that task of extreme difficulty, as Warton-no mean judgecharacterises it, of "transfusing into another language the subtle beauties of Horace's dignified familiarity and the uncommon union of so much facility and force." Horace was more uniformly cheerful and sportive than his English imitator, who occasionally rose into the severe declamation and invective of Juve nal; but the greater part of Pope's parallels and allusions, and the traits of character and manners which he unfolds, with the delightful egotism spread over the whole, are so spirited, easy, and felicitous, that none of his works are more pleasing or attractive than these imitations. They unite the various characters of the poet, philosopher, and man of the world, with bursts of that fierce satire and indignation which now became habitual to the poet. The imitation of the first satire of the second book of Horace, is in the form of a Dialogue between the poet and his friend Fortescue, who was then in extensive practice at the bar, and about two years afterwards was appointed one of the Barons of the Exchequer. The publication seems to have taken place in January, 1732-3, but before this time Pope had lost that friend who of all others, perhaps, he most purely and affectionately loved. John Gay died on the 4th of December, 1732. He was only forty-six years of age, but his constitution had been enfeebled by indolence and over-indulgence. He tried to recover strength by exercise on horseback, which he continued for three months, but an inflammatory attack proved mortal in three days. "Would to God," exclaims Pope, in a letter to Swift, "the man we have lost had not been so amiable nor so good! But that is a wish for our own sakes, not for his. Sure if innocence and integrity can deserve happiness, it must be his." Swift indorsed this letter, "On my dear friend, Mr. Gay's death: received December 15th, but not read till the 20th by an impulse foreboding some misfortune." Gay died in the house of the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry, who honoured his remains with a funeral as splendid as if he had been a peer of the realm. Nearly two years afterwards we find the Duchess writing concerning him to her friend the Countess of Suffolk: "I often want poor Mr. Gay. Nothing evaporates sooner than joy untold, or even told, unless to one so entirely in your interest as he was, who bore at least an equal share in every satisfaction or dissatisfaction which attended us. I am not in the spleen, though I write thus; on the contrary, it is a sort of pleasure to think over his good qualities; his loss was really great, but it is a satisfaction to have once known so good a man. As you were as much his friend as I, it is needless to ask your pardon for dwelling on this subject." When we recollect Swift's anticipation of the effect of his own death among his friends Poor Pope will grieve a month, and Gay A week, and Arbuthnot a day, this expression of the grief of the Duchess of Queensberry, so long after the loss of her friend, is a strong evidence of goodness of heart and tenderness, both as respects the living and the dead. In his Horatian dialogue Pope had again satirized Lord Hervey and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. The former was gently dealt with in this verse:— The lines are weak, another's pleased to say, SATIRES BY LORD HERVEY AND LADY MARY. 215 The sobriquet of Lord Fanny was fixed upon the ViceChamberlain for life, because, however contemptuous, it was expressive of that effeminacy of character and appearance which distinguished him among his contemporaries. Lady Mary was alluded to in a very gross couplet, showing that rage or hatred had in this case divested the poet of all modesty and decency. He had probably ascertained, or confidently believed, that Lady Mary was the fabricator of the alleged whipping in Ham Walks. The town applied the lines to Lady Mary (who was shadowed forth as Sappho), and the lady herself was convinced they were intended for her. Through the intervention of Lord Peterborough, she solicited an explanation from the poet, the result of which was a denial that apparently afforded little satisfaction. 12 The press was then appealed to, and "Verses to the Imitator of Horace" appeared, supposed to be the joint production of Lady Mary and Lord Hervey. This retort was followed by 11 In a letter to Fortescue (without date, but from its allusion to Gay, written before the Imitation of Horace) Pope says:-"I have seen Sir R. W. (Walpole) but once since you left. I made him then my confidant in a complaint against a lady, of his, and once of my, acquaintance, who is libelling me, as she certainly one day will him, if she has not already. You will easily guess I am speaking of Lady Mary. I should be sorry if she had any credit or influence with him, for she would infallibly use it to belie me; though my only fault towards her was leaving off her conversation when I found it dangerous." Lady Mary has a poetical fragment called the Court of Dulness, in which Swift and Pope are satirized. The piece seems to have been written before the date of the Imitation of Horace. In another letter to Fortescue, March 18, 1732-3, Pope requests his friend to caution Walpole against Lady Mary, whose conduct, he says, no ways deserves encouragement from him or any other great persons." He appears to have dreaded the influence of Lady Mary, who was intimate with Walpole. 66 12 See notes to Imitations of Horace. Fortescue seems to have suggested some alteration with respect to the offensive lines. Pope writes to him, March 8, 1732-3, "The affair in question of any alteration is now at an end, by that lady's having taken her own satisfaction in an avowed libel, so fulfilling the veracity of my prophecy." This shows that the " Sappho of the satire was intended for Lady Mary, which Pope afterwards denied. another, also in verse, entitled "Letter from a Nobleman at Hampton Court to a Doctor of Divinity." The "Letter" is greatly inferior to the "Verses," and was solely written by Lord Hervey. The "Verses" appear to have been claimed equally by both the noble parties. Lord Wharncliffe found the poem copied into a book verified by Lady Mary in her own hand as written by her, and Pope mentions it as written by a Lady of Quality. On the other hand, Mr. Croker found in the library at Ickworth (the seat of the Earl of Bristol, in Suffolk), a copy of the same poem, with a manuscript preface and corrections, and a new titlepage, prepared "by the author" for a second edition, all of which are in Lord Hervey's own hand.13 The internal evidence is strongly in favour of Lady Mary, who had more vigour, keenness, and poetical talent than her noble associate, and it resembles some of her avowed attacks on Pope. Lord Hervey and Lady Mary were, however, intimate friends, and had one common interest in decrying the Imitator of Horace, and they most probably combined their powers to revenge themselves on their formidable assailant. The poem is coarse and personal in style, and is indiscriminate in its abuse, but by taunting Pope on his origin and figure, the noble authors knew how effectually they would wound him, and at the same time gratify all his adversaries, political and literary. The poet wrote to Swift on the subject, April 2, 1733: "Tell me your opinion as to Lady or Lord ***'s performance: they are certainly the top-wits of the court, and you may judge by that single piece what can be done against me: for it was laboured, corrected, pre-commended, and post-disapproved, so far as to be disowned by themselves, after each had highly cried it up for the other's. I have met with some complaints, and heard at a distance of some threats occasioned by my verses: I sent fair messages to acquaint them where I was to be - -'s 13 Introduction to Lord Hervey's Memoirs. DEATH OF POPE'S MOTHER. 217 found in town, and to offer to call at their houses to satisfy them, and so it dropped." In the midst of this contest, June 7, 1733, Pope's mother died. She was unconscious of the warfare, for her memory was gone, and she was only awake to the attentions of her son, which he said doubled the necessity for his attendance on her, and at the same time sweetened it. He addressed a short note to Fortescue : June 7, 1733. DEAR SIR,-It is indeed a grief to me which I cannot express, and which I should hate my own heart if I did not feel, and yet wish no friend I have ever should feel. All our passions are inconsistencies, and our very reason is no better. But we are what we were made to be. Adieu! It will be a comfort to me to see you on Saturday night. Believe me, &c. Three days afterwards he wrote to Richardson, requesting that he would come to Twickenham and take a portrait of the deceased. "I thank God," he says, "her death was as easy as her life was innocent; and as it cost her not a groan, nor even a sigh, there is yet upon her countenance such an expression of tranquillity, nay, almost of pleasure, that it is even amiable to behold it. It would afford the finest image of a saint expired that ever painting drew, and it would be the greatest obligation which even that obliging art could ever bestow upon a friend, if you would come and sketch it for me. I am sure if there be no very prevalent obstacle, you will leave any common business to do this, and I shall hope to see you this evening as late as you will, or to-morrow morning as early, before this winter flower is faded." Richardson complied with the touching request; the portrait was drawn and afterwards engraved; but whether from the effects of age too visible on the features of a countenance originally plain, or from some defect on the part of the artist or engraver, the expression of the portrait is far from pleasing. Mrs. Pope was buried in Twickenham church, by the side of her husband, and was carried to the grave (as the poet directed his own remains |