S. Germain, July 8, 1712.

My Lord W------

I thank you heartily for your Letter; and you may be firmly assured of my Friendship. In Answer to what you hint that some of our Friends suspect; I protest to you, upon theWord of a King, and my Lord M---ton will bemy Witness, that I never held the least Corresponddence with any one Person of the Tory Party: I observe, as near as I can, the Instructions of the King my Father, among whose Papers there is not one Letter, as I remember, from any Tory, except two Lords and a Lady, who, as you know, have been for some Years past devoted to Me and theWhigs. I approve of the Scheme you sent me, sign’d by our Friends. I do not find 24's Name to it: Perhaps he may be sick, or in the Country. Mid---ton will be satisfied to be Groom of the Stole; and if you have Ireland, 11 may have the Staff, provided 15 resigns his Pretensions; in which Case, he shall have 6000l. a Year for Life, and a Dukedom. I am content 13 should be Secretary, and Lord; and I will pay his Debts when I am able. I confess I am sorry your General Pardon has so many Exceptions; but you, and my other Friends, are better Judges of that. It was with great Difficulty I prevailed on theQueen to letme Sign that Commission for Life, tho’ her Majesty is entirely reconciled. If 2 will accept the Privy-Seal, which you tell me is what will please him, the Salary shall be doubled. I am obliged to his good Intentions how ill soever they have succeeded. All other parts of your Plan I entirely agree with; only as to the Party that oposeth us, Your Proposal about Z may bring an Odium upon my Government: He stands the first Excepted; and we shall have enough against him in a legal way. I wish you would allow me twelve more Domesticks of my own Religion, and I will give you what Security you please, not to hinder any Designs you have of altering the present Establish’dWorship.

There is a Story goes of an old Prophetess, that Prophesied always true to no purpose; for her Fate was, never to be believ’d: The same thing has happen’d, to a worthy Patriot and Member of the House of Commons, who has openly in his Speeches declar’d that he was sure that the M——stry Coresponded with France, and that in a little time there would appear manifest Proofs of it; but such is the Stupidity or rather Malignancy of the Tory-Party, that they took no manner of notice of what this Eloquent Gentleman warn’d them of, in his pathetick Harangues, ‘till now that they have a convincing Proof of it, with a witness, in this treacherous Surrender of Dunkirk.

It is judiciously observed by a learned Author, that the Fate of Princes and States is very hard; for Plots against them are never believ’d ‘till they are executed, and consequently without the possibility of being prevented, for every-body will allow me, that what is already executed, is so. I am afraid this will be soon verify’d upon this Nation, by the Clandestine giving up of that Important Place.

I take it, that the Surrender of Dunkirk is so plain a proof of our M——stry's Corresponding with France, that I should pity any Man, as oppressed with a political Lethargy, should he doubt of it any more: I say this as well to vindicate the Honour of that worthy Gentleman, as to awaken this insensible drousy Nation, who cannot perceive that it is Day when the Sun shines.

It was pleasantly said by a Swedish Poet,

Timeo Danos Dona ferentes.

I amafraid of the Danes when they bring Presents.

Let us only consider the value of this Present of the French Monsieur; the many Millions it has cost him; the many more it has cost us: It is not only giving us a strong Fortification, but Fleets of Frigats and Privateers, and all Pretences4 afterwards to disturb our Trade in the Channel, and all this is still doubted when it is taken from him, and given to us: And can any Man imagine he does all this for nought?

THE PREFACE

When IPublished the Discourse called, The Conduct of the Allies, Ihad Thoughts either of inserting or annexing the Barrier-Treaty at length, with such Observations, as I conceived might be useful for publick Information: But that Discourse taking up more room than I designed, after my utmost Endeavours to abbreviate it, I contented my self only with making some few Reflections upon that famous Treaty, sufficient, as I thought, to answer the Design of my Book. I have since heard that my Readers in general seemed to wish I had been more particular, and have discovered an Impatience to have that Treaty made publick, especially since it hath been laid before the House of Commons.

That I may give some Light to the Reader, who is not well vers’d in these Affairs, he may please to know, that a Project for a Treaty of Barrier with the States, was transmitted hither from Holland; but being disapproved of by our Court in several Parts, a new Project, or Scheme of a Treaty, was drawn up here, with many Additions and Alterations. This last was called the Counter-Project; andwas the Measure whereby theDuke of M———h andmyLord T——dwere Commanded and Instructed to proceed, in Negotiating a Treaty of Barrier with the States. I have added a Translation of this Counter-Project, in those Articles where it differs from the Barrier-Treaty, that the Reader, by comparing them together, may judge how punctually those Negotiators observed their Instructions. I have likewise subjoined the Sentiments of Prince Eugene of Savoy and the Count de Sinzendorf, relating to this Treaty, written (I suppose) while it was negotiating. And lastly, I have added a Copy of the Representation of the British Merchants at Bruges, signifying what Inconveniencies they already felt, and further apprehended, from this Barrier-Treaty.

SOME REMARKS ON THE BARRIER-TREATY

Imagine a reasonable Person in China, were reading the following Treaty, and one who was ignorant of our Affairs, or our Geography; He would conceive their High Mightinesses the States-General, to be some vast powerful Common-wealth, like that of Rome, and Her Majesty to be a Petty Prince, like one of those to whom that Republick would sometimes send a Diadem for a Present, when they behaved themselves well otherwise could depose at pleasure, and place whom they thought fit in their stead.

I intend this Paper for the Service of a particular Person; but herein, I hope, at the same time, to do some Service to the Publick. A Monstrous Story hath been for a while most industriously handed about, reflecting upon a Gentleman in great Trust, under the Principal Secretary of State; who hath Conducted himself with so much Prudence, that, before this Incident, neither the most virulent Pens nor Tongues have been so bold to attack him. The Reader easily understands, that the Person here meant is Mr. Lewis, Secretary to the Earl of Dartmouth, concerning whom a Story hath run, for about Ten Days past, which makes a mighty Noise in this Town, is no doubt with very ample Additions transmitted to every Part of the Kingdom, and probably will be return’d to us by the Dutch Gazetteer, with the Judicious Comments peculiar to that Political Author:Wherefore having received the Fact and the Circumstances from the best Hands, I shall here set them down before the Reader, who will easily pardon the Style, which is made up of Extracts from the Depositions and Assertions of the several Persons concerned.

On Sunday last was Month, Mr. Lewis, Secretary to the Earl of Dartmouth, and Mr. Skelton,3 met by Accident at Mr. Scarborough's Lodgings in St. James’s, among Seven other Persons, viz. the Earls of Sussex and Finlatter, the Lady Barbara Skelton, Lady Walter, Mrs. Vernon, Mrs. Scarborough, and Miss Scarborough her Daughter; who all declar’d, that Mr. Lewis and Mr. Skelton were half an Hour in Company together. There Mrs. Scarborough made Mr. Skelton and Mr. Lewis known to each other; and told the former, that he ought to thank Mr. Lewis for the Trouble he had given himself in the dispatch of a Licence, under the Privy Seal, by which Mr. Skelton was permitted to come from France to England. Hereupon Mr. Skelton saluted Mr. Lewis, and told him, he would wait on him at his House to return him his Thanks.

In what remains the only article specifically focused on Swift's relationship with the London book trade during the reign of Anne, Michael Treadwell wryly noted that ‘[p]ast Swift scholars and editors … far from indulging in the excesses of compositor analysis … can hardly be accused of narrow bibliographical principles, or indeed, of many bibliographical principles at all’ (‘Swift's Relations’, pp. 2–3). Treadwell was writing in 1983 and while, twodecades later, there has been further bibliographical investigation of Swift's more well-known works, most notably Gulliver's Travels, the attention paid to Swift and the London book trade of the early eighteenth century has remained, with a few honourable exceptions, rather cursory. This, though, is not surprising. While The Conduct of the Allies probably ranks as Swift's most immediately influential and popular work, with 11,000 copies sold within two months, its bibliographical complexities – although much more tangled than previous scholars have acknowledged – are eclipsed by those presented byATale of a Tub and Gulliver's Travels. Similarly, given the account presented by Herbert Davis in his introductions to volumes six and eight of Swift's prose works (mentioning Barber by name only in the latter), it may seem that, apart from the success of Conduct and the inconclusive prosecutions following the publication of The Publick Spirit of the Whigs, the bibliographical story of Swift's output during those years is both straightforward and uninteresting. It is the aim of this introduction and the textual accounts provided for each work later in this volume to prove the case otherwise.

Swift, Barber and Morphew

As Treadwell observes, although Defoe and Pope both ‘knew the trade far better than did Swift’, Swift's relations with the London book trade were ‘many and various’ (‘Swift's Relations’, pp. 2, 1). Between 1701–9, Swift's London publisher of choice was Benjamin Tooke, junior, but with the political ascendance of the Tories in late 1710 Swift's writings changed – and so did his printer and publisher. Of the eleven works included in this volume that were published between 1711 and 1714 (excluding the Vote of Thanks, The Humble Address of the … Lords (11 April 1713) and the contributions to periodicals), seven were definitely printed and published by John Barber. Born in 1675, Barber had established himself as a master printer in London in 1701, and by 1710 was one of the leading printers for the Tory party.

THE PREFACE

I cannot sufficiently admire the Industry of a sort of Men, wholly out of Favour with the Prince and People, and openly professing a separate Interest from the Bulk of the Landed Men, who yet are able to raise, at this Juncture, so great a Clamour against a Peace, without offering one single Reason, but what we find in their Ballads. I lay it down for a Maxim, That no reasonable Person, whether Whig or Tory (since it is necessary to use those foolish Terms) can be of Opinion for continuing the War, upon the Foot it now is, unless he be a Gainer by it, or hopes it may occasion some new Turn of Affairs at home, to the Advantage of his Party; or lastly, unless he be very ignorant of the Kingdom's Condition, and by what Means we have been reduced to it. Upon the two first Cases, where Interest is concerned, I have nothing to say: But as to the last, I think it highly necessary, that the Publick should be freely and impartially told what Circumstances they are in, after what Manner they have been treated by those whom they trusted so many Years with the Disposal of their Blood and Treasure, and what the Consequences of this Management are like to be upon themselves and their Posterity.

Those who, either by Writing or Discourse, have undertaken to defend the Proceedings of the Late Ministry, in the Management of the War, and of the Treaty at Gertruydenburg, have spent time in celebrating the Conduct and Valour of our Leaders and their Troops, in summing up the Victories they have gained, and the Towns they have taken. Then they tell us what high Articles were insisted on by our Ministers and those of the Confederates, and what Pains both were at in persuading France to accept them. But nothing of this can give the least Satisfaction to the just Complaints of the Kingdom.

These are inclusive-text transcripts, from BL, Add. MS 70030, of the ‘Vote of Thanks’ and ‘Humble Address of the … Lords to the Queen’ as drafted by Swift, with annotations by Robert Harley.

(Vote of Thanks; BL, Add.MS 70030, fo. 202r )

Ordered that an humble Address be made to Her Majesty to return the Most humble thanks of this House to Her Majesty, for Her most gracious Speech from the Throne, and for Her Majesty's communicating to this House that a Peace is agreed on, and to congratulate Her Majesty upon the Success of her Endeavors for a generall Peace, and for what [letters cancelled] Her Majesty has done to secure the Protestant Succession; [& the Harmony between her & the House of Hannover is interlined in a different hand after the semi-colon] and to [letters cancelled] assure Her Majesty, that as She is pleased to express her Dependence next under God upon [letters cancelled] the Duty and Affection of her People, this House will make all Returns [letters cancelled ] that are due from obedient Subjects to the most indulgent Soverain.

(Humble Address of the House of Lords to the Queen; BL, Add.MS 70030, fos. 200r−v)

WeYour Majesty’smost dutifull and loyall Subjects theLords Spirituall and Temporall in Parlmt assembled, do with the greatest Joy and Satisfaction return our humblest Thanks toYour Majesty forYour most gracious Speech from the Throne, and for communicating to this House, that a Peace is concluded, so honorable to Your Majesty and safe and advantageous to Your Kingdoms; [passage from so honorable to Kingdoms; underlined, presumably by Harley] by which we hope with the Blessing of God, that your People will in a few Years recover themselves after so long and expensive a War, [possibly a full-stop rather than a comma] We likewise beg leave to congratulate with Your Majesty upon the generall Peace you have procured for all Your Allyes, wherein the true Interests and just Pretensions of each are so fully provided for that the Tranquillity and Welfare of Europe will be owing (next to the Divine Providence) to Your Majesty's Wisdom and Goodness. [passage from We likewise to and Goodness.

There are some disputes between the two contending Partyes now among us, which in reason ought no longer to subsist, because Time and Events have put an End to the Causes of them. For instance,Whether our Peace with France and Spain were safe and honorable;Whether the States Generall have a sufficient Barrier. Whether Spain ought to be governed by a Prince of the Bourbon Family. These Points are already determined, whether wisely or not; and reasonable Men of both sides will, I suppose allow, that theWar can not be renewed at present to settle them better.

Other Differences there are, and of great Importance, which still depend, and cannot speedily be brought to an Issue without some degree of Correspondence between both Partyes. As, whether the Treaty of Commerce with France shall be confirmed by Parliament as beneficiall to our Trade, or rejected as pernicious. Whether the Princess Sophia of Hanover shall be invited to reside in England, as an Expedient for securing the Succession to Her Family upon the Qu—'s Demise.Whether the Pretender shall be forced to remove from Bar le duc, or permitted to reside any where on this side the Alpes. There are some other Controversyes of lesser Moment between the two contending Partyes; but the most popularTopick ofQuarrell, is thePretender. I have heard many significantPersons of the side which is against the Court, affirm with great appearance of Sincerity that if they could be perfectly satisfied upon this Article, they would leave it to Her Majesty to chuse her own Servants, and give her no further Uneasyness in any part of her Administration.

The Conduct of the Allies, Tory politics, and the Barrier Treaty

On 8 September 1711 Swift, in a letter to his friend Charles Ford, remarked casually of Queen Anne, ‘I find no body expects she can live long; and that is one great Reason why they would hasten a Peace.’ Then he adds, ‘’Tis thought by State Astronomers that we shall have a scribbling Winter; but perhaps I shall then be far enough off’, and finally, before his adieu, ‘I am at least twice oftner with th[e] M—rs than when you was here, yet You see nothing comes of it’ (Woolley, Corr., vol. I, p. 381). These lines can all serve in some ways as keynotes for his life that autumn. Whatever the Queen's health, the movement towards Peace which would culminate in the treaty of Utrecht in 1713 was on its way; it was indeed a scribbling winter with Swift as a major scribbler; and though his familiarity with the chief ministers Harley and St John had not yet produced the preferment he was hoping for, what did come of it was his place as the most successful political writer of the Queen Anne period, a period dominated in its final years by the two overriding issues of the peace and the Succession.

Swift was ready for an important new task. On 7 June he had published the last Examiner paper totally his own, a review of the accomplishments of the Tory Parliament which was to end five days later; and though there was no announcement that he would be succeeded by another hand, Swift did say that the main design he had had in writing those papers had been now ‘fully executed’ (Ellis, Examiner, p. 470). Though perhaps he did not know it in June, by September he had an important new assignment. On the next day after writing to Ford, in fact, Swift in his Journal mentions to Stella that he had hoped to stay atWindsor a week ‘to be at leisure for something I am doing’ (Williams, JSt, p. 356). The nature of that ‘something’ was made very clear in his comments to her over the next month. On the 28th he wrote to her, ‘We have already settled all things with France, and very much to the honour and advantage of England; and the queen is in mighty good humour.

The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Jonathan Swift is the first fully annotated scholarly edition ever undertaken of Swift's complete works in both verse and prose. The great editions of Swift by Herbert Davis and HaroldWilliams have remained standard for over half a century.We are all greatly indebted to them, but the time has come to replace or revise their texts and commentary in the light of subsequent historical, biographical and textual knowledge. Davis's fourteen-volume edition of the Prose Writings offered valuable introductions but no annotation. The commentary to his separate edition of The Drapier's Letters, and Williams's commentaries to the Poems and Journal to Stella, though excellent in their time, must now be supplemented by a considerable body of more recent scholarship. The Cambridge Edition's detailed introductions, notes and appendices aim to provide an informed understanding of Swift's place in the political and cultural history of England and Ireland, and to establish the historical, literary and bibliographical contexts of his immense achievement as a prose satirist, poet and political writer. The editors of individual volumes include distinguished historians, as well as leading scholars of eighteenth-century literature.

For the Cambridge Edition, Swift's texts will be collated and analysed afresh, with attention to new evidence of drafts, autographs, transcripts and printed editions, including revisions of Swift's own Works. All lifetime editions will be investigated for their authority. The choice of the version to be printed will be based on an assessment of the work's nature and of the particularities of its history. As a general rule the last authoritative version of the work will be chosen, but in the case of works that are bound in tightly to an immediate context of controversy (polemical tracts, for example), the first edition will usually be chosen instead. In all cases editors will have regard to Swift's overall conception of his text, including issues of typography and illustration. All substantial authorial variants will be recorded in the apparatus, along with those accidental variants editors deem significant, and full introductions will provide the history of the text and the rationale for editorial decisions.

[VOTE OF THANKS]

Ordered by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament Assembled, That an humbleAddress be presented to Her Majesty to Return the Thanks of this House for Her Most Gracious Speech from the Throne; and for Her Majesties Communicating to this House that a Peace is Concluded; and to Congratulate Her Majesty upon the Success of Her Endeavours for a General Peace; and for what Her Majesty has done to Secure the Protestant Succession; and to assure Her Matie that as She is pleased to express her Dependance next under God upon the Affection of Her People, This House will make all Returns due from obedient Subjects to an Indulgent Sovereign.

THE HUMBLE ADDRESS OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORDS SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED

Die Veneris 10 Aprilis, 1713.

Most Gracious Sovereign,

We your Majesties most Dutiful and Loyal Subjects, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament Assembled, Do, with the greatest Joy and Satisfaction, Return our humble Thanks to Your Majesty for Your most Gracious Speech from the Throne, and for Communicating to Your Parliament that a Peace is Concluded; by which we hope, with the Blessing of God, that Your People will, in few Years, Recover themselves after so Long and Expensive aWar; And also do Congratulate Your Majesty upon the Success of Your Endeavours for a General Peace.

We never had the least Doubt, but that Your Majesty, who is the great Support and Ornament of theProtestant Religion, would Continue to take, as You have always done, theWisest Measures for Securing the Protestant Succession, towards which nothing can be moreNecessary than the perfect Friendship there is between Your Majesty and the House of Hanover.

And we do humbly Assure Your Majesty, That as You Express Your Dependence, next under God, upon theDuty and Affection ofYourPeople, we think our selves Bound, by the strictest Tyes of Religion, Loyalty, and Gratitude, to make all the Dutiful Returns that can be paid, by the most Obedient Subjects to the most Indulgent Sovereign.

Post Boy 25–27 December 1711

London, Dec. 27. On Saturday the 22d instant, about Four in the Morning, Mrs. Anne Long, Sister of Sir James Long, Bart. died at Linn in Norfolk, after a Sickness but of Four Hours. She was a Lady very much celebrated here for her Beauty, Virtue, and good Sense; and is extremely lamented by all who knew her.

Evening Post 11–13 Nov 1712

London, Nov. 13. We have received a more particular Account relating to the Box sent to the Lord Treasurer, as mention’d in our last, which is as follows.

On the Third Instant a tall, slender Boy, having on a Gray Coat and a brown bob Peruke, delivered a Band-box, (directed to the Lord Treasurers Porter) at a Penny-Post House behind Ludgate, which the next Morning was carried to the Office in Chichesters Rents, Chancery Lane, and from thence to the Lord Treasurers by one Causon, a Penny Postman, in which, upon opening was found another Band-Box, directed to theLordTreasurer. The Box was carry’d up to my Lord's Bed-Chamber, and deliver’d to his Lordship, who lifting up the Lid as far as the Pack-thread that ty’d it would give way, said, He saw a Pistol; whereupon, a Gentleman in the Room desired the Box might be given to him; he took it to theWindow, at some Distance from my Lord, and open’d it, by cutting with a Pen-knife the Pack-threads that fasten’d the Lid. The first Thing that appear’d was the Stock and Lock of a Pocket-Pistol, lying across the middle of the Band- Box, and fasten’d at each end with two Nails; on each side of the Fire-lock were laid the Middle-pieces of two large Ink-horns charg’d with Powder and Ball, and Touch-holes bored at the Butt-ends of ‘em, to which were fasten’d two Linnen Bags of Gunpowder, and at the other end of the Bags were two Quils fill’d withWildfire. These two artificial Barrels were plac’d with the Muzzels contrary-ways, and theQuil of one of ‘em directed to the Pan of the Pistol, as the other probably was, tho’ disorder’d by the Carriage.

Mr. S---le in his Letter to the Bailiff of Stockbridge has given us leave to P. 40 treat him as we think fit, as he is our Brother-Scribler; but not to attack him as an honest Man. That is to say, he allows us to be his Criticks, but not his Answerers; and he is altogether in the right, for there is in his Letter much to be Criticised, and little to be Answered. The Situation and Importance of Dunkirk are pretty well known, Mons. Tugghe's Memorial, published and handed about by theWhigs, is allowed to be a very Trifling Paper: And as to the immediate Demolishment of that Town, Mr. St---- pretends to offer no other Argument but the Expectations of the People, which is a figurative Speech, naming the tenth Part for the whole: As Bradshaw told King Charles I. that the People of England Expected Justice against him. I have therefore entred very little into the Subject he pretends to Treat, but have considered his Pamphlet partly as a Critick, and partly as a Commentator, which, I think, is to treat him only as my Brother-Scribler, according to the Permission he has graciously allowed me.

TO THE WORSHIPFUL MR. JOHN SNOW, BAILIFF OF STOCKBRIDGE

SIR,

I have just been reading a Twelve-peny Pamphlet aboutDunkirk, addressed to your Worship from one of your intended Representatives; and I find several Passages in it which want Explanation, especially to You in the Country: For we in Town have a way of Talking andWriting, which is very little understood beyond the Bills of Mortality. I have therefore made bold to send you here a second Letter, by way of Comment upon the former.

In order to this, YouMr. Bailiff, and at the same time the whole Burrough, may please to take Notice, that London-Writers often put Titles to their Papers and Pamphlets which have little or no Reference to the main Design of theWork: So, for Instance, you will observe in reading, that the Letter called, The Importance of Dunkirk, is chiefly taken up in shewing you the Importance of Mr. St——; wherein it was indeed reasonable your Burrough should be informed, which had chosen him to Represent them.