of Pope seems to prove that he was admitted as a favourite companion to the convivial hours of the minister; and that even the business of office was delayed, when the treasurer wished to indulge in the delight of the poet's conversation.[1]
"For him thou oft hast bid the world attend,
Pleased to forget the statesman in the friend."
While Parnell remained in London, he often preached in the different churches of the metropolis; Johnson speaks of this as arising from his vanity or ambition; did he, a sincere and zealous churchman, forget that preaching was one of the chief duties of Parnell's profession; and that he imparted moral advice and religious instruction, through the only channel which was open to one who possessed no parish of his own. Parnell preached to attentive audiences chiefly in the city and about Southwark, and his eloquence and knowledge made him popular. The queen's death however precluded any hopes of preferment from the interest of his Tory friends; and Johnson
- ↑ In Swift's letter to Lord Oxford for correcting, &c. the English Tongue, he says, 'All your other virtues, my lord, will be defective without this your affability, candour, and good nature. That perpetual agreeableness of conversation so disengaged in the midst of such a weight of business and opposition,' &c. Miscellanies, 1. p. 224.
lib. ii. s. 6. imitated). See Parnell's Posth. Poem on Queen Anne's Peace, p. 202. for the highest Eulogy on Lord Oxford.
