Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745) was an Anglo-Irish cleric, Dean of
St. Patrick's, Dublin, satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for Whigs then for Tories),
and poet.

He is famous for works like Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella,
Drapier's Letters, The Battle of the Books, An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity,
and A Tale of a Tub. Swift is probably the foremost prose satirist in the English language,
and is less well known for his poetry. Swift originally published all of his works under
pseudonyms — such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier — or
anonymously. He is also known for being a master of two styles of satire; the Horatian and
Juvenalian styles.

Biography

Youth

Jonathan Swift was born at No. 7, Hoey's Court, Dublin, and was the second child and only
son of Jonathan Swift (a second cousin of John Dryden) and wife Abigail Erick (or Herrick),
paternal grandson of Thomas Swift and wife Elizabeth Dryden, daughter of Nicholas
Dryden (brother of Sir Erasmus Dryden, 1st Baronet) and wife Mary Emyley. His father was
Irish born and his mother was born in England. Swift arrived seven months after his
father's untimely death. Most of the facts of Swift's early life are obscure, confused and
sometimes contradictory. It is widely believed that his mother returned to England when
Jonathan was still very young, then leaving him to be raised by his father's family. His
uncle Godwin took primary responsibility for the young Jonathan, sending him with one of
his cousins to Kilkenny College (also attended by the philosopher George Berkeley).
In 1682 he attended Dublin University (Trinity College, Dublin), receiving his B.A. in 1686.
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 Sir William Temple at Moor Park,
Farnham. Temple was an English diplomat who, having arranged the Triple Alliance of
1668, retired from public service to his country estate to tend his gardens and write his
memoirs. Growing into confidence with his employer, Swift "was often trusted with matters
of great importance." Within three years of their acquaintance, Temple had introduced his
secretary to William III, and sent him to London to urge the King to consent to a bill for
triennial Parliaments.

When Swift took up his residence at Moor Park, he met Esther Johnson, then 8 years old,
the fatherless daughter of one of the household servants. Swift acted as 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.

Swift left Temple in 1690 for Ireland because of his health, but returned to Moor Park the
following year. The illness, fits of vertigo or giddiness — now known to be Ménière's
disease — would continue to plague Swift throughout his life. During this second stay with
Temple, Swift received his M.A. from Hertford College, Oxford University in 1692. Then,
apparently despairing of gaining a better position through Temple's patronage, Swift left
Moor Park to become an ordained priest in the Established Church of Ireland and in 1694
he was appointed to the prebend of Kilroot in the Diocese of Connor, 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,
Swift may well have become romantically involved with Jane Waring. A letter from him
survives, offering to remain if she'd 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).
Battle was however not published until 1704.

On January 27 1699 Temple died. Swift stayed on briefly in England to complete the
editing of Temple's memoirs, and perhaps in the hope that recognition of his work might
earn him a suitable position in England. However, Swift's work made enemies of some of
Temple's family and friends who objected to indiscretions included in the memoirs. His
next move was to approach King William directly, based on his imagined connection
through Temple and a belief that he'd been promised a position. This failed so miserably
that he accepted the lesser post of secretary and chaplain to the Earl of Berkeley, one of
the Lords Justices of Ireland. However, when he reached Ireland he found that the
secretaryship had already been given to another. But he soon obtained the living of
Laracor, Agher, and Rathbeggan, and the prebend of Dunlavin in St. Patrick's Cathedral,
Dublin.

At Laracor, a mile or two from Trim, County Meath, and twenty miles (32 km) from Dublin,
Swift ministered to a congregation of about fifteen people, and 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 traveled to London frequently over the next ten years. In 1701, Swift
published, anonymously, a political pamphlet, A Discourse on the Contests and
Dissentions in Athens and Rome.

The writer

In February 1702, Swift received his Doctor of Divinity degree from Trinity College, Dublin.
That spring he traveled to England and returned to Ireland in October, accompanied by
Esther Johnson — now twenty years old — 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 hold that they were
secretly married in 1716. Although there has never been definite proof of this, there's no
doubt that she was dearer to him than anyone else and that his feelings for her didn't
change throughout his life.

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. 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 First-Fruits and Twentieths ("Queen Anne's
Bounty"), which brought in about £2500 a year, already granted to their brethren in
England. He found the opposition Tory leadership more sympathetic to his cause and
Swift was recruited to support their cause as editor of the Examiner when they came to
power in 1710. 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, and often acted as mediator
between Henry St. John (Viscount Bolingbroke) the secretary of state for foreign affairs
(1710–15) and Robert Harley (Earl of Oxford) lord treasurer and prime minister (1711–
1714). Swift recorded his experiences and thoughts during this difficult time in a long
series of letters to Esther Johnson, later collected and published as The Journal to Stella.
The animosity between the two Tory leaders eventually led to the dismissal of Harley in
1714. With the death of Queen Anne and ascension of George I that year, the Whigs
returned to power and the Tory leaders were tried for treason for conducting secret
negotiations with France.

Also during these years in London, Swift became acquainted with the Vanhomrigh family
and became involved with one of the daughters, Esther, yet another fatherless young
woman and an ambiguous relationship to confuse Swift's biographers. Swift furnished
Esther with the nickname "Vanessa" and she features as one of the main characters in
his poem Cadenus and Vanessa. The poem and their correspondence suggests that
Esther was infatuated with Swift, that he may have reciprocated her affections, only to
regret it and then try to break it off. Esther followed Swift to Ireland in 1714, where there
appears to have been a confrontation, possibly involving Esther Johnson. Esther
Vanhomrigh died in 1723 at the age of 35. Another lady with whom he'd a close but less
intense relationship, was Anne Long, a toast of the Kit-Cat Club.

Maturity

Before the fall of the Tory government, Swift 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. The best position his friends could secure for
him was the Deanery of St. Patrick's, Dublin. 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".

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), earning
him the status of an Irish patriot.

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 when 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; having done a good thing in an unfortunate manner. In
1726 he paid a long-deferred visit to London, 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. First
published 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.

Swift returned to England one more time in 1727 and stayed with Alexander Pope once
again. The visit was cut short when he received word that Esther Johnson was dying and
Swift rushed back home to be with her. On January 28, 1728, Esther Johnson died, though
he prayed at her bedside, even composing prayers for her comfort. Swift couldn't 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. Many years later, a lock of hair,
assumed to be Esther Johnson's, was found in his desk, wrapped in a paper bearing the
words, "Only a woman's hair."

Death became a frequent feature in Swift's life 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 died. In 1735, John Arbuthnot, another friend from his days in
London, died. In 1738 Swift began to show signs of illness and in 1742 he appears to
have suffered a stroke, losing the ability to speak and realizing his worst fears of
becoming mentally disabled. ("I shall be like that tree," he once said, "I shall die at the
top.") In order to protect him from unscrupulous hangers on, who had begun to prey on the
great man, his closest companions had him declared of "unsound mind and memory." In
1744, Alexander Pope died. Then, on October 19, 1745, Swift died. After being laid out in
public view for the people of Dublin to pay their last respects, he was buried by Esther
Johnson's side, in accordance with his wishes. The bulk of his fortune 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 still exists as a psychiatric hospital.


SOURCE:  http://johnathan_swift.totallyexplained.com/


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Johnathan Swift