and Eve from one of his
ribs. The text mentioneth nothing of his Maker's intending him for,
except to rule over the beasts of the field and birds of the air. As to
Eve, it doth not appear that her husband was her monarch, only she was
to be his help meet, and placed in some degree of subjection. However,
before his fall, the beasts were his most obedient subjects, whom he
governed by absolute power. After his eating the forbidden fruit, the
course of nature was changed, the animals began to reject his
government; some were able to escape by flight, and others were too
fierce to be attacked. The Scripture mentioneth no particular acts of
royalty in Adam over his posterity, who were cotemporary with him, or of
any monarch until after the flood; whereof the first was Nimrod, the
mighty hunter, who, as Milton expresseth it, made men, and not beasts,
his prey. For men were easier caught by promises, and subdued by the
folly or treachery of their own species. Whereas the brutes prevailed
only by their courage or strength, which, among them, are peculiar to
certain kinds. Lions, bears, elephants, and some other animals are
strong or valiant, and their species never degenerates in their native
soil, except they happen to be enslaved or destroyed by human fraud: But
men degenerate every day, merely by the folly, the perverseness, the
avarice, the tyranny, the pride, the treachery, or inhumanity of their
own kind.

THREE PRAYERS

USED BY THE DEAN FOR MRS JOHNSON,

IN HER LAST SICKNESS, 1727.[1]

[Footnote 1: "Dr. Swift, after his return to Ireland in the beginning of
October [1727], having visited her [Stella] frequently during her
sickness, not only as a friend, but a clergyman; he used the following
prayers on that occasion; which are here printed from his own
handwriting." [Note in volume viii. of Swift's Works, Dublin, 1746.]]

I.

A PRAYER FOR STELLA.

Almighty and most gracious Lord God, extend, we beseech Thee, Thy pity
and compassion towards this Thy languishing servant: Teach her to place
her hope and confidence entirely in Thee; give her a true sense of the
emptiness and vanity of all earthly things; make her truly sensible of
all the infirmities of her life past, and grant to her such a true
sincere repentance as is not to be repented of. Preserve her, O Lord, in
a sound mind and understanding, during this Thy visitation: Keep her
from both the sad extremes of presumption and despair. If Thou shalt
pleas