Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1852-07-28
STAUNTON, VA. WEDNESDAY, JULY %, 1852. sas

WIotC LiIC iiPIOiiuS 'aHSssd W llllH yo'
will not be made uneasy by me long. Il
is impossible to describe what | have suf.
fered since | saw you last. | could have
borne the rack better than those killing, kill
ing words of yours. Sometimes have re-
solved to die without seeing you more, but
the resolves to your misfortune, did no;
last long. l must beg you to see me, and
speak kindly to me, for am sure you
would not condemn any one to suffer what
l have done could you but know it. When
| complain, then you are angry; and there
is something awfulin yodr looks that strikes
me dumb. OH that you may have SC
much regard left that this complaint may
touch your soul with pity. Did you but
know what | thought, ! am sure it would
move you to forgive me, and believe l can
not help telling you this, and live.
Was ever despairing love more eloquent!
What heart would not have been melted
by this agonizing appeal' But Dean Swifts
was not. He went ON buoying the woman
up with false sympathy, and would not say
the word that would have set her free. He
was in labyrinth, and went on temporiz-
ing with both women, harsh, cruel, and by
turns repulsive to both; often he repulsed
Vanessa with extreme coarseness. This
could not last long.
Stella was racked with agony, and lay
on her sick bed; she was reduced to a
wreck, and was brought to the verge ofthe
grave. Swift, alarmed at her state, brought
his intimate friend and old tutor, the Bish-
op of Clogher, 10 visit her, and inquire from
Stella what would restore her peace ofmind?
The answer brought back was this THAT
for many years she had patiently borne the
tongue Of slander, but that hitherto she had
been cheered by the hope of one day be-
coming his wife; that Of such an event she
now saw no probability and that consequent
ly her memory would be transmitted to pos
terity branded with the most unmerted
obloquy." She also communicated to the
bishop, that for Swift she had refused OF
her eligible offers, influenced by his advice
and conduct.
The dean could no longer hesitate to take:
a decided step; he was united privately to
Stella, in the deanery, by the Bishop of
Cloghel but on conditions that their uni
on should remain a secret to all the world,
and that they should continue TO live scpa-
rate as heretofore. And Swift never ac-
knowledged Stella as his wife.
What is most lamentabe to add is, tha!
Swift concealed his marriage from Vanessa,
and continued to visit and correspond with
her, keeping up even a more familiar inter-
course than before; ofths Stella was aware,
| hut CHI ~ 4. ha
now her husband. This went on for years.
Vanessa became absorbed by the unhappy
passion that consumed her life. Writing
to him from her home at Cellbridge, in IT.
20, four years after the deans unhappy mar
rage, she sad-"For Gods sake, write to
me soon, and kindly, for in your Absence
your letters are all the Joy have oil earth,
and sure you are too good-natured to grudge
one hour in week to make any human
creature happy.-Cad Cher familiar name
for him), think ofme and pity me"
AT length the secret came out Irritat-
ed by the deans neglect, and occasional
coldness and rudeness, she discovered the
retreat of Stella, and wrote directly to her,
asking the nature Of the relation that sub
sisted between her and Swift. Stella re-
piled chat they were married! Stella did
more; she sent Fanessa's letter tothe dean,
who, filled with sudden rage, mounted his
horse and rode to Marley Abby, where Va
nessa was staying, burst rudcly into the
room where she was, ard, with look of
fury, throwing her own letter on the table,
rushed from the room in the same paroxysm
of rage, remounted his horse and rode off.
The blow killed her; in three weeks poor
Vancssa died Of broken heart
No wonder Swift was 'the most miser-
able man in Ireland" Vanessa, like Stel-
la, loved "not wisely, but too we'll" What
a miserable recompense was theirs, for SO
many years of waiting and wearying for
the bright day that never came! Even af-
ter Vanessa's death, Swift would not rec
ognize Stella as his wife. She died in IT,
81, after protracted suffering, Of whlchher
mental agony was not the least. Swift re-
mained prey to poignant regrets, and
with Stella's life all domestic happiness de-
departed from his home. He died in 1745.
What tragedy is contained IN this brief
history!