ABSTRACT
Of all the acquaintances Swift saw during his late fifties, the one who came nearest to his anglophile ideal of statesman and humanist was no squire, however rich and kind, but the Lord Lieutenant himself. In Carteret was realized again the heroic figure Swift once believed he had found in Temple: greatness and goodness united, or a virtuous man benevolently wielding political power. Carteret in private was a faithful husband and a loving father; in public he was an energetic, just, and tactful governor. He combined talents that were simply opposed in most politicians: the manners of a courtier, the candour of a man of good will, the learning of a scholar, the penetration of a manager of men. For Swift he had even the advantage of losing in the match with Walpole. Ireland for Carteret (during his limited stays there) was a kind of exile, even as it was for Swift, and as Moor Park had been for Temple. The myth of justice defeated after a brief triumph seemed embodied in the viceroy.
