ties, we at the same time admire the whims, if not the dotages, of a Swift. He was, perhaps, the only clergyman of his time, who had a thorough knowHis Tale of a Tub,' ledge of men and manners. his 'Gulliver's Travels,' and his 'Drapier's Letters,' are the most considerable of his prose works; and his Legion Club,' his 'Cadenus and Vanessa,' and his Rhapsody on Poetry,' are at the head of his poetical performances. His writings, in general, are regarded as standing models of our language, as well as perpetual monuments of their author's fame." PEDIGREE OF THE YOUNGER BRANCH OF THE SWIFTS OF YORKSHIRE. ARMS: Or, a chevron nébulé, Argent and Azure, between three bucks in full course, Vert. Thomas Smith, collated to the territory of St. Andrew;=Margaret, who (with nine of her children) was buried Canterbury, 1569; died June 12, 1592: aged 57. in the Cathedral church-yard. William Swift, married Oct. 5, 1592, at Kingston, in Kent; in that year succeeded to his father's rectory; in 1602, was rector of Harbledown; and died Oct. 24, 1624. Mary, an heiress of the house of Philpott; died March 5, 1626, aged 58. Thomas Swift, vicar of Goodrich, and also of Elizabeth Dryden. Catherine=Thomas Witfierde, gent. Bridstow, both in Herefordshire; died 1658. Margaret Henry Atkinson, apothecary and citizen of London. Jonathan Swift, died in May, 1667. 1. Jane, born in 1666. 2. JONATHAN SWIFT, the celebrated Dean of St. Patrick's: born Nov. 30, 1667; died Oct. 19, 1745. Anne= Perry. Another daughter. ANECDOTES OF THE FAMILY OF SWIFT. A FRAGMENT. WRITTEN BY DR. SWIFT. [The original Manuscript, in his own hand, is lodged in the University Library of Dublin.] HE family of the Swifts was ancient in Yorkshire; from them descended a noted person, who passed under the name of Cavaliero Swift, a man of wit and humour. He was made an Irish Peer by King James or King Charles the First, with the title of Baron Carlingford,* but never was in that kingdom. Many traditional pleasant stories are related of him, which the family planted in Ireland had received from their parents. This lord died without issue male; and his heiress, whether of the first or second descent, was married to Robert Fielding, Esquire, commonly called Handsome Fielding; she brought him a considerable estate in Yorkshire, which he squandered away, but had no children; the Earl of Eglinton married another co-heiress of the same family, as he has often told me.† Another of the same family was Sir Edward Swift, well known in the times of the great rebellion and usurpation, but I am ignorant whether he left heirs or not. * Barnam Swift, Esq., was created Viscount (not Baron) of Carlingford, by King Charles I. March 20, 1627, and by his death in 1642, S. P., the title became extinct. + Scottish genealogists do not record such a marriage in the pedigree of the Eglinton family. |