D-s, about that time charged me with giving them to a miftrefs, which I pofitively denied: not in the leaft, at that time, thinking of it; but fome time after, finding in the News papers Letters from Lady Packington, Lady Chudleigh, and Mr. Norris to the fame Sappho or E. T. I begin to fear that I was guilty. I have never feen thefe Letters of Curll's, nor would go to his fhop about them; I have not feen the Sappho, alias E. T. these seven years. Her writing, That I gave her 'em, to do what The would with 'em, is training the point too far. I thought not of it, nor do I think he did then; but fevere neceffity, which catches hold of a twig, has produced all this; which has lain hid, and forgot, by me fo many years. Curll fent me a letter laft week, defiring a pofitive answer about this matter, but finding I would give him none, he went to E. T. and writ a poftfcript in her long romantic letter, to direct my answer to his houfe; but they not expecting an answer, fent a young man to me, whose name, it feems, is Pattifon. I told him I should

not write any thing, but I believed it might be fo as fhe writ in her letter. I am extremely concerned that my former indifcretion in putting them into the hands of this Pretieufe, fhould have given you fo much disturbance; for the laft thing I fhould do would be to disoblige you, for whom I have ever preferved the greateft efteem, and fhall ever be, Sir,

Your faithful Friend, and

moft humble Servant,

HENRY CROMWELL.

13

To

TH

To Mr. POPE,

August 1, 1727. HO'I writ my long narrative from Epfom, till was tired, yet was I not fatisfied; left any doubt should reft upon your mind. I could not make protestations of my innocence of a grievous crime; but I was impatient till I came to town, that I might fend you thofe Letters, as a clear evidence that I was a perfect stranger to all their proceeding. Should I have protested against it, after the printing, it might have been taken for an attempt to decry his purchase; and as the little exception you have taken has ferved him to play his game upon us for these two years, a new incident from me might enable him to play it on for two more. The great value fhe expreffes for all you write, and her paffion for having them, I believe, was what prevailed upon me to let her keep them. By the interval of twelve years at leaft, from her poffeffion to the time of printing them, 'tis manifeft, that I had not the least ground to apprehend such a defign: but as people in great ftraits, bring forth their hoards of old gold and most valued jewels; fo Sappho, had recourse to her hid treasure of Letters, and played off not only yours to me, but all those to herfelf (as the lady's laft ftake) into the prefs.-As for me, I hope when, you fhall cooly confider the many thousand inftances of our being deluded by the females, fince that great Original of Adam by Eve, you will have a more favourable thought of the undefigning error of

Your faithful Friend,

and humble Servant, HENRY CROMWELL. Now

Now fhould our apology for this publication be as ill received, as the lady's feems to have been by the gentlemen concerned; we shall at least have Her Comfort, of being thanked by the rest of the world. Nor has Mr. P. himself any great cause to think it much offence to his modefty, or reflection on his judgment; when we take care to inform the public, that there are few Letters of his in this collection, which were not written under twenty years of age: on the other hand, we doubt not the reader will be much more furprized to find, at that early period, fo much variety of style, affecting fentiment, and juftness of criticism, in pieces which must have been writ in hafte, very few perhaps ever reviewed, and none intended for the eye of the public.

А СА

A

CATALOGUE

OF THE

Surreptitious and Incorrect Editions of Mr. POPE'S LETTERS.

I.

AMILIAR LETTERS to Henry Cromwell, Efq. by Mr. Pope, 12mo. Printed for Edmund Curl, 1727.

In this are Verfes, &c. afcribed to Mr. P. which were not his.]

II. Mr. Pope's Literary correfpondence for thirty years from 1704 to 1734. Being a Collection of Letters which paffed between him and several eminent perfons. Printed for E. Curl, 8vo,

1735, Two editions.

--The fame in duodecimo, with cuts. The third edition.

[These contain feveral Letters not genuine.] III. Mr. Pope's Literary Correfpondence, Vol. II. Printed for the fame, 8vo, 1735. [In this volume are no Letters of Mr. Pope's, but a few of thofe to Mr. Cromwell reprinted: nor any to him, but one faid to be Bishop Atterbury's, and another in that Bishop's name, certainly not his : One or two Letters from St. Omer's, advertifed of Mr. Pope, but which proved to be only concerning him; fome fcandalous Reflections of one Le Neve on the Legislature, Courts of Justice, and Church of England, pag. 116, 117. and the Divinity of Chrift exprefsly denied, in page 123, 124. With fome fcandalous. Anecdotes, and a Narrative.]

-The

-The fame in duodecimo.

IV. Mr. Pope's Literary Correfpondence, Vol. III. Printed for E. Curl, 8vo, 1735 [In this is only one Letter by Mr. Pope to the Duchefs of Buckingham, which the publifher fome way procured and printed against her order. It also contains four Letters, intitled, Mr. Pope's to Mifs Blount, which are literally taken from an o'd translation of Voiture's to Mad. Rambouillet.]

-The fame in duodecimo.

V. Mr. Pope's Literary Correfpondence, Vol. IV. Printed by the fame, contains not one Letter of this Author.

-The fame in duodecimo.

VI. Mr. Pope's Literary Correfpondence, Vol. V. containing only one Letter of Mr. P. and another of the Lord B. with a fcandalous preface of Curl's, how he could come at more of their Letters, 8vo, printed for the fame, 1736. VII. Letters of Mr. Pope and feveral Eminent Printed Perfons, Vol. I. from 1705 to 1711. and fold by the bookfellers of London and Weftminfter, 8vo, 1735

—--—The fame, Vol. II. from 1711, &c. Printed and fold by the bookfellers of London and Weftminster, 8vo, 1735.-The fame in 12mo, with a Narrative.

VIII. Letters of Mr. Pope and feveral Eminent Perfons. From 1705 to 1735. Printed and fold by the booksellers of London and Westminster, 12mo, 1735.

[This edition is faid in the title to contain more Letters than any other, but contains only Two, faid to be the Bishop of Rochefter's, and printed before by Curl.]

IX. Let