Page:Biographia Hibernica volume 2.djvu/593

SYNG E. 580 that he should fall into the melancholy condition we have described. “Walking,” says Dr. Young, “with him and others, about a mile from Dublin, he suddenly stopped short; we passed on; but perceiving that he did not fol low us, I went back and found him fixed as a statue, and earnestly gazing towards a noble elm, which in i t s upper most branches was much decayed and withered. Point ing a t i t , h e said, ‘ I shall b e like that tree; I shall die a t top.’” I t was probably also under the influence o f this feeling, that h e bequeathed the whole o f his property, with the exception o f a few trifling legacies, for the purpose o f building a n hospital for lunatics and idiots i n Dublin; the regulations for which, a s directed i n his will, are pecu liarly correct and appropriate. Even i n s o serious a com position h e indulged himself occasionally i n a n ironical solemnity, carrying with i t marks o f his peculiar humour. Among others we find the following “Item; I bequeath t o Mr. Robert Grattan, prebendary o f St. Audeon's, my strong box, o n condition o f his giving the sole use o f the said box t o his brother, Dr. James Grattan, during the life o f the said doctor, who has more occasion for it.” To attempt a delineation o f the character o f Swift, i s needless. I t would b e superfluous t o apply the epithet o f wit t o the author o f “Gulliver's Travels,” and the “Tale o f a Tub;” o r t o distinguish a s a patriot the writer o f the “Drapier's Letters.” His political works, though referring t o s o distant a period, are still occasionally quoted with respect; and few humorous tales are more frequently repeated than those o f “Dean Swift.” EDWARD SYNGE. This pious and exemplary prelate o f the established chuch, was born o n April 6th, 1659, a t Innishowane, o f which place his father, who was afterwards promoted t o the see o f Cork, was then vicar. He received the first rudiments o f h i s education a t the grammar-school i n Cork,