my penknife was ready drawn and fharp. I can hardly believe the relation of his being poifoned, although the hiftorian pretends to have been an eye-witness: but I beg pardon, fack might do it, although ratsbane would not. I never faw the thing you mention as falfely imputed to you; but I think the frolics of merry hours, even when we are guilty, fhould not be left to the mercy of our best friends, until Curl and his resemblers are hanged.

With fubmiffion to the better judgment of you and your friends, I take your project of an employment under the Turks to be idle and unnecellary. Have a little patience, and you will find more merit and encouragement at home by the fame methods. You are ungrateful to your country; quit but your own religion, and ridicule ours, and that will allow you a free choice for any other, or for none at all, and pay you well into the bargain. Therefore pray do not run and disgrace us among the Turks, by telling them you were forced to leave your native home, because we would oblige you to be a Christian; whereas we will make it appear to all the world, that we only compelled you to be a Whig.

There is a young ingenious Quaker in this town, who writes verfes to his mistress, not very correct, but in a ftrain purely what a poetical Quaker should do, commending her look and habit, &c. It gave me a hint, that a fet of Quaker paftorals might fucceed, if our friend Gay* could fancy it, and I think it a fruitful fubject. Pray hear what he fays. I believe further, the paftoral ridicule is not exhaufted; and that a porter, footman, or chairman's pastoral † 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 worse for feldom writing to you. I am in an obscure scene, where you know neither thing nor perfon. I can only answer your's which I promise to do after a fort, whenever

Gay wrote a paftoral of this kind, which is published in his works. Warb.

Swift himself wrote one of this kind, intitled, Dermot and Sheelab. See it in vol. 6. p. 189.

you

you think fit to employ me. But I can affure you, the fcene and the times have depreffed me wonderfully; for I will impute no defect to those two paltry years which have flipt by fince I had the happiness to fee you. I am, with the trueft esteem,

A

Your's, &c.

LETTER VI. *

From Dr SWIFT to Mr POPE. †

Dublin, Jan. 10. 1721.

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

This letter Mr Pope never received, nor did he believe it was ever fent. Pope and Warb.

This letter deferves the greater attention, as it feems to furnish more materials of Dr Swift's life and principles, than any other of his epiftolary writings. The letter breathes an air of fincerity and freedom, and is addreffed to a particular friend, at a time when the views of ambition were at an end. It may therefore be confidered as a confeffion of one departing from this world, who only is defirous to vindicate his own character, and is anxious that his ashes may rest in peace.

It was written immediately after the arbitrary conduct of a judge in Ireland, who endeavoured to destroy the freedom of juries, and confequently the very effence of that liberty and fafety which we have a right to poffefs by the conftitution of our state. Swift very generoufly declares himself averfe to all rigorous proceedings against perfons fufpected of problematical guilt. By fuch ftrict inquiries," fays he," a gate is left open to the whole tribe of informers; the moft accurfed, proftitute, and abandoned race, that God ever per"mitted to plague mankind." Upon this fubject I cannot avoid re collecting fome particulars from a book, which has lately given me great delight and inftruction, and which I recommend very warmly to your perufal. I mean L'efprit des loix. The author, M. dé Montefquieu, obferves, "that informers have been chiefly encou "raged under the most tyrannical governments. In the reign of Ti. "berius triumphal ornaments were conferred upon them, and ftatues erected to their bonour. In the reign of Nero, upon the discovery, "and punishment of a pretended confpiracy, triumphal dignities were allotted to Turpilianus, Cocceius Nerva, and Tigillinus." In an

other

Lord Chief Justice Whitfhed, under the fituation I am in. For I take this caufe properly to lie before you. You are a much fitter judge of what concerns the credit of

other part of his book, the Baron de Montefquieu takes notice," that "in Turkey, where little regard is fhewn to the honour, lives, or "eftates of the fubject, all caufes are determined by the prefiding Ba "fhaw: and in Rome, the judges had no more to do than to declare, "that the perfon accused was guilty of a particular crime, and then "the punishment was found in the laws." From these, and other examples of arbitrary government, this elegant author takes a parti cular pleasure in diftinguishing and admiring the civil conftitution of England; where, he fays, "the jury determine, whether the fact "brought under their cognifance, be proved or not; if it be proved, "the judge pronounces the punishment inflicted by the law for fuch " a particular fact: and for this," adds the Baron," he need only "L open their eyes." But if M. de Montefquieu had read Swift's letter, or indeed had recollected many notorious facts of our history, he must have obferved, that the judges have been often deaf to the repeated voice of the jury, and have not only fhut their eyes against our excellent laws, but have affumed "that terrible and menacing "air which Commodus ordered to be given to his ftatues."

The method of trials by juries, is generally looked upon as one of the most excellent branches of our conflitution. In theory it cer tainly appears in that light. According to the original establishment, the jurors are to be men of competent fortunes in the neighbour. hood; and are to be fo avotedly indifferent between the parties concerned, that no reasonable exception can be made to them on either fide. In treafon, the perfon accused has a right to challenge five and thirty, and in felony twenty, without fhewing caufe of challenge. Nothing can be more equitable. No prifoner can defire a fairer field. But the misfortune is, that our juries are often composed of men of mean eftates, and low understandings. Many difficult points of law are brought before them, and submitted to their verdict, when perhaps they are not capable of determining, properly and judiciously, fuch nice matters of justice, although the judges of the court explain the nature of the cafe, and the law which arifes upon it. But if they are not defective in knowledge, they are fometimes, I fear, from their station and indigence liable to corruption. This indeed is an objection more to the privilege lodged with juries, than to the inftitution itself. The point molt liable to objection, is the power which any one or more of the twelve have to starve the reft into a compliance with their opinion; fo that the verdict may poffibly be given by ftrength of conftitution, not by conviction of confcience;" and "wretches hang that jurymen may dine."

In this letter is moft evidently displayed Swift's immutable attachment to Ireland. Such a kind of patriotifm must have proceeded from a true love of liberty; for he hated individuals, and despised most of

the

of a writer, the injuries that are done him, and the reparations he ought to receive. Befides, I doubt whe ther 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 difference of ftyle or fentiments, I fhould be very unwilling to leave the merits of my caufe.

Give me leave then to put you in mind, (although you cannot easily forget it), that, about ten weeks be fore the Queen's death, I left the town, upon occafion of that incurable breach among the great men at court, and went down to Berkshire; where you may remem

the men of property and power in that kingdom: he owed them no obligations; and while by his writings he laboured to make their pofterity happy, he forced from themselves an involuntary, but univerfal applaufe. His conduct was fo uniform and constant in the caufe of Ireland, that he not only gained the praife, but the confi dence of that whole nation; who are a people feldom, if ever, inclined to study and purfue their own intereft, and who are always exceedingly apt to fufpect any advice that is contrary, or in defiance to a minifterial direction.

founded upon He begins by revolution as a been attended

Swift's principles of government feem to have been that excellent maxim, Salus populi fuprema eft lex. clearing himself from Jacobitifm. He speaks of the neceffary, but dangerous expedient, which has fince with unavoidable bad confequences. He declares his mortal antipathy to flanding armies in time of peace. He adores the wisdom of that inftitution which rendered our parliaments annual. He prefers the landed to the moneyed intereft, and expreffes a noble abhorrence to the fufpenfion of thofe laws upon which the liberty of the subject depends. When these articles of his political tenets are examined, they will leave no room for any one particular party to affume the honour of having had him in their alliance. He was neither Whig nor Tory, neither Jacobite nor Republican. He was Dr Swift.

His judgment in relation to the vifible decay of literature and good fenfe, is perfectly juft. He attributes this national calamity to the prevailing luxury of the times; which he inflances in the encourage ment of factions, and of feveral public diverfions, all tending to the increase of folly, ignorance, and vice. His fentiments are delivered more with the air of a philofopher than of a divine: and the conclufion of the letter is fo proper and fo excellent a defence of his own manner of acting and thinking, that, in regard to his memory, I must be at the trouble of tranfcribing it. [Here the last paragraph of the letter is inferted ].

In fhort, this letter is one of the most serious and best performances that he has given us in the epiftolary way. Orrery.

ber

ber that you gave me the favour of a vifit. While I was in that retirement, I writ a difcourfe which I thought might be useful in fuch a juncture of affairs, and fent it up to London; but, upon fome difference in opinion between me and a certain great minister now abroad, the publishing of it was deferred fo long, that the Queen died; and I recalled my copy, which hath been ever fince in fafe hands. In a few weeks after the loss of that excellent princess, I came to my ftation here; where I have continued ever fince in the greatest privacy, and utter ignorance of thofe events which are most commonly talked of in the world. I neither know the names nor number of the Royal family which now reigns, further than the prayer-book informs me. I cannot tell who is chancellor, who are fecretaries, nor with what nations we are in peace or war. And this manner of life was not taken up out of any fort of affectation, but merely to avoid giving offence, and for fear of provoking party-zeal.

I had indeed written fome memorials of the four laft years of the Queen's reign, with fome other informations which I received, as neceffary materials to qualify me for doing fomething in an employment then defigned me*: but, as it was at the difpofal of a perfon who had not the fmalleft share of fteadiness or fincerity, I difdained to accept it.

Thefe papers, at my few hours of health and leifure, I have been digesting into order by one sheet at a time † ; for I dare not venture any further, left the humour of

* Hiftoriographer.

†Thefe papers fome years after were brought finished by the Dean into England, with an intention to publish them. But a friend on whofe judgment he relied, (the fame I fuppofe whom he mentions above, as being abroad at the time of writing this letter), diffuaded him from that defign. He told the Dean, there were feveral facts he knew to be falfe, and that the whole was fo much in the fpirit of party-writing, that though it might have made a seasonable pamphlet in the time of their administration, it was a dishonour to just history. The Dean would do nothing against his friend's judgment; yet it extremely chagrined him: and he told a common friend, that fince ** did not approve his hiftory, he would caft it into the fire, though it was the best work he had ever written. However, it did not undergo this fate, and is faid to be yet in being. Warb.

fearching