lowing articles, which by a folemn oath he shall be obliged to perform. 1, The man-mountain fhall not depart from our dominions, without our licence under our great feal. 2d, He shall not presume to come into our metropolis, without our exprefs order; at which time the inhabitants fhall have two hours warning to keep within doors. 3d, The faid man-mountain fhall confine his walks to our principal high-roads, and not offer to walk or lie down in a meadow or field of corn. 4th, As he walks the faid roads, he fhall take the utmost care not to trample upon the bodies of any of our loving fubjects, their horfes, or carriages; nor take any of our fubjects into his hands, without their own confent. 5th, If an exprefs requires extraordinary dif patch, the man-mountain fhall be obliged to carry in his pocket the meffenger and horse a fix days journey once in every moon, and return the faid meffenger back (if so required) safe to our Imperial prefence. 6th, He fhall be our ally against our neighbours in the island of Blefufcu*, and do his ut moft In his defcription of Lilliput, the author feems to have had England more immediately in view. In his defcription of Blefufcu, he feems to intend the people and kingdom of France. Yet the allegory between these nations is frequently interrupted, and scarce any where complete. Several juft ftrokes of fatire are fcattered here and there, upon errors in the conduct of our overnment. Orrery. all moft to destroy the fleet, which is now preparing to invade us. 7th, That the faid man-mountain shall, at his times of leifure, be aiding and affifting to our workmen, in helping to raise certain great stones, towards covering the wall of the principal park, and other our royal buildings. 8th, That the said man-mountain fhall, in two moons time, deliver in an exact furvey of the circumference of our dominions, by a computation of his own paces round the coaft. Laftly, That, upon his folemn oath to obferve all the above articles, the faid man-mountain shall have a daily allowance of meat and drink, fufficient for the fupport of 1724 of our fubjects; with free access to our royal perfon, and other marks of our favour. Given at our palace at Belfaborac, the twelfth day of the ninety-first moon of our reign. I fwore and fubfcribed to thefe articles with great chearfulness and content, although fome of them were not fo honourable as I could have wifhed; which proceeded wholly from the malice of Skyresh Bolgolam, the high admiral; whereupon my chains were immediately unlocked, and I was full at liberty. The Emperor himself, in perfon, did me the honour to be by at the whole ceremony. I made my acknowledgements, by proftrating myself at his Majefty's feet; but he commanded me to rife; and after many gracious expreffions, which, to avoid the cenfure of vanity, I fhall not repeat, he added, that he hoped I fhould prove a ufeful fervant, and well deferve all the favours he had already conferred upon me, or might do for the future. The reader may please to obferve, that, in the laft article for the recovery of my liberty, the Emperor ftipulates to allow me a quantity of meat and drink fufficient for the fupport of 1724 Lilliputians. Some time after afking a friend at court, how they came to fix on that determined number; he told me, that his Majefty's mathematicians, having taken the height of my body by the help of a quadrant, and finding it to exceed theirs in the proportion of twelve to one, they concluded from the fimilarity of their bodies, that mine must contain at least 1724 of theirs, and confequently would require as much food as was neceffary to fupport that number of Lilliputians. By which the reader may conceive an idea of the ingenuity of that people, as well as the prudent and exact economy of fo great a prince. CHAP. CHA P. IV. Mildendo, the metropolis of Lilliput, described, toge ther with the Emperor's palace. A converfation between the author and a principal fecretary, concerning the affairs of that empire. The author's offers to ferve the Emperor in his wars. HE first request I made, after I had ob THE tained my liberty, was, that I might have licence to fee Mildendo, the metropolis; which the Emperor eafily granted me, but with a fpecial charge to do no hurt either to the inhabitants or their houses. The people had notice, by proclamation, of my defign to vifit the town. The wall, which encompaffed it, is two feet and a half high, and at leaft eleven inches broad, fo that a coach and horfes may be driven very fafely round it; and it is flanked with ftrong towers at ten feet distance. I ftept over the great weftern gate, and paffed very gently, and fideling, through the two principal ftrects, only in my fhort waistcoat, for fear of damaging the roofs and eves of the houses with the fkirts of my coat. I walked with the utmost circumfpection, to avoid treading on any stragglers who might remain in the streets; although the orders were very ftrict, that all people fhould keep in their houses at their own peril. The garret-windows, and tops of houses, were fo crouded with specta tors, that I thought in all my travels I had not feen a more populous place. The city is an exact fquare, each fide of the wall being five hundred feet long. The two great streets, which run across and divide it into four quarters, are five feet wide. The lanes and alleys, which I could not enter, but only viewed them as I paffed, are from twelve to eighteen inches. The town is capable of holding five hundred thousand fouls: The houfes are from three to five ftories: The fhops and markets well provided. The Emperor's palace is in the centre of the city, where the two great streets meet. It is inclofed by a wall of two feet high, and twenty feet diftance from the buildings. I had his Majefty's permiffion to ftep over this wall; and the fpace being fo wide between that and the palace, I could eafily view it on every fide. The outward court is a fquare of forty feet, and includes two other courts: In the inmost are the royal apartments, which I was very defirous to fee, but found it extremely difficult; for the great gates, from one fquare into another, were but eighteen inches high, and feven inches wide. Now, the buildings of the outer court were at leaft five feet high; and it was impoffible for me to ftride over them without infinite damage to the pile, though the walls were strongly built of hewn stone, and four inches thick. At the fame time the Emperor had a great defire, that I fhould fee the magnificence of his palace; but this I was not able to do till three days after, |