JONATHAN
SWIFT,
D.
D.
5
the
life
of
Swift,
therefore,
may
be
derived
the
impor
tant
lesson,
that,
as
no
misfortunes
should
induce
ge
nius
to
despair,
no
rank
of
fame,
however
elevated,
should
encourage
its
possessor
to
presumption.
And
those
to
whom
fate
has
denied
such
brilliant
quali
ties,
or
to
whom
she
has
refused
the
necessary
oppor
tunities
of
displaying
them,
may
be
taught,
while
perusing
the
history
of
this
illustrious
man,
how
lit
tle
happiness
depends
upon
the
possession
of
trans
cendent
genius,
of
political
influence,
or
of
popular
renown.
Jonathan
Swift,
Doctor
of
Divinity,
and
Dean
of
St
Patrick ' s,
Dublin,
was
descended
from
the
younger
branch
of
the
family
of
Swifts,
in
Yorkshire,
which
had
been
settled
in
that
county
for
many
years.
His
immediate
ancestor
was
the
Reverend
Thomas
Swift,
vicar
of
Goodrich,
in
Herefordshire,
and
proprietor
of
a
small
estate
in
that
neighbourhood.
At
the
begin
ning
of
the
civil
wars,
this
gentleman
distinguished
himself
by
his
zeal
and
activity
in
the
cause
of
Charles
I.
;
and
his
grandson
has
recorded,
in
a
separate
me
moir,
his
exploits
and
sufferings
during
the
civil
wars.
To
that
memoir,
and
the
notes
which
accompany
it,
the
reader
is
referred
for
farther
particulars
concern
ing
Swift ' s
family.*
After
having
been
repeatedly
*
See
No.
I.
Appendix.
Swift
put
up
a
plain
monument
to
his
grandfather,
and
also
presented
a
cup
to
the
church
of
Goodrich,
