Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 1.djvu/212

176 embrace Swift first, shows the warmth of his affection; which could make him forget all rules of decorum on the occasion; and Swift's homely expression of "loving the hangdog dearly," shows more clearly, than the choicest phrases could, that fondness in friendship, which nothing but the most intimate familiarity can excite.

As to the duke of Ormond, he always speaks of him with that tenderness, which only the warmest affection can inspire; and it appears, that he was equally beloved by the duke, and had more influence with him than any man living. Beside these, he lived in the greatest intimacy with almost all the distinguished men of rank at that time; among which number were, the duke of Hamilton, lord keeper Harcourt, lord Pembroke, lord Rivers, lord Bathurst, lord Carteret, lord Lansdown, sir Thomas Hanmer (speaker), sir William Wyndham, and many others. Nor were his friendships confined only to the great, all men of genius he looked upon, and treated as his brethren. Of this number were Addison, Congreve, Arbuthnot, Prior, Pope, Gay, Parnell, Garth, Berkeley, and others of inferiour note. To promote whose interests, he chiefly used the influence he had with the great, to the utter neglect of his own, and to raise whose character and reputation in the world, he used all the means which his own high credit gave him. And he had still a sufficient stock of amity for several in the more private walks of life, whom he selected as the companions of his disengaged hours, on account of their good sense, integrity, and plaisance