English author displayed when senile?

[Dave]

Please forgive a question whose answer is unlikely to be Shakespeare,
but this seems like the newsgroup most likely to be able to answer my
question:

I was reading a Horatio Hornblower story to my son today, and a
passage read (the context was the cruelty of a Spanish captain in
chaining an insane man and displaying his ravings to the crew):

" (It) could be paralleled often enough in English history. One of
the greatest writers of the English language, and a dignitary of the
Church to boot, had once been shown in his dotage for a fee."

The author, CS Forester, is known for his attention to historical
accuracy, so I'm sure he refers to a real person, but I have no idea
who it is. The story takes place around 1800, so it had to be before
then. Can anyone tell me who the writer is?

Thank you,
Dave

[Peter Hillyar-Russ]

Dave wrote in article <33c5cc1e...@news.zippo.com>...

> " (It) could be paralleled often enough in English history. One of
> the greatest writers of the English language, and a dignitary of the
> Church to boot, had once been shown in his dotage for a fee."
>

> Can anyone tell me who the writer is?

Jonathan SWIFT - Tale of a Tub, A Modest Proposal, and Gulliver's travels
was (a) a great writer and (b) A dignitary of the Church - being Dean of
Sain Patrick's Cathedral Dublin. he went mad, and left his money to
Steeven's Hospital, a Dublin Asylum. He was certainly a curiosity - ie much
visited by the curious in his dotage - but whether he was "shown for a fee"
I know not.

Peter
peter...@lineone.net

[Jack Lynch]

Dave wrote:
: " (It) could be paralleled often enough in English history. One of

: the greatest writers of the English language, and a dignitary of the
: Church to boot, had once been shown in his dotage for a fee."

: The author, CS Forester, is known for his attention to historical

: accuracy, so I'm sure he refers to a real person, but I have no idea
: who it is. The story takes place around 1800, so it had to be before

: then. Can anyone tell me who the writer is?

I'm guessing it's Jonthan Swift -- Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin, who
suffered from various ailments late in life, probably related to an
inner-ear disorder, which resulted in apparent fits of madness. The story
is told that his servants would take fees to show him to curious
onlookers.

--
In lapidary inscriptions a man is not upon oath.