Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 11.djvu/159

Rh Mr. Harley was yesterday to open to the house the ways he has thought of, to raise funds for securing the unprovided debts of the nation; and we are all impatient to know what his proposals are.

As to the imperfect account you say you have received of disagreement among ourselves, your lordship knows that the names of whig and tory have quite altered their meanings. All who were for turning out the late ministry, we now generally call tories; and in that sense, I think it plain that there are among the tories three different interests: one, of those, I mean the ministry, who agree with your lordship and me, in a steady management for pursuing the true interest of the nation; another is, that of warmer heads, as the October club and their adherents without doors; and a third is, I fear, of those who, as your lordship expresses it, would sound a parley, and who would make fair weather in case of a change; and some of these last are not inconsiderable.

Nothing can be more obliging than your lordship's remembering to mention me in your letters to Mr. Harley and Mr. St. John, when you are in the midst of such great affairs. I doubt I shall want such an advocate as your lordship; for I believe, every man who has modesty or merit, is but an ill one for himself. I desire but the smallest of those titles you give me on the outside of your letter. My ambition is to live in England, and with a competency to support me with honour. The ministry know by this time whether I am worth keeping; and it is easier to provide for ten men in the church, than one in a civil employment. Rh