The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-06-05

long wears after he had written 1t Swift
INDUCED In this outburst of vanity: Good
God, what genius l had when l wrote
it."
He was correct in this impulsive utter
ance. He was a genius. He was a men
tai giant and easily the greatest intellect
of his age. Macaulay said of Swift as he
appeared in his younger years: Under
his plain garb and ungainly department
were concealed some of the choiceGt gifts
that have ever been bestowed on any of
the children of men" Referring to Swift
in his decadence. Thackeray said: IAN
immense genius, an awful downfall and
ruin. So great a man he seems to me-
that thinking of him is like thinking of
an empire falling" Said Paine in sum-
marking Swifts life: These were his
miseries and his strength; we quit such
a spectacle with a sad heart. but full of
admiration, and we say that a palace is
beautiful even when it is on fire. Artists
will add: especially when it is on fire."
Yes, he was a genius. genius in the
use of invective in the selection of words
that tear and crush and itrample to the
ground; in logical ,merciiessness and in
heartless hatred that has laughing devil
in its sneer of triumph. No one doubts
Swift's genius; no one questions his
greatness in intellectual power; no one
denies that he was often right in assail-
ing the. fnllies and faults of the times
few will assert that heswaS not the reign
ing intellect of his age; but, for brutality,
vulgarity, indecency and haughty@arro-
gance he was supreme.ssHe delighted to
snub men and women of exalted social
station and he would remind them at
|tinits the he must be treated with a con-
LsidarationA not accorded to others. The
reader may recall the instances of hiy .
arrogance connected with Lord Harley
and the honorable secretary of the state,
st. John.
In the same unmannerly mood he adj
dressed letter to the Duchess of Queens
berry thus: Il am glad youknow your duty,
for 1t has been known and established
rule above 20 years in England that the
first advances have been constantly made
to me by all ladies who aspired to my
acquaintance, and the greater their quail
ity the greater their advances" On one
occasion Swift was visiting the homo of
the Earl of Burlington. Lady Burling-
ton," said Swift brusquely, II hear you
can sing; sing me a. song" The lady
being thus commanded refused. Swift in
a rage said: Madam. sing what I bid
YOU" She retired from the room. Swift
was great man, but he was fool.
Swifts literary style has been COM
mended. But to me it seems the high
praise usually accorded him for this pc
culiar excellence should be much modified.
DR.. c. D. Cleveland, in his Compendium
of English Literature" says: las a
writer, the prose works of Swift are
among the best specimens we possess of
a thorough English style" One wonders
If the author of the Compendium had ever
read 1.-THE Vicar of Wakefield the prose
of Addison, or that of Steele, to say moth
ing of others who succeeded them. What
of the great prose writers of the early
years Of the VICTORIAN period?
DR.. Blair said "Swift, beyond almost
any man, knew the purity, the extent,
the precision of the English language;
and. therefore, to such as wish to attain
a pure and correct style, he is one of the
most useful models" But the conscen-
tious critic cast a dead fly into the ONT
ment for, Immediately following this
commendation we read: But we must
not look for much ornamentation and
grace in his language. His naughty and
morose genius made him despise any en-
bellishment of this kind. He delivers his
sentences in a plain, downright, positive
manner, like one who is sure he is right.
and is Indifferent whether you are pleased
or not His sentences are commonly neg
ligently arranged; distinctly enough as to
sense, but without any regard to smooth
ness of sound often without much re-
gard to compactness or elegance"
Now If the canons of style are not
blasted into fragments by the above de-
tailed defects, then pray, what is style?
In our rhetorics we are taught that in
vention is the art of finding something to
say. This quality of rhetoric Swift most
positively possessed. But style is the
manner in which that which has been
invented Is said, and the rules of style do
not admit of "negligently" arranging
ones sentences and writing without
compactness or elegance
l deny, therefore, that Swift Is . model
stylist. II he IL looking out for bitter