Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 19.djvu/236

224 her not only the esteem but the warm friendship of that excellent lady; a friendship which lasted till death. As they seldom were apart, and lady Gifford lived much with her brother sir William, it was through her that Mrs. Johnson and her two daughters (her son dying young) were brought to the knowledge and friendship of sir William Temple and his lady; who discovering so many excellencies, and such fine parts, in the little Hetty, as she was always called in the Temple family, so far took upon themselves the care of her education as to bring her up with their own niece the late Mrs. Temple of Moor Park, by Farnham; a most acceptable piece of kindness and friendship this to the mother, whose little fortune had been greatly injured by the South Sea bubbles. And here it was that Dr. Swift first became acquainted with Stella, and commenced that attachment which terminated in their marriage. The cause why that marriage was not owned to the world has never been thoroughly explained. It is the opinion, however, of her own family, that their finances not being equal to the style in which the dean wished to move as a married man, could be the only one; Stella's own fortune being only 15001., one thousand of which, as a farther mark of friendship, was left her by sir William Temple himself. It was Dr. Swift's wish at last to have owned his marriage; but finding herself declining very fast, Stella did not choose to alter her mode of life, and besides fully intended coming over to England to her mother."

It has been asserted that Swift, from the first moment of his acquaintance with Stella, had resolved never