This was the servant well known to all SWIFT’S friends, by the name of Saunders; which was the appellation by which SWIFT always named him.
The Dean was remarkably kind to him throughout the course of several years, spent in his service; and more particularly throughout the course of a tedious illness, under which he laboured for many months before he died.
The candid reader will, I hope, forgive me, that I add this little anecdote.
In the original draught, which I saw in the Dean’s own hand-writing, it stood thus——
—— His grateful Friend, and master, &c.
A gentleman of the Dean's acquaintance, much more distinguished for vanity than wisdom, prevailed upon him to leave out the word Friend, and only write, his grateful master; and this in contradiction to a known maxim of his own; that an affectionate, and faithful servant, should always be considered in the character of a humble friend.
- Patrick Delany,
Observations upon Lord Orrery’s Remarks
on the Life and Writings of Dr. Jonathan Swift