ther madam Violante[1] be a whig or tory in her principles; or even that she has ever been offered the oaths to the government: on the contrary, I am told, that she openly professes herself to be a highflyer; and it is not improbable, by her outlandish name, she may also be a papist in her heart; yet we see this illustrious and dangerous female, openly caressed by principal persons of both parties; who contribute to support her in a splendid manner, without the least apprehensions from a grand jury, or even from squire Hartley Hutcheson himself, that zealous prosecutor of hawkers and libels. And, as Hobbes wisely observes, so much money being equivalent to so much power, it may deserve considering, with what safety such an instrument of power ought to be trusted in the hands of an alien, who has not given any legal security for her good affection to the government.
I confess, there is one evil which I could wish our friends would thing proper to redress. There are many whigs in this kingdom of the old fashioned stamp, of whom we might make very good use. They bear the same loyalty with us to the Hanoverian family, in the person of king George the IId; the same abhorrence of the pretender, with the consequences of popery and slavery; and the same indulgence to tender consciences: but having nothing to ask for themselves, and therefore the more leisure to think for the publick, they are often apt to entertain fears, and melancholy prospects, concerning the state of their country, the decay of trade, the want of
- ↑ A famous Italian ropedancer.
