will make the A. B. soften the Judge-you want some strong credit with the L' [Lord-Lieutenant] or proper methods with those under him-As to putting you off, till the L' goes; I think that can do no hurt. I suppose it is impossible for the Parl [Parliament] to rise till after Christmas, since they are now begining Bills that will pass with Difficulty, and if there be an Indemnity, then there will be an End. I believe all people agree with you, that y' concern shocks you more than it does others. I am sure I saw my best friends very calm and easy when I was under worse difficultyes than you. A few good offices is all we can expect from others. Dr. C NOTES ON XXX. was probably the same man as Dr. XXXII., who was Marmaduke "A cause cause was brought before him as Judge of the Prerogative Court, wherein a man was sued for beating his wife. The Doctor gave his opinion, that although a man had no right to beat his wife unmercifully, yet with such a little cane or switch as he then held in his hand, a husband was invested with a power to give his wife moderate correction.' This opinion determined the lady to whom he was to have been shortly married against having him. He died an old man and a bachelor." "The Irish Parliament was only called together every second year. The session usually began in October, and ended in the following March or April, during which short period there were always one or two long adjournments." The calmness and easiness of Swift's friends when he was under difficulties can be justified by Johnson's reflection that "life occupies us all too much to leave us room for any care of others beyond what duty enjoins; and no duty enjoins sorrow or anxiety that is at once troublesome and useless." It was perhaps his "best friends" that Swift had in mind when he wrote: "In all distresses of our friends We first consult our private ends; While Nature kindly bent to ease us Points out some circumstance to please us." His false friends he goes on to attack in the following lines: XXXI. SR, I endeavrd once or twice without Success to see the B" [Bishop] he was so taken up with the Delegates. But it is no great matter. I met an intimate Friend of his yesterday, a considerable, who told me, that the Bishop took y' Affair to heart, and would attend the Ld. L' [Lord-Lieutenant] with y' Petition, and take the Sollic' Gen [Solicitor-General] with him, and the Person who told me these was equally concerned for you, and as I believed he would see the BP before pressed him again. He s the L L he believed went to Pearsby's yesterday, but would return in a Day or two. I I am so much out of order that I could not go to Church, and shall have a mixt company with me to-night, so that I can not encourage you to be among them. Jan 19. I am &c. 1723 4 NOTES ON XXXI. There is no example in the New English Dictionary of "considerable" as a noun used of a This word is not clear in the original. person, though there are examples of it used of a thing. In the Dublin State Paper Office, as I learn from the kindness of the Keeper, Dr. J. J. Digges La Touche, is a copy of an extract of a letter from the Duke of Newcastle to the Lord-Lieutenant, dated April 14, 1724, stating that his Majesty, on the petition of Knightley Chetwode and two others, has given orders for putting a stop to the prosecutions against them. XXXII. [Indorsed, "Upon no great business.”] S",-I see nothing wrong in the petition if your friends are satisfied in relation to that part where you mention the Differences you have with Gentlemen in the country, but others can advise you in that better. I spoke with the Bp. of C and Dr. Cog' as much as I could think of tother day, and the latter particularly who s he would do all he could, and said it heartily, as did the other. I went abroad yesterday directly fm [from] Church, and to-day is the busiest day I have in the year, so that I have hardly time to write this or to think. Tomorrow will be likewise a day of business, however, if it be for y' service I will to-morrow aftern. find an hour to talk with you. I wish you good Success Thursday. and am &c. NOTES ON XXXII. The Bishop of C‒‒ was probably the Bishop of Clogher, with whom Swift was on friendly terms. Perhaps the Bishop of Cork was meant, of whom Swift wrote to Sheridan a year later: "If you are under him, he is a capricious gentleman; but you must flatter him monstrously upon his learning and his writings; that you have read his book against Toland a hundred times, and his sermons (if he has printed any) have been always your model, &c." Dr. Cog' was Dr. Coghill. XXXIII. S3, I had not y' lett' [letter] till I returned home and if I had I could not have known what to do. I think you should have attended the Bishop, and pressed him to what I desired in my letter, for I could not speak more urgently nor could I am able [sic] to say much more with him than what I wrote. Mr Bernard is a favorite of the Times and might have credit with the Attor Gen' [Attorney-General] to agree that the Thing should be granted, but he lyes still, and onely leaves you to do that which he can better do himself. I wd [would] do six times more than |