Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World

by Leo Damrosch

  Spain, 127–28, 169, 249; slave trade and, 252. See also War of the Spanish Succession

  Spanish Netherlands, 127, 167

  Spectator (periodical), 38, 182–94; publication/contents of, 241–42

  spelling, 229–30

  Stamp Office, 182

  Stanley, Sir John, 232

  Staunton, Deborah, 427

  Stearne, John, 159, 179, 257, 258–59, 260

  Steele, Richard, 64, 120, 182, 190, 358; Swift’s final breach with, 261–62; Swift’s friendship with, 180–84, 185, 241–42; Whig agenda and, 242. See also Spectator; Tatler

  Steevens, Richard, 407, 408

  Stella (Hester/Esther Johnson), 5, 6, 50–56, 91, 171, 188, 193, 258, 307–19, 352, 400–407; birthdate of, 54; black hair of, 50–51, 53, 307, 375, 472; blameless reputation of, 335; bon mots of, 310; brass plaque memorials to Swift and, 468, 469; burial next to Swift of, 50, 469; childhood of, 42, 50–53; death of, 404–7, 435, 453; descriptions of, 50–51, 52–53, 55, 107–8, 111, 112, 307, 310–11, 406, 472; Dublin lodgings of, 273; Dublin move of, 56, 107–12, 316; in England (1707–8), 179–80; few existing letters from, 215; finances of, 107–8, 109; ill health of, 220, 221, 222, 228, 314–15, 400–401, 404; Laracor cottage of, 308–9, 309, 310; mother of (see Johnson, Bridget); personality of, 310–12; phrenological study of skull of, 471, 472; pickaxe of, 305–6, 306; Quilca visit of, 304, 305–6; real name of, 42, 50; shooting of thief by, 111, 112; snappy replies by, 309–10; South Sea stock and, 339; spelling mistakes of, 229; status at Moor Park of, 51–52; teasing by, 227–28; temper of, 311–12; Temple guardianship of/property bequest to, 6, 50–56, 90; Temple’s speculated paternity of, 4, 6, 53–56, 57, 318, 335; Tisdall’s marriage proposal to, 110–11; uncertainties about, 307–9; Victorian depiction of, 311; weak eyes of, 216; white memorial tablet memorial to, 408–9, 409; will bequests of, 407–9

  Stella-Swift relationship, 308–19, 404–9; age difference and, 404; assumptions about, 309–12; clue to, 315–16; Dublin reunion and, 107–12; Ehrenpreis’s interpretation of, 312; as lifelong friendship, 2, 42, 50, 160, 279, 410; rumored blood ties and, 318; rumored son of, 318–19, 325; St. Patrick’s burial/memorials and, 50, 468, 469; secret marriage speculations and, 2, 4, 107–8, 109, 160, 279, 307, 316–19, 333, 335, 406–7; special language and, 225–30; Stella’s birthday poem for Swift and, 314, 404; Swift as tutor and, 50, 229, 368, 436; Swift–Lady Acheson relationship and, 436, 437; Swift parrot letter from Moor Park and, 51, 80; Swift’s birthday poems for Stella and, 312–16, 404–5; Swift’s deanery and, 272–73; Swift’s letters from London and (see Journal to Stella); Swift’s memorial to Stella and, 50–51, 55, 107–8, 111, 112, 310–11, 406; Swift’s misanthropy and, 378; Swift’s response to Stella’s death and, 405–9; Swift’s social evenings and, 279; Swift-Temple relationship and, 46, 50; unknowns about, 406–7; Vanessa’s competition with, 232–33, 321–22, 328, 333, 335, 427; Victorian sentimentalizing of, 309, 311

  Stephen, Leslie, 274, 365, 409

  Sterne, Laurence, 101, 444; Tristram Shandy, 23, 76

  Stevenson, Margrat, 78

  Stevenson, Robert Louis, 358

  stock exchange, 178, 251, 340. See also South Sea Bubble

  Stoics, 374

  Story of Baucis and Philemon, The (Swift), 184–85

  Story of the Injured Lady Written by Herself, The (Swift), 162, 354

  Strephon and Chloe (Swift), 451, 453

  Strudbruggs (fictional), 368, 369

  Stuart dynasty, 125, 126, 128, 202, 264, 286. See also Pretender

  Suffolk, Lady. See Howard, Henrietta

  Sunderland, Earl of, 79, 130, 157

  Surrey (England), 62

  Sweden, 486n15

  Swift, Abigail (mother), 9, 11, 13–14, 57–58, 107, 160; death of, 191; lack of information about, 69; move back to England by, 15, 16, 57; Swift’s move to England and, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 61; Temple family and, 36, 60

  Swift, Adam (uncle), 12

  Swift, Deane (cousin), 19, 71, 92

  Swift, Deane (cousin), the younger, 37, 109, 279, 465

  Swift, Deane (Godwin’s grandson/Swift biographer), 11–12, 28, 29, 69, 80, 102–3, 129, 198, 516n14; Journal to Stella alterations by, 216, 217, 225–30; on secret Swift-Stella marriage rumors, 317; on Swift’s parentage speculations, 56–57, 60, 61; on Swift’s style of talking, 4; on Vanessa’s fastidiousness, 444; veracity of reports by, 203–4

  Swift, Deane (uncle), 108

  Swift, Godwin (uncle), 9, 11, 12, 14, 15–16, 19, 46, 49, 58, 192, 465–66; house of, 10, 10; Sir John Temple and, 60; Swift’s resentment of, 28, 57, 466; Swift’s schooling and, 17, 28, 29, 57, 60, 61

  Swift, Jane (sister), 9, 15, 34, 55, 92, 222–23

  Swift, John (cousin), 465

  Swift, Jonathan: abduction by wet nurse of, 2, 12–14, 57, 59, 60, 453; administrative talent of, 267–68; aging references by, 315; ambition of, 32; angry outbursts of, 326; anonymous publication by, 2, 104, 129, 146, 175, 190, 194, 342, 344–45, 349–50, 386, 460; aphorisms and, 160; appearance of, 25–27, 69; assumed names of, 6–7, 104, 159, 188–90, 348, 352, 353, 356, 380, 381; asterisks use by, 136; autobiographical sketch by, 36, 58–59, 67, 72, 73; awkward-parson act of, 187; background and early life of, 2, 5, 9–32; bagatelles of, 217, 284, 424–25; belief in self of, 80; biographers of, 4–6, 7, 24, 29, 37, 53, 57–58, 317; birth date of, 9, 10, 58; birthday public commemorations for, 354, 414, 422–23, 467; blanks in life of, 175–76; bodily suffering and decay of, 449, 453, 461, 462–68; book collection of, 188, 358; brass plaque memorials to Stella and, 468, 469; brotherhood of writers and, 241–46; burial next to Stella of, 50, 469; busts of, 470, 471; career turning point of, 154; charity and, 415–16, 418, 421–23; chronology of, 472–76; Church career and, 62, 64, 70–78, 80, 92, 94–100, 101, 146, 147, 154, 158, 159, 254, 256–59, 264–65, 452; cleanliness standards of, 48, 49, 69, 70, 77, 276, 444; clerical income tax opposition of (see First Fruits and Twentieth Parts); compulsive traits of, 69–70; concrete embodiment of abstractions by, 136, 340, 370–71; contradictions of, 2–3; conversation skill of, 185–87; deafness of, 68, 274, 315, 390; death and autopsy of, 468–69; dementia of, 144, 147, 368, 376, 460–61, 463–67, 469; depression of, 274, 417, 424–25, 460–61, 464–65; “disgusting” poems of, 443–53; distrust of gossip of, 239, 325; doctor of divinity degree of, 101; dreams of, 220–21, 229, 403; early romances of, 35–36, 76–78; economics and, 100, 341–45; education of, 17–29, 32, 57, 60–61, 181; emotional intensity of, 312; energy of, 390, 423; English surveillance of, 287–88, 347, 460–61; epitaph for self, 469–71; exercise program of, 69, 220, 461; faithfulness to firm principles of, 81; on familiar vs. public self, 218; family relations of, 465–66; fantasy and, 185; fearlessness of, 80; final decade of, 454–72; financial account book of, 99; financial pressures on, 28, 32, 46, 62, 99–100, 159, 177, 258–59, 260–61, 273; flirtations with women of, 226, 312, 427; fondness for fruit of, 67–68; friends’ country houses and, 299–306; friendship standard of, 388–89; friendships with men of, 19, 24, 27, 75–76, 178–84, 223, 241–46, 266, 279–81, 382–86, 424–27, 461–63; friendships with women of, 224–25, 231–32, 233–34, 312, 394–95, 425–42, 443, 453; as grudge collector, 80, 91–92, 100, 103–4, 129–30, 211, 265–66, 414, 425, 447, 465–66; handwriting examples of, 43, 48, 227; height of, 26–27; horseback riding and, 297–99, 298; housekeep of (see Brent, Anne); humor of, 4, 104–7, 185, 187–90, 283, 374; impersonated voice as literary device of, 4, 6–7, 152–53, 213, 437–38; impulsive streak of, 256; irascibility in last years of, 265; Irish pronunciation of words by, 27; Irish rights and, 2, 4, 7, 342–56, 413, 414, 461; Irish Whig physical threats to, 287–88; language academy proposal of, 212–13; language usage and, 212, 270; last extended trip of (1735), 462–63; last recorded words of, 467; Latin proficiency of, 18, 19, 23, 24, 43, 80, 140, 345, 404, 469–71; “legendary” stories about, 5–7; letters of (see Swift letters); lifelong concerns of, 49; likeness on Irish currency of, 411; lock of woman’s hair saved
by, 409; love for London of, 113; on marriage, 76, 316–17, 427; Ménière’s syndrome suffering of, 68–69, 218–19, 220, 274, 313–14, 469; mimicry skills of, 104, 105–7; misanthropy of, 81, 377–78; misogynist reputation of, 443; mortality concerns of, 266, 453; mother’s death and, 191; mysteries surrounding, 2–3, 5–7, 9–10, 56–61, 108–9, 317–18; nausea episodes of, 67–70, 218–19, 220, 274, 449; Oxford M.A. and, 70–71; parentage speculations about, 56–61, 312, 318; on parental emotions, 15–16; parody and, 106–7, 136, 188–89; personality of, 1–2, 7, 44, 69–70, 209, 217, 312, 390, 391, 423; personal/professional disappointments of, 393–99, 471; political self-destruction of, 255–56; political views of, 3, 8, 191, 261, 265, 286, 293; political writing skill of, 251, 253–56, 260–61; portraits of, 25, 26, 359, 412, 413, 425, 464; practical jokes of, 106–7, 187–90, 305; propriety concerns of, 403–4; psychoanalytic interpretations of, 453; punning and, 27, 159–60, 171, 223, 285; “raillery” ideal of, 186, 433; reburial of, 471–72; recent scholarship on, 6, 52; regular routine of, 360; religious outlook of, 24, 74–75, 145, 147–53, 208, 213, 282, 455; resolution “When I come to be old” of, 47–49, 48; rhyming skill of, 386, 387; on romantic love, 237–39, 315, 316–17, 417; rushlight use by, 276, 277; satire and (see satire); self-education of, 80–82; “seraglio” of, 312; sermons of, 269–71, 290–91; servants and, 221–22, 274–79, 297–98, 299, 301; sexuality of, 229, 235, 240, 312, 327–28, 375; sexual views of, 65–66, 81, 443–45, 452–53; shingles bouts of, 219, 330; significance of, 7; skull of, 471, 471; smell sensitivity of, 111, 119–20, 276; sociability of, 24–25, 75, 279–85; spelling and, 229–30; stamina of, 37, 302; Stella and (see Journal to Stella; Stella-Swift relationship); swimming ability of, 116, 220; teasing by, 226–27; Temple as patron of, 36–61, 70, 79–93, 359; Test Act defense by, 152–53, 163, 456; tinnitus of, 274; travel book collection of, 358; travel modes of, 37, 297–99, 301, 302; “tree dying at the top” remark of, 460; uncanny and, 3, 220; Vanessa and (see Vanessa); Vanhomrigh family and, 231–34; vertigo episodes of, 44, 67–70, 218–19, 220, 258, 273, 274, 303, 313–14, 316, 390, 396, 401, 461, 464; view of Irish people of, 282, 414, 415–16, 419, 422; view of women of, 111–12, 179, 237, 365, 427–28; walking practice of, 69, 119, 220, 228, 234, 245, 461; will and bequests of, 144, 392, 416, 469–71; wine consumption by, 273–74, 273; wit of, 186, 270, 283, 359, 413, 431–32; wordplay love of, 282, 284–85, 424–25; works of. See under Swift poems; Swift prose; specific titles

  Swift, Jonathan, the elder (father), 2, 11, 57–59, 60; death of, 9, 12, 15, 57–58

  Swift, Kit (cousin), 465

  Swift, Mead (cousin), 465

  Swift, Theophilus (Godwin’s grandson), 484n55

  Swift, Thomas (cousin), 19, 45, 70, 71, 82, 108–9, 160; Tale of a Tub authorship hints by, 145–46

  Swift, Thomas (grandfather), 16–17, 380, 504n17; inscribed memorial chalice for, 380

  Swift, William (uncle), 12, 46, 63, 129

  Swift, Willoughby (cousin), 28–29, 46

  Swift at Moor Park (Elias), 44, 45, 71–72, 72–73, 82–83, 89, 90

  Swift letters: final years and, 460–61; first saved in 1708, 215; last of, 466; to Pope, 387, 461–62; to Stella, 51, 80 (see also Journal to Stella); style of, 4; to Vanessa, 1–2, 258, 263–64, 312, 320–21, 324–36, 332; to Varina (Jane Waring), 76, 80, 110

  Swift long works. See Gulliver’s Travels; Tale of a Tub, A

  Swift pamphlets. See Swift prose

  Swift poems, 386–89; for Acheson, 435–40; anti-pastorals, 120–24, 445, 448; The Author upon Himself, 265–66; The Battle of the Books, 86, 88–89, 134, 160; A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed, 448–49; Cadenus and Vanessa, 236–40, 325, 328–29, 330, 336–37, 427, 444; Carberiae Rupes, 345; Character of Mrs. Howard, 397; Death and Daphne, 438–39; A Description of a City Shower, 123–24, 171–72, 184; A Description of the Morning, 120–23, 184; Dingley and Brent, 308; Directions for a Birthday Song, 398–99; “disgusting” poems, 443–53; Dr. Swift to Mr. Pope, While He Was Writing the Dunciad, 390; early, 82–86; An Epistle to a Lady, Who Desired the Author to Make Verses on Her, in the Heroic Style, 454; An Excellent New Panegyric on Skinnibonia, 437–38, 439; The Humble Petition of Frances Harris, 105, 436–37; In Sickness, 321–22; Irish ballad, 281–82; The Journal, 301–2; Lady Acheson Weary of the Dean, 437; The Lady’s Dressing Room, 449–50, 451, 453; of last decade, 454–58; The Legion Club, 258–60; A Libel on Dr. Delany, 392; Market Hill poems, 436–39, 444, 445; Meditation on a Broomstick, 305; Ode to the Athenian Society, 83–84, 90, 245; Ode to the Honorable Sir William Temple, 82, 86; Ode to the King, 82; On the Words “Brother Protestants” and “Fellow Christians,” So Familiarly Used by the Advocates for the Repeal of the Test Act, 456; on Oxford’s Tower imprisonment, 289–90; A Panegyric on the Dean, 445; Part of the Seventh Epistle of the First Book of Horace Imitated, 260–61; A Pastoral Dialogue between Richmond Lodge and Marble Hill, 396; The Place of the Damned, 455; on politics, 205–6, 293, 456–60; The Progress of Beauty, 447–48; Quilca, A Country House in No Very Good Repair, Where the Supposed Author and Some of His Friends Spent a Summer in the Year 1725, 304; A Receipt to Restore Stella’s Youth, 404–5; rhyme use, 293, 386, 387, 450, 456, 457; on St. Patrick’s deanery, 271–72; A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General, 248–49; on South Sea Bubble, 339–40; to Stella, 312–16, 404–5; on Stella’s pending death, 401, 403; “To Stella, Visiting Me in My Sickness,” 313–14; The Story of Baucis and Philemon, 184–85; Strephon and Chloe, 451, 453; Upon the Horrid Plot Discovered by Harlequin, the Bishop of Rochester’s French Dog, 294; to Vanessa, 323–24; on Vanessa’s love, 235; Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift, 399, 400, 416, 434–35, 459, 460, 468–69; The Virtues of Sid Hamet the Magician’s Rod, 193–94; The Windsor Prophecy, 255–56, 266; The Yahoo’s Overthrow, 457–58

  Swift prose, 100, 135, 175, 348–56; An Answer to Bickerstaff, 190; An Argument against Abolishing Christianity, 152–53, 212, 213; The Conduct of the Allies, 250–51, 256; Contests and Dissensions in Athens and Rome, 127, 128–30, 131, 158; Decree for Concluding the Treaty between Dr. Swift and Mrs. Long, 233; Directions to Servants, 105–6; Drapier’s Letters, 348, 349–54, 356, 357, 371, 414; Hints towards an Essay on Conversation, 433; A History of the Four Last Years of the Queen, 261; Holyhead Journal, 401, 403; The Importance of the Guardian Considered, 261–62; A Letter concerning the Sacramental Test, 194; A Letter to a Young Lady, on Her Marriage, 111–12, 427; The Mechanical Operation of the Spirit, 137, 149; Miscellanie in Prose and Verse, 211–12; Miscellanies (with Pope), 381, 384, 392; A Modest Proposal, 416, 417–20; Of the Education of Ladies, 427–28; On the Death of Mrs. Johnson, 406; “polite conversations” collection, 104–5; Predictions for the Year 1708, 188–90; A Project for the Advancement of Religion, and the Reformation of Manners, 213–14; A Proposal for Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue, 212–13; A Proposal for Giving Badges to the Beggars in All the Parishes of Dublin, by the Dean of St. Patrick’s, 421–23; A Proposal for the Universal Use of Irish Manufacture, in Clothes and Furniture or Houses, etc., Utterly Renouncing Everything Wearable That Comes from England, 342–44; The Public Spirit of the Whigs, 262, 353; Seasonable Advice to the Grand Jury, 352–53; Sentiments of a Church of England Man, 212; A Short Character of His Excellency Thomas Earl of Wharton, 211; Some Free Thoughts upon the Present State of Affairs, 265; The Story of the Injured Lady Written by Herself, 162, 354; Thoughts on Religion (unpublished), 151; Thoughts on Various Subjects, 160, 183, 316. See also Gulliver’s Travels; Tale of a Tub, A

  Swift: The Man, His Works, and the Age. See Ehrenpreis, Irvin

  Symposium (Plato), 285

  Sympson, Richard (pseudonym), 381

  Szasz, Thomas, 149

  Tale of a Tub, A (Swift), 130, 131–46, 197, 204, 335, 357, 365, 451; Addison and, 184; anarchic inventiveness of, 285; anonymous publication of, 190; “Apology” added in fifth edition of, 145, 159; argument for being well-deceived, 141–42; “A Digression Concerning Madness
” section of, 140–44; disorienting perspective changes in, 220; effects of, 133–34; frontispiece of, 132, 132; hostile reactions to, 144–46, 254, 256; ironic dedication of, 159; metaphor-inspired title of, 132; models for, 134; notoriety of, 133, 135; original illustrations for, 137, 138; religious allegory and, 135–46, 139–40, 144; as satire, 140–41, 145, 370; satiric print from parody of, 298; Swift’s clerical career and, 146, 254

  Tallard, Camille d’Hostun, Comte de, 168

  Tatler (periodical), 182, 184, 190, 212, 241

  Temple, Diana (daughter), 54

  Temple, Jack (nephew), 46, 56, 91, 92, 180

  Temple, John (son), suicide of, 40, 55

  Temple, Lady (née Dorothy Osborne) (wife), 39, 40, 42, 55

  Temple, Martha (sister). See Giffard, Lady

  Temple, Sir John (William’s father), 36; as speculated Swift-Stella common ancestor, 59–61, 317

  Temple, Sir William, 5, 36–61, 38, 67, 68, 109, 131, 274, 426; ancients vs. moderns literary controversy and, 86–89, 145; appearance of, 53, 55; attributes of, 38–39; children of, 40, 54, 55; country home of (see Moor Park); death of, 89, 90; Epicurean philosophy of, 41–42, 44, 141; female support system of, 42; as Irish master of the rolls, 72; library of, 80; marriage of, 39; prose clarity of, 81–82; publication of papers of, 90–91; sexual liaisons of, 39–40, 53–55; Stella’s status with, 4, 6, 50–56, 57, 90, 108, 318, 335; Swift’s career choice and, 71; Swift’s duties with, 43, 50, 66, 359; Swift’s eulogy to, 89, 90; Swift’s ode to, 83–84, 86; Swift’s ordination and, 71–73; Swift’s posthumous editing of papers of, 90–91, 193, 222; Swift’s relationship with, 9, 44–50, 53, 56–57, 60, 61, 72, 82–83, 200; Swift’s resentment toward, 91–92; Swift’s return to employ of, 79–93; Swift’s rumored blood relationship with, 56–61, 318; temper and vanity of, 45; William III friendship with, 62–66, 71; will provisions of, 51–52, 56, 90–91; works of: Letters, 81; Memoirs; Miscellanies, 91; Some Thoughts upon Reviewing the Essay on Ancient and Modern Learning, 43, 87; “Upon the Gardens of Epicurus,” 41