Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 5.djvu/374

366 upon his office would be a troublesome spy upon him; so he pleaded the merit of his thousand pounds, and desired in consideration thereof that his excellency would free him from an office that would put it out of his power to wrong the crown; and to strengthen his pretensions, put my lady in mind of what money he had lost to her at play; who immediately, out of n grateful sense of benefits received, railed as much against the lords justices report, as ever she had done against the tories; and my lord lieutenant, prompted by the same virtue, made his report, that there needed no comptroller to that office, because he comptrolled it himself; which (now having given his word for it) he will beyond all doubt, effectually for the future: although since, it has been plainly made appear, that for want of some control on that office, her majesty has been wronged of manv hundred pounds by the roguery of a clerk, and that during the time of his excellency's government; of which there has been but a small part refunded, and the rest has not been inquired after, lest it should make it plainly appear that a comptroller in that office is absolutely necessary.

His excellency being desirous, for a private reason, to provide for the worthless son of a worthless father, who had lately sold his company, and of course all pretension to preferment in the army, took this opportunity: a captain in the oldest regiment in the kingdom, being worn out with service, desired leave to sell, which was granted him; and accordingly, for a consideration agreed upon, he gave a resignation of his company to a person approved of by the commander of the regiment, who at the same time applied to his excellency for leave for another captain of