Thus his
solemn "Argument to prove that the Abolishing of Christianity may be
attended with Some Inconveniences" is such a frightful satire upon the
abuses of Christianity by its professed followers that it is impossible for
us to say whether Swift intended to point out needed reforms, or to satisfy
his conscience,[190] or to perpetrate a joke on the Church, as he had done
on poor Partridge. So also with his "Modest Proposal," concerning the
children of Ireland, which sets up the proposition that poor Irish farmers
ought to raise children as dainties, to be eaten, like roast pigs, on the
tables of prosperous Englishmen. In this most characteristic work it is
impossible to find Swift or his motive. The injustice under which Ireland
suffered, her perversity in raising large families to certain poverty, and
the indifference of English politicians to her suffering and protests are
all mercilessly portrayed; but why? That is still the unanswered problem of
Swift's life and writings.

Swift's two greatest satires are his _Tale of a Tub_ and _Gulliver's
Travels_. The _Tale_ began as a grim exposure of the alleged weaknesses of
three principal forms of religious belief, Catholic, Lutheran, and
Calvinist, as opposed to the Anglican; but it ended in a satire upon all
science and philosophy.

Swift explains his whimsical title by the custom of mariners in throwing
out a tub to a whale, in order to occupy the monster's attention and divert
it from an attack upon the ship,--which only proves how little Swift knew
of whales or sailors. But let that pass. His book is a tub thrown out to
the enemies of Church and State to keep them occupied from further attacks
or criticism; and the substance of the argument is that all churches, and
indeed all religion and science and statesmanship, are arrant hypocrisy.
The best known part of the book is the allegory of the old man who died and
left a coat (which is Christian Truth) to each of his three sons, Peter,
Martin, and Jack, with minute directions for its care and use. These three
names stand for Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists; and the way in which
the sons evade their father's will and change the fashion of their garment
is part of the bitter satire upon all religious sects. Though it professes
to defend the Anglican Church, that institution fares perhaps worse than
the others; for nothing is left to her but a thin cloak of custom under
which to hide her alleged hypocrisy.

In _Gul