Jonathan Swift: A Biographical and Critical Study

by John Churton Collins

This is an electronically scanned version of a preserved 1902 edition of this title.

"During the last hundred years, and particularly during the last twenty years, so much has been written about Swift that some apology may seem necessary for the appearance of another volume on the subject. But to apologise for a very deliberate act would be affectation. Those who may do me the honour to read this book will, I think, find that, however open to question my views of the actions and character of this extraordinary man may be, they are at least the result of very careful study, and that if I have added little, I have added at all events something, to our knowledge of the details of his biography.

I hold no brief for Swift, but I have endeavoured to do him justice where justice has been either withheld or too grudgingly allowed. I have endeavoured to vindicate the consistency of his political principles, his character in all that related to practice and duty as a churchman, the purity of his motives as well as his wisdom as an Irish Agitator, and his conduct with regard to Stella and Vanessa."

330 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 2, 2015

About the author

John Churton Collins was a British literary critic.