have a longer letter in a week, but I send this only to tell I am safe in London; and so farewell, &c. * LETTER III. London, Sept. 9, 1710. AFTER seeing the Duke of Ormond, dining with Dr Cockburn, passing some part of the afternoon with Sir Matthew Dudley and Will Frankland, the rest at St James's Coffeehouse, I came home and writ to the Archbishop of Dublin and MD, and am going to bed. I forgot to tell you, that I begged Will Frankland to stand Manley's friend with his father in this shaking season for places. He told me his father was in danger to be out; that several were now soliciting for Manley's place; that he was accused of opening letters; that Sir Thomas Frankland + would sacrifice every thing to save himself; and in that I fear Manley is undone, &c. 10. To-day I dined with Lord Mountjoy at Kensington; saw my mistress, Ophy Butler's wife, who is Isaac Manley, Esq. Postmaster-general for Ireland. The great change in Queen Anne's ministry was now going on rapidly. Godolphin had been directed to break his staff as treasurer on the 8th August 1710. Sir Thomas Frankland, Postmaster-general. Swift seems to have had an esteem for him; for to Mackay's eulogy, in which he describes Sir Thomas as of a very sweet, easy, and affable disposition, zealous for the constitution, yet not forward and indulgent to his dependants, he subscribes, " This is a fair character." grown a little charmless. I sat till ten in the evening with Addison and Steele; Steele will certainly lose his Gazetteer's place, all the world detesting his engaging in parties. * At ten I went to the coffeehouse, hoping to find Lord Radnor, whom I had not seen. He was there; for an hour and a half we talked treason heartily against the Whigs, their baseness and ingratitude. And I am come home rolling resentments in my mind, and framing schemes of revenge: full of which, (having written down some hints,) I go to bed. I am afraid MD dined at home, because it is Sunday; and there was the little half-pint of wine; for God's sake be good. girls, and all will be well. Ben Tooke † was with me this morning. 11. Seven morning. I am rising to go to Jervas to finish my picture, and it is shaving day, so good morrow MD; but do not keep me now, for I cannot stay; and pray dine with the dean, but do not lose your money. I long to hear from you, &c.-Ten at night. I sat four hours this morning to Jervas, who has given my picture quite another turn, and now approves it en * THE EXAMINER charges Steele, as having, " by entering into party disputes, violated the most solemn repeated promises, and that perfect neutrality which he had engaged to maintain."-Indeed, Sir Richard could never resist the temptation of interfering in politics, whatever might be the determination of his cooler moments. One of his principal offences on the present occasion was publishing, in THE TATLER, No. 193, a very satirical letter, in the name of Downes, the prompter; in which the change of administration was ridiculed under a theatrical parable. The letter, which has much sarcastic humour, is said to have been written by Anthony Henley, Esq. + A bookseller, who printed the TALE OF A TUB, and other works, for Swift. tirely but we must have the approbation of the town. If I were rich enough, I would get a copy of it, and bring it over. Mr Addison and I dined together at his lodgings, and I sat with him part of this evening; and I am now come home to write an hour. Patrick observes, that the rabble here are much more inquisitive in politics than in Ireland. Every day we expect changes, and the parliament to be dissolved. Lord Wharton * expects every day to be out: he is working like a horse for elections; and, in short, I never saw so great a ferment among all sorts of people. I had a miserable letter from Joe last Saturday, telling me Mr Pratt † refuses payment of his money. I have told it Mr Addison, and will to Lord Wharton; but I fear with no success. However, I will do all I can. 12. To-day I presented Mr Ford to the Duke of Ormond; and paid my first visit to lord president, ‡ with whom I had much discourse; but put him always off when he began of Lord Wharton in relation to me, till he urged it then I said, he knew I never expected any thing from Lord Wharton, and that Lord Wharton * Thomas Wharton, then Earl, afterwards Marquis, of Wharton. He had been lord-lieutenant of Ireland; hence Swift's acquaintance with him. Lord Wharton was deeply in the Whig interest, and was distinguished as a man of considerable talent and personal profligacy; though still more as the father of that eccentric phenomenon, Philip, Duke of Wharton, in whom his talents and profligacy were at once outstripped. He is frequently mentioned in the Journal. + Vice-treasurer of Ireland. The celebrated Lord Somers, of whom Horace Walpole said with so much spirit, that he was one of those divine men, who, like a chapel in a palace, remains unprofaned, while all the rest is tyranny, corruption, and folly. knew that I understood it so. * He said, that he had written twice to Lord Wharton about me, who both times said nothing at all to that part of his letter. I am advised not to meddle in the affair of the first-fruits till this hurry is a little over, which still depends, and we are all in the dark. Lord President told me he expects every day to be out, and has done so these two months. I protest upon my life, I am heartily weary of this town, and wish I had never stirred. 13. I went this morning to the city to see Mr Stratford the Hamburgh merchant, my old school-fellow; but calling at Bull's on Ludgate Hill, he forced me to his house at Hampstead to dinner among a great deal of ill company; among the rest Mr Hoadly, the Whig clergyman, so famous for acting the contrary part to Sacheverell but to-morrow I design again to see Stratford. I was glad, however, to be at Hampstead, where I saw Lady Lucy and Moll Stanhope. I hear very unfortunate news of Mrs Long; she and her comrade ‡ have broke up house, and she is broke for good and all, and is gone to the country: I should be extremely sorry if this be true. 14. To-day I saw Patty Rolt, who heard I was in * Yet from the personal animosity which Swift uniformly displays against Wharton, something like disappointed hope may be argued. + Benjamin Hoadly, afterwards Bishop of Winchester, distinguished himself about this time by opposition to the doctrine of passive obedience and non-resistance, so fiercely pressed by Sacheverell. Mr Hoadly preached a memorable sermon on the first verses of the 13th chapter of the epistle to the Romans, in order to show, that the resistance condemned by the text did not apply to the case of bad or tyrannical rulers. Supposed to be Mrs Barton, niece of Sir Isaac Newton. town; and I dined with Stratford at a merchant's in the city, where I drank the first Tokay wine I ever saw; and it is admirable, yet not to a degree I expected. Stratford is worth a plumb, and is now lending the government forty thousand pounds: yet we were educated together at the same school and university. * We hear the chancellor is to be suddenly out, and Sir Simon Harcourt to succeed † him: I am come early home, not caring for the coffeehouse. 15. To-day Mr Addison, Colonel Freind, and I, went to see the million lottery drawn at Guildhall. The jackanapes of blue-coat boys gave themselves such airs in pulling out the tickets, and showed white hands open to the company, to let us see there was no cheat. ‡ We dined at a country-house near Chelsea, where Mr Addison often retires; and to-night at the coffeehouse; we hear Sir Simon Harcourt is made lord keeper; so that now we expect every moment the parliament will be dissolved; but I forgot that this letter will not go in three or four days, and that my news will be stale, which I should therefore put in the last paragraph. Shall I send this letter before I hear from MD, or shall * If this passage implies a passing feeling of envy at Stratford's superior wealth, a few months taught Swift the preferable security of his own mediocrity of fortune; for the Journal contains an account of Stratford's bankruptcy. + He was first made attorney-general in the room of Sir James Montague, and actually got the seals soon afterwards. THE TATLER thus moralizes on the same subject, and in the same year: "As much of a philosopher as I pretend to be, I could not but look upon the two boys, who received the tickets from the wheels, as the impartial and equal dispensers of the fortunes which were to be distributed in the crowd, who stood all around expecting the same chance." No. 203. |