ards to enter so largely
into his life. Dissatisfied, apparently, that Temple did not do more for
his advancement, he left his service in 1694 and returned to Ireland,
where he took orders, and obtained the small living of Kilroot, near
Belfast. While there he wrote his _Tale of a Tub_, one of the most
consummate pieces of satire in any language, and _The Battle of the
Books_, with reference to the "Phalaris" controversy (_see_ Bentley),
which were _pub._ together in 1704. In 1698 he threw up his living at the
request of Temple, who felt the want of his society and assistance, and
returned to Moor Park. On the death of his patron in 1699 he undertook by
request the publication of his works, and thereafter returned to Ireland
as chaplain to the Lord Deputy, the Earl of Berkeley, from whom he
obtained some small preferments, including the vicarage of Laracor, and a
prebend in St. Patrick's Cathedral. At this time he made frequent visits
to London and became the friend of Addison, Steele, Congreve, and other
Whig writers, and wrote various pamphlets, chiefly on ecclesiastical
subjects. In 1710, disgusted with the neglect of the Whigs, alike of
himself and of the claims of his Church, he abandoned them and attached
himself to Harley and Bolingbroke. The next few years were filled with
political controversy. He attacked the Whigs in papers in the _Examiner_
in 1710, and in his celebrated pamphlets, _The Conduct of the Allies_
(1712), _The Barrier Treaty_ (1713), and _The Public Spirit of the Whigs_
(1714). In 1713 he was made Dean of St. Patrick's, the last piece of
patronage which he received. The steady dislike of Queen Anne had proved
an insurmountable obstacle to his further advancement, and her death
proved the ruin of the Tories. On the destruction of his hopes S. retired
to Ireland, where he remained for the rest of his life a thoroughly
embittered man. In 1713 he had begun his _Journal to Stella_, which sheds
so strange a light upon his character, and on his return to Ireland his
marriage to her is now generally believed to have taken place, though
they never lived together. Now also took place also his final rupture
with Miss Van Homrigh (Vanessa), who had been in love with him, with whom
he had maintained a lengthened correspondence, and to whom he addressed
his poem, _Cadenus and Vanessa_ (1726). Though he disliked the Irish and
considered residence in Ireland as banishment, he interested himself in
Irish affairs, a