Observe that this could scarcely have been the ordinary view of the rule of Charles II and James II. True as Swift's estimate is, it probably seemed a paradox to the Revolutionary Whigs, who looked upon these reigns as serious menaces to the liberty of the subject. But cf. note on p. 43, 1. 26.
Evils which to a gentle king,
Too flourishing a spring,
And too warm summers bring:—Ode to Archbishop Sancroft