A Petition of the Footmen in and about Dublin.
Fæcunda Culpæ Secula!——Hor.
Printed at LONDON: And,
DUBLIN:
Printed by GEORGE FAULKNER, and Sold at his Shop in Essex Street, opposite to the Bridge, and by G. Risk, G. Ewing and W. Smith, Booksellers in Dame-Street, 1733.
NOTE.
This piece, included by Sir Walter Scott for the first time among Swift's writings, was, in the opinion of that editor, indisputably the work of the Dean of St. Patrick's. The present editor sees no reason to disagree with this judgement, and it is therefore reprinted here. The original issue of 1733, printed by Faulkner contained also Swift's "Petition of the Footmen in and about Dublin," and had a lengthy advertisement of the Complete Works of Swift which Faulkner was, at that time, projecting. It is difficult, however, to understand why the tract was not included in later editions of Swift's complete works. Sir Walter Scott puts forward an explanation suggested by Dr. Barrett, who believed the reason to have been, that this "jeu d'esprit might be interpreted as casting a slur on an hospital erected upon Lazors-Hill, now on the Donny-Brook road near Dublin, for the reception of persons afflicted with incurable maladies." The reason seems a poor one, though it may have been as Dr. Barrett states. A better argument might be found from the style and subject matter of the tract itself. The style is strongly Swift's, and the subject of such an hospital must certainly have occupied Swift's thoughts at this time, since he left his fortune for the erection of a similar building.
The text of the present edition is based on that of the volume issued by Faulkner in 1733, compared with the Dublin reprint of the following year.