Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 12.djvu/375

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MADAM,

DO now pity the leisure you have to read a letter from me; and this letter shall be a history. First, therefore, I call you to witness, that I did not attend on the queen till I had received her own repeated messages; which, of course, occasioned my being introduced to you. I never asked any thing till, upon leaving England the first time, I desired from you a present worth a guinea, and from her majesty one worth ten pounds, by way of a memorial. Yours I received; and the queen, upon my taking leave of her, made an excuse that she had intended a medal for me; which not being ready, she would send it me the Christmas following; yet this was never done, nor at all remembered when I went back to England the next year, and by her commands, attended her as I had done before. I must now tell you, madam, that I will receive no medal from her majesty, nor any thing less than her picture at half length, drawn by Jervas; and if he takes it from another original, the queen shall sit at least twice for him to touch it up. I desire you will let her majesty know this in plain words, although I have heard that I am under her displeasure. But this is a usual thing with princes, as well as ministers, upon every false representation; and so I took occasion to tell the queen, upon the quarrel Mr. Walpole had with our friend Gay, the first time I ever had the honour to attend her. Against