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from images provided by the Million Book Project.
[Illustration: _Jonathan Swift,
from a picture by Frances Bindon
In the possession of Sir F R Falkiner_]
1898
1898
The inquiry into the religious thought of the eighteenth century formsone of the most interesting subjects for speculation in the history ofthe intellectual development of western nations. It is true, that inthat history Swift takes no special or distinguished part; but he formsa figure of peculiar interest in a special circle of his own. Swift hadno natural bent for the ministry of a church; his instincts, histemperament, his intellect, were of that order which fitted him forleadership and administration. He was a born magistrate and commander ofmen. It is, therefore, one of the finest compliments we can pay Swift tosay, that no more faithful, no more devoted, no stauncher servant hasthat Church possessed; for we must remember the proud and haughty temperwhich attempted to content itself with the humdrum duties of a parishlife. Swift entered the service of that Church at a time when its needfor such a man was great; and in spite of its disdain of his worth, inspite of its failure to recognize and acknowledge his transcendentqualities, he never forgot his oath, and never shook in his allegiance.To any one, however, who reads carefully his sermons, his "Thoughts onReligion," and his "Letter to a Young Clergyman," there comes aquestion—whether, for his innermost conscience, Swift found asatisfying conviction in the doctrines of Christianity. "I am notanswerable to God," he says, "for the doubts that arise in my ownbreast, since they are the consequence of that reason which he hathplanted in me, if I take care to conceal those doubts from others, if Iuse my best endeavours to subdue them, and if they have no influence onthe conduct of my life." We search in vain, in any of his writings, forany definite expression of doubt or want of faith in these doctrines.When he touches on them, as he does in the sermon "On the Trinity," heseems to avoid of set purpose, rational inquiry, and contents himselfwith insisting on the necessity for a belief in those mysteriesconcerning God about which we cannot hope to know anything. "I do notfind," he says, in his "Letter to a Young Clergyman," "that you areanywhere directed in the canons or articles to attempt explaining themysteries of the Christian religion; and, indeed, since Providenceintended there should be mysteries, I don't see how it can be agreeableto piety, orthodoxy, or good sense to go about such a work. For to methere seems a manifest dilemma in the case; if you explain them, theyare mysteries no longer; if you fail, you have laboured to no purpose."
It must at once be admitted that Swift had not the metaphysical bent;