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The life of the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Swift ...
The life of the Rev Dr Jonathan Swift Author:Thomas Sheridan Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: riety of ufeful knowledge ; his underftanding had arri. ved at its utmoft maturity and ftrength ; his fancy was in its prime; and his heart, long filled with the... more »nobleft affections towards God, and towards man, fwelledwith impatience for proper opportunities of difcharging his duty to both. With fuch abilities, and fuch difpofi- tions, behold him now entering on the great ftage of the world, to perform the character allotted to him in the drama of life, that of an able, bold, and unwearied champion, in the caufe of religion, liberty, and virtue, SECTION II. prom tbe D?ath of Sir William Temple to the 'Time of his Introduction to Lord Oxford. UPON the death of Sir William Temple, Swift immediately removed to London ; where his firft care was to difcharge the truft repofed in him, that of pub- lifhing a correct edition of Sir William Temple's Works; which he effected as fpeedily as poffible, and prefented them to King William, with a fhort Dedication written by himfelf, as publifher. He thought he could not pay a more acceptable compliment to the King, than by dedicating to him the pofthumous works of a man, for whom, from his earlieft days, when Prince of Orange, he had profeffed the higheft friendfhip and efteem ; and with whom he lived, after his arrival at the Crown of England, on the moft intimate footing ; frequently vi- fiting Sir William in his retreat, after he had found his endeavours vain to draw him out of it, by the tempting offer of making him his firft Minifter. There was another reafon too, which muft have made the publica- (ipn of thefe works peculiarly acceptable to the King;which was, that fome of the moft important tranfac lions mentioned in thofe writings, were relative to himfelf ; and many perfonal anecdotes with regard to him, were now brought to ligh...« less