Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 1.djvu/37

( I )

THE

LIFE

OF

DOCTOR SWIFT.

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SECTION I.

SWIFT was descended from an ancient family in Yorkshire, of no small note, and considerable property. He was of the younger branch^[1]. His grandfather, the rev^d. Thomas Swift, was possessed of a good estate, and was distinguished above any man of his station in life, for his attachment to Charles I, and the sufferings he underwent in support of the royal cause, by which his fortune was entirely ruined. He had ten sons, and three daughters. Five of his sons went to seek their fortune in Ireland: the fourth of whom, Jonathan, was father to the famous doctor Swift. He had married Mrs. Abigail Erick, descended from an ancient fa-

1. For farther particulars of Swift's family, see the Appendix.