The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1862-02-22
Dean swim.

n writer IN Harper magazine, alter
giving sketches Of Milton, COleridge. Har.
ringtOn, Shakespeare, and other famous
literary men Of that day, draws the fol.
lowing pretty and faithful pen-pOrtrait Of
one Of lreland's most noble aud gifted
SONS, the eccentric wit, statesman, patri-
OF, poet and scholar, Dean Swift. May
the knowledge Of his genius and virtues
ever remain fresh and green aS their ma
tive hills in the minds VI his cOuntrymen.
The writer says:
There is yet another noble name which
cannot be forgotten in such discussions as
these. Ii is that Of One whose character
has been made the subject of much i'm
pertinent criticism; of one whose sun
went down not in glory but in gloom of
one who MAS called simply THE Dean"
in his own time, but who living had more
power in Ireland than the Lord .Lieuten-
ant or the d-Lieutenant'S Lord. All
Irish men Of letterS-lO their eternal good
fame and name let it be said-have been
patriotic. In song and in story, in the
wall Of despair or in the prophetic peans
Of sunrise and Of hope, away from the
immediate presence Of Irrland's suffer
ingS. amidst the SeduclinnS Of a more for.
tunate civilization, or bearing at home
their bitter portion Of her PERJURY with
the multitude around them-pOets and
statvSmvS, SSiNI orators have never forgot.
ten the sure state Of their weeping CONN
try, the common mother Of them all. The
nature Nf Jonathan Swift was not p0eti.
cal + it is to be judged by modern sethet.
ical standards or by the clever social
verses with which he beguil4I Stte ss,li-
, tude Of ms iiie; nj no biography &SSs.S<>,
to us is such grand E'chy1ian tragedy
! as, If faithfully and artiStically written,
his would be. lie lived-and this was
one of the cruel miSfhrtuneS of his life
he lived in an age when the statesman
was shallow, the politician venal, the
church a SHOP, and the man Of letters a
Sycophant; and yet all his views Of pub
! lie duty were broad and deep all his
performance Of that duty was Inadequate
ly rewarded while all his pastoral labor
was performed with rigid fidelity. and the
best Of his works were Scornful and mer-
CHESS rebnkeS If human folly in high
PAGES. Whatever else Day. he Sajlp ~
I hiiii1 ~ NhIllOt Will u utu OC ohlu ludl lG
abased himself to c0ronetS, or while all
CSttSes-'.,ivl, SER: S,ANitrTS away their souls
around him, that he sold his country for
a biShoprick. IL the Castle was the kind
" custodian Of IIiSh rights and the nurse
Of Irish liberty, he was with the Castle ;
but rs no project Of the further enSlave.
mrnt Of the most humble peasant escaped
his attention, so no protector escaped the
poisoned thong nf his satire. In defiance
Of ministers he flung ballads in the public
streets. He b0mUarded Mr.. William
Woods brass mint with o broadSidc Oi
pamphlets, aud not an lriShman would
touch the spurious coin Of that advenIu-
rer. He loved the Church proudly If not
tcnderlv; and when by audarious lam
poems lac proved his devotion, the atiqui.
ty Of Rune and the novelty Of dissent
were involved in common ridiculr.-
When his position in Ireland became per-
manent. and that dream Of prvfrrinent,
the intirmiiv Of his noble mind, had faded
away. the cause Of lri$hmen became mis-
own, and wOeiul WAS the fate oil any man
who betrayed il, His was u patriotism,
if not of the highest, at least If most
passionate typ; aud it was the more
crelitabIe to his generosity because it was
based upon rcsOlute scll-abnrgaiinn- be-
cause Dublin was not to him q place of
residence vOlnntaiil lily chosen or personally
Observation-Disclosures lriShmen, much as he
liked them, continually vexed him, es.
pecially by their thrltleSsnes>. At last
he was lift utterly alone. The friends Of
his yuuth-Pupe, Gay, Arbuthnot, Be-.
Iingbr"ke--wrre far away the fair wo-
men who once relieved b. their smiling
elegance the rigidity Of his d,meanor,
lived only IN sad aud thick-coming mem,
nrieS-bnth had departed; terrible dis
case, capable Of nlcviatiOn had it been
recognized by his physicians, crushed his
intellect; and il not "a Sh"w, at least a
SprrchlesS "iriveler. he StaIked in voice
less agony to the place prepared for him.
Yet h. still lives in Irish hearts and upon
Irish lips, by general distinction and no,
tnriety, ms 1.-The Dean" If his life had
but small practical influence upon the
Ireland Of his day: aud little enough then
and long after could any individual mind
do for her; he is yet among her most
priceless possessions great name in
her history whenever her history shall be
complete enough to write.