Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 4.djvu/316

Rh of withdrawing to my place of residence; and rejoiced as much as any man for his majesty's quiet accession to the throne, to which I then thought, and it has since appeared indisputable, that the peace procured by the late ministry had, among other good effects, been highly instrumental. And I thank God, I have been ever since a loyal humble spectator, during all the changes that have happened, although it were no secret to any man of common sagacity, that his present majesty's choice of his servants, whenever he should happen to succeed, would be determined to those, who most opposed the proceedings during the four last years of his predecessor's reign: and I think, there has not since happened one particular of any moment, which the ministers did not often mention at their tables, as what they certainly expected, from the disposition of the court at Hanover, in conjunction with the party at home; which, upon all occasions, publickly disapproved their proceedings, excepting only the attainder of the duke of Ormond; which, indeed, neither they nor I, nor, I believe, any one person in the three kingdoms, did ever pretend to foresee; and now it is done, it looks like a dream, to those who consider the nobleness of his birth, the great merits of his ancestors, and his own; his long unspotted loyalty, his affability, generosity, and sweetness of nature. I knew him long and well; and excepting the frailties of his youth, which had been for some years over, and that easiness of temper, which did sometimes lead him to follow the judgment of those, who had, by many degrees, less understanding than himself, I have not conversed with a more faultless person; of great justice and charity; a true sense of religion, without ostentation; of