. . .Garth was even remotely connected with the Marlboroughs, but all of them were Whigs, and in various ways serve to "demonstrate" that Whigs must be false brethren to the Church of England.

This charge, although a cliché of Tory satires, is here made indirect and witty, as are the staple charges against the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. Whereas, however, the wickedness of nonconformity had been attacked for decades, the Duke of Marlborough had been associated with the Whigs for a relatively short time. As late as 1706 Wagstaffe could generously declare that "Woodstock's too little" a reward (Ramelies, a Poem), but since Swift's "Bill of British Ingratitude" in the Examiner (17 November 1710) the Tory press had begun to say that the rewards were too many and too great. The Story repeats the charge that Avaro and Haggite "grew Richer than their Mistress" (p. 11), together with the[Pg vi] ridiculous insinuations of cowardice and incompetence found constantly re. . . Read More