ulation which Law's schemes had given birth
to, reached poor Ireland also. People thought there might be found a
scheme on similar lines by which Ireland might move to prosperity. A
Bank project was initiated for the purpose of assisting small tradesmen.
But a scheme that in itself would have been excellent in a prosperous
society, could only end in failure in such a community as peopled
Ireland. Swift felt this and opposed the plan in his satirical tract,
"The Swearer's Bank." The tract sufficed, for no more was heard of the
National Bank after the House of Commons rejected it.

The thieves and "roughs" who infested Dublin came in next for Swift's
attention. In characteristic fashion he seized the occasion of the
arrest and execution of one of their leaders to publish a pretended
"Last Speech and Dying Confession," in which he threatened exposure and
arrest to the remainder of the gang if they did not make themselves
scarce. The threat had its effect, and the city found itself
considerably safer as a consequence.

How Swift pounded out his "rage and resentment" against English
misgovernment, may be further read in the "Story of the Injured Lady,"
and in the "Answer" to that story. The Injured Lady is Ireland, who
tells her lover, England, of her attractions, and upbraids him on his
conduct towards her. In the "Answer" Swift tells the Lady what she ought
to do, and hardly minces matters. Let her show the right spirit, he says
to her, and she will find there are many gentlemen who will support her
and champion her cause.

Then came the plain, pathetic, and truthful recital of the "Short View
of the State of Ireland"--a pamphlet of but a few pages and yet terribly
effective. As an historical document it takes rank with the experiences
of the clergymen, Skelton and Jackson, as well as the more dispassionate
writings of contemporary historians. It is frequently cited by Lecky in
his "History of Ireland."

What Swift had so far left undone, either from political reasons or from
motives of personal restraint, he completed in what may, without
exaggeration, be called his satirical masterpiece--the "Modest Proposal
for Preventing the Children of Poor People from being a Burthen to their
Parents." Nothing comparable to this piece of writing is to be found in
any literature; while the mere fact that it came into being must stand
as one of the deadliest indictments against England's misrule.
Governments and rulers have been sa