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should begin his career as a "Whig. It was almost equally certain that a High Church clergyman would ultimately gravi- tate to the Tories. Swift, though he dis- liked William, never appears to have questioned the necessity of the Revolution, and in this respect he continued a Whig. Nor was he ever implicated, like his Tory friends, in negotiations with the Pre- tender. . . No doubt his junction "With the Tories in 17 lo was eminently to his advantage, but it should not be forgotten that in his later years he de- fended tests and disqualifications quite as jealously in Ireland, at the very time ■when he was endeavouring to unite aU Irishmen in their national cause. Such a bigotry is far from admirable, but it may at least claim the merit of sincerity." Swift's immediate business in London, to secure for the Irish clergy a remission of the rights of the Crown to the first fruits and twentieth parts, was accomplished in less than a year ; but he was detained from month to month by the Ministry, who found his services invaluable as a writer for the press and otherwise. " The nation, dazzled by the genius of Marlborough, and fired by the enthusiasm of a pro- tracted war, was fiercely opposed to a party whose policy was peace ; but Swift's Examiners gradually modified this oppo- sition, and his Conduct of the Allies for a time completely quelled it. The success of this pamphlet has scarcely a parallel in history. It seems to have for a time almost reversed the current of public opinion, and to have enabled the Ministers to conclude the Peace of Utrecht." " But, while his influence was gi'eat, and he was successful in procuring preferment for others, it was denied to himself ; and all that his friends could prevail upon the Queen to grant him was the deanery of St. P' '.rick's. The patent was signed, 23rd February 1712-'! 3, and he returned to Ireland in June. His friends Oxford and Boliugbroke fell from power on the death of Queen Anne a year later ; and the rest of his life may be said to have been passed in and for Ireland. At the period of his final settlement in this country he was forty-six years of age. His per- sonal appearance was still attractive ; his features were regular and striking : he had a high forehead and broad massive temples ; heavy-lidded blue eyes, to which his dark complexion and bushy black eyebrows gave unusual capacity for stern- ness, as weU as brilliance and kindliness ; a slightly aquiline nose ; a resolute mouth ; a handsome, dimpled double chin, and over all the pride of a confident, calm superi- 508
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ority. During his sojourn in London, Swift formed a friendship with Hester Vauhom- righ (better known by his pet name for her, " Vanessa"), daughter of a deceased Dutch merchant, Bartholomew Vanhom- righ, who had profited to the extent of some ^16,000 by dealings connected with the forfeitures in Ireland. The family lived within a few doors of his lodgings ; and there are constant references to them in his letters to Esther Johnson. Hester Yauhomrigh was born about 1692, and was consequently twenty years old ; not re- markable for personal beauty ; but of cap- tivating manners, and endowed with bril- liant talents and a greater inclination for reading and mental cultivation than was then usually combined with a gay temper. The Queen of Learning sowed —
" Within her tender mind Seeds long unknown to womankind, For manly bosoms chiefly fit, The seeds of knowledge, judgment, wit. Her soul was suddenly endued With justice, truth, and fortitude ; With honour which no breath can stain. Which malice must attack in vain ; With open heart and bounteous hand."
Swift thus writes in his poem of Cadenus and Vanessa, considered by Goldsmith to be one of the best of his pieces. It was penned at Windsor in 171 3, and gives an account of the progi-ess of a friendship which resulted in her open declaration of love for him. After his return to Dublin, Hester Vanhomrigh removed thither, and passed the remainder of her life there and at Marlay Abbey, Celbridge. She died ten years afterwards, in May 1723, aged 36. There seems to be small ground for the web of mystery that has been thrown around her intimacy with Swift. Scott says : " Enough of blame will remain with Swift, if we allow that he cherished, with indecisive yet flattering hope, a passion which, in justice to himself and Vanessa, he ought, at whatever risk to her feelings and his own, to have repressed as soon as she had declared it." Through their correspondence there is nothing to lead us to suppose that Swift ever addressed her as a lover. She reproaches him with coldness and unkindness, but not with in- constancy. His letters indicate the ut- most perplexity — he remonstrates, reasons, and scolds ; he soothes and flatters. He adopted every device that ingenuity can suggest to bring her to reason. He seconded the addresses of two unexceptionable suitors for her hand. The stories about Hester Vanhomrigh's letter to Esther Johnson ; Miss Johnson's transmission of it to Swift, and Miss Vanhomrigh's re- tirement to Celbridge ; Swift's angry visit to her there ; her consequent death ; and
