Thomas O'Brien MacMahon, an Irish author, quoted by Mr. Southey in his Omniana, in a most angry pamphlet on "The Candour and Good-nature of Englishmen," has the following diverting passage, which may serve as a corollary to Swift's Tract:—"You sent out the children of your princes," says he, addressing the Irish, "and sometimes your princes in person, to enlighten this kingdom, then sitting in utter darkness, (meaning England) and how have they recompensed you? Why, after lawlessly distributing your estates, possessed for thirteen centuries or more, by your illustrious families, whose antiquity and nobility, if equalled by any nation in the world, none but the immutable God of Abraham's chosen, though, at present, wandering and afflicted people, surpasses: After, I say, seizing on your inheritances, and flinging them among their Cocks, Hens, Crows, Rooks, Daws, Wolves, Lions, Foxes, Rams, Bulls, Hoggs, and other beasts and birds of prey, or vesting them in the sweepings of their jails, their Small-woods, Do-littles, Barebones, Strangeways, Smarts, Sharps, Tarts, Sterns, Churls, and Savages; their Greens, Blacks, Browns, Greys and Whites; their Smiths, Carpenters, Brewers, Bakers, and Taylors; their Sutlers, Cutlers, Butlers, Trustlers and Jugglers; their Norths, Souths, and Wests; their Fields, Rows, Streets, and Lanes; their Toms-sons, Dicks-sons, Johns-sons, James-sons, Wills-sons, and Waters-sons; their Shorts, Longs, Lows, and Squabs; their Parks, Sacks, Tacks, and Jacks; and, to complete their ingratitude and injustice, they have transported a cargo of notorious traitors to the Divine Majesty among you, impiously calling them the Ministers of God's Word." [S.]
[195] The Tholsel, where criminals for the city were tried, and where proclamations, etc., were posted. It was invariably called the Touls'el by the lower class. [S.]
[196] This and the following piece were, according to Sir Walter Scott, found among the collection of Mr. Smith. The examples of English blunders which Scott also reprints were given by Sheridan by way of retaliation to these specimens of Irish blunders noted by Swift. [T. S.]
[197] This specimen of Irish-English, or what Swift condemned as such, is taken from an unfinished copy in the Dean's handwriting, found among Mr. Lyons's papers. [S.]
[198] See note on p. 368. [T. S.]
[199] Dunkin was one of Swift's favourites, to judge by the efforts Swift made on his behalf. Writing to Alderman Barber (17th January, 1737-38), Swift speaks of him as "a gentleman of much wit and the best English as well as Latin poet in this kingdom." Several of Dunkin's poems were printed in Scott's edition of Swift's works, but his collected works were issued in 1774. Dunkin was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. [T. S.]
[200] The "Occasional Writer's" Letters are printed in Lord Bolingbroke's Works. [N.]
[201] Sir Robert Walpole was by no means negligent of his literary assistants. But, unfortunately, like an unskilful general, he confided more in the number than the spirit or discipline of his forces. Arnall, Concanen, and Henley, were wretched auxiliaries; yet they could not complain of indifferent pay, since Arnall used to brag, that, in the course of four years, he had received from the treasury, for his political writings, the sum of £10,997 6s. 8d. [S.]
[202] The authority for considering this "Account" to be the work of Swift is Mr. Deane Swift, the editor of the edition of 1765 of Swift's works. It is included in the eighth volume of the quarto edition issued that year. Burke also seems to have had no doubt at all about the authorship. Referring to the Dean's disposition to defend Queen Anne and to ridicule her successor, he says, "it is probable that the pieces in which he does it ('Account of the Court of Japan,' and 'Directions for making a Birth-day Song') were the occasion of most of the other posthumous articles having been so long withheld from the publick." Undoubtedly, there is much in this piece that savours of Swift's method of dealing with such a subject; but that could easily be imitated by a clever reader of "Gulliver." The style, however, in which it is written is not distinctly Swift's.
At the time this tract was written (1728) the Tory party was anxiously hoping that the accession of George II. would see the downfall of Walpole. But the party was doomed to a bitter disappointment. Walpole not only maintained but added to the power he enjoyed under George I. By what means this was accomplished the writer of this piece attempts to hint. Sir Walter Scott thinks the piece was probably left imperfect, "when the crisis to which the Tories so anxiously looked forward terminated so undesirably, in the confirmation of Walpole's power." [T. S.]