thing, called, An Essay on Man;" on which Pope struck him dumb, and filled him with confusion, by saying, "I wrote it." The nature, the merits, the tendency of this work, are so much enlarged upon in the Notes to this Edition', that to them the reader must be referred; observing only, that up and down were scattered so many splendid and striking sentiments of religion and virtue, that for many years it was not, till Crousaz2 attacked it, suspected to contain tenets hostile to the Christian revelation, though not to natural religion. That Pope himself, some years afterward, wished it might be otherwise inter

'After the noble panegyric our Poet has bestowed on his guide Bolingbroke at the end of this Essay, his conduct in clandestinely printing the Patriot King may seem indefensible. On considering coolly and impartially the circumstances that attended this improper Publication, I am inclined to think, that he did not print 1500 copies of that Treatise from avarice or treachery; but from too eager a desire to spread, as he thought, the reputation of his friend, whom he idolized.

* Warburton, who, in the early part of his life, was a censurer of Pope, and had said, in a letter to Concanen, with whom he was intimate, that Pope borrowed by necessity, and who had assisted Theobald in his Notes on Shakspeare, now stepped forth with a vigorous defence of the Doctrines of the Essay on Man, against the objections of Crousaz; which defence was first published in a Monthly Literary Journal, but was afterward collected into a volume, and dedicated to Mr. Allen of Bath; with remarks on Fate and Free-will, of which poor Allen could understand little. With this vindication Pope was so delighted that he eagerly sought the acquaintance of Warburton, and told him, he understood his pinions better than he did himself; which acquaintance made e fortune of Warburton, and ultimately got him a wife and a hoprick. Bolingbroke reproached Pope with this new conion, and said, "You have at your elbow a foul-mouthed and atical critic." It is asserted, that, some years before, Wara, in a literary club held at Newark, produced and read a ation against the Doctrines of the Essay on Man.

XXX

coming out of the Dunciad: on the other side, the booksellers and hawkers made as great an effort to procure it. What could a few poor authors do against so great a majority as the public? There was no stopping a torrent with a finger, so out it came.

'Many ludicrous circumstances attended it. The Dunces (for by this name they were called) held weekly clubs, to consult of hostilities against the author: one wrote a Letter to a great Minister, assuring him, Mr. Pope was the greatest enemy the government had and another bought his image in clay, to execute him in effigy; with which sort of satisfaction the gentlemen were a little comforted.

"Some false editions of the book having an owl in their frontispiece, the true one, to distinguish it, fixed in its stead an ass laden with authors. Then another surreptitious one being printed with the same ass, the new edition in octavo returned for distinction to the owl again. Hence arose a great contest of booksellers against booksellers, and advertisements against advertisements; some recommended the edition of the owl, and others the edition of the ass; by which names they came to be distinguished, to the great honour also of the gentlemen of the Dunciad.”

The complete edition of the Dunciad was elegantly printed in quarto, by Dodd, 1729, with large Notes, and an Appendix, under the name of Cleland, but written by Pope himself. As to the conduct of this poem, the awkward additions made to it, and the many unhappy alterations it underwent, we must refer to the remarks in the Fifth Volume of this Edition.

After enjoying for two years a complete triumph over Horneck, and Rome, and Gildon, and Concanen, and Oldmiron, and the nameless fabricators of the Popiad, and Martiniad, he printed, in folio, 1731 (for this was the original title), "An Epistle to Richard Earl of Burlington, occasioned by his publishing Palladio's Designs of the Baths, Arches, Theatres, &c. of Ancient Rome."

The gang of scribblers immediately rose up together, and accused him of malevolence and ingratitude, in having ridiculed the house, gardens, chapel, and dinners, of the Duke of Chandos at Canons (who had lately, as they affirmed, been his benefactor), under the name of Timon. He peremptorily and positively denied the charge, and wrote an exculpatory letter to the Duke, with the asseverations of which letter, as the last Duke of Chandos told me, his ancestor was not perfectly satisfied.

It ought to be added, that the many respectable authors, who have, since this Epistle, treated of the art of laying out grounds and gardens, have acknowledged the justness and propriety of the rules and precepts delivered by Pope, in this highly-finished piece. What relates to architecture is shorter, and perhaps not equal to the rest.

Adhering to the chronological order in which the Ethic Epistles were published, I am next to observe, that there appeared, in 17326, “Of the Use of Riches, an Epistle to the Right Hon. Allen Lord Bathurst,"

In the Epistles to Lord Burlington and Lord Bathurst, says Johnson, Warburton has endeavoured to find a train of thought which was never in the writer's head.

folio; which he has treated in so masterly a way, as to have almost exhausted the subject. I never saw this very amiable old nobleman, whose wit, vivacity, sense, and integrity are well known; but he repeatedly expressed his disgust, and his surprise, at finding, in later editions, this Epistle awkwardly converted into a Dialogue, in which he has but little to say. And I remember he once remarked, "that

this line,

"P. But you are tir'd. I'll tell a tale. B. Agreed ;— was insupportably insipid and flat." Pope almost annually visited, and frequently praised, his fine improvements, and many plantations, at Cirencester.

It was in this year also, 17327, that, determined to wait in secret the opinion of the public, he published, what he had for eight years at least been revolving in his mind, the First Epistle of his Essay on Man; the Second followed in the same year; the Third in 1733; and the Fourth in 1734.

8

He enjoyed in private the various suspicious surmises of those who pretended to point out the right author, and once punished the vanity and petulance of Mallet, who, being asked by him what new publication there was, answered, "Only an insignificant

7 About this time died Gay, for whom he appears to have felt the truest tenderness and affection. And Swift was so affected at the news of Gay's death, that he delayed to open a letter, which he thought contained the affecting intelligence, for many days.

"In the edition in 12mo. 1735, by Dodsley, they were called, Ethic Epistles, the First Book; and not Essay on Man; and the four Epistles to Lord Burlington, &c. were called, Ethic Epistles, the Second Book.

thing, called, An Essay on Man;" on which Pope struck him dumb, and filled him with confusion, by saying, "I wrote it." The nature, the merits, the tendency of this work, are so much enlarged upon in the Notes to this Edition', that to them the reader must be referred; observing only, that up and down were scattered so many splendid and striking sentiments of religion and virtue, that for many years it was not, till Crousaz attacked it, suspected to contain tenets hostile to the Christian revelation, though not to natural religion. That Pope himself, some years afterward, wished it might be otherwise inter

'After the noble panegyric our Poet has bestowed on his guide Bolingbroke at the end of this Essay, his conduct in clandestinely printing the Patriot King may seem indefensible. On considering coolly and impartially the circumstances that attended this improper Publication, I am inclined to think, that he did not print 1500 copies of that Treatise from avarice or treachery; but from too eager a desire to spread, as he thought, the reputation of his friend, whom he idolized.

2 Warburton, who, in the early part of his life, was a censurer of Pope, and had said, in a letter to Concanen, with whom he was intimate, that Pope borrowed by necessity, and who had assisted Theobald in his Notes on Shakspeare, now stepped forth with a vigorous defence of the Doctrines of the Essay on Man, against the objections of Crousaz; which defence was first published in a Monthly Literary Journal, but was afterward collected into a volume, and dedicated to Mr. Allen of Bath; with remarks on Fate and Free-will, of which poor Allen could understand little. With this vindication Pope was so delighted that he eagerly sought the acquaintance of Warburton, and told him, he understood his opinions better than he did himself; which acquaintance made the fortune of Warburton, and ultimately got him a wife and a bishoprick. Bolingbroke reproached Pope with this new connexion, and said, "You have at your elbow a foul-mouthed and dogmatical critic." It is asserted, that, some years before, Warburton, in a literary club held at Newark, produced and read a dissertation against the Doctrines of the Essay on Man.