knew to have been the chief adviser of the queen to grant the same favour in England: that the honour and merit of this would certainly be his, next the queen's; but that it was nothing to him, who had done so much greater things; and that for my part, I thought he was obliged to the clergy of Ireland, for giving him an occasion of gratifying the pleasure he took in doing good to the church[1]. He received my compliment extremely well, and renewed his promises.
Your grace will please to know that, beside the first-fruits, I told him of the crown-rents, and showed the nature and value of them; but said, my opinion was, that the convocation had not mentioned them in their petition to the queen, delivered to lord Wharton with the address, because they thought the times would not then bear it; but that I looked upon myself to have a discretionary power to solicit it in so favourable a juncture. I had two memorials ready of my own drawing up, as short as possible, showing the nature of the thing, and how long it had been depending, &c. One of these memorials had a paragraph at the end relating to the crown-rents; the other had none. In case he had not received the motion of the crown-rents, I would have given him the last, but I gave him the other, which he immediately read, and promised to second both with his best offices to the queen. As I have placed that paragraph in my memorial, it can do no harm, and may possibly do good. However, I beg
- ↑ Dr. Cambell, in his Philosophy of Rhetorick, produces this passage as a fine example of an indirect, but successful manner of praising, by seeming to invert the course of the obligation, and to represent the person obliging as the person obliged.
