In the following pages, we shall define the historical context of the clergyman's _Letter_ and illuminate the nature of the literary warfare in which Swift was an energetic if not particularly cheerful antagonist when _Gulliver's Travels_ was published late in 1726.
In another letter, Gay remarked to Swift (17 November 1726) that "The Politicians to a man agree, that it [the _Travels_] is free from particular reflections"; nevertheless some "people of greater perspicuity" would "search for particular applications in every leaf." He also predicted that "we shall have keys publish'd to give light into Gulliver's design." His prediction was correct, for it was not long before four _Keys_, the earliest commentary in pamphlet form on the _Travels_, were published by a Signor Corolini, undoubtedly a pseudonym for Edmund Curll, the London printer and bookseller. But surprisingly, the observations do not exhibit Swift in a harsh factional light. As a matter of fact, in his introduction to the _Keys_, which are entitled _Lemuel Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. Compendiously Methodized, For Publick Benefit: With Observations and Explanatory Notes Throughout_ (1726), Curll flatters Swift as possessing "the true Vein of Humour and polite Conversation" (I, 4). Regarding the _Travels_, he observes, "The Town are infinitely more eager after them than they were after _Robinson Crusoe_" (I, 5).
In general, the _Keys_ are pleasantly written, including no nasty innuendoes critical of Swift's high-church sectarian zeal or his high-flying Tory political sympathies. They may be considered a frankly commercial venture meant to exploit the popularity of the _Travels_. Curll merely summarizes the narratives, occasionally providing substantial extracts or sprinkling explanatory comments on some allusions that attract him. Some of the annotations are ridiculous, or curious, like the equations of Blefuscu with Scotland, of the storm Gulliver passes through before reaching Brobdingnag with "the _South-Sea_ and _Mississippi_ Confusion," and of the giants with inflated South Sea stock (II, 4). Some remarks, however, appear convincing, such as his belief that "the _trifling Transactions_ of the present _English Royal Society_" on insects and fossils are "finely rallied" (II, 11-12). Curll also notes about the third voyage that "besides the political Allegory, Mr. _Gulliver_ has many shrewd Remarks upon Men and Books, Sects, Parties, and Opinions" (III, 10-11). Concerning the fourth, he equates the good Portuguese Captain Don Pedro with the Dean's "good Friend the Earl of _P[eterboroug]h_" (IV, 26). The Roman Catholic Peterborough, we recall, fought in Spain and was also Pope's good friend.