Letter 12.
1 Charles Finch, third Earl of Winchelsea, son of Lord Maidstone, and grandson
of Heneage, second Earl of Winchelsea. On his death in 1712 Swift spoke of
him as "a worthy honest gentleman, and particular friend of mine."
2 Vedeau was a shopkeeper, who abandoned his trade for the army (Journal,
March 28, April 4, 1711). Swift calls him "a lieutenant, who is now broke,
and upon half pay" (Journal, Nov. 18, 1712)
3 Sir Edmund Bacon, Bart. (died 1721), of Herringflat, Suffolk, succeeded his
father in the baronetcy in 1686.
4 The reverse at Brihuega.
5 See Letter 8, note 12.
6 John Barber, a printer, became Lord Mayor of London in 1732, and died in
1741. Mrs. Manley was his mistress, and died at his printing office. Swift
speaks of Barber as his "very good and old friend."
7 Bernage was an officer serving under Colonel Fielding. In August 1710 a
difficulty arose through Arbuthnot trying to get his brother George made
Captain over Bernage's head; but ultimately Arbuthnot waived the business,
because he would not wrong a friend of Swift's.
8 See Letter 1, note 52.
9 George Smalridge (1663-1719), the High Church divine and popular preacher,
was made Dean of Carlisle in 1711, and Bishop of Bristol in 1714. Steele
spoke of him in the Tatler (Nos. 73, 114) as "abounding in that sort of virtue
and knowledge which makes religion beautiful."
10 St. Albans Street, Pall Mall, was removed in 1815 to make way for Waterloo
Place. It was named after Henry Jermyn, Earl of St. Albans.
11 Ben Portlack, the Duke of Ormond's secretary.
12 Algernon Seymour, Earl of Hertford (1684-1750), only son of Charles
Seymour, Duke of Somerset. Lord Hertford succeeded to the dukedom in 1748.
From 1708 to 1722 he was M.P. for Northumberland, and from 1708 to 1713 he
took an active part in the war in Flanders.
13 See Letter 4.
14 A Short Character of the Earl of Wharton (see Letter 10. note 29).
15 See Letter 9.
16 Henry Herbert, the last Baron Herbert of Cherbury, succeeded to the peerage
in 1709, and soon afterwards married a sister of the Earl of Portsmouth. A
ruined man, he committed suicide in 1738.
17 Nos. 257, 260.
18 See Letter 6, note 12.
19 "AFTER is interlined" (Deane Swift).
20 With this account may be compared what Pope says, as recorded in Spence's
Anecdotes, p. 223: "Lord Peterborough could dictate letters to nine
amanuenses together, as I was assured by a gentleman who saw him do it when
Ambassador at Turin. He walked round the room, and told each of them in his
turn what he was to write. One perhaps was a letter to the emperor, another
to an old friend, a third to a mistress, a fourth to a statesman, and so on:
yet he carried so many and so different connections in his head, all at the
same time."
21 Francis Atterbury, Dean of Carlisle, had taken an active part in the
defence of Dr. Sacheverell. After a long period of suspense he received the
appointment of Dean of Christ Church, and in 1713 he was made Bishop of
Rochester and Dean of Westminster. Atterbury was on intimate terms with
Swift, Pope, and other writers on the Tory side, and Addison--at whose funeral
the Bishop officiated--described him as "one of the greatest geniuses of his
age."
22 John Carteret, second Baron Carteret, afterwards to be well known as a
statesman, succeeded to the peerage in 1695, and became Earl Granville and
Viscount Carteret on the death of his brother in 1744. He died in 1763. In
October 1710, when twenty years of age, he had married Frances, only daughter
of Sir Robert Worsley, Bart., of Appuldurcombe, Isle of Wight.
23 Dillon Ashe, D.D., Vicar of Finglas, and brother of the Bishop of Clogher.
In 1704 he was made Archdeacon of Clogher, and in 1706 Chancellor of Armagh.
He seems to have been too fond of drink.
24 Henley (see Letter 6, note 15) married Mary, daughter of Peregrine Bertie,
the second son of Montagu, Earl of Lindsey, and with her obtained a fortune of
30,000 pounds. After Henley's death his widow married her relative, Henry
Bertie, third son of James, Earl of Abingdon.
25 Hebrews v. 6.
