Editing Jonathan Swift (section)

=====Death=====
[[File:St. Patrick's Cathedral Swift bust.jpg|thumb|left|[[Bust (sculpture)|Bust]] in [[St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin|St Patrick's Cathedral]]]]
Death became a persistent preoccupation in Swift's mind from this point. In 1731 he wrote ''Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift'', his own obituary, published in 1739. In 1732, his good friend and collaborator John Gay had died. In 1735, John Arbuthnot, another friend from his days in London, also died, and in 1738 Swift too began to show signs of illness, perhaps even suffering a stroke in 1742, losing the ability to speak and realising his worst fears of becoming mentally disabled. ("I shall be like that tree", he once said. "I shall die at the top.")<ref>Stephen ''DNB'', p. 221.</ref> He became increasingly quarrelsome, and long-standing friendships, like that with Thomas Sheridan, ended without sufficient cause. To protect him from unscrupulous hangers-ons, who had begun to prey on the great man, his closest companions had him declared of "unsound mind and memory." However, it was long believed by many that Swift was actually insane at this point. In his book ''[[Literature and Western Man]]'', author [[J. B. Priestley]] even cites the final chapters of ''Gulliver's Travels'' as proof of Swift's approaching "insanity". Bewley attributes his decline to 'terminal dementia'.<ref name=Bewley />

In part VIII of his series, ''[[The Story of Civilization]]'', [[Will Durant]] describes the final years of Swift's life as exhibiting:

<blockquote>Definite symptoms of madness ... [first appearing] in 1738. In 1741, guardians were appointed to take care of his affairs and watch lest in his outbursts of violence, he should do himself harm. In 1742, he suffered great pain from the inflammation of his left eye, which swelled to the size of ... [a chicken's] egg; five attendants had to restrain him from tearing out his eye. He went a whole year without uttering a word.<ref>"The Story of Civilization," vol. 8., 362.</ref></blockquote>

In 1744, Alexander Pope died. Then on 19 October 1745, Swift died, at nearly 78.<ref name=LS222>Stephen ''DNB'', p. 222.</ref> After being laid out in public view for the people of Dublin to pay their last respects, he was buried in his own cathedral by Esther Johnson's side, in accordance with his wishes. The bulk of his fortune (£12,000) was left to found a hospital for the mentally ill, originally known as St Patrick's Hospital for Imbeciles, which opened in 1757, and which [[St Patrick's University Hospital|still exists]] as a psychiatric hospital.<ref name=LS222 />

[[File:St. Patrick's Cathedral Swift epitaph.jpg|thumb|[[Epitaph]] in [[St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin]] near his burial site]]
: ''(Text extracted from the introduction to ''The Journal to Stella'' by George A. Aitken and from other sources).''

Jonathan Swift wrote his own [[epitaph]]:
{|
|-
|<poem>''Hic'' depositum est Corpus
IONATHAN SWIFT S.T.D.
Hujus Ecclesiæ Cathedralis Decani,

''Ubi'' sæva Indignatio
Ulterius
Cor lacerare nequit.
Abi Viator
Et imitare, si poteris,
Strenuum pro virili
Libertatis Vindicatorem.

Obiit 19º Die Mensis Octobris
A.D. 1745 Anno Ætatis 78º.</poem>
|style="padding-left:2em;"|<poem>''Here'' is laid the Body
of Jonathan Swift, Doctor of Sacred Theology,
Dean of this Cathedral Church,

''where'' fierce Indignation
can no longer
injure the Heart.
Go forth, Voyager,
and copy, if you can,
this vigorous (to the best of his ability)
Champion of Liberty.

He died on the 19th Day of the Month of October,
A.D. 1745, in the 78th Year of his Age.</poem>
|}

[[W. B. Yeats]] poetically translated it from the Latin as:

: Swift has sailed into his rest;
: Savage indignation there
: Cannot lacerate his breast.
: Imitate him if you dare,
: World-besotted traveller; he
: Served human liberty.

His library is known through sale catalogues.<ref>Passmann, Dirk F. 2012. “Jonathan Swift as a Book-Collector: With a Checklist of Swift Association Copies.” ''Swift Studies: The Annual of the Ehrenpreis Center'' 27: 7–68.</ref>