Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 12.djvu/212

200 there, one of them should be always Dublin. But, after all, it is a silly thing to be with a friend by halves, so that I will give up all thoughts of bringing this project to perfection, if you will contrive that we shall meet again soon. I am, dear sir, your most obliged and affectionate friend, and servant,

J. GAY.

LONDON, SEPT. 26, 1726.

HAVE been balancing, dear sir, these three days, whether I should write to you first. Laying aside the superiority of your dignity, I thought a notification was due to me, as well as to two others of my friends: then, I considered, that this was done in the publick news, with all the formalities of reception of a lord lieutenant. I reflected on the dependency of Ireland; but, said I, what if my friend should dispute this? Then I considered, that letters were always introduced at first from the civilized to the barbarous kingdom. In short, my affection and the pleasure of corresponding with my dear friend, prevailed; and, since you most disdainfully, and barbarously confined me to two lines a month, I was resolved to plague you with twenty times that number, though I think it was a sort of a compliment, to be supposed capable of saying any thing in two lines. The Gascon asked only to speak one word to the French king; which the king confining him to, he brought a paper,