during his second visit Temple seems to have recognised that his amanuensis had something in him—to this period belong the stories of Swift's intimacy with William III; when he came to Temple for what proved to be the last time, he may well have felt that in accepting Temple's hospitality he was rather conferring an obligation than incurring one.
It was during (or soon after) Swift's first stay that Temple published the book containing his essay Upon the Ancient and Modern Learning. Wotton's Reflections and Boyle's edition of Phalaris appeared while Swift was in Ireland; and it may have been during this time that Temple began the reply to Wotton (which he never completed), of which Swift said, when he published it in 1701, 'I cannot well inform the reader upon what occasion it was writ, having been at that time in another kingdom.'[1]
Bentley's first Dissertation, and Boyle's Examination appeared during Swift's third stay with Temple. Bentley's second Dissertation appeared after Temple's death.
- ↑ Swift knew perfectly well upon what occasion the paper was written. By his own account, the Battle of the Books was completed by 1701, though it was not published.
