66

Mr. THEOBALD,

in cenfuring his Shakespear, declares, "He has fo great an efteem for Mr. Pope, and fo high an opinion of his genius and excellencies; that, notwithstanding he pro"feffes a veneration almost rising to Idolatry for the writings of this inimitable poet, he would be very loth even to do him justice, at the expence of that other gentle-· "man's character "."

66

66

Mr. CHARLES GILDON,

after having violently attacked him in many pieces, at laft came to wish from his heart, "That Mr. Pope would "be prevailed upon to give us Ovid's Epiftles by his "hand; for it is certain we fee the original of Sappho to "Phaon with much more life and likenefs in his verfion, "than in that of Sir Car. Scrope. And this (he adds) is "the more to be wifhed, becaufe in the English tongue we have scarce any thing truly and naturally written upon Love." He alfo, in taxing Sir Richard Blackmore for his heterodox opinions of Homer, challengeth him to answer what Mr. Pope hath faid in his preface to that poet.

66

66

86

Mr. OLD MIXON

calls him a great mafter of our tongue; declares "the purity and perfection of the English language to be "found in his Homer; and, faying there are more good "verses in Dryden's Virgil than in any other work, ex"cepts this of our author only "."

The Author of a Letter to Mr. CIB BER fays, "Pope was fo good a verfifier [once] that his pre"deceffor Mr. Dryden, and his cotemporary Mr. Prior "excepted, the harmony of his numbers is equal to any

Introduction to his Shakespear reftored, in quarto, p. 3. f Commentary on the Duke of Buckingham's Effay, octavo, 1721, p. 97, 98. In his profe Effay on Criticism. Printed by J. Roberts,

1742, P. II.

"body's. And, that he had all the merit, that a man can have that way." And

་

Mr. THOMAS COOKE,

after much blemishing our author's Homer, crieth out,

"But in his other works what beauties fhine! "While sweetest Music dwells in ev'ry line. "These he admir'd, on these he stamp'd his praife, "And bade them live to brighten future days

So alfo one who takes the name of

H. STANHOPE,

W

the maker of certain verfes to Duncan Campbell, in that poem, which is wholly a fatire on Mr. Pope, confeffeth, ""Tis true, if finest notes alone could show

"(Tun'd juftly high, or regularly low)

"That we fhould fame to these mere.vocals give ;

Pope more than we can offer fhould receive:

"For when fome gliding river is his theme,

"His lines run smoother than the smoothest stream,”&c. MIST'S JOURNAL, June 8, 1728.

Although he fays, "The fmooth numbers of the Dun"ciad are all that recommend it, nor has it any other "merit;" yet that fame paper hath these words: "The "author is allowed to be a perfect master of an easy and "elegant verfification. In all his works we find the "most happy turns, and natural fimiles, wonderfully "short and thick fown."

The Effay on the Dunciad alfo owns, p. 25. it is very full of beautiful images. But the panegyric, which crowns all that can be faid on this Poem, is bestowed by our Laureate,

Mr. COLLEY CIBBER,

who "grants it to be a better Poem of its kind than ever was writ:" but adds, "it was a victory over a parcel

w Battle of Poets, folio, p. 15. x Printed under the title of the Progrefs of Dulness, duodecimo, 1728.

"of poor wretches, whom it was almost cowardice to "C conquer. A man might as well triumph for having "killed fo many filly flies that offended him. Could he "have let them alone, by this time, poor fouls! they "had all been buried in oblivion Y." Here we see our excellent Laureate allows the juftice of the fatire on every man in it, but himself; as the great Mr. Dennis did before him.

The faid

Mr. DENNIS and Mr. GILDON,

in the most furious of all their works (the forecited Character, p. 5.) do in concert confefs, "That some men "of good understanding value him for his rhymes." And (p. 17.) That he has got, like Mr. Bays in the Rehearfal, (that is, like Mr. Dryden) a notable knack at "rhyming, and writing smooth verfe."

r

Of his Effay on Man, numerous were the praises beftowed by his avowed enemies, in the imagination that the fame was not written by him, as it was printed anonymously.

Cibber's Letter to Mr. Pope, p. 9, 12. z in concert] Hear how Mr. Dennis hath proved our mistake in this place; "As to my writ*ing in concert with Mr. Gildon, I declare upon the honour and "word of a gentleman, that I never wrote fo much as one line in

"

concert with any one man whatfoever. And these two Letters from Gildon will plainly shew that we are not writers in concert with * each other.

Sir,

The height of my Ambition is to please Men of the best Judgment; and finding that I have entertained my Mafter agreeably, I have the extent of the Reward of my Labour.

Sir,

I had not the opportunity of bearing of your excellent Pamphlet 'till this day. I am infinitely satisfied and pleased with it, and hope you will meet with that encouragement your admirable performance deferves, c. CH. GILDON.

Now is it not plain, that any one who fends fuch compliments to "another, has not been used to write in partnership with him to whom he fends them ?" Dennis, Rem. on the Dunc. p. 5o. Mr. Dennis is therefore welcome to take this piece to himself,

C 2

Thus fang of it even

BEZALEEL MORRIS:

"Aufpicious bard! while all admire thy ftrain, "All but the felfish, ignorant, and vain; "I, whom no bribe to fervile flatt'ry drew. "Muft pay the tribute to thy merit due: "Thy Mufe, fublime, fignificant, and clear, "Alike informs the Soul," and charms the Ear," &c. And

Mr. LEONARD WELSTE D

thus wrote a to the unknown author, on the first publication of the faid Effay: "I muft own, after the reception "which the vileft and most immoral ribaldry hath lately "met with, I was furprised to fee, what I had long de"fpaired, a performance deferving the name of a poet. "Such, Sir, is your work. It is, indeed, above all "commendation, and ought to have been published in an age and country more worthy of it. If my teftimony be of weight any where, you are fure to have it "in the ampleft manner," &c. &c. &c..

Thus we fee every one of his works hath been extolled by one or other of his moft inveterate Enemies; and to the fuccefs of them all they do unanimoufly give teftimony. But it is fufficient inflar omnium, to behold the great critic, Mr. Dennis, forely lamenting it, even from the Effay on Criticifm to this day of the Dunciad! "A "most notorious inftance (quoth he) of the depravity of

68

genius and tafte, the approbation this Effay meets with b "I can fafely affirm, that I never attacked any of these writings, unless they had success infinitely beyond their "merit--This, though an empty, has been a popular "fcribler. The epidemic madnefs of the times has given "him reputation-If, after the cruel treatment fo many extraordinary men (Spencer, Lord Bacon, Ben.

66

a In a Letter under his hand, dated March 12, 1733.

b Dennis, Pref. to his Reflect, on the Effay on Criticism. < Pref, to his Rem.

Homer.

66

Johnfon, Milton, Butler, Otway, and others) have re"ceived from this country, for these last hundred years, "I should shift the fcene, and fhew all that penury changed at once to riot and profufenefs; and more fquandered away upon one object, than would have "fatisfied the greater part of thofe extraordinary men ; "the reader to whom this one creature fhould be un"known, would fancy him a prodigy of art and nature, "would believe that all the great qualities of these "fons were centered in him alone. -But if I fhould ven"ture to affure him, that the PEOPLE of ENGLAND "had made fuch a choice-the reader would either be"lieve me a malicious enemy, and flanderer; or that the reign of the laft (Queen Anne's) Miniftry was defigned "by fate to encourage Fools d'

66

per

But it happens, that this our Poet never had any Place, Penfion, or Gratuity, in any fhape, from the faid glorious Queen, or any of her Minifters. All he owed, in the whole courfe of his life, to any court, was a fubfcription, for his Homer, of 200l. from King George I, and oo from the prince and princess.

However, left we imagine our Author's Success was conftant and univerfal, they acquaint us of certain works in a lefs degree of repute, whereof, although owned by others, yet do they affure us he is the writer. Of this fort Mr. DENNIS afcribes to him two Farces, whofe names he does not tell, but affures us that there is not one jeft in them: And an imitation of Horace, whose title he does not mention, but affures us it is much more execrable than all his works. The DAILY JOURNAL, May 11, 1728. assures us, "He is below Tom. Durfey "in the Drama, because (as that writer thinks) the Mar

riage Hater matched, and the Boarding School are "better than the What d'-ye-call-it;" which is not Mr. P.'s, but Mr. Gay's. Mr. GIL DON affures us, in his New Rehearsal, p 48. "That he was writing a play of "the Lady Jane Grey ;" but it afterwards proved to be d Rem. on Homer, p. 8, 9. Mr. Pope, p. 7.

• Ibid. p. 8.

f Character of