted me thrice about the room. I affect never to take notice of him at church or court. He knows it, for I have told him so, and to night at lord Masham's he gave an account of it to the con-pany; but my reasons are, that people seeing me speak to him, causes a great deal of teasing." S.

† See Swift's Memoirs relating to the Change, &. S.

cially in the church, without his approbation. Of this there are many proofs to be found in his correspondence with the archbishop of Dublin, 'primate Lindsay, lord chancellor Phipps, and his own Journal *.

Having now, past all controversy, established the high degree of power and influence which he then enjoyed, beyond any that perhaps ever fell to the lot of a private person, must not the disinterested spirit of Swift strike us with astonishment, when we reflect that he made no other use of these great advantages, but to promote the publick cause in which he was engaged, or to make ample provision for persons of merit, while he was utterly negligent with regard to his own fortune? It must be obvious to every one, who considers the light in which he stood, that had he been a man of intrigue, or could he have made his principles bend to the reigning policy of the court; had he not incurred the queen's displeasure, by endeavouring to counteract her adopted system of government, and treating her bosom favourite with a severity never to be forgiven; nay had he only followed the lead of the minister, by acquiescing in measures which he

* See his letter to the archbishop, September 31, 1713. His Journal, Feb. 1, 1712-13.

Lord primate Lindsay writes thus to him, in his letter of Jan. 5, 1713-14. "There is a gentleman, whom I believe you must have heard of, Dr. Andrew Hamilton, archdeacon of Raphoe, a man of good learning and abilities, and one of great interest in that country, whom I could wish you would move for to succeed me in Raphoe, as one that is most likely to do good in that part of the country, of any man I know.

And now be pleased to accept my thanks for the great 'services you have done me, and as you have contributed much to my advancement, so I must desire you, upon occasion, to give me your farther assistance for the service of the church." S.

found it vain to oppose; it must be allowed, I say, considering the immensity of his talents, the close connexion he stood in with all the leading men, the great importance he was of to their cause, and the almost sisterly affection shown him by lady Masham, that he might have aspired to the highest dignities in the church, or even, if his bent lay that way, in the state. For in those days the gown was not considered as a disqualification to ministerial offices, as we find the bishop of Bristol was made lord privy scal, and ambassador plenipoten tiary. But as it was a maxim with Swift, that while the queen pursued her trimming plan, the interests of the church and state were on a sandy foundation, and that there could be no solid establishment for them, till the whigs were all turned out of their employments, and a total end put to their power; he determined not only never to fall in with the queen's measures, but on the contrary openly to oppose them. Though at the same time he must have been conscious that this was the most certain way to bar his own preferment,

The only employment that Swift ever asked for during all that time, was that of historiographer; and his reasons for desiring it are thus set forth, in his memorial to the queen, April 1, 1714.

"The change of ministry about four years ago, the fall of the duke of Marlborough, and the proceedings since, in relation to the peace and treaties, are all capable of being very maliciously represented to posterity, if they should fall under the pen of some writer of the opposite party, as they probably

may.

Upon these reasons it is necessary, for the ho nour of the queen, and in justice to her servants, that some able hand should be immediately em ployed, to write the history of her majesty's reign, that the truth of things may be transmitted to fu

ture ages, and bear down the falsehood of malicious pens.

"The dean of St. Patrick's is ready to undertake this work, humbly desiring her majesty will please to appoint him her historiographer; not from any view of the profit, (which is so inconsiderable, that it will hardly serve to pay the expense of searching offices) but from an earnest desire to serve his queen and country: for which that employment will qualify him, by an opportunity of access to those places, where papers and records are kept, which will be necessary to any who undertake such a history."

We see upon what disinterested principles Swift desired this office; and he seems to have been highly provoked at his not obtaining it, laying the blame very unjustly on lord Bolingbroke, as may be seen in his letter to miss Vanhomrigh, August 1, 1714 "I am not of your opinion about lord Bolingbroke, perhaps he may get the staff, but I cannot rely on his love to me. He knew I had a mind to be historiographer, though I valued it not but for the publick service; yet it is gone to a worthless rogue, that nobody knows." But it appears from a letter of Dr. Arbuthnot's, July 17, 1714, that lord Bolingbroke was most hearty in his cause; where he says, "I gave your letter, with the enclosed memorial, cavalièrement to lord Bolingbroke. He read it, and seemed concerned at some part of it, expressing himself thus: "That it would be among the eternal scandals of the government, to suffer a man of your character, that had so well deserved of them, to have the least uneasy thoughts about those matters." But the truth is, that it was out of my lord's power to have served him in this point, as the memorial was not put into his bands till a fortnight after the place had been dis

posed of *. So that it is probable it never was presented to the queen. And his friend Ford, to whom he had also communicated his suspicions of Bolingbroke, vindicates him from the charge in a letter written five days after the queen's death, where he says, "I really believe lord Bolingbroke was very sincere in the professions he made of you, and he could have done any thing. No minister

was ever in that height of favour, and lady Masham was at least in as much credit, as she had been in

any time of her life. But these are melancholy

reflections."

There is a passage in a letter from Swift to Pope, Jan. 10, 1721, relative to this office, which at first view seems to contradict what he himself had said about it, as.related above. "I had indeed written some memorials of the four last years of the queen's reign, with some other informations which I received, as necessary materials to qualify me for doing something in an employment then designed for me; but, as it was at the disposal of a person who had not the smallest share of steadiness of sincerity, I disdained to accept it." But this apparent contradiction may easily be thus solved. Swift scorned to accept the employment as a favour, from the officer in whose department it was, for the reason he assigns, and would receive it only from her majesty's own appointment, to whom he therefore personally applied by memorial †.

* In a letter from Charles Ford, esq., to Dr. Swift, July 20, 1714, is the following passage: "I thought you had heard the historiographer's place had been disposed of this fortnight. I know no more of him who has it, than that his name is Maddocks."

S.

†The circumstance of the disposal of this post from Swift, has afforded lord Orrery an opportunity of exposing his ignorance, and invidious disposition to lower Swift's consequence to the utmost. He says, "Hé (Swift) knew how