The Life and Romances of Mrs. Eliza Haywood eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 244 pages of information about The Life and Romances of Mrs. Eliza Haywood.

The Life and Romances of Mrs. Eliza Haywood eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 244 pages of information about The Life and Romances of Mrs. Eliza Haywood.

“With this Advantage, join’d to the most soothing and insinuating Behaviour, he came to Court, and, by his Artifices, so wound himself into the Favour of some great Officers, that he was not long without being put into a considerable Post.  This he discharged so well, that he was soon promoted to a better, and at length to those of the highest Trust and Honour in the Kingdom.  But that which was most remarkable in him, and very much contributed to endear him to all Sorts of People, was that his Elevation did not seem to have made the least Change in his Sentiments.  His natural Pride, his Lust, his exorbitant Ambition, were disguised under the Appearance of Sweetness of Disposition, Chastity, and even more Condescension, than was consistent with the Rank he then possest.  By this Behaviour, he render’d himself so far from exciting Envy, that those, by whose Recommendation he had obtained what he enjoy’d, and with some of whom he was now on more than an Equality, wish’d rather to see an Augmentation, than Diminution of a Power he so well knew to use; and so successful was his Hypocrisy, that the most Discerning saw not into his Designs, till he found means to accomplish them, to the almost total Ruin of both King and People."[10] Ochihatou worms his way into the favor of the king, and after gaining complete ascendancy over his royal master, uses the power for his own ends.  He fills the positions at court with wretches subservient to his own interests.  “He next proceeded to seize the publick Treasure into his own Hands, which he converted not to Works of Justice or Charity, or any Uses for the Honour of the Kingdom, but in building stately Palaces for himself, his Wives, and Concubines, and enriching his mean Family, and others who adhered to him, and assisted in his Enterprizes.”  Lest this reference should not be plain enough in its application to Walpole’s extravagances at Houghton, Mrs. Haywood adds in a footnote, “Our Author might have saved himself the Trouble of particularizing in what manner Ochihatou apply’d the Nation’s Money; since he had said enough in saying, he was a Prime Minister, to make the Reader acquainted with his Conduct in that Point.”  Further allusions to a standing army of mercenaries and to an odious tribe of tax-collectors—­two of the most popular grievances against Walpole—­give additional force to the satire.  There is a suspicion that in the character of the young prince banished by Ochihatou readers of a right turn of mind were intended to perceive a cautious allusion to the Pretender. [Transcriber’s note:  Quotes in paragraph in original, not block quote.]

That Walpole not only perceived, but actively resented the affront, we may infer, though evidence is lacking, from the six years of silence that followed the publication of the satire.  Perhaps the government saw fit to buy off the troublesome author by a small appointment, but such indulgent measures were not usually applied to similar cases.  More probably Eliza found it wise to seek in France or some neighboring country the safety from the malignant power of the Prime Minister that her heroine sought in the kingdom of Oozoff.

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The Life and Romances of Mrs. Eliza Haywood from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.