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NOTE.
Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1667, and died in 1745.
His parents were English. His father died before he was born, and his
mother was supported on a slender pittance by his father's brother. He
was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and all through his early life
was dependent on the generosity of others. His college career was not
highly creditable, either from the point of view of manners, morals, or
learning. After leaving college, he travelled through England on foot,
and found employment with a relative of his mother's, Sir William
Temple, in whose house was a noble library; and for two years Swift made
up for some of his shortcomings by studying diligently therein. He went
to Oxford in 1692, took a degree and was ordained in 1694. He was given
a parish in Ireland, which he soon resigned, returning to the home of
Sir William Temple, where he remained until the death of the latter in
1699.
Temple left Swift a legacy, and confided to him the editing and
publishing of his works. This task completed, Swift went again to
Ireland to another parish, and threw himself into political
pamphleteering with great effect, one of the results of his exertions
being the securing of freedom from taxation for the Irish clergy.
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