The Journal to Stella | Page 8

each day,
which now form the Journal to Stella. "I will write something every day
to MD," he says, "and make it a sort of journal; and when it is full I will
send it, whether MD writes or no; and so that will be pretty; and I shall
always be in conversation with MD, and MD with Presto." It is
interesting to note that by way of caution these letters were usually
addressed to Mrs. Dingley, and not to Stella.
The story of Swift's growing intimacy with the Tory leaders, of the
success of his mission, of the increasing coolness towards older
acquaintances, and of his services to the Government, can best be read
in the Journal itself. In the meantime the intimacy with the
Vanhomrighs grew rapidly. They were near neighbours of Swift's, and
in a few weeks after his arrival in town we find frequent allusions to the
dinners at their house (where he kept his best gown and periwig),
sometimes with the explanation that he went there "out of mere
listlessness," or because it was wet, or because another engagement had
broken down. Only thrice does he mention the "eldest daughter": once
on her birthday; once on the occasion of a trick played him, when he
received a message that she was suddenly very ill ("I rattled off the
daughter"); and once to state that she was come of age, and was going
to Ireland to look after her fortune. There is evidence that "Miss Essy,"
or Vanessa, to give her the name by which she will always be known,
was in correspondence with Swift in July 1710--while he was still in
Ireland--and in the spring of 1711;[5] and early in 1711 Stella seems to
have expressed surprise at Swift's intimacy with the family, for in
February he replied, "You say they are of no consequence; why, they

keep as good female company as I do male; I see all the drabs of
quality at this end of the town with them." In the autumn Swift seems
to have thought that Vanessa was keeping company with a certain
Hatton, but Mrs. Long- -possibly meaning to give him a warning
hint--remarked that if this were so "she is not the girl I took her for; but
to me she seems melancholy."
In 1712 occasional letters took the place of the daily journal to "MD,"
but there is no change in the affectionate style in which Swift wrote. In
the spring he had a long illness, which affected him, indeed, throughout
the year. Other reasons which he gives for the falling off in his
correspondence are his numerous business engagements, and the hope
of being able to send some good news of an appointment for himself.
There is only one letter to Stella between July 19 and September 15,
and Dr. Birkbeck Hill argues that the poem "Cadenus and Vanessa"
was composed at that time.[6] If this be so, it must have been altered
next year, because it was not until 1713 that Swift was made a Dean.
Writing on April 19, 1726, Swift said that the poem "was written at
Windsor near fourteen years ago, and dated: it was a task performed on
a frolic among some ladies, and she it was addressed to died some time
ago in Dublin, and on her death the copy shewn by her executor."
Several copies were in circulation, and he was indifferent what was
done with it; it was "only a cavalier business," and if those who would
not give allowances were malicious, it was only what he had long
expected.
From this letter it would appear that this remarkable poem was written
in the summer of 1712; whereas the title-page of the pamphlet says it
was "written at Windsor, 1713." Swift visited Windsor in both years,
but he had more leisure in 1712, and we know that Vanessa was also at
Windsor in that year. In that year, too, he was forty-four, the age
mentioned in the poem. Neither Swift nor Vanessa forgot this
intercourse: years afterwards Swift wrote to her, "Go over the scenes of
Windsor. . . . Cad thinks often of these"; and again, "Remember the
indisposition at Windsor." We know that this poem was revised in 1719,
when in all probability Swift added the lines to which most exception
can be taken. Cadenus was to be Vanessa's instructor:--
"His conduct might have made him styled A father, and the nymph his
child."

He had "grown old in politics and wit," and "in every scene had kept
his heart," so that he now "understood not what was love." But he had
written much, and Vanessa admired his wit. Cadenus found that her
thoughts wandered--
"Though she seemed to listen more To all he spoke than e'er before."
When