he consulted his fortune more than his fame. The reputation he had acquired by the success, as well as the merit of his works, procured him numerous enemies among writers of the minor classes, from whom he experienced frequent splenetic attacks. Perhaps it would have been more to his honour had he taken no notice of them; but in 1727, he vented his resentment in a mock-heroic, entitled the Dunciad, in which he took more than warrantable revenge; and, what was worse, exposed to ridicule many persons who had not given him any offence. In 1729, by the advice of lord Bolingbroke, he turned his pen to a moral and philosophical subject, the result was his Essay on Man, an ethical poem, addressed to that statesman. He next wrote satires, in which he attacked several persons of rank. Pope was engaged in preparing a complete edition of his worn, when he was carried off by a dropsy in the chest. He bequeathed the property of his works to Dr. Warburton, who published a collection of them with notes, in 1761, in 9 vols. 8vo. Dr. Joseph Warton also published an edition, to which he prefixed, what he had before printed, an admirable essay on the Genius and Writings of Pope.
Pope professed to have learned his poetry from Dryden, whom, whenever an opportunity was presented, he praised through his whole life with unvaried liberality; and perhaps his character may receive some illustration, if he be compared with his master. Integrity of understanding and nicety of discernment were not allotted in a less proportion to Dryden than to Pope. The rectitude of Dryden's mind was sufficiently shown by the dismission of his poetical prejudices, and the rejection of unnatural thoughts and rugged numbers. But Dryden never desired to apply all the judgment that he had. He wrote, and professed to write, merely for the people; and when he pleased others, he contented himself. Pope was not content to satisfy; he desired to excel, and therefore always endeavoured to do his best; he did not court the candour, but dared the judgment of his reader, and, expecting no indulgence from others, he showed none to himself: he kept his pieces very long in his hands, while he considered and reconsidered them. In acquired knowledge, the superiority must be allowed to Dryden, whose education was more scholastic, and who before he became an author had been allowed more time for study, with better means of information. The notions of Dryden were formed by comprehensive speculation, and those of Pope by minute attention. There is more dignity in the knowledge of Dryden, and more certainty in that of Pope. Poetry was not the sole praise of either; for both excelled likewise in prose; but Pope did not borrow his prose from his predecessor. Of genius, that power which constitutes a poet; that quality without which judgment is cold and knowledge is inert; that energy which collects, combines, amplifies, and animates; the superiority must, with some hesitation, be allowed to Dryden. It is not to be inferred that of this poetical vigour Pope had only a little, because Diyden had more, for every other writer since Milton must give place to Pope; and even of Dryden it must be said, that, if he has brighter paragraphs, he has not better poems. Dryden's performances were always hasty, either excited by some external occasion, or extorted by domestic necessity ; he composed without consideration, and published without correction. If the flights of Dryden therefore are higher, Pope continues longer on the wing. If of Dryden's fire the blaze is brighter, of Pope's the heat is more regular and constant. Dryden often surpasses expectation, and Pope never falls below it. Dryden is read with frequent astonishment, and Pope with perpetual delight.
The following impromptu on some of the English poets, from Chaucer to Pope, by the rev. William Clarke,[1] may not be unacceptable to the literary reader.
See the fathers of verse,
In their rough uncouth dress,
Old Chaucer and Gower array'd;
And that fairy-led muse,
Which in Spenser we lose,
By fashion's false power bewray'd.
In Shakspeare we trace
All nature's full grace.
Beyond it his touches admire;
And in Fletcher we view
Whate'er fancy could do,
By Beaumont's correcting its fire.
Here's rare surly Ben,
Whose more learned pen
Gave laws to the stage and the pit;
Here's Milton can boast
His Paradise Lost;
And Cowley his virtue and wit.
Next Butler, who paints
The zeal-gifted saints;
And Waller's politeness and ease;
Then Dryden, whose lays
Deserv'd his own bays.
And, labour'd or negligent, please.
There sportively Prior
Sweeps o'er the whole lyre.
With fingers and fancy divine;
While Addison's muse
Does each virtue infuse.
Clear, chaste, and correct, in each line.
To close the whole scene,
Lo! Pope's moral spleen;
Ye knaves, and ye dunces, beware!
Like lightning he darts
The keen shaft at your hearts.
Your heads are not worthy his care.
1744, Jan. The Meddler, No. 1.
1744, April 1. The Female Spectator, monthly. This periodical was the production of Mrs. Eliza Heywood,[2] and was carried on till March, 1746. As soon as completed, they were immediately
- ↑ Author of The Connexion of the Roman, Saxon, and English Coins; deducing the Antiquities, Customs, and Manners of each People to modern Times; particularly the Origin of Feudal Tenures, and of Parliaments: illustrated throughout with critical and historical Remarks on various Authors, both sacred and profane. He was born at Haghmon abbey, in Shropshire, 1696, and educated at Cambridge. He obtained the rectory of Buxted, in Sussex, and in 1738 he was made a prebendary of Chichester. He died at Amport, Oct. 21, 1771.
- ↑ Eliza Heywood was the daughter of a tradesman, and born in London in 1693. She early imbibed a taste for dramatic poetry and the stage; and having received a good education, and, though not beautiful, possessing a fine
