abortive attempts at a species of poetry of which the fashion had passed away, it does not appear that Swift made any efforts towards literary distinction; for the verses addressed to Congreve, November 1693, and those to Sir William Temple, in December following, seem to have been the effusions of private friendship. From the first we learn, that Swift's talents had raised him above the obscurity which attended his first years at Moorpark, and that he was now on friendly terms with Congreve, a man of the brightest comic genius that Britain has produced. The same verses teach us, that he already felt confidence in his powers of satire, and could predict the effects of that "hate to fools," which he afterwards assumed as his principal characteristic. "My hate-whose lash just Heaven had long decreed, Shall on a day make sin and folly bleed." The verses on Sir William Temple's illness and recovery, are of a different mood, and express strongly and pathetically the miseries of the precarious situation under which his proud and independent spirit was then struggling. He thus addresses his Muse, which, since Cowley's time, was the established mode in which a poet expressed his complaints : "Wert thou right woman, thou shouldst scorn to look On an abandon'd wretch, by hopes forsook ; Forsook by hopes, ill fortune's last relief, Assign'd for life to unremitting grief; For let Heaven's wrath enlarge these weary days, That we the wretched, creeping far behind, - To thee I owe that fatal bent of mind, Still to unhappy restless thoughts inclined; To breed contempt where thou hast hoped esteem."" These last lines probably allude to the coldness of Sir William Temple, and to a disagreement which began to take place between them. Swift sighed after independence, and seems to have thought that Temple delayed providing for him, from the selfish view of retaining his assistance, now become necessary to him. Temple, on the other hand, regarded his dependent's impatience as if tinctured with ingratitude. He offered him, but with coldness, an employment worth 1007. a-year, in the office of the rolls in Ireland, of which he was then master. To this Swift answered, that since this offer relieved him from the charge of being driven into the church for a maintenance, he was resolved to go to Ireland to take holy orders. And thus they parted in mutual displeasure: Temple positively refusing to pledge himself by any promise of provision, in the event of his consenting to remain with him; and Swift determined to exert and maintain his independence. When Swift arrived in Ireland, he found that the bishops, to whom he applied for orders, required some certificate of his conduct during the time he had resided with Sir William Temple. This must have been a grating task; for to obtain such a testimonial, required both submission and entreaty; and, accordingly, Swift appears to have paused nearly five months before endeavouring to procure it. The submission, however, was at 1 Swift's letter to his cousin, Deane Swift, is dated at Moorpark, 3d June, 1694, and he then says he left Sir William Temple a month before. The "penitentiary" letter is dated 6th October following. [“ It being so many years since I left this kingdom, the bishops could not admit me to the ministry without some certificate of my behaviour where I lived; and my Lord Archbishop of Dublin was pleased to say a great deal of this kind to me yesterday; concluding against all I had to say, that he expected I should have a certificate from your honour of my conduct in your family. The sense I am in how low I have fallen in your honour's thoughts, has denied me assurance enough to beg this favour till I find it impossible to avoid; and I entreat your honour to understand, that no person is admitted here to a living, without some knowledge of his abilities for it; which being reckoned impossible to judge in those who are not ordained, the usual method is to admit men first to some small reader's place, till, by preaching upon occasions, they can value themselves for better preferment. This (without great friends) is so general, that if I were fourscore years old I must go the same way, and should at that age be told every one must have a beginning. I entreat that your honour will consider this, and will please to send me some certificate of my behaviour during almost three years in your family; wherein I shall stand in need of all your goodness to excuse my many weaknesses and oversights, much more to say any thing to my advantage. The particulars expected of length made, the entreaty listened to, and "Swift's penitentiary letter" formed, probably, the groundwork of reconciliation with his patron. Within less than twelve days after the date of that letter, he must have received the testimonial he desired, for his letters for deacon's orders are dated 28th October, 1694, and those for priest's orders on the 13th of January following. It seems probable that Sir William Temple added to the certificate desired, some recommendation to Lord Capel, then Lord-deputy of Ireland; for, almost immediately upon taking orders, Swift obtained the prebend of Kilroot, in the diocese of Connor, worth about one hundred pounds a-year. To this small living he retired, and assumed the character of a country clergyman. Swift's life at Kilroot, however, so different from that which he had led with Sir William Temple, where he shared the society of all that were ennobled, either by genius or birth, soon became insipid. me are what relate to morals and learning, and the reasons of quitting your honour's family, that is, whether the last was occasioned by any ill actions. They are all left entirely to your honour's mercy, though in the first I think I cannot reproach myself any farther than for infirmities.”—(Swift's Works, vol. xv., p. 260.) "This very curious letter," Sir Walter Scott adds, "was indorsed by Mrs Temple, Swift's penitential letter.' It is a painful circumstance to reflect how much the haughty mind of Swift must have been bent ere he could humble himself to solicit an attestation of good conduct from a patron so selfish and cold-hearted as, in this instance, Sir William Temple unfortunately approved himself."] 1 Mr Sheridan believed him to be ordained in the preceding September, but that he was mistaken is obvious from the letter to Sir William Temple, and from the dates of the official certificates of ordination, which are now before me. In the meanwhile, Temple, who had learned, by the loss of Swift, his real value, became solicitous that he should return to Moorpark. While Swift hesitated between relinquishing the mode of life which he had chosen, and returning to that which he had relinquished, his resolution appears to have been determined by a circumstance highly characteristic of his exalted benevolence. In an excursion from his habitation, he met a clergyman, with whom he formed an acquaintance, which proved him to be learned, modest, well-principled, the father of eight children, and a curate at the rate of forty pounds a-year. Without explaining his purpose, Swift borrowed this gentleman's black mare, having no horse of his own,-rode to Dublin, resigned the prebend of Kilroot, and obtained a grant of it for this new friend. When he gave the presentation to the poor clergyman, he kept his eyes steadily fixed on the old man's face, which, at first, only expressed pleasure at finding himself preferred to a living; but when he found that it was that of his benefactor, who had resigned in his favour, his joy assumed so touching an expression of surprise and gratitude, that Swift, himself deeply affected, declared he had never experienced so much pleasure as at that moment. The poor clergyman, at Swift's 1 [Mr Mason, in his history of St Patrick's Cathedral, has, though with some regret, thrown a good deal of doubt on the authenticity of this affecting anecdote. He has certainly proved that the Reverend Mr Winder, who was collated to the prebend, 11th March, 1696-7, was not at that time an old man-for he is found corresponding with Swift so late as 1731-nor the father of a large family-for his eldest child was born in August, 1697; and moreover that |