Born:

1678

Died:

1751

In 1714 Swift thought Bolingbroke more blameable than Harley for the collapse of the Tory ministry, but the large correspondence (50 letters) between him and Swift that survives from this and the later period of their acquaintance shows the deep regard and friendship that always marked their acquaintance. Bolingbroke had none of the intellectual influence on Swift that he did on Pope, Gay and (in a different sphere) on the Patriot opponents of Walpole, but they shared the bitter style of exiles, and there are similarities between their oddly populist brands of Toryism. In Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift, St. John is accused (with Pulteney) of driving Swift's prose style out of date, and of mauling ministers of state with too much success.

Henry St. John was secretary at war at the age of 26 (1704-8), and secretary of state with Harley by the end of 1710. Although never a member of the Scriblerus club he did much to support Tory literary culture against the dominance of the Kit-Kat Whigs, founding the 'Brothers Club' in 1711 to help support ministerial writers. He was closely involved with Prior's Parisian negotiations towards the Treaty of Utrecht, which he concluded in person in 1713. He was impeached in 1714 and fled to France. Secretary of State to the Pretender until 1716, he was finally ousted from the Jacobite court on account of his unavailing attempts to safeguard the Church of England in the pretender's 'Declaration of Invasion' (1715). He petitioned Walpole to return to England, and was granted leave in 1723, but he soon fell out with the minister. From 1726 he masterminded the opposition to Walpole in the press, particularly The Craftsman, in which he published his 'Dissertation on Parties' in 1733. It was during this period that his influence on Pope was at its hight, culminating in his crucial contribution of ideas to the Essay on Man (1733). He went back into French exile in 1735, having given up the struggle against Walpole, although he continued to write on political questions, allowing his Idea of a Patriot King to circulate in 1738. David Mallet published his works in 1754 -- the widespread hostility with which they were received all but destroyed his reputation until the 20th century.