Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 4.djvu/10



HE "History of the Four Last Years of the Queen," has been unaccountably decried; though a work of undoubted merit. It has even been supposed to be spurious, though every paragraph it contains is a sufficient voucher for its authenticity. It is repeatedly mentioned by our Author, in various parts of his writings. He has called it "his business ;" and thought it "." As far as it extends, it is indeed a masterly performance; and will be deemed a valuable acquisition to future Historians. Deriving his intelligence, at that remarkable era, from the fountainhead, Swift could not be mistaken in the facts which he relates. He had ready access to every requisite source of information: and his manly fortitude must have placed him far above the necessity of wilful misrepresentation. Professedly an advocate for the tories, to the whigs he was an avowed, a formidable opponent. In his Journal to Stella (the more valuable for discovering his unreserved sentiments) he frequently laments the necessity of displacing the duke of Marlborough; and declares, though he loved not the man, he had prevented many hard things being said against him. And the favours he obtained from the ministry for the men of wit among the adverse party are too notorious to be enlarged on. His