[104] The causes for absenteeism are thus noted by Lecky ("Hist. of Ireland,” p. 213, vol. i., ed. 1892):  “The very large part of the confiscated land was given to Englishmen who had property and duties in England, and habitually lived there.  Much of it also came into the market, and as there was very little capital in Ireland, and as Catholics were forbidden to purchase land, this also passed largely into the hands of English speculators.  Besides, the level of civilization was much higher in England than in Ireland.  The position of a Protestant landlord, living in the midst of a degraded population, differing from him in religion and race, had but little attraction, the political situation of the country closed to an Irish gentleman nearly every avenue of honourable ambition, and owing to a long series of very evident causes, the sentiment of public duty was deplorably low.  The economical condition was not checked by any considerable movement in the opposite direction, for after the suppression of the Irish manufactures but few Englishmen, except those who obtained Irish offices, came to Ireland.”

The amount of the rent obtained in Ireland that was spent in England is estimated elsewhere by Swift to have been at least one-third.  In 1729, Prior assessed the amount at L627,000.  In the Supplement to his “List of Absentees,” Prior gives eight further “articles” by which money was “yearly drawn out of the Kingdom.”  See the “Supplement,” pp. 242-245 in Thone’s “Collection of Tracts,” Dublin, 1861. [T.  S.]

[105] John Erskine, Earl of Mar, has elsewhere been characterized by Swift as “crooked; he seemed to me to be a gentleman of good sense and good nature.”  The great rebellion of 1715, for which Mar was responsible, was stirred up by him in favour of the Pretender, and succeeded so far as to bring the Chevalier to Scotland.  The Duke of Argyll, however, fought his forces, and though the victory remained undecided, Mar was compelled to seek safety in France.  The rebellion caused so much disturbance in every part of the British Isles that Ireland suffered greatly from bad trade. [T.  S.]

[106] Joshua, Lord Allen.  See note on p. 175. [T.  S.]

[107] See page 60 of vol. iii. of the present edition. [T.  S.]

[108] Chief Justice Whitshed. [T.  S.]

[109] See page 14. [T.  S.]

[110] Edward Waters. [T.  S.]

[111] See pages 96, 235-6, of vol. vi. of present edition. [T.  S.]

[112] The person here intimated, Joshua, Lord Allen (whom Swift elsewhere satirizes under the name of Traulus), was born in 1685.  He is said to have been a weak and dissipated man; and some particulars are recorded by tradition concerning his marriage with Miss Du Pass (whose father was clerk of the secretary of state’s office in James the Second’s reign, and died in India in 1699), which do very little honour either to his heart or understanding.