MRS. HUGH BELL'S PLAY.*
IT was only the other day that Mrs. Hugh Bell challenged • attention by a volume of essays. Another phase of her versatile talent is revealed to us in the volume before us, in which she undertakes no less ambitious a task than the dramatisa- tion of the Stella.-Vanessa episode of Swift's life,—an episode, by the way, which has exerted a peculiar attraction on women writers. That this attraction should exist is natural enough. Romance reinforced with mystery and culminating in tragedy is a powerful magnet, to say nothing of the singular contrasts and large ironies presented by the fortunes and character of Swift ; tormented by the lifelong consciousness of the dis- parity between his deserts and their recognition ; wielding an influence that seldom failed save in the furtherance of his own interests ; exiled from the society of his intellectual peers ; a ferocious misanthropist, yet inspiring the most self-sacrificing -devotion ; deeply in need of the solace of domesticity, yet afraid, unwilling, or unable to undertake its burdens and responsibilities. It is easy enough to understand why Swift never even contemplated marrying Esther Vanhomrigh : that was not a case where— "Hearts in equal love combined Kindle never dying fires."
Her passion for him was unrequited. Whatever of love be had to give was given elsewhere. The questions that have in- flamed the curiosity of five generations are,—Did Swift ever marry Stella? and if not, why not P The real answers, if they ever could be known, would probably not lend themselves to the purposes of fiction. It is hardly necessary to resort to such amazing conjectures as that seriously put forward not so many years ago to the effect that Swift and Hester Johnson were both the natural children of Sir William Temple. A -clue may be found in his strange correspondence with Miss Waring; while a working theory which satisfies almost all the
• requirements of the case, and harmonises with the nobler traits • of his character, is that Swift was all along conscious of his impending insanity, and felt that he had no right to ask any
•• The Dean of St. Patrick', : a Play in Four Acts. By Mrs. Hugh Bell. Ltnkdon: Edward Arnold. woman to share the burden. He may have made this plain to Stella, or he may not; and she may have acquiesced in his decision, or rebelled against it, and carried her point to the extent of inducing him to go through the form of marriage with her. That Mrs. Hugh Bell should have worked out the dinonement of her play on the lines of the latter alternative is not to be wondered at. The secret marriage had at least an adequate motive in Stella's desire to regularise her claim to Swift's undivided affection, a claim whioh had been challenged by her rival. It was certainly suspected by Vanessa, and her suspicion prompted the fatal letter which brought Swift post- haste on the fatal ride to Celbridge.
Coming to the structure of the play itself, we may note that Mrs. Hugh Bell frankly abandons any attempt to preserve the unities of time or place. Fourteen years elapse between the first act, the scene of which is laid in Moor Park in the early days of Swift's association with Sir William Temple, and the second, which reveals him at the height of his political influ- ence in St. James's. Such an interval must always impair the effect of a stage play, but from the point of view of the reader, we have not found the transition disconcerting. The opening scenes follow the authentic version closely enough. They show Swift ill content with the semi-menial position he occupies in the house of his patron, fully alive to his oppor- tunities, yet galled by the yoke of social subordination, and drawn by the similarity of their position towards Hester Johnson. The portraits of Lady Temple, kindly and gracious, yet without a thought of questioning the justice of her husband's treatment of his secretary, and of the frankly snobbish Lady Giffard are excellently done, and there is a happily conceived scene in which, during a surprise visit from the King when Temple is laid up with the gout, Swift not only assists his master to entertain his Sovereign, but acts as his spokesman and interpreter. In the second act we find Swift largely indemnified for his early humiliation by the position of political influence to which he has attained. He is holding a sort of Court, and by a stroke of poetic justice he is enabled to turn the tables on his old enemy, Lady Giffard. A glimpse of the social side of his new life is shown in his relations with Mrs. Vanhomrigh and her daughter, the intentions of the latter being unmistakably revealed in a scene which precedes the announcement of the official recog- nition of Swift's services by his appointment to the Deanery of St. Patrick's, which be regards as a sentence of ' exile. In the third act we cross the St. George's Channel. The time is two years later; Esther Vanhomrigh is at Celbridge, and a despairing letter from her to Swift falling into Stella's hands reveals the whereabouts and the misery of the other woman. Of jealousy, however, there is no trace on Stella's side. She is at least certain of Swift's preference, and on those terms would not barter her own unhappiness for the domestic joys of any other woman. Yet Swift has at last realised that he has imposed a greater burden on her patience than can be rightly borne, and comes to offer her marrage on condition that the secret is not to be made public. In the next scene, the marriage having just taken place, Vanessa arrives in Dublin determined to learn the truth from the mouth of her rival; but Stella firmly refuses to answer. The last act shows Vanessa at Celbridge dying, yet resolved at all hazards to appease her curiosity. She has written a last letter to Swift imploring him to see her and reveal the secret of his relations with Stella. He comes, indignant at her importunity, yet at the last tells her the truth, and leaves her to die, unable to survive the shock of the certainty,—" it kills me to know it . . . . . but I am glad it kills me." It will be noted that here Mrs. Bell has made one of the most striking deviations from the accepted and accredited version of this episode, which states that when Swift rode out to see Vanessa for the last time, he simply flung down her letter without speaking, and strode out. But such a cknonement would have been impracticable either for a literary drama or a stage play. For the rest, one cannot but admire the conscientiousness and ingenuity with which Mrs. Hugh Bell has made use, whenever possible, of the recorded sayings of her dramatis personae, and the skill she has shown in ini2arting to the dialogue the turn of phrase demanded by the period. To say that her play is readable is to underestimate the naturalness and charm of many of the lighter scenes; to say that she has risen to the full height of her arduous and exacting argument would be to abandon criticism
for flattery. To invent dialogue fit to stand the test of comparison with the written words of a great author is a formidable undertaking. But at least Mrs. Hugh Bell has accomplished her task with discretion and a. happy avoidance of rodomontade. Of Swift's mordant humour, of his bitter- ness and petulance and freakishness, she has given a very clever sketch, and if the sentimental passages assigned to him sound somewhat unconvincing to 'the reader, it may well be that on the lips of a good actor theY will justify their choice.
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