In "A Modest Proposal," a clear difference exists between Swift and the persona who makes this proposal. How can the proposer be characterized?

Swift modeled A Modest
Proposal (1729) on the many such proposals, written by writers often
called projectors, designed to reform political, social, and
economic problems in Great Britain, but most especially in Ireland, at that time
probably the most economically exploited part of the country.  Swift, Irish himself, had
a long history attempting to convince the British that the economic exploitation of
Ireland was against their interests and a gross violation of human rights.  A
Modest Proposal is still considered the best example of irony in English
literature.  Unfortunately, as good as it is, the irony was lost on the
English.

For such a proposal to be credible, even though
the proposal is horrific, inhumane, outlandish and any other negative adjective one can
use, the proposer must appear to be realistic, unsentimental, economically sound, and
eminently logical.  He must, in essence, want to solve a problem in the most reasonable
and beneficial manner possible.  Swift goes to great lengths to establish the
objectivity and good will of the proposer:

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 It is a melancholly Object to those, who walk
through this great Town, or travel in the Country, when they see
the Streets, the Roads,
and Cabbin-Doors, crowded with Beggars of the
female Sex, followed by three, four, or six Children, all in Rags,
and importuning every Passenger for an
Alms.

Swift's
proposer-persona is a man who is horrified by the sad sight of destitute mothers and
children, and the reader is lulled into the belief that what follows will be a
considered, humane solution to this sad problem.  In the first few lines, then, Swift
has created a person who is sympathetic and reasonable and, more important, may have a
solution to these tragic scenes.

The proposer's logic and
economic expertise are further established in the next few
lines:

It is
true a Child, just dropt from it's Dam, may be supported by her
Milk, for a Solar year with little other Nourishment, at most not above the Value of two
Shillings, which the Mother may certainly get, or the Value
in Scraps, by her lawful Occupation of begging, and it is exactly
at one year Old that I propose to provide for
them.

Among other things,
this proposer can be characterized as a thorough and careful economist who has performed
objective, not sentimental, analyses that lead him to create a model for solving this
economic and human tragedy. At this point, even a careful reader has no clue where this
proposal is heading, but reader senses that this proposer is intelligent and
reasonable.

Not only has the proposer done his economic
homework, but he has covered the religious and political implications of the
problem:

it
would greatly lessen the Number of Papists, with whom we are Yearly
over-run, being the principal Breeders of the Nation, as well as our most dangerous
Enemies, and who stay at home on purpose with a design to deliver the Kingdom
to the
Pretender.

If the
economic and humane aspects of the proposal fail to convince the reader, this proposer
understands that his readers can be persuaded on the basis of the plan's ability to get
rid of Britain's enemies.  Because England is a Protestant country that is faced with an
Ireland overrun with Catholics who may try to assist a Catholic king (in exile in
France) to take over England, the proposal has the important additional benefit of
ridding Great Britain of Catholics, who are the natural political enemies of the
English.

In sum, then, the proposer is not only
characterized by his humanity, objectivity, and economic expertise but also by his
patriotism and awareness of the political dangers that threaten the continuation of
English life.  If one ignores the fact that children are being eaten, this proposal has
a lot of merits.