with you, and of you, in my heart; and I need only fet down what that is thinking of. The nearer I find myfelf verging to that period of life which is to be labour and forrow, the more I prop myself upon those few supports that are left me. People in this ftate are like props indeed; they cannot stand alone, but two or more of them can ftand, leaning and bearing upon one another. I wish you and I might pafs this part of life together. My only neceffary care is at an end. I am now my own mafter too much; my houfe is too large; my gardens furnish too much wood and provifion for my ufe. My fervants are fenfible and tender of me. They have intermarried, and are become rather low friends than fervants; and to all those that I fee here with pleafure, they take a pleasure in being useful. I conclude this is your cafe too in your domeftic life; and I fometimes think of your old housekeeper as my nurse; tho' I tremble at the fea which only divides us. As your fears are not fo great as mine, and, I firmly hope, your ftrength ftill much greater, is it utterly impoffible, it might once more be fome pleasure to you to fee England? My fole motive in propofing France to meet in, was the narrowness of the paffage by fea from hence; the phyficians having told me, the weakness of my breast, &c. is fuch, as a fea-fickness might indanger my life. Tho' one or two of our friends are gone, fince you faw your native country*, there remain a few more who will last fo till death, and who, I cannot but hope, have an attractive power, to draw you back to a country which cannot quite be funk or enflaved, while fuch spirits remain. And let me tell you, there are a few more of the fame spirit, who would awaken all your old ideas, and revive your hopes of her future recovery and virtue. Thefe look up to you with reverence, and would be animated by the fight of him at whofe foul they have taken fe, in his writings, and derived from thence as much love of their fpecies as is confiftent with a contempt for the knaves of it.

The Dean was born in Ireland. This I mention, beca fentence may be understood in a double fenfe. Dub. edit.

us fomething, as it deprives us of a great deal; and inftead of leaving us what we cultivated, and expected to flourish and adorn us, gives us only what is of fome little ufe, by accident. Thus, I have acquired, without my feeking, a few chance-acquaintance, of young men, who look rather to the paft age than the prefent, and therefore the future may have fome hopes of them. If I love them, it is because they honour fome of those whom I and the world have loft, or are lofing. Two or three of them have distinguished themselves in parliament; and you will own, in a very uncommon manner, when I tell you, it is by their afferting of independency, and contempt of corruption. One or two are linked to me, by their love of the fame ftudies, and the fame authors.. But I will own to you, my moral capacity has got so much the better of my poetical, that I have few acquaintance on the latter fcore, and none without a casting weight on the former. But I find my heart hardened, and blunt to new impreffions; it will fcarce receive or retain affections of yesterday; and those friends who have been dead thefe twenty years, are more prefent to me now than those I fee daily. You, dear Sir, are one of the former fort to me in all refpects, but that we can yet correfpond together. I don't know whether it is not more vexatious to know we are both in one world, without any further intercourfe. Adieu, I can say no more, I feel fo much. Let me drop into common things.- -Lord Maham has juft married his fon. Mr. Lewis has juft buried his wife. Lord Oxford wept over your letter in pure kindness. Mrs B. fighs more for you than for the lofs of youth. She says she will be agreeable many years hence, for fhe has learned that fecret from fome receipts of your writing-Adieu.

March 23.736-7

HOUGH you were never to write to me, yet what

to you, would be a very easy task; for every day I talk

with you, and of you, in my heart; and I need only fet down what that is thinking of. The nearer I find myfelf verging to that period of life which is to be labour and forrow, the more I prop myself upon those few fupports that are left me. People in this ftate are like props indeed; they cannot stand alone, but two or more of them can ftand, leaning and bearing upon one another. I wish you and I might pafs this part of life together. My only neceffary care is at an end. I am now my own mafter too much; my houfe is too large; my gardens furnish too much wood and provifion for my ufe. My fervants are fenfible and tender of me. They have intermarried, and are become rather low friends than fervants; and to all thofe that I fee here with pleafure, they take a pleasure in being useful. I conclude this is your cafe too in your domestic life; and I fometimes think of your old housekeeper as my nurfe; tho' I tremble at the fea which only divides us. As your fears are not fo great as mine, and, I firmly hope, your ftrength ftill much greater, is it utterly impoffible, it might once more be fome pleasure to you to fee England? My fole motive in propofing France to meet in, was the narrowness of the paffage by fea from hence; the phyficians having told me, the weakness of my breast, &c. is fuch, as a fea-fickness might indanger my life. Tho' one or two of our friends are gone, fince you faw your native country*, there remain a few more who will last fo till death, and who, I cannot but hope, have an attractive power, to draw you back to a country which cannot quite be funk or enflaved, while fuch fpirits remain. And let me tell you, there are a few more of the fame spirit, who would awaken all your old ideas, and revive your hopes of her future recovery and virtue. These look up to you with reverence, and would be animated by the fight of him at whose foul they have taken fe, in his writings, and derived from thence as much love of their species as is confiftent with a contempt for the knaves of it.

I

• The Dean was born in Ireland. This I mention, because the fentence may be understood in a double sense. Dub. edit.

I could never be weary, except at the eyes, of writing to you; but my real reason (and a strong one it is) for doing it fo feldom, is fear; fear of a very great and experienced evil, that of my letters being kept by the partiality of friends, and paffing into the hands and malice of enemies; who publish them with all their imperfections on their head; fo that I write not on the common terms of honeft men.

1

WOULD to God you would come over with Lord Orrery, whofe care of you in the voyage I could fo certainly depend on; and bring with you your old houfekeeper, and two or three fervants. I have room for all, a heart for all, and (think what you will) a fortune for all. We could, were we together, contrive to make our last days eafy, and leave fome fort of monument what friends two wits could be, in spite of all the fools in the world. Adieu.

LETTER LXXXVII.

From Dr SWIFT.

Dublin, May 31. 1737. T is true, I owe you fome letters; but it has pleafed

I God, that I have not been in a condition to pay you.

When you fhall be at my age, perhaps you may lie under the fame disability to your prefent or future friends. But my age is not my difability; for I can walk fix or feven miles, and ride a dozen. But I am deaf for two months together. This deafnefs unqualifies me for all company, except a few friends with counter-tenor voices, whom I can call names, if they do not fpeak loud enough for my ears. It is this evil that hath hindered me from venturing to the Bath, and to Twickenham: for deafnefs being not a frequent difordér, hath no allowance given it; and the fcurvy figure a man affected that way makes in company, is utterly infupportable.

Ir was I began with the petition to you if Orna mè, and now you come like an unfair merchant, to charge me with being in your debt; which, by your way of reckoning, I muft always be: for yours are always gui

neas,

neas, and mine farthings; and yet I have a pretence to quarrel with you, because I am not at the head of any one of your epiftles. I am often wondering, how you come to excel all mortals on the fubject of morality, even in the poetical way, and fhould have wondered more, if nature and education had not made you a profeffor of it from your infancy. "All the letters I can "find of yours, I have fastened in a folio cover, and the "reft in bundles indorfed: but, by reading their dates, "I find a chasm of fix years, of which I can find no "copies; and yet I keep them with all poffible care. "But I have been forced, on three or four occafions, to "fend all my papers to fome friends; yet thofe papers "were all fent fealed in bundles to fome faithful friends; "however, what I have are not much above fixty." I found nothing in any one of them to be left out. None of them have any thing to do with party, of which you are the clearest of all men by your religion, and the whole tenor of your life; while I am raging every moment against the corruption of both kingdoms, efpecially of this; fuch is my weakness.

I have read your epiftle of Horace to Auguftus. It was fent me in the English edition, as foon as it could come. They are printing it in a fmall octavo. The curious are looking out, fome for flattery, fome for ironies in it. The four folks think they have found out fome; but your admirers here, I mean every man of tafte, affect to be certain, that the profeffion of friendship to me in the fame poem will not fuffer you to be thought a flatterer. My happiness is, that you are too far engaged; and in spite of you, the ages to come will celebrate me, and know you were a friend who loved and efteemed me, altho' I died the object of court and party hatred.

PRAY, who is that Mr Glover who writ the epic poem called Leonidas, which is reprinting here, and hath great vogue? We have frequently good poems of late from London. I have just read one upon converfation, and two or three others. But the croud do not incumber you, who, like the orator or preacher, ftand aloft, and are feen above the reft, more than the whole affembly below.