the serpent with seven heads
In a later number of the Examiner , Swift refers to the seven leading members of the Whig party under the name of the Heptarchy. They were the Duke of Marlborough, Lords Godolphin, Somers, Cowper, and Sunderland, Mr. Boyle (lately Chancellor of the Exchequer), and Mr. (afterwards Sir Robert) Walpole. The passage is from Rev. xii. 15.