together as long as God should
please; the knot is broken, and the remaining person you know has ill
answered the end; and the other, who is now to be lost, is all that was
valuable." To Worrall he again wrote (in Latin) that Stella ought not
to be lodged at the Deanery; he had enemies who would place a bad
interpretation upon it if she died there.

Swift left London for Dublin in September; he was detained some days at
Holyhead by stress of weather, and in the private journal which he kept
during that time he speaks of the suspense he was in about his "dearest
friend."(11) In December Stella made a will--signed "Esther Johnson,
spinster"--disposing of her property in the manner Swift had suggested.
Her allusions to Swift are incompatible with any such feeling of
resentment as is suggested by Sheridan. She died on January 28, 1728.
Swift could not bear to be present, but on the night of her death he
began to write his very interesting Character of Mrs. Johnson, from
which passages have already been quoted. He there calls her "the truest,
most virtuous and valuable friend that I, or perhaps any other person,
was ever blessed with." Combined with excellent gifts of the mind, "she
had a gracefulness, somewhat more than human, in every motion, word, and
action. Never was so happy a conjunction of civility, freedom, easiness,
and sincerity." Everyone treated her with marked respect, yet everyone
was at ease in her society. She preserved her wit, judgment, and
vivacity to the last, but often complained of her memory. She chose
men rather than women for her companions, "the usual topic of ladies'
discourse being such as she had little knowledge of and less relish."
"Honour, truth, liberality, good nature, and modesty were the virtues
she chiefly possessed, and most valued in her acquaintance." In some
Prayers used by Swift during her last sickness, he begged for pity for
"the mournful friends of Thy distressed servant, who sink under the
weight of her present condition, and the fear of losing the most
valuable of our friends." He was too ill to be present at the funeral at
St. Patrick's. Afterwards, we are told, a lock of her hair was found in
his desk, wrapped in a paper bearing the words, "Only a woman's hair."

Swift continued to produce pamphlets manifesting growing misanthropy,
though he showed many kindnesses to people who stood in need of help. He
seems to have given Mrs. Dingley fifty guineas a year, pretending that
i