PUBLISHED BY A. AND W. GALIGNANI, AT THE ENGLISH, FRENCH, ITALIAN, GERMAN, AND SPANISH LIBRARY, MDCCCXXVI. ADVERTISEMENT. No author in the British language has enjoyed the extensive popularity of the celebrated Dean of St Patrick's. Neither the local and temporary nature of the subjects on which his pen was frequently engaged, nor other objections of a more positive nature, have affected the brilliancy of his reputation. In spite of the antiquated and unpopular nature of his politics, in spite of the misanthropical and indelicate tone of some of his writings, and the trifling character of others, the vivid and original -- power of his genius has supported him in the general opinion, to an extent only equalled by his friend Pope, and far sur VOL. I. i vi ADVERTISEMENT. passing any other of those geniuses who flourished in the Augustan age of Queen Anne. Although several Memoirs of the life of this celebrated man have been published, yet, from his utter inattention to literary reputation, and the carelessness with which he flung his productions from him, many fugitive pieces, letters and anecdotes, calculated to throw light on his remarkable history, have not been accessible even to the most laborious and accurate of his biographers. The present is an attempt to fill up this blank, and, from the various advantages which have been afforded to the writer, it is trusted that it will supply a distinct and combined account of the life of Swift which has heretofore continued to be a desideratum. Among the various original information which has been supplied from authentic sources, are the liberal communications of Theophilus Swift, Esq. of Dublin, son of the learned Deane Swift, |