The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-06-05

poured into his ears the story of her
great love; he encouraged her and by
many tokens assured her that he loved
her. His pet name for her was Vanessa
which he used when, like Dickens one
| legged humbug, Mr.. Silas Weggs, "he
dropped into poetry and wrote her love
verses He sent her tender letters, and to
sit by her side and instruct her In alb
struse learning was like quafflng wine
| from goblet of the gods. She had every
reason to believe that he would marry
her, and was fiattered by the love of the
great man. From London she followed
him to Dublin, where she dwelt near the
deanery A bereavement In her family
drove her more closely to her lover, for
such she thought he was. But Swift's
love, if his ephemeral attachment might
be called by so holy name, soon abated.
His notes became fewer and farther apart
She knew that she was losing him. He
wrote her CURLY. She appealed to him In
these sad words, which ought to have
broken his heart, if he had one: IF you
continue to treat me as you do, you will
not be made uneasy by me very long.
am sure that could have borne the rack
much better than those killing, killing
words of yours. o, that you might have
but so much regard for me left that this
complaint may touch your soul with pity
But Swift was unmoved Vanessa pined,
and died of broken heart.
Stella, the other of the two women,
was longer in coming to the same sad
end, but she finally reached it, and with
broken heart passed out into eternity,
saying to Swift as she did so, ut is too
late now"
This young woman had loved and rev.
erenced Swift from her childhood, which
was spent at Moor Park, the seat of Sir
William Temple, where Swift had served
as secretary. She grew up to young
womanhood with many graces of person,
with much sparkling wit and with I'M
common culture. She loved Swift with a
pure love- and he loved her in return, in
his way. He wrote poetry and dedicated
1t to her. When absent from her he
wrote to her, sometimes twice a day. He
told her all the little nothngs that oc-
CURED In the great world of London. and
confded to her many things that he
withheld from others. She lived near
him in Dublin, and in a strictly proper
manner, with Mrs. Dingley, she became
practically a member of his household.
The sacredness of her love- its constancy
and purity often suffered the whims, the
caprices. the brutality and the indiffer-
ence of Swift Her life was a long sac
rifice. She was unhappy because of the
deans ill-usage, his unwillingness to ac-
she should occupy, his mysterious abb
sences his epistolRry hints of his visits
to the Vanhomrigh home. his artificial in
difference when he named Miss Vanhom-
RICH Through which the penetrating eye
of Stella clearly saw, the tragical ter
mnatlon of the relationship between the
dean and Miss Vanhomrigh, his evasions
and unsatisfactory explanations, all
served only to crush the heart of the true
QUi
frank with his friends in general. which
was bad enough, but he had been so base
as to withhold frankness and candor from
the one friend who, above all others, had
right to know everything.
Vanesga wrote a letter to Stella in
which she disclosed the deans double
dealing The wounded woman showed
the letter to Swift. A cyclonic demon
was aroused within him. In whirlwind
OF passion he rode out to vanessa's
home, taking the letter with him. He
burst into her apartment. threw the let
ter on table before her and, gnashing
with madness, rushed from her presence
without speaking a word. He had been
caught. There was no need of speech.
Did Vanessa write with the hope that
she might break Off the attachment be-
tween tho dean and Stella with results
that would favor herself? No one can
say 1t might have been so, for the let
ter was written a long time before Van
essa fell into decline. Or, knowing that
she had lost her hold upon the dean, had
she determined that Stella should be
driven to set the receiver adrft. and
thus have her revenge? The world does
not know; but this fact the incident IL
Illustrates, that he who tries to play fast
and loose with two clever women at the
same time IL apt to come to grief and
suffer the modification of exposure.
There must have been a certain salts
faction to the mind of Stella when the
crucial test lay before the dean. that he
chose her instead Of Yanessa- fancy