SWIFT. 
796 
Ireland, Swift went to reside on his living at Laracor ; where 
he continued for some time in the strict and constant dis¬ 
charge of his duty, occasionally diverging into strains of 
humour. Soon after his settlement at Laracor, Swift in¬ 
vited “ Stella” to Ireland, and she came, accompanied by 
another lady of the name of Dingley, who was related to 
the family of the Temples. These ladies occasionally resided 
in the parsonage-house when Swift was absent; but they 
were never known to lodge in the same house, nor to see 
each other without a witness. This mysterious connection 
lasted till her death, and he usually celebrated her birth-day 
by verses, exhibiting almost the only strokes of tenderness 
that have ever fallen from his pen. Ambition now took 
full possession of his mind and under the influence of this 
passion, he abandoned the duties of his parish, and the 
charming conversrtion of the amiable Stella, in hope of 
finding some favourable opportunity of distinguishing him¬ 
self and pushing his fortune in the world. In 1701, being 
in his thirty-fourth year, he published his first political tract, 
without his name, entitled, “A Discourse of the Contests 
and Dissentions in Athens and Rome,” the main scope of 
which seems to have been to bring discredit upon the im¬ 
peachments then carrying on by the House of Commons 
against some of the whig-leaders, to which party Swift was 
then attached. Upon the accession of queen Anne, whom 
Swift found upon the throne in his next visit to London, 
his friends were in power, and he had gratified them by thebe- 
fore-mentioned publication. He declined, however, all over¬ 
tures made to him by the heads of the whiggish party, and 
after some time determined to have no concern in their affairs. 
For several years he kept himself neutral, and abstained 
from meddling in politics. Finding that he could be of no 
use in his political capacity, he turned his attention to other 
matters ; residing on his living for the greatest part of the 
year, performing his parochial duties, and hardly ever em¬ 
ployed his pen, except in writing sermons. In 1703, how¬ 
ever, he published his “ Meditation on a Broomstick,” for 
which he was much censured on account of the ridicule con¬ 
tained in it of the style and manner of so great and pious a 
man as Mr. Boyle, though it has been said that it was not 
his intention to ridicule Mr. Boyle, but merely to furnish 
occasion for much innocent mirth on lady Berkeley’s enthu¬ 
siasm and simplicity of heart, and to exonerate himself from 
the task of reading to her writings, which were not at all 
suited to his taste. In the same year he also published the 
“ Critical Essay on the Faculties of the Mind.” In 1704 he 
published, anonymously, the “ Tale of a Tub,” known 
to be his composition, though never avowed by him, a work 
which learned judges have pronounced to be rather indeco¬ 
rous than irreligious. The “ Battle of the Books,” printed 
with the former, is a burlesque composition of ancient and 
modern authors, to the disadvantage of the latter. The pro¬ 
minent object of ridicule is Dryden; but this poet was of too 
high a class to be permanently injured by Swift’s wit. In 
1708 he appeared as a professed author, by the publication 
of four different works. The first of these, entitled, “ The 
Sentiments of a Church-of-England Man with respect to 
Religion and Government,” appeared on a change in the 
ministry; and this, together with the “ Letter concerning 
the Sacramental Test,” afforded full proof of his adherence 
to the principles of the Tories. In his “ Argument against 
the Abolition of Christianity,” he exhibits a specimen of that 
talent for grave irony in which he was almost unrivalled. 
His other piece was a ridicule of astrology, under the title of 
“ Predictions for the year 1708, by Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq.,” 
the popularity of which induced Steele to borrow the name 
for his Tatler. In the following year he wrote a serious work 
entitled “ A Project for the Advancement of the Christian 
Religion," dedicated to lady Berkeley, for whom he seems to 
have entertained an affectionate respect, and written (as Dr. 
Johnson says) with sprightliness and eloquence. Upon his 
return to Ireland, he cultivated an intimacy with Addison, 
then secretary to the earl of Wharton, lord lieutenant; but 
as for himself, he had no prospects of advancement, till the 
Tories came into power, in 1710. In a commission on the 
Irish prelacy for soliciting the queen to remit to the clergy 
of Ireland the first-fruits and twentieths, payable to the crown, 
he became acquainted with Harley, afterwards earl of Oxford, 
and secretary St. John, afterwards lord Bolingbroke; and 
having gained their confidence, he became one of the sixteen 
members of administration and their supporters, who called 
themselves “ brothers,” and dined weekly at one-another'a 
houses. He wrote a number of papers in the “ Examiner,’* 1 
concerning the late administration, but, as Dr. Johnson 
thinks, though he exerted his powers both of argument and 
wit, he did not, in the latter, equal the papers in which Addi¬ 
son opposed him. He published at this time “ A Letter to 
the October Club,” a set of Tory country gentlemen, who 
wished to stimulate Harley to more vigorous measures, and 
his address had the effect which he proposed of preventing 
cabals against his party. 
Deeply immersed as he was in politics, he still adhered to 
the cause of literature, and in 1711 published “ A Proposal 
for correcting, improving, and ascertaining the English 
Tongue,” in a letter to the earl of Oxford. The institution 
of an academy for settling the language was a part of his 
project. Towards the close of the year 1711, he published 
the most celebrated of his political tracts, called “ The Con¬ 
duct of the Allies.” This work, which was designed to dis¬ 
pose the nation to peace, was much applauded, and furnish¬ 
ed the Tory members with all their arguments in parliament. 
The same strain of argument was pursued in his “ Reflec¬ 
tions on the Barrier Treaty,” published in the following year. 
He also printed “ Remarks on the Bishop of Sarums’s Intro¬ 
duction to his Third Volume of the History of the Reforma¬ 
tion,” written by Burnet to excite in the nation an alarm of 
popery. In these remarks, Swift indulged the rancour of his 
personal aversion to that prelate. It has been observed of 
Swift, that no man of letters ever assumed and maintained so 
much consequence as he did, in his association with men of 
power. The services he rendered them induced them to gra¬ 
tify his pride in this respect. When Harley once sent him by 
his secretary 50/., he returned it with a letter of expostulation 
and complaint; but he afterwards accepted a draft of 1000/. 
upon the treasury, which he was prevented from receiving 
by the death of queen Anne. When Harley desired Swift 
to introduce Parnell to him, he declined doing it upon the 
principle, that a man of genius was superior to a man of high 
station; and he obliged the treasurer to walk with his staff 
of office from room to room, searching for Parnell, to re¬ 
quest the honour of his acquaintance. 
Swift had been long aiming at a bishopric in England; 
and when a vacancy occurred, he was recommended to the 
queen by his ministerial friends; but archbishop Sharp, 
having infused into her mind suspicions of his faith, he 
was overlooked. The highest preferment which they could 
bestow upon him was that of the deanery of St. Patrick’s in 
Dublin, which he obtained in the year 1713, and which he 
retained for life. 
In a pamphlet, published in the next year, anonymously, 
“ The Public Spirit of the Whigs,” in answer to Steele’s 
“ Crisis,” he reflected so severely and contemptuously on 
the Scots nation, that the peers of that nation went up in 
a body to the queen, and demanded reparation. A pro¬ 
clamation was issued, offering 300/. for the discovery of the 
author, and orders were given for the prosecution of the 
printer; but by some management, the storm was averted. 
The antipathy that prevailed between Oxford and Boling¬ 
broke in the course of this year, caused him to be sent for, 
in order to reconcile the contending parties; but failing in 
his endeavours for this purpose, he withdrew from town, 
and wrote “ Free Thoughts on the present State of Affairs,” 
which it was not thought advisable to print: though they 
have since appeared among his works. The death of the 
queen terminated all contests among the Tory ministers, by 
annihilating their power; and Swift was constrained to take 
up his residence in a country which he always disliked. 
On his return to Dublin, his haughty imperious temper 
was 
