To this Pope replied on October 15th: "Our friend Gay is used as the friends of Tories are by Whigs, and generally by Tories too.

Because he had humour he was supposed to have dealt with Dr.Swift; in like manner as when anyone had learning formerly, he was thought to have dealt with the devil.

He puts his whole trust at Court in that lady whom I described to you."[4] "That lady," presumably was Mrs.Howard.But Gay, unable to secure the interest of the politicians, and getting weary of waiting on his friends, suddenly bethought himself of making a direct appeal to royalty.

"Gay is writing tales for Prince William,"[5] Pope wrote to Swift on December 10th.

"Mr.Philips[6] will take this very ill for two reasons, one that he thinks all childish things belong to him, and the other because he will take it ill to be taught that one may write things to a child without being childish." Than which last few prettier compliments have been paid to Gay.
Though they had long been in correspondence, Swift and Gay had not yet met.