Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-26

. II
social and ecclesiastical affairs during all
that period. and always welcome as
guest at the houses of the ariStOcracy in
this ne1ghborhoOd. In the suburb of
Giasnevin was the estate called Heldeville.
belonging to a generous but pretentious
patron of the arts and sciences named
DR.. Delany, where the brilliant minds of
| that day used to gather for a good time.
Swift Is closely associated with the place
and was one of Dr. Delany's most fire.
.'Hell-Devil." and chose for it's motto
"Fastfgia Despicet Urbis," in which the
verb is used in double sense.
Many Of his most singing satires were
written there. including his ferocious
| libel on the Irish parliament A reward
was offered for the discovery of the au-
thor. and although a hundred members
OF the house of commons knew 1t was
from Swift's pen, no attempt was ever
made to punish him. and he was never
even denounced publicly. And he wasn't
above ridiculing his host. for here is an
extract from an ode addressed to DR.. De-
lany of "Hell-Devil'' when he was his
guest:
sh razSr though t to s rc I'm oath
little rlvuet seems to steal
Along thing you call vale.
IKE tears ado"n a wrinkied cheek,
And this you call your sweet meander.
sns sef ss ra as iii finder
To scoop the channel Of the rill.
nd tn all SS1 vSrssa
Walter SCOTS Visit.
| When Sir Walter Scott visited Ireland
in 1925 the first place he went to was St.
Patricks Cathedral to see the relics of
Dean Swift, an edition of whose works
he had edited. His son-in-law. Mr.. Lock-
hart. describes the visit as follows:
THE cathedral has a very old appear
ance extremely rudely worked outside,
coarse and almost shapeless; inside. how
ever. imposing and in parts grand The
choir is fitted up both as the cathedral's
church and as the chapel of the Knights
of st. Patrick. One or two old monu-
| ments of the Cork family, etc. but in
fact one can think of nothing but Swift
there. The whole cathedral is nothing
but his tomb The famous inscription is
In gilt letters on black and over it-far
bust by Roulebiac-so far as could judge
very capital bust. This was presented
by Faulkner, the printer, 1 suppose.
Swift had a prodigious double chin, ac-
cording to this, and the serenity of the
whole cOuntenance is much increased by
the absence of the wig. which in the
print conceals much of the brow and tenn
Piles. and the firm way In which the head
joins the shoulders behind. We then saw
the St. Sepulchre Library, a monastic-
er Libraries in Oxford. Here they have
the Folio Clarendon with Swift's mar
ginal remarks. etc, mostly in pencil, but
still quite legible.
Swift inhabited has been pulled DOWN
and had a most elegant and courteous re-
ception from the dean, the Honorable
Ponsonby. He gave us capital lunch
the dean over the sideboard. The print
| in the Edinburgh edition Is very good,
but the complexion is in the picture
black. robust. sanguine-a heavy-lidded.
stern blue eye. 1t was interesting to see
| how the genius loci has kept his ground.
Various little relics boarded as they
| should be. They said his memory was as
fresh as ever among the common people
about. They still sing his ballads. and
had heard with great delight that Sir
Walter had written a grand book all
about the great Dane"
Literary Men Of Dublin.
Volumes might be written concerning
| the literary "reminiscences of Dublin.
Goldsmith was a fellow student with
Swift at the University of Dublin, but
| never distinguished himself Addison was
| private secretary to the notorious Viceroy
Wharton and the traditions indicate that
| his behavior was not so blameless as the
| readers of Macaulay's sketch of his life
| would infer. His official correspondence
| shows that he was not exempt from the
usual weaknesses Of humanity and not
above making an honest penny out Of his
office. He seemed to be avaricious and.
| although holding a position of the closest
| confidence to the lord lieutenant. took an
| interest in several commercial ventures
| that were not entirely beyond criticism.
| Samuel Lover and Charles Lever, those
two greatest of all delineators of Irish
character. were both born and educated in
| Dublin and did most of their work here.
| Their graphic sketches of Irish life may
have been accurate in their day. and now
| and then, l am told. appears one of the
| rollicking types of the Irishman they de-
| scribe, but, while the character of the
race may not be changed, its habits and
| customs are quite different from those
| of the period they describe.
! Only block distant from the Shell
| bourne Hotel where We are stopping. is
a grammar school. at which Tom Moore
| and Richard Brinsley Sheridan both re-
| ceived their education. Sheridan was
| born on the same block. and the house is
| marked by a tablet. Another tablet near
| the entrance of a house only few steps
| distant shows where Sir William Hafnil-
| ton. the great Irish mathematician. lived
| Mrs. Hemans, that gentle hymn writer
| whose lines were much more familiar &c
the reading public half Gentry ago than
they are today, lived and died In the
same neighborhood and was buried In ST
Anne's Church near by. Her epitaph
\
poems, reads:
| Calm the bosom Of thy God,
Fair spirit. rest thee now.
| Even while with us thy footsteps trod
His seal was on thy brow.
Nearby the home of Mrs Hemans is
the Royal Irish Academy. occupying a
fine old mansion, once the residence Of
Lord Northland. 1t is the oldest anG
most influential of the learned societies
of Ireland and possesses a large number
Of ancient manuscripts in the Gaelic
tongue most of them. despite their grea,
age. beautifully clear and legible. The
academy. according to us charter. was
founded for the encouragement of sci
ence. polite literature and antiquities
There is good deal of science and many
interesting antiquities in Ireland, but to-
day the bitter craftsmanship of polite:
renders polite literature quite useless.
WILL MEET IN PARIS