Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 1.djvu/167

Rh papers and pamphlets, were not surprised that his reward should be no greater. But, since the publication of the private memoirs of those times, in Swift's last volumes, there is no farther room for conjecture, as this whole affair may be set in its true light, upon undoubted proofs. I have already given many striking instances of the little solicitude Swift had about pushing his own fortune. I shall now remind the reader of the principle upon which he acted, mentioned in a passage before quoted, from a letter of his to the archbishop of Dublin, dated October 1, 1711. "It is my maxim to leave great ministers to do as they please; and if I cannot distinguish myself enough, by being useful in such a way, as becomes a man of conscience and honour, I can do no more; for I never will solicit for myself, although I often do for others." This resolution we find, by many other passages, he strictly adhered to; and when we consider the procrastinating disposition of lord Oxford, we shall not be surprised at his not being in any haste to provide for a man who never solicited him. Nothing is more common than the deferring of any thing, however strongly in our intention it be to do it some time or other, which we consider as always in our power to do, unless we are particularly called upon to carry it into execution at some certain time: and this was more likely to be the case in one of his turn. Besides, as he was daily gratifying Swift in his requests for others, he thought he might with reason expect that he should wait the most convenient season for his own promotion. And with regard to Swift himself, I have already assigned some very powerful motives, which made Rh