tiful machinery of the Sylphs, a set of invisible beings whom he accidentally saw mentioned, as constant attendants, and as interested agents, in the affairs of the Ladies, not only in the Comte de Gabalis, but also in some of Madame de Sevigné's Letters. Into what a mass of exquisite poetry has he raised and expanded so slight a hint! and placed the Rape of the Lock, by this happy insertion and addition, above all other Mock Heroic Poems whatever! Addison, to whom he communicated his intention of introducing this new species of machinery, did not certainly conceive the felicity and the propriety with which it would be executed; and for that reason, and not from envy and jealousy, may be candidly supposed to have dissuaded him from the attempt. It would have been as unfortunate for him to have followed the advice of Addison on this occasion, as it would have been for La Fontaine and Boileau to have listened to Patru, when he persuaded the one not to attempt to write his Fables, and the other his Art of Poetry. Dennis, some years after, attacked this invulnerable composition, with equal impotence and ill-nature, endeavouring to shew that the intertexture of the machinery was superfluous. It is remarkable, that he had introduced guardian spirits as attendants on the favourites of heaven, in his Temple of Fame, as he informs Steele in a letter on this subject; which spirits he afterward judiciously omitted. It appears by this letter to Steele, dated November 16, 1712, that he first communicated to him at that time, The Temple of Fame, though he had written it two years before. Steele assures him, it contained "a thousand thou

sand beauties;" many of which are specified in the notes of this edition, and therefore need not be here repeated. The descriptive powers of Pope are much more visible and strong in this poem, than in the next that is to be mentioned in the order of timethe Windsor-Forest; the first part of which was written, indeed, 1704, but the whole was not finished and published till 1713: a poem evidently written in imitation of Cooper's-Hill, and as evidently superior to it. Denham is a writer that has been extolled far beyond his merits. Nothing can be colder and more prosaic, for instance, than the manner in which he has spoken of the distant prospect of London and St. Paul's, and also of Edward the Third; both fine subjects for poetry. The Claremont of Garth was also another imitation of Cooper's-Hill, and unworthy the author of the Dispensary; it contains an unnatural mixture of wit, pleasantry, and satire, with rural description. But Thomson has carried descriptive poetry to its height; and being a true son of Nature, has delineated all her most striking objects, with a force and distinctness hitherto unparalleled.

The silence, the solitude, the gloomy solemnity, the pleasing melancholy, impressed on our minds by the conventual scenes of Eloisa and Abelard, by the ideas of long-sounding isles, and cells, and lamps, and altars, and graves; induce and allure the reader to forget the inherent indelicacy of the story of these two unfortunate lovers. For though the "high-embowed

⚫ I have a peculiar pleasure in mentioning another excellent descriptive piece, The Needwood-Forest of Mr. Mundy.

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roof," "storied windows,"
""studious cloisters," and
pealing organ," had been mentioned by Milton, yet
this sort of scenery had never before been exhibited
as the chief and leading object and foundation of
any poem in our language. Pope was fully sensible
of the indelicate circumstances above-mentioned, that
attended his subject, and did not therefore much re-
lish the manner in which Prior had said, that these
circumstances were concealed with dexterity and skill,
in the following elegant lines:

He o'er the weeping nun has drawn
Such artful folds of sacred lawn;
That Love with equal grief and pride
Shall see the crime he strives to hide;
And softly drawing back the veil,

The god shall to his votaries tell,

Each conscious tear, each blushing grace,

That deck'd dear Eloisa's face.—AĻмл, p. 101.

Savage related that Pope attempted this composition in rivalship to Prior's Nut-brown Maid. It is not true that these very unhappy lovers "found quiet and consolation in retirement and piety." The whole tenor of their letters contradicts this supposition. These curious letters were published in London by Dr. Rawlinson, 1718, with an extraordinary motto prefixed from Claudian, relative to Abelard's punishment, too gross to be here inserted.

After arriving at such eminence by so many capital compositions, our Author, with that just self-confidence that ought to actuate every man of real genius and ability, meditated a higher effort; something that might improve and advance his fortune as well as his

fame; a translation of Homer, which Milton is said once to have thought of executing.

This translation he proposed to print by subscription, in six volumes in quarto, for the sum of six guineas: And to the eternal honour of our country, in encouraging a work of such superlative and uncommon merit, the subscription was larger than any before known. Every man of every party, that had any, or pretended to have any, taste or love of literature, sent his name; and the number of subscribers were five hundred and seventy-five; but as some subscribed for more than one copy, the copies delivered to subscribers were six hundred and fifty-four. These copies 94 Lintot, who became proprietor of the work, engaged to supply at his own expense, and also to give the Author two hundred pounds for each volume; so 5024 that Pope obtained, on the whole, the sum of five thousand three hundred and twenty pounds four shillings. With this money, so very honourably obtained, he immediately and prudently purchased several annuities, and particularly one of five hundred pounds a year, from the Duke of Buckingham. The work was enriched by many judicious notes by Pope himself, as well as by Broome, who also was employed to make extracts from Eustathius, as was also a man of much greater learning, the celebrated Dr. Jortin,

7 A clamour was raised at the time, that he had not sufficient learning for such an undertaking; Dr. Johnson says, that considering his irregular education, and course of life, “it is not very likely that he overflowed with Greek." Perhaps our most eminent poets may be ranked, with respect to their learning, in the following order: Milton, Spenser, Cowley, Butler, Donne, Jonson, Akenside, Gray, Dryden, Addison.

who gives the following account of the matter in his Adversaria:

"What passed between Mr. Pope and me, I will endeavour to recollect as well as I can, for it happened many years ago, and I never made any memorandum of it.

"When I was a soph at Cambridge, Pope was about his Translation of Homer's Ilias, and had published part of it.

"He employed some person (I know not who he was) to make extracts for him from Eustathius, which he inserted in his notes. At that time there was no Latin translation of that commentator. Alexander Politi (if I remember right) began that work some years afterward, but never proceeded far in it. The person employed by Mr. Pope was not at leisure to go on with the work; and Mr. Pope (by his bookseller, I suppose,) sent to Jefferies, a bookseller at Cambridge, to find out a student who would undertake the task. Jefferies applied to Dr. Thirlby, who was my tutor, and who pitched upon me. I would have declined the work, having, as I told my tutor, other studies to pursue, to fit me for taking my degree. But he-qui quicquid volebat valde volebat, -would not hear of any excuse. So I complied. I cannot recollect what Mr. Pope allowed for each book of Homer; I have a notion that it was three or four guineas. I took as much care as I could to perform the task to his satisfaction; but I was ashamed to desire my tutor to give himself the trouble of overlooking my operations; and he, who always used to think and speak too favourably of me, said, that I