The Emperor's council that presses the charges against Gulliver stands for the commission of inquiry that preferred charges against the Tories. As a result of these charges, Harley and Bolingbroke were threatened with trials for treason. The first article, making water in the palace, may have reference to rumors that the Tories were sympathetic to Roman Catholicism. It may also apply to the charge that Harley and Bolingbroke treasonably and secretly revealed the instructions of the English negotiators to the French negotiators. The second charge correlates with overt attacks on the Tories for their refusal to continue the war and for their tries at negotiating a reasonable peace. The third charge stands for the accusation that Harley and Bolingbroke carried on secret correspondence with French negotiators. The fourth charge reflects the accusation that Harley and Bolingbroke intended to flee to France if their treason were discovered.
Swift uses this chapter to show that English politicians were bloody-minded and treacherous. In detail, he records the bloody and cruel methods that the Lilliputians plan to use to kill Gulliver; then he comments ironically on the mercy, decency, generosity, and justice of kings. The Lilliputian emperor, out of mercy, plans to blind and starve Gulliver. This plan seems a direct reference to George's treatment of some captured Jacobites. He executed them — after parliament had called him most merciful and lenient.
