EFFINGHAM MAYNARD & Co., PUBLISHERS, 771 BROADWAY AND 67 & 69 NINTH STREET. New Series, No. 60. July 28, 1892. Published Semi-weekly. Subscription Price $10. LOCKED STACKS て、 567591 A Complete Course in the Study of EngliSH. Spelling, Language, Grammar, Composition, Literature. REED'S WORD LESSONS-A COMPLETE SPELLER. REED'S INTRODUCTORY LANGUAGE WORK. REED & KELLOGG'S GRADED LESSONS IN ENGLISH. KELLOGG'S TEXT-BOOK ON ENGLISH LITERATURE In the preparation of this series the authors have had one object clearly in view-to so develop the study of the English language as to present a complete, progressive course, from the Spelling-Book to the study of English Literature. The troublesome contradictions which arise in using books arranged by different authors on these subjects, and which require much time for explanation in the schoolroom, will be avoided by the use of the above "Complete Course." Teachers are earnestly invited to examine these books. Effingham MAYNARD & CO., Publishers, 771 Broadway. New York. COPYRIGHT, 1886, BY CLARK & MAYNARD INTRODUCTION. JONATHAN SWIFT, one of the fiercest satirists that ever lived, was of English parentage, but was born in Dublin in the year 1667. Shortly before that event his father had died, leaving his mother in great poverty. Swift was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and later at Oxford, at the expense of his uncle. For a considerable time he acted as secretary to Sir William Temple, a relative of his own, who treated him as little better than a servant. Being of a proud and ambitious spirit, he groaned under this treatment, and could neither forgive nor forget it. He had already entered the Irish Church, and had got a poor living in his native country; but he often came over to England, where his society was much coveted by the great men of the day on account of his cleverness and wit. At first he joined the Whig party, and wrote strong papers in its defense, until finding it did not reward him sufficiently, he became a Tory, and wrote vehemently against his old friends and in favor of his new, with the hope of getting a bishopric at least; but after waiting for a while he received only the deanery of St. Patrick's, Dublin, and was therefore bitterly disappointed. On the accession of George I. the Whigs came into power again, and the Dean thought it advisable to go to Dublin and attend to his duties as a clergyman. Here he made himself popular with the Irish by writing a series of letters to the newspapers (signed M. B. Drapier) against the Whig Government for their treatment of Ireland, and more especially for allowing a certain William Wood to make bad copper money for circulation in that country. His last years were very sad. He hated mankind in general, but he seems, nevertheless, to have cherished a strange love for a lady whom he named Stella, and whom he is said to have privately married. But he never lived in the same house with her, nor would he speak to her, save when there was a third person present. Her death affected him deeply, and, having lost many other friends, he became gloomy and sad. Latterly his mind gave way, and during the last two years of his life he never spoke a word, seemingly unconscious of all that was passing about him. died in 1745. He In judging the character and conduct of this extraordinary man, we should remember his peculiar temperament and his disordered brain. A man could not have been wholly bad whom Addison spoke of "as the most agreeable companion, the truest friend, the greatest genius of his times." Swift was in person tall, strong, and well made, of a dark complexion, but with blue eyes, black and bushy eyebrows, and nose somewhat aquiline. He was never known to laugh; and, according to Sir Walter Scott, the description of Cassius, in Shakespeare's Julius Cæsar, might well be applied to him. In his personal habits he was scrupulously neat. He was master of all the rules of good breeding and politeness, yet he put on a rude bluntness of manner and strange independence of character that was not always understood or allowed. The strangeness and waywardness of his temper made him appear full of contradictions. Crabbed and ugly, yet his birthday was celebrated by bonfires by his zealous admirers. Stingy and eccentric in many of his ways of living, yet he dealt out his charities with a liberal and discerning spirit. He was as cordially hated by some as he was beloved by others. Many stories are told of his caustic wit and bitter satire. His style is remarkably strong, clear, and beautiful without affectation or ornament. His best known writings are "Gulliver's Travels,' "The Battle of the Books," and "A Tale of a Tub." The first of these was the most carefully finished of all his works, and is that on which his reputation as a writer now mainly rests. The style of this work is an admirable imitation of the plain, dry, and minute style of the old voyagers. The work consists of four voyages. The Voyage to Lilliput is for the most part a satire on the manners and usages of the Court of George I. The Voyage to Brobdingnag is a more extended satire on the politics of Europe generally. These two voyages are indisputably the most delightful parts of the book; and are read by most readers with great pleasure as mere tales, with such admirable skill is an air of truth and reality thrown over the narrative. GULLIVER'S TRAVELS. The Voyages of Captain Lemuel Gulliver is indisputably Swift's greatest work. The idea of making fictitious travels the vehicle of satire as well as of amusement is at least as old as Lucian, but has never been carried into execution with such success, spirit, and originality as in this celebrated performance. The brevity, the minuteness, the homeliness, the unbroken seriousness of the narrative, all give a character of truth and simplicity to the work, which at once palliates the extravagance of the picture, and enhances the effect of those weighty reflections and cutting severities in which it abounds. LORD JEFFREY. A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. INTRODUCTORY NOTE.-In 1726 Swift published his most perfect satire called "Gulliver's Travels." In this famous book he describes the wonderful adventures of a ship's surgeon, Lemuel Gulliver, who is shipwrecked in a strange country called Lilliput, where the inhabitants are only six inches high, and every other object in proportion. On a second voyage, he visits the country of Brobdingnag, where the smallest dwarf is thirty feet high. The object of the satire is to show how contemptible and foolish are the vices and passions of mankind, and how contemptible human nature appears to the author. "Gulliver" was popular from the first. "Perhaps no work," says Sir Walter Scott, "ever exhibited such general attractions to all classes. It offered personal and political satire to the readers in high life, low and coarse incident to the uncultivated, marvels to the romantic, wit to the young and lively, lessons of morality and policy to the grave, and maxims of deep and bitter misanthropy to neglected age and disappointed ambition." Every child is charmed with the story, and it never fails to please even those who do not see, or do not care to see, the bitter satire which runs through the whole. The first part, and perhaps the most pleasing, of Gulliver's Travels, is here adapted for use in schools. The editor has been obliged to abridge the text, but the utmost pains have been taken to keep the original wording of this great master of English, and to make a connected story. While it is not advisable to point out to young students all the historic references and the various persons that are satirized, yet a very few such points are necessary to a proper understanding of the text. All such references, however, may be easily omitted if the only object of the pupil is to read the "story." It is well to remember that as Swift uses some words in several senses, and sometimes in a sense that has gone out of use in our day, the meaning of a few such words may not be readily understood. Many of these words have been explained in the notes. CHAPTER I. THE AUTHOR GIVES SOME ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF AND FAMILY: HIS FIRST INDUCEMENTS TO TRAVEL-HE IS SHIPWRECKED. 1. My father had a small estate in Nottinghamshire; I was the third of five sons. He sent me to Emmanuel College in |