Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 1.djvu/151

Rh answer I received from most of them, whenever I pressed them upon the subject. And, to say the truth, most persons had so avowedly declared themselves on one side, or the other, that these two great men had hardly a common friend left, except myself. I had ever been treated with great kindness by them both; and I conceived what I wanted in weight and credit, might be made up with sincerity and freedom. The former they never doubted, and the latter they had constant experience of. I had managed between them for almost two years, and their candour was so great, that they had not the least jealousy or suspicion of me." The truth of this account is confirmed in a letter written to lord Bolingbroke, soon after the queen's death, where, speaking of the lord treasurer, he says, "I am only sorry it was not a resignation, rather than a removal; because the personal kindness and distinction I always received from his lordship and you, gave me such a love for you both (if you great men will allow that expression in a little one) that I resolved to preserve it entire, however you differed between yourselves; and in this I did for sometime follow your commands and example. I impute it more to the candour of each of you, than to my own conduct, that having been for two years almost the only man who went between you, I never observed the least alteration in either of your countenances toward me." Nothing can show the character of Swift in a higher point of light, than his conduct on this occasion; and nothing could possibly have preserved to him the unabated love of these two great rivals for power, who hated each other mortally, in the Rh