Chapter 20 of 26 · 797 words · ~4 min read

BOOK XVI

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P. 523. [par. 29.] _Clarendon_, on the discovery of the treachery of Sir Richard Willis.--_Swift_. Doubtful.

P. 539. [par. 47.[9]] _Clarendon_. If it had not been for the King's own _steadiness_.--_Swift_. Of which, in religion, he never had any.

[Footnote 9: This was par. 74 in the edition of 1849. [T.S.]]

P. 540. [par. 75.] _Clarendon_, upon the Duke of York's being invited into Spain, with the office of El Admirante del Oceano, he was warned that he:--would never be suffered to go to sea under any title of command, till he first changed his religion.--_Swift_. As he did openly in England.

P. 559. [par. 131.] _Clarendon_. There being scarce a bon-fire at which they did not roast a rump.--_Swift_. The _Rump_.

P. 583. [par. 194.] _Clarendon_, Declaration of the King, April 4-1/4 1660:--"Let all our subjects, how faulty soever, rely upon the word of a King," etc.--_Swift_. Usually good for nothing.

_Ibid_. [ditto.] _Clarendon_, the same:--"A free Parliament; by which, upon the word of a King, we will be advised."--_Swift_. Provided he be an honest and sincere man.

P. 585. [par. 199.] _Clarendon_, Letter to the fleet:--"Which gives us great encouragement and hope, that God Almighty will heal the wounds by the same plaster that made the flesh raw."--_Swift_. A very low comparison.

P. 586. [par. 201.] _Clarendon_, Letter to the city of London:--"Their affections to us in the city of London; which hath exceedingly raised our spirits, and which, no doubt, hath proceeded from the Spirit of God, and His extraordinary mercy to the nation; which hath been encouraged by you, and your good example ... to discountenance the imaginations of those who would subject our subjects to a government they have not yet devised."--_Swift_. Cacofonia.

P. 595. [par. 222.] _Clarendon_, Proclamation of the King, May 8, by the Parliament, Lord Mayor, etc.:--"We ... acknowledge, ... that ... he [Charles II.] is of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, the most potent, mighty, and undoubted King; and thereunto we most humbly and faithfully do submit, and oblige ourselves, our heirs, and posterity for ever."--_Swift_. Can they oblige their posterity 10,000 years to come?

P. 596. [par. 225]. _Clarendon_, The case of Colonel Ingoldsby: After he had refused to sign the death-warrant of the King:--Cromwell, and others, held him by violence; and Cromwell, with a loud laughter, taking his hand in his, and putting the pen between his fingers, with his own hand writ Richard Ingoldsby he making all the resistance he could.--_Swift_. A mistake; for it was his own hand-writ, without any restraint.

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REMARKS ON

"BISHOP BURNET'S HISTORY OF ['SCOTLAND

IN'--_SWIFT_] HIS OWN TIME,"

FOLIO EDITION, 1724-34.

FROM THE ORIGINAL, IN THE LIBRARY of THE LATE

MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE.

NOTE.

The standard edition of Burnet's interesting "History" is that by Dr. Routh, first issued in 1823 and revised in a second edition in 1833. Mr. Osmund Airy is at present engaged on a new edition for the Clarendon Press, but so far only two volumes have been published. It was in Dr. Routh's edition that almost all of Swift's notes first appeared. In the Preface to the issue of 1823, the learned editor informs us that Swift's notes were taken "from his own copy of the history, which had come into the possession of the first Marquis of Lansdowne." A note in the edition of 1833 corrects a statement made in the previous edition that Swift's copy had been burnt. It was not Swift's own copy, but a copy containing a transcript of Swift's notes that was burnt.

In the preparation of the present text every available reference has been searched. Sir Walter Scott's reprint of Swift's "Notes" was sadly inadequate. Not only did he misquote the references to Burnet's work, but he could not have consulted the Lansdowne copy, since fully a third of the "notes" were altogether ignored by him. It is believed that the text here given contains every note accurately placed to its proper account in Burnet's "History." The references are to the edition in folio issued in 1724-1734.

In the twenty-seventh volume of the "European Magazine," and in the two following volumes, a fair proportion of Swift's notes were first published. These were reprinted by Dr. Burnet in 1808, in his "Essay on the Earlier Part of the Life of Swift." Both these authorities have been consulted. Dr. Routh's modesty forbade him including six of the notes, because they were "not written with the requisite decorum." These have been included here. Mr. Osmund Airy has "thought it unadvisable to encumber the pages with simple terms of abuse"; but an editor of Swift's works cannot permit himself this licence. His duty is to include everything.

The text of the "Short Remarks" is taken from vol. viii.,