ABSTRACT
All the leaders of the kingdom, with the wavering exception of Conolly, now stood like a Roman square against Wood’s patent. The weakness lay not in the gentry, merchants, or bankers but in humbler classes. These had to be terrified into resisting every trick or pressure that Wood and his backers might employ to lure them into taking the coins. I think it was for this particular purpose that the other leaders summoned Swift. He loved to write for a sub-literary audience, and was celebrated for his mastery of the appeals that moved such minds. Probably he accepted the invitation—which I assume he welcomed—in February 1724, and went to work at once.
