writings of some of the greatest geniuses this country has produced; to the no small indignation of their several admirers, and to the great regret of the doctor's own. As this work is more likely to be generally read than any of the others; both on account of the great reputation of the author, and as it will of course present itself to the eyes of all who shall go through his collection of lives, I shall hereafter take an opportunity of making some comments upon those passages, which tend to depreciate and misrepresent the character of so great a man.

These several publications, which place the life and character of Swift in very different, and often opposite points of light, have occasioned great diversity in the judgments formed of them by the world, according to the different degrees of prejudice, or candour, in their several readers. But as the sale of the first essay on this subject, written by lord Orrery, was infinitely superior to that of all the others put together, the prepossessions in favour of the accounts delivered by him, have, for reasons already assigned, made too deep an impression on the bulk of mankind, to be easily erased. I have before taken notice of the scantiness of his materials, which yet he has not ranged in any regular order; and which consist chiefly of detached facts and unconnected anecdotes, so that there is no appearance of a whole. The portrait he has drawn of him, puts one in mind of certain paintings to be seen at the optician's in St. Paul's church-yard, where we behold some scattered and distorted features, covered with blotches of various colours, so that we cannot discover what it is intended to represent: till by the application of a cylindrical mirror, we are surprised to see start forth a face of the finest proportioned features, and most beautiful complexion. By such an application of the mirror of truth I hope to show Swift in a similar light,

I have long wished for leisure to set about this task, which a life spent in a variety of laborious occupations has hitherto prevented. And even now I am obliged to suspend pursuits of a more advantageous kind with regard to myself in order to accomplish it. But, reflecting, at this advanced period of life, on the near approaches of old age, which might soon disqualify me from carrying my design into execution, I determined to postpone all other considerations that might stand in the way of an object I have had so much at heart. The love I had to his person, and the reverence in which I was taught, from my earliest days, to hold his character, and with which I had an opportunity of being well acquainted, on account of the long intimacy subsisting between him and my father; and, above all, the means I have in my power of rescuing his good name from the aspersions thrown on it by foul-mouthed calumny, have made me think it an indispensable duty, no longer to delay doing justice to his memory.

From the above acknowledgment of my early prepossessions in his favour, it may be thought that I shall prove not an uprejudiced historian: but, though I am conscious to myself that I shall never be guilty of any wilful misrepresentations, I know too well how little weight all professions of impartiality carry with them on such occasions to trouble the reader with any. I desire no credit to be given to assertions or opinions not supported by the most convincing proofs: which, therefore, in all disputable points, I hope I shall be indulged in producing at full length. And I doubt not but that the display of Swift's true character and conduct in life, though to the

Mr. Sheridan was paid more by the booksellers for this single life, than Dr. Johnson received for the whole of his Biography of the English Poets. N.

confusion of his maligners, and disappointment of the envious and malevolent, will give great satisfaction to all good minds; as it is of moment to the general cause of religion and morality to make it appear that the greatest genius of the age was, at the same time, a man of the truest piety, and most exalted virtue.

75)

THE

LIFE

OF

DOCTOR SWIFT.

SECTION I.

SWIFT was descended from an ancient family in Yorkshire, of no small note, and considerable property. He was of the younger branch.* His grandfather, the reverend Thomas Swift, was possessed of a good estate, and was distinguished above any man of his station in life, for his attachment to Charles I. and the sufferings he underwent in support of the royal cause, by which his fortune was entirely ruined. He had ten sons, and three daughters. Five of his sons went to seek their fortune in Ireland; the fourth of whom, Jonathan, was father to the famous doctor Swift. He had married Mrs. Abigail Erick, descended from an ancient family of that name in Leicestershire, but with little or no fortune. He died young, in about two years after his marriage, seven months before the birth of his only son; and as he was but just beginning the world, left his widow in very distressed circumstances.

* For farther particulars of Swift's family, see his own account in the Appendix. S.