Exhibition held at South Kensington in 1867. The present ownership of the picture is unknown, and it is through the courtesy of the authorities at South Kensington in permitting the use of the negative made at the time of the exhibition, that the reproduction has been possible. The portrait itself is extremely interesting, in that it is the only one known, with any claim to authenticity, which represents Dean Swift as a young man. The introductory biography contributed by Mr. Lecky appeared originally in his volume on "Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland," published in 1861, but it has been rewritten and a good deal amplified for its present purpose. 1897. Dor M BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION. JONATHAN SWIFT was born in Dublin, on the 30th of March, 1667. His father, who had died a few months before, was a younger son of a Herefordshire rector, who had done much and suffered much for the Royalist cause during the Civil War; who had married into the family from which the poet Dryden afterwards sprang, and who left thirteen or fourteen children, several of whom sought their fortunes in Ireland. Godwin, the eldest son, rose rapidly to considerable wealth and position, though unfortunate speculations, a large family, and failing faculties seriously crippled him towards the end of his life. Jonathan, the father of our author, was the seventh or eighth son. He worked for some years at the law courts in Dublin, and was elected Steward of the King's Inn, but only held this position for about fifteen months, dying at the early age of twenty-five. He had married a Leicestershire lady of good family, strong religious views, and bright and estimable character, but with no private means, and on the death of her husband she was left with an infant daughter, an unborn son, some debts, and little or nothing to live on, except an annuity of £20 a year. The Swift family, however, was a very large one, |