Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 3.djvu/314

306 out to us too? If the powerful hand he means be that of France, it may reach out as many kings as it pleases; but we will not accept them. Whence does this man get his intelligence? I should think even his brother Ridpath might furnish him with better. What crowns or kingdoms has France dealt about? Spain was given by the will of the former king, in consequence of that infamous treaty of partition, the adviser of which will, I hope, never be forgot in England. Sicily was disposed of, by her majesty of Great-Britain; so in effect was Sardinia. France indeed once reached out a king to Poland, but the people would not receive him. This question of Mr. Steele's was therefore only put in terrorem, without any regard to truth. Seventhly, are there no pretensions to our crown that can ever be revived? There may, for aught I know, be about a dozen; and those, in time, may possibly beget a hundred; but we must do as well as we can. Captain Bessus, when he had fifty challenges to answer, protested he could not fight above three duels a day. If the pretender should fail, (says the writer) the French king has in his quiver a succession of them; the duchess of Savoy, or her sons, or the dauphin her grandson. Let me suppose the chevalier de St. George to be dead; the duchess of Savoy will then be a pretender, and consequently must leave her husband, because his royal highness (for Mr. Steele has not yet acknowledged him for a king) is in alliance with her British majesty; her sons, when they grow pretenders, must undergo the same fate. But I am at a loss how to dispose of the dauphin, if he happen to be king of France before the pretendership to Britain falls to his share; for I doubt he will never