the best-conditioned creatures imaginable. For they say any mortals may enjoy the most intimate familiarities with these gentle spirits, upon a condition very easy to all true Adepts, an inviolate preservation of Chastity." But Elise accepts them as a part of her religion. "Elle croyait aux Sylphes et brûloit d'envie d'en avoir un." The transition from "The Rape of the Lock" to "Le Mari Sylphe" is an easy one. In both there is the charm which invests the Hampton Court of the prosy Anne and the phlegmatic George of Denmark with an original air of fanciful mystification—a " je ne sais quoi d'aérien," as Marmontel says.
If we read the espièglerie of Marmontel into the witty scheme of Pope, we have a clear impression of what the court beauties and the beaux thought of the "Rape of the Lock." So "Beauty draws us with a single hair." Belinda's locks, nourished to the destruction of mankind, allure the Baron; and the expedition to Hampton Court furnishes the occasion for the bold attempt. It is the home of scandal and of wit, of beaux' audacity, and of the triumphs of the fair:—
"Hither the heroes and the nymphs resort,
To taste awhile the pleasures of a Court;
In various talk th' instructive hours they past,
Who gave the ball, or paid the visit last;
One speaks the glory of the British Queen,
And one describes a charming Indian screen;
A third interprets motions, looks, and eyes;
At ev'ry word a reputation dies.
Snuff, or the fan, supply each pause of chat,
With singing, laughing, ogling,and all that."
