Swift, Jonathan. A great English satirist. Born in Dublin, Ireland, 1667. Swift was the posthumous son of Jonathan Swift, an Englishman. Was educated at Kilkenny and at Trinity College, Dublin. In 1701, he took his doctor's degree, and in 1704 he published anonymously his famous "Tale of a Tub," to which was appended the "Battle of the Books." In 1710, Swift began his "Journal to Stella," which constitutes a splendid commentary on his own history. Swift wrote many political pamphlets supporting the Tory policy of his day, the most powerful of which was "The Conduct of the Allies." His celebrated "Drapier's Letters" made him the idol of the Irish people. His famous "Gulliver's Travels," appeared in 1726. Swift did much to make public opinion a governing power in English politics. He died in Dublin, 1745, bequeathing the greatest part of his fortune to a hospital.

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