2 Vengeance.
3 Charles Connor, scholar of Trinity College, Dublin, who took his B.A. degree in the same year as Swift (1686), and his M.A. degree in 1691.
4 The History of the Peace of Utrecht.
5 See Letter 55, note 7.
6 Lord Oxford’s daughter Elizabeth married, on Dec. 16, 1712, Peregrine Hyde, Marquis of Caermarthen, afterwards third Duke of Leeds (see Letter 42, note 23 and Letter 24, note 5). She died on Nov. 20, 1713, a few days after the birth of a son. Swift called her “a friend I extremely loved.”
7 “Is” (MS.).
8 Disorders.
9 See Letter 34, note 10.
10 John Francis, Rector of St. Mary’s, Dublin, was made Dean of Leighlin in 1705.
11 See Letter 9, note 7.
12 Possibly “have.”
13 See Letter 55, notes 9, 10, 11.
14 This clause is omitted by Mr. Ryland.
15 See Letter 31, note 6.
16 See Letter 54, Oct. 30, 1712.
17 Thomas Jones, Esq., was M.P. for Trim in the Parliament of 1713−4.
18 A Dutch agent employed in the negotiations with Lewis XIV.
19 When I come home.
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Letter 57.
1 Addressed to “Mrs. Dingley,” etc. Endorsed “Jan. 13.”
2 “Ay, marry, this is something like.” The earlier editions give, “How agreeable it is in a morning.” The words in the MS. are partially obliterated.
3 In this letter (Dec. 20, 1712) Swift paid many compliments to the Duchess of Ormond (see Letter 17, note 5): “All the accomplishments of your mind and person are so deeply printed in the heart, and represent you so lively to my imagination, that I should take it for a high affront if you believed it in the power of colours to refresh my memory.”
4 Tisdall’s Conduct of the Dissenters in Ireland (see Letter 61, note 7).
5 See Letter 9, note 20 and Letter 20, Apr. 13, 1711.
6 Monteleon.
7 See Letter 5, note 8 and Letter 3, note 3.
8 Utrecht, North and South Holland, and West Frieseland.
9 See Letter 46, note 11.
10 See Letter 46, note 11.
11 “On Queen Anne’s Peace.”
12 See Letter 43, note 11. The poem was “Dryades, or the Nymph’s Prophecy.”
13 See Letter 35, note 4.
14 See Letter 17, note 3.
15 Dr. Tobias Pullen (1648−1713) was made Bishop of Dromore in 1695.
16 Lord Charles Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, died unmarried in 1739. When his father, William, first Earl of Selkirk, married Anne, Duchess of Hamilton, the Duchess obtained for her husband, in 1660, the title of Duke of Hamilton, for life. James II. conferred the Earldom of Selkirk on his Grace’s second and younger sons, primogenitively; and the second son having died without issue, the third, Charles, became Earl. The fifth son, George, was created Earl of Orkney (see Letter 52, note 5). The difference between Lord Selkirk and the Earl of Abercorn (see Letter 10, note 33) to which Swift alludes was in connection with the claim to the Dukedom of Chatelherault (see Letter 43, note 32).
17 Heart.
18 This sentence is almost illegible.
19 A reward of 500 pounds was offered by the Crown for Maccartney’s apprehension, and 200 pounds by the Duchess of Hamilton.
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20 In the proposed History of the Peace of Utrecht.
21 Mr. Ryland’s reading. Forster has “Iss.” These words are obliterated.
22 Hoist. Cf.”Hoised up the mainsail” (Acts xxvii. 40).
23 It was afterwards found that Miss Ashe was suffering from smallpox.
24 We are told in the Wentworth Papers, p. 268, that the Duchess of Shrewsbury remarked to Lady Oxford,
“Madam, I and my Lord are so weary of talking politics; what are you and your Lord?” whereupon Lady Oxford sighed and said she knew no Lord but the Lord Jehovah. The Duchess rejoined, “Oh, dear! Madam, who is that? I believe ’tis one of the new titles, for I never heard of him before.”
25 A thousand merry new years. The words are much obliterated.
26 Lady Anne Hamilton, daughter of James, first Duke of Hamilton, became Duchess on the death of her uncle William, the second Duke, at the battle of Worcester.
27 The quarrel between Oxford and Bolingbroke.
28 See Letter 19, note 1.
29 Burnet (History, iv. 382) says that the Duc d’Aumont was “a goodnatured and generous man, of profuse expense, throwing handfuls of money often out of his coach as he went about the streets. He was not thought a man of business, and seemed to employ himself chiefly in maintaining the dignity of his character and making himself acceptable to the nation.”
30 Partially obliterated.
31 For the most part illegible. Forster reads, “Go, play cards, and be melly, deelest logues, and rove Pdfr. Nite richar MD, FW oo roves Pdfr. FW lele lele ME ME MD MD MD MD MD MD. MD FW FW FW ME ME
FW FW FW FW FW ME ME ME.”
32 On the third page of the paper.
33 See Letter 7, note 3.
Letter 58.
1 To “Mrs. Dingley,” etc. Endorsed “Feb. 4.”
2 This sentence is scribbled over. Forster reads the last word as “lastalls,” i.e. rascals, but it seems rather to be
“ledles.”
3 Dr. Peter Brown was appointed Bishop of Cork in 1709.
4 See Letter 5, note 22.
5 See Letter 5, note 3.
6 See Letter 5, note 11.
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7 Dr. H. Humphreys, Bishop of Hereford, died on Nov. 20, 1712. His successor was Dr. Philip Bisse (1667−1721), Bishop of St. David’s (see Letter 3, note 36).
8 Thomas Keightley, a Commissioner of the Great Seal in Ireland.
9 Nearly obliterated. Mr. Ryland reads, “deelest MD.”
10 See Letter 57, note 14.
11 In the Examiner for Jan. 5 to 9, 1712[−13], there is an account of the game of Similitudes. One person thinks of a subject, and the others, not knowing what it is, name similitudes, and when the subject is proclaimed, must make good the comparisons. On the occasion described, the subject chosen was Faction.
The prize was given to a Dutchman, who argued that Faction was like butter, because too much fire spoiled its consistency.
12 Earl Poulett (see Letter 20, note 7).
13 “Say” (MS.).
14 Dr. Pratt.
15 See Letter 13, Jan. 6, 1710−11.
16 This sentence is partially obliterated.
17 See Letter 31, note 10 and, in the same letter, Oct. 5, 1711.
18 Cf. the account of Beatrix’s feelings on the death of the Duke in “Esmond”, book iii. chaps. 6 and 7.
19 See Letter 21, note 3.
20 “Her Majesty is all goodness and tenderness to her people and her Allies. She has now prorogued the best Parliament that ever assembled in her reign and respited her own glory, and the wishes, prayers, and wants of her people, only to give some of her Allies an opportunity to think of the returns they owe her, and try if there be such a thing as gratitude, justice, or humanity in Europe. The conduct of Her Majesty is without parallel.
Never was so great a condescension made to the unreasonable clamours of an insolent faction now dwindled to the most contemptible circumstances.”Examiner, Jan. 12−16, 1712[−13].
21 Mr. Collins’s “Discourse of Freethinking, put into plain English by way of Abstract, for the use of the Poor,” an ironical pamphlet on Arthur Collins’s Discourse of Freethinking, 1713.
22 The History of the Peace of Utrecht.
23 A line here has been erased. Forster imagined that he read, “Nite dear MD, drowsy drowsy dear.”
24 Hereford.
25 Very well.
26 Sentence obliterated. Forster professes to read, “Pay can oo walk oftener− −oftener still?”
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27 See Letter 57, note 15.
28 Dr. Bisse, translated from St. David’s.
29 See Letter 58, note 7 and Letter 19, note 1.
Letter 59.
1 To “Mrs. Dingley,” etc. Endorsed “Febr. 26.”
2 See Letter 58, note 21.
3 See Letter 28, note 11.
4 See Letter 55, note 9.
5 A result of confusion between Erasmus Lewis and Henry Lewis, a Hamburg merchant. See Swift’s paper in the Examiner of Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, reprinted in his Works under the title, “A Complete Refutation of the Falsehoods alleged against Erasmus Lewis, Esq.”
6 Lord Dupplin (see Letter 5, note 34) had been created Baron Hay in December 1711.
7 A composition of inflammable materials.
8 Assessors.
9 See Letter 6, note 12.
10 See Letter 59, note 5.
11 See Letter 46, note 11.
12 See Letter 3, notes 21 and 22, Letter 39, Jan. 12, 1711−12 and Letter 42, Mar. 1, 1711−12.
13 Dr. Bisse.
14 See Letter 33, note 10.
15 Forster reads, “something.”
16 Hardly legible.
17 See Letter 7, note 31.
18 Stella’s brother−in−law (See Letter 53, note 13, Letter 5, note 16 and Letter 55, Nov. 18, 1712).
19 Forster guesses, “Oo are so ‘recise; not to oor health.”