Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 4.djvu/439

Rh definition. Whoever bears a true veneration for the glorious memory of king William, as our great deliverer from popery and slavery; whoever is firmly loyal to our present queen, with an utter abhorrence and detestation of the pretender; whoever approves the succession to the crown in the house of Hanover, and is for preserving the doctrine and discipline of the church of England, with an indulgence for scrupulous consciences; such a man we think acts upon right principles, and may be justly allowed a whig: and I believe there are not six members in our house of commons, who may not fairly come under this description. So that the parties among us are made up, on one side, of moderate whigs, and on the other of presbyterians and their abettors; by which last I mean such, who can equally go to a church or conventicle, or such who are indifferent to all religion in general; or lastly, such who affect to bear a personal rancour toward the clergy: these last are a set of men not of our own growth, their principles at least have been imported of late years; yet this whole party put together, will scarce, I am confident, amount to above fifty men in parliament, which can hardly be worked up into a majority of three hundred.

As to the house of lords, the difficulty there, is conceived at least as great as in ours. So many of our temporal peers live in England, that the bishops are generally pretty near a par of the house, and we reckon they will be all to a man against repealing the test; and yet their lordships are generally thought as good whigs upon our principles, as any in the kingdom. There are indeed a few lay lords, who