Jonathan Swift sets off on horseback from his deanery in Dublin: a servant closes the gate of the deanery, while a postboy and another rider set off away from Swift. Engraving.

An engraving of the same composition was included as a frontispiece to Essays divine, moral and political, op. cit., but with different lettering ("State opinions alamode"). This volume of essays purports to be by Jonathan Swift: the author is identified on the title page as the author of The tale of a tub, the dedication is signed "Jonathan --", and the "effigies of the author" described on the titlepage is the present composition showing riders outside a house. It "was supposed to have been written by Jonathan Swift in 1714 -- the year in which the Tories fell from power and Swift took up residence at the Deanery of St. Patrick's. The volume is in fact a product of political vengeance, probably written by one of Swift's Whig opponents, Thomas Burnet. One of the most interesting features of the volume is the frontispiece, an engraving which shows Swift on horseback, leaving buildings which are said to represent Swift's Deanery in Dublin. McMinn analyses the scene depicted in the engraving and its relevance to the Essays. While evidence suggests that the picture is fictitious, having no actual connection to Swift's Deanery or to Dublin, he concludes that the images are meant to represent Swift as a man "on the run" disturbed by alarming political news: this is the most plausible link between the Whig witch-hunt of the period and the image of Swift departing from his new home."--summary of McMinn, loc. cit.