The

AUTHOR upon himself.

Written in the year 1713.

A few of the first lines were wanting in the copy fent us by a friend of the author's.

Y an old

BY

-purfu'd

A crazy prelate*, and a royal prude † ;
By dull divines, who look with envious eyes
On ev'ry genius that attempts to rife;
And paufing o'er a pipe with doubtful nod,
Give hints, that poets ne'er believe in God;
So clowns on scholars as on wizards look,
And take a folio for a conj'ring book ‡,

SWIFT had the fin of wit, no venial crime;
Nay, 'tis affirm'd he fometimes dealt in rhyme :
Humour and mirth had place in all he writ;
He reconcil'd divinity and wit:

15.

He mov'd, and bow'd, and talk'd with too much grace
Nor fhew'd the parfon in his gait or face;
Defpis'd luxurious wines, and coftly meat;
Yet ftill was at the tables of the great;
Frequented Lords; faw thofe that saw the Queen;
At Child's or Truby's || never once had been ;
Where town and country vicars flock in tribes,
Secur'd by numbers from the laymen's gibes,

Dr Sharp, Archbishop of York...

+ Her late Majesty Queen Anne.

20

Archbishop Sharp, according to Swift's account, had reprefented him to the Queen as a person that was not a Christian; a great lady had fupported the afperfion; and the Queen; upon fuch affurances, had given away the bishoprick contrary to her Maje fty's first intentions, which were in favour of Dr Swift. Orrery.

A coffeehouse and tavern near St Paul's, at that time much frequented by the clergy.

And deal in vices of the graver fort,
Tobacco, cenfure, coffee, pride, and port.
BUT after fage monitions from his friends
His talents to employ for nobler ends;
To better judgments willing to fubmit,
He turns to politics his dang'rous wit.

1

AND now the public int'rest to support,
By Harley Swift invited comes to court ;
Ir. favour grows with minifters of state;
Admitted private, when fuperiors wait:
And Harley, not asham'd his choice to own,
Takes him to Windfor in his coach alone.
At Windfor Swift no fooner can appear,
But St John comes and whispers in his ear:
The waiters ftand in ranks; the yeomen cry,

Make room, as if a Duke were paffing by.

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30

35

Now Finch + alarms the Lords: he hears for certain This dang'rous prieft is got behind the curtain..

Finch fam'd for tedious elocution, proves

That Swift oils many a fpring which Harley moves.

Walpole and Aislabie †, to clear the doubt,

41

Inform the Commons, that the fecret's out: "A certain doctor is obferv'd of late

"To haunt a certain minifter of state:

45

"From hence with half an eye we may difcover "The peace is made, and Perkin must come over."

YORK is from Lambeth fent to fhew the Queen

A dangerous treatise writ against the spleen []; Which, by the ftyle, the matter, and the drift, 'Tis thought could be the work of none but Swift. 50

Then Secretary of State, afterwards Lord Bolingbroke. + The late Earl of Nottingham, who made a fpeech in the houfe of Lords against the author.

They both poke against the author in the houfe of Com mons, altho' Aislabie profeffed much friendship for him. Tale of a Tub.

Poor York! the harmless tool of others hate;

He fues for pardon *, and repents too late.

Now,

-her vengeance vows

On Swift's reproaches for her

From her red locks her mouth with venom fills; 55
And thence into the royal ear inftills.

The Queen incens'd, his fervices forgot,
Leaves him a victim to the vengeful Scot.
Now thro' the realm a proclamation spread †,
To fix a price on his devoted head.
While innocent, he fcorns ignoble flight;
His watchful friends preserve him by a sleight.
By Harley's favour once again he fhines;
Is now carefs'd by candidate divines,

60

Who change opinions with the changing scene: 65 Lord! how were they mistaken in the Dean!

Now Delaware ‡ again familiar

grows;

And in Swift's ear thrusts half his powder'd nose.
The Scottish nation, whom he durft offend,

Again apply that Swift would be their friend . 70

By faction tir'd, with grief he waits a while His great contending friends to reconcile, Performs what friendship, juftice, truth require: What could he more but decently retire

**

?

His Grace was forry for what he had faid, and fent a mef

fage to the author to defire his pardon.

†The proclamation was against the author of a pamphlet, called, The public fpirit of the Whigs, against which the Scotch Lords complained. See it in vol. v.

Delaware, then Lord Treasurer of the household, always careffed the author at court; but, during the trial of the printers before the house of Lords, and while the proclamation hung over the author, his Lordfhip would not feem to know him.

The Scotch Lords treated and vifited the author more after the proclamation than before, except the Duke of Argyll, who would never be reconciled.

**About ten weeks before 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. See vol. iv. p. 22.

In

SICKNESS.

Written foon after the author's coming to live in Ireland, upon the Queen's death, October 1714.

- then why should I repine

IS true,
TIS
To fee my life so fast decline?

But why obfcurely here alone,

Where I am neither lov'd nor known?

My state of health none care to learn;
My life is here no foul's concern :
And those with whom I now converse,
Without a tear will tend my herse.
Remov'd from kind Arbuthnot's aid,
Who knows his art, but not his trade,
Preferring his regard for me

Before his credit, or his fee.

Some formal vifits, looks, and words,
What mere humanity affords,

I meet perhaps from three or four,
From whom I once expected more;
Which thofe who tend the fick for pay,
Can act as decently as they:

But no obliging tender friend
To help at my approaching end.
My life is now a burden grown

To others, ere it be my own.
YE formal weepers for the fick,

In your laft offices be quick :

And spare my absent friends the grief

25

To hear, yet give me no relief;

Expir'd to-day, intomb'd to-morrow,

When known, will fave a double forrow.

To

To the Earl of OXFORD, late Lord Treasurer. Sent to him when he was in the Tower, before his trial.

Out of HORACE.

Written in the year 1716.

HOW blefs'd is he who for his country dies,

Since death pursues the coward as he flies!
The youth in vain would fly from fate's attack,
With trembling knees, and terror at his back;
Tho' fear should lend him pinions like the wind,
Yet fwifter fate will feize him from behind.

VIRTUE repuls'd, yet knows not to repine:
But fhall with unattainted honour shine;
Nor ftoops to take the ftaff*, nor lays it down,
Juft as the rabble please to smile or frown.

VIRTUE, to crown her fav'rites, loves to try
Some new unbeaten passage to the sky;
Where Jove a feat among the gods will give
To those who die for meriting to live.

NEXT, faithful filence hath a fure reward;
Within our breast be ev'ry secret barr'd:
He who betrays his friend, shall never be
Under one roof, or in one ship, with me.
For who with traitors would his fafety trust,
Left with the wicked heav'n involve the juft?
And tho' the villain 'scape a while, he feels
Slow vengeance, like a blood-hound, at his heels.

A white staff is the enfign of the Lord Treasurer's office.