Editing Jonathan Swift (section)

==Biography==
===Early life===
Jonathan Swift was born on 30 November 1667 in [[Dublin]] in the [[Kingdom of Ireland]]. He was the second child and only son of Jonathan Swift (1640–1667) and his wife Abigail Erick (or Herrick) of [[Frisby on the Wreake]] in [[Leicestershire]].<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Swift, Jonathan|last=Stephen|first=Leslie|author-link= Leslie Stephen |volume=55|pages=204-227|short=1}}</ref> His father was a native of [[Goodrich, Herefordshire|Goodrich]], Herefordshire, but he accompanied his brothers to [[Ireland]] to seek their fortunes in law after their [[royalist]] father's estate was brought to ruin during the [[English Civil War]]. His maternal grandfather, James Ericke, was the vicar of [[Thornton in Leicestershire]]. In 1634 the vicar was convicted of [[Puritan]] practices. Sometime thereafter, Ericke and his family, including his young daughter Abigail, fled to Ireland.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stubbs |first=John |title=Jonathan Swift: The Reluctant Rebel |pages=25–26 |publisher=WW Norton & Co |location=New York |date=2016}}</ref>

Swift's father joined his elder brother, Godwin, in the practice of law in Ireland.<ref>Stubbs (2016), p. 43.</ref> He died in Dublin about seven months before his namesake was born.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=so6ZNdlRfLIC&q=jonathan+swift%27s+father+died&pg=PA412|title=Jonathan Swift|isbn=978-1438108513|last1=Degategno|first1=Paul J.|last2=Jay Stubblefield|first2=R.|year=2014|publisher=Infobase |access-date=4 October 2020|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126142416/https://books.google.com/books?id=so6ZNdlRfLIC&q=jonathan+swift%27s+father+died&pg=PA412|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/A-Reading-Life/Jonathan-Swift-His-Life-and-His-World/ba-p/11769|title=Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World|work=The Barnes & Noble Review|access-date=16 March 2014|archive-date=2 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702000858/http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/A-Reading-Life/Jonathan-Swift-His-Life-and-His-World/ba-p/11769|url-status=live}}</ref> He died of [[syphilis]], which he said he got from dirty sheets when out of town.<ref>Stubbs (2016), p. 54.</ref>

His mother returned to England after his birth, leaving him in the care of his uncle Godwin Swift (1628–1695), a close friend and confidant of [[John Temple (judge)|Sir John Temple]], whose son later employed Swift as his secretary.<ref name=LS205>Stephen ''DNB'', p. 205.</ref>

At the age of one, child Jonathan was taken by his [[wet nurse]] to her hometown of [[Whitehaven]], [[Cumberland]], England. He said that there he learned to read the Bible. His nurse returned him to his mother, still in Ireland, when he was three.<ref>Stubbs (2016), pp. 58–63.</ref><br>

[[File:Houghton Lowell 1816.7.3 - Life of Jonathan Swift, p 8.jpg|thumb|left|The house in which Swift was born; 1865 illustration]]
Swift's family had several interesting literary connections. His grandmother Elizabeth (Dryden) Swift was the niece of [[Sir Erasmus Dryden, 1st Baronet|Sir Erasmus Dryden]], grandfather of poet [[John Dryden]]. The same grandmother's aunt Katherine (Throckmorton) Dryden was a first cousin of [[Elizabeth Raleigh|Elizabeth]], wife of [[Sir Walter Raleigh]]. His great-great-grandmother Margaret (Godwin) Swift was the sister of [[Francis Godwin]], author of ''[[The Man in the Moone]]'' which influenced parts of Swift's ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]''. His uncle Thomas Swift married a daughter of poet and playwright [[Sir William Davenant]], a godson of [[William Shakespeare]].

Swift's benefactor and uncle Godwin Swift took primary responsibility for the young man, sending him with one of his cousins to [[Kilkenny College]] (also attended by philosopher [[George Berkeley]]).<ref name=LS205 /> He arrived there at the age of six, where he was expected to have already learned the basic declensions in Latin. He had not and thus began his schooling in a lower form. Swift graduated in 1682, when he was 15.<ref>Stubbs (2016), pp. 73–74.</ref>
[[File:Jonathan Swift, by Thomas Pooley.jpg|thumb|Jonathan Swift in 1682, by Thomas Pooley. The artist had married into the Swift family.<ref name="Hourican">{{cite web |last1=Hourican |first1=Bridget |title=Thomas Pooley |url=https://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a7421&searchClicked=clicked&searchBy=&browsesearch=yes |website=Royal Irish Academy – Dictionary of Irish Biography |publisher=Cambridge University Press |access-date=3 November 2020 |date=2002}}</ref>]]
He attended [[Trinity College Dublin]] in 1682,<ref>''Alumni Dublinenses Supplement'', p. 116: a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593–1860), [[George Dames Burtchaell|Burtchaell, G.D]]/[[Thomas Sadleir|Sadlier, T.U]]: Dublin, Alex Thom and Co., 1935.</ref> financed by Godwin's son Willoughby. The four-year course followed a curriculum largely set in the Middle Ages for the priesthood. The lectures were dominated by [[Aristotelian logic]] and philosophy. The basic skill taught to students was debate, and they were expected to be able to argue both sides of any argument or topic. Swift was an above-average student but not exceptional, and received his B.A. in 1686 "by special grace".<ref>Stubbs (2016), pp. 86–90.</ref>

===Adult life===
Swift was studying for his master's degree when political troubles in Ireland surrounding the [[Glorious Revolution]] forced him to leave for England in 1688, where his mother helped him get a position as secretary and personal assistant of [[William Temple (British politician)|Sir William Temple]] at [[Moor Park, Farnham]].<ref>Stephen ''DNB'', p. 206.</ref> Temple was an English diplomat who had arranged the [[Triple Alliance of 1668]]. He had retired from public service to his country estate, to tend his gardens and write his memoirs. Gaining his employer's confidence, Swift "was often trusted with matters of great importance."<ref name=LS207>Stephen ''DNB'', p. 207.</ref> Within three years of their acquaintance, Temple introduced his secretary to [[William III of England|William&nbsp;III]] and sent him to London to urge the King to consent to a bill for triennial Parliaments.

Swift took up his residence at Moor Park where he met [[Esther Johnson]], then eight years old, the daughter of an impoverished widow who acted as companion to Temple's sister [[Mary Giffard|Lady Giffard]]. Swift was her tutor and mentor, giving her the nickname "Stella", and the two maintained a close but ambiguous relationship for the rest of Esther's life.<ref name=LS208>Stephen ''DNB'', p. 208.</ref>

In 1690, Swift left Temple for Ireland because of his health, but returned to Moor Park the following year. The illness consisted of fits of vertigo or giddiness, now believed to be [[Ménière's disease]], and it continued to plague him throughout his life.<ref name=Bewley>Bewley, Thomas H., "The Health of Jonathan Swift," ''Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine'' 1998;91:602–605.</ref> During this second stay with Temple, Swift received his M.A. from [[Hertford College, Oxford#Hart Hall|Hart Hall]], [[University of Oxford|Oxford]], in 1692. He then left Moor Park, apparently despairing of gaining a better position through Temple's patronage, in order to become an ordained priest in the Established [[Church of Ireland]]. He was appointed to the [[prebendary|prebend]] of Kilroot in the [[Diocese of Connor (Church of Ireland)|Diocese of Connor]] in 1694,<ref>"Fasti Ecclesiae Hibernicae: The succession of the prelates Volume 3" [[Henry Cotton (divine)|Cotton, H.]] p. 266: Dublin, Hodges & Smith, 1848–1878.</ref> with his parish located at [[Kilroot]], near [[Carrickfergus]] in [[County Antrim]].

Swift appears to have been miserable in his new position, being isolated in a small, remote community far from the centres of power and influence. While at Kilroot, however, he may well have become romantically involved with Jane Waring, whom he called "Varina", the sister of an old college friend.<ref name=LS207 /> A letter from him survives, offering to remain if she would marry him and promising to leave and never return to Ireland if she refused. She presumably refused, because Swift left his post and returned to England and Temple's service at Moor Park in 1696, and he remained there until Temple's death. There he was employed in helping to prepare Temple's memoirs and correspondence for publication. During this time, Swift wrote ''[[The Battle of the Books]]'', a satire responding to critics of Temple's ''Essay upon Ancient and Modern Learning'' (1690), though ''Battle'' was not published until 1704.

Temple died on 27 January 1699.<ref name=LS207 /> Swift, normally a [[Misanthropy|harsh judge of human nature]], said that all that was good and amiable in mankind had died with Temple.<ref name=LS207 /> He stayed on briefly in England to complete editing Temple's memoirs, and perhaps in the hope that recognition of his work might earn him a suitable position in England. His eventual publication of the third volume of Temple's memoirs, in 1709,<ref>John Middleton Murry, ''Jonathan Swift. A Critical Biography'', Noonday Press, 1955, pp. 154-158</ref> made enemies among some of Temple's family and friends, in particular Temple's formidable sister Martha, Lady Giffard, who objected to indiscretions included in the memoirs.<ref name=LS208 /> Moreover, she noted that Swift had borrowed from her own biography, an accusation that Swift denied.<ref name=martha>{{Cite ODNB |title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |date=2004-09-23 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/55435 |pages=ref:odnb/55435 |editor-last=Matthew |editor-first=H. C. G. |place=Oxford |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/55435 |access-date=2023-01-19 |editor2-last=Harrison |editor2-first=B.}}</ref> Swift's next move was to approach King William directly, based on his imagined connection through Temple and a belief that he had been promised a position. This failed so miserably that he accepted the lesser post of secretary and chaplain to the [[Baron Berkeley|Earl of Berkeley]], one of the Lords Justice of Ireland. However, when he reached Ireland, he found that the secretaryship had already been given to another, though he soon obtained the living of Laracor, [[Agher]], and Rathbeggan, and the prebend of Dunlavin<ref>"Fasti Ecclesiae Hibernicae: The succession of the prelates Volume 2" [[Henry Cotton (divine)|Cotton, H.]] p. 165: Dublin, Hodges & Smith, 1848–1878.</ref> in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.<ref>Stephen ''DNB'', p. 209.</ref>

Swift ministered to a congregation of about 15 at [[Laracor]], which was just over {{convert|4+1/2|mi|km|spell=in}} from [[Summerhill, County Meath]], and {{convert|20|mi|km|spell=in}} from Dublin. He had abundant leisure for cultivating his garden, making a canal after the Dutch fashion of Moor Park, planting willows, and rebuilding the vicarage. As chaplain to Lord Berkeley, he spent much of his time in Dublin and travelled to London frequently over the next ten years. In 1701, he anonymously published the political pamphlet ''A Discourse on the Contests and Dissentions in Athens and Rome''.

====Writer====
Swift resided in [[Trim, County Meath]] after 1700. He wrote many of his works during this period. In February 1702, Swift received his [[Doctor of Divinity]] degree from [[Trinity College Dublin]]. That spring he travelled to England and then returned to Ireland in October, accompanied by Esther Johnson—now 20—and his friend Rebecca Dingley, another member of William Temple's household. There is a great mystery and controversy over Swift's relationship with Esther Johnson, nicknamed "Stella". Many, notably his close friend [[Thomas Sheridan (divine)|Thomas Sheridan]], believed that they were secretly married in 1716; others, like Swift's housekeeper Mrs Brent and Rebecca Dingley, who lived with Stella all through her years in Ireland, dismissed the story as absurd.<ref>Stephen ''DNB'', pp. 215–217.</ref> Yet Swift certainly did not wish her to marry anyone else: in 1704, when their mutual friend [[William Tisdall (cleric)|William Tisdall]] informed Swift that he intended to propose to Stella, Swift wrote to him to dissuade him from the idea. Although the tone of the letter was courteous, Swift privately expressed his disgust for Tisdall as an "interloper", and they were estranged for many years.

During his visits to England in these years, Swift published ''[[A Tale of a Tub]]'' and ''[[The Battle of the Books]]'' (1704) and began to gain a reputation as a writer. This led to close, lifelong friendships with [[Alexander Pope]], [[John Gay]], and [[John Arbuthnot]], forming the core of the Martinus [[Scriblerus Club]] (founded in 1713).

Swift became increasingly active politically in these years.<ref>Stephen ''DNB'', p. 212.</ref> Swift had supported the [[Glorious Revolution]] and early in his life belonged to the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whigs]].<ref name="Fox">{{cite book |last1=Fox |first1=Christopher |title=The Cambridge Companion to Jonathan Swift |date=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=36–39}}</ref><ref name="Cody">{{cite web |last1=Cody |first1=David |title=Jonathan Swift's Political Beliefs |url=http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/swift/politics1.html |website=Victorian Web |access-date=26 October 2018 |archive-date=8 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181108192150/http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/swift/politics1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> As a member of the [[Anglican Church]], he feared a return of the Catholic monarchy and "Papist" absolutism.<ref name="Cody" /> From 1707 to 1709 and again in 1710, Swift was in London unsuccessfully urging upon the Whig administration of [[Lord Godolphin]] the claims of the Irish clergy to the [[Queen Anne's Bounty|First-Fruits and Twentieths]] ("Queen Anne's Bounty"), which brought in about £2,500 a year, already granted to their brethren in England. He found the opposition [[Tory (British political party)|Tory]] leadership more sympathetic to his cause, and when they came to power in 1710, he was recruited to support their cause as editor of ''[[The Examiner (1710–1714)|The Examiner]]''. In 1711, Swift published the political pamphlet ''[[The Conduct of the Allies]]'', attacking the Whig government for its inability to end the prolonged war with France. The incoming Tory government conducted secret (and illegal) negotiations with France, resulting in the [[Treaty of Utrecht]] (1713) ending the [[War of the Spanish Succession]].

Swift was part of the inner circle of the Tory government,<ref>Stephen ''DNB'', pp. 212–215.</ref> and often acted as mediator between [[Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke|Henry St John]] (Viscount Bolingbroke), the secretary of state for foreign affairs (1710–15), and [[Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer|Robert Harley]] (Earl of Oxford), lord treasurer and prime minister (1711–14). Swift recorded his experiences and thoughts during this difficult time in a long series of letters to Esther Johnson, collected and published after his death as ''[[A Journal to Stella]]''. The animosity between the two Tory leaders eventually led to the dismissal of Harley in 1714. With the death of [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]] and the accession of [[George I of Great Britain|George I]] that year, the Whigs returned to power, and the Tory leaders were tried for treason for conducting secret negotiations with France.

Swift has been described by scholars{{who|date=January 2023}} as "a Whig in politics and Tory in religion" and Swift related his own views in similar terms, stating that as "a lover of liberty, I found myself to be what they called a Whig in politics&nbsp;... But, as to religion, I confessed myself to be an High-Churchman."<ref name="Fox" /> In his ''Thoughts on Religion'', fearing the intense partisan strife waged over religious belief in seventeenth-century England, Swift wrote that "Every man, as a member of the commonwealth, ought to be content with the possession of his own opinion in private."<ref name="Fox" /> However, it should be borne in mind that, during Swift's time period, terms like "Whig" and "Tory" both encompassed a wide array of opinions and factions, and neither term aligns with a modern political party or modern political alignments.<ref name="Fox" />

Also during these years in London, Swift became acquainted with the Vanhomrigh family, Dutch merchants who had settled in Ireland, then moved to London, and "became involved with" one of the daughters, [[Esther Vanhomrigh|Esther]]. Swift furnished Esther with the nickname "[[Vanessa (name)|Vanessa]]"—derived by adding "Essa", a pet form of Esther, to the "Van" of her surname, Vanhomrigh—and she features as one of the main characters in his poem ''[[Cadenus and Vanessa]]''. This poem and their correspondence suggest that Esther was infatuated with Swift and that he may have reciprocated her affections, only to regret this and then try to break off the relationship.<ref>Stephen ''DNB'', pp. 215–216.</ref> Esther followed Swift to Ireland in 1714 and settled at her old family home, [[Celbridge Abbey]]. Their uneasy relationship continued for some years; then there appears to have been a confrontation, possibly involving Esther Johnson. Esther Vanhomrigh died in 1723 at the age of 35, after having destroyed the will she had made in Swift's favour.<ref>Stephen ''DNB'', p. 216.</ref> Another lady with whom he had a close but less intense relationship was [[Anne Long]], a "toast" of the [[Kit-Cat Club]].

====Final years====
[[File:Jonathan Swift by Rupert Barber, 1745, National Portrait Gallery, London.JPG|thumb|upright|Jonathan Swift (shown without wig) by Rupert Barber, 1745, [[National Portrait Gallery, London]]]]
Before the fall of the Tory government, Swift had hoped that his services would be rewarded with a church appointment in England. However, Queen Anne appeared to have taken a dislike to Swift and thwarted these efforts. Her dislike has been attributed to ''A Tale of a Tub'', which she thought blasphemous, compounded by ''The Windsor Prophecy'', where Swift, with a surprising lack of tact, advised the Queen on which of her bedchamber ladies she should and should not trust.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gregg |first=Edward |title=Queen Anne |publisher=Yale University Press |date=1980 |pages= 352–353}}</ref> The best position his friends could secure for him was the [[Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin|Deanery of St Patrick's]];<ref>"Fasti Ecclesiae Hibernicae: The succession of the prelates Volume 2" [[Henry Cotton (divine)|Cotton, H.]] pp. 104–105: Dublin, Hodges & Smith, 1848–1878.</ref> while this appointment was not in the Queen's gift, Anne, who could be a bitter enemy, made it clear that Swift would not have received the preferment if she could have prevented it.<ref>Gregg (1980), p. 353.</ref> With the return of the Whigs, Swift's best move was to leave England, and he returned to Ireland in disappointment, a virtual exile, to live "like a rat in a hole".<ref>Stephen ''DNB'', p. 215.</ref>

[[File:Brass plate listing deans of Saint Patrick's Cathedral.jpg|thumb|right|List of deans of [[St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin|Saint Patrick's Cathedral]], including Jonathan Swift]]

Once in Ireland, however, Swift began to turn his pamphleteering skills in support of Irish causes, producing some of his most memorable works: ''Proposal for Universal Use of Irish Manufacture'' (1720), ''[[Drapier's Letters]]'' (1724), and ''A Modest Proposal'' (1729), earned him the status of an Irish patriot.<ref>Stephen ''DNB'', pp. 217–218.</ref> This new role was unwelcome to the Government, which made clumsy attempts to silence him. His printer, Edward Waters, was convicted of [[seditious libel]] in 1720, but four years later a [[grand jury]] refused to find that the ''Drapier's Letters'', which though written under a pseudonym were universally known to be Swift's work, were seditious.<ref>Sir [[Walter Scott]]. ''Life of Jonathan Swift'', vol. 1, Edinburgh 1814, pp. 281–282.</ref> Swift responded with an attack on the Irish judiciary almost unparalleled in its ferocity, his principal target being the "vile and profligate villain" [[William Whitshed]], [[Lord Chief Justice of Ireland]].<ref>[[F. Elrington Ball|Ball, F. Elrington]] (1926). ''The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921'', London: John Murray, vol. 2 pp. 103–105.</ref>

Also during these years, he began writing his masterpiece, ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts, by Lemuel Gulliver, first a surgeon, and then a captain of several ships'', better known as ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]''. Much of the material reflects his political experiences of the preceding decade. For instance, the episode in which the giant Gulliver puts out the Lilliputian palace fire by urinating on it can be seen as a metaphor for the Tories' illegal peace treaty, a treaty he regarded as a good thing accomplished in an unfortunate manner. In 1726 he paid a long-deferred visit to London,<ref name=LS219>Stephen ''DNB'', p. 219.</ref> taking with him the manuscript of ''Gulliver's Travels''. During his visit, he stayed with his old friends Alexander Pope, John Arbuthnot and John Gay, who helped him arrange for the anonymous publication of his book in November 1726 It was an immediate hit, with a total of three printings that year and another in early 1727. French, German, and Dutch translations appeared in 1727, and pirated copies were printed in Ireland.

In 1727, Swift returned to England one more time and stayed once again with Alexander Pope. The visit was cut short when Swift, receiving word that Esther Johnson was dying, rushed back home to be with her.<ref name=LS219 /> On 28 January 1728, Johnson died; Swift had prayed at her bedside, even composing prayers for her comfort. Swift could not bear to be present at the end, but on the night of her death he began to write his ''The Death of Mrs Johnson''. He was too ill to attend the funeral at St Patrick's.<ref name=LS219 /> Many years later, a lock of hair, assumed to be Johnson's, was found in his desk, wrapped in a paper bearing the words, "Only a woman's hair."

=====Death=====
[[File:St. Patrick's Cathedral Swift bust.jpg|thumb|left|[[Bust (sculpture)|Bust]] in [[St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin|St Patrick's Cathedral]]]]
Death became a persistent preoccupation in Swift's mind from this point. In 1731 he wrote ''Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift'', his own obituary, published in 1739. In 1732, his good friend and collaborator John Gay had died. In 1735, John Arbuthnot, another friend from his days in London, also died, and in 1738 Swift too began to show signs of illness, perhaps even suffering a stroke in 1742, losing the ability to speak and realising his worst fears of becoming mentally disabled. ("I shall be like that tree", he once said. "I shall die at the top.")<ref>Stephen ''DNB'', p. 221.</ref> He became increasingly quarrelsome, and long-standing friendships, like that with Thomas Sheridan, ended without sufficient cause. To protect him from unscrupulous hangers-ons, who had begun to prey on the great man, his closest companions had him declared of "unsound mind and memory." However, it was long believed by many that Swift was actually insane at this point. In his book ''[[Literature and Western Man]]'', author [[J. B. Priestley]] even cites the final chapters of ''Gulliver's Travels'' as proof of Swift's approaching "insanity". Bewley attributes his decline to 'terminal dementia'.<ref name=Bewley />

In part VIII of his series, ''[[The Story of Civilization]]'', [[Will Durant]] describes the final years of Swift's life as exhibiting:

<blockquote>Definite symptoms of madness ... [first appearing] in 1738. In 1741, guardians were appointed to take care of his affairs and watch lest in his outbursts of violence, he should do himself harm. In 1742, he suffered great pain from the inflammation of his left eye, which swelled to the size of ... [a chicken's] egg; five attendants had to restrain him from tearing out his eye. He went a whole year without uttering a word.<ref>"The Story of Civilization," vol. 8., 362.</ref></blockquote>

In 1744, Alexander Pope died. Then on 19 October 1745, Swift died, at nearly 78.<ref name=LS222>Stephen ''DNB'', p. 222.</ref> After being laid out in public view for the people of Dublin to pay their last respects, he was buried in his own cathedral by Esther Johnson's side, in accordance with his wishes. The bulk of his fortune (£12,000) was left to found a hospital for the mentally ill, originally known as St Patrick's Hospital for Imbeciles, which opened in 1757, and which [[St Patrick's University Hospital|still exists]] as a psychiatric hospital.<ref name=LS222 />

[[File:St. Patrick's Cathedral Swift epitaph.jpg|thumb|[[Epitaph]] in [[St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin]] near his burial site]]
: ''(Text extracted from the introduction to ''The Journal to Stella'' by George A. Aitken and from other sources).''

Jonathan Swift wrote his own [[epitaph]]:
{|
|-
|<poem>''Hic'' depositum est Corpus
IONATHAN SWIFT S.T.D.
Hujus Ecclesiæ Cathedralis Decani,

''Ubi'' sæva Indignatio
Ulterius
Cor lacerare nequit.
Abi Viator
Et imitare, si poteris,
Strenuum pro virili
Libertatis Vindicatorem.

Obiit 19º Die Mensis Octobris
A.D. 1745 Anno Ætatis 78º.</poem>
|style="padding-left:2em;"|<poem>''Here'' is laid the Body
of Jonathan Swift, Doctor of Sacred Theology,
Dean of this Cathedral Church,

''where'' fierce Indignation
can no longer
injure the Heart.
Go forth, Voyager,
and copy, if you can,
this vigorous (to the best of his ability)
Champion of Liberty.

He died on the 19th Day of the Month of October,
A.D. 1745, in the 78th Year of his Age.</poem>
|}

[[W. B. Yeats]] poetically translated it from the Latin as:

: Swift has sailed into his rest;
: Savage indignation there
: Cannot lacerate his breast.
: Imitate him if you dare,
: World-besotted traveller; he
: Served human liberty.

His library is known through sale catalogues.<ref>Passmann, Dirk F. 2012. “Jonathan Swift as a Book-Collector: With a Checklist of Swift Association Copies.” ''Swift Studies: The Annual of the Ehrenpreis Center'' 27: 7–68.</ref>

====Swift, Stella and Vanessa – an alternative view====
British politician [[Michael Foot]] was a great admirer of Swift and wrote about him extensively. In ''Debts of Honour''<ref>[[Michael Foot|Foot, Michael]] (1981) ''Debts of Honour''. Harper & Row, New York, p. 219.</ref> he cites with approbation an explanation propounded by [[Denis Johnston]] of Swift's behaviour towards Stella and Vanessa.

Pointing to contradictions in the received information about Swift's origins and parentage, Johnston postulates that Swift's real father was Sir William Temple's father, [[John Temple (judge)|Sir John Temple]], who was [[Master of the Rolls]] in Dublin at the time. It is widely thought that Stella was Sir William Temple's illegitimate daughter. So, if these speculations are to be credited, Swift was Sir William's brother and Stella's uncle. Marriage or close relations between Swift and Stella would therefore have been [[incestuous]], an unthinkable prospect.

It follows that Swift could not have married Vanessa without Stella appearing to be a cast-off mistress, which appearance he would not contemplate leaving. Johnston's theory is expounded fully in his book ''In Search of Swift''.<ref>[[Denis Johnston|Johnston, Denis]] (1959) ''In Search of Swift'' Hodges Figgis, Dublin</ref> He is also cited in the ''[[Dictionary of Irish Biography]]''<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/swift-jonathan-a8415 |title=Dictionary of Irish Biography |access-date=21 March 2022 |archive-date=21 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321055915/https://www.dib.ie/biography/swift-jonathan-a8415 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the theory is presented without attribution in the ''Concise Cambridge History of English Literature''.<ref>''Concise Cambridge History of English Literature'', 1970, p. 387.</ref>