Gulliver's Travels
A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT Conclusion
He desired I would stand like a Colossus, with my legs as far asunder as I conveniently could. He then commanded his general (who was an old experienced leader, and a great patron of mine) to draw up the troops in close order, and march them under me; the foot by twenty-four abreast, and the horse by sixteen, with drums beating, colours flying, and pikes advanced.
by Jonathan Swift
Illustrated By J. J. Grandville
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PART I. A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT(Conclusion).
CHAPTER V.
[The author, by an extraordinary stratagem, prevents an invasion.
A high title of honour is conferred upon him. Ambassadors arrive
from the emperor of Blefuscu, and sue for peace. The empress's
apartment on fire by an accident; the author instrumental in
saving the rest of the palace.]
The empire of Blefuscu is an island situated to the north-east of
Lilliput, from which it is parted only by a channel of eight
hundred yards wide. I had not yet seen it, and upon this notice
of an intended invasion, I avoided appearing on that side of the
coast, for fear of being discovered, by some of the enemy's
ships, who had received no intelligence of me; all intercourse
between the two empires having been strictly forbidden during the
war, upon pain of death, and an embargo laid by our emperor upon
all vessels whatsoever. I communicated to his majesty a project
I had formed of seizing the enemy's whole fleet; which, as our
scouts assured us, lay at anchor in the harbour, ready to sail
with the first fair wind. I consulted the most experienced
seamen upon the depth of the channel, which they had often
plumbed; who told me, that in the middle, at high-water, it was
seventy GLUMGLUFFS deep, which is about six feet of European
measure; and the rest of it fifty GLUMGLUFFS at most. I walked
towards the north-east coast, over against Blefuscu, where, lying
down behind a hillock, I took out my small perspective glass, and
viewed the enemy's fleet at anchor, consisting of about fifty men
of war, and a great number of transports: I then came back to my
house, and gave orders (for which I had a warrant) for a great
quantity of the strongest cable and bars of iron. The cable was
about as thick as packthread and the bars of the length and size
of a knitting-needle. I trebled the cable to make it stronger,
and for the same reason I twisted three of the iron bars
together, bending the extremities into a hook. Having thus fixed
fifty hooks to as many cables, I went back to the north-east
coast, and putting off my coat, shoes, and stockings, walked into
the sea, in my leathern jerkin, about half an hour before high
water. I waded with what haste I could, and swam in the middle
about thirty yards, till I felt ground. I arrived at the fleet
in less than half an hour. The enemy was so frightened when they
saw me, that they leaped out of their ships, and swam to shore,
where there could not be fewer than thirty thousand souls. I
then took my tackling, and, fastening a hook to the hole at the
prow of each, I tied all the cords together at the end. While I
was thus employed, the enemy discharged several thousand arrows,
many of which stuck in my hands and face, and, beside the
excessive smart, gave me much disturbance in my work. My greatest
apprehension was for mine eyes, which I should have infallibly
lost, if I had not suddenly thought of an expedient. I kept,
among other little necessaries, a pair of spectacles in a private
pocket, which, as I observed before, had escaped the emperor's
searchers. These I took out and fastened as strongly as I could
upon my nose, and thus armed, went on boldly with my work, in
spite of the enemy's arrows, many of which struck against the
glasses of my spectacles, but without any other effect, further
than a little to discompose them. I had now fastened all the
hooks, and, taking the knot in my hand, began to pull; but not a
ship would stir, for they were all too fast held by their
anchors, so that the boldest part of my enterprise remained. I
therefore let go the cord, and leaving the looks fixed to the
ships, I resolutely cut with my knife the cables that fastened
the anchors, receiving about two hundred shots in my face and
hands; then I took up the knotted end of the cables, to which my
hooks were tied, and with great ease drew fifty of the enemy's
largest men of war after me.
The Blefuscudians, who had not the least imagination of what I
intended, were at first confounded with astonishment. They had
seen me cut the cables, and thought my design was only to let the
ships run adrift or fall foul on each other: but when they
perceived the whole fleet moving in order, and saw me pulling at
the end, they set up such a scream of grief and despair as it is
almost impossible to describe or conceive. When I had got out of
danger, I stopped awhile to pick out the arrows that stuck in my
hands and face; and rubbed on some of the same ointment that was
given me at my first arrival, as I have formerly mentioned. I
then took off my spectacles, and waiting about an hour, till the
tide was a little fallen, I waded through the middle with my
cargo, and arrived safe at the royal port of Lilliput.
The emperor and his whole court stood on the shore, expecting the
issue of this great adventure. They saw the ships move forward
in a large half-moon, but could not discern me, who was up to my
breast in water. When I advanced to the middle of the channel,
they were yet more in pain, because I was under water to my neck.
The emperor concluded me to be drowned, and that the enemy's
fleet was approaching in a hostile manner: but he was soon eased
of his fears; for the channel growing shallower every step I
made, I came in a short time within hearing, and holding up the
end of the cable, by which the fleet was fastened, I cried in a
loud voice, "Long live the most puissant king of Lilliput!" This
great prince received me at my landing with all possible
encomiums, and created me a NARDAC upon the spot, which is the
highest title of honour among them.
His majesty desired I would take some other opportunity of
bringing all the rest of his enemy's ships into his ports. And
so unmeasureable is the ambition of princes, that he seemed to
think of nothing less than reducing the whole empire of Blefuscu
into a province, and governing it, by a viceroy; of destroying
the Big-endian exiles, and compelling that people to break the
smaller end of their eggs, by which he would remain the sole
monarch of the whole world. But I endeavoured to divert him from
this design, by many arguments drawn from the topics of policy as
well as justice; and I plainly protested, "that I would never be
an instrument of bringing a free and brave people into slavery."
And, when the matter was debated in council, the wisest part of
the ministry were of my opinion.
This open bold declaration of mine was so opposite to the schemes
and politics of his imperial majesty, that he could never forgive
me. He mentioned it in a very artful manner at council, where I
was told that some of the wisest appeared, at least by their
silence, to be of my opinion; but others, who were my secret
enemies, could not forbear some expressions which, by a
side-wind, reflected on me. And from this time began an intrigue
between his majesty and a junto of ministers, maliciously bent
against me, which broke out in less than two months, and had like
to have ended in my utter destruction. Of so little weight are
the greatest services to princes, when put into the balance with
a refusal to gratify their passions.
About three weeks after this exploit, there arrived a solemn
embassy from Blefuscu, with humble offers of a peace, which was
soon concluded, upon conditions very advantageous to our emperor,
wherewith I shall not trouble the reader. There were six
ambassadors, with a train of about five hundred persons, and
their entry was very magnificent, suitable to the grandeur of
their master, and the importance of their business. When their
treaty was finished, wherein I did them several good offices by
the credit I now had, or at least appeared to have, at court,
their excellencies, who were privately told how much I had been
their friend, made me a visit in form. They began with many
compliments upon my valour and generosity, invited me to that
kingdom in the emperor their master's name, and desired me to
show them some proofs of my prodigious strength, of which they
had heard so many wonders; wherein I readily obliged them, but
shall not trouble the reader with the particulars.
When I had for some time entertained their excellencies, to their
infinite satisfaction and surprise, I desired they would do me
the honour to present my most humble respects to the emperor
their master, the renown of whose virtues had so justly filled
the whole world with admiration, and whose royal person I
resolved to attend, before I returned to my own country.
Accordingly, the next time I had the honour to see our emperor, I
desired his general license to wait on the Blefuscudian monarch,
which he was pleased to grant me, as I could perceive, in a very
cold manner; but could not guess the reason, till I had a whisper
from a certain person, "that Flimnap and Bolgolam had represented
my intercourse with those ambassadors as a mark of disaffection;"
from which I am sure my heart was wholly free. And this was the
first time I began to conceive some imperfect idea of courts and
ministers.
It is to be observed, that these ambassadors spoke to me, by an
interpreter, the languages of both empires differing as much from
each other as any two in Europe, and each nation priding itself
upon the antiquity, beauty, and energy of their own tongue, with
an avowed contempt for that of their neighbour; yet our emperor,
standing upon the advantage he had got by the seizure of their
fleet, obliged them to deliver their credentials, and make their
speech, in the Lilliputian tongue. And it must be confessed,
that from the great intercourse of trade and commerce between
both realms, from the continual reception of exiles which is
mutual among them, and from the custom, in each empire, to send
their young nobility and richer gentry to the other, in order to
polish themselves by seeing the world, and understanding men and
manners; there are few persons of distinction, or merchants, or
seamen, who dwell in the maritime parts, but what can hold
conversation in both tongues; as I found some weeks after, when I
went to pay my respects to the emperor of Blefuscu, which, in the
midst of great misfortunes, through the malice of my enemies,
proved a very happy adventure to me, as I shall relate in its
proper place.
The reader may remember, that when I signed those articles upon
which I recovered my liberty, there were some which I disliked,
upon account of their being too servile; neither could anything
but an extreme necessity have forced me to submit. But being now
a NARDAC of the highest rank in that empire, such offices were
looked upon as below my dignity, and the emperor (to do him
justice), never once mentioned them to me. However, it was not
long before I had an opportunity of doing his majesty, at least
as I then thought, a most signal service. I was alarmed at
midnight with the cries of many hundred people at my door; by
which, being suddenly awaked, I was in some kind of terror. I
heard the word BURGLUM repeated incessantly: several of the
emperor's court, making their way through the crowd, entreated me
to come immediately to the palace, where her imperial majesty's
apartment was on fire, by the carelessness of a maid of honour,
who fell asleep while she was reading a romance. I got up in an
instant; and orders being given to clear the way before me, and
it being likewise a moonshine night, I made a shift to get to the
palace without trampling on any of the people. I found they had
already applied ladders to the walls of the apartment, and were
well provided with buckets, but the water was at some distance.
These buckets were about the size of large thimbles, and the poor
people supplied me with them as fast as they could: but the
flame was so violent that they did little good. I might easily
have stifled it with my coat, which I unfortunately left behind
me for haste, and came away only in my leathern jerkin. The case
seemed wholly desperate and deplorable; and this magnificent
palace would have infallibly been burnt down to the ground, if,
by a presence of mind unusual to me, I had not suddenly thought
of an expedient. I had, the evening before, drunk plentifully of
a most delicious wine called GLIMIGRIM, (the Blefuscudians call
it FLUNEC, but ours is esteemed the better sort,) which is very
diuretic. By the luckiest chance in the world, I had not
discharged myself of any part of it. The heat I had contracted
by coming very near the flames, and by labouring to quench them,
made the wine begin to operate by urine; which I voided in such a
quantity, and applied so well to the proper places, that in three
minutes the fire was wholly extinguished, and the rest of that
noble pile, which had cost so many ages in erecting, preserved
from destruction.
It was now day-light, and I returned to my house without waiting
to congratulate with the emperor: because, although I had done a
very eminent piece of service, yet I could not tell how his
majesty might resent the manner by which I had performed it:
for, by the fundamental laws of the realm, it is capital in any
person, of what quality soever, to make water within the
precincts of the palace. But I was a little comforted by a
message from his majesty, "that he would give orders to the grand
justiciary for passing my pardon in form:" which, however, I
could not obtain; and I was privately assured, "that the empress,
conceiving the greatest abhorrence of what I had done, removed to
the most distant side of the court, firmly resolved that those
buildings should never be repaired for her use: and, in the
presence of her chief confidents could not forbear vowing
revenge."
CHAPTER VI.
[Of the inhabitants of Lilliput; their learning, laws, and
customs; the manner of educating their children. The author's
way of living in that country. His vindication of a great lady.]
Although I intend to leave the description of this empire to a
particular treatise, yet, in the mean time, I am content to
gratify the curious reader with some general ideas. As the
common size of the natives is somewhat under six inches high, so
there is an exact proportion in all other animals, as well as
plants and trees: for instance, the tallest horses and oxen are
between four and five inches in height, the sheep an inch and
half, more or less: their geese about the bigness of a sparrow,
and so the several gradations downwards till you come to the
smallest, which to my sight, were almost invisible; but nature
has adapted the eyes of the Lilliputians to all objects proper
for their view: they see with great exactness, but at no great
distance. And, to show the sharpness of their sight towards
objects that are near, I have been much pleased with observing a
cook pulling a lark, which was not so large as a common fly; and
a young girl threading an invisible needle with invisible silk.
Their tallest trees are about seven feet high: I mean some of
those in the great royal park, the tops whereof I could but just
reach with my fist clenched. The other vegetables are in the
same proportion; but this I leave to the reader's imagination.
I shall say but little at present of their learning, which, for
many ages, has flourished in all its branches among them: but
their manner of writing is very peculiar, being neither from the
left to the right, like the Europeans,
but aslant, from one corner of the paper to the other, like
ladies in England.
They bury their dead with their heads directly downward, because
they hold an opinion, that in eleven thousand moons they are all
to rise again; in which period the earth (which they conceive to
be flat) will turn upside down, and by this means they shall, at
their resurrection, be found ready standing on their feet. The
learned among them confess the absurdity of this doctrine; but
the practice still continues, in compliance to the vulgar.
There are some laws and customs in this empire very peculiar; and
if they were not so directly contrary to those of my own dear
country, I should be tempted to say a little in their
justification. It is only to be wished they were as well
executed. The first I shall mention, relates to informers. All
crimes against the state, are punished here with the utmost
severity; but, if the person accused makes his innocence plainly
to appear upon his trial, the accuser is immediately put to an
ignominious death; and out of his goods or lands the innocent
person is quadruply recompensed for the loss of his time, for the
danger he underwent, for the hardship of his imprisonment, and
for all the charges he has been at in making his defence; or, if
that fund be deficient, it is largely supplied by the crown. The
emperor also confers on him some public mark of his favour, and
proclamation is made of his innocence through the whole city.
They look upon fraud as a greater crime than theft, and therefore
seldom fail to punish it with death; for they allege, that care
and vigilance, with a very common understanding, may preserve a
man's goods from thieves, but honesty has no defence against
superior cunning; and, since it is necessary that there should be
a perpetual intercourse of buying and selling, and dealing upon
credit, where fraud is permitted and connived at, or has no law
to punish it, the honest dealer is always undone, and the knave
gets the advantage. I remember, when I was once interceding with
the emperor for a criminal who had wronged his master of a great
sum of money, which he had received by order and ran away with;
and happening to tell his majesty, by way of extenuation, that it
was only a breach of trust, the emperor thought it monstrous in
me to offer as a defence the greatest aggravation of the crime;
and truly I had little to say in return, farther than the common
answer, that different nations had different customs; for, I
confess, I was heartily ashamed. (2)
Although we usually call reward and punishment the two hinges
upon which all government turns, yet I could never observe this
maxim to be put in practice by any nation except that of
Lilliput. Whoever can there bring sufficient proof, that he has
strictly observed the laws of his country for seventy-three
moons, has a claim to certain privileges, according to his
quality or condition of life, with a proportionable sum of money
out of a fund appropriated for that use: he likewise acquires
the title of SNILPALL, or legal, which is added to his name, but
does not descend to his posterity. And these people thought it a
prodigious defect of policy among us, when I told them that our
laws were enforced only by penalties, without any mention of
reward. It is upon this account that the image of Justice, in
their courts of judicature, is formed with six eyes, two before,
as many behind, and on each side one, to signify circumspection;
with a bag of gold open in her right hand, and a sword sheathed
in her left, to show she is more disposed to reward than to
punish.
In choosing persons for all employments, they have more regard to
good morals than to great abilities; for, since government is
necessary to mankind, they believe, that the common size of human
understanding is fitted to some station or other; and that
Providence never intended to make the management of public
affairs a mystery to be comprehended only by a few persons of
sublime genius, of which there seldom are three born in an age:
but they suppose truth, justice, temperance, and the like, to be
in every man's power; the practice of which virtues, assisted by
experience and a good intention, would qualify any man for the
service of his country, except where a course of study is
required. But they thought the want of moral virtues was so far
from being supplied by superior endowments of the mind, that
employments could never be put into such dangerous hands as those
of persons so qualified; and, at least, that the mistakes
committed by ignorance, in a virtuous disposition, would never be
of such fatal consequence to the public weal, as the practices of
a man, whose inclinations led him to be corrupt, and who had
great abilities to manage, to multiply, and defend his
corruptions.
In like manner, the disbelief of a Divine Providence renders a
man incapable of holding any public station; for, since kings
avow themselves to be the deputies of Providence, the
Lilliputians think nothing can be more absurd than for a prince
to employ such men as disown the authority under which he acts.
In relating these and the following laws, I would only be
understood to mean the original institutions, and not the most
scandalous corruptions, into which these people are fallen by the
degenerate nature of man. For, as to that infamous practice of
acquiring great employments by dancing on the ropes, or badges of
favour and distinction by leaping over sticks and creeping under
them, the reader is to observe, that they were first introduced
by the grandfather of the emperor now reigning, and grew to the
present height by the gradual increase of party and faction.
Ingratitude is among them a capital crime, as we read it to have
been in some other countries: for they reason thus; that whoever
makes ill returns to his benefactor, must needs be a common enemy
to the rest of mankind, from whom he has received no obligation,
and therefore such a man is not fit to live.
Their notions relating to the duties of parents and children
differ extremely from ours. For, since the conjunction of male
and female is founded upon the great law of nature, in order to
propagate and continue the species, the Lilliputians will needs
have it, that men and women are joined together, like other
animals, by the motives of concupiscence; and that their
tenderness towards their young proceeds from the like natural
principle: for which reason they will never allow that a child
is under any obligation to his father for begetting him, or to
his mother for bringing him into the world; which, considering
the miseries of human life, was neither a benefit in itself, nor
intended so by his parents, whose thoughts, in their love
encounters, were otherwise employed. Upon these, and the like
reasonings, their opinion is, that parents are the last of all
others to be trusted with the education of their own children;
and therefore they have in every town public nurseries, where all
parents, except cottagers and labourers, are obliged to send
their infants of both sexes to be reared and educated, when they
come to the age of twenty moons, at which time they are supposed
to have some rudiments of docility. These schools are of several
kinds, suited to different qualities, and both sexes. They have
certain professors well skilled in preparing children for such a
condition of life as befits the rank of their parents, and their
own capacities, as well as inclinations. I shall first say
something of the male nurseries, and then of the female.
The nurseries for males of noble or eminent birth, are provided
with grave and learned professors, and their several deputies.
The clothes and food of the children are plain and simple. They
are bred up in the principles of honour, justice, courage,
modesty, clemency, religion, and love of their country; they are
always employed in some business, except in the times of eating
and sleeping, which are very short, and two hours for diversions
consisting of bodily exercises. They are dressed by men till
four years of age, and then are obliged to dress themselves,
although their quality be ever so great; and the women attendant,
who are aged proportionably to ours at fifty, perform only the
most menial offices. They are never suffered to converse with
servants, but go together in smaller or greater numbers to take
their diversions, and always in the presence of a professor, or
one of his deputies; whereby they avoid those early bad
impressions of folly and vice, to which our children are subject.
Their parents are suffered to see them only twice a year; the
visit is to last but an hour; they are allowed to kiss the child
at meeting and parting; but a professor, who always stands by on
those occasions, will not suffer them to whisper, or use any
fondling expressions, or bring any presents of toys, sweetmeats,
and the like.
The pension from each family for the education and entertainment
of a child, upon failure of due payment, is levied by the
emperor's officers.
The nurseries for children of ordinary gentlemen, merchants,
traders, and handicrafts, are managed proportionably after the
same manner; only those designed for trades are put out
apprentices at eleven years old, whereas those of persons of
quality continue in their exercises till fifteen, which answers
to twenty-one with us: but the confinement is gradually lessened
for the last three years.
In the female nurseries, the young girls of quality are educated
much like the males, only they are dressed by orderly servants of
their own sex; but always in the presence of a professor or
deputy, till they come to dress themselves, which is at five
years old. And if it be found that these nurses ever presume to
entertain the girls with frightful or foolish stories, or the
common follies practised by chambermaids among us, they are
publicly whipped thrice about the city, imprisoned for a year,
and banished for life to the most desolate part of the country.
Thus the young ladies are as much ashamed of being cowards and
fools as the men, and despise all personal ornaments, beyond
decency and cleanliness: neither did I perceive any difference in
their education made by their difference of sex, only that the
exercises of the females were not altogether so robust; and that
some rules were given them relating to domestic life, and a
smaller compass of learning was enjoined them: for their maxim
is, that among peoples of quality, a wife should be always a
reasonable and agreeable companion, because she cannot always be
young. When the girls are twelve years old, which among them is
the marriageable age, their parents or guardians take them home,
with great expressions of gratitude to the professors, and seldom
without tears of the young lady and her companions.
In the nurseries of females of the meaner sort, the children are
instructed in all kinds of works proper for their sex, and their
several degrees: those intended for apprentices are dismissed at
seven years old, the rest are kept to eleven.
The meaner families who have children at these nurseries, are
obliged, besides their annual pension, which is as low as
possible, to return to the steward of the nursery a small monthly
share of their gettings, to be a portion for the child; and
therefore all parents are limited in their expenses by the law.
For the Lilliputians think nothing can be more unjust, than for
people, in subservience to their own appetites, to bring children
into the world, and leave the burthen of supporting them on the
public. As to persons of quality, they give security to
appropriate a certain sum for each child, suitable to their
condition; and these funds are always managed with good husbandry
and the most exact justice.
The cottagers and labourers keep their children at home, their
business being only to till and cultivate the earth, and
therefore their education is of little consequence to the public:
but the old and diseased among them, are supported by hospitals;
for begging is a trade unknown in this empire.
And here it may, perhaps, divert the curious reader, to give some
account of my domestics, and my manner of living in this country,
during a residence of nine months, and thirteen days. Having a
head mechanically turned, and being likewise forced by necessity,
I had made for myself a table and chair convenient enough, out of
the largest trees in the royal park. Two hundred sempstresses
were employed to make me shirts, and linen for my bed and table,
all of the strongest and coarsest kind they could get; which,
however, they were forced to quilt together in several folds, for
the thickest was some degrees finer than lawn. Their linen is
usually three inches wide, and three feet make a piece. The
sempstresses took my measure as I lay on the ground, one standing
at my neck, and another at my mid-leg, with a strong cord
extended, that each held by the end, while a third measured the
length of the cord with a rule of an inch long. Then they
measured my right thumb, and desired no more; for by a
mathematical computation, that twice round the thumb is once
round the wrist, and so on to the neck and the waist, and by the
help of my old shirt, which I displayed on the ground before them
for a pattern, they fitted me exactly. Three hundred tailors were
employed in the same manner to make me clothes; but they had
another contrivance for taking my measure. I kneeled down, and
they raised a ladder from the ground to my neck; upon this ladder
one of them mounted, and let fall a plumb-line from my collar to
the floor, which just answered the length of my coat: but my
waist and arms I measured myself. When my clothes were finished,
which was done in my house (for the largest of theirs would not
have been able to hold them), they looked like the patch-work
made by the ladies in England, only that mine were all of a
colour.
I had three hundred cooks to dress my victuals, in little
convenient huts built about my house, where they and their
families lived, and prepared me two dishes a-piece. I took up
twenty waiters in my hand, and placed them on the table: a
hundred more attended below on the ground, some with dishes of
meat, and some with barrels of wine and other liquors slung on
their shoulders; all which the waiters above drew up, as I
wanted, in a very ingenious manner, by certain cords, as we draw
the bucket up a well in Europe. A dish of their meat was a good
mouthful, and a barrel of their liquor a reasonable draught.
Their mutton yields to ours, but their beef is excellent. I have
had a sirloin so large, that I have been forced to make three
bites of it; but this is rare. My servants were astonished to
see me eat it, bones and all, as in our country we do the leg of
a lark. Their geese and turkeys I usually ate at a mouthful, and
I confess they far exceed ours. Of their smaller fowl I could
take up twenty or thirty at the end of my knife.
One day his imperial majesty, being informed of my way of living,
desired "that himself and his royal consort, with the young
princes of the blood of both sexes, might have the happiness," as
he was pleased to call it, "of dining with me." They came
accordingly, and I placed them in chairs of state, upon my table,
just over against me, with their guards about them. Flimnap, the
lord high treasurer, attended there likewise with his white
staff; and I observed he often looked on me with a sour
countenance, which I would not seem to regard, but ate more than
usual, in honour to my dear country, as well as to fill the court
with admiration. I have some private reasons to believe, that
this visit from his majesty gave Flimnap an opportunity of doing
me ill offices to his master. That minister had always been my
secret enemy, though he outwardly caressed me more than was usual
to the moroseness of his nature. He represented to the emperor
"the low condition of his treasury; that he was forced to take up
money at a great discount; that exchequer bills would not
circulate under nine per cent. below par; that I had cost his
majesty above a million and a half of SPRUGS" (their greatest
gold coin, about the bigness of a spangle) "and, upon the whole,
that it would be advisable in the emperor to take the first fair
occasion of dismissing me."
I am here obliged to vindicate the reputation of an excellent
lady, who was an innocent sufferer upon my account. The
treasurer took a fancy to be jealous of his wife, from the malice
of some evil tongues, who informed him that her grace had taken a
violent affection for my person; and the court scandal ran for
some time, that she once came privately to my lodging. This I
solemnly declare to be a most infamous falsehood, without any
grounds, further than that her grace was pleased to treat me with
all innocent marks of freedom and friendship. I own she came
often to my house, but always publicly, nor ever without three
more in the coach, who were usually her sister and young
daughter, and some particular acquaintance; but this was common
to many other ladies of the court. And I still appeal to my
servants round, whether they at any time saw a coach at my door,
without knowing what persons were in it. On those occasions,
when a servant had given me notice, my custom was to go
immediately to the door, and, after paying my respects, to take
up the coach and two horses very carefully in my hands (for, if
there were six horses, the postillion always unharnessed four,)
and place them on a table, where I had fixed a movable rim quite
round, of five inches high, to prevent accidents. And I have
often had four coaches and horses at once on my table, full of
company, while I sat in my chair, leaning my face towards them;
and when I was engaged with one set, the coachmen would gently
drive the others round my table. I have passed many an afternoon
very agreeably in these conversations. But I defy the treasurer,
or his two informers (I will name them, and let them make the
best of it) Clustril and Drunlo, to prove that any person ever
came to me INCOGNITO, except the secretary Reldresal, who was
sent by express command of his imperial majesty, as I have before
related. I should not have dwelt so long upon this particular,
if it had not been a point wherein the reputation of a great lady
is so nearly concerned, to say nothing of my own; though I then
had the honour to be a NARDAC, which the treasurer himself is
not; for all the world knows, that he is only a GLUMGLUM, a title
inferior by one degree, as that of a marquis is to a duke in
England; yet I allow he preceded me in right of his post. These
false informations, which I afterwards came to the knowledge of
by an accident not proper to mention, made the treasurer show his
lady for some time an ill countenance, and me a worse; and
although he was at last undeceived and reconciled to her, yet I
lost all credit with him, and found my interest decline very fast
with the emperor himself, who was, indeed, too much governed by
that favourite.
CHAPTER VII.
[The author, being informed of a design to accuse him of
high-treason, makes his escape to Blefuscu. His reception
there.]
Before I proceed to give an account of my leaving this kingdom,
it may be proper to inform the reader of a private intrigue which
had been for two months forming against me.
I had been hitherto, all my life, a stranger to courts, for which
I was unqualified by the meanness of my condition. I had indeed
heard and read enough of the dispositions of great princes and
ministers, but never expected to have found such terrible effects
of them, in so remote a country, governed, as I thought, by very
different maxims from those in Europe.
When I was just preparing to pay my attendance on the emperor of
Blefuscu, a considerable person at court (to whom I had been very
serviceable, at a time when he lay under the highest displeasure
of his imperial majesty) came to my house very privately at
night, in a close chair, and, without sending his name, desired
admittance. The chairmen were dismissed; I put the chair, with
his lordship in it, into my coat-pocket: and, giving orders to a
trusty servant, to say I was indisposed and gone to sleep, I
fastened the door of my house, placed the chair on the table,
according to my usual custom, and sat down by it. After the
common salutations were over, observing his lordship's
countenance full of concern, and inquiring into the reason, he
desired "I would hear him with patience, in a matter that highly
concerned my honour and my life." His speech was to the following
effect, for I took notes of it as soon as he left me:-
"You are to know," said he, "that several committees of council
have been lately called, in the most private manner, on your
account; and it is but two days since his majesty came to a full
resolution.
"You are very sensible that Skyresh Bolgolam" (GALBET, or
high-admiral) "has been your mortal enemy, almost ever since your
arrival. His original reasons I know not; but his hatred is
increased since your great success against Blefuscu, by which his
glory as admiral is much obscured. This lord, in conjunction
with Flimnap the high-treasurer, whose enmity against you is
notorious on account of his lady, Limtoc the general, Lalcon the
chamberlain, and Balmuff the grand justiciary, have prepared
articles of impeachment against you, for treason and other
capital crimes."
This preface made me so impatient, being conscious of my own
merits and innocence, that I was going to interrupt him; when he
entreated me to be silent, and thus proceeded:--
"Out of gratitude for the favours you have done me, I procured
information of the whole proceedings, and a copy of the articles;
wherein I venture my head for your service.
ARTICLE I.
"'Whereas, by a statute made in the reign of his imperial majesty
Calin Deffar Plune, it is enacted, that, whoever shall make water
within the precincts of the royal palace, shall be liable to the
pains and penalties of high-treason; notwithstanding, the said
Quinbus Flestrin, in open breach of the said law, under colour of
extinguishing the fire kindled in the apartment of his majesty's
most dear imperial consort, did maliciously, traitorously, and
devilishly, by discharge of his urine, put out the said fire
kindled in the said apartment, lying and being within the
precincts of the said royal palace, against the statute in that
case provided, etc. against the duty, etc.
ARTICLE II.
"'That the said Quinbus Flestrin, having brought the imperial
fleet of Blefuscu into the royal port, and being afterwards
commanded by his imperial majesty to seize all the other ships of
the said empire of Blefuscu, and reduce that empire to a
province, to be governed by a viceroy from hence, and to destroy
and put to death, not only all the Big-endian exiles, but
likewise all the people of that empire who would not immediately
forsake the Big-endian heresy, he, the said Flestrin, like a
false traitor against his most auspicious, serene, imperial
majesty, did petition to be excused from the said service, upon
pretence of unwillingness to force the consciences, or destroy
the liberties and lives of an innocent people.
ARTICLE III.
"'That, whereas certain ambassadors arrived from the Court of
Blefuscu, to sue for peace in his majesty's court, he, the said
Flestrin, did, like a false traitor, aid, abet, comfort, and
divert, the said ambassadors, although he knew them to be
servants to a prince who was lately an open enemy to his imperial
majesty, and in an open war against his said majesty.
ARTICLE IV.
"'That the said Quinbus Flestrin, contrary to the duty of a
faithful subject, is now preparing to make a voyage to the court
and empire of Blefuscu, for which he has received only verbal
license from his imperial majesty; and, under colour of the said
license, does falsely and traitorously intend to take the said
voyage, and thereby to aid, comfort, and abet the emperor of
Blefuscu, so lately an enemy, and in open war with his imperial
majesty aforesaid.'
"There are some other articles; but these are the most important,
of which I have read you an abstract.
"In the several debates upon this impeachment, it must be
confessed that his majesty gave many marks of his great lenity;
often urging the services you had done him, and endeavouring to
extenuate your crimes. The treasurer and admiral insisted that
you should be put to the most painful and ignominious death, by
setting fire to your house at night, and the general was to
attend with twenty thousand men, armed with poisoned arrows, to
shoot you on the face and hands. Some of your servants were to
have private orders to strew a poisonous juice on your shirts and
sheets, which would soon make you tear your own flesh, and die in
the utmost torture. The general came into the same opinion; so
that for a long time there was a majority against you; but his
majesty resolving, if possible, to spare your life, at last
brought off the chamberlain.
"Upon this incident, Reldresal, principal secretary for private
affairs, who always approved himself your true friend, was
commanded by the emperor to deliver his opinion, which he
accordingly did; and therein justified the good thoughts you have
of him. He allowed your crimes to be great, but that still there
was room for mercy, the most commendable virtue in a prince, and
for which his majesty was so justly celebrated. He said, the
friendship between you and him was so well known to the world,
that perhaps the most honourable board might think him partial;
however, in obedience to the command he had received, he would
freely offer his sentiments. That if his majesty, in
consideration of your services, and pursuant to his own merciful
disposition, would please to spare your life, and only give
orders to put out both your eyes, he humbly conceived, that by
this expedient justice might in some measure be satisfied, and
all the world would applaud the lenity of the emperor, as well as
the fair and generous proceedings of those who have the honour to
be his counsellors. That the loss of your eyes would be no
impediment to your bodily strength, by which you might still be
useful to his majesty; that blindness is an addition to courage,
by concealing dangers from us; that the fear you had for your
eyes, was the greatest difficulty in bringing over the enemy's
fleet, and it would be sufficient for you to see by the eyes of
the ministers, since the greatest princes do no more.
"This proposal was received with the utmost disapprobation by the
whole board. Bolgolam, the admiral, could not preserve his
temper, but, rising up in fury, said, he wondered how the
secretary durst presume to give his opinion for preserving the
life of a traitor; that the services you had performed were, by
all true reasons of state, the great aggravation of your crimes;
that you, who were able to extinguish the fire by discharge of
urine in her majesty's apartment (which he mentioned with
horror), might, at another time, raise an inundation by the same
means, to drown the whole palace; and the same strength which
enabled you to bring over the enemy's fleet, might serve, upon
the first discontent, to carry it back; that he had good reasons
to think you were a Big-endian in your heart; and, as treason
begins in the heart, before it appears in overt-acts, so he
accused you as a traitor on that account, and therefore insisted
you should be put to death.
"The treasurer was of the same opinion: he showed to what
straits his majesty's revenue was reduced, by the charge of
maintaining you, which would soon grow insupportable; that the
secretary's expedient of putting out your eyes, was so far from
being a remedy against this evil, that it would probably increase
it, as is manifest from the common practice of blinding some kind
of fowls, after which they fed the faster, and grew sooner fat;
that his sacred majesty and the council, who are your judges,
were, in their own consciences, fully convinced of your guilt,
which was a sufficient argument to condemn you to death, without
the formal proofs required by the strict letter of the law.
"But his imperial majesty, fully determined against capital
punishment, was graciously pleased to say, that since the council
thought the loss of your eyes too easy a censure, some other way
may be inflicted hereafter. And your friend the secretary,
humbly desiring to be heard again, in answer to what the
treasurer had objected, concerning the great charge his majesty
was at in maintaining you, said, that his excellency, who had the
sole disposal of the emperor's revenue, might easily provide
against that evil, by gradually lessening your establishment; by
which, for want of sufficient for you would grow weak and faint,
and lose your appetite, and consequently, decay, and consume in a
few months; neither would the stench of your carcass be then so
dangerous, when it should become more than half diminished; and
immediately upon your death five or six thousand of his majesty's
subjects might, in two or three days, cut your flesh from your
bones, take it away by cart-loads, and bury it in distant parts,
to prevent infection, leaving the skeleton as a monument of
admiration to posterity.
"Thus, by the great friendship of the secretary, the whole affair
was compromised. It was strictly enjoined, that the project of
starving you by degrees should be kept a secret; but the sentence
of putting out your eyes was entered on the books; none
dissenting, except Bolgolam the admiral, who, being a creature of
the empress, was perpetually instigated by her majesty to insist
upon your death, she having borne perpetual malice against you,
on account of that infamous and illegal method you took to
extinguish the fire in her apartment.
"In three days your friend the secretary will be directed to come
to your house, and read before you the articles of impeachment;
and then to signify the great lenity and favour of his majesty
and council, whereby you are only condemned to the loss of your
eyes, which his majesty does not question you will gratefully and
humbly submit to; and twenty of his majesty's surgeons will
attend, in order to see the operation well performed, by
discharging very sharp-pointed arrows into the balls of your
eyes, as you lie on the ground.
"I leave to your prudence what measures you will take; and to
avoid suspicion, I must immediately return in as private a manner
as I came."
His lordship did so; and I remained alone, under many doubts and
perplexities of mind.
It was a custom introduced by this prince and his ministry (very
different, as I have been assured, from the practice of former
times,) that after the court had decreed any cruel execution,
either to gratify the monarch's resentment, or the malice of a
favourite, the emperor always made a speech to his whole council,
expressing his great lenity and tenderness, as qualities known
and confessed by all the world. This speech was immediately
published throughout the kingdom; nor did any thing terrify the
people so much as those encomiums on his majesty's mercy; because
it was observed, that the more these praises were enlarged and
insisted on, the more inhuman was the punishment, and the
sufferer more innocent. Yet, as to myself, I must confess,
having never been designed for a courtier, either by my birth or
education, I was so ill a judge of things, that I could not
discover the lenity and favour of this sentence, but conceived it
(perhaps erroneously) rather to be rigorous than gentle. I
sometimes thought of standing my trial, for, although I could not
deny the facts alleged in the several articles, yet I hoped they
would admit of some extenuation. But having in my life perused
many state-trials, which I ever observed to terminate as the
judges thought fit to direct, I durst not rely on so dangerous a
decision, in so critical a juncture, and against such powerful
enemies. Once I was strongly bent upon resistance, for, while I
had liberty the whole strength of that empire could hardly subdue
me, and I might easily with stones pelt the metropolis to pieces;
but I soon rejected that project with horror, by remembering the
oath I had made to the emperor, the favours I received from him,
and the high title of NARDAC he conferred upon me. Neither had I
so soon learned the gratitude of courtiers, to persuade myself,
that his majesty's present seventies acquitted me of all past
obligations.
At last, I fixed upon a resolution, for which it is probable I
may incur some censure, and not unjustly; for I confess I owe the
preserving of mine eyes, and consequently my liberty, to my own
great rashness and want of experience; because, if I had then
known the nature of princes and ministers, which I have since
observed in many other courts, and their methods of treating
criminals less obnoxious than myself, I should, with great
alacrity and readiness, have submitted to so easy a punishment.
But hurried on by the precipitancy of youth, and having his
imperial majesty's license to pay my attendance upon the emperor
of Blefuscu, I took this opportunity, before the three days were
elapsed, to send a letter to my friend the secretary, signifying
my resolution of setting out that morning for Blefuscu, pursuant
to the leave I had got; and, without waiting for an answer, I
went to that side of the island where our fleet lay. I seized a
large man of war, tied a cable to the prow, and, lifting up the
anchors, I stripped myself, put my clothes (together with my
coverlet, which I carried under my arm) into the vessel, and,
drawing it after me, between wading and swimming arrived at the
royal port of Blefuscu, where the people had long expected me:
they lent me two guides to direct me to the capital city, which
is of the same name. I held them in my hands, till I came within
two hundred yards of the gate, and desired them "to signify my
arrival to one of the secretaries, and let him know, I there
waited his majesty's command." I had an answer in about an hour,
"that his majesty, attended by the royal family, and great
officers of the court, was coming out to receive me." I advanced
a hundred yards. The emperor and his train alighted from their
horses, the empress and ladies from their coaches, and I did not
perceive they were in any fright or concern. I lay on the ground
to kiss his majesty's and the empress's hands. I told his
majesty, "that I was come according to my promise, and with the
license of the emperor my master, to have the honour of seeing so
mighty a monarch, and to offer him any service in my power,
consistent with my duty to my own prince;" not mentioning a word
of my disgrace, because I had hitherto no regular information of
it, and might suppose myself wholly ignorant of any such design;
neither could I reasonably conceive that the emperor would
discover the secret, while I was out of his power; wherein,
however, it soon appeared I was deceived.
I shall not trouble the reader with the particular account of my
reception at this court, which was suitable to the generosity of
so great a prince; nor of the difficulties I was in for want of a
house and bed, being forced to lie on the ground, wrapped up in
my coverlet.
CHAPTER VIII.
[The author, by a lucky accident, finds means to leave Blefuscu;
and, after some difficulties, returns safe to his native
country.]
Three days after my arrival, walking out of curiosity to the
north-east coast of the island, I observed, about half a league
off in the sea, somewhat that looked like a boat overturned. I
pulled off my shoes and stockings, and, wailing two or three
hundred yards, I found the object to approach nearer by force of
the tide; and then plainly saw it to be a real boat, which I
supposed might by some tempest have been driven from a ship.
Whereupon, I returned immediately towards the city, and desired
his imperial majesty to lend me twenty of the tallest vessels he
had left, after the loss of his fleet, and three thousand seamen,
under the command of his vice-admiral. This fleet sailed round,
while I went back the shortest way to the coast, where I first
discovered the boat. I found the tide had driven it still
nearer. The seamen were all provided with cordage, which I had
beforehand twisted to a sufficient strength. When the ships came
up, I stripped myself, and waded till I came within a hundred
yards off the boat, after which I was forced to swim till I got
up to it. The seamen threw me the end of the cord, which I
fastened to a hole in the fore-part of the boat, and the other
end to a man of war; but I found all my labour to little purpose;
for, being out of my depth, I was not able to work. In this
necessity I was forced to swim behind, and push the boat forward,
as often as I could, with one of my hands; and the tide favouring
me, I advanced so far that I could just hold up my chin and feel
the ground. I rested two or three minutes, and then gave the
boat another shove, and so on, till the sea was no higher than my
arm-pits; and now, the most laborious part being over, I took out
my other cables, which were stowed in one of the ships, and
fastened them first to the boat, and then to nine of the vessels
which attended me; the wind being favourable, the seamen towed,
and I shoved, until we arrived within forty yards of the shore;
and, waiting till the tide was out, I got dry to the boat, and by
the assistance of two thousand men, with ropes and engines, I
made a shift to turn it on its bottom, and found it was but
little damaged.
I shall not trouble the reader with the difficulties I was under,
by the help of certain paddles, which cost me ten days making, to
get my boat to the royal port of Blefuscu, where a mighty
concourse of people appeared upon my arrival, full of wonder at
the sight of so prodigious a vessel. I told the emperor "that my
good fortune had thrown this boat in my way, to carry me to some
place whence I might return into my native country; and begged
his majesty's orders for getting materials to fit it up, together
with his license to depart;" which, after some kind
expostulations, he was pleased to grant.
I did very much wonder, in all this time, not to have heard of
any express relating to me from our emperor to the court of
Blefuscu. But I was afterward given privately to understand, that
his imperial majesty, never imagining I had the least notice of
his designs, believed I was only gone to Blefuscu in performance
of my promise, according to the license he had given me, which
was well known at our court, and would return in a few days, when
the ceremony was ended. But he was at last in pain at my long
absence; and after consulting with the treasurer and the rest of
that cabal, a person of quality was dispatched with the copy of
the articles against me. This envoy had instructions to
represent to the monarch of Blefuscu, "the great lenity of his
master, who was content to punish me no farther than with the
loss of mine eyes; that I had fled from justice; and if I did not
return in two hours, I should be deprived of my title of NARDAC,
and declared a traitor." The envoy further added, "that in order
to maintain the peace and amity between both empires, his master
expected that his brother of Blefuscu would give orders to have
me sent back to Lilliput, bound hand and foot, to be punished as
a traitor."
The emperor of Blefuscu, having taken three days to consult,
returned an answer consisting of many civilities and excuses. He
said, "that as for sending me bound, his brother knew it was
impossible; that, although I had deprived him of his fleet, yet
he owed great obligations to me for many good offices I had done
him in making the peace. That, however, both their majesties
would soon be made easy; for I had found a prodigious vessel on
the shore, able to carry me on the sea, which he had given orders
to fit up, with my own assistance and direction; and he hoped, in
a few weeks, both empires would be freed from so insupportable an
encumbrance."
With this answer the envoy returned to Lilliput; and the monarch
of Blefuscu related to me all that had passed; offering me at the
same time (but under the strictest confidence) his gracious
protection, if I would continue in his service; wherein, although
I believed him sincere, yet I resolved never more to put any
confidence in princes or ministers, where I could possibly avoid
it; and therefore, with all due acknowledgments for his
favourable intentions, I humbly begged to be excused. I told
him, "that since fortune, whether good or evil, had thrown a
vessel in my way, I was resolved to venture myself on the ocean,
rather than be an occasion of difference between two such mighty
monarchs." Neither did I find the emperor at all displeased; and
I discovered, by a certain accident, that he was very glad of my
resolution, and so were most of his ministers.
These considerations moved me to hasten my departure somewhat
sooner than I intended; to which the court, impatient to have me
gone, very readily contributed. Five hundred workmen were
employed to make two sails to my boat, according to my
directions, by quilting thirteen folds of their strongest linen
together. I was at the pains of making ropes and cables, by
twisting ten, twenty, or thirty of the thickest and strongest of
theirs. A great stone that I happened to find, after a long
search, by the sea-shore, served me for an anchor. I had the
tallow of three hundred cows, for greasing my boat, and other
uses. I was at incredible pains in cutting down some of the
largest timber-trees, for oars and masts, wherein I was, however,
much assisted by his majesty's ship-carpenters, who helped me in
smoothing them, after I had done the rough work.
In about a month, when all was prepared, I sent to receive his
majesty's commands, and to take my leave. The emperor and royal
family came out of the palace; I lay down on my face to kiss his
hand, which he very graciously gave me: so did the empress and
young princes of the blood. His majesty presented me with fifty
purses of two hundred SPRUGS a-piece, together with his picture
at full length, which I put immediately into one of my gloves, to
keep it from being hurt. The ceremonies at my departure were too
many to trouble the reader with at this time.
I stored the boat with the carcases of a hundred oxen, and three
hundred sheep, with bread and drink proportionable, and as much
meat ready dressed as four hundred cooks could provide. I took
with me six cows and two bulls alive, with as many ewes and rams,
intending to carry them into my own country, and propagate the
breed. And to feed them on board, I had a good bundle of hay,
and a bag of corn. I would gladly have taken a dozen of the
natives, but this was a thing the emperor would by no means
permit; and, besides a diligent search into my pockets, his
majesty engaged my honour "not to carry away any of his subjects,
although with their own consent and desire."
Having thus prepared all things as well as I was able, I set sail
on the twenty-fourth day of September 1701, at six in the
morning; and when I had gone about four-leagues to the northward,
the wind being at south-east, at six in the evening I descried a
small island, about half a league to the north-west. I advanced
forward, and cast anchor on the lee-side of the island, which
seemed to be uninhabited. I then took some refreshment, and went
to my rest. I slept well, and as I conjectured at least six
hours, for I found the day broke in two hours after I awaked. It
was a clear night. I ate my breakfast before the sun was up; and
heaving anchor, the wind being favourable, I steered the same
course that I had done the day before, wherein I was directed by
my pocket compass. My intention was to reach, if possible, one
of those islands. which I had reason to believe lay to the
north-east of Van Diemen's Land. I discovered nothing all that
day; but upon the next, about three in the afternoon, when I had
by my computation made twenty-four leagues from Blefuscu, I
descried a sail steering to the south-east; my course was due
east. I hailed her, but could get no answer; yet I found I
gained upon her, for the wind slackened. I made all the sail I
could, and in half an hour she spied me, then hung out her
ancient, and discharged a gun. It is not easy to express the joy
I was in, upon the unexpected hope of once more seeing my beloved
country, and the dear pledges I left in it. The ship slackened
her sails, and I came up with her between five and six in the
evening, September 26th; but my heart leaped within me to see her
English colours. I put my cows and sheep into my coat-pockets,
and got on board with all my little cargo of provisions. The
vessel was an English merchantman, returning from Japan by the
North and South seas; the captain, Mr. John Biddel, of Deptford,
a very civil man, and an excellent sailor.
We were now in the latitude of 30 degrees south; there were about
fifty men in the ship; and here I met an old comrade of mine, one
Peter Williams, who gave me a good character to the captain.
This gentleman treated me with kindness, and desired I would let
him know what place I came from last, and whither I was bound;
which I did in a few words, but he thought I was raving, and that
the dangers I underwent had disturbed my head; whereupon I took
my black cattle and sheep out of my pocket, which, after great
astonishment, clearly convinced him of my veracity. I then
showed him the gold given me by the emperor of Blefuscu, together
with his majesty's picture at full length, and some other
rarities of that country. I gave him two purses of two hundreds
SPRUGS each, and promised, when we arrived in England, to make
him a present of a cow and a sheep big with young.
I shall not trouble the reader with a particular account of this
voyage, which was very prosperous for the most part. We arrived
in the Downs on the 13th of April, 1702. I had only one
misfortune, that the rats on board carried away one of my sheep;
I found her bones in a hole, picked clean from the flesh. The
rest of my cattle I got safe ashore, and set them a-grazing in a
bowling-green at Greenwich, where the fineness of the grass made
them feed very heartily, though I had always feared the contrary:
neither could I possibly have preserved them in so long a voyage,
if the captain had not allowed me some of his best biscuit,
which, rubbed to powder, and mingled with water, was their
constant food. The short time I continued in England, I made a
considerable profit by showing my cattle to many persons of
quality and others: and before I began my second voyage, I sold
them for six hundred pounds. Since my last return I find the
breed is considerably increased, especially the sheep, which I
hope will prove much to the advantage of the woollen manufacture,
by the fineness of the fleeces.
I stayed but two months with my wife and family, for my
insatiable desire of seeing foreign countries, would suffer me to
continue no longer. I left fifteen hundred pounds with my wife,
and fixed her in a good house at Redriff. My remaining stock I
carried with me, part in money and part in goods, in hopes to
improve my fortunes. My eldest uncle John had left me an estate
in land, near Epping, of about thirty pounds a year; and I had a
long lease of the Black Bull in Fetter-Lane, which yielded me as
much more; so that I was not in any danger of leaving my family
upon the parish. My son Johnny, named so after his uncle, was at
the grammar-school, and a towardly child. My daughter Betty (who
is now well married, and has children) was then at her
needle-work. I took leave of my wife, and boy and girl, with
tears on both sides, and went on board the Adventure, a merchant
ship of three hundred tons, bound for Surat, captain John
Nicholas, of Liverpool, commander. But my account of this voyage
must be referred to the Second Part of my Travels.