Now Finch[1] alarms the lords: he hears for certain
This dangerous priest is got behind the curtain.
Finch, fam'd for tedious elocution, proves
That Swift oils many a spring which Harley moves.
Walpole and Aislabie[2], to clear the doubt,
Inform the commons, that the secret's out:
"A certain doctor is observ'd of late
To haunt a certain minister of state:
From whence with half an eye we may discover
The peace is made, and Perkin must come over."
York is from Lambeth sent, to show the queen
A dangerous treatise[3] writ against the spleen;
Which, by the style, the matter, and the drift,
'Tis thought could be the work of none but Swift.
Poor York! the harmless tool of others hate;
He sues for pardon[4], and repents too late.
Now, angry Somerset[5] her vengeance vows
On Swift's reproaches for her ******** spouse:
From her red locks her mouth with venom fills,
And thence into the royal ear instills.
The queen incens'd, his services forgot,
Leaves him a victim to the vengeful Scot[6].
Now through the realm a proclamation spread,
To fix a price on his devoted head[7],
While innocent, he scorns ignoble flight;
His watchful friends preserve him by a sleight.
By Harley's favour once again he shines;
Is now caress'd by candidate divines,
- ↑ The earl of Nottingham.
- ↑ They both spoke against him in the House of Commons.
- ↑ Tale of a Tub.
- ↑ He sent a message, to ask Swift's pardon.
- ↑ See the Windsor Prophecy, p. 74.
- ↑ The duke of Argyll.
- ↑ For writing "The Publick Spirit of the Whigs."
