[721]Dr. Desaguliers, the son of a French refugee, was born at Rochelle in 1683, and died, Feb. 29, 1744, at the Bedford Coffee-house, Covent Garden. He was a clergyman of the church of England, a great lover of science, and a friend of Newton. He delivered lectures for many years on Experimental Philosophy, and published an excellent work on the subject in 2 vols. 4to. He does not appear to have shown any turn for poetry, and those who ascribed to him the Essay on Man may have had no better ground for their opinion than that the poem treated of one kind of philosophy, and Desaguliers was learned in another.[722]Thomas Catesby, Lord Paget, son of the Earl of Uxbridge, died before his father in Jan. 1742. He published in 1734, a poem called An Essay on Human Life; and in 1737 An Epistle to Mr. Pope, in Anti-heroics. "The former," says Horace Walpole, "is written in imitation of Pope's ethic epistles, and has good lines, but not much poetry."[723]In the Life of Pope by the pretended Squire Ayre, it is said that "a certain gentleman," meaning Mallet, was at Pope's house shortly after the first Epistle was published, and in answer to the question "What new pieces were brought to light?" replied, "That there was a thing come out called an Essay on Man, and it was a most abominable piece of stuff; shocking poetry, insufferable philosophy, no coherence, no connection at all." Pope confessed he was the author, which, says Ayre, "was like a clap of thunder to the mistaken bard; with a blush and a bow he took his leave of Pope, and never ventured to show his unlucky face there again." The final statement is contradicted by the letters of Pope and Mallet, which prove that they carried on a cordial intercourse to the last. The rest of the story is improbable, for it is not likely that Pope, who was bent at this early period upon keeping the authorship a secret, would have unmasked himself in a manner to preclude confidence, and provoke Mallet to divulge the truth to the world. Ayre's authority is good for nothing, and Ruffhead only copied Ayre, but his repetition of the anecdote gave it currency, and it has ever since passed unquestioned from writer to writer.[724]Warburton. "Your Travels I hear much of," says Pope in the letter to Swift; "my own I promise you shall never more be in a strange land, but a diligent, I hope, useful investigation of my own territories. I mean no more translations, but something domestic, fit for my own country, and my own time." The allusion is obscure, and it may be doubted whether Pope referred to his ethical scheme, which he did not commence till four years later.[725]Bolingbroke.[726]The authority was Lord Bathurst. Dr. Hugh Blair dined with him in 1763, and says in a letter to Boswell, that "the conversation turning on Mr. Pope, Lord Bathurst told us that the Essay on Man was originally composed by Lord Bolingbroke in prose, and that Mr. Pope did no more than put it into verse: that he had read Lord Bolingbroke's manuscript in his own handwriting, and remembered well that he was at a loss whether most to admire the elegance of Lord Bolingbroke's prose, or the beauty of Mr. Pope's verse." Boswell read the account to Johnson, who replied, "Depend upon it, sir, this is too strongly stated. Pope may have had from Bolingbroke the philosophic stamina of his Essay, and admitting this to be true, Lord Bathurst did not intentionally falsify. But the thing is not true in the latitude that Blair seems to imagine; we are sure that the poetical imagery, which makes a great part of the poem, was Pope's own."[727]The first treatise of Crousaz was translated by Miss Carter, and published in 1738, under the title of An Examination of Mr. Pope's Essay on Man. The second treatise was translated by Johnson himself, and published in 1742, with the title, A Commentary on Mr. Pope's Principles of Morality.[728]Theobald's Shakespeare was published in 1733, the same year with the first three epistles of the Essay on Man.[729]Warburton's first letter in vindication of Pope appeared in The Works of the Learned, December 1738. The journal called The Present State of the Republic of Letters, had come to an end in 1736.[730]Jacob Robinson, a bookseller in Fleet-street, was the publisher of The Works of the Learned, to which Warburton sent his five letters in reply to Crousaz.[731]This was done in 1740, when the five letters were expanded into six. A seventh letter was added in a subsequent edition, and the whole was re-arranged in four letters in the edition of 1742.[732]Ruffhead's Life of Pope, p. 219.[733]Warton states that Dobson relinquished the undertaking from the impossibility of preserving in Latin verse the conciseness of the English. He appears to have accomplished half his task; for when Christopher Smart subsequently volunteered his services, Pope said in his reply, Nov. 18, 1740, "The two first epistles are already well done." A specimen from Dobson's translation of each of these epistles was among the papers of Spence, and is printed in the appendix to Mr. Singer's edition of the Anecdotes. A version of the Essay in Latin hexameters appeared at Wirtemberg. This, Pope tells Smart, was "very faithful but inelegant," and he adds that his reason for desiring a more adequate rendering was that either the sense or the poetry was lost in all the foreign translations.[734]By "his friend," Johnson means Warburton, not Dobson.[735]This sort of burlesque abstract, which may be so easily but so unjustly made of any composition whatever, is exactly similar to the imperfect and unfair representation which the same critic has given of the beautiful imagery in Il Penseroso of Milton.—Warton.Johnson's criticism of a poem like this, cannot be compared with his futile declamation against the imagery of the Penseroso. For in speaking of the Penseroso, Johnson spoke of what I do not hesitate to say he did not understand. He had no congenial feelings properly to appreciate the character of such poetry; but the case is different where he brings his great mind to try, by the test of truth, arguments and doctrines which appeal to the understanding. Johnson was not an inadequate judge of Pope's philosophy, though he was certainly so of Milton's poetry. But no composition could possibly stand before his contemptuous declamation.—Bowles.[736]Bowles himself had a low opinion of the "system of philosophy" embodied in the Essay on Man. After stating that Pope was the pupil of Bolingbroke, he adds, "But this poem will continue to charm from the music of its verse, the splendour of its diction, and the beauty of its illustrations, when the philosophy that gave rise to it, like the coarse manure that fed the flowers, is perceived and remembered no more."[737]Burke's Works, ed. 1808, vol. v. p. 172.[738]Spence, p. 108, 127.[739]Essay on Man, Epist. iv. ver. 391. Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 40. "You have begun at my request the work which I have wished long that you would undertake."[740]Spence, p. 238.[741]Spence, p. 36.[742]Spence, p. 103.[743]Pope to Swift, Sept. 15, 1734.[744]Spence, p. 12.[745]Warton's Essay on the Genius of Pope, 5th ed. vol. ii. p. 149.[746]"It may safely," says Lord Kames, "be pronounced a capital defect in the composition of a verse, to put a low word, incapable of an accent, in the place where this accent should be," and he instances the last syllable of "dependencies," in Pope's Essay on Man, Epist. i. ver. 30:But of this frame, the bearings and the ties,The strong connections, nice dependencies,Gradations just, &c.What appeared a defect to Lord Kames will seem to many persons an advantage. The want of accent softens the rhyme, and relieves the monotonous, cloying effect of a full concord of sound. In most of Pope's imperfect rhymes the similarity of sound is too slight, and the ear is disappointed.[747]Letters by Eminent Persons, 2nd ed. vol. ii. p. 48.[748]Spence, p. 108.[749]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 335.[750]Bolingbroke's Works, Philadelphia, vol. iii. pp. 40, 45; vol. iv. p. 111.[751]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 336.[752]Grimouard, Essai sur Bolingbroke, quoted by Cooke, Memoirs of Bolingbroke, vol. ii. p. 96.[753]Chesterfield's Works, ed. Mahon, vol. ii. p. 445.[754]Ruffhead, Life of Pope, p. 219. The manuscript of this passage exists in Warburton's handwriting. Ruffhead altered two or three words, which are here restored from the original.[755]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 91.[756]Spence, who wrote down the anecdote from Warburton's conversation, says that Hooke talked of "Lord Bolingbroke's disbelief of the moral attributes of God," which agrees substantially with the language in Ruffhead.[757]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. p. 320.[758]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. pp. 23, 24; vol. iii. p. 430.[759]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. p. 111.[760]Essay on Man, Epist. ii. ver. 1; iv. ver. 398, and the additional couplet in the note.[761]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. pp. 175, 152.[762]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 335.[763]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 88.[764]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 336.[765]Warburton, Note on Epist. ii. ver. 149.[766]Warburton, Note on Epist. iii. ver. 303.[767]Warburton, Note on Epist. iii. ver. 303.[768]Epist. ii. ver. 274; Epist. iii. ver. 286.[769]Epist. iii. ver. 305.[770]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 335.[771]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. p. 436.[772]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. pp. 333, 366. "The imperfection of the parts," says Leibnitz, Opera, p. 638, "produce a greater perfection in the whole." According to his custom, Bolingbroke copied Leibnitz without naming him.[773]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 41.[774]Pope's Correspondence, ed. Elwin, vol. i. p. 339.[775]Pope's Correspondence, vol. i. pp. 339, 345, 346, 348.[776]Spence, p. 107.[777]Middleton to Warburton, Jan. 7, 1740.[778]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. p. 262.[779]Spence, p. 238.[780]Watson's Life of Warburton, p. 15.[781]Warburton's Letters to Hurd, p. 224.[782]Tyers, Historical Rhapsody, p. 78.[783]For this we have the authority of Dr. Law, the Bishop of Carlisle, in the preface to his translation of King's Origin of Evil.[784]Prior's Life of Malone, p. 430. Warton's Pope, vol. i. p. xlv.[785]Warburton's Commentary on Mr. Pope's Essay on Man, ed. 1742, p. 182.[786]Warburton's Pope, Essay on Man, Epist. ii. ver. 31.[787]Warton's Pope, vol. iii. p. 162.[788]Warburton's Commentary on Mr. Pope's Essay on Man, p. 121.[789]Warburton's Letters to Hurd, p. 224.[790]Warburton to Dr. Doddridge, Feb. 12, 1739, in Nichols, Illustrations of Literary History, vol. ii. p. 816.[791]Warburton's Vindication of Mr. Pope's Essay on Man, 1740, p. 83.[792]Nichols, Illustrations of Literary History, vol. ii. p. 113.[793]Warburton's Pope, Epist. iv. ver. 394.[794]Warton's Pope, vol. ix. p. 342.[795]Nichols, Illustrations of Lit. Hist., vol. ii. p. 53.[796]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. pp. 92, 185.[797]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 53.[798]Pope to Warburton, Sept. 20, 1739; Jan. 4, 1740.[799]Œuvres de Louis Racine, ed. 1808, tom. i. p. 444. "If," said Voltaire, "Pope wrote this letter to Racine, God must have given him at the close of his life the gift of tongues." Voltaire repeats three times over in his works, that he associated with Pope for a twelvemonth, and knew, what was publicly notorious in England, that he could hardly read French, and could not speak one word or write one line of the language. The objection was founded on the mistaken assumption that the French translation was the original letter. In the later editions of Racine's poem the letter is printed from Pope's English. Voltaire was annoyed that Pope should "retract" his deism, and wanted to have it believed that Ramsay alone was responsible for the sentiments expressed in the letter to Racine.[800]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 457.[801]Ruffhead, Life of Pope, p. 542. Spence, p. 277.[802]Œuvres de Louis Racine, tom. i. p. 451.[803]Œuvres de Louis Racine, tom. i. p. 442.[804]Spence, p. 231.[805]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 62.[806]Epist. ii. ver. i.[807]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 52.[808]Leibnitz, Opera Philosophica, ed. Erdmann, pp. 506, 544.[809]Hume's Essays, ed. 1809, vol. ii. pp. 146, 147, 152.[810]Hume's Essays, vol. ii. p. 153.[811]John, xv. 2.[812]Phillimore's Life of Lord Lyttelton, vol. i. p. 304.[813]Leibnitz, Opera, p. 628.[814]Epist. i. ver. 159, 151-4.[815]Epist. i. ver. 141-6.[816]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. p. 366.[817]Leibnitz, Opera, pp. 571, 577.[818]Epist. i. ver. 147, iv. ver. 115.[819]Epist. iv. ver. 116, note.[820]Leibnitz, Opera, pp. 312, 431, 507, 603.[821]Epist. i. ver. 241-258.[822]Epist. i. ver. 47-8.[823]Epist. i. ver. 43-50.[824]Voltaire, Œuvres, tom. xlvii. p. 98.[825]Jeremiah, ix. 23, 24.[826]John, xiv. 9.[827]Epist. ii. ver. 1-2.[828]Epist. ii. ver. 3-18.[829]Epist. i. 61-8.[830]Epist. ii. ver. 53-8.[831]Warburton's Commentary, Epist. ii. ver. 53.[832]Epist. ii. ver. 235-8.[833]Epist. ii. ver. 53.[834]Epist. i. ver. 131.[835]Epist. ii. ver. 126.[836]Madame de Staël, De l'Allemagne, Part iii., Chap. 16.[837]Butler's Sermons, Oxford, 1835, pp. xx., 8, 161.[838]A man may eat from principle, which often happens with the sick when they are wishing to die, and appetite is extinct. For the same reason they may eat delicacies when the stomach rebels against common fare. This was the case with Pascal in his illness, and, from a mistaken asceticism, he endeavoured to swallow the choice food without tasting it.[839]Epist. ii. ver. 70, 113, 116, 119-22.[840]Epist. ii. ver. 131-148, 157.[841]Epist. ii. ver. 138, 147.[842]Crousaz's Commentary on Pope's Essay, translated by Johnson, p. 109.[843]Fable of the Bees, ninth edition, vol. i. p. 137.[844]Epist. ii. ver. 175, 197.[845]Epist. ii. ver. 185-194.[846]Epist. ii. ver. 59, 67.[847]Epist. ii. ver. 147.[848]Epist. ii. ver. 201.[849]Matthew, xii. 33.[850]Epist. iii. ver. 261.[851]Epist. ii. ver. 185-194, 196.[852]Spence, p. 9.[853]Epist. ii. ver. 216, note.[854]Epist. ii. ver. 245.[855]Epist. ii. ver. 285-292.[856]Epist. ii. ver. 291. Spence, p. 109.[857]Epist. ii. ver. 238.[858]Argument of Epist. ii.[859]Epist. ii. ver. 241-4.[860]Epist. ii. ver. 272.[861]Epist. ii. ver. 286-7.[862]Epist. ii. ver. 288.[863]Epist. ii. ver. 268.[864]Bolingbroke, Works, vol. iv. p. 154.[865]Epist. ii. ver. 273.[866]Epist. ii. ver. 275-282.[867]Epist. ii. ver. 293-4.[868]Epist. iii. ver. 149.
[721]Dr. Desaguliers, the son of a French refugee, was born at Rochelle in 1683, and died, Feb. 29, 1744, at the Bedford Coffee-house, Covent Garden. He was a clergyman of the church of England, a great lover of science, and a friend of Newton. He delivered lectures for many years on Experimental Philosophy, and published an excellent work on the subject in 2 vols. 4to. He does not appear to have shown any turn for poetry, and those who ascribed to him the Essay on Man may have had no better ground for their opinion than that the poem treated of one kind of philosophy, and Desaguliers was learned in another.
[721]Dr. Desaguliers, the son of a French refugee, was born at Rochelle in 1683, and died, Feb. 29, 1744, at the Bedford Coffee-house, Covent Garden. He was a clergyman of the church of England, a great lover of science, and a friend of Newton. He delivered lectures for many years on Experimental Philosophy, and published an excellent work on the subject in 2 vols. 4to. He does not appear to have shown any turn for poetry, and those who ascribed to him the Essay on Man may have had no better ground for their opinion than that the poem treated of one kind of philosophy, and Desaguliers was learned in another.
[722]Thomas Catesby, Lord Paget, son of the Earl of Uxbridge, died before his father in Jan. 1742. He published in 1734, a poem called An Essay on Human Life; and in 1737 An Epistle to Mr. Pope, in Anti-heroics. "The former," says Horace Walpole, "is written in imitation of Pope's ethic epistles, and has good lines, but not much poetry."
[722]Thomas Catesby, Lord Paget, son of the Earl of Uxbridge, died before his father in Jan. 1742. He published in 1734, a poem called An Essay on Human Life; and in 1737 An Epistle to Mr. Pope, in Anti-heroics. "The former," says Horace Walpole, "is written in imitation of Pope's ethic epistles, and has good lines, but not much poetry."
[723]In the Life of Pope by the pretended Squire Ayre, it is said that "a certain gentleman," meaning Mallet, was at Pope's house shortly after the first Epistle was published, and in answer to the question "What new pieces were brought to light?" replied, "That there was a thing come out called an Essay on Man, and it was a most abominable piece of stuff; shocking poetry, insufferable philosophy, no coherence, no connection at all." Pope confessed he was the author, which, says Ayre, "was like a clap of thunder to the mistaken bard; with a blush and a bow he took his leave of Pope, and never ventured to show his unlucky face there again." The final statement is contradicted by the letters of Pope and Mallet, which prove that they carried on a cordial intercourse to the last. The rest of the story is improbable, for it is not likely that Pope, who was bent at this early period upon keeping the authorship a secret, would have unmasked himself in a manner to preclude confidence, and provoke Mallet to divulge the truth to the world. Ayre's authority is good for nothing, and Ruffhead only copied Ayre, but his repetition of the anecdote gave it currency, and it has ever since passed unquestioned from writer to writer.
[723]In the Life of Pope by the pretended Squire Ayre, it is said that "a certain gentleman," meaning Mallet, was at Pope's house shortly after the first Epistle was published, and in answer to the question "What new pieces were brought to light?" replied, "That there was a thing come out called an Essay on Man, and it was a most abominable piece of stuff; shocking poetry, insufferable philosophy, no coherence, no connection at all." Pope confessed he was the author, which, says Ayre, "was like a clap of thunder to the mistaken bard; with a blush and a bow he took his leave of Pope, and never ventured to show his unlucky face there again." The final statement is contradicted by the letters of Pope and Mallet, which prove that they carried on a cordial intercourse to the last. The rest of the story is improbable, for it is not likely that Pope, who was bent at this early period upon keeping the authorship a secret, would have unmasked himself in a manner to preclude confidence, and provoke Mallet to divulge the truth to the world. Ayre's authority is good for nothing, and Ruffhead only copied Ayre, but his repetition of the anecdote gave it currency, and it has ever since passed unquestioned from writer to writer.
[724]Warburton. "Your Travels I hear much of," says Pope in the letter to Swift; "my own I promise you shall never more be in a strange land, but a diligent, I hope, useful investigation of my own territories. I mean no more translations, but something domestic, fit for my own country, and my own time." The allusion is obscure, and it may be doubted whether Pope referred to his ethical scheme, which he did not commence till four years later.
[724]Warburton. "Your Travels I hear much of," says Pope in the letter to Swift; "my own I promise you shall never more be in a strange land, but a diligent, I hope, useful investigation of my own territories. I mean no more translations, but something domestic, fit for my own country, and my own time." The allusion is obscure, and it may be doubted whether Pope referred to his ethical scheme, which he did not commence till four years later.
[725]Bolingbroke.
[725]Bolingbroke.
[726]The authority was Lord Bathurst. Dr. Hugh Blair dined with him in 1763, and says in a letter to Boswell, that "the conversation turning on Mr. Pope, Lord Bathurst told us that the Essay on Man was originally composed by Lord Bolingbroke in prose, and that Mr. Pope did no more than put it into verse: that he had read Lord Bolingbroke's manuscript in his own handwriting, and remembered well that he was at a loss whether most to admire the elegance of Lord Bolingbroke's prose, or the beauty of Mr. Pope's verse." Boswell read the account to Johnson, who replied, "Depend upon it, sir, this is too strongly stated. Pope may have had from Bolingbroke the philosophic stamina of his Essay, and admitting this to be true, Lord Bathurst did not intentionally falsify. But the thing is not true in the latitude that Blair seems to imagine; we are sure that the poetical imagery, which makes a great part of the poem, was Pope's own."
[726]The authority was Lord Bathurst. Dr. Hugh Blair dined with him in 1763, and says in a letter to Boswell, that "the conversation turning on Mr. Pope, Lord Bathurst told us that the Essay on Man was originally composed by Lord Bolingbroke in prose, and that Mr. Pope did no more than put it into verse: that he had read Lord Bolingbroke's manuscript in his own handwriting, and remembered well that he was at a loss whether most to admire the elegance of Lord Bolingbroke's prose, or the beauty of Mr. Pope's verse." Boswell read the account to Johnson, who replied, "Depend upon it, sir, this is too strongly stated. Pope may have had from Bolingbroke the philosophic stamina of his Essay, and admitting this to be true, Lord Bathurst did not intentionally falsify. But the thing is not true in the latitude that Blair seems to imagine; we are sure that the poetical imagery, which makes a great part of the poem, was Pope's own."
[727]The first treatise of Crousaz was translated by Miss Carter, and published in 1738, under the title of An Examination of Mr. Pope's Essay on Man. The second treatise was translated by Johnson himself, and published in 1742, with the title, A Commentary on Mr. Pope's Principles of Morality.
[727]The first treatise of Crousaz was translated by Miss Carter, and published in 1738, under the title of An Examination of Mr. Pope's Essay on Man. The second treatise was translated by Johnson himself, and published in 1742, with the title, A Commentary on Mr. Pope's Principles of Morality.
[728]Theobald's Shakespeare was published in 1733, the same year with the first three epistles of the Essay on Man.
[728]Theobald's Shakespeare was published in 1733, the same year with the first three epistles of the Essay on Man.
[729]Warburton's first letter in vindication of Pope appeared in The Works of the Learned, December 1738. The journal called The Present State of the Republic of Letters, had come to an end in 1736.
[729]Warburton's first letter in vindication of Pope appeared in The Works of the Learned, December 1738. The journal called The Present State of the Republic of Letters, had come to an end in 1736.
[730]Jacob Robinson, a bookseller in Fleet-street, was the publisher of The Works of the Learned, to which Warburton sent his five letters in reply to Crousaz.
[730]Jacob Robinson, a bookseller in Fleet-street, was the publisher of The Works of the Learned, to which Warburton sent his five letters in reply to Crousaz.
[731]This was done in 1740, when the five letters were expanded into six. A seventh letter was added in a subsequent edition, and the whole was re-arranged in four letters in the edition of 1742.
[731]This was done in 1740, when the five letters were expanded into six. A seventh letter was added in a subsequent edition, and the whole was re-arranged in four letters in the edition of 1742.
[732]Ruffhead's Life of Pope, p. 219.
[732]Ruffhead's Life of Pope, p. 219.
[733]Warton states that Dobson relinquished the undertaking from the impossibility of preserving in Latin verse the conciseness of the English. He appears to have accomplished half his task; for when Christopher Smart subsequently volunteered his services, Pope said in his reply, Nov. 18, 1740, "The two first epistles are already well done." A specimen from Dobson's translation of each of these epistles was among the papers of Spence, and is printed in the appendix to Mr. Singer's edition of the Anecdotes. A version of the Essay in Latin hexameters appeared at Wirtemberg. This, Pope tells Smart, was "very faithful but inelegant," and he adds that his reason for desiring a more adequate rendering was that either the sense or the poetry was lost in all the foreign translations.
[733]Warton states that Dobson relinquished the undertaking from the impossibility of preserving in Latin verse the conciseness of the English. He appears to have accomplished half his task; for when Christopher Smart subsequently volunteered his services, Pope said in his reply, Nov. 18, 1740, "The two first epistles are already well done." A specimen from Dobson's translation of each of these epistles was among the papers of Spence, and is printed in the appendix to Mr. Singer's edition of the Anecdotes. A version of the Essay in Latin hexameters appeared at Wirtemberg. This, Pope tells Smart, was "very faithful but inelegant," and he adds that his reason for desiring a more adequate rendering was that either the sense or the poetry was lost in all the foreign translations.
[734]By "his friend," Johnson means Warburton, not Dobson.
[734]By "his friend," Johnson means Warburton, not Dobson.
[735]This sort of burlesque abstract, which may be so easily but so unjustly made of any composition whatever, is exactly similar to the imperfect and unfair representation which the same critic has given of the beautiful imagery in Il Penseroso of Milton.—Warton.Johnson's criticism of a poem like this, cannot be compared with his futile declamation against the imagery of the Penseroso. For in speaking of the Penseroso, Johnson spoke of what I do not hesitate to say he did not understand. He had no congenial feelings properly to appreciate the character of such poetry; but the case is different where he brings his great mind to try, by the test of truth, arguments and doctrines which appeal to the understanding. Johnson was not an inadequate judge of Pope's philosophy, though he was certainly so of Milton's poetry. But no composition could possibly stand before his contemptuous declamation.—Bowles.
[735]This sort of burlesque abstract, which may be so easily but so unjustly made of any composition whatever, is exactly similar to the imperfect and unfair representation which the same critic has given of the beautiful imagery in Il Penseroso of Milton.—Warton.
Johnson's criticism of a poem like this, cannot be compared with his futile declamation against the imagery of the Penseroso. For in speaking of the Penseroso, Johnson spoke of what I do not hesitate to say he did not understand. He had no congenial feelings properly to appreciate the character of such poetry; but the case is different where he brings his great mind to try, by the test of truth, arguments and doctrines which appeal to the understanding. Johnson was not an inadequate judge of Pope's philosophy, though he was certainly so of Milton's poetry. But no composition could possibly stand before his contemptuous declamation.—Bowles.
[736]Bowles himself had a low opinion of the "system of philosophy" embodied in the Essay on Man. After stating that Pope was the pupil of Bolingbroke, he adds, "But this poem will continue to charm from the music of its verse, the splendour of its diction, and the beauty of its illustrations, when the philosophy that gave rise to it, like the coarse manure that fed the flowers, is perceived and remembered no more."
[736]Bowles himself had a low opinion of the "system of philosophy" embodied in the Essay on Man. After stating that Pope was the pupil of Bolingbroke, he adds, "But this poem will continue to charm from the music of its verse, the splendour of its diction, and the beauty of its illustrations, when the philosophy that gave rise to it, like the coarse manure that fed the flowers, is perceived and remembered no more."
[737]Burke's Works, ed. 1808, vol. v. p. 172.
[737]Burke's Works, ed. 1808, vol. v. p. 172.
[738]Spence, p. 108, 127.
[738]Spence, p. 108, 127.
[739]Essay on Man, Epist. iv. ver. 391. Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 40. "You have begun at my request the work which I have wished long that you would undertake."
[739]Essay on Man, Epist. iv. ver. 391. Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 40. "You have begun at my request the work which I have wished long that you would undertake."
[740]Spence, p. 238.
[740]Spence, p. 238.
[741]Spence, p. 36.
[741]Spence, p. 36.
[742]Spence, p. 103.
[742]Spence, p. 103.
[743]Pope to Swift, Sept. 15, 1734.
[743]Pope to Swift, Sept. 15, 1734.
[744]Spence, p. 12.
[744]Spence, p. 12.
[745]Warton's Essay on the Genius of Pope, 5th ed. vol. ii. p. 149.
[745]Warton's Essay on the Genius of Pope, 5th ed. vol. ii. p. 149.
[746]"It may safely," says Lord Kames, "be pronounced a capital defect in the composition of a verse, to put a low word, incapable of an accent, in the place where this accent should be," and he instances the last syllable of "dependencies," in Pope's Essay on Man, Epist. i. ver. 30:But of this frame, the bearings and the ties,The strong connections, nice dependencies,Gradations just, &c.What appeared a defect to Lord Kames will seem to many persons an advantage. The want of accent softens the rhyme, and relieves the monotonous, cloying effect of a full concord of sound. In most of Pope's imperfect rhymes the similarity of sound is too slight, and the ear is disappointed.
[746]"It may safely," says Lord Kames, "be pronounced a capital defect in the composition of a verse, to put a low word, incapable of an accent, in the place where this accent should be," and he instances the last syllable of "dependencies," in Pope's Essay on Man, Epist. i. ver. 30:
But of this frame, the bearings and the ties,The strong connections, nice dependencies,Gradations just, &c.
But of this frame, the bearings and the ties,The strong connections, nice dependencies,Gradations just, &c.
But of this frame, the bearings and the ties,The strong connections, nice dependencies,Gradations just, &c.
What appeared a defect to Lord Kames will seem to many persons an advantage. The want of accent softens the rhyme, and relieves the monotonous, cloying effect of a full concord of sound. In most of Pope's imperfect rhymes the similarity of sound is too slight, and the ear is disappointed.
[747]Letters by Eminent Persons, 2nd ed. vol. ii. p. 48.
[747]Letters by Eminent Persons, 2nd ed. vol. ii. p. 48.
[748]Spence, p. 108.
[748]Spence, p. 108.
[749]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 335.
[749]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 335.
[750]Bolingbroke's Works, Philadelphia, vol. iii. pp. 40, 45; vol. iv. p. 111.
[750]Bolingbroke's Works, Philadelphia, vol. iii. pp. 40, 45; vol. iv. p. 111.
[751]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 336.
[751]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 336.
[752]Grimouard, Essai sur Bolingbroke, quoted by Cooke, Memoirs of Bolingbroke, vol. ii. p. 96.
[752]Grimouard, Essai sur Bolingbroke, quoted by Cooke, Memoirs of Bolingbroke, vol. ii. p. 96.
[753]Chesterfield's Works, ed. Mahon, vol. ii. p. 445.
[753]Chesterfield's Works, ed. Mahon, vol. ii. p. 445.
[754]Ruffhead, Life of Pope, p. 219. The manuscript of this passage exists in Warburton's handwriting. Ruffhead altered two or three words, which are here restored from the original.
[754]Ruffhead, Life of Pope, p. 219. The manuscript of this passage exists in Warburton's handwriting. Ruffhead altered two or three words, which are here restored from the original.
[755]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 91.
[755]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 91.
[756]Spence, who wrote down the anecdote from Warburton's conversation, says that Hooke talked of "Lord Bolingbroke's disbelief of the moral attributes of God," which agrees substantially with the language in Ruffhead.
[756]Spence, who wrote down the anecdote from Warburton's conversation, says that Hooke talked of "Lord Bolingbroke's disbelief of the moral attributes of God," which agrees substantially with the language in Ruffhead.
[757]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. p. 320.
[757]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. p. 320.
[758]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. pp. 23, 24; vol. iii. p. 430.
[758]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. pp. 23, 24; vol. iii. p. 430.
[759]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. p. 111.
[759]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. p. 111.
[760]Essay on Man, Epist. ii. ver. 1; iv. ver. 398, and the additional couplet in the note.
[760]Essay on Man, Epist. ii. ver. 1; iv. ver. 398, and the additional couplet in the note.
[761]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. pp. 175, 152.
[761]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. pp. 175, 152.
[762]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 335.
[762]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 335.
[763]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 88.
[763]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 88.
[764]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 336.
[764]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 336.
[765]Warburton, Note on Epist. ii. ver. 149.
[765]Warburton, Note on Epist. ii. ver. 149.
[766]Warburton, Note on Epist. iii. ver. 303.
[766]Warburton, Note on Epist. iii. ver. 303.
[767]Warburton, Note on Epist. iii. ver. 303.
[767]Warburton, Note on Epist. iii. ver. 303.
[768]Epist. ii. ver. 274; Epist. iii. ver. 286.
[768]Epist. ii. ver. 274; Epist. iii. ver. 286.
[769]Epist. iii. ver. 305.
[769]Epist. iii. ver. 305.
[770]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 335.
[770]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. p. 335.
[771]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. p. 436.
[771]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. p. 436.
[772]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. pp. 333, 366. "The imperfection of the parts," says Leibnitz, Opera, p. 638, "produce a greater perfection in the whole." According to his custom, Bolingbroke copied Leibnitz without naming him.
[772]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. pp. 333, 366. "The imperfection of the parts," says Leibnitz, Opera, p. 638, "produce a greater perfection in the whole." According to his custom, Bolingbroke copied Leibnitz without naming him.
[773]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 41.
[773]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 41.
[774]Pope's Correspondence, ed. Elwin, vol. i. p. 339.
[774]Pope's Correspondence, ed. Elwin, vol. i. p. 339.
[775]Pope's Correspondence, vol. i. pp. 339, 345, 346, 348.
[775]Pope's Correspondence, vol. i. pp. 339, 345, 346, 348.
[776]Spence, p. 107.
[776]Spence, p. 107.
[777]Middleton to Warburton, Jan. 7, 1740.
[777]Middleton to Warburton, Jan. 7, 1740.
[778]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. p. 262.
[778]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. p. 262.
[779]Spence, p. 238.
[779]Spence, p. 238.
[780]Watson's Life of Warburton, p. 15.
[780]Watson's Life of Warburton, p. 15.
[781]Warburton's Letters to Hurd, p. 224.
[781]Warburton's Letters to Hurd, p. 224.
[782]Tyers, Historical Rhapsody, p. 78.
[782]Tyers, Historical Rhapsody, p. 78.
[783]For this we have the authority of Dr. Law, the Bishop of Carlisle, in the preface to his translation of King's Origin of Evil.
[783]For this we have the authority of Dr. Law, the Bishop of Carlisle, in the preface to his translation of King's Origin of Evil.
[784]Prior's Life of Malone, p. 430. Warton's Pope, vol. i. p. xlv.
[784]Prior's Life of Malone, p. 430. Warton's Pope, vol. i. p. xlv.
[785]Warburton's Commentary on Mr. Pope's Essay on Man, ed. 1742, p. 182.
[785]Warburton's Commentary on Mr. Pope's Essay on Man, ed. 1742, p. 182.
[786]Warburton's Pope, Essay on Man, Epist. ii. ver. 31.
[786]Warburton's Pope, Essay on Man, Epist. ii. ver. 31.
[787]Warton's Pope, vol. iii. p. 162.
[787]Warton's Pope, vol. iii. p. 162.
[788]Warburton's Commentary on Mr. Pope's Essay on Man, p. 121.
[788]Warburton's Commentary on Mr. Pope's Essay on Man, p. 121.
[789]Warburton's Letters to Hurd, p. 224.
[789]Warburton's Letters to Hurd, p. 224.
[790]Warburton to Dr. Doddridge, Feb. 12, 1739, in Nichols, Illustrations of Literary History, vol. ii. p. 816.
[790]Warburton to Dr. Doddridge, Feb. 12, 1739, in Nichols, Illustrations of Literary History, vol. ii. p. 816.
[791]Warburton's Vindication of Mr. Pope's Essay on Man, 1740, p. 83.
[791]Warburton's Vindication of Mr. Pope's Essay on Man, 1740, p. 83.
[792]Nichols, Illustrations of Literary History, vol. ii. p. 113.
[792]Nichols, Illustrations of Literary History, vol. ii. p. 113.
[793]Warburton's Pope, Epist. iv. ver. 394.
[793]Warburton's Pope, Epist. iv. ver. 394.
[794]Warton's Pope, vol. ix. p. 342.
[794]Warton's Pope, vol. ix. p. 342.
[795]Nichols, Illustrations of Lit. Hist., vol. ii. p. 53.
[795]Nichols, Illustrations of Lit. Hist., vol. ii. p. 53.
[796]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. pp. 92, 185.
[796]Warburton's Works, vol. xii. pp. 92, 185.
[797]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 53.
[797]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 53.
[798]Pope to Warburton, Sept. 20, 1739; Jan. 4, 1740.
[798]Pope to Warburton, Sept. 20, 1739; Jan. 4, 1740.
[799]Œuvres de Louis Racine, ed. 1808, tom. i. p. 444. "If," said Voltaire, "Pope wrote this letter to Racine, God must have given him at the close of his life the gift of tongues." Voltaire repeats three times over in his works, that he associated with Pope for a twelvemonth, and knew, what was publicly notorious in England, that he could hardly read French, and could not speak one word or write one line of the language. The objection was founded on the mistaken assumption that the French translation was the original letter. In the later editions of Racine's poem the letter is printed from Pope's English. Voltaire was annoyed that Pope should "retract" his deism, and wanted to have it believed that Ramsay alone was responsible for the sentiments expressed in the letter to Racine.
[799]Œuvres de Louis Racine, ed. 1808, tom. i. p. 444. "If," said Voltaire, "Pope wrote this letter to Racine, God must have given him at the close of his life the gift of tongues." Voltaire repeats three times over in his works, that he associated with Pope for a twelvemonth, and knew, what was publicly notorious in England, that he could hardly read French, and could not speak one word or write one line of the language. The objection was founded on the mistaken assumption that the French translation was the original letter. In the later editions of Racine's poem the letter is printed from Pope's English. Voltaire was annoyed that Pope should "retract" his deism, and wanted to have it believed that Ramsay alone was responsible for the sentiments expressed in the letter to Racine.
[800]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 457.
[800]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 457.
[801]Ruffhead, Life of Pope, p. 542. Spence, p. 277.
[801]Ruffhead, Life of Pope, p. 542. Spence, p. 277.
[802]Œuvres de Louis Racine, tom. i. p. 451.
[802]Œuvres de Louis Racine, tom. i. p. 451.
[803]Œuvres de Louis Racine, tom. i. p. 442.
[803]Œuvres de Louis Racine, tom. i. p. 442.
[804]Spence, p. 231.
[804]Spence, p. 231.
[805]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 62.
[805]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 62.
[806]Epist. ii. ver. i.
[806]Epist. ii. ver. i.
[807]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 52.
[807]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 52.
[808]Leibnitz, Opera Philosophica, ed. Erdmann, pp. 506, 544.
[808]Leibnitz, Opera Philosophica, ed. Erdmann, pp. 506, 544.
[809]Hume's Essays, ed. 1809, vol. ii. pp. 146, 147, 152.
[809]Hume's Essays, ed. 1809, vol. ii. pp. 146, 147, 152.
[810]Hume's Essays, vol. ii. p. 153.
[810]Hume's Essays, vol. ii. p. 153.
[811]John, xv. 2.
[811]John, xv. 2.
[812]Phillimore's Life of Lord Lyttelton, vol. i. p. 304.
[812]Phillimore's Life of Lord Lyttelton, vol. i. p. 304.
[813]Leibnitz, Opera, p. 628.
[813]Leibnitz, Opera, p. 628.
[814]Epist. i. ver. 159, 151-4.
[814]Epist. i. ver. 159, 151-4.
[815]Epist. i. ver. 141-6.
[815]Epist. i. ver. 141-6.
[816]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. p. 366.
[816]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iv. p. 366.
[817]Leibnitz, Opera, pp. 571, 577.
[817]Leibnitz, Opera, pp. 571, 577.
[818]Epist. i. ver. 147, iv. ver. 115.
[818]Epist. i. ver. 147, iv. ver. 115.
[819]Epist. iv. ver. 116, note.
[819]Epist. iv. ver. 116, note.
[820]Leibnitz, Opera, pp. 312, 431, 507, 603.
[820]Leibnitz, Opera, pp. 312, 431, 507, 603.
[821]Epist. i. ver. 241-258.
[821]Epist. i. ver. 241-258.
[822]Epist. i. ver. 47-8.
[822]Epist. i. ver. 47-8.
[823]Epist. i. ver. 43-50.
[823]Epist. i. ver. 43-50.
[824]Voltaire, Œuvres, tom. xlvii. p. 98.
[824]Voltaire, Œuvres, tom. xlvii. p. 98.
[825]Jeremiah, ix. 23, 24.
[825]Jeremiah, ix. 23, 24.
[826]John, xiv. 9.
[826]John, xiv. 9.
[827]Epist. ii. ver. 1-2.
[827]Epist. ii. ver. 1-2.
[828]Epist. ii. ver. 3-18.
[828]Epist. ii. ver. 3-18.
[829]Epist. i. 61-8.
[829]Epist. i. 61-8.
[830]Epist. ii. ver. 53-8.
[830]Epist. ii. ver. 53-8.
[831]Warburton's Commentary, Epist. ii. ver. 53.
[831]Warburton's Commentary, Epist. ii. ver. 53.
[832]Epist. ii. ver. 235-8.
[832]Epist. ii. ver. 235-8.
[833]Epist. ii. ver. 53.
[833]Epist. ii. ver. 53.
[834]Epist. i. ver. 131.
[834]Epist. i. ver. 131.
[835]Epist. ii. ver. 126.
[835]Epist. ii. ver. 126.
[836]Madame de Staël, De l'Allemagne, Part iii., Chap. 16.
[836]Madame de Staël, De l'Allemagne, Part iii., Chap. 16.
[837]Butler's Sermons, Oxford, 1835, pp. xx., 8, 161.
[837]Butler's Sermons, Oxford, 1835, pp. xx., 8, 161.
[838]A man may eat from principle, which often happens with the sick when they are wishing to die, and appetite is extinct. For the same reason they may eat delicacies when the stomach rebels against common fare. This was the case with Pascal in his illness, and, from a mistaken asceticism, he endeavoured to swallow the choice food without tasting it.
[838]A man may eat from principle, which often happens with the sick when they are wishing to die, and appetite is extinct. For the same reason they may eat delicacies when the stomach rebels against common fare. This was the case with Pascal in his illness, and, from a mistaken asceticism, he endeavoured to swallow the choice food without tasting it.
[839]Epist. ii. ver. 70, 113, 116, 119-22.
[839]Epist. ii. ver. 70, 113, 116, 119-22.
[840]Epist. ii. ver. 131-148, 157.
[840]Epist. ii. ver. 131-148, 157.
[841]Epist. ii. ver. 138, 147.
[841]Epist. ii. ver. 138, 147.
[842]Crousaz's Commentary on Pope's Essay, translated by Johnson, p. 109.
[842]Crousaz's Commentary on Pope's Essay, translated by Johnson, p. 109.
[843]Fable of the Bees, ninth edition, vol. i. p. 137.
[843]Fable of the Bees, ninth edition, vol. i. p. 137.
[844]Epist. ii. ver. 175, 197.
[844]Epist. ii. ver. 175, 197.
[845]Epist. ii. ver. 185-194.
[845]Epist. ii. ver. 185-194.
[846]Epist. ii. ver. 59, 67.
[846]Epist. ii. ver. 59, 67.
[847]Epist. ii. ver. 147.
[847]Epist. ii. ver. 147.
[848]Epist. ii. ver. 201.
[848]Epist. ii. ver. 201.
[849]Matthew, xii. 33.
[849]Matthew, xii. 33.
[850]Epist. iii. ver. 261.
[850]Epist. iii. ver. 261.
[851]Epist. ii. ver. 185-194, 196.
[851]Epist. ii. ver. 185-194, 196.
[852]Spence, p. 9.
[852]Spence, p. 9.
[853]Epist. ii. ver. 216, note.
[853]Epist. ii. ver. 216, note.
[854]Epist. ii. ver. 245.
[854]Epist. ii. ver. 245.
[855]Epist. ii. ver. 285-292.
[855]Epist. ii. ver. 285-292.
[856]Epist. ii. ver. 291. Spence, p. 109.
[856]Epist. ii. ver. 291. Spence, p. 109.
[857]Epist. ii. ver. 238.
[857]Epist. ii. ver. 238.
[858]Argument of Epist. ii.
[858]Argument of Epist. ii.
[859]Epist. ii. ver. 241-4.
[859]Epist. ii. ver. 241-4.
[860]Epist. ii. ver. 272.
[860]Epist. ii. ver. 272.
[861]Epist. ii. ver. 286-7.
[861]Epist. ii. ver. 286-7.
[862]Epist. ii. ver. 288.
[862]Epist. ii. ver. 288.
[863]Epist. ii. ver. 268.
[863]Epist. ii. ver. 268.
[864]Bolingbroke, Works, vol. iv. p. 154.
[864]Bolingbroke, Works, vol. iv. p. 154.
[865]Epist. ii. ver. 273.
[865]Epist. ii. ver. 273.
[866]Epist. ii. ver. 275-282.
[866]Epist. ii. ver. 275-282.
[867]Epist. ii. ver. 293-4.
[867]Epist. ii. ver. 293-4.
[868]Epist. iii. ver. 149.
[868]Epist. iii. ver. 149.