The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Vol. III. | Page 3

SCOTT.

CONTENTS:
ARGUMENT AGAINST ABOLISHING CHRISTIANITY

PROJECT FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF RELIGION
SENTIMENTS OF A CHURCH OF ENGLAND MAN
REMARKS UPON "THE RIGHTS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH"
PREFACE TO THE BISHOP OF SARUM'S "INTRODUCTION"
ABSTRACT OF COLLINS'S "DISCOURSE OF FREETHINKING"
SOME THOUGHTS ON FREETHINKING
LETTER TO A YOUNG CLERGYMAN
ARGUMENTS AGAINST ENLARGING THE POWER OF BISHOPS
IN LETTING LEASES
REASONS OFFERED TO THE ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN
ON THE BILL FOR THE CLERGY'S RESIDING ON THEIR
LIVINGS
CONSIDERATIONS UPON TWO BILLS RELATING TO THE
CLERGY OF IRELAND
REASONS AGAINST THE MODUS
ESSAY ON THE FATES OF CLERGYMEN
CONCERNING THAT UNIVERSAL HATRED WHICH PREVAILS
AGAINST THE CLERGY
THOUGHTS ON RELIGION
FURTHER THOUGHTS ON RELIGION
PRAYERS FOR MRS. JOHNSON
AN EVENING PRAYER
OBSERVATIONS ON HEYLIN'S "HISTORY OF
PRESBYTERIANS"
***** ***** ***** ***** *****

AN ARGUMENT
TO PROVE THAT THE
ABOLISHING OF CHRISTIANITY IN ENGLAND
MAY, AS THINGS NOW STAND, BE ATTENDED WITH SOME
INCONVENIENCES, AND PERHAPS NOT PRODUCE THOSE
MANY GOOD EFFECTS PROPOSED THEREBY.
WRITTEN IN THE YEAR 1708.
NOTE.
In November, 1707, Swift left Dublin in the train of the then Lord
Lieutenant, Lord Pembroke. His travelling companion was Sir Andrew
Fountaine, who, on landing in England, set out with Lord Pembroke for

Wilton, while Swift went on to Leicester to visit his mother. He stayed
with her until some time in December, but, by the middle of the same
month, he was in London. During this absence from Ireland Swift
corresponded somewhat freely with Archbishop King of Dublin, and
with Archdeacon Walls--the letters to the former were first printed in
Forster's "Life of Swift." For these Forster was indebted to the Rev. Mr.
Reeves (vicar of Lusk, co. Dublin), who discovered them in the
record-room of the see of Armagh (see "Life," p. 205 et seq. and note).
One of Swift's intentions, while in the metropolis, was to push forward
the claim of the Irish clergy for the remission of the First Fruits and
Tenths, a grant which had already been conceded to the English clergy;
and his letters to King often include requests for the necessary papers
by means of which he could lay the matter before either Godolphin or
Somers. Walls had written to Swift of the vacancy of the see of
Waterford, and, from the reply to the archdeacon, we learn that even at
so early a date Swift suffered a grievous disappointment; for in January,
1708, the bishopric, of which Swift had hopes, was presented to Dr.
Thomas Milles. In his letter to Walls Swift confesses that he "once had
a glimpse that things would have gone otherwise.... But let us talk no
further on this subject. I am stomach-sick of it already. ... Pray send me
an account of some smaller vacancy in the Government's gift." It was to
Somers, and through him to Lord Halifax, that Swift looked for
recognition, either for services rendered, or because of their
appreciation of his abilities. But, however much he may have been
disappointed at their inaction, it may not be argued, as it has been, that
Swift's so-called change in his political opinions was the outcome
either of spleen or chagrin against the Whigs for their ingratitude
towards him. It is, indeed, questionable whether Swift ever changed his
political opinions, speaking of these as party opinions. From the day of
his entrance, it may be said, into the orders of the Church, his first
thought was for it; and on all political questions which touched Church
matters Swift was neither Whig nor Tory, but churchman. It was
because of the attitude of the Whigs towards the Church that Swift left
them; and in his writings he does not spare the Tories even when he
finds them taking up similar attitudes. On purely political questions
Swift was too independent a thinker to be influenced by mere party
views. That he wrote for the Tories must be put down to Harley's

personal influence, and to his foresight which saw in Swift a man who
must be treated as an equal with the highest in the land. Swift's
intercourse with the leading men of his day only served to accentuate
his consciousness of his superiority; and a party which would permit
him the free play of his powers would be the party to which Swift
would give his adhesion. Godolphin, Somers, and Walpole either did
not recognize the genius of the man, or their own "points of view" did
not permit them to give him the free play they felt he would obtain. Be
that as it may, Harley gained not only a splendid party fighter, but a
friend on whose affection he could ever rely.
In these tracts on Religion and the Church, which he wrote in the year
1708, Swift is not a party man, speaking for party purposes. He