ABSTRACT
Upon the great foundation of Misanthropy the whole building of the author's Travells is erected. No wonder the tribalism of partisan politics offended Swift. To the extent that Travels presents itself flatly as a travel narrative by one Lemuel Gulliver, 'First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of several Ships', it is a hoax that recalls his most playful early work, the Bickerstaff papers. The King also condemns peacetime standing armies, topically enough as people have seen, rejecting with contempt Gulliver's offer of gunpowder so that he can 'destroy the whole Metropolis, if ever it should pretend to dispute his absolute Commands'. There is a possible way to argue the generalized savage humanity to which Swift assimilates the Yahoos reveals the impression of specific colonial encounters, especially, the slave trade. Swift had also brought Irish concerns with him, carefully coordinating his message with Archbishop King.
