Satire

Abstract

A few days later, after relating this prank and after the maids had clearly bitten, and the story was out, Swift recorded ‘That rogue Arbuthnot puts it all upon me’.² The following year on February 19th Addison announced a new French Academy for the education of politicians in all facets of their dissimulatory craft, in gestures and diplomacy and the whole language of lying, ‘French Truth’(see below, ch. 7, VI).³ Later, Plain Dealer outlined the contents of a proposed six volume history of recent Whig lies.⁴ The first volume was to contain ‘A full Account of the Nature, Property, and Usefulness of Lying’. The second concerned the art of mastering and perfecting ‘all Sorts of Lyes, from the Mouth of the Whiggish Party, viz. Papists, Republicans, Atheists, Deists, Socinians, Independents, Quakers, Anabaptists, Sweet-singers, Muggletonians, French-Prophets, and a thousand other different Sectaries.

Arbuthnot made me draw up a sham subscription for a book, called a History of the Maids of Honour since Harry the Eighth, showing they make the best wives, with a list of all the Maids of Honour since &c to pay a crown in hand, and t’other crown upon delivery of the book; all in the common form of those things. We got a gentleman to write it up for us, because my hand is known, and we sent it to the maids of honour when they came to supper. If they bite at it, ‘twill be a very good court jest; and the queen will certainly have it; we did not tell Mrs Hill.’¹

‘Jonathan Swift, The Journal to Stella, 19, Sept., 1711.