re and sings;
Looks through the ruins of her clay,
And practises her wings.
O, rather let this flesh decay,
The ruins wider grow!
Till glad to see the enlarged way,
I stretch my pinions through."

_A Sight of Heaven in Sickness, by_ Isaac Watts.

[23] "He seemed to me to have an unaccountable prejudice against
Swift.--He said to-day,--I doubt if the _Tale of a Tub_ was his; it
has so much more thinking, more knowledge, more power, more colour,
than any of the works that are indisputably his. If it was his, I
shall only say, he was _impar sibi_." Boswell's _Tour to the
Hebrides_, p. 38.

Doctor Johnson's "unaccountable prejudice against Swift" may probably
be derived from the same source as Blackmore's, if we may venture to
form a judgement from the panegyrick he bestows on the following
groundless invective, expressly aimed at Swift as the author of _A
Tale of a Tub_, which he quotes in his life of Blackmore: "Several, in
their books, have many sarcastical and spiteful strokes at religion in
general; while others make themselves pleasant with the principles of
the Christian. Of the last kind, this age has seen a most audacious
example, in the book intituled "_A Tale of a Tub_." Had this writing
been published in a pagan or _popish_ nation, who are _justly_
impatient of all indignity offered to the established religion of
their country, no doubt but the author would have received the
punishment he deserved.--But the fate of this impious buffoon is very
different; for in a protestant kingdom, zealous of their civil and
religious immunities, he has not only escaped affronts and the effects
of publick resentment, but has been caressed and patronised by persons
of great figure of all denominations."

The malevolent dullness of bigotry alone could have inspired Blackmore
with these sentiments. The fact is, that the _Tale of a Tub_ is a
continued panegyrick on the Church of England, and a bitter satire on
Popery, Calvinism, and every sect of dissenters. At the same time I am
persuaded, that every reader of taste and discernment will perceive in
many parts of Swift's other writings strong internal proofs of that
style which characterises the _Tale of a Tub_; especially in the
_Publick Spirit of the Whigs_. It is well known, that he affected
simplicity, and studiously avoided any display of learning, except
where the subject made it absolutely necessary. Temporary, local, and
political topicks