ABSTRACT
Swift hated to give in to gloom, or ‘the spleen’. If it loured, he escaped by pursuing la bagatelle—any harmless pastime that kept him busy and cheerful. When he could not have the dignified company of minds like Addison’s, he made do with the fun of young men who were willing to be frivolous. He found a severely reduced facsimile of the Addisonian character in the Rev. Patrick Delany, whom Swift had asked to serve as diplomat between himself and Sheridan.
