FAMOUS AFFINITIES OF HISTORY
THE ROMANCE OF DEVOTION
BY
LYNDON ORR
VOLUME IV OF IV.
CONTENTS
DEAN SWIFT AND THE TWO ESTHERS
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY AND MARY GODWIN
THE STORY OF THE CARLYLES
THE STORY OF THE HUGOS
THE STORY OF GEORGE SAND
THE MYSTERY OF CHARLES DICKENS
HONORE DE BALZAC AND EVELINA HANSKA
CHARLES READE AND LAURA SEYMOUR
DEAN SWIFT AND THE TWO ESTHERS
The story of Jonathan Swift and of the two women who gave their livesfor love of him is familiar to every student of English literature.Swift himself, both in letters and in politics, stands out aconspicuous figure in the reigns of King William III and Queen Anne. Bywriting Gulliver's Travels he made himself immortal. The external factsof his singular relations with two charming women are sufficiently wellknown; but a definite explanation of these facts has never yet beengiven. Swift held his tongue with a repellent taciturnity. No one everdared to question him. Whether the true solution belongs to the sphereof psychology or of physiology is a question that remains unanswered.
But, as the case is one of the most puzzling in the annals of love, itmay be well to set forth the circumstances very briefly, to weigh thetheories that have already been advanced, and to suggest another.
Jonathan Swift was of Yorkshire stock, though he happened to be born inDublin, and thus is often spoken of as "the great Irish satirist," or"the Irish dean." It was, in truth, his fate to spend much of his lifein Ireland, and to die there, near the cathedral where his remains nowrest; but in truth he hated Ireland and everything connected with it,just as he hated Scotland and everything that was Scottish. He was anEnglishman to the core.
High-stomached, proud, obstinate, and over-mastering, independence wasthe dream of his life. He would accept no favors, lest he should puthimself under obligation; and although he could give generously, andeven lavishly, he lived for the most part a miser's life, hoardingevery penny and halfpenny that he could. Whatever one may think of him,there is no doubt that he was a very manly man. Too many of hisportraits give the impression of a sour, supercilious pedant; but thefinest of them all—that by Jervas—shows him as he must have been athis very prime, with a face that was almost handsome, and a look ofattractive humor which strengthens rather than lessens the power of hisbrows and of the large, lambent eyes beneath them.
At fifteen he entered Trinity College, in Dublin, where he read widelybut studied little, so that his degree was finally granted him only asa special favor. At twenty-one he first visited England, and becamesecretary to Sir William Temple, at Moor Park. Temple, after adistinguished career in diplomacy, had retired to his fine countryestate in Surrey. He is remembered now for several things—f