Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 19.djvu/237

Rh never to marry. But it may possibly strike the reader as somewhat singular, that the dean could entertain serious thoughts (as from his letter to Varina, inserted in this collection, it is evident he did) of forming a permanent connexion with a woman, who, by his own account, was no desirable object; and yet, immediately afterward, when he became sensible of Stella's worth, who was in every respect superiour to his former mistress, he should immediately determine to spend the remainder of his days in a state of celibacy; especially as, at that time, there is little reason to think he could flatter himself with the idea, that the gentle Stella would consent to share his fortunes before they were properly hers; and, relying on his honour and his love, follow his footsteps through distant realms.

Besides, as Swift informed the bishop of Clogher what rules he had laid down with respect to marrying, it is pretty certain he had never made any resolution against matrimony, as no one but a lunatick would resolve on a particular line of conduct, to be observed in a predicament in which he was determined never to place himself, and in which no one, without his own consent, could place him. After what has been said, I presume the assertion I am now combating needs no other confutation.

Swift's motive for putting a period to his connexion with Varina, seems to have been the vexation he daily experienced from that caprice, which a weak woman never fails to exercise as a proof of the despotick sway, with which her own charms or her lover's infatuation have invested her; and he who withdraws himself from a government thus tyrannical, cannot with justice be considered as deserving of. XIX.