Modern Language Association MLA Devouring Posterity:"A Modest Proposal",Empire,and Ireland's"Debt of the Nation" Author(s):Sean Moore Source:PMLA.Vol.122.No.3(May,2007).pp.679-695 Published by:Modern Language Association Stable URL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/25501737 Accessed:10-11-2017 17:56 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars,researchers.and students discover,use.and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive.We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.For more information about JSTOR.please contact support@jstor.org. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms Conditions of Use,available at http://about.jstor.org/terms Modern Language Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,preserve and extend access to PMLA USTOR This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri,10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Devouring Posterity: "A Modest Proposal", Empire, and Ireland's "Debt of the Nation" Author(s): Sean Moore Source: PMLA, Vol. 122, No. 3 (May, 2007), pp. 679-695 Published by: Modern Language Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25501737 Accessed: 10-11-2017 17:56 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms Modern Language Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to PMLA This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri, 10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
122.3 Devouring Posterity:A Modest Proposal, Empire,and Ireland's“Debt of the Nationi” SEAN MOORE [OJur modern expedient...is to mortgage the public revenues,and to trust that posterity will pay off the incumbrances contracted by their ancestors. -David Hume,Of Public Credit(167) I GRANT this Food will be somewhat dear,and therefore very proper for Landlords;who,as they have already devoured most of the Parents,seem to have the best Title to the Children. -Jonathan Swift,A Modest Proposal (Prose Works 12:112) ONATHAN SWIFT'S A MODEST PROPOSAL TRADITIONALLY HAS BEEN regarded as an indictment of colonial landlordism in Ireland,one asserted subtly through the play between the narrator's rational overt tone and the author's covert critique of it(Smith 136-37).This design,it has been argued,forces the reader to play the roles of three audiences,the hailing of which he or she anticipates in the process of exegeses.These are an"ideal narrative audience"who finds"the nar- SEAN MOORE is assistant professor for Res toration and eighteenth-century studies rator's argument cogent and compelling,"another who takes the ar- at the University of New Hampshire.His gument as a“serious proposal'”that reflects the“skewed”values of the essays,new-economic and postcolonial first audience,and a third who feels privileged to recognize the cre- readings of eighteenth-century colonial ativity the author showed in crafting the work's irony(Culler 34-35). literatures,have appeared in Atlantic Stud. Swift's correspondence and references to the satire in contemporary ies,the Eighteenth Century:Theory and In- works document multiple receptions,but few studies have positioned terpretation,Eighteenth Century Ireland,the "the reader among the eaters"(Phiddian 618)by locating the "actual Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial audience"Swift addressed when he chose to publish it first in Dublin Studies,and the forthcoming Oxford Uni- in October 1729(Culler 34).Newly discovered external evidence,I versity Press volume The Postcolonial En- lightenment.This article is adapted from a argue,intimates that the parliament convening in Dublin that month chapter in a book he is completing to be may have been the satire's intended target.'This body was composed entitled A Republic of Debt:Swift,Satire. exclusively of the Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy,a landed caste and Colonial Sovereignty. who secured its dominance by legally forbidding non-Anglicans from 2007 BY THE MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA 679 This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri,10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
12 2.3 Devouring Posterity: A Modest Proposal, Empire, and Ireland's "Debt of the Nation" SEAN MOORE SEAN MOORE is assistant professor for Res toration and eighteenth-century studies at the University of New Hampshire. His essays, new-economic and postcolonial readings of eighteenth-century colonial literatures, have appeared in Atlantic Stud ies, the Eighteenth Century: Theory and In terpretation, Eighteenth Century Ireland, the Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies, and the forthcoming Oxford Uni versity Press volume The Postcolonial En lightenment. This article is adapted from a chapter in a book he is completing to be entitled A Republic of Debt: Swift, Satire, and Colonial Sovereignty. [0]ur modern expedient... is to mortgage the public revenues, and to trust that posterity will pay off the incumbrances contracted by their ancestors. ?David Hume, Of Public Credit (167) J GRANT this Food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for Landlords; who, as they have already devoured most ofthe Parents, seem to have the best Title to the Children. ?Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal (Prose Works 12: 112) JONATHAN SWIFT'S >4 MODEST PROPOSAL TRADITIONALLY HAS BEEN regarded as an indictment of colonial landlordism in Ireland, one asserted subtly through the play between the narrator's rational overt tone and the author's covert critique of it (Smith 136-37). This design, it has been argued, forces the reader to play the roles of three audiences, the hailing of which he or she anticipates in the process of exegeses. These are an "ideal narrative audience" who finds "the nar rator s argument cogent and compelling," another who takes the ar gument as a "serious proposal" that reflects the "skewed" values ofthe first audience, and a third who feels privileged to recognize the cre ativity the author showed in crafting the works irony (Culler 34-35). Swift's correspondence and references to the satire in contemporary works document multiple receptions, but few studies have positioned "the reader among the eaters" (Phiddian 618) by locating the "actual audience" Swift addressed when he chose to publish it first in Dublin in October 1729 (Culler 34). Newly discovered external evidence, I argue, intimates that the parliament convening in Dublin that month may have been the satire's intended target.1 This body was composed exclusively ofthe Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy, a landed caste who secured its dominance by legally forbidding non-Anglicans from ? 2007 BY THE MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA 679 This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri, 10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
680 Devouring Posterity:A Modest Proposal,Empire,and Ireland's"Debt of the Nation" PMLA owning property or serving in government.Its of the early eighteenth century,the "synthe- members had lent money to a national secu- sis of sovereignty and capital"envisioned by rity fund in 1716 when the Jacobites,Catho- the bourgeois intellectuals who deposed the lic exiles who had lost their property to the monarchy in 1688(Hardt and Negri 87).The Anglo-Irish in seventeenth-century wars,were founding of the Bank of England in 1694,its preparing to reinvade.Many members of Par- circulation of paper currency,and its manage- liament received interest on this investment ment of a national debt by which a permanent in Ireland's first“debt of the nation”from the standing army could be financed had made taxes that they had the political power to levy Britain the first modern "fiscal-military state" on the native poor,but the famine of the late (Brewer xvii).Swift was among the first to 1720s had decimated the usual revenues,forc- articulate how currency and credit,as John ing them to consider additional ones.Like the Brewer notes in The Sinews of Power,fueled North American colonists in the decades fol- this imperial war machine.The new paper lowing the Seven Years'War,the Anglo-Irish money became his "favourite topic"for politi- members of Parliament were threatened by cal polemic,especially after the South Sea Bub- the British Crown's and Parliament's efforts ble had proved that the worth of banknotes, to appropriate these potential new funds for stock certificates,and government bonds, the empire's operations elsewhere.Ireland given their lack of intrinsic value,was based already was financing British and American solely on confidence generated by publicity expansion into French,Spanish,and Native (Ehrenpreis 3:616).In Swift's view,the credi- American territory to the extent that its sover- tors funding the empire-major companies eignty over its resources,as James Joyce wryly like the bank-would manipulate the value put it centuries later,was attenuated in the of their stock for profit,suggesting that the pull "[b]etween the Saxon smile and yankee state could no longer regulate the economy. yawp.The devil and the deep sea"(187).The This loss of political control occurred because Proposal,accordingly,can be taken to be an companies,in exchange for their loans to the intervention in the budgetary debates of the state,owned large portions of the taxes levied 1729 legislative session by promoting a new on the English people.This form of debt bond- means of fiscal control.I argue that its calcu- age enabled company directors to coerce the lated calendar for baby slaughter allegorically agrarian gentry who were operating the gov- recommended a schedule for temporal re- ernment to support wars necessary to secure straint in consumption-a diet in the stream profits(Colley 64).This manifest eclipse of the of revenue-that would make the empire re- authority of the "landed interest”bya“mon- spect the Irish parliament's feeding hand.By eyed interest"(Kramnick 61)of financiers re- declaring such a fast,the Anglo-Irish could ified the concept of the "nation"as a substitute guarantee that they,and not the British,would for authentic political agency:"Nation-states devour native posterity.This article does not are invented through a process of fetishistic foreclose the satire's many other interpretive misrecognition whereby debt,absence,and possibilities-analysis of its discourses on im- powerlessness are transubstantiated,mainly perialism,poverty,or child molestation,for through class exploitation at home and war example-but contends that approaching its abroad,into their opposites"(Brantlinger 20). actuarial logic in relation to the debt of the “Britishness,”the product of such misrecog- nation opens a new context in which those nition,was compensation for those subjected readings can be further explored.2 to what had become a“sovereignty machine'”: A Modest Proposal could be regarded as an apparatus subsuming personalities to the a response to the English financial revolution point of total mimetic identification with the This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri,10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://aboutjstor.org/terms
68o Devouring Posterity: A Modest Proposal, Empire, and Ireland's "Debt of the Nation" PMLA owning property or serving in government. Its members had lent money to a national secu rity fund in 1716 when the Jacobites, Catho lic exiles who had lost their property to the Anglo-Irish in seventeenth-century wars, were preparing to reinvade. Many members of Par liament received interest on this investment in Ireland's first "debt of the nation" from the taxes that they had the political power to levy on the native poor, but the famine of the late 1720s had decimated the usual revenues, forc ing them to consider additional ones. Like the North American colonists in the decades fol lowing the Seven Years' War, the Anglo-Irish members of Parliament were threatened by the British Crown's and Parliament's efforts to appropriate these potential new funds for the empire's operations elsewhere. Ireland already was financing British and American expansion into French, Spanish, and Native American territory to the extent that its sover eignty over its resources, as James Joyce wryly put it centuries later, was attenuated in the pull "[b]etween the Saxon smile and yankee yawp. The devil and the deep sea" (187). The Proposal, accordingly, can be taken to be an intervention in the budgetary debates of the 1729 legislative session by promoting a new means of fiscal control. I argue that its calcu lated calendar for baby slaughter allegorically recommended a schedule for temporal re straint in consumption?a diet in the stream of revenue?that would make the empire re spect the Irish parliament's feeding hand. By declaring such a fast, the Anglo-Irish could guarantee that they, and not the British, would devour native posterity. This article does not foreclose the satire's many other interpretive possibilities?analysis of its discourses on im perialism, poverty, or child molestation, for example?but contends that approaching its actuarial logic in relation to the debt of the nation opens a new context in which those readings can be further explored.2 A Modest Proposal could be regarded as a response to the English financial revolution ofthe early eighteenth century, the "synthe sis of sovereignty and capital" envisioned by the bourgeois intellectuals who deposed the monarchy in 1688 (Hardt and Negri 87). The founding of the Bank of England in 1694, its circulation of paper currency, and its manage ment of a national debt by which a permanent standing army could be financed had made Britain the first modern "fiscal-military state" (Brewer xvii). Swift was among the first to articulate how currency and credit, as John Brewer notes in The Sinews of Power, fueled this imperial war machine. The new paper money became his "favourite topic" for politi cal polemic, especially after the South Sea Bub ble had proved that the worth of banknotes, stock certificates, and government bonds, given their lack of intrinsic value, was based solely on confidence generated by publicity (Ehrenpreis 3: 616). In Swift's view, the credi tors funding the empire?major companies like the bank?would manipulate the value of their stock for profit, suggesting that the state could no longer regulate the economy. This loss of political control occurred because companies, in exchange for their loans to the state, owned large portions ofthe taxes levied on the English people. This form of debt bond age enabled company directors to coerce the agrarian gentry who were operating the gov ernment to support wars necessary to secure profits (Colley 64). This manifest eclipse ofthe authority ofthe "landed interest" by a "mon eyed interest" (Kramnick 61) of financiers re ified the concept ofthe "nation" as a substitute for authentic political agency: "Nation-states are invented through a process of fetishistic misrecognition whereby debt, absence, and powerlessness are transubstantiated, mainly through class exploitation at home and war abroad, into their opposites" (Brantlinger 20). "Britishness," the product of such misrecog nition, was compensation for those subjected to what had become a "sovereignty machine": an apparatus subsuming personalities to the point of total mimetic identification with the This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri, 10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
122,3 Sean Moore 681 transcendent nation (Hardt and Negri 87-88). models the new economic criticism's potential Women's bodies,as Charlotte Sussman has to step beyond postcolonial and Marxist criti- explained,ensured this mechanism by repro- cism and imagines how political and cultural ducing armies of loyal subjects whose taxed concerns may be linked to economic analy- consumption would pay interest and principal sis.It makes this claim on the basis of early on investment in the nation(104-06). modern political philosophy,which had es- These developments may suggest that tablished that language and money were con- national debts are "even more fundamental sidered homologous representations of state to the fictional or ideological creation and authority(Hawkes 19).The sign,in the sphere maintenance of the imagined communities of the media,censorship,and publicity,se- of modern nation-states than...literary can- cured the value of the currency by promoting ons,"but it is not likely that this new form of the reputation of the state and the legitimacy government could have achieved hegemony of its constitutional functions,a necessity without the simultaneous rise of a national if government were to guarantee the trans- aesthetic (Brantlinger 20).New economic parency of all contracts,public and private, critics of the professionalization of author- with a sound legal tender.The indivisibility ship and the textuality of money have argued of these aspects of sovereignty was highly that the novel,a genre inventing the domestic rarefied in the eyes of dispossessed colonials, space of the home as the interior conscience of who saw how the British fiscal-military state the nation,performed this function.The print substituted an abstract commodity-national trade,in their view,was similar to the ex- identity circulated in literature-for the mate- change of commodities in that the velocity of rial resources it alienated to reproduce itself. transfers of provenance over both books and Ireland's debt,like England's,was the ide- currency governed how they were appraised ological foundation of the Anglo-Irish Protes- (Lynch 81).The purely fictional worth of the tant nation.This colonial caste,a hybrid entity new paper money created a crisis of judgment caught between the natives it governed and resolved by the novel's capacity to serve "as the metropolis to which it was subject,soon an ideological regrounding of intrinsic value" learned to appropriate the empire's homolo- in its depiction of"the home and companion- gies of finance,language,and law to protect its ate marriage"as instantiations of the "real" investment and claim its parliament's right to (Thompson 21-22).Authority over assessing regulate Ireland's economy.Members of this "undifferentiated tokens of epistemological caste mobilized the Dublin press for the pro- opacity"like currency and books devolved to duction of domestic cultural capital that would readers(Sherman 1-2).Book buyers'embrace sow the seeds for regional fiscal independence. of"Britishness"as a participatory,democratic I argue that the Proposal's dietary motif may identity was figured in the "distinct authorial have persuaded them to resist the Crown's persona"of the novelist,a synecdoche for a demands that it enact perpetual revenues liberal bourgeois self capable of acquiring do- earmarked to pay the debt.The luxury taxes mestic propriety through the performance of and budgetary procedures that they adopted, politeness(Ingrassia 81). I contend,could have been responses to those This article intervenes in these studies by in Swift's text.I make the case for these possi- extending their critique to the problem of em- bilities by examining three contexts:the pam- pire,asking how this British cultural produc- phlet's intertextual relation to contemporary tion was underwritten by colonials'resources anglophone satire,the immediate exigencies and ability to appropriate those resources for for its production in Dublin,and its reception their own nationalist projects.By doing so,it by British and Anglo-Irish readers. This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri,10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://aboutjstor.org/terms
12 2.3 Sean Moore 681 transcendent nation (Hardt and Negri 87-88). Women's bodies, as Charlotte Sussman has explained, ensured this mechanism by repro ducing armies of loyal subjects whose taxed consumption would pay interest and principal on investment in the nation (104-06). These developments may suggest that national debts are "even more fundamental to the fictional or ideological creation and maintenance of the imagined communities of modern nation-states than ... literary can ons," but it is not likely that this new form of government could have achieved hegemony without the simultaneous rise of a national aesthetic (Brantlinger 20). New economic critics of the professionalization of author ship and the textuality of money have argued that the novel, a genre inventing the domestic space of the home as the interior conscience of the nation, performed this function. The print trade, in their view, was similar to the ex change of commodities in that the velocity of transfers of provenance over both books and currency governed how they were appraised (Lynch 81). The purely fictional worth of the new paper money created a crisis of judgment resolved by the novel's capacity to serve "as an ideological regrounding of intrinsic value" in its depiction of "the home and companion ate marriage" as instantiations of the "real" (Thompson 21-22). Authority over assessing "undifferentiated tokens of epistemological opacity" like currency and books devolved to readers (Sherman 1-2). Book buyers' embrace of "Britishness" as a participatory, democratic identity was figured in the "distinct authorial persona" of the novelist, a synecdoche for a liberal bourgeois self capable of acquiring do mestic propriety through the performance of politeness (Ingrassia 81). This article intervenes in these studies by extending their critique to the problem of em pire, asking how this British cultural produc tion was underwritten by colonials' resources and ability to appropriate those resources for their own nationalist projects. By doing so, it models the new economic criticism's potential to step beyond postcolonial and Marxist criti cism and imagines how political and cultural concerns may be linked to economic analy sis. It makes this claim on the basis of early modern political philosophy, which had es tablished that language and money were con sidered homologous representations of state authority (Hawkes 19). The sign, in the sphere of the media, censorship, and publicity, se cured the value ofthe currency by promoting the reputation ofthe state and the legitimacy of its constitutional functions, a necessity if government were to guarantee the trans parency of all contracts, public and private, with a sound legal tender. The indivisibility of these aspects of sovereignty was highly rarefied in the eyes of dispossessed colonials, who saw how the British fiscal-military state substituted an abstract commodity?national identity circulated in literature?for the mate rial resources it alienated to reproduce itself. Ireland's debt, like England's, was the ide ological foundation ofthe Anglo-Irish Protes tant nation. This colonial caste, a hybrid entity caught between the natives it governed and the metropolis to which it was subject, soon learned to appropriate the empire's homolo gies of finance, language, and law to protect its investment and claim its parliament's right to regulate Ireland's economy. Members of this caste mobilized the Dublin press for the pro duction of domestic cultural capital that would sow the seeds for regional fiscal independence. I argue that the Proposal's dietary motif may have persuaded them to resist the Crown's demands that it enact perpetual revenues earmarked to pay the debt. The luxury taxes and budgetary procedures that they adopted, I contend, could have been responses to those in Swift's text. I make the case for these possi bilities by examining three contexts: the pam phlet's intertextual relation to contemporary anglophone satire, the immediate exigencies for its production in Dublin, and its reception by British and Anglo-Irish readers. This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri, 10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
682 Devouring Posterity:A Modest Proposal,Empire,and Ireland's"Debt of the Nation" PMLA demolish'd,”coffeehouses supply a“sufficient Stock"of writing to sustain the economy and My claim that the new economic criticism government.A Modest Defence's reproductive has the potential to fuse political,cultural, theme,in short,dissolves the "distinction be- and economic analyses is based on Swift's lit- tween sexual pleasure and business"(Mandell eral and metonymic uses of motherhood in 112),suggesting that both biological mothers A Modest Proposal.When his narrator opens and maternal printers provide the income- by calling attention to "Beggars of the Female generating progeny necessary to maintain Sex,followed by three,four,or six children," material and political investment in the he seems to be describing the very real fam- fiscal-military state.The Dublin print indus- ine conditions of the late 1720s(Prose Works try seems to have found this idea appealing in 12:109).As he starts to discuss"a Child,just its efforts to forge Anglo-Irish sovereignty. dropt from its dam"and the prevention of Accordingly,Swift's dialogue with the "voluntary Abortions,"however,he shifts to a British book trade is of central importance figural register familiar to book-trade profes- when reading A Modest Proposal's discourse sionals,especially those who had read Ber- on public finance.Swift was a member of the nard Mandeville's A Modest Defence of Public Scriblerus Club,an informal group of Tory Stews of 1724.Mandeville's defense satirized opposition writers whose satire targeted the ideas for converting vice into new revenues Whig ruling regime.The Scriblerians despised by proposing a prostitution tax,arguing that Robert Walpole,the Whig prime minister,be- 610,000 could be raised by a single public cause they thought his machinations in public brothel(14).The "lewdness"of this project of finance-his establishment of a sinking fund sexual exchange,however,is explained not as to pay off the national debt,his involvement a female sin but as one indulged by prostitute with the South Sea Bubble,and his taxpayer male writers who“want a Dinner'”and hope bailout of major shareholders in the South Sea for the"“Adoption'”of their writings by“bright Company-were signs of corruption incom- Noblemen"(pref.).The narrator nakedly re- patible with virtuous government (Nicholson fers to the manuscript before the reader as a 103).By the late 1720s,Swift's Gulliver's Trav- “Foundling''who was“dropt'”at the reader's els,John Gay's Beggar's Opera,and Alexander door because a legitimate press-"the Midwife Pope's Dunciad had combined to expose Wal- of a Printer'”-“was unwilling to help bring it pole's perversion of the constitution.A letter into the World,but upon that Condition...of from Swift to Gay in March 1728 discusses the my openly Fathering it"(pref.).This series of success of their coordinated attack:"The Beg- double entendres intimates that the printing gers Opera hath knockt down Gulliver,I hope press is the mother of the book and the writer to see Popes Dullness knock down the Beggers its father,invoking the platonic concepts of Opera,but not till it hath fully done its Jobb the“death of the author'”and the“orphaned ..writing two or three Such trifles every year text"that Swift himself had explored in A to expose vice and make people laugh with Tale of a Tub(Barthes 147;Derrida 76;Plato innocency does more publick Service than 523;Swift,Tale 34).A Modest Proposal closely all the Ministers of State from Adam to Wal- mimics A Modest Defence's style to the extent pol"(Swift,Correspondence 278).These satires that it could be interpreted as a response to served as both partisan political critiques and Mandeville's request that the "Hibernian literary commodities in the highly profitable Stallion”should“Speak”(pref).It appears culture wars of those years.It has been argued to appropriate his notion that,even in an that as a collective partisan effort,this circle's era when the South Sea Company "has been writings were not so much damning modern This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri,10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://about jstor.org/terms
682 Devouring Posterity: A Modest Proposal, Empire, and Ireland's "Debt of the Nation" PMLA ['] My claim that the new economic criticism has the potential to fuse political, cultural, and economic analyses is based on Swift's lit eral and metonymic uses of motherhood in A Modest Proposal. When his narrator opens by calling attention to "Beggars of the Female Sex, followed by three, four, or six children," he seems to be describing the very real fam ine conditions of the late 1720s (Prose Works 12: 109). As he starts to discuss "a Child, just dr opt from its dam" and the prevention of "voluntary Abortions," however, he shifts to a figural register familiar to book-trade profes sionals, especially those who had read Ber nard Mandeville's A Modest Defence of Public Stews of 1724. Mandeville's defense satirized ideas for converting vice into new revenues by proposing a prostitution tax, arguing that ?10,000 could be raised by a single public brothel (14). The "lewdness" of this project of sexual exchange, however, is explained not as a female sin but as one indulged by prostitute male writers who "want a Dinner" and hope for the "Adoption" of their writings by "bright Noblemen" (pref.). The narrator nakedly re fers to the manuscript before the reader as a "Foundling" who was "dropt" at the reader's door because a legitimate press?"the Midwife of a Printer"?"was unwilling to help bring it into the World, but upon that Condition ... of my openly Fathering it" (pref.). This series of double entendres intimates that the printing press is the mother of the book and the writer its father, invoking the platonic concepts of the "death of the author" and the "orphaned text" that Swift himself had explored in A Tale of a Tub (Barthes 147; Derrida 76; Plato 523; Swift, Tale 34). A Modest Proposal closely mimics A Modest Defences style to the extent that it could be interpreted as a response to Mandeville's request that the "Hibernian Stallion" should "Speak" (pref.). It appears to appropriate his notion that, even in an era when the South Sea Company "has been demolish'd," coffeehouses supply a "sufficient Stock" of writing to sustain the economy and government. A Modest Defences reproductive theme, in short, dissolves the "distinction be tween sexual pleasure and business" (Mandell 112), suggesting that both biological mothers and maternal printers provide the income generating progeny necessary to maintain material and political investment in the fiscal-military state. The Dublin print indus try seems to have found this idea appealing in its efforts to forge Anglo-Irish sovereignty. Accordingly, Swift's dialogue with the British book trade is of central importance when reading A Modest Proposal's discourse on public finance. Swift was a member of the Scriblerus Club, an informal group of Tory opposition writers whose satire targeted the Whig ruling regime. The Scriblerians despised Robert Walpole, the Whig prime minister, be cause they thought his machinations in public finance?his establishment of a sinking fund to pay off the national debt, his involvement with the South Sea Bubble, and his taxpayer bailout of major shareholders in the South Sea Company?were signs of corruption incom patible with virtuous government (Nicholson 103). By the late 1720s, Swift's Gullivers Trav els, John Gay's Beggars Opera, and Alexander Pope's Dunciad had combined to expose Wal pole's perversion of the constitution. A letter from Swift to Gay in March 1728 discusses the success of their coordinated attack: "The Beg gers Opera hath knockt down Gulliver, I hope to see Popes Dullness knock down the Beggers Opera, but not till it hath fully done its Jobb ... writing two or three Such trifles every year to expose vice and make people laugh with innocency does more publick Service than all the Ministers of State from Adam to Wal pol" (Swift, Correspondence 278). These satires served as both partisan political critiques and literary commodities in the highly profitable culture wars of those years. It has been argued that as a collective partisan effort, this circle's writings were not so much damning modern This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri, 10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
122,3 Sean Moore 683 public finance in general as claiming that of England's taxes already had been mortgaged their faction possessed writers more capable into perpetuity to pay the interest on the debt of manufacturing a virtuous national image alone,impoverishing posterity:"the Country than those employed by the Whigs(Nicholson Gentleman is in the Condition of a young Heir, 3).Such aesthetic work was necessary because out of whose Estate a Scrivener receives half "[p]atriotism and nationalism underwrite pub- the Rents for Interest,and hath a Mortgage on lic credit(and vice-versa)but also the nation- the Whole"(Swift,Prose Works 3:5).A Mod- state's own facilitation of...the economy" est Proposal's allegory of children devoured by (Brantlinger 35).The Scriblerians knew that parental debts,accordingly,was drawn from the press was not an autonomous third estate Swift's own canon and influenced gothic ad- but an organ of government;despite Jurgen aptations in succeeding years.In 1733,Charles Habermas's claims that an independent public Forman translated the term vampire into En- sphere of"rational-critical arguments"arose glish to suggest that collectors of interest on in eighteenth-century Britain,"no theory of the national debt were the undead.Comparing liberty of the press was articulated"in this the virtues of governments,he writes,"When a period(Downie 59).Consequently,the Scrib- Dutchman is paying his Taxes...it is of some lerian mission was to prove that Tories were Satisfaction to him to know that he is not giv- better at statecraft:the production of the fic- ing from his Family what he has earned...to tions of state necessary to breed political and gratify the Rapine of a fat-gutted Vampire" financial confidence.It is likely that A Modest (38).A year later,Swift's ally Henry Boling- Proposal was another text in this series,rival- broke seized on this image of a bloodsucking ing the productions of the author's friends yet monster in an allegory describing Walpole as publicizing their style and agenda.It partook the leader of the nation's creditors(2395). of this coterie's endeavor,forging Anglo-Irish The cannibal,however,was not the only Protestant nationalism as an ideological sup- figure for finance that Swift borrowed from port for Ireland's own fiscal system. the Scriblerian lexicon;he also appropriated The text appears linked to the Scriblerian prostitute,beggar,and thief.These terms sig- themes of finance in the character of its can- nified the moneyed interest,the Whig gov- nibal,the period's conventional symbol for ernment,and its publicists under a single financiers(Flynn 150-51).At least since The pejorative zeugma.Swift,Pope,and Gay den- Merchant of Venice's scene of Shylock demand- igrated Whig publicists as inferior mercenary ing a"pound of flesh,"private loan transac- pens fighting a culture war by disseminating tions had been represented as the eating of the smutty pulp fiction,work legitimating the de- debtor's body.Francis Bacon appropriated this sires and ethics of the new credit culture(In- metonymy to shame Jacobean royal creditors, grassia 3).They revived John Dryden's Grub condemning them as man-eating "Cyclops,or Street metonymy to compare the relation of Ministers of Terror"(20).Giovanni Marana's this popular literary market to prostitution Turkish Spy later displayed the promiscuous (Swift,Journal 177-78).Accordingly,they relations between moneylenders and the de- gendered literature,elevating their work as fense industry in the same figure,saying that high art by dismissing Whig rivals as writers both were "employ'd by Jupiter in making of an emasculated literature associated with Thunderbolts"and other weapons(130).This the“feminized”world of finance(Ingrassia understanding of the consumption of a nation 41).Deploying the publishing industry's cant, by its financial obligations was encapsulated Pope's Dunciad portrayed such "dunces"as by Swift early in his career in The Examiner,a the progeny of“Dulness,”a“Mighty Mother'" Tory periodical.He described how at least half symbolizing both Edmund Curl's "chaste This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri,10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://aboutjstor.org/terms
12 2.3 Sean Moore 683 public finance in general as claiming that their faction possessed writers more capable of manufacturing a virtuous national image than those employed by the Whigs (Nicholson 3). Such aesthetic work was necessary because "[patriotism and nationalism underwrite pub lic credit (and vice-versa) but also the nation state's own facilitation of... the economy" (Brantlinger 35). The Scriblerians knew that the press was not an autonomous third estate but an organ of government; despite Jiirgen Habermas's claims that an independent public sphere of "rational-critical arguments" arose in eighteenth-century Britain, "no theory of liberty of the press was articulated" in this period (Downie 59). Consequently, the Scrib lerian mission was to prove that Tories were better at statecraft: the production of the fic tions of state necessary to breed political and financial confidence. It is likely that A Modest Proposal was another text in this series, rival ing the productions of the author's friends yet publicizing their style and agenda. It partook of this coterie's endeavor, forging Anglo-Irish Protestant nationalism as an ideological sup port for Ireland's own fiscal system. The text appears linked to the Scriblerian themes of finance in the character of its can nibal, the period's conventional symbol for financiers (Flynn 150-51). At least since The Merchant of Venice's scene of Shylock demand ing a "pound of flesh," private loan transac tions had been represented as the eating of the debtor's body. Francis Bacon appropriated this metonymy to shame Jacobean royal creditors, condemning them as man-eating "Cyclops, or Ministers of Terror" (20). Giovanni Marana's Turkish Spy later displayed the promiscuous relations between moneylenders and the de fense industry in the same figure, saying that both were "employ'd by Jupiter in making Thunderbolts" and other weapons (130). This understanding of the consumption of a nation by its financial obligations was encapsulated by Swift early in his career in The Examiner, a Tory periodical. He described how at least half of England's taxes already had been mortgaged into perpetuity to pay the interest on the debt alone, impoverishing posterity: "the Country Gentleman is in the Condition of a young Heir, out of whose Estate a Scrivener receives half the Rents for Interest, and hath a Mortgage on the Whole" (Swift, Prose Works 3: 5). A Mod est Proposal's allegory of children devoured by parental debts, accordingly, was drawn from Swift's own canon and influenced gothic ad aptations in succeeding years. In 1733, Charles Forman translated the term vampire into En glish to suggest that collectors of interest on the national debt were the undead. Comparing the virtues of governments, he writes, "When a Dutchman is paying his Taxes ... it is of some Satisfaction to him to know that he is not giv ing from his Family what he has earned ... to gratify the Rapine of a fat-gutted Vampire" (38). A year later, Swift's ally Henry Boling broke seized on this image of a bloodsucking monster in an allegory describing Walpole as the leader ofthe nation's creditors (2395). The cannibal, however, was not the only figure for finance that Swift borrowed from the Scriblerian lexicon; he also appropriated prostitute, beggar, and thief. These terms sig nified the moneyed interest, the Whig gov ernment, and its publicists under a single pejorative zeugma. Swift, Pope, and Gay den igrated Whig publicists as inferior mercenary pens fighting a culture war by disseminating smutty pulp fiction, work legitimating the de sires and ethics ofthe new credit culture (In grassia 3). They revived John Dryden's Grub Street metonymy to compare the relation of this popular literary market to prostitution (Swift, Journal 177-78). Accordingly, they gendered literature, elevating their work as high art by dismissing Whig rivals as writers of an emasculated literature associated with the "feminized" world of finance (Ingrassia 41). Deploying the publishing industry's cant, Pope's Dunciad portrayed such "dunces" as the progeny of "Dulness," a "Mighty Mother" symbolizing both Edmund Curl's "chaste This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri, 10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
684 Devouring Posterity:A Modest Proposal,Empire,and Ireland's"Debt of the Nation' PMLA press"and his leading author,Eliza Hay- Though Swift did not agree with these absolut- wood (lines 1-44).This goddess of printing ist theories(Higgins 8),he felt that the Whig continuously gave birth to bastard offspring: regime's attempts to disregard the prerogatives "Dulness's procreative abilities symbolically of the Irish legislature were tantamount to tyr- give her the power of physical and cultural re- anny (Lock 152n33).Indeed,Swift understood production and illustrate the ease with which the importance of cultural production to the texts are conceived and materially repro- state because he had served as what Victoria duced in the Grub Street environment...she Glendinning has called a“spin doctor'”for the spawns dunces,genres,and texts that she can previous Tory administration (101). mold in her image"(Ingrassia 50).This press, Swift's Proposal for the Universal Use of however,was anything but chaste;the soft Irish Manufacture,published in 1720 after the pornography produced by it,in Pope's view, Declaratory Act threatened to grant the Brit- encouraged licentiousness and caused men to ish Crown the right to appropriate Ireland's "neglect their real duties to govern"(Ingrassia revenues without the consent of Ireland's par- 53).The poem's argument is most evident in liament,began to mobilize the Anglo-Irish the line,“The Goddess bade Britannia sleep” appropriation of these homologies in a bid for (Pope,line 7),which implies that Whig cul- colonial sovereignty.This work exploited both tural production was distracting the citizenry that"the press was introduced into Ireland from its obligation to oversee public policy. specifically as an instrument of propaganda Pope's modeling of the press's role in to win the natives over to Protestantism"and the reproduction of the regime and of capi- that monopoly licensing was practiced,which tal partakes of an ancient discourse binding made the king's printer "responsible to the gov- what Jean-Joseph Goux has described as the ernment for preventing the publication of sedi- “isomorphic'”unity of currency,.language, tious matter"(Pollard 9-11,31).The lapsing of and law in the image of the state(45).By the the Licensing Act in 1695 and Ireland's failure eighteenth century,the most influential early to enact the 1709 Copyright Act,however,cre- modern theory of these homologies had been ated the less regulated conditions for produc- asserted by Jean Bodin (1530-96),who "es- tion in which writers like Swift could begin to tablished as an educated opinion that a ruler reverse this"cultural imperialism"(Said xxi). should insist on a uniform monetary system The pamphlet's call for a boycott of imports for his own benefit and for the benefit of his constructs Anglo-Irish patriotism through a subjects"(Latouche 127-50).The develop- strategy of Atlantic triangulation,complaining ment and maintenance of this process of that the British "look down upon this King- standardizing value required censorship,the dom,as if it had been one of their Colonies hiring of pens to produce favorable public of Out-casts in America"(Prose Works 9:21). opinion,and the suppression of counterfeit- Swift champions economic patriotism,laud- ers-prerogatives of sovereignty to which all ing Irish textiles and insisting that "Ireland political theorists subscribed.Without these would never be happy'till a Law were made for powers,Thomas Hobbes asserted,the rule of burning every Thing that came from England, law would collapse,destroying the transpar- except their People and their Coals"(9:17).As ency and growth of economic and linguistic Helen Burke has observed,however,his insis- exchange:"In such a condition,there is no tence that the Anglo-Irish should "improve the place for Industry;because the fruit thereof is Cloaths and Stuffs of the Nation"(9:17)was a uncertain:and consequently no Culture...no textile metaphor advocating domestic literary Knowledge of the face of the Earth;no account production and the burning of books pub- of Time;no Arts;no Letters;no Society"(186). lished in London(57).This motive is evident This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri,10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://about jstor.org/terms
684 Devouring Posterity: A Modest Proposal, Empire, and Ireland's "Debt of the Nation" PMLA press" and his leading author, Eliza Hay wood (lines 1-44). This goddess of printing continuously gave birth to bastard offspring: "Dulness's procreative abilities symbolically give her the power of physical and cultural re production and illustrate the ease with which texts are conceived and materially repro duced in the Grub Street environment... she spawns dunces, genres, and texts that she can mold in her image" (Ingrassia 50). This press, however, was anything but chaste; the soft pornography produced by it, in Pope's view, encouraged licentiousness and caused men to "neglect their real duties to govern" (Ingrassia 53). The poem's argument is most evident in the line, "The Goddess bade Britannia sleep" (Pope, line 7), which implies that Whig cul tural production was distracting the citizenry from its obligation to oversee public policy. Pope's modeling of the press's role in the reproduction of the regime and of capi tal partakes of an ancient discourse binding what Jean-Joseph Goux has described as the "isomorphic" unity of currency, language, and law in the image of the state (45). By the eighteenth century, the most influential early modern theory of these homologies had been asserted by Jean Bodin (1530-96), who "es tablished as an educated opinion that a ruler should insist on a uniform monetary system for his own benefit and for the benefit of his subjects" (Latouche 127-50). The develop ment and maintenance of this process of standardizing value required censorship, the hiring of pens to produce favorable public opinion, and the suppression of counterfeit ers?prerogatives of sovereignty to which all political theorists subscribed. Without these powers, Thomas Hobbes asserted, the rule of law would collapse, destroying the transpar ency and growth of economic and linguistic exchange: "In such a condition, there is no place for Industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no Culture ... no Knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of Time; no Arts; no Letters; no Society" (186). Though Swift did not agree with these absolut ist theories (Higgins 8), he felt that the Whig regime's attempts to disregard the prerogatives ofthe Irish legislature were tantamount to tyr anny (Lock 152n33). Indeed, Swift understood the importance of cultural production to the state because he had served as what Victoria Glendinning has called a "spin doctor" for the previous Tory administration (101). Swift's Proposal for the Universal Use of Irish Manufacture, published in 1720 after the Declaratory Act threatened to grant the Brit ish Crown the right to appropriate Ireland's revenues without the consent of Ireland's par liament, began to mobilize the Anglo-Irish appropriation of these homologies in a bid for colonial sovereignty. This work exploited both that "the press was introduced into Ireland specifically as an instrument of propaganda to win the natives over to Protestantism" and that monopoly licensing was practiced, which made the king's printer "responsible to the gov ernment for preventing the publication of sedi tious matter" (Pollard 9-11, 31). The lapsing of the Licensing Act in 1695 and Ireland's failure to enact the 1709 Copyright Act, however, cre ated the less regulated conditions for produc tion in which writers like Swift could begin to reverse this "cultural imperialism" (Said xxi). The pamphlet's call for a boycott of imports constructs Anglo-Irish patriotism through a strategy of Atlantic triangulation, complaining that the British "look down upon this King dom, as if it had been one of their Colonies of Out-casts in America" (Prose Works 9: 21). Swift champions economic patriotism, laud ing Irish textiles and insisting that "Ireland would never be happy 'till a Law were made for burning every Thing that came from England, except their People and their Coals" (9: 17). As Helen Burke has observed, however, his insis tence that the Anglo-Irish should "improve the Cloaths and Stuffs ofthe Nation" (9: 17) was a textile metaphor advocating domestic literary production and the burning of books pub lished in London (57). This motive is evident This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri, 10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
122.3 Sean Moore 685 in his attacks on English writers,"the Author their persuasiveness,he actually succeeds in of a Play called,Love in a Hollow-Tree,"a "Cor- making the Proposal the masterpiece of the rector of a Hedge Press,”anda“Translator of a genre.It seems tailored for a leisured Anglo- lower Rate"(9:20).These hacks,after moving Irish political caste desiring scenes of suffering to Ireland to publish propaganda targeting the and their subsequent anaesthetizing economic Anglo-Irish,had been rewarded by the British resolutions.While the author certainly fol- government with noble titles.Swift was call- lows convention by framing such plots,his ing attention to the indivisibility of the press, inferences make readers cognizant that their the economy,and the government as parts of pleasure is derived from their participation in a machine alienating "Irish Revenues to En- the camps of both perpetrator and reformer. glish Favourites"(9:19).His Drapier's Letters Because the text outlines the authoritative supplemented this claim by condemning the presence of a faceless speaker(the proposer), Crown's attempt to impose base coinage on readers initially are hailed as members of a Ireland,reasserting how these imperialist ho- universal public for whom the proposer is the mologies were undermining Anglo-Ireland's spokesman.But this anonymous vox populi right to steer its economy.He confronts the soon becomes apparent as a figure of loathing, British view that the colony was a "Depending and readers realize too late that they have been Kingdom,”writing,“they would seem,by this snared by their straight reading and impli- phrase,to intend that the People of Ireland is in cated in the speaker's vice.The Proposal's ef- some State of Slavery or Dependance different fect,as a parody of earnest appeals for the end from those of England:Whereas a Depending of actual suffering,was to dismiss the reality Kingdom is a Modern Term of Art,unknown, of the material economic problems discussed as I have heard,to all antient Civilians,and by pamphleteers,making the genre appear to Writers upon Government"(10:62).The arrest be an exercise in apologetics bearing little re- of the printers of Proposal for the Universal Use lation to conditions on the ground. of Irish Manufacture and the Letters meant Accordingly,the cannibal voice of the that the Crown considered Swift's discourse proposer signals that the schemes for devel- on political thought a seditious attempt to in- opment circulating in Dublin are thinly veiled stitute an Irish monetary,linguistic,and legal attempts to fleece the population.By opening isomorphism of power(Woolley,"Sarah Hard- his speech with the enduring symbol of Ire- ing”165-66). land's poverty,"Beggars of the Female Sex,"he A Modest Proposal incorporates these confronts Anglo-Irish readers with the "mel- Irish patriotic themes into the strategies of ancholy"symptom of economic disaster most Scriblerian financial satire.It appropriates the visible to them in the streets(Prose Works 12: Dunciad's metaphors for textual production to 109).3 Dublin,because of depression and fam- critique Dublin's print culture,suggesting that ine,was indeed rife with panhandlers,about the Anglo-Irish economic pamphlet,a genre which Swift had complained in a sermon of that dominated Ireland's publishing industry 1726 and a pamphlet of 1737(Rawson 240). and public debate,was a form of political por- When regarded as a device and not an empiri- nography entertaining to everybody but the cal reality,however,this symbol of the beggar starving poor for whom it claimed to be ad- registers the pathos that,in this genre,conven- vocating.These pamphlets diverted attention tionally precedes the remedying proposition away from the domestic and foreign politics (Nokes 348).By mimicking the argumen- of the national debt.Though he parodies their tum ad misericordiam of Ireland's economic formal strategies in a manner that might be projectors,this paragraph progressively taken to unmask their conventions and reduce stretches the limits of credulity and rapidly This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri,10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://aboutjstor.org/terms
122.3 Sean Moore 685 in his attacks on English writers, "the Author of a Play called, Love in a Hollow-Tree," a "Cor rector of a Hedge Press," and a "Translator of a lower Rate" (9: 20). These hacks, after moving to Ireland to publish propaganda targeting the Anglo-Irish, had been rewarded by the British government with noble titles. Swift was call ing attention to the indivisibility of the press, the economy, and the government as parts of a machine alienating "Irish Revenues to En glish Favourites" (9: 19). His Drapiers Letters supplemented this claim by condemning the Crown's attempt to impose base coinage on Ireland, reasserting how these imperialist ho mologies were undermining Anglo-Ireland's right to steer its economy. He confronts the British view that the colony was a "Depending Kingdom" writing, "they would seem, by this phrase, to intend that the People of Ireland is in some State of Slavery or Dependance different from those of England'. Whereas a Depending Kingdom is a Modern Term of Art, unknown, as I have heard, to all antient Civilians, and Writers upon Government" (10: 62). The arrest of the printers of Proposal for the Universal Use of Irish Manufacture and the Letters meant that the Crown considered Swift's discourse on political thought a seditious attempt to in stitute an Irish monetary, linguistic, and legal isomorphism of power (Woolley, "Sarah Hard ing" 165-66). A Modest Proposal incorporates these Irish patriotic themes into the strategies of Scriblerian financial satire. It appropriates the Dunciad's metaphors for textual production to critique Dublin's print culture, suggesting that the Anglo-Irish economic pamphlet, a genre that dominated Ireland's publishing industry and public debate, was a form of political por nography entertaining to everybody but the starving poor for whom it claimed to be ad vocating. These pamphlets diverted attention away from the domestic and foreign politics of the national debt. Though he parodies their formal strategies in a manner that might be taken to unmask their conventions and reduce their persuasiveness, he actually succeeds in making the Proposal the masterpiece of the genre. It seems tailored for a leisured Anglo Irish political caste desiring scenes of suffering and their subsequent anaesthetizing economic resolutions. While the author certainly fol lows convention by framing such plots, his inferences make readers cognizant that their pleasure is derived from their participation in the camps of both perpetrator and reformer. Because the text outlines the authoritative presence of a faceless speaker (the proposer), readers initially are hailed as members of a universal public for whom the proposer is the spokesman. But this anonymous vox populi soon becomes apparent as a figure of loathing, and readers realize too late that they have been snared by their straight reading and impli cated in the speaker's vice. The Proposal's ef fect, as a parody of earnest appeals for the end of actual suffering, was to dismiss the reality ofthe material economic problems discussed by pamphleteers, making the genre appear to be an exercise in apologetics bearing little re lation to conditions on the ground. Accordingly, the cannibal voice of the proposer signals that the schemes for devel opment circulating in Dublin are thinly veiled attempts to fleece the population. By opening his speech with the enduring symbol of Ire land's poverty, "Beggars ofthe Female Sex," he confronts Anglo-Irish readers with the "mel ancholy" symptom of economic disaster most visible to them in the streets (Prose Works 12: 109).3 Dublin, because of depression and fam ine, was indeed rife with panhandlers, about which Swift had complained in a sermon of 1726 and a pamphlet of 1737 (Rawson 240). When regarded as a device and not an empiri cal reality, however, this symbol of the beggar registers the pathos that, in this genre, conven tionally precedes the remedying proposition (Nokes 348). By mimicking the argumen tum ad misericordiam of Ireland's economic projectors, this paragraph progressively stretches the limits of credulity and rapidly This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri, 10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
686 Devouring Posterity:A Modest Proposal,Empire,and Ireland's "Debt of the Nation" PMLA descends into bathos.The author italicizes saying that the payment schedule in the nar- the hackneyed tropes of liberal Whig politi- rator's scheme would be every 25 March,the cal economy,announcing the text's perfor- end of Ireland's fiscal year:"INFANTs Flesh... mative stance and implying that these terms will be more plentiful in March and a little are freighted with supplemental signification. before and after,"or during accounting's "fore “Beggars”and“thieves,.”given this aporia, and hind Quarter"(12:112).This plenty exists can be taken to stand for not merely the poor because"there are more Children born in Ro- in the streets but also writers of pamphlets man Catholick Countries about Nine Months pursuing patronage and the creditors back- after Lent,than at any other Season"(12:112). ing them.By means of these metaphors for The“prolifick Dyet'”of fish to which he refers the printing industry,the impoverished Irish seems to signify not only the literal consump- mother of the Proposal is transmuted from tion of infants but also the ritual of Lenten a baby machine into Dublin's“Dulness”:the fasting,which thematizes the very kind of endlessly procreative Irish press that spawned restraint in the collection of taxes necessary tract after tract on economic improvement.In to protect Anglo-Irish interests(12:112).A this allegory,her "three,four,or six Children, close reading of this passage's anachronistic all in Rags'”personify texts,given that“rags” spelling of"dyet"under another of its denota- stands for both clothes recycled for papermak- tions,"an allowance or provision of food...a ing and pulp fiction(Prose Works 12:109). constant Table or dyet in the Court"(Diet"), If the offspring of the poor are figures suggests that the word refers to how courtiers for texts,their status as orphans is triply in- in London might be fed the revenues derived scribed,connoting progeny with absent bio- from these babies if the Irish parliament is logical fathers,defenseless future taxpayers, not prudent.Swift was intimating that Ire- and books with no clear author.The device land's Catholic infants could be compared of the invisible,anonymous narrator invents to the Christ child,born at Christmas to be the Anglo-Irish public as godfather of the a sacrifice at Easter in payment of man's debt. infant in all three of its manifestations and, Because the parody is mocking the pathos of by doing so,grants readers the custody of the its target genre,however,any sincere concern infant's body and wealth,as well as authority for those children is dissolved into bathos, over its proper interpretation.The babies'eco- and the genre of the economic pamphlet is nomic personas,however,take primacy as the dismissed as cathartic theater. cannibal calculus reaches its more detailed The Scriblerians preferred this bathetic scheduling.They“will not bear Exportation” mode when critiquing Whig hypocrisy be- to Britain because they stand for the proceeds cause its realist effect countered the sublime of Swift's nationalist scheme for their reten- associated with imperial transcendentalism tion,short-term duties renewable by Parlia- (Gerrard 203).Peri Bathos;or,The Art of Sink- ment every two years(12:117).This approach, ing in Poetry,a jointly written work published by restricting the supply of Ireland's revenues, under the name Martin Scriblerus at nearly the would guarantee that Anglo-Irish creditors, same time as The Dunciad,linked the poetics not the British Crown,would be receiving du- of the moderns to contemporary government ties on a sustainable basis.The"young healthy finance.Its subtitle appropriated the significa- Child...at a Year old"is the figure for this al- tion of the term sinking fund,which referred ternative plan because it represents such incre- to a treasury measure enacted by Walpole.The mental,rather than perpetual,appropriation purpose of the fund was to pay down Britain's of the income of future generations(12:111). national debt by progressively“sinking”the The text pushes the limits of this figuration by amount of its interest and principle with taxes This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri,10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
686 Devouring Posterity: A Modest Proposal, Empire, and Ireland's "Debt of the Nation" PMLA descends into bathos. The author italicizes the hackneyed tropes of liberal Whig politi cal economy, announcing the text's perfor mative stance and implying that these terms are freighted with supplemental signification. "Beggars" and "thieves," given this aporia, can be taken to stand for not merely the poor in the streets but also writers of pamphlets pursuing patronage and the creditors back ing them. By means of these metaphors for the printing industry, the impoverished Irish mother of the Proposal is transmuted from a baby machine into Dublin's "Dulness": the endlessly procreative Irish press that spawned tract after tract on economic improvement. In this allegory, her "three, four, or six Children, all in Rags" personify texts, given that "rags" stands for both clothes recycled for papermak ing and pulp fiction (Prose Works 12: 109). If the offspring of the poor are figures for texts, their status as orphans is triply in scribed, connoting progeny with absent bio logical fathers, defenseless future taxpayers, and books with no clear author. The device of the invisible, anonymous narrator invents the Anglo-Irish public as godfather of the infant in all three of its manifestations and, by doing so, grants readers the custody of the infant's body and wealth, as well as authority over its proper interpretation. The babies' eco nomic personas, however, take primacy as the cannibal calculus reaches its more detailed scheduling. They "will not bear Exportation" to Britain because they stand for the proceeds of Swift's nationalist scheme for their reten tion, short-term duties renewable by Parlia ment every two years (12:117). This approach, by restricting the supply of Ireland's revenues, would guarantee that Anglo-Irish creditors, not the British Crown, would be receiving du ties on a sustainable basis. The "young healthy Child... at a Year old" is the figure for this al ternative plan because it represents such incre mental, rather than perpetual, appropriation of the income of future generations (12: 111). The text pushes the limits of this figuration by saying that the payment schedule in the nar rator's scheme would be every 25 March, the end of Ireland's fiscal year: "infants Flesh... will be more plentiful in March and a little before and after," or during accounting's "fore and hind Quarter" (12:112). This plenty exists because "there are more Children born in Ro man Catholick Countries about Nine Months after Lent, than at any other Season" (12: 112). The "prolifick Dyet" offish to which he refers seems to signify not only the literal consump tion of infants but also the ritual of Lenten fasting, which thematizes the very kind of restraint in the collection of taxes necessary to protect Anglo-Irish interests (12: 112). A close reading of this passage's anachronistic spelling of "dyet" under another of its denota tions, "an allowance or provision of food... a constant Table or dyet in the Court" ("Diet"), suggests that the word refers to how courtiers in London might be fed the revenues derived from these babies if the Irish parliament is not prudent. Swift was intimating that Ire land's Catholic infants could be compared to the Christ child, born at Christmas to be a sacrifice at Easter in payment of man's debt. Because the parody is mocking the pathos of its target genre, however, any sincere concern for those children is dissolved into bathos, and the genre of the economic pamphlet is dismissed as cathartic theater. The Scriblerians preferred this bathetic mode when critiquing Whig hypocrisy be cause its realist effect countered the sublime associated with imperial transcendentalism (Gerrard 203). Peri Bathos; or, The Art of Sink ing in Poetry, a jointly written work published under the name Martin Scriblerus at nearly the same time as The Dunciad, linked the poetics ofthe moderns to contemporary government finance. Its subtitle appropriated the significa tion of the term sinking fund, which referred to a treasury measure enacted by Walpole. The purpose ofthe fund was to pay down Britain's national debt by progressively "sinking" the amount of its interest and principle with taxes This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri, 10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
122.3 Sean Moore 687 perpetually earmarked for this purpose.The (Bell 53),but it also denigrates payments to authors used this phrase to imply that the public creditors by showing how the support moderns'embrace of the“altitudo”associ- of the few at the top of the mountain requires ated with Longinus's doctrine of the sublime ever-increasing levies on those at its foot.Yet was valued because it helped maintain the in- its narrator also suggests that,given the con- vestment bubble supporting the ruling party nection between popular literature and infla- (Scriblerus 345).The Whig ideology of the tion,bathos might be a mode of realism that sublime,as Peter De Bolla has argued,linked could finally sink the debt,providing a bot- the age's proliferation of printed informa- tom to the market:"I have undertaken...to tion and incalculable debt.It arose to explain lead them as it were by the hand,and step by how the "feeling of boundlessness"generated step,the gentle down-hill way to the bathos; by these excesses produced a crisis,reducing the bottom,the end,the central point,the non comprehension to the limits of the self and plus ultra,of true modern poesy"(Scriblerus the boundaries of the state of which it was a 345).His repeated use of the term“Profund” part(65).The sublime both explained and in- for bathos connects the signification of depth vented British national identity as the product associated with profound with the“pro-fund” of anxieties about debt and knowledge,culti- process of pouring forth wealth toward Brit- vating a transcendental aesthetic of transport ain's sinking fund(Scriblerus 348).The nar- as a means of escape from responsibility for rator is suggesting that bathos's ironic effect is these problems.The Tory critique of this aes- reconstructive-an attempt to rebuild a deep thetic was based in the sublime's ability to po- foundation to support"an appalling destabi- tentially paralyze the political agency required lisation of the national economy and its moral for the reform of empire. basis"(Bell 54).The market,the Scriblerians What stabilizes the subject in this epi- argued,may be underwritten more effectively steme is“inflationary rhetoric”:an equally by laughter than sensibility. excessive literature of pathos,exactly the In this context,A Modest Proposal may device Swift satirizes in the Proposal's first have evinced consciousness about overpopu- paragraphs(Furniss 235).Paper money,an lation,but it unconsciously reveals a concern invention of the financial revolution,had with national debt and that debt's relation to consistently been a target of the Scriblerians financial and rhetorical bubbles.It had become because it was a medium that reified Britain's clear to Swift that population growth and infla- national debt into wealth.In the Tory imagi- tion were linked by the practical requirements nation,both popular literature and currency of the fiscal-military state:revenue produced inflation were linked in the ideology of the by an ever-increasing supply of taxpayers.The sublime.Peri Bathos explains that Whig writ- proliferation of children,whether they were ers,by valuing the sublime,were increasing regarded literally as bodies whose alienated the gap between rich and poor on "Parnas- labor would pay debts or metaphorically as in- sus,"the work's metonym for the British state flationary pulp fictions keeping the public pre and republic of letters.It remarks that it is occupied,was necessary for the continuation 'surprizing,given the "populous of our low- of Whig hegemony.Given Swift's use of these lands,"that"all dignities and honours should pregnancy metaphors,postcolonial assessments be bestowed upon the exceeding few mea- of his critique of empire may be informed by a ger inhabitants on the top of the mountain" historicization of the period's organic unifica- (Scriblerus 345-46).Peri Bathos may consist tion of publishing,capitalism,and legal agency of"bathetic images of the futile attempt to under the aegis of sexual reproduction.Laura hold onto wealth in the modern economy Brown's contention that Swift is a misogynist This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri,10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
12 2.3 Sean Moore 687 perpetually earmarked for this purpose. The authors used this phrase to imply that the moderns' embrace of the "altitudo" associ ated with Longinus's doctrine of the sublime was valued because it helped maintain the in vestment bubble supporting the ruling party (Scriblerus 345). The Whig ideology of the sublime, as Peter De Bolla has argued, linked the age's proliferation of printed informa tion and incalculable debt. It arose to explain how the "feeling of boundlessness" generated by these excesses produced a crisis, reducing comprehension to the limits of the self and the boundaries of the state of which it was a part (65). The sublime both explained and in vented British national identity as the product of anxieties about debt and knowledge, culti vating a transcendental aesthetic of transport as a means of escape from responsibility for these problems. The Tory critique of this aes thetic was based in the sublime's ability to po tentially paralyze the political agency required for the reform of empire. What stabilizes the subject in this epi steme is "inflationary rhetoric": an equally excessive literature of pathos, exactly the device Swift satirizes in the Proposal's first paragraphs (Furniss 235). Paper money, an invention of the financial revolution, had consistently been a target of the Scriblerians because it was a medium that reified Britain's national debt into wealth. In the Tory imagi nation, both popular literature and currency inflation were linked in the ideology of the sublime. Peri Bathos explains that Whig writ ers, by valuing the sublime, were increasing the gap between rich and poor on "Parnas sus," the work's metonym for the British state and republic of letters. It remarks that it is "surprizing," given the "populous of our low lands," that "all dignities and honours should be bestowed upon the exceeding few mea ger inhabitants on the top of the mountain" (Scriblerus 345-46). Peri Bathos may consist of "bathetic images of the futile attempt to hold onto wealth" in the modern economy (Bell 53), but it also denigrates payments to public creditors by showing how the support ofthe few at the top ofthe mountain requires ever-increasing levies on those at its foot. Yet its narrator also suggests that, given the con nection between popular literature and infla tion, bathos might be a mode of realism that could finally sink the debt, providing a bot tom to the market: "I have undertaken ... to lead them as it were by the hand, and step by step, the gentle down-hill way to the bathos; the bottom, the end, the central point, the non plus ultra, of true modern poesy" (Scriblerus 345). His repeated use ofthe term "Profund" for bathos connects the signification of depth associated with profound with the "pro-fund" process of pouring forth wealth toward Brit ain's sinking fund (Scriblerus 348). The nar rator is suggesting that bathos's ironic effect is reconstructive?an attempt to rebuild a deep foundation to support "an appalling destabi lisation ofthe national economy and its moral basis" (Bell 54). The market, the Scriblerians argued, may be underwritten more effectively by laughter than sensibility. In this context, A Modest Proposal may have evinced consciousness about overpopu lation, but it unconsciously reveals a concern with national debt and that debt's relation to financial and rhetorical bubbles. It had become clear to Swift that population growth and infla tion were linked by the practical requirements of the fiscal-military state: revenue produced by an ever-increasing supply of taxpayers. The proliferation of children, whether they were regarded literally as bodies whose alienated labor would pay debts or metaphorically as in flationary pulp fictions keeping the public pre occupied, was necessary for the continuation of Whig hegemony. Given Swift's use of these pregnancy metaphors, postcolonial assessments of his critique of empire may be informed by a historicization ofthe period's organic unifica tion of publishing, capitalism, and legal agency under the aegis of sexual reproduction. Laura Brown's contention that Swift is a misogynist This content downloaded from 202.120.14.172 on Fri, 10 Nov 2017 17:56:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
