ears of intimacy with the
ministers of Anne's court, and by his own temperament, to act the
part of leader and adviser, Swift's compulsory silence must have
chafed and irritated him to a degree. His opportunities for
advancement had passed with the passing of Harley and Bolingbroke
from power, and he had given too ardent and enthusiastic a support
to these friends of his for Walpole to look to him for a like
service. Moreover, however strong may have been these personal
motives, Swift's detestation of Walpole's Irish policy must have
been deep and bitter, even before he began to express himself on
the matter. His sincerity cannot be doubted, even if we make an
ample allowance for a private grudge against the great English
minister. The condition of Ireland, at this time, was such as to
arouse the warmest indignation from the most indifferent and
unprejudiced--and it was a condition for which English misrule was
mainly responsible. It cannot therefore be wondered at that Swift
should be among the strenuous and persistent opponents of a policy
which spelled ruin to his country, and his patriotism must be
recognized even if we accept the existence of a personal motive.

The crass stupidity which characterized England's dealings with
Ireland at this time would be hardly credible, were it not on
record in the acts passed in the reigns of Charles II. and William
III., and embodied in the resolutions of the English parliament
during Walpole's term of power. An impartial historian is forced to
the conclusion that England had determined to ruin the sister
nation. Already its social life was disreputable; the people taxed
in various ways far beyond their means; the agriculture at the
lowest state by the neglect and indifference of the landed
proprietors; and the manufactures crippled by a series of
pernicious restrictions imposed by a selfish rival.

Swift, in writing this "Proposal," did not take advantage of any
special occasion, as he did later in the matter of Wood's
halfpence. His occasion must be found in the condition of the
country, in the injustice to which she was subjected, and in the
fact that the time had come when it would be wise and safe for him
to come out once more into the open.

He began in his characteristic way. All the evils tha