The speech in "A Modest Proposal" is verbal irony, where the writer says the opposite of what he means. Swift means that the Irish deserve better treatment from the English. Swift ironically compares Irish to animals saying "I rather recommend buying the children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs." in order to mean that Irish should not be treated like animals. He also mentions disease, famine, and poor living conditions of Irish people and welcomes this as a positive development.
