The Project Gutenberg EBook of Famous Affinities of History V4, by Lyndon Orr

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Title: Famous Affinities of History V4
The Romance of Devotion

Author: Lyndon Orr

Posting Date: August 24, 2009 [EBook #4692]
Release Date: November, 2003
First Posted: March 3, 2002

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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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 lives
for love of him is familiar to every student of English literature.
Swift himself, both in letters and in politics, stands out a
conspicuous figure in the reigns of King William III and Queen Anne. By
writing Gulliver's Travels he made himself immortal. The external facts
of his singular relations with two charming women are sufficiently well
known; but a definite explanation of these facts has never yet been
given. Swift held his tongue with a repellent taciturnity. No one ever
dared to question him. Whether the true solution belongs to the sphere
of 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, it
may be well to set forth the circumstances very briefly, to weigh the
theories that have already been advanced, and to suggest another.

Jonathan Swift was of Yorkshire stock, though he happened to be born in
Dublin, 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 life
in Ireland, and to die there, near the cathedral where his remains now
rest; but in truth he hated Ireland and