A Letter from the facetious Dr Andrew Tripe, at Bath, to the ve- nerable Nestor Ironside; with an Account of the reception Mr Ironside's late present of a Guardian met with from the Worship- ful Mr Mayor, and other substantial Inhabitants of that ancient City. To which is added, a Prescription from the Doctor, by way The Conduct of the Allies; and of the late Ministry, in beginning and carrying on the present War, Some Remarks on the Barrier Treaty between her Majesty and the States-General; to which are added, the said Barrier Treaty, with the two separate Articles; part of the Counter-Project; the Sen- timents of Prince Eugene and Count Zinzendorff upon the said Treaty; and a Representation of the English Merchants at An Appendix to the Conduct of the Allies, and Remarks on the 279 300 382 426 A SHORT CHARACTER OF HIS EXCELLENCY THOMAS EARL OF WHARTON, LORD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF SOME SMALLER FACTS DURING HIS GOVERNMENT, WHICH WILL NOT BE PUT INTO THE ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT. [London, Printed for William Coryton, Bookseller, at the Black Swan, on Ludgate Hill, 1710.-12mo, Price 4d.] THOMAS LORD WHARTON was created Earl of Wharton in 1706, and appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in 1708. He shared in the disgrace of Godolphin's ministry in 1710; and when, in 1714, the clouds which overshadowed Whiggish prosperity had passed away, he was appointed lord privy seal, and advanced to the title of Marquis of Wharton and Malmesbury. In 1715 he died. Wharton was a principal promoter of the Revolution; and is said to have been the author of the popular ballad of Lilibulero, with which he boasted to have sung James II. out of his three kingdoms. His eloquence, his sagacity, his courage, above all, his staunch adherence to Whig principles, were admitted by the leaders of his party as extenuations of his abandoned and open profligacy. "If ever," says Lord Shaftesbury, "I expected any public good where virtue was wholly sunk, 'twas in his character; the most mysterious of any, in my account, for this reason. But I have seen many proofs of this monstrous compound in him, of the very best and the very worst.' And in another letter to the same friend, he thus expresses himself: "Lord Wharton, indeed, is as true as steel; but as little partiality as I have for him, and as ill an opinion of his private life and principles; I fancy his good understanding will make him show himself a better lord-lieutenant than is expected.” Swift entertained a rooted hatred to this nobleman, not only on account of his low-church principles and contempt of the clergy, but in consequence of personal neglect. When Wharton was named Lieutenant of Ireland, Swift, then in London, and in favour with many of the administration, was commissioned by the clergy of Ireland, to solicit his interest for remission of the twentiethparts and first-fruits due from that kingdom. It is even said, that Swift expected from this nobleman an appointment as his chaplain. Lord Wharton received both the petition and the intercession with great coldness; nor could Lord Somers, at a second interview, bring them to a better understanding; and finally, using the pretence of some dispute with his chaplain as an affront to himself, the lord-lieutenant reported it as such to the court, whereupon the convocation was prorogued, and all thoughts of the remission put an end to for the time. This failure, which, in some degree, lessened Swift's personal consequence, and at all events offended his zeal for his order, was not to be forgiven. Being, moreover, as our author sarcastically expresses, "a Presbyterian in politics, and an atheist in religion," Lord Wharton showed a great inclination to remove the sacramental test in Ireland, so far as dissenters were concerned. This was another subject of offence to Swift, who published a formal defence of the test in a "Letter to a Member of Parliament." Thus heartily irritated, our author shunned all intercourse with Lord Wharton during his lieutenancy, although, when the close of his power was approaching, that wily statesman affected to load him with caresses, in order to render him suspicious to his clerical friends, and the Tories in general. Such is our author's statement of his quarrel with Lord Wharton. But the Whigs ascribed his enmity to disappointed ambition; and affirmed as the cause, that when Somers introduced Swift to Wharton as a fit person to be his chaplain, the latter, alluding to Swift's supposed licentious opinions on religion, repli Letter to Lord Molesworth in 1709. |