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SWIFT

1856

SWINE

Swift, Jon'athan, was born at Dublin, Ireland, Nov. 30, 1667, after his father's death, and was brought up in poverty, what little support he had being furnished by relatives. He spent seven years at Trinity College, Dublin, most of the time in disgrace with the authorities. He was taken then into the family of Sir William Temple, the politician and ex-minister. Four years later his pride drove him away from his patron's house, and he became a clergyman. But he soon threw up the Irish living he had had for two years, and went back to Sir William's service, remaining there till his patron's death in 1699 and publishing an edition of Temple's woiks (1700-03). In 1704 appeared his first work, A Tale of a Tub the wildest and wittiest satire of the i8th century. This wo^k cost him a bishopric and forced him to be contented for life with the deanery of St. Patrick's. Dublin In politics he at first was a Whig,, but in 1710 he joined the Tories and became easily the most powerful pamphleteer in England, The Conduct 07 the Allies being ac English classic. The death of Queen Anne put the Tories out of power, and Swift retired to St Patrick's. His famous Drapie^s Letters, written in 1724 against the copper-money which was to be supplied to Ireland by a man who had bought the right from the English government, made him. at or»e bound the most popular and most powerful man in all Ireland A reward cf $1,500 was offered for the name of the aathor, but no one of the many in the secret thought of betraying him. At last the scheme was given up. In 1726 Swift published his most popular work, Gulliver's Travels. Almost as great a masterpiece is The Modest Proposal, in which he suggests, in seeming cold blood, that in order to relieve their poverty and distress the Irish should sell their children as food for the rich. Swift died on Oct. 19, 1745. See John Forster's Life of Jonathan Swift and Thackeray's English Humorists.

Swliu'mirig. The weight of the human body *s so little greater than that of water, that it can readily be floated, especially when as in swimming, it is forced through the water by the arms and legs. Benjamin Frank!;» suggested, as a good way to learn to swim, to wade out breast deep and, tossing ?T egg into the water in the direction of the shore, to plunge after it; it will soon be discovered that it is easier to swim than to sink. In swimming on the breast the stroke is made by vigorously kicking out the legs — previously bent up — and at the same time thrusting the arms straight ahead in the form of a wedge, then drawing up the legs for another stroke, while the arms are swept through the water in the form of a half-circle. The stroke is made most powerful by keeping the feet as widely apart as possible. Breast-swimming 4s the easiest method and is always used for

long distances. A faster way is to swim, on the side; the under arm only being thrust forward, while the other is thrust downward and backward. In over-hand swimming each arm is thrown out of the water alternately, the swimmer at the same time turning from side to side; this is the fastest method. In swimming on the back the arms are not used at all. In treading water the swimmer stands upright and treads water as if walking up a pair of stairs. In floating the swimmer lies on his back, keeping only his face out of the water. It it easier to swim in salt than in fresh water, as the former is more buoyant. The Greek story of Leander's famous swim across the Hellespont was made probable by Lord Byron performing the same feat in 1810. In 1875 Matthew Webb, an Englishman, swam 20 miles in four hours and 42 minutes, and the same year swam the English Channel from Dover to Calais, the tide carrying him on a zigzag of about 50 miles in 22 hours. Agnes Beekwith, a 14-year-old girl, swam five miles in 67 minutes.

Swinburne(m^'6wm), Algernon Charles, an English poet, was born at London, April 5, 1837, the son of Admiral Swinburne. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and spent some time in study in France. Two plays, Queen Mother and Rosamond, were his first writings, f o 1-lowed by his best-known poem, the tragedy of Atlanta in Calydon. H i s later poems are The Armada arid An Autumn Vision. Swinburne enjoys great popularity in America as well as in England, being especially remarkable for his facile metrical invention; and for a time was under consideration as successor to Tennyson in the English laureateship. His chief prose-writings include Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Victor Hugo, Wm. Blake, Essays and Studies and Prose Miscellanies. Died April 10, '09 Swine or Hogs are among the most important of food-animals. For the wild boars, from which swine are probably descended, see BOAR. The word boar is now used of the male hog; the female is termed sow; and the young are called pigs, and the flesh pork. A sow has two litters a year of eight to twelve pigs each or even more. Fresh pork is held to be unwholesome in warm countries, but salted and smoked or otherwise cured, it is a favorite and healthful food in warm climates. The fat, as lard, is largely used in cooking; the bristles are

ALGERNON C.SWINBURNE