[105] Sir Christopher Wren, b. 1631; d. 1723. The cathedral was begun in 1675, and virtually finished in 1710, though there may have been many “last touches” for the aged architect. [106] John Gay, b. 1685; d. 1732. [107] “O roving muse! recall that wondrous year, When hoary Thames, with frosted osiers crown’d, Was three long moons in icy fetters bound.” The allusion is doubtless to the year 1684, famous for its exceeding cold. [108] Jonathan Swift, b. 1667; d. 1745. Most noticeable biographies are those by Scott, Craik, and Stephen; the latter not minute, but having judicial repose, and quite delightful. Scott’s edition of his works (originally published in 1814) is still the fullest and best. [109] Sir William Temple did not finally abandon his home at Sheen--where he had beautiful gardens--until the year 1689. A stretch of Richmond Park, with its deer-fed turf, now covers all traces of Temple’s old home; the name however is kept most pleasantly alive by the pretty Sheen cottage (Professor Owen’s home), with its carp-pond in front, and its charming, sequestered bit of wild garden in the rear. [110] “Varina” was a Miss Waring, sister of a college mate. Years after, when Swift came by better church appointments, Varina wrote to him a letter calculated to fan the flame of a constant lover; but she received such reply--at once disdainful and acquiescent--as was met only with contemptuous silence. [111] Both of these satires written between 1696-1698, but not published till six years later. [112] Button’s was another favorite Coffee-house in Russell Street--on the opposite side from Will’s--and nearer Covent Garden. I must express my frequent obligations, in respect of London Topography, to the interesting _Literary Landmarks_ of Mr. Laurence Hutton. [113] Acquaintance with Miss Vanhomrigh probably first made in winter of 1708, but no family intimacy till year 1710. See _Athenæum_, January 16, 1886, in notice of Lane-Poole’s _Letters and Journals of Swift_. [114] Henry Morley, in the recent editing of his Carrisbrooke _Swift_, lays stress upon the sufficient warning which Miss Vanhomrigh should have found in this poem. It appears to me that he sees too much in Swift’s favor and too little in Vanessa’s. [115] Miss Vanhomrigh died in May, 1723; and the final renewal of Bishop Berkeley’s deed of gift (of the Whitehall farm, Newport) to Yale College, is dated August 17, 1733. [116] Thomas Sheridan, D.D., father of “Dictionary” Sheridan, and grandfather of Richard Brinsley. He was a great friend of Swift, and _Gulliver’s Travels_ was prepared for the press at his cottage in Cavan (Quilca). [117] _The Drapier Letters_ were published in 1724. When the successive parts of _Gulliver_ were written it is impossible to determine. A portion was certainly in existence as early as 1722. The whole was not published until 1726-27. _INDEX._