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/terms122.3 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