f having Lilliput's Emperor and Empress rule successively as Queen Anne and George I did, Swift avoided an obvious satire by having these leaders rule as husband and wife. Also, Lilliput's Emperor is described as the exact opposite of George I. He is described as "strong and masculine, twenty-eight years and three quarters old and articulate."4 Generally, Gulliver gives a very praiseworthy description of the Emperor. However, George I was just the opposite. He had a "thick and ungainly form, bad taste in dress, and a guttural and unintelligible pronunciation of the little English he knew."5 As Alexander Pope said in Epistle to Augustus: "Praise undeserved is scandal in disguise."6
There is another important satire in the second chapter. In this chapter, Gulliver's possessions are inventoried by a committee appointed by the Emperor. This possibly represents an investigation of one William Gregg by a committee of Whig lords. Gregg worked in Oxford's office and was found guilty of treasonable correspondences with France. Oxford strenuously protested his innocence to this crime and swore his loyalty.
The allegory continues in Chapter III. Gulliver's good behavior finally acquires his release. Skyresh Bolgolam is the only cabinet minister who opposes Gulliver's release. He sets down a number of restrictions Gulliver must agree to before he will be released. This corresponds to a number of political developments which culminated early in 1711 when the Tories, with the Queen in their favor, gradually won their way back into public favor.
The identity of Skyresh Bolgolam has never really been discovered, but William Cooke Taylor thought he might be the Duke of Argyle, whom Swift had offended by his attacks on the Scotch.7 Sir Charles Firth felt that Bolgolam was the Earl of Nottingham because Swift and the Earl had been mutual enemies.8 However, both of these identifications rest upon the supposition that Gulliver is Swift, and...