[418a] Addressed “To Mrs. Johnson, at her lodgings over against St. Mary’s Church, near Capel Street, Dublin, Ireland.” Endorsed “Mar. 30.”
[419a] The Mohocks succeeded the Scowrers of William III.’s reign. Gay (Trivia, iii. 325) says—
“Who has not heard the Scowrers’ midnight fame?
Who has not trembled at the Mohocks’ name?”
Lady Wentworth (Wentworth Papers, 277) says: “They put an old woman into a hogshead, and rolled her down a hill; they cut off some noses, others’ hands, and several barbarous tricks, without any provocation. They are said to be young gentlemen; they never take any money from any.” See also the Spectator, Nos. 324, 332, and 347 (where Budgell alludes to “the late panic fear”), and Defoe’s Review for March 15, 1712. Swift was in considerable alarm about the Mohocks throughout March, and said that they were all Whigs. The reports that numbers of persons, including men of figure, had joined together to commit assaults in the streets, made many fear to leave their houses at night. A proclamation was issued for the suppressing of riots and the discovery of those guilty of the late outrages; but it seems probable that the disorders were not more frequent than might be expected from time to time in a great city.
[419b] Henry Davenant, son of Charles Davenant (see p. [58]), was Resident at Frankfort. Macky described him as “very giddy-headed, with some wit,” to which Swift added, “He is not worth mentioning.”
[419c] Thomas Burnet, youngest son of Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, was at this time a young man about town of no good reputation. Afterwards he turned his attention to the law, and was appointed a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1741. He was knighted in 1745, and died in 1753.
[420a] By Arbuthnot, written to recommend the peace proposals of the Government. The full title was, Law is a Bottomless Pit. Exemplified in the case of the Lord Strutt, John Bull, Nicholas Frog, and Lewis Baboon; who spent all they had in a Law Suit.
[420c] Our little language.