may appear to be in to foreigners, we labour under two mighty evils; a violent faction at home, and the danger of an invafion by a most potent enemy from abroad. As to the first, you are to understand, that for above feventy moons paft there have been two struggling parties in this empire, under the names of Trameckfan and Slameckfan", from the high and low heels of their fhoes, by which they distinguish themselves. It is alledged indeed, that the high heels are most agreeable to our ancient conftitution; but, however this be, his majesty hath determined to make use only of low heels in the adminiftration of the government, and all offices in the gift of the crown, as you cannot but obferve; and particularly, that his majesty's imperial heels are lower at least by a drurr than any of his court (drurr is a meafure about the fourteenth part of an inch.) The animofities between thefe two parties run fo high, that they will neither eat nor drink, nor talk with each other. We compute the Trameckfan, or highheels, to exceed us in number; but the power is wholly on our fide. We apprehend his imperial highness, the heir to the crown, to have fome tendency towards the high-heels; at leaft, we can plainly discover, that one of his a High-church and low-church, or whig and tory. As every accidental difference between man and man in perfon and circumftances is by this work rendered extremely contemptible; fo/pe 5 culative differences are fhewn to be equally ridiculous, when the zeal with which they are oppofed and defended too much exceeds their importance. heels heels is higher than the other, which gives him a hobble in his gate. Now, in the midst of these intestine difquiets we are threatened with an invafion from the island of Blefufcu, which is the other great empire of the univerfe, almoft as large and powerful as this of his majesty. For as to what we have heard you affirm, that there are other kingdoms and ftates in the world inhabited by human creatures as large as yourself, our philofophers are in much doubt, and would rather conjecture that you dropped from the moon, or one of the stars; because it is certain, that an hundred mortals of your bulk would in a fhort time deftroy all the fruits and cattle of his majesty's dominions: befides, our hiftories of fix thousand moons make no mention of any other regions, than the two great empires of Lilliput and Blefufcu. Which two mighty powers have, as I was going to tell you, been engaged in a moft obftinate war for fix and thirty moons paft. It began upon the following occafion it is allowed on all hands, that the primitive way of breaking eggs, before we eat them, was upon the larger end; but his prefent majefty's grandfather, while he was a boy, going to eat an egg, and breaking it according to the antient practice, happened to cut one of his fingers. Whereupon, the emperor, his father, published an edict, commanding all his fubjects, upon great penalties, to break the finaller end of their eggs. The people fo highly resented this law, that our histories tell us, there have been fix rebellions raifed on that account; wherein one emperor loft his life, and another his crown. These civil commotions were constantly fomented by the monarchs of Blefufcu; and when they were quelled, the exiles always fled for refuge to that empire. It is computed that eleven thousand perfons have at feveral times fuffered death, rather than fubmit to break their eggs at the fmaller end. Many hundred large volumes have been published upon this controversy; but the books of the Big-endians have been long forbidden, and the whole party rendered incapable by law of holding employments. During the course of these troubles, the emperors of Blefufcu did frequently expoftulate by their ambaffadors, accufing us of making a fchifm in religion by offending against a fundamental doctrine of our great prophet Lufrog, in the fifty-fourth chapter of the Blundecral (which is their Alcoran.) This however is thought to be a mere strain upon the text; for the words are thefe: that all true believers break their eggs at the convenient end. And which is the convenient end, feems in my humble opinion to be left to every man's conscience, or at least in the power of the chief magistrate to determine. Now, the Big-endian exiles have found fo much credit in the emperor of Blefufcu's court, and fo much private aflistance and encouragement from their party here at home, that a bloody war had been carried on between the two empires for fix and thirty moons, with various fuccefs; during which time we have loft forty capital fhips, and a much greater number of smaller veffels, together with thirty thousand of our best feamen and foldiers; and the damage received by the enemy is reckoned to be fomewhat greater than ours. However, they have now equipped a numerous fleet, and are just preparing to make a defcent upon us; and his imperial majefty, placing great confidence in your valour and strength, hath commanded me to lay this account of his affairs before you. I defired the fecretary to prefent my humble duty to the emperor, and to let him know, that I thought it would not become me, who was a foreigner, to interfere with parties; but I was ready with the hazard of my life to defend his person and state against all invaders *. a Gulliver, without examin. ing the fubject of difpute, readily engaged to defend the emperor against invafion; because he knew that no fuch monarch had a right to invade the dominions of another, though for the propagation of truth. VOL. II. E CHAP. CHA P. V. The author, by an extraordinary ftratagem, prévents an invafion. A high title of honour is conferred upon him. Amballadors arrive from the emperor of Blefufcu, and fue for peace. The empress's apartment on fire by an accident; the author inftrumental in faving the rest of the palace. THE HE empire of Blefufcu is an island fituated to the north-eaft fide of Lilliput, from whence it is parted only by a channel of eight hundred yards wide. I had not yet seen it, and upon this notice of an intended invafion I avoided appearing on that fide of the coaft, for fear of being discovered by fome of the enemy's fhips, who had received no intelligence of me, all intercourfe between the two empires having been ftrictly forbidden during the war upon pain of death, and an embargo laid by our emperor upon all veffels whatfoever. I communicated to his majesty a project I had formed of feizing the enemy's whole fleet which, as our feouts affured us, lay at anchor in the harbour ready to fail with the first fair wind. I confulted the most experienced feamen upon the depth of the channel, which they had often plummed; who told me, that in the middle at high-water it was feventy glumgluffs deep, which is about fix feet of eropean measure; and the rest of it fifty glum gluff's |