A PROPOSAL FOR THE UNIVERSAL USE OF IRISH MANUFACTURE.

     
     
     
           NOTE.
     
           This pamphlet constitutes the opening of a campaign against his
     political enemies in England on whom Swift had, it must be
     presumed, determined to take revenge. When the fall of Harley's
     administration was complete and irrevocable, Swift returned to
     Ireland and, for six years, he lived the simple life of the Dean of
     St. Patrick's, unheard of except by a few of his more intimate
     friends in England. Accustomed by years of intimacy with the
     ministers of Anne's court, and by his own temperament, to act the
     part of leader and adviser, Swift's compulsory silence must have
     chafed and irritated him to a degree. His opportunities for
     advancement had passed with the passing of Harley and Bolingbroke
     from power, and he had given too ardent and enthusiastic a support
     to these friends of his for Walpole to look to him for a like
     service. Moreover, however strong may have been these personal
     motives, Swift's detestation of Walpole's Irish policy must have
     been deep and bitter, even before he began to express himself on
     the matter. His sincerity cannot be doubted, even if we make an
     ample allowance for a private grudge against the great English
     minister. The condition of Ireland, at this time, was such as to
     arouse the warmest indignation from the most indifferent and
     unprejudiced—and it was a condition for which English misrule was
     mainly responsible. It cannot therefore be wondered at that Swift
     should be among the strenuous and persistent opponents of a policy
     which spelled ruin to his country, and his patriotism must be
     recognized even if we accept the existence of a personal motive.
           The crass stupidity which characterized England's dealings with
     Ireland at this time would be hardly credible, were it not on
     record in the acts passed in the reigns of Charles II. and William
     III., and embodied in the resolutions of the English parliament
     during Walpole's term of power. An impartial historian is forced to
     the conclusion that England had determined to ruin the sister
     nation. Already its social life was disreputable; the people taxed
     in various ways far beyond their means; the agriculture at the
     lowest state by the neglect and indifference of the landed
     proprietors; and the manufactures crippled by a series of
     pernicious restrictions imposed by a selfish rival.
           Swift, in writing this “Proposal,” did not take advantage of any
     special occasion, as he did later in the matter of Wood's
     halfpence. His occasion must be found in the condition of the
     country, in the injustice to which she was subjected, and in the
     fact that the time had come when it would be wise and safe for him
     to come out once more into the open.
           He began in his characteristic way. All the evils that the laws
     against the manufactures and agriculture of Ireland brought into
     existence are summarized in this “Proposal.” His business is not to
     attack the laws directly, but to attempt a method by which these
     shall be nullified. Since the manufactures of Ireland might not be
     exported for sale, let the people of Ireland wear them themselves,
     and let them resolve and determine to wear them in preference to
     those imported from England. If England had the right to prevent
     the importation to it of Irish woollen goods, it was surely only
     just that the Irish should exercise then right to wear their own
     home-made clothes! The tract was a reasonable and mild statement.
     Yet, such was the temper of the governing officials, that a cry was
     raised against it and the writer accused of attempting to disunite
     the two kingdoms. With consistent foolishness, the printer was
     brought to trial, and although the jury acquitted him, yet the Lord
     Chief Justice Whitshed, zealous for his employer more than for his
     office, refused to accept the verdict and attempted to force the
     jury to a conviction. In his letter to Pope, dated January 10th,
     1720-21, Swift gives an account of this matter:
           “I have written in this kingdom, a discourse, to persuade the
     wretched people to wear their own manufactures, instead of those
     from England. This treatise soon spread very fast, being agreeable
     to the sentiments of the whole nation, except those gentlemen who
     had employments, or were expectants. Upon which a person in great
     office here immediately took the alarm; he sent in haste for the
     chief-justice, and informed him of a seditious, factious, and
     virulent pamphlet, lately published, with a design of setting the
     two kingdoms at variance; directing, at the same time, that the
     printer should be prosecuted with the utmost rigour of the law. The
     chief-justice has so quick an understanding, that he resolved, if
     possible, to outdo his orders. The grand juries of the county and
     city were effectually practised with, to represent the said
     pamphlet with all aggravating epithets, for which they had thanks
     sent them from England, and their presentments published, for
     several weeks, in all the newspapers. The printer was seized, and
     forced to give great bail. After his trial, the jury brought him in
     not guilty, although they had been culled with the utmost industry.
     The chief-justice sent them back nine times, and kept them eleven
     hours, until, being perfectly tired out, they were forced to leave
     the matter to the mercy of the judge, by what they call a special
     verdict
. During the trial, the chief-justice, among other
     singularities, laid his hand on his breast, and protested solemnly
     that the author's design was to bring in the Pretender, although
     there was not a single syllable of party in the whole treatise; and
     although it was known that the most eminent of those who professed
     his own principles, publicly disallowed his proceedings. But the
     cause being so very odious and unpopular, the trial of the verdict
     was deferred from one term to another, until, upon the Duke of
     Grafton's, the lord lieutenant's arrival, his grace, after mature
     advice, and permission from England, was pleased to grant a noli
     prosequi
.”
           This Chief Justice Whitshed was the same who acted as judge on
     Harding's trial for printing the fourth Drapier letter. Swift never
     forgot him, and took several occasions to satirize him bitterly.
             * * * * *
           The text of the present edition is based on the Dublin edition of
     1720 and collated with the texts of Faulkner, 1735, and
     Miscellanies of same date.
           [T. S.]
     
      A PROPOSAL
      For the universal Use
      Of Irish Manufacture,
      IN
      Cloaths and Furniture of Houses, &c.
      UTTERLY
      Rejecting and Renouncing
      Every Thing wearable that comes from
      ENGLAND.
             * * * * *
      Dublin: Printed and Sold by E. Waters, in Essex-street, at the Corner of Sycamore-Alley, 1720.