the day of his birth; he died a
madman.

There are numerous biographies of Swift; but probably the best
characterization of the man and his life, rather than of his books, is
to be found in Thackeray's _English Humorists_, and a closer study of
the man and his works in Leslie Stevenson's "Swift," in Morley's
_English Men of Letters_. The other biographies of him are: Lord Orrery
_Remarks on the Life and Writings of Dr. Jonathan Swift_, 1751; Hawkes,
on his life, 1765; Sheridan's life, 1785; Forster's life, 1875
(unfinished); Henry Craik's life (1882). The best edition of Swift's
writings and correspondence is that edited by Scott, 1824.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] _Redriff Rotherhithe_: then a Thames side village, now part of
London.

[2] _Pound_: nearly five dollars.

[3] _Levant_: the point where the sun rises. The countries about the
eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea and its adjoining waters.

[4] _Mrs._: it was formerly the custom to call unmarried women Mrs.

[5] _The South Sea_: the Pacific Ocean.

[6] _Van Diemen's Land_: N.W. from Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) and in
latitude 30 degrees 2 minutes would be in Australia or off the West
Coast.

[7] _Cable's length_: about six hundred or seven hundred feet.

[8] _Buff jerkin_ a leather jacket or waistcoat.

[9] _Small_: weak, thin.

[10] _Signet-royal_: the king's seal.

[11] _Half-pike_ a short wooden staff, upon one end of which was a
steel head.

[12] _Stang_: an old word for a perch, sixteen feet and a half, also
for a rood of ground.

[13] _Chairs_: a sedan chair is here meant. It held one person, and
was carried by two men by means of projecting poles.

[14] _Crest_: a decoration to denote rank.

[15] _Lingua Franca_: a language--Italian mixed with Arabic, Greek,
and Turkish--used by Frenchmen, Spaniards, and Italians trading with
Arabs, Turks, and Greeks. It is the commercial language of
Constantinople.

[16] _Imprimis_: in the first place, (pr.) im pri' mis.

[17] _Lucid_: shining, transparent.

[18] _Yeomen of the guards_: freemen forming the bodyguard of the
sovereign.

[19] _Pocket perspective_: a small spy-glass or telescope.

[20] _Trencher_: a wooden plate or platter.

[21] _Corn_: such grains as wheat, rye, barley, oats.

[22] _Quadrant_: an instrument long used for measuring altitudes.

[23] _Skirt_: coat-tail.

[24] _Alcoran_ the Koran or Mohammedan Bible.

[25] _Embargo_: an order not to sail.

[26] _Discompos