The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Vol. X. | Page 5

letting it out of his hands, although, perhaps, that may be too late."
Swift is evidently about to accede to the desires of his two friends, and
Lewis, in his reply, takes it for granted that the manuscript will soon be
in his possession for perusal and examination:
London, Aug. 4, 1737.
"I assure you, my dear Dean, 'twas matter of joy to me to receive a
letter from you, and I hope 'tis an earnest of many more I may have
hereafter, before you and I leave this world; though I must tell you, that
if you and I revive our former Correspondence, you must indulge me

the liberty of making use of another hand; for whether it be owing to
age, or writing formerly whole nights by candle-light, or to both those
causes, my sight is so far impaired, that I am not able, without much
pain, to scratch out a letter.
"I do not remember ever to have read your History. I own my memory
is much decayed; but still I think I could not have forgotten a matter of
so much consequence, and which must have given me so great a
pleasure. It is fresh in my mind, that Lord Oxford and the Auditor
desired you to confer with me upon the subject matter of it; that we
accordingly did so; and that the conclusion was, you would bury
everything in oblivion. We reported this to those two, I mean to his
lordship and his uncle, and they acquiesced in it. Now I find you have
finished that piece. I ask nothing but what you grant in your letter of
July 23d, viz. That your friend shall read it to me, and forbear sending
it to the press, till you have considered the objections, if any should be
made.
"In the meantime, I shall only observe to you in general, that three and
twenty years, for so long it is since the death of Queen Anne, having
made a great alteration in the world, and that what was sense and
reason then, is not so now; besides, I am told you have treated some
people's characters with a severity which the present times will not bear,
and may possibly bring the author into much trouble, which would be
matter of great uneasiness to his friends. I know very well it is your
intention to do honour to the then treasurer. Lord Oxford knows it; all
his family and friends know it; but it is to be done with great
circumspection. It is now too late to publish a pamphlet, and too early
to publish a History.
"It was always my opinion, that the best way of doing honour to the
treasurer, was to write a History of the Peace of Utrecht, beginning
with a short preamble concerning the calamitous state of our debt, and
ending with the breaking our army, and restoring the civil power; that
these great things were completed under the administration of the Earl
of Oxford, and this should be his epitaph. Lord Bolingbroke is
undoubtedly writing a History, but I believe will not live to finish it,
because he takes it up too high, viz. from the Restoration. In all
probability he'll cut and slash Lord Oxford. This is only my guess. I
don't know it...."

King must have taken the manuscript to Lord Oxford and Lewis, and
been present at its reading. When that reading actually took place is not
ascertainable; but there is no doubt that before March 15th, 1738, King
was aware of the criticisms made on it. On that day he writes to Mr.
Deane Swift, explaining that he has been obliged to defer the
publication until he has received Swift's answers to the objections made
by the friends who read it. On April 25th, 1738, King wrote again to
Mr. Deane Swift, regretting that he could not see him, "because I might
have talked over with you all the affair of this History, about which I
have been much condemned: and no wonder, since the Dean has
continually expressed his dissatisfaction that I have so long delayed the
publication of it. However, I have been in no fault: on the contrary, I
have consulted the Dean's honour, and the safety of his person. In a
word, the publication of this work, as excellent as it is, would involve
the printer, publisher, author, and everyone concerned, in the greatest
difficulties, if not in a certain ruin; and therefore it will be absolutely
necessary to omit some of the characters...."
From which we gather that Lewis and the friends had been able to show
King the extreme inadvisability of publishing the work. Swift knew
nothing of this at the time, but Lewis did not long keep him in doubt,
and the