P. 609. _Burnet_, speaking of the suspicion of Charles II. being
poisoned, says that:--Lower and Needham, two famous physicians, ...
[noticed some] blue spots on the outside of the stomach. Needham called
twice to have it opened: but the surgeons seemed not to hear him. And
when he moved it the second time, he, as he told me, heard Lower say to
one that stood next him, "Needham will undo us, calling thus to have the
stomach opened, for he may see they will not do it." ... Le Fevre, a
French physician, told me, he saw a blackness in the shoulder; Upon
which he made an incision, and saw it was all mortified. Short, another
physician, who was a Papist, but after a form of his own, did very much
suspect foul dealing.--_Swift_. One physician told me this from Short
himself.

P. 611. _Burnet_, describing the behaviour of Charles II. when in hiding
after the battle of Worcester, says:--Under all the apprehensions he had
then upon him, he shewed a temper so careless, and so much turned to
levity, that he was then diverting himself with little household sports,
in as unconcerned a manner, as if he had made no loss, and had been in
no danger at all.--_Swift._ This might admit a more favourable turn.

P. 613. _Burnet,_ in his character of Charles II., says:--His person and
temper, his vices as well as his fortunes, resemble the character that
we have given us of Tiberius so much, that it were easy to draw the
parallel between them. Tiberius's banishment, and his coming afterwards
to reign, makes the comparison in that respect come pretty near. His
hating of business, and his love of pleasures, his raising of
favourites, and trusting them entirely; and his pulling them down, and
hating them excessively; his art of covering deep designs, particularly
of revenge, with an appearance of softness, brings them so near a
likeness, that I did not wonder much to observe the resemblance of their
face and person.--_Swift._ Malicious, and in many circumstances false.

P. 615. _Burnet_ concludes his character of Charles II. with these
words:--How ungrateful soever this labour has proved to my self, and how
unacceptable soever it may be to some, who are either obliged to
remember him gratefully, or by the engagement of parties and interests
are under other biasses, yet I have gone through all that I knew
relating to his life and reign with that regard to truth, and what I
think may be instructive to mankind, which became an impartial writer of
history, and one who believes, that he must give an account to God of
what he writes, as well as of what he says and does.--_Swift._ He was
certainly a very bad prince, but not to the degree described in this
character, which is poorly drawn, and mingled with malice very unworthy
an historian, and the style abominable, as in the whole history, and the
observations trite and vulgar.


BOOK IV.

P. 623. _Burnet._ Because Chudleigh the envoy there had openly broken
with the Prince [of Orange], (for he not only waited no more on him, but
acted openly against him; and once in the Vorhaut had affronted him,
while he was driving the Princess upon the snow in a _trainau_,
according to the German manner, and pretending they were masked, and
that he did not know them, had ordered his coachman to keep his way, as
they were coming towards the place where he drove;) the King recalled
him.--_Swift._ A pretty parenthesis.

P. 626. _Burnet._ This gave all thinking men a melancholy prospect.
England now seemed lost, unless some happy accident should save it. All
people saw the way for packing a Parliament now laid open.--_Swift._
Just our case at the Queen's death.

P. 638. _Burnet_ says that Musgrave and others pretended:--when money
was asked for just and necessary ends, to be frugal patriots, and to be
careful managers of the public treasure.--_Swift._ A party remark,

P. 651. _Burnet._ Goodenough, who had been under-sheriff of London when
Cornish was sheriff, offered to swear against Cornish; and also said,
that Rumsey had not discovered all he knew. So Rumsey to save himself
joined with Goodenough, to swear Cornish guilty of that for which the
Lord Russell had suffered. And this was driven on so fast, that Cornish
was seized on, tried, and executed within the week.--_Swift._ Goodenough
went to Ireland, practised law, and died there.

Ibid. _Burnet._ It gave a general horror to the body of the nation: And
it let all people see, what might be expected from a reign that seemed
to delight in blood.--_Swift._ The same here since the Queen's death.

P. 654. _Burnet._ The Archbishop of Armagh[5] [1685,] had continued Lord
Chancellor of Ireland, and was in all points so compliant to the court,
that even his religion came to be suspected on that account.--_Swift._
False.

[Footnote 5: Michael Boyle, who, when Archbishop of Dublin, was made
chancellor soon after the Restoration (1665), and continued in that
office to January, 1686, during which time he was raised to the
Archbishopric of Armagh.--SEWARD.]

Ibid _Burnet,_ and yet this archbishop:--was not thought thorough-paced.
So Sir Charles Porter, who was a zealous promoter of everything that the
King proposed, and was a man of ready wit, and being poor was thought a
person fit to be made a tool of, was declared Lord Chancellor of
Ireland.--_Swift._ False and scandalous.

P. 669. _Burnet._ Solicitor-general Finch ... was presently after turned
out. And Powis succeeded him, who was a compliant young aspiring lawyer,
though in himself he was no ill natured man.--_Swift._ Sir Thomas Powis,
a good dull lawyer.

P. 670. _Burnet,_ speaking of the power claimed for the King to dispense
with the sacramental test, says:--It was an overturning the whole
government, ... to say that laws, ... where one of the penalties was an
incapacity, which by a maxim of law cannot be taken away even by a
pardon, should at the pleasure of the prince be dispensed with: A fine
was also set by the Act on offenders, but not given to the King, but to
the informer, which thereby became his. So that the King could no more
pardon that, than he could discharge the debts of the subjects, and take
away property.--_Swift._ Wrong reasoning.

P. 672. _Burnet._ Intimations were everywhere given, that the King would
not have them [Dissenters], or their meetings, to be disturbed. Some of
them began to grow insolent upon this shew of favour.--_Swift._ The
whole body of them grew insolent, and complying to the King.

P. 675. _Burnet._ Sancroft lay silent at Lambeth. He seemed zealous
against Popery in private discourse: But he was of such a timorous
temper, and _so set on the enriching his nephew,_ that he shewed no sort
of courage.--_Swift._ False as hell.

P. 681. _Burnet,_ referring to the revived national zeal against Popery,
says:--The Episcopal clergy were in many places so sunk into sloth and
ignorance, that they were not capable of conducting this zeal: ... But
the Presbyterians, though they were now freed from the great severities
they had long smarted under, yet expressed on all occasions their
unconquerable aversion to Popery.--_Swift._ Partial dog!

P. 682. _Burnet._ He made the Earl of Tyrconnell Lord
Lieutenant.--_Swift._ Lord deputy.

P. 688. _Burnet._ Nor were the clergy more diligent in their labours
among their people, in which respect it must be confessed that the
English clergy are the most remiss of any.--_Swift._ Civil that.

P. 690. _Burnet,_ speaking of King William's character, says:--he had no
vice, but of one sort, in which he was very _cautious_ and
_secret_.--_Swift._ It was of two sorts--_male_ and _female_--in the
_former_ he was neither cautious nor secret.

P. 691. _Burnet,_ in a conversation with the Prince of Orange at The
Hague, (1686):--When he found I was in my opinion for toleration, he
said, that was all he would ever desire to bring us to, for quieting our
contentions at home.--_Swift._ It seems the Prince even then thought of
being King.

P. 692. _Burnet,_ the advice I gave the Princess of Orange, when she
should be Queen of England, was, to:--endeavour effectually to get it
[the real authority] to be legally vested in him [the Prince] during
life: This would lay the greatest obligation on him possible, and lay
the foundation of a perfect union between them, which had been of late a
little embroiled.--_Swift._ By Mrs. Villiers, now Lady Orkney; but he
proved a _d----d husband for all that._[6]

[Footnote 6: Lady Orkney was a favourite of Swift, as appears from
several passages in the Journal. [S.]]

P. 693. _Burnet,_ having told the Princess of Orange that her succession
to the throne would not make her husband king, and given her the advice
just quoted, says:--she in a very frank manner told him, that she did
not know that the laws of England were so contrary to the laws of God,
as I had informed her: she did not think that the husband was ever to be
obedient to the wife.--_Swift._ Foolish.

P. 693. _Burnet._ [Penn, the Quaker,] was a talking vain man, who had
been long in the King's favour, he being the vice-admiral's son. ... He
had a tedious luscious way, that was not apt to overcome a man's reason,
though it might tire his patience.--_Swift._ He spoke very agreeably,
and with much spirit.

P. 695. _Burnet._ Cartwright was promoted to Chester. He was a man of
good capacity, and had made some progress in learning. He was ambitious
and servile, cruel and boisterous: And, by the great liberties he
allowed himself, he fell under much scandal of the _worst
sort_.--_Swift._ Only sodomy.

P. 696. _Burnet._ [Cartwright] was looked on as a man that would more
effectually advance the design of Popery, than if he should turn over to
it. And indeed, bad as he was, he never made that step, even in the most
desperate state of his affairs.--_Swift._ He went to Ireland with King
James, and there died neglected and poor.

P. 697. _Burnet._ In all nations the privileges of colleges and
universities are esteemed such sacred things, that few will venture to
dispute these, much less to disturb them.--_Swift._ Yet in King George's
reign, Oxford was bridled and insulted with troops, for no manner of
cause but their steadiness to the Church.

P. 699. _Burnet._ It was much observed, that this university [Oxford],
that had asserted the King's prerogative in the highest strains of the
most abject flattery possible, etc.--_Swift._ And their virtue and
steadiness ought equally to be observed.

P. 701. _Burnet,_ speaking of King James's proceedings against the
universities, and that several of the clergy wrote over to the Prince of
Orange to engage in their quarrel, adds:--When that was communicated to
me, I was still of opinion, that, though this was indeed an act of
despotical and arbitrary power, yet I did not think it struck at the
whole: So that it was not in my opinion a lawful case of
resistance.--_Swift._ He was a better _Tory_ than I, if he spoke as he
thought.

Ibid. _Burnet._ The main difference between these [the Presbyterians and
the Independents] was, that the Presbyterians seemed reconcilable to the
Church; _for they loved Episcopal ordination and a liturgy._--_Swift._ A
damnable lie.

P. 702. _Burnet._ [Both Presbyterians and Independents] were enemies to
this high prerogative, that the King was assuming, and were very averse
to Popery.--_Swift._ Style.

Ibid. _Burnet._ So the more considerable among them [the Dissenters]
resolved not to stand at too great a distance from the court, nor
provoke the King so far, as to give him cause to think they were
irreconcilable to him, lest they should provoke him to make up matters
on any terms with the Church party.--_Swift._ They all complied most
shamefully and publicly, as is well known.

P. 703. _Burnet._ The King's choice of Palmer, Earl of Castlemain, was
liable to great exception.--_Swift._ Duchess of Cleveland's husband.

P. 705. _Burnet._ Since what an ambassador says is understood as said by
the prince whose character he bears, this gave the States a right to
make use of all advantages that might offer themselves.--_Swift._
Sophistry.

P. 710. _Burnet._ The restless spirit of some of that religion [Popery],
and of their clergy in particular, shewed they could not be at quiet
till they were masters.--_Swift._ All sects are of that spirit.

P. 716. _Burnet,_ speaking of "the fury that had been driven on for many
years by a Popish party," adds:--When some of those who had been always
moderate told these, who were putting on another temper, that they would
perhaps forget this as soon as the danger was over, they promised the
contrary very solemnly. It shall be told afterwards, how well they
remembered this.--_Swift._ False and spiteful.

P. 726. _Burnet._ That which gave the crisis to the King's anger was
that he heard I was to be married to a considerable fortune at The
Hague.--_Swift._ A phrase of the rabble.

Ibid. _Burnet,_ when a prosecution was commenced against Burnet in
Scotland, he obtained naturalization for himself in Holland, after which
he wrote to the Earl of Middleton, saying that:--being now naturalized
in Holland, my allegiance was, during my stay in these parts,
transferred from His Majesty to the States.--_Swift._ Civilians deny
that, but I agree with him.

P. 727. _Burnet._ I come now to the year 1688, which proved memorable,
and produced an extraordinary and _unheard_-of revolution.--_Swift._ The
Devil's in that, sure all Europe _heard_ of it.

P. 730. _Burnet,_after saying that he had been naturalized in Holland,
upon marrying one of the subjects of the States, goes on:--The King took
the matter very ill, and said, it was an affront to him, and a just
cause of war.--_Swift._ Vain fop.

P. 731. _Burnet._ I never possessed my own soul in a more perfect calm,
and in a clearer cheerfulness of spirit, than I did during all those
threatenings, and the apprehensions that others were in concerning
me.--_Swift._ A modest account of his own magnanimity.

P. 746. _Burnet._ But after all, though soldiers were _bad Englishmen
and worse Christians_, yet the court [of James II.] found them too good
Protestants to trust much to them.--_Swift_. Special doctrine.

P. 748. _Burnet_, speaking of the Queen's expectation of a child,
says:--I will give as full and as distinct an account of all that
related to that matter, as I could gather up either at that time or
afterwards.--_Swift_. All coffee-house chat.

P. 751. _Burnet_. Now a resolution was taken for the Queen's lying in at
St. James's.--_Swift_. Windsor would have been more suspicious.

P. 752. _Burnet_, doubting of the legitimacy of the Pretender, and
describing the Queen's manner of lying-in, says:--The Queen lay all the
while a-bed: And, in order to the warming one side of it, a warming-pan
was brought. But it was not opened, that it might be seen that there was
fire and nothing else in it.--_Swift_. This, the ladies say, is foolish.

P. 753. _Burnet_. Hemings, a very worthy man,... was reading in his
parlour late at night, when he heard one coming into the neighbouring
parlour, and say with a doleful voice, "The Prince of Wales
is dead"; Upon which ... it was plain, they were in a great
consternation.--_Swift_. A most foolish story, hardly worthy of a
coffee-house.

Ibid. _Burnet_. It was said, that the child was strangely revived of a
sudden. Some of the physicians told Lloyd, Bishop of St. Asaph, that it
was not possible for them to think it was the same child. They looked on
one another, but durst not speak what they thought.--_Swift_. So here
are three children.

P. 762. _Burnet_. The Lord Mordaunt was the first of all the English
nobility that came over openly to see the Prince of Orange.--_Swift_.
Now Earl of Peterborough.

Ibid. _Burnet_. The Earl of Shrewsbury ... seemed to be a man of great
probity, and to have a high sense of honour.--_Swift_. Quite contrary.

P. 763. _Burnet_. Lord Lumley, who was a late convert from Popery, and
had stood out very firmly all this reign.--_Swift_. He was a knave and a
coward.

Ibid. _Burnet_. Mr. Sidney,[7] brother to the Earl of Leicester and to
Algernon Sidney. He was a graceful man, and had lived long in the court,
where he had some adventures that became very public. He was a man of a
sweet and caressing temper, had no malice in his heart, but too great a
love of pleasure.--_Swift_. An idle, drunken, ignorant rake, without
sense, truth, or honour.

[Footnote 7: Henry Sidney, afterwards Earl of Romney. [T.S.]]

P. 764. _Burnet_. But, because he [Mr. Sidney] was lazy, and the
business required an active man, who could both run about, and write
over long and full accounts of all matters, I recommended a kinsman of
my own, Johnstoune, whom I had formed, and knew to be both faithful and
diligent.--_Swift_. An arrant Scotch rogue.

P. 764. _Burnet_. The Earl of Nottingham ... had great credit with the
whole Church party; For he was a man possessed with their
notions.--_Swift_. That is, Church notions.

P. 765. _Burnet_. Lord Churchill [afterwards Duke of Marlborough] ...
was a man of a noble and graceful appearance, bred up in the court with
no literature: But he had a solid and clear understanding, with a
constant presence of mind. He knew the arts of living in a court better
than any man in it. He caressed all people with a soft and obliging
deportment, and was always ready to do good offices.... It must be
acknowledged, that he is one of the greatest men the age has
produced.--_Swift_. A composition of perfidiousness and avarice.

Ibid. _Burnet_, still speaking of Lord Churchill:--He was also very
doubtful as to the pretended birth. So he resolved, when the Prince
should come over, to go in to him; but to betray no post, nor do
anything more than the withdrawing himself, with such officers as he
could trust with such a secret.--_Swift_. What could he do more to a
mortal enemy.

P. 769. _Burnet_. [Skelton's] rash folly might have procured the order
from the court of France, to own this alliance [with England]; He
thought it would terrify the States; And so he pressed this officiously,
which they easily granted.--_Swift_. And who can blame him, if in such a
necessity he made that alliance?

P. 772. _Burnet_. The King of France thought himself tied by no peace;
but that, when he suspected his neighbours were intending to make war
upon him, he might upon such a suspicion begin a war on his
part.--_Swift_. The common maxim of princes.

P. 776. _Burnet_, speaking of the Declaration prepared for Scotland,
says that the:--Presbyterians, had drawn it so, that, by many passages
in it, the Prince by an implication declared in favour of Presbytery. He
did not see what the consequences of those were, till I explained them.
So he ordered them to be altered. And by the Declaration that matter was
still entire.--_Swift_. The more shame for King William, who changed it.

P. 782. _Burnet_, three days before the Prince of Orange embarked, he
visited the States General, and:--took God to witness, he went to
England with no other intentions, but those he had set out in his
Declaration.--_Swift_. Then he was perjured; for he designed to get the
crown, which he denied in the Declaration.

P. 783. _Burnet_, after describing the storm which put back the Prince
of Orange's fleet, observes:--In France and England ... they triumphed
not a little, as if God had fought against us, and defeated the whole
design. We on our part, who found our selves delivered out of so great a
storm and so vast a danger, looked on it as a mark of God's great care
of us, Who, ... had preserved us.--_Swift_. Then still it must be a
_miracle_.

P. 785. _Burnet_, when matters were coming to a crisis at the
Revolution, an order was:--sent to the Bishop of Winchester, to put the
President of Magdalen College again in possession, ... [But when the
court heard] the Prince and his fleet were blown back, it was
countermanded; which plainly shewed what it was that drove the court
into so much compliance, and how long it was like to last.--_Swift_. The
Bishop of Winchester assured me otherwise.

_Ibid. Burnet_. The court thought it necessary, now in an _after-game_
to offer some satisfaction in that point [of the legitimacy of the
Prince of Wales].--_Swift_. And this was the proper time.

P. 786. _Burnet_. Princess Anne was not present [at the Queen's
delivery]. She indeed excused herself. She thought she was breeding: And
all motion was forbidden her. None believed that to be the true
reason.... So it was looked on as a colour that shewed she did not
believe the thing, and that therefore she would not by her being present
seem to give any credit to it.--_Swift_. I have reason to believe this
to be true of the Princess Anne.

P. 790. _Burnet_. [The Prince of Orange's army] stayed a week at Exeter,
before any of the gentlemen of the country about came in to the Prince.
Every day some person of condition came from other parts. The first were
the Lord Colchester the eldest son of the Earl of Rivers, and the Lord
Wharton.--_Swift._ Famous for his cowardice in the rebellion of 1642.

P. 791. _Burnet_. Soon after that. Prince George, the Duke of Ormonde,
and the Lord Dramlanrig, the Duke of Queensberry's eldest son, left him
[King James], and came over to the Prince.--_Swift_. Yet how has he been
since used? [referring to the Duke of Ormonde.]

P. 792. _Burnet_. In a little while a small army was formed about her
[Princess Anne], who chose to be commanded by the Bishop of London; of
which he too easily accepted.--_Swift,_ And why should he not?

_Ibid. Burnet_. A foolish ballad was made at that time, treating the
Papists, and chiefly the Irish, in a very ridiculous manner, which had a
burden, said to be Irish words, "Lero, Lero, Lilibulero," that made an
impression on the army, that cannot be well imagined by those who saw it
not.--_Swift_. They are not Irish words, but better than Scotch.

P. 795. _Burnet_. The Queen took up a sudden resolution of going to
France with the child. The midwife, together with all who were assisting
at the birth, were also carried over, or so disposed of, that it could
never be learned what became of them afterwards.--_Swift_ That is
strange and incredible.

P. 796. _Burnet_, speaking of King James's first attempt to leave the
kingdom, says:--With this his reign ended: For this was a plain
deserting his people, and the exposing the nation to the pillage of an
army, which he had ordered the Earl of Feversham to disband.--_Swift_.
Abominable assertion, and false consequence.

P. 797. _Burnet_, the incident of the King's being retaken at Feversham,
and the subsequent stragglings, gave rise to the party of
Jacobites:---For, if he had got clear away, by all that could be judged,
he would not have had a party left: All would have agreed, that here was
a desertion, and that therefore the nation was free, and at liberty to
secure itself. But what followed upon this gave them a colour to say,
that he was forced away, and driven out.--_Swift_. So he certainly was,
both now and afterwards.

_Ibid. Burnet_. None were killed, no houses burnt, nor were any
robberies committed.--_Swift_. Don Pedro de Ronquillo's house was
plundered and pulled down; he was Spanish ambassador.

_Ibid. Burnet_. Jeffreys, finding the King was gone, saw what reason he
had to look to himself: And, apprehending that he was now exposed to the
rage of the people, whom he had provoked with so particular a brutality,
he had disguised himself to make his escape. But he fell into the hands
of some who knew him. He was insulted by them with as much scorn and
rudeness as they could invent. And, after many hours tossing him about,
he was carried to the Lord Mayor; whom they charged to commit him to the
Tower.--_Swift_. He soon after died in the Tower by drinking strong
liquors.

P. 798. _Burnet_, when the Prince heard of King James's flight:--he sent
to Oxford, to excuse his not coming thither, and to offer the
association to them, which was signed by almost all the heads, and the
chief men of the University; even by those, who, being disappointed in
the preferments they aspired to, became afterwards his most implacable
enemies.--_Swift_. Malice.

P. 799. _Burnet_, when I heard of King James's flight and capture:--I
was affected with this dismal reverse of the fortune of a great prince,
more than I think fit to express.--_Swift_. Or than I will believe.

P. 800. _Burnet_, after relating that King James "sent the Earl of
Feversham to Windsor, without demanding any passport," describes his
reception, and adds:--Since the Earl of Feversham, who had commanded the
army against the Prince, was come without a passport, he was for some
days put in arrest.--_Swift._ Base and villainous.

P. 801. _Burnet_, when it was thought prudent for King James to leave
London, the Earl of Middleton suggested that he:--should go to
Rochester; for "since the Prince was not pleased with his coming up from
Kent, it might be perhaps acceptable to him, if he should go thither
again." It was very visible, that this was proposed in order to a second
escape.--_Swift_. And why not?

P. 802. _Burnet_. Some said, he [James] was now a prisoner, and
remembered the saying of King Charles the First, that the prisons and
the graves of princes lay not far distant from one another: The person
of the King was now struck at, as well as his government: And this
specious undertaking would now appear to be only a disguised and
designed usurpation.--_Swift._ All this is certainly true.

P. 803. _Burnet_. Now that the Prince was come, all the bodies about the
town came to welcome him.... Old Serjeant Maynard came with the men of
the law. He was then near ninety, and yet he said the liveliest thing
that was heard of on that occasion. The Prince took notice of his great
age, and said, "that he had outlived all the men of the law of his
time:" He answered, "He had like to have outlived the law itself, if his
Highness had not come over."--_Swift_. He was an old rogue for all that.

P. 805. _Burnet_, speaking of the first effects of the Revolution upon
the Presbyterians in Scotland, says:--They generally broke in upon the
Episcopal clergy with great insolence and much cruelty. They carried
them about the parishes in a mock procession: They tore their gowns, and
drove them from their churches and houses. Nor did they treat those of
them, who had appeared very zealously against Popery, with any
distinction.--_Swift_. To reward them for which, King William abolished
Episcopacy.

_Ibid. Burnet_, The Episcopal party in Scotland saw themselves under a
great cloud: So they resolved all to adhere to the Earl of Dundee, who
had served some years in Holland, and was both an able officer, and a
man of good parts, and of some very valuable virtues.--_Swift_. He was
the best man in Scotland.

P. 806. _Burnet_, speaking of Londonderry and Inniskilling, says:--Those
two small unfurnished and unfortified places, resolved to stand to their
own defence, and at all perils to stay till supplies should come to them
from England.--_Swift_. He should have mentioned Doctor Walker, who
defended Derry.

P. 807. _Burnet_. Those, who were employed by Tyrconnell to deceive the
Prince, made their applications by Sir William Temple, who had a long
and well established credit with him.--_Swift._ A lie of a Scot; for Sir
William Temple did not know Tyrconnell.

P. 807. _Burnet._ Others thought, that the leaving Ireland in that
dangerous state, might be a mean to bring the convention to a more
speedy settlement of England; and that therefore the Prince ought not to
make too much haste to relieve Ireland.--_Swift._ That is agreed to be
the true reason, and it was a wicked one.

P. 810. _Burnet_, speaking of Archbishop Sancroft, says:--He was a poor
spirited, and fearful man; and acted a very mean part in all this great
transaction.--_Swift._ Others think very differently.

P. 811. _Burnet_, speaking of the proposal to establish a regency,
says:--The much greater part of the House of Lords was for this, and
stuck long to it: And so was about a third part of the House of Commons.
The greatest part of the clergy declared themselves for it.--_Swift._
And it was certainly much the best expedient.

_Ibid. Burnet._ The third party was made up of those, who thought that
there was an original contract between the King and the people of
England; by which the kings were bound to defend their people, and to
govern them according to law, in lieu of which the people were bound to
obey and serve the king.--_Swift._ I am of this party, and yet I would
have been for a regency.

P. 813. _Burnet_, it was argued that this scheme of a regency was:--both
more illegal; and more unsafe, than the method they proposed. The law of
England had settled the point of the subject's security in obeying the
king in possession, in the statute made by Henry the Seventh. So every
man knew he was safe under a king, and so would act with zeal and
courage. But all such as should act under a _prince-regent_, created by
this convention, were upon a bottom that had not the necessary forms of
law for it.--_Swift._ There is something in this argument.

P. 814. _Burnet._ It was believed, that those of his [King James's]
party, who were looked on as men of conscience, had secret orders from
him to act upon this pretence; since otherwise they offered to act
clearly in contradiction to their own oaths and principles,--_Swift._
This is malice.

_Ibid. Burnet._ [Others thought] that in our present circumstances the
extremity of affairs, by reason of the late ill government, and by King
James's flying over to the enemy of the nation, rather than submit to
reasonable terms, had put the people of England on the necessity of
securing themselves upon a legal bottom.--_Swift._ This was the best
reason.

P. 815. _Burnet._ There were good authorities brought, by which it
appeared, that when a person did a thing upon which his leaving any
office ought to follow, he was said to abdicate. But this was a critical
dispute: And it scarce became the greatness of that assembly, or the
importance of the matter.--_Swift._ It was a very material point.

P. 815. _Burnet._ It was urged, that, by the law, the king did never
die; but that with the last breath of the dying king the regal authority
went to the next heir.--_Swift._ This is certainly true.

P. 816. _Burnet._ An heir was one that came in the room of a person that
was dead: it being a maxim that no man can be the heir of a living
man--_Swift._ This is sophistry.

_Ibid. Burnet._ It was proposed, that the birth of the pretended prince
might be examined into.... I was ordered to gather together all the
presumptive proofs that were formerly mentioned:.... It is true, these
did not amount to a full and legal proof: Yet they seemed to be such
violent presumptions, that, when they were all laid together, they were
more convincing than plain and downright evidence: For that was liable
to the suspicion of subornation: Whereas the other seemed to carry on
them very convincing characters of truth and certainty.--_Swift._ Well
said, Bishop.

P. 817. _Burnet._ If there was no clear and positive proof made of an
imposture, the pretending to examine into it, and then the not being
able to make it out beyond the possibility of contradiction, would
really give more credit to the thing, than it then had, and, instead of
weakening it, would strengthen the pretension of his birth.--_Swift._
Wisely done.

_Ibid. Burnet._ [Some people] thought, it would be a good security for
the nation, to have a dormant title to the crown lie as it were
neglected, to oblige our princes to govern well, while they would
apprehend the danger of a revolt to a Pretender still in their
eye.--_Swift._ I think this was no ill design; yet it hath not succeeded
in mending kings.

_Ibid. Burnet._ I have used more than ordinary care to gather together
all the particulars that were then laid before me as to that matter [the
birth of the Pretender].--_Swift._ And where are they?

P. 818. _Burnet_, after relating a long conversation with Bentinck
[afterwards Earl of Portland], adds--Next morning I came to him, and
desired my _congГ©_. I would oppose nothing in which the Prince seemed to
be concerned, as long as I was his servant. And therefore I desired to
be disengaged, that I might be free to oppose this proposition [to offer
him the crown] with all the strength and credit I had. He answered me,
that I might desire that when I saw a step made: But till then he wished
me to stay where I was.--_Swift._ Is all this true?

P. 819. _Burnet._ I heard no more of this; in which the Marquess of
Halifax was single among the peers: For I did not find there was any one
of them of his mind; unless it was the Lord Colepeper, who was a vicious
and corrupt man, but made a figure in the debates that were now in the
House of Lords, and died about the end of them.--_Swift._ Yet was not
the same thing done in effect, while the King had the sole
administration?

P. 819. _Burnet._ The Princess continued all the while in Holland, being
shut in there during the east winds, by the freezing of the rivers, and
by contrary winds after the thaw came. So that she came not to England
till all the debates were over.--_Swift._ Why was she [not] sent for
till the matter was agreed? This clearly shews the Prince's original
design was to be king, against what he professed in his Declaration.

P. 820. _Burnet._ [The Prince of Orange] said, he came over, being
invited, to save the nation: He had now brought together a free and true
representative of the kingdom: He left it therefore to them to do what
they thought best for the good of the kingdom: And, when things were
once settled, he should be well satisfied to go back to Holland
again.--_Swift._ Did he tell truth?

_Ibid. Burnet._ He thought it necessary to tell them, that he would not
be the Regent: So, if they continued in that design, they must look out
for some other person to be put in that post.--_Swift._ Was not this a
plain confession of what he came for?

P. 821. _Burnet._ In the end he said, that he could not resolve to
accept of a dignity, so as to hold it only the life of another: Yet he
thought, that the issue of Princess Anne should be preferred, in the
succession, to any issue that he might have by any other wife than the
Princess.--_Swift._ A great concession truly.

P. 822. _Burnet._ The poor Bishop of Durham [Lord Crewe], who had
absconded for some time, ... was now prevailed on to come, and by voting
the new settlement to merit at least a pardon for all that he had done:
Which, all things considered, was thought very indecent in him, yet not
unbecoming the rest of his life and character.--_Swift._ This is too
hard, though almost true.

_Ibid. Burnet._ Then the power of the Crown to grant a _non-obstante_ to
some statutes was objected.--_Swift._ Yet the words continue in patents.

P. 824. _Burnet._ A notion was started, which ... was laid thus: "The
Prince had a just cause of making war on the King." In that most of them
agreed. In a just war, in which an appeal is made to God, success is
considered as the decision of Heaven. So the Prince's success against
King James gave him the right of conquest over him. And by it all his
rights were transferred to the Prince.--_Swift._ The author wrote a
paper to prove this, and it was burnt by the hangman, and is a very
foolish scheme.[8]

[Footnote 8: "A Pastoral Letter writ by ... Gilbert, Lord Bishop of
Sarum, to the clergy of his Diocess" [dated May 15th, 1689] was
condemned by the House of Commons on Jan. 23rd, 169-2/3, and ordered to
"be burnt by the hand of the common hangman." [T.S.]]


BOOK VII.

P. 525 (second volume). _Burnet_, speaking of the Act for the General
Naturalization of Protestants, and the opposition made against it by the
High Church, adds:--This was carried in the House of Commons, with a
great majority; but all those, who appeared for this large and
comprehensive way, were reproached for their coldness and indifference
in the concerns of the Church: And in that I had a large
share.--_Swift_. Dog.

P. 526. _Burnet_. The faction here in England found out proper
instruments, to set the same humour on foot [in Ireland], during the
Earl of Rochester's government, and, as was said, by his directions:...
So the clergy were making the same bold claim there, that had raised
such disputes among us.--_Swift_. Dog, dog, dog.

P. 580. _Burnet_, speaking of the interruption in the negotiations for a
peace consequent on the Earl of Jersey's death, adds:--_One Prior_, who
had been Jersey's secretary, upon his death, was employed to prosecute
that, which the other did not live to finish. Prior had been taken a
boy, out of a tavern, by the Earl of Dorset, who accidentally found him
reading Horace; and he, being very generous, gave him an education in
literature.--_Swift_. Malice.

P. 581. _Burnet_. Many mercenary pens were set on work, to justify our
proceedings, and to defame our allies, more particularly the Dutch; this
was done with much art, but _with no regard to truth_, in a pamphlet
entitled "The Conduct of the Allies, and of the late Ministry."--_Swift
It was all true_.

_Ibid. Burnet_. The Jacobites did, with the greater joy entertain this
prospect of peace, because the Dauphin had, in a visit to St. Germains,
congratulated that court upon it; which made them conclude, that it was
to have a happy effect, with relation to the Pretender's
affairs.--_Swift_. The Queen hated and despised the Pretender, to my
knowledge.

P. 583. _Burnet_, in a conference I had with the Queen on the subject of
peace.--she hoped bishops would not be against peace: I said, a good
peace was what we prayed daily for, but ... any treaty by which Spain
and the West Indies were left to King Philip, must in a little while
deliver up all Europe into the hands of France; and, if any such peace
should be made, she was betrayed, and we were all ruined; in less than
three years' time, she would be murdered, and the fires would be again
raised in Smithfield.--_Swift_. A false prophet in every particular.

P. 589. _Burnet_, the Queen having sent a message to the Lords to
adjourn, it was debated:--that the Queen could not send a message to any
one House to adjourn, when the like message was not sent to both Houses:
the pleasure of the Prince, in convening, dissolving, proroguing, or
ordering the adjournment of Parliaments, was always directed to both
Houses; but never to any one House, without the same intimation was
made, at the same time, to the other.--_Swift_. Modern nonsense.

P. 591. _Burnet_. The House of Commons, after the recess, entered on the
observations of the commissioners for taking the public accounts; and
began with [Sir Robert] Walpole, whom they resolved to put out of the
way of disturbing them in the House.--_Swift_. He began early, and has
been thriving _twenty-seven years_, to January 1739.

P. 609. _Burnet_. A new set of addresses ran about.... Some of these
addresses mentioned the Protestant succession, and the House of Hanover,
with zeal; others did it more coldly; and some made no mention at all of
it. And it was universally believed, that no addresses were so
acceptable to the ministers, as those of _the last sort_.--_Swift_.
Foolish and factious.

P. 610. _Burnet_. The Duke of Ormonde had given the States such
assurances, of his going along with them through the whole campaign,
that he was let into the secrets of all their counsels, which by that
confidence were all known to the French: And, if the auxiliary German
troops had not been prepared to disobey his orders, it was believed he,
in conjunction with the French army, would have forced the States to
come into the new measures.--_Swift_. Vile Scot, dare to touch Ormonde's
honour, and so falsely.

P. 612. _Burnet_, the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun were engaged in
litigation; and:--upon a very high provocation, the Lord Mohun sent him
[the Duke] a challenge, which he tried to decline: but both being
hurried, by those false points of honour, they fatally went out to Hyde
Park, in the middle of November, and fought with so violent an
animosity, that neglecting the rules of art, they seemed to run on one
another, as if they tried who should kill first; in which they were both
so unhappily successful, that the Lord Mohun was killed outright, and
Duke Hamilton died in a few minutes after.[9]--_Swift_. Wrongly told.

[Footnote: 9: A footnote to the 1833 edition of Burnet says that "the
duke in the belief of some was killed by General Macartney, the Lord
Mohun's second." See also Chesterfield's letter quoted in Introduction,
and Swift's own version in the "Four Last Years," p. 178. [T.S.]]

P. 614. _Burnet_ says of the Earl of Godolphin:--After having been
thirty years in the Treasury, and during nine of those Lord Treasurer,
as he was never once suspected of corruption, or of suffering his
servants to grow rich under him, so in all that time his estate was not
increased by him to the value of ВЈ4,000. _Swift_. A great lie.


THE CONCLUSION.

P. 669. _Burnet_, speaking of the progress of his own life, says:--The
pleasures of sense I did soon nauseate.--_Swift_. Not so soon with the
wine of some elections.


THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR, BY THOMAS BURNET, ESQ.

Opposite to the title-page:--_Swift_. A rude violent party jackanapes.

In the Life, p. 719, is printed a letter from Archbishop Tillotson,
dated October 23, 1764 [sic, the volume was printed in 1734, the date
should be 1694], in which he says: "The account given of Athanasius's
Creed, seems to me no-wise satisfactory; I wish we were well rid of
it."--_Swift_ has drawn a finger in the margin of his copy of Burnet's
History pointing to this passage.

P. 722. _Thomas Burnet_. The character I have given his wives, will
scarce make it an addition to his, that he was a most affectionate
husband. His tender care of the _first_, during a course of sickness,
that lasted for many years; and _his fond love to the other two_, and
the deep concern he expressed for their loss, were no more than their
just due, from one of his humanity, gratitude and discernment.--_Swift_.
Three wives.

P. 723. _Thomas Burnet_. The bishop was a kind and bountiful master to
his servants, whom he never changed, but with regret and through
necessity: Friendly and obliging to all in employment under him, and
peculiarly happy in the choice of them; especially in that of the
steward to the bishopric and his courts, William Wastefield, Esq. (a
gentleman of a plentiful fortune, at the time of his accepting this
post) and in that of his domestic steward, Mr. _Mackney_.--_Swift_. A
Scot, his own countryman.


*****       *****       *****       *****       *****




NOTES ON THE FREE-HOLDER.


NOTE

"THE FREE HOLDER" was a political periodical written in the form of
essays. It continued for fifty five numbers from Friday, December 23rd,
1715, to Friday, June 29th, 1716. Its purpose was to reconcile the
English nation to the Hanoverian succession. "These papers," notes
Scott, "while they exhibit the exquisite humour and solid sense peculiar
to the author, show also, even amid the strength of party, that
philanthropy and gentleness of nature, which were equally his
distinguishing attributes. None of these qualities would have
conciliated his great opponent, Swift, had the field of combat yet
remained open to him. But as he withdrew from it in sullen indignation,
he seems to have thrown out the following flashes of satire, as brief
examples of what he would have done had the hour of answer been yet
current."

Scott obtained these "notes" from a transcription of the original in
Swift's own hand, in a copy of "The Free holder" which belonged to Dr.
Bernard, Bishop of Limerick. The present text is a reprint of Scott's,
but the text of "The Free holder" has been read with the octavo and
duodecimo editions of that periodical issued by Midwinter in 1716. The
titles to the essays were not given in the original issue, except that
to No. 9. They were added as a "Contents" to the re-issue in volume
form.

[T.S.]


NOTES ON THE FREE-HOLDER.[1]

No. 2. _Dec. 26, 1715_.--_Of His Majesty's Character._

_Addison._

[Footnote 1: "The Free-holder," conducted by Addison, was published on
Mondays and Fridays from December 23rd, 1715, till June 29th, 1716;
fifty-five numbers were issued altogether. [T.S.]]



It was by this [this firmness of mind] that he surmounted those many
difficulties which lay in the way to his succession.--_Swift_. What
difficulties were those, or what methods did he take to surmount them?

_Addison_. It is observed by Sir William Temple, that the English are
particularly fond of a king who is valiant: Upon which account His
Majesty has a title to all the esteem that can be paid the most warlike
prince; though at the same time, for the good of his subjects, he
studies to decline all occasions of military glory.--_Swift_. This seems
to be a discovery.

_Addison_. I might here take notice of His Majesty's more private
virtues, but have rather chosen to remind my countrymen of the public
parts of his character.--_Swift_. This is prudent.

_Addison_. But the most remarkable interpositions of Providence, in
favour of him, have appeared in removing those seemingly invincible
obstacles to his succession; in taking away, at so critical a juncture,
the person who might have proved a dangerous enemy; etc.--_Swift_.
False, groundless, invidious, and ungrateful. Was that person the Queen?


No. 3. _Dec. 30, 1715_.--_The Memoirs of a Preston Rebel._

[_A Ludicrous Account of the Principles of the Northumberland
Insurgents, and the Causes of their taking Arms_.]--_Swift_. Could this
author, or his party, offer as good reasons for their infamous treatment
of our blessed Queen's person, government, and majesty?

The same. _Addison_. Having been joined by a considerable reinforcement
of Roman Catholics, whom we could rely upon, as knowing them
to be the best Tories in the nation, and avowed enemies to
Presbyterianism.--_Swift_. By this irony, the best Whigs are professed
friends to fanatics.

The same. _Addison_. But before we could give the word [to retreat], the
trainbands, taking advantage of our delay, fled first.--_Swift_. An
argument for a standing army.


No. 6. _Jan. 9, 1715-16_.--_The Guilt of Perjury._

_Addison_. Though I should be unwilling to pronounce the man who is
indolent, or indifferent in the cause of his prince, to be absolutely
perjured; I may venture to affirm, that he falls very short of that
allegiance to which he is obliged by oath.--_Swift_. Suppose a king
grows a beast, or a tyrant, after I have taken an oath: a 'prentice
takes an oath; but if his master useth him barbarously, the lad may be
excused if he wishes for a better.


No. 7. _Jan. 13, 1715-16_.--_Of Party Lies._

_Addison_. If we may credit common report, there are several remote
parts of the nation in which it is firmly believed, that all the
churches in London are shut up; and that if any clergyman walks the
streets in his habit, 'tis ten to one but he is knocked down by some
sturdy schismatic.--_Swift_. No--but treated like a dog.


No. 8. _Jan. 16, 1715-16_.--_The Female Association._

_Addison_. It is therefore to be hoped that every fine woman will make
this laudable use of her charms; and that she may not want to be
frequently reminded of this great duty, I will only desire her to think
of her country every time she looks in her glass.--_Swift_. By no means,
for if she loves her country, she will not be pleased with the sight.

_Addison_. Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be
engaged in a seditious club or drinks mysterious healths ... let her
look to him, and keep him out of harm's way; etc.--_Swift_. Will they
hang a man for that.


No. 9. _Jan. 20, 1715-16_.--_Answer of the Free-holders of Great Britain
to the Pretender's Declaration._

_The Declaration of the Free-holders of Great Britain, in Answer to that
of the Pretender_.--_Addison_. Can you in conscience think us to be such
fools as to rebel against the King, for ... having removed a general
[the Duke of Ormonde] who is now actually in arms against him,
etc.--_Swift_. Driven out by tyranny, malice, and faction.

_Addison_. The next grievance, which you have a mighty mind to redress
among us, is the Parliament of Great Britain, against whom you bring a
stale accusation which has been used by every minority in the memory of
man; namely, that it was procured by unwarrantable influences and
corruptions.--_Swift._ The freeholders will never sign this paragraph.

_Addison_. How comes it to pass that the Electorate of Hanover is become
all of a sudden one of the most inconsiderable provinces of the
empire?--_Swift_. It is indeed grown considerable by draining of
England.

No. 12. _Jan_. 30, 1715-16.--_The Guilt of Rebellion in general, and of
the late Rebellion in particular_.

_Addison_. The present rebellion [1715] is formed against a king, ...
who has not been charged with one illegal proceeding.--_Swift_ Are you
serious?

No. 13. _Feb_. 3, 1715-16.--_Of those who are indifferent in a time of
Rebellion_,

_Addison_. In such a juncture [a rebellion], though a man may be
innocent of the great breach which is made upon government, he is highly
culpable, if he does not use all the means that are suitable to his
station for reducing the community into its former state of peace and
good order.--_Swift_. He speaks at his ease, but those who are ill used
will be apt to apply what the boy said to his mother, who told him the
enemy was approaching.

_Addison_. This law [one of Solon's] made it necessary for every citizen
to take his party, because it was highly probable the majority would be
so wise as to espouse that cause which was most agreeable to the public
weal.--_Swift_. No--for, in England, a faction that governs a weak, or
honours a wicked prince, will carry all against a majority in the
kingdom, as we have seen by sad experience.

No. 14. _Feb._ 6, 1715-16.--_The Political Creed of a Tory Malcontent._