nus by transposition
of the letters, took pleasure in directing and instructing: till, from
being proud of his praise, she grew fond of his person. Swift was then
about forty-seven, at an age when vanity is strongly excited by the
amorous attention of a young woman. If it be said that Swift should have
checked a passion which he never meant to gratify, recourse must be
had to that extenuation which he so much despised, "men are but men;"
perhaps, however, he did not at first know his own mind, and, as
he represents himself, was undetermined. For his admission of her
courtship, and his indulgence of her hopes after his marriage to Stella,
no other honest plea can be found than that he delayed a disagreeable
discovery from time to time, dreading the immediate bursts of distress,
and watching for a favourable moment. She thought herself neglected,
and died of disappointment, having ordered, by her will, the poem to be
published, in which Cadenus had proclaimed her excellence and confessed
his love. The effect of the publication upon the Dean and Stella is thus
related by Delany:--

"I have good reason to believe that they both were greatly shocked and
distressed (though it may be differently) upon this occasion. The Dean
made a tour to the south of Ireland for about two months at this time,
to dissipate his thoughts and give place to obloquy. And Stella retired
(upon the earnest invitation of the owner) to the house of a cheerful,
generous, good-natured friend of the Dean's, whom she always much loved
and honoured. There my informer often saw her, and, I have reason to
believe, used his utmost endeavours to relieve, support, and amuse
her, in this sad situation. One little incident he told me of on that
occasion I think I shall never forget. As his friend was an hospitable,
open-hearted man, well beloved and largely acquainted, it happened one
day that some gentlemen dropped in to dinner, who were strangers to
Stella's situation; and as the poem of 'Cadenus and Vanessa' was then
the general topic of conversation, one of them said, 'Surely that
Vanessa must be an extraordinary woman that could inspire the Dean to
write so finely upon her.' Mrs. Johnson smiled, and answered, 'that she
thought that point not quite so clear; for it was well known that the
Dean could write finely upon a broomstick.'"

The great acquisition of esteem and influence was made by the "Drapier's
Letters," in 1724. One Wood, of Wolverhampton, in Staf