being necessary they should soon be
fill'd up) and he had but a very small Acquaintance among his
People; so that he was under a kind of Necessity of throwing his
Affairs into my Hands, I having the Reputation of being pretty well
practised in certain Branches of his Revenues.

"I had Reason to suspect, that this new Preferment was not intended
as a Favour, and that I was to continue no longer in this Station,
than till some other Person more agreeable could be fix'd upon; but
in order to improve the Opportunity, I apply'd my self strenuously
to the Avarice of the _Squabbaws_, and gave with Prodigality; for I
bore in Mind my former Miscarriages. This had all its Effect; they
had never met with a Person so fit for their Purpose, and by these
Arguments they began to be convinc'd, that if another should be
preferr'd to my Place, they would be no Gainers by the Change.

"Since this good Understanding betwixt us, Matters have been so
managed, that no Person has had Access to the Emperor, but thro' my
Recommendation; so that my Enemies cannot fill his Ears with
Complaints of my Administration; and whenever I observe any Person
attempting to lay the State of Affairs before his Imperial Majesty,
the _Squabbaws_, by my Instructions, are to insinuate into the royal
Ear some Jealousies and Fears of that Person, that the Emperor may
forbid his Admittance; so that he only sees with my Eyes, and hears
by my Report.

"As this in a great Measure has render'd me safe against the Attempts
of my Enemies, yet I can't deny but that it has encreas'd their
Number, and furnish'd them with Matter to clamour against me; and
these Clamours have possess'd the Publick with a kind of an Aversion
to my Conduct, tho' they have not reach'd the Throne.

"But as it is not possible, but that the Officers of State belonging
to a great Emperor, of which there must be many in Number, must
sometimes have Opportunities of talking with him, I have taken Care
to prevent any Danger from thence, by chusing for those Posts Birds
of the weakest Capacities, altogether ignorant of the Affairs of the
Empire; for one in a high Station, who makes the publick Interest
subservient to his own, will never be safe, unless he takes Care,
that no Creature who acts with him, shall have any Sense except
himself. I am not the first who have laid this down as a Maxim; some
of my Predecessors began to pra