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fhort time, never was appeased. Pope feems, at firft, to have attacked him wantonly; but though he always profeffed to defpife him, he difcovers, by mentioning him often, that he felt his force or his venom.

--Of this Effay Pope declared that he did not expect the fale to be quick, becaufe not one gentleman in fixty, even of liberal education, could understand it. The gentlemen, and the education of that time, feem to have been of a lower cha racter than they are of this. He mentions a thousand copies as a numerous impreffion.

Dennis was not his only cenfurer; the zealous papifts thought the monks treated with too much contempt, and Eraf

mus

mus too ftudiously praised; but to thefe objections he had not much regard.

The Effay has been tranflated into French by Hamilton, author of the Comte de Grammont, whofe verfion was never printed, by Robotham, fecretary to the King for Hanover, and by Refnel; and commented by Dr. Warburton, who has difcovered in it fuch order and connection as was not perceived by Addifon, nor, as is faid, intended by the author.

Almost every poem, confisting of precepts, is fo far arbitrary and immethodical, that many of the paragraphs may change places with no apparent inconvenience; for of two or more pofitions, depending upon fome remote and ge

neral

neral principle, there is feldom any cogent reason why one fhould precede the other. But for the order in which they

ftand, whatever it be, a little ingenuity

may eafily give a reason. It is possible, fays Hooker, that by long circumduction, from any one truth all truth may be inferred. Of all homogeneous truths at least, of all truths refpecting the fame general end, in whatever feries they may be produced, a concatenation by intermediate ideas may be formed, fuch as when, it is once fhewn, fhall appear natural; but if this order be reverfed, another mode of connection equally fpecious may be found or made. Ariftotle is praised for naming Fortitu de first of the cardinal virtues, as that with

out which no other virtue can steadily be practised; but he might, with equal propriety, have placed Prudence and Juftice before it, fince without Prudence Fortitude is mad; without Justice, it is mifchievous.

As the end of method is perfpicuity, that feries is fufficiently regular that avoids obfcurity; and where there is no obfcurity it will not be difficult to discover method.

In the Spectator was published the Mefab, which he first submitted to the perufal of Steele, and corrected in compliance with his criticisms.

It is reasonable to infer, from his Letters, that the verfes on the Unfortunate Lady were written about the time

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when his Efay was published.

The

Lady's name and adventures I have fought with fruitless enquiry.

I can therefore tell no more than I have learned from Mr. Ruffhead, who writes with the confidence of one who could truft his information. She was a woman of eminent rank and large fortune, the ward of an unkle, who, having given her a proper education, expected like other guardians that the should inake at least an equal match, and fuch he proposed to her, but found it rejected in favour of a young gentleman of inferior condition.

Having discovered the correspondence between the two lovers, and finding the young lady determined to abide by her

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