Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 4.djvu/41

Rh such large debts, that his brethren were forced, out of mere justice, to leave Ireland at his mercy, where he had only time to set himself right. Although the graver heads of his party, think him too profligate and abandoned, yet they dare not be ashamed of him; for, beside his talents above mentioned, he is very useful in parliament, being a ready speaker, and content to employ his gifts upon such occasions, where those who conceive they have any remainder of reputation or modesty, are ashamed to appear. In short, he is an uncontestable instance to discover the true nature of faction; since, being overrun with every quality which produces contempt and hatred, in all other commerce of the world, he has notwithstanding been able to make so considerable a figure.

The lord Cowper, although his merits are later than the rest, deserves a rank in this great council. He was considerable in the station of a practising lawyer; but, as he was raised to be a chancellor, and a peer, without passing through any of the intermediate steps, which in late times had been the constant practice, and little skilled in the nature of government, or the true interest of princes, farther than the municipal or common law of England; his abilities, as to foreign affairs, did not equally appear in the council. Some former passages of his life were thought to disqualify him for that office, by which he was to be the guardian of the queen's conscience; but these difficulties were easily overruled by the authors of his promotion, who wanted a person that would be subservient to all their designs; wherein they were not disappointed. As to his other accomplishments, he was what we usually call a piece of a. IV.