More than once Swift took up his pen to avenge his friend for the slight that he considered had been passed upon him. In "A Libel on the Rev. Mr. Delany and His Excellency Lord Cartaret," he wrote in 1729:—
Thus Gay, the hare with many friends.
Twice seven long years the Court attends;
Who, under tales conveying truth,
To virtue form'd a princely youth;
Who paid his courtship with the crowd,
As far as modest pride allow'd;
Rejects a servile usher's place,
And leaves St. James's in disgrace.