"Villiers, for wisdom and deep judgment famed,
Of a high race, victorious beauty brings
To grace our Courts, and captivate our Kings."

The "beauty" seems a poetic licence; Swift says the lady squinted "like
a dragon."

6 Cliefden.

7 See Letter 12, note 7.

8 Swift's sister (see Letter 9, note 22).

9 Forster reads "returned."

10 See Swift's letter to General Hill of Aug. 12, 1712

11 Swift's housekeeper at Laracor.

12 I.e., be made freemen of the City.

LETTER 53.

1 Addressed to "Mrs. Dingley," etc. Endorsed "Octr. 18. At Portraune."

2 "Sometimes, when better company was not to be had, he (Swift) was
honoured by being invited to play at cards with his patron; and on such
occasions Sir William was so generous as to give his antagonist a little
silver to begin with" (Macaulay, History of England, chap. xix.).

3 The History of the Works of the Learned, a quarto periodical, was
published from 1699 to 1711.

4 See Letter 35, note 4.

5 See Letter 28, note 25.

6 Lady Elizabeth Savage, daughter of Richard, fourth Earl Rivers (see
Letter 11, note 9), was the second wife of James Barry, fourth Earl of
Barrymore. Of Earl Rivers' illegitimate children, one, Bessy, married
(1) Frederick Nassau, third Earl of Rochford, and (2) a clergyman
named Carter; while another, Richard Savage, was the poet. Earl Rivers'
successor, John Savage, the fifth Earl, was a Roman Catholic priest,
the grandson of John, first Earl Rivers. On his death in 1728 the title
became extinct.

7 No. 32.

8 Very sick.

9 From "but I" to "agreeable" is partially obliterated.

10 Mrs. Swanton was the eldest daughter of Willoughby Swift, and
therefore Swift's second cousin. In her will Esther Johnson left to
Swift "a bond of thirty pounds, due to me by Dr. Russell, in trust for
the use of Mrs. Honoria Swanton."

11 This sentence is partially obliterated.

12 See Letter 51, note 2.

13 See Letter 5, note 16.

14 The latter half of this sentence is partially obliterated.

15 Partly obliterated.

16 See Letter 8, note 2.

17 Wise.

18 Partly obliterated.

19 See Letter 6, note 45.

20 This sentence is almost obliterated.

LETTER 54.

1 The MS. of this letter has not been preserved.

2 See Letter 26, note 2.

3 Swift's friend, Dr. Pratt (see Letter 2, note 14), was then Provost of
Trinity College, Dublin.

4 Samuel Molyneux, then aged twenty-three, was the son of William
Molyneux (