Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 4.djvu/115

Rh and expelled him the house. He was a person much caressed by the opposers of the queen and ministry; having been first drawn into their party, by his indifference to any principles, and afterwards, kept steady by the loss of his place. His bold, forward countenance, altogether a stranger to that infirmity which makes men bashful, joined to a readiness of speaking in publick, has justly entitled him, among those of his faction, to be a sort of leader in the second form. The reader must excuse me for being so particular about one, who is otherwise altogether obscure.

Another part of the report concerned the duke of Marlborough, who had received large sums of money, by way of gratuity, from those who were the undertakers for providing the army with bread. This the duke excused, in a letter to the commissioners, from the like practice of other generals: but that excuse appeared to be of little weight, and the mischievous consequences of such a corruption were visible enough; since the money given by these undertakers, were but bribes for connivance at their indirect dealings with the army. And, as frauds that begin at the top, are apt to spread through all the subordinate ranks of those who have any share in the management, and to increase as they circulate; so, in this case, for every thousand pounds given to the general, the soldiers at least suffered fourfold.

Another article of this report, relating to the duke, was yet of more importance. The greatest part of her majesty's forces in Flanders, were mercenary troops, hired from several princes of Europe. It was found that the queen's general subtracted two and half per cent out of the pay of those