Sucks books

The writer of English history consults these as he does the
penny ballads, lampoons, and caricatures of the day,--to discern the
_animus_ of parties and the methods of hostile factions.
But it is in his inimitable prose writings that Swift is of most value to
the historical student. Against all comers he stood the Goliath of
pamphleteers in the reign of Queen Anne, and there arose no David who
could slay him.

THE TALE OF A TUB.--While an unappreciated student at the university, he
had sketched a satirical piece, which he finished and published in 1704,
under the title of _The Tale of a Tub_. As a tub is thrown overboard at
sea to divert a whale, so this is supposed to be a sop cast out to the
_Leviathan_ of Hobbes, to prevent it from injuring the vessel of state.
The story is a satire aimed against the Roman Catholics on the one hand,
and the Presbyterians on the other, in order that he may exalt the Church
of England as, in his judgment, free from the errors of both, and a just
and happy medium between the two extremes.


Pages:
421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445