and a great deal more flesh, beside the blessing of a wife and children. I desire to present my humble service to yours. I pray God bless and assist you in your glorious endeavours for the pre

servation of your country, and remain with the truest respect, sir,

Your most obedient

and obliged humble servant,

JON. SWIFT.

You will see, by the many blunders in words, syllables, and letters, what a condition my giddy head is in.

FROM MR. PULTENEY.

DEAR SIR,

+

LONDON, MARCH 11, 1734-5.

I HAVE often desired our friend Pope, when he wrote to you, to allow me a corner of his letter, to assure you of my most humble service; but the little man never remembered it, and it was not worth troubling you with a letter of my own on so insignificant an occasion.

Your recommending Mr. Lorinan to me, gives me great pleasure and satisfaction, as it is an instance of your kind remembrance and friendship. I promise you, whoever at any time comes to me from you, shall be sure of meeting with the utmost of my endeavours to serve them. I am glad I can acquaint you, Mr. Lorinan has all the success he could expect or wish for: his cause was a

good

good one, and he had the honour of having it greatly attended. When it was over, he asked me (but in a very modest way) whether it was possible to get him made receiver of the new bishop of Derry's rents? I told him, I would try; I did so, found it would not succeed, and so dropped it immediately.

What do you say to the bustle made here to prevent the man* from being an English bishop, and afterward allowing him to be good Christian enough for an Irish one? Sure the opposition, or the acquiescence, must have been most abominably scandalous. By what I can learn of Dr. Rundle's character, (for I am not in the least acquainted with him myself) he is far from being the great and learned man his friends would have the world believe him; and much farther yet, from the bad man his enemies represent him. Our right reverend brethren continue to dwell together in the strictest political unity; whether it be like the dew of Hermon upon the hill of Sion, or like the ointment that ran down into Aaron's beard, to the skirts of his clothing, I cannot say; but I am sure, it is a good joyful thing for the ministers to behold. This has enabled them to prevent any inquiry into the scandalous method of nominating, instead of electing the sixteen Scotch peers: and

* Dr. Thomas Rundle was promoted to the rich see of Derry in Ireland, in February 1734-5, after being prevented from getting the see of Gloucester, in England, which had been intended for him in November 1734. The dispute concerning his promotion to the see of Gloucester, was between the chancellor and the bishop of London: the chancellor was his friend, and the bishop his enemy. N.

these,

these, and they together, make a most dreadful body in that house. We are not quite so bad in ours; but I own to you, that I am heartily tired of struggling to no purpose against the corruption that does prevail, and I see, always will prevail there. Poor Arbuthnot, who grieved to see the wickedness of mankind, and was particularly ashamed of his own countrymen *, is dead. He lived the last six months in a bad state of health, and hoping every night would be his last; not that he endured any bodily pain, but as he was quite weary of the world, and tired with so much bad company. What I have said of the doctor, may perhaps deter you from coming among us; but if you had any thoughts of visiting England this summer, I can assure you of some friends, who wish to live with you, and know how to value and esteem you: among them, there is none that does so more

* He was a native of Scotland. H.

This, admitting the fact, is very remarkable of a man of Arbuthnot's turn; a man of humour, whose mind seemed to be always pregnant with comic ideas, and turned chiefly, if not only, to that which is ridiculous, even in vice itself. That to such a man, to whose fancy almost every character, and every event, furnished a comedy, death should be welcome because life was insipid, is a melancholy and striking proof, that "even in laughter the heart is sorrowful;" or, that those who are best qualified to make others merry, are not always merry themselves; that their mirth is but an effusion of hilarity that overflows their own breasts, but often the mere effect of a painful effort, exerted chiefly for the gratification of vanity, the sad concomitant of vexation of spirit. See Dr. Arbuthnot's own account of himself, which seems not perfectly to agree with what is here said of him, in p. 119. H.

VOL. XIII.

M

sincerely

sincerely than, dear sir, your most obedient humble servant,

WILLIAM PULTENEY.

Mrs. Pulteney is very much your humble servant, and joins in inviting you here next summer.

I HAD, some days ago, a very long letter from

a young gentleman whom I never saw; but, by
the name subscribed, I found it came from a younger
son of yours, I suppose your second. He lays before
me, in a very particular manner, the forlorn condi-
tion he is in, by the severities of you and your lady,
his mother. He freely owns his boyish follies, when
he was first brought up to town, at fourteen years
old, but he appeals to Dr. Sheridan for the improve-
ment he made in the doctor's school, and to his
tutor for his behaviour in the college, where he took
his degree with particular credit, being made one
of the moderators of his class; by which it appears
that he passed for one of the four best scholars in it.
His letter contains four large pages in folio, and
written in a very small hand; where he gives a
history of his life, from the age of fourteen to the
present time.
It is written with so much spirit,
nature, and good sense, as well as appearance of
truth, that having first razed out the writer's name,

I have.

I have shown it to several gentlemen, my friends, of great worth, learning, and taste; who all agree

in my opinion of the letter, and think it a pity that so hopeful a youth should not have proper encouragement, unless he has some very disagreeable faults, whereof they and I are ignorant. When I had written thus far, Dr. Sheridan came to see me; I read your son's letter to him, and he was equally pleased with it, and justified the progress the young man had made in his school. I went this evening to visit a lady, who has a very great esteem and friendship for you and Mrs. *****: she told me: "That the young man's great fault was, too much pertness and conceit of himself, which he often showed in your house, and even among company;" which, I own, is a very bad quality in any young man, and is not easily cured: yet, I think, if I had a son, who had understanding, wit, and humour, to write such a letter, I could not find in my heart to cast him off, but try what good advice and maturer years would do toward amendment; and in the mean time, give him no cause to complain of wanting convenient food, lodging, and raiment. He lays the whole weight of his letter to me upon the truth of the facts, and is contented to stand or fall by them. If he be a liar, he is into the bargain an unpardonable fool; and his good natural, as well as acquired parts, shall be an aggravation to me, to render him more odious. I hear he is turned of one and twenty years; and what he alleges seems to be true, that he is not yet put into any way of living, either by law, physick, or divinity; although in his letter, he pretends to have studied the first, on your promise to send