surpassed. Without the grace and delicacy of Addison, without the rich imaginative eloquence or the profound philosophic insight of Burke, he was a far greater master of that terse, homely, and nervous logic which appeals most powerfully to the English mind, and no writer has ever excelled him in the vivid force of his illustrations, in trenchant, original, and inventive wit, or in concentrated malignity of invective or satire. With all the intellectual and most of the moral qualities of the most terrible partisan he combined many of the gifts of a consummate statesman—a marvellous power of captivating those with whom he came in contact, great skill in reading characters and managing men, a rapid, decisive judgment in emergencies, an eminently practical mind, seizing with a happy tact the commonsense view of every question he treated, and almost absolutely free from the usual defects of mere literary politicians. But for his profession he might have risen to the highest posts of English statesmanship, and in spite of his profession, and without any of the advantages of rank or office, he was for some time one of the most influential men in England. He stemmed the tide of political literature, which had been flowing strongly against his party, and the admirable force of his popular reasoning, as well as the fierce virulence of his attacks, placed him at once in the first position in the fray. The Tory party, assailed by almost overwhelming combinations from without, and distracted by the most serious divisions within, found in him its most powerful defender. Its leaders were divided by interest, by temperament, and, in some degree, even by policy; but Swift gained a great ascendency over their minds and a great influence in

their councils, and his persuasions long averted the impending collision. Its extreme members had formed themselves into a separate body, and were clamouring for the expulsion of all Whigs from office; but Swift's "Letter of Advice to the ' October Club' effected the dissolution of that body, and the threatened schism was prevented. The nation, dazzled by the genius of Marlborough, was for a time fiercely opposed to a party whose policy was peace, but Swift's " Examiners" gradually modified this opposition, and his "Conduct of the Allies" for a time completely quelled it. The success of this most masterly pamphlet has few parallels in history: 11,000 copies were sold in about two months. It for a time almost reversed the current of public opinion, and was one of the chief influences that enabled the ministers to conclude the Peace of Utrecht.

The social position of Swift at this time was equally brilliant. Notwithstanding his coarseness and capricious violence, and an occasional eccentricity of manner which indicated not obscurely the seeds of insanity, the brilliancy of his conversation made him the delight of every society, and his sayings became the proverbs of every coffee-house. He had friends of all parties, of all creeds, and of all characters. In the course of a few years he was intimate with Addison and Steele, with Halifax, Congreve, Prior, Pope, Arbuthnot, and Peterborough, with Harley and St. John, and most of the other leaders of the day. In spite of the gloomy misanthropy of his temperament, and the savage recklessness with which he too often employed his powers of sarcasm, he was capable of splendid generosity and of the truest and most constant

friendship. Few men have obtained a deeper or more lasting affection, and we may well place the testimony of the illustrious men who knew him best in opposition to the literary judgments of posterity. "Dear friend," wrote Arbuthnot in after years, "the last sentence of your letter plunged a dagger in my heart. Never repeat those sad but tender words, that you will try to forget me. For my part, I can never forget you, at least till I discover, which is impossible, another friend whose conversation could procure me the pleasure I have found in yours." Addison, as we have already seen, spoke of him in language of unqualified affection. Pope, after a friendship of twenty-three years, wrote of him to Lord Orrery, "My sincere love of that valuable, indeed incomparable man, will accompany him through life, and pursue his memory were I to live a hundred lives, as many of his works will live which are absolutely original, unequalled, unexampled. His humanity, his charity, his condescension, his candour, are equal to his wit, and require as good and true a taste to be equally valued."

Undoubtedly, in the first instance, many of these friendships arose from gratitude. Literature had not yet arrived at the period when it could dispense with patrons, and one of the legitimate goals to which every literary man aspired was a place under the State. This naturally drew the chief writers around Swift, and the manner in which he at this time employed his influence is one of the most pleasing features of his career. There is scarcely a man of genius of the age who was not indebted to him. Even his political opponents, even men who had written violently against his party, obtained places by his influence. Berkeley

was drawn by him from the retirement of college recommended more than once to the leading Tories, and placed upon the highway of promotion. Congreve was secured at his request in the place which the Whigs had given him. Parnell, Steele, Gay, and Rowe were among those who received places or other favours by his solicitation. He said himself, with a justifiable pride, that he had provided for more than fifty people, not one of whom was a relation. His influence in society as well as with the government was ceaselessly employed in favour of literature. He founded the "Scriblerus Club," in which many of the chief writers of the day joined; he exerted himself earnestly in i bringing Pope forward, and obtaining subscriptions for his translation of Homer. He pressed upon the attention of the government a plan, though not a very wise one, for watching over the purity of the language, and he on every occasion insisted on marked deference being paid to literary men. He himself took an exceedingly high, and indeed arrogant, tone with Harley and St. John; and when the former sent him a sum of money as a compensation for his services, he was so offended that their friendship was wellnigh broken for ever. That this tone was not the mere vulgar insolence of an upstart, is sufficiently proved by the deep attachment manifested towards him by both Harley and St. John long after their political connection had terminated.

During all this time Swift kept up a continual correspondence with Stella, in the shape of a journal, recording with the utmost minuteness the events of every day. We have the clearest possible evidence that this journal was not intended for any other

eyes than those of Stella and Mrs. Dingley. It is filled with terms of the most childish endearment, with execrable puns, with passages written with his eyes shut, with extempore verses and extempore proverbs, with the records of every passing caprice, of every hope, fear, and petty annoyance. In this strange and touching journal we can trace clearly the eminence to which he rose, and also the shadows that overcast his mind. One of the principal of these was the gradual decline of his friendship with Addison. Addison's habitual coldness had, at first, completely yielded to the charms of Swift's conversation, and, notwithstanding the great dissimilarity of their characters, they lived on the most intimate terms. But Swift was a strong Tory, and Addison was a strong Whig; and Addison was almost identified with Steele, who was still more violent in his politics, and who, though he had received favours from Swift, had made a violent and wholly unjust personal attack upon his benefactor,' which elicited an equally violent reply; and these things tended to the dissolution of the friendship. There was never an open breach, but their intercourse lost its old cordiality. "I went to Mr. Addison's," wrote Swift in his journal, “and dined with him at his lodgings. I had not seen him these three weeks; we are grown common acquaintance, yet what have I not done for his friend Steele! Mr. Harley reproached me the last time I saw him, that, to please me, he would be reconciled to Steele, and had promised and appointed to see him, and that Steele never came. Harrison, whom Mr. Addison

1 In a pamphlet called "The Crisis."