  GULLIVER'S TRAVELS INTRODUCTION SOME CHILDREN'S BOOKS OF THE PAST KING ARTHUR I. ARTHUR MADE KING II. ARTHUR WEDS GUINEVERE. THE ROUND TABLE DISSENSIONS AT KING ARTHUR'S COURT CAPTAIN MORGAN AT MARACAIBO[1] THE FIDDLING PARSON ADAPTED FROM THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DAVY CROCKETT Title: Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 5 Author: Charles Sylvester Language: English Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Andy Jewell and PG Distributed Proofreaders [Illustration: HE TURNED HIS FACE AND KISSED HER CLIMBING Geraint and Enid] JOURNEYS THROUGH BOOKLANDA NEW AND ORIGINALPLAN FOR READING APPLIED TO THEWORLD'S BEST LITERATUREFOR CHILDRENBYCHARLES H. SYLVESTERAuthor of English and American Literature VOLUME FIVENew Edition [Illustration] 1922 CONTENTSJONATHAN SWIFT. PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMESThe Classification of Selections, see General Index at end of Volume X ILLUSTRATIONSHE TURN'D HIS FACE AND KISS'D HER CLIMBING (Color Plate) JONATHAN SWIFTThe father of Jonathan Swift was a Dublin lawyer who died just as he was beginning what might have been a profitable career, and before his only son was born. The widow was left with so little money that when her son was born in November, 1667, she was not able to take care of him. Her brother-in-law undertook to provide for mother and child. He procured a nurse who became so attached to her little charge that when she received a small sum of money from a relative in England and was compelled to go to that country, she stole the baby and took him with her across the channel. It was more than three years before Jonathan was brought back to Dublin, but he had been tenderly cared for, and though but five years of age had been taught to spell and to read in the Bible. A year later he was sent to a good school, where he made rapid progress. However, he could not have been always studious, for visitors to the school are still shown a desk in which his name is deeply cut. He was fourteen years old when he entered the University of Dublin, where his record was not a very satisfactory one. When it came time for him to graduate, his standing was too poor for him to take his degree, but after some delay it was given him "by special favor," a term then used in Dublin to show that a candidate did not pass in his examinations. After this, Swift remained three years at the University under the pretense of studying, but he was chiefly notorious for his connection with a gang of wild and disobedient students who were often under censure of the faculty for their irregularities. For one offense Swift was severely censured and compelled upon his knees to beg pardon of the dean. This punishment he did not forgive, and long afterward he wrote bitter things about Dr. Allen, the dean. Yet while indulging in these follies, Swift learned to write well and became noted for a peculiar satirical style that afterward made him much feared by the government. When the uncle who had first supported Swift had died, a second uncle and his son took up the burden. At one time this cousin sent Swift quite a large sum of money, a fact which seemed to change the nature of the wild young spendthrift, who thereafter remained economical; in fact, he became niggardly in his saving. Swift's second degree from the University was earned creditably, and he was much pleased with the praise and respect with which he was received. This was owing to two years of diligent study which he spent at the home of Sir William Temple, a leading statesman of the time and a distant relative by marriage of Swift's mother. Discouraged by his fruitless attempt to enter public life, he began to study for the ministry, and, ultimately, he received a church appointment, of which he wearied after a short experience. Until 1710, he led a varied life, sometimes dependent upon his relatives, and at others making his way in various political positions. From the date above he was embroiled in heated political controversies in which his bitter writings made him feared even by his friends and fiercely hated by his enemies. But he steadily rose in power and influence, and when his party triumphed he was rewarded for his political services by being appointed dean of Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Ireland. His appointment was exceedingly unpopular, even in Ireland, for few believed him at all suited for a position in the church, much less for one so high and important. On the day he was installed, some bitter verses, of which the following are three, were found posted on the door of the cathedral: To-day this temple gets a dean, * * * * * This place he got by wit and rhyme, * * * * * And now when'er his deanship dies, Unfortunately there was too much truth in the charges against Swift's character, and his career, in spite of his genius, is a pitiful one. He was admired for his wit and brilliancy, and courted by the noble and powerful, but he was never able to gratify his ambitions, though he did secure many devoted friends. From his disappointments he became moody, bitter and discontented. This state of mind, together with other causes, finally broke his health, destroyed his mind and left him but the sad wreck of a brilliant manhood, and an old age of helpless imbecility. Such a life has little that is attractive for anyone, but it does show us that even a brilliant intellect cannot save a man who persistently neglects to guard his character, and that fame does not always bring happiness. But Swift was by no means all bad, and his great services to Ireland are still deservedly recognized by that devoted people. He really laid the foundation for their prosperity and may be said to have created constitutional liberty for them. It is, however, as a wit and a writer that Swift is now chiefly famous. Many are the stories told of his readiness in repartee, his bright sallies in conversation, and of his skill in quick and caustic rhyming. It is said that one day, when traveling in the south of Ireland, he stopped to give his horse water at a brook which crossed the road; a gentleman of the neighborhood halted for the same purpose, and saluted him, a courtesy which was politely returned. They parted, but the gentleman, struck by the dean's figure, sent his servant to inquire who the man was. The messenger rode up to the dean and said, "Please, sir, master would be obliged if you would tell him who you are." "Willingly," replied the dean. "Tell your master I am the person that bowed to him when we were giving our horses water at the brook yonder." [Illustration: JONATHAN SWIFT 1667-1745] Swift's interests lay rather with the common people than with the Irish aristocracy, who, he thought, were arrant "grafters." Of one in particular he said, "So great was his bounty— The last thing Swift wrote was an epigram. It was in almost the final lucid interval between periods of insanity that he was riding in the park with his physician. As they drove along, Swift saw, for the first time, a building that had recently been put up. "What is that?" he inquired. "That," said the physician, "is the new magazine in which are stored arms and powder for the defence of the city." "Oh!" said the dean, pulling out his notebook. "Let me take an item of that; this is worth remarking: 'My tablets!' as Hamlet says, 'my tablets! Memory put down that.'" Then he scribbled the following lines, the last he ever penned: "Behold a proof of Irish sense! With the exception of Gulliver's Travels, very little that Dean Swift wrote is now read by anyone but students. |
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