" and extravagance, so may great invention to redun"dancy and wildness.

66

"This has been the very case of Mr. Pope him"self; nothing is more overstrained, or more false, "than the images in which his fancy has represented 'Homer; sometimes he tells us, that the Iliad is a "wild paradise, where, if we cannot see all the beau'ties, as in an ordered garden, it is only because the "number of them is infinitely greater. Sometimes "he compares him to a copious nursery, which con"tains the seeds and first productions of every kind; "and, lastly, he represents him under the notion of

a mighty tree, which rises from the most vigorous "seed, is improved with industry, flourishes and pro"duces the finest fruit, but bears too many branches, " which might be lopped into form, to give it a more "regular appearance.

"What! is Homer's poem then, according to Mr. "Pope, a confused heap of beauties, without order " or symmetry, and a plot whereon nothing but seeds, nor nothing perfect or formed is to be found; and a production, loaded with many unprofitable things, "which ought to be retrenched, and which choak and 66 disfigure those which deserve to be preserved? Mr.

Pope will pardon me if I here oppose those compari86 Isons, which to me appear very false, and entirely 66 contrary to what the greatest of ancient and modern "critics ever thought.

"The Iliad is so far from being a wild paradise, "that it is the most regular garden, and laid out with

"more symmetry than any ever was. Every thing "therein is not only in the place it ought to have "been, but every thing is fitted for the place it hath. "He presents you, at first, with that which ought to "be first seen; he places in the middle what ought "to be in the middle, and what would be improperly "placed at the beginning or end; and he removes "what ought to be at a greater distance, to create "the more agreeable surprize; and, to use a compa"rison drawn from painting, he places that in the 66 greatest light which cannot be too visible, and sinks " in the obscurity of the shade what does not require 66 a full view; so that it may be said, that Homer is "the painter who best knew how to employ the shades "and lights. The second comparison is equally un"just: how could Mr. Pope say, "that one can only "discover seeds, and the first productions of every "kind in the Iliad?" every beauty is there to such "an amazing perfection, that the following ages could "add nothing to those of any kind; and the Ancients "have always proposed Homer as the most perfect "model in every kind of poetry.

"The third comparison is composed of the errors "of the two former. Homer had certainly an incom"parable fertility of invention, but his fertility is

I always checked by that just sense which made him "reject every superfluous thing which his vast ima66 gination could offer, and to retain only what was necessary and useful. Judgment guided the hand "of this admirable gardener, and was the prun

66

ing-hook he employed to lop off every useless "branch."

Thus far Madam Dacier differs in her opinion from Mr. Pope concerning Homer; but these remarks, which we have just quoted, partake not at all of the nature of criticism; they are mere assertion. Pope had declared Homer to abound with irregular beauties. Dacier has contradicted him, and asserted, that all his beauties are regular, but no reason is assigned by either of these mighty geniuses in support of their opinions, and the reader is left in the dark as to the real truth. If he is to be guided by the authority of a name only, no doubt the argument will preponderate in favour of our countryman. The French lady then proceeds to answer some observations which Mr. Pope made upon her Remarks on the Iliad, which she performs with a warmth that generally attends writers of her sex. Mr. Pope, however, paid more regard to this fair antagonist than any other critic upon his works. He confessed, that he had received great helps from her, and only thought she had (through a prodigious and almost superstitious fondness for Homer) endeavoured to make him appear without any fault or weakness, and stamp a perfection on his works which is no where to be found. He wrote her a very obliging letter, in which he confessed himself exceedingly sorry that he ever should have displeased so excellent a wit; and she, on the other hand, with a goodness and frankness peculiar to her, protested to forgive it; so that there remained

no animosities between those two great admirers and translators of Homer.

Mr. Pope, by his successful translation of the Iliad, as we have before remarked, drew upon him the envy and raillery of a whole tribe of writers. Though he did not esteem any particular man amongst his enemies of consequence enough to provoke an answer, yet, when they were considered collectively, they offered excellent materials for a general satire. This satire he planned and executed with so extraordinary a mastery, that it is by far the most complete poem of our Author's; it discovers more invention, and a higher effort of genius, than any other production of his. The hint was taken from Mr. Dryden's Mac Flecknoe; but, as it is more general, so it is more pleasing. The Dunciad is so universally read, that we reckon it superfluous to give any further account of it here; and it would be an unpleasing task to trace all the provocations and resentments which were mutually discovered upon this occasion. Mr. Pope was of opinion that, next to praising good writers, there was a merit in exposing bad ones; though it does not hold infallibly true, that each person stigmatized as a dunce was genuinely so. Something must be allowed to personal resentment: Mr. Pope was a man of keen passions; he felt an injury strongly, retained a long remembrance of it, and could very pungently repay it. Some of the gentlemen, however, who had been more severely lashed than the rest, meditated a revenge which redounds but little to their honour.

They either intended to chastise him corporally, or gave it out that they had real y done so, in order to bring shame upon Mr. Pope; which, if true, could only bring shame upon themselves.

While Mr. Pope enjoyed any leisure from severer applications to study, his friends were continually soliciting him to turn his thoughts towards something that might be of lasting use to the world, and engage no more in a war with dunces, who were now effectually humbled. Our great dramatic poet Shakespeare had passed through several hands; some of whom were very reasonably judged not to have understood any part of him tolerably, much less were capable to correct or revise him.

The friends of Mr. Pope, therefore, strongly importuned him to undertake the whole of Shakespeare's plays, and, if possible, by comparing all the different copies now to be procured, restore him to his ancient purity; to which our Poet made this modest reply,---That, not having attempted any thing in the drama, it might in him be deemed too much presumption. To which he was answered,---That this did not require great knowledge of the foundation and disposition of the drama, as that must stand as it was, and Shakespeare himself had not always paid strict regard to the rules of it; but this was to clear the scenes from the rubbish with which ignorant editors had filled them.

His proper business in this work was to render the text so clear as to be generally understood, to free it