PR
3633
A5
1769
Pope
Letters
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
LETTERS
OF THE LATE
ALEXANDER POPE, Efq.
TO
A LADY.
Never before publiflied
LONDON,
Printed for J. DODSLEY, in Pali-Mall.
M D C C L X I X,
I
pfi
( v ] 3^33
/76f
ADVERTISEMENT.
THESE Letters, befides the
naivete of the ftyle, the quick
failles of an ingenious mind, and
the graver obfervations of re-
flection and judgment, difcover
the Writer's Heart to have had a
more amiable fenfibility, and to
be tindured with more good-
nefs, than his other Writings of
this fort do.
A 3 IT
IT may be proper juft to men-
tion, that the Originals of thefe
Letters are in Mr. Dodfley's
Poffeffion.
MR.
7 ]
MR. POPE'S
LETTERS.
LETTER I.
JVI D A M,
Twitenham, O&. 18.
WE are indebted to Heaven
for all things, and above
all for our fenfe and genius (in what-
ever
8 MR. POPE'S
eVer degree we have it) ; but to fan-
cy yourfelf indebted to any thing elfe,
moves my anger at your modefty. The
regard I muft bear you, ferioufly pro-
ceeds from myfelf alone; and I will
not fuffer even one I like fo much as
Mrs. II. to have a mare in caufing it.
I challenge a kind of relation to you
on the foul's fide, which I take to be
better than either on a father's or
mother's ; and if you can overlook an
ugly body (that (lands much in the
way of any friendmip, when it is be-
tween different fexes) I {hall hope to
find you a true and conftant kinfwo-
man
LETTERS. 9
man in Apollo. Not that I would
place all my pretenfions upon that
poetical foot, much leis confine them
to it ; I am far more defirous to be
admitted as yours, on the more meri-
torious title of friendship. I have
ever believed this as a facred maxim,
that the moft ingenious natures
were the moft fincere; and the moft
knowing and fenfible minds made the
beft friends. Of all thofe that I have
thought it the felicity of my life to
know, I have ever found the moft
diftinguimed in capacity, the moft
diftinguimed in morality : and thofe
B the
io M R. P O P E 'S
the mod to be depended on, whom
one efteemed fo much as to defire
they mould be fo. I beg you to make
me no more compliments. I could
make you a great many, but I know
you neither need them, nor can like
them : be fo good as to think I do not.
In one word, your writings are very
good, and very entertaining j but not
fo good, nor fo entertaining, as your
life and converfation. One is but
the effect and emanation of the other.
It will always be a greater pleafure to,
me, to know you are well, than that
you write well, though every time
vou
LETTERS. ii
you tell me the one, I muft know the
other. I am willing to fpare your
modeftyj and therefore, as to your
writing, may perhaps never {ay more
(directly to you rfelf) than the fewver-
fes I fend here; which (as a proof of
my own modefty too) 1 made fo long
ago as the day you fate foryour picture,
and yet never till now durfl confefs to
you.
Tho' fprightly Sappho force our love and praife,
A fofter wonder my pleas'd foul furveys,
The mild Erinna, blufliing in her bays.
So while the fun's broad beam yet ftrikes the fight,
All mild appears the moon's more fober light,
Serene, in virgin majefty, (he fhines ;
And, un-obferved, the glaring fun declines.
B 2 THE
12 MR. POPE'S
THE brighteft wit in the world,
without the better qualities of the
heart, muft meet with this fate j and
tends only to endear fuch a character
as I take yours to be. In the better
difcovery, and fuller conviction of
which, I have a ftrong opinion, I
fhall grow more and more happy, the
longer I live your acquaintance, and
(if you will indulge me in fo much
pleafure)
Your faithful friend, and moft
obliged fervant,
A. POPE.
LET-
LETTERS. 13
LETTER II.
MADAM,
Twitenham, Nov. 5.
THOUGH I am extremely
obliged by your agreeable let-
ter, I will avoid all mention of the
pleafure you give me, that we may
have no more words about compli-
ments ; which I have often obferved
people talk themfelves into, while
they
.14 M R. P O P E'S
they endeavour to talk themfelves out
of. It is no more the diet of friend-
flhip an'd efteem, than a few thin wa-
fers and marmalade were of fo hearty
a ftomach as Sancho's. In a word,
I am very proud of my new relation,
and like ParnafTus much the better,
fince I found I had fo good a neigh-
bour there. Mrs. H , who lives
at court, (hall teach two country-folks
fincerity ; and when I am fo happy
as to meet you, {he mall fettle the
proportions of that regard, or good-
nature, which (he can allow you to
fpare me, from a heart, which is fo
much her own as yours is.
THAT
LETTERS. 15
THAT lady is the mod trufty of
friends, if the imitation of Shakefpear
be yours ; for (he made me give my
opinion of it with afiurance it was
none of Mrs . . I honeftly liked
and praifed it, whofe-foever it was;
there is in it a fenfible melancholy,
and too true a pifture of human life;
fo true an one, that I can fcarce wifli
the verfes yours at the expence of
your thinking that way, fo early.
I rather wifli you may love the town
(which the author of thofe lines can-
not immoderately do) thefe many years.
It
i6 MR. P O P E'S
It is time enough to like, or affect to
like, the country, when one is out of
love with all but one's-felf, and therefore
ftudies to become agreeable or eafy to
one's-felf. Retiring into one's-felf is
generally the pis-aller of mankind,.
Would you have me defcribe my fo-
litude and grotto to you? what if,
after a long and painted defcription
of them in verfe (which the writer
I have juft been fpeaking of could
better make, if I can guefs by that
line,
No noife but water, ever friend to thought)
i what
LETTERS. 17
what if it ended thus ?
What are the falling rills, the pendant fliades>
The morning bow'rs, the evening colonnades j
But foft recefles for th' uneafy mind,
To figh un-heard in, to the paffing wind!
Lo ! the ftruck deer, in fome fequefter'd parr^
Lies down to die (the arrow in his heart) ;
There hid in {hades, and wafting day by day*
Inly he bleeds, arid pants his foul away.
If thefe lines want poetry, they do
not want fenfe. God Almighty long
preferve you from a feeling of them-!
The book you mention, Bruyere's
Characters, will make any one know
the world -, and I believe at the fame
C time
jg MR. POP E'S
time defpife it (which is a fign it will
make one know it thoroughly). It is
certainly the proof of a matter-hand,
that can give fuch ftriking likenefTes,
in fuch flight fketches, and in fo few
ftrokes on each fubject. In anfwer
to your queftion about Shakefpear, the
book is about a quarter printed, and
the number of emendations very great.
I have never indulged my own con-
jectures, but kept meerly to fuch
amendments as are authorized by old
editions, in the author's life -time:
but I think it will be a year at leaft
before the whole work can be finim-
cd.
LETTERS. i 9
ed. In reply to your very handfome
(I wifh it were a very true) compliment
upon this head, I only defire you to
obferve, by what natural, gentle de-
grees I have funk to the humble thing
I now am : firft from a pretending
poet to a critick, then to a low tran-
flator, laftly to a meer publifher. I
am apprehenfive I mall be nothing
that's of any value, long, except,
Madam,
Your moft obliged, and
moft faithful humble
fervant,
A. POPE.
C 2 I long
2 o MR. P O P E'S
I long for your return to town $
a place I am unfit for, but fhall
not be long out of, as foon as I
know I may be permitted to.
wait on you there.
LET-
LETTERS. 21
&&i^^
LETTER IIL
MADAM,
Thurfday night,
T T was an agreeable furprize to me*
-*- to hear of your fettlement in town.
I lye at my Lord Peterborow's in
Bolton-ftreet, where any commands
of yours will reach me to-morrow,
only on Saturday-evening I am pre-
engaged. If Mrs. H be to be en-
gaged
2 MR. POPE'S
gaged (and if fhe is by any creature,
it is by you), I hope fhe will join us.
I am, with great truth,
Madam,
Your mofl faithful friend,
and obliged fervant,
A. P O P E.
LET-
LETTERS. 23
LE T T E R IV.
MADAM,
T COULD not play the imperti-
- nent fo far as to write to you,
till I was encouraged to it by a piece
of news Mrs H tells me, which
ought to be the moil agreeable in the
world to any author, That you are
determined to write no more It is
now the time then, not for me only,
but
24 MR. P O P E'S
but for every body> to write without
fear, or wit : and I {hall give you the
firft example here. But for this aflu*
ranee, it would be every way too dan*
geroustocorrefpondwith a lady,whofe
very firft fight and very firft writings
bad fuch an effect., upon a man ufed
to what they call fine fights, and
what they call fine writings. Yet
he has been dull enough to. fleep qui^
etly, after all he has feen, and all he
has read; till yours broke in upon
his ftupidity and indolence, and totally
deftroyed it. But, God be thanked,
you will write no more ; fo I am in
5 no
LETTERS. 25
no danger of increafing my admira-
tion of you one way ; and as to the
othef, you will never (I have too
much reafon to fear) open thefe eyes
again with one glimpfe of you.
I AM told, you named lately in a
letter a place called Twitenham, with
particular diftin&ion. That you may
not be mif-conftrued and have your
meaning miftaken for the future, I
muft acquaint you, Madam, that the
name of the place where Mrs. H
is, is not Twitenham, but Rich-
mond ; which your ignorance in the
D geography
26 M.R. POPE'S
geography of thefe parts has made
you confound together. You will
unthinkingly do honour to a paltry
hermitage (while you (peak of Twi-
tcnham) where lives a creature alto-
gether unworthy your memory or
notice, becaufe he really wi fh.es he
had never beheld you, nor yours.
You have fpoiled him for a folitaire,
and a book, all the days of his life;
and put him into fuch a condition,
that he thinks of nothing, and en-
quires of nothing but after a perfon
who has nothing to fay to him, and
has left him for ever without hope of
ever
LETTERS. 27
ever again regarding, or pleadng, or
entertaining him, much lefs of feeing
him. He has been fo mad with the
idea of her, as to fleal her picture,
and pafles whole days in fitting before
it, talking to himfelf, and (as fome
people imagine) making verfes; but
it is no fuch matter, for as long as he
can get any of hers, he can never turn
his head to his own, it is fo much
better entertained.
D 2 LET-
28 MR. P O P E * S
L E T T E R V.
MADAM,
T A M touched with fhame when I
^ look on the date of your letter.
I have anfwered it a hundred times
in my own mind, which I affurc you
has few thoughts, either fo frequent
or fo lively, as thofe relating to you.
I am fenfibly obliged by you, in the
comfort you endeavour to give me
upon
LETTERS. 29
upon the lofs of a friend. It is like
the mower we have had this morning,
that juft makes the drooping trees
hold up their heads, but they remain
checked and withered at the root :
the benediction is but a Chort relief,
though it comes from Heaven itfelf.
The lofs of a friend is the lofs of life -,
after that is gone from us, it is all
but a gentler decay, and wafting and
lingering a little longer. I was the
other day forming a wim for a lady's
happinefs, upon her birth-day: and
thinking of the greateft climax of fe-
licity I could raife, ftep by ftep, to
i end
3 o MR. POPE'S
end in this a Friend. I fancy I
have fucceeded in the gradation, and
fend you the whole copy to afk your
opinion, or (which is much the better
reafon) to defire you to alter it to your
own wifli : for I believe you are a
woman that can wifh for yourfelf
more reafonably, than I can for you.
Mrs. H made me promife her a
copy; and to the end fhe may value
it, I beg it may be tranfcribed, and
fent her by you.
To
LETTERS.
To a Lady, on her Birth -day,
Oh ! be thou bleft with all that heaven can fend :
Long'lifc, long youth, long pleafure and a friend !
Not with thofe toys the woman-world admire,
Riches that vex, and vanities that tire :
Let joy, or eafe; let affluence, or content ;
And the giy confcience of a life well-fpenr,
Calm every thought; infpirit every grace;
Glow in thy heart; and fmile upon thy fa& !
Let day improve on day, and year on year;
Without a pain, a trouble, or a fear!
And ah ! (fmce death muft that dear frame deftroy),
Dye by fome fudden extacy of joy:
In fome foft dream may thy mild foul remove,
And be thy lateft gafp, a figh of love !
PRAY,
32 MR. POPE'S
PRAY, Madam, let me fee this
mended in your copy to Mrs. H ;
and let it be an exadl fcheme of hap-
pinefs drawn, and I hope enjoyed,
by yourfelf. To whom I affure you
I wifh it all, as much as you wim it
her.
1 am always, with true refpect,
Madam,
Your moil faithful friend,
and mofl humble fervant,
A. POPE.
LET-
LETTERS.
33
LETTER VI.
MADAM,
Twitenham, Aug. 29.
*KT O U R laft letter tells me, that
-* if I do not write in lefs than a
month, you will fancy the length of
yours frighted me. A confcioufnefs
that I had upon me of omitting too
long to anfwer it, made me look (not
without fome fear and trembling) for
E the
34 M R. P O P E 'S
the date of it: but there happened to
be none ; and I hope, either that you
have forgot how long it is, or at leaft
that you cannot think it fo long as I
do, iince I writ to you. Indeed a
multitude of things (which lingly
feeni trifles, and yet altogether make
a vaft deal of bufmefs, and wholly take
up that time which we ought to value
above all fuch things) have from day
to day made me wanting, as well to
my own greatefl pleafure in this, as
to my own greatefl concerns in other
points. If I ieem- to negled: any
friend I have, I do more than feem to
2 neglect
LETTERS. 35
negleft myfelf, as I find daily by the
increafing ill conftitution of my body
and mind. I ftill refolve this courfe
{hall not, nay I fee it cannot, be long ;
and I determine to retreat within
myfelf to the only bufmefs I was born
for, and which I am only good for
(if I am entitled to ufe that phrafe for
any thing). It is great folly to fa-
crifice one's felf, one's time, one's
quiet (the very life of life itfelf ), to
forms, complaifances, and amufe-
ments, which do not inwardly pleafe
me, and only pleafe a fort of people
who regard me no farther than a
E 2 meer
36 MR. POPE'S
meer inftrument of their prefent idle-
nefs, or vanity. To fay truth, the
lives of thofe we call great and happy
are divided between thofe two ftates;
and in each of them, we poetical fid-
lers make but part of their pleafure,
or of their equipage. And the mi-
fery is, we, in our turns, are fo vain
(at leaft I have been fo) as to chufe
to pipe without being paid, and fo
filly to be pleafed with piping to
thofe who underftand mufick lefs than
ourfelves. They have put me of late
upon a talk before I was aware, which
I am fick and fore of : and yet enga^
ged
LETTERS. 37
ged in honour to fome perfons whom
I muft neither difobey nor difappoint
(I mean two or three in the world
only) to go on with it. They make
me do as mean a thing as the greateft
man of them could do ; feem to de
pend, and to folicit, when I do not
want; and make a kind of court to
thofe above my rank, juft as they do
to thofe above theirs, when we might
much more wifely and agreeably live
of ourfelves, and to ourfelves. You
will eafily find I am talking of my
tranflating the OdyfTey by fubfcrip-
tion : which looks, it mull needs
look,
38 MR. POPE'S
look, to all the world as a defign of
mine both upon fame and money,
when in truth I believe I (hall get
neither; for one I go about without
any ftomach, and the other I (hall not
go about at all.
THIS freedom of opening my
mind upon my own fituation will be
a proof of truft, and of an opinion
your goodnefs of nature has made me
entertain, that you never profefs any
degree of good-will without being
pretty warm in it. So I tell you my
grievances ; I hope in God you have
none,
LETTERS. 39
none, wherewith to make me any
return of this kind. I hope that
was the only one which you commu-
nicated in your laft, about Mrs.
H iilence; for which me want-
ed not reproaches from me; and has
iince, (he fays, amply atoned for. I
fawa few lines of yours to her, which
are more obliging to me than I could
have imagined : if you put my 'welfare
into the fmall number of things which
you heartily wi(h (for a fenfible per-
fon, of either fex, will never wim
for many), I ought to be a happier
man than I ever yet deferved to be.
UPON
40 MR. POPE'S
U P o N a review of your papers, I
have repented of fome of the trivial
alterations I had thought of, which
were \ 7 ery few. I would rather keep
them till I have the fatisfa&ion to
meet you in the winter, which I muft
beg earneftly to do ; for hitherto
methinks you are to me like a fpirit
of another world, a being I admire,
but have no commerce with : I can-
not tell but I am writing to a Fairy,
\vho has left me fome favours, which
I fecretly enjoy, and (hall think it
unlucky,
LETTERS. 41
unlucky, if not fatal, to part with.
So pray do not expect your verfes till
farther acquaintance.
LET-
42 M R. P O P E*S
LETTER VII.
MADAM,
Twitenham, Sept. 30, 1722.
O confidence is fo great, as that
one receives from perfons one
knows may be believed, and in things
one is 'willing to believe. I have (at
laft) acquired this ; by Mrs. H
repeated aflurances of a thing I am
* unfeign-
LETTERS. 43
unfeignedly fo defirous of, as your
allowing me to correfpond with you.
In good earned, there is fometimes
in men as well as in women, a great
deal of unaffe&ed modefty : and I
was fincere all along, when I told her
perfonally, and told you by my filence,
that I feared only to feem imperti-
nent, while perhaps I feemed negli-
gent, to you. To tell Mrs.
any thing like what I really thought
of her, would have looked fo like
the common traffick of compliment,
that pays only to receive; and to have
told it her in diftant or bafhful terms,
F 2 would
44 M R. P O P E ' S
would have appeared fo like coldnefs
in my fenfe of good qualities (which
I cannot find out in any one, without
feeling, from my nature, at the fame
time a great warmth for them) that J
was quite at a lofs what to write, or
in what ftile, to you. But I am re-
folved, plainly to get over all objec-
tions, and faithfully to affure you, if
you will help a bamful man to be paft
all preliminaries, and forms, I am
ready to treat with you for your
friendship. I know (without more
ado) you have a valuable foul ; and
wit, fenfe, and worth enough, to make
me
LETTERS. 45
me reckon it (provided you will per-
mit it) one of the happinefTes of my
life to have been made acquainted
with you.
I DO not know, on the other hand,
what you can think of me; but this,
for a beginning, I will venture to en-
gage, that whoever takes me for a
poet, or a wit (as they call it), takes
me for a creature of lefs value than I
am : and that where-ever I profefs* it,
you mall find me a much better man,
that is, a much better friend, or at
leaft a much lefs faulty one, than I
am
46 MR. POPE'S
am a poet. That whatever zeal I
may have, or whatever regard I may
mew, for things I truly am fo pleafed
with as your entertaining writings;
yet I mall ftill have more for your
perfon, and for your health, and for
your happinefs, I would, with as
much readinefs, play the apothecary
or the nurfe, to mend your head-akes,
as I would play the critick to improve
your verfes. I have feriouily looked
over and over thofe you intruded me
with ; and allure you, Madam, I
would as foon cheat in any other
truft, as in this. I fmcerely tell you,
I can
LETTERS- 47
I can mend them very little, and
only in trifles, not worth writing
about j but will tell you every tittle
when I have the happinefs to fee
you.
I A M more concerned than you
can reasonably believe, for the ill
ftate of health you are at prefent
under : but I will appeal to time, to
fliew you how fincerely I am (if I
live long enough to prove myfelf what
I truly am)
Madam,
Your mofl faithful fervant,
A. POPE.
I am
48 MR. POPE'S
I am very fick all the while I write
this letter, which I hope will
be an excufe for its being fo
fcribbled.
LET-
LETTERS. 49
i ...
LETTER VIII.
MADAM,
Twitenham, Nov. 9.
TTT happened that when I deter-
* mined to anfwer yours, by the
poft that followed my receipt of it,
I was prevented from the firft proof
I have had the happinefs to give you
of my warmth and readinefs, in re-
G turning
5 o MR. POP E'S
turning the epitaph, with my fincere
condolements with you on that me-
lancholy fubjedt. But neverthelefs I
refolved to fend you the one, though
unattended by the other: I begged
Mrs. H to inclofe it, that you
might at leaft fee I had not the
power to delay a moment the do-
ing what you bid me ; efpecial-
}y when the occafion of obeying
your commands was fuch, as muft
affeft every admirer and well-wifh-
er of honour and virtue in the na-
tion.
: YOU
LETTERS. 5 t
You had it in the very blots, the
better to compare the places; and
I can only fay it was done to the
beft of my judgement, and to the
extent of my fincerity.
I D o not wonder that you decline
the poetical amufement I propofed to
you, at this time. I know (from
what little I know of your heart)
enough at leaft to convince me, it
muft be too deeply concerned at the
lofs, not only of fo great, and fo near
a relation $ but of a good man (a lofs
G 2 this
52 MR. P O P E'S
this age can hardly ever afford to
bear, and not often can fuftain). Yet
perhaps it is one of the beft things
that can be faid of poetry, that it
helps us to pafs over the toils and
troubles of this tirefome journey, our
life; as horfes are encouraged and
fpirited up, the better to bear their
labour, by the jingling of bells about
their heads. Indeed, as to myfelf, I
have been ufed to this odd cordial, fo
long, that it has no effecl: upon me:
but you, Madam, are in your honey-
moon of poetry; you have feen only
the fmiles, and enjoyed the carefies,
of
LETTERS. 53
of Apollo. Nothing is fo pleafant
to a Mufe as the firft children of the
imagination 5 but when once fhe
comes to find it meer conjugal duty,
and the care of her numerous progeny
daily grows upon her, it is all a four
tax for paft pleafure, As the Pfalmift
fays on another occafion, the age of
a Mufe is fcarce above five and twen-
ty : all the reft is labour and forrow.
I find by experience that his own
fiddle is no great pleafure to a com*
mon fidler, after once the firft good
conceit of himfelf is loft.
I LONG
! 54 M R. P O P E'S
,
I LONG at laft to be acquainted
with you ; and Mrs.. H tells me,
you. fhall foon be in town, and I bleft
with the vifion I have fb long defined.
Pray believe I worfhip you as much,
and fend my addrefTes to you as often*
as to any female Saint in Heaven: it
is certain I fee you as little, unlefs it
be in my ileep ; and that way too,
holy hermits are vifited by the Saints
themfelves.
I AM, without figures and meta-
phors, yours: and hope you will
think,
LETTERS. 55
think, I have fpent all my fi&ion in
my poetry ; fo that I have nothing
but plain truth left for my profe;
with which I am ever,
Madam,
Your faithful
humble fervant.
LET-
MR. P O P E'S
LETTER IX.
MADAM,
Five o'clock.
T THINK it a full proof of that
"* unlucky ftar, which upon too ma-
ny occafions I have experienced ; that
this firft, this only day that I fhould
2 have
LETTERS. 57
fiave owned happy beyond expec-
tation (for I did riot till yefterday
hope to have feen you fo foon) I
muft be forced not to do it. I
am too fick (indeed very ill) to go
out fo far, and lie on a bed at my
doctor's houfe, as a kind of force
upon him to get me better with all
hafte.
I A M fcarce able to fee thefe few
lines I write; to wifti you health and
pleafure enough not to mifs me to-
day, and myfelf patience to bear
H being
58 MR. POPE'S
being abfent from you as well as I can
being ill.
I am truly,
Your faithful fervant,
A. POPE,
LET-
LETTERS. 59
LETTER X.
MADAM,
Jan. 17, 1724.
\ FTER a very long expeda-
* *" tion and daily hopes of the fa-
tisfa&ion of feeing and converting
with you, I am (till deprived of it in
a manner that is the moft afflidling,
becaufe it is occafioned by your ill-
H 2 nefs
6.0 MR. POPE r S
nefs and your misfortune. I can
bear my own, I allure you, much
better: and thus to find you loft to
me, at the time that I hoped to have
regained you, doubles the concern I
mould naturally feel in being de-
prived of any pleafure whatever..
MRS. H . can beft exprefs to
you the concern of a friend, who
efteems and pities: for me has the
liberty to exprefs it in her actions, and
the fatisfaction of attending on you
in your indifpofition.
I WISH
LETTERS. 61
I WISH fincerely your condition
were not fuch as to debar me from
telling you in perfon how truly I am
yours. I wi(h I could do you any
little offices of friendmip, or give you
any amufements, or help you to what
people in your prefent ftate moft want r
better fpirits. If reading to you, or
writing to you, could contribute ta
entertain your hours, or to raife you
to a livelier relifh of life, how well
fliould I think my time employed !
indeed I fhould, and think it a much
better end of my poor fludies, thaii
all
62 MR. P O P E'S
all the vanities of fame, or views of a
character that way, whieh engage
moft men of my fraternity.
IF you thoroughly knew the zeal
with which I am your fervant, you
would take fome notice of the ad-
vice I would give you, and fuffer it
to have a weight with you propor-
tionable to the fincerity with which
it is given.
I B E G you to do your utmoft to
call to you all the fuccours, which
i your
LETTERS. 63
your own good fenfe and natural re-
flexion can fuggeft, to avoid a melan-
choly way of thinking, and to throw
up your fpirits by intervals of mode-
rate company ; not to let your diftem-
per fix itfelf upon your mind at leaft,
though it will not entirely quit your
body. Do not indulge too much
folitarinefs. Though moft company
be not proper or fupportable during
your illnefs, force yourfelf to enter
into fuch as is good and reafonable,
where you may have your liberty,
and be under no reftraint,
WHY
MR. POPE'S
W H Y will you not come to your
friend Mrs. H , flnce you are
able to go out, and fince motion is
certainly good for your health ? why
will you not make any little fets of
fuch as you are eafieft with, to fit
with you fometimes ?
Do not think I have any interefled
aim in this advice : though I long to
fee you, and to try to amufe you, I
would not for the world be confi-
dered as one that would ever require
for
LETTERS. 65
for my own gratification, any thing
that might either be improper or
hurtful to you.
PRAY let me know, by our friend
Mrs. H- , if there can be any
thing in my power to ferve, or to
amufe you. But ufe me fo kindly,
as not to think ever of writing to me
till you are fo well as that I may
fee you, and then it will be need-
lefs. Do not even read this, if it
be the leaft trouble to your eyes or
head.
I BELIEVE
66 MR. POPE'S
BELIEVE me, with great refpeft,
and the warmeft good wifhes for your
fpeedy recovery,
Madam,
Your moft faithful,
and moft humble fervant*
A. P O P E.
LET-
L E T T E II S. 67
LETTER XL
MADAM,
Twitenham, June 2, 1723.
IT was an inexprefllble pleafure to
me to fee your letter, as I aflure
you it had long been a great trouble,
to refledt on the melancholy reafon
of your filence and abfence. It was
I 2 that
68 M R. P O P E ' S
that only which hindered my wri-
ting, not only again, but often, to
you; for fear your good-nature
mould have been prompted to oblige
me too much at your own expence,
by anfwering. Indeed I never ex-
prefled (and never mail be able to
exprefs) more concern and good wim-
es for you, than I mail ever feel for
one of your merit.
I A M forry, the moment you grow
better, to have you fnatcht from
thofe, who I may fay deferve the plea-
fure of feeing you in health, for
having
LETTERS. 69
having fo long lamented and felt your
MRS. H - , I hope, will find
it not impoffible to draw you to
Richmond: and if not, I dare fay
will not be long out of Hertfordfhire.
I want nothing but the fame happy
pretence (he has, of a title through
your friendship, and the privilege of
her fex, to be there immediately.
I cannot but wonder you have not
heard from her, though I (hould
wonder if any body elfe had ; for I
am told by her family flic has had
much
70 MR. POPE'S
much of the head-ake at Bath, be-
fides the excufe of a great giddinefs
occafioned naturally by the waters.
I writ to her at the firft going, and
have not had a word from her; and
now you tell me the fame thing, I
conclude me has been worfe than I
imagined. I hear me returns on
Wednefday, when I mall have the fa-
tisfaction (I doubt not) to talk and
hear a great deal of Mrs. .
I WISH I could fay any thing, ei-
ther to comfort you when ill, or en-
tertain
LETTERS, ji
tertain you when well. Though
nothing could, in the proper proporv
tion of friendship, more affect me than
your condition ; I have not wanted
other occafions of great melancholy,
of which the leaft is the lofs of part
of my fortune by a late act of parlia-
ment.
I AM at prefent in the afflicting
circumftance of taking my laft leave
of one of the * trueft friends I ever
had, and one of the greateft men in
all polite learning, as well as the mod
* Bifhop Atterbury.
agreeable
72 MR. POPE'S
agreeable companion, this nation ever
had.
I REALLY do not love life fo dear-
ly, or fo weakly, as to value it on any
ether fcore, than for that portion of
happinefs which a friend only can be-
ftow upon it : or, if I muft want that
myfelf, for the pleafure which is next
it, of feeing deferving and virtuous
people happy. So that indeed I want
comfort; and the greateft I can re-
ceive from you (at leaft unlefs I were
fo happy as to deferve what I never
can) will be to hear you grow better
till
LETTERS. 73
till you grow perfectly well, perfectly
eafy, and perfectly happy, which no
one more fincerely willies than,
Madam,
Your faithful and obliged
friend and fervant,
A. POPE.
K LET-
74 M R. F O P E'S
\/ .. ' .. .. ,.*-.. .. .. -.. * ,
LETTER XII.
MADAM,
Twitenham, Sept. 26, 1723.-
T T would be a vanity in me to tell
you why I trouble you fo foon
again : I cannot imagine myfelf of
the number of thofe correfpondents
whom you call favourite ones ; yet I
know
LETTERS. 75
know it is thought, that induftry may
make a man what merit cannot : atad
if an old maxim of my Lord Oxford's
be true, That in England if a man
refolve to be any thing, and conflant-
ly flick to it, he may (even a Lord
Treafurer): if fo, I fay, it {hall not
be want of refolution that (hall hinder
me from being a favourite. In good
earneft, I am more ambitious of being
fo to you, Madarn, than I ever was,
pr ever (hall be, of being one to any
Prince, or (which is more) any
Prince's Minifter, in Chriftendom.
K 2 I WISH
76 . M R. P p P E'S
I WISH I could tell you any agreea-r
ble news of what your heart is con-
cerned in j but I have a fort of quar-
rel to Mrs. H for not loving
herfelf fo well as {he does her friends ;
for thofe {he makes happy, but not
herfelf.
THERE is an air of fadnefs
about her which grieves me, and
which, I have learnt by experience,
will increafe upon an indolent (I will
not fay an affected) refignation to it.
It
LETTERS. 77
It will do fo in men, and much more
in women, who have a natural foft-
nefs that links them even when rea-
fon does not. This I tell you in con-
fidence ; and pray give our friend
fuch hints as may put her out of hu-
mour with melancholy : your cen-r
fure, or even your raillery, may
have more weight with her than
mine : a man cannot either fo de-
cently, or fo delicately, take upon
him to be a phyfkian in thefe con-
cealed diftempers.
You
M R. P O P E'S
You fee, Madam, I proceed in
trufting you with things that nearly
concern me. In my laft letter I fpoke
but of a trifle, myfelf : in this I ad-
vance farther, and fpeak of what
touches me more, a friend.
THIS beautiful feafon will raife up
ib many rural images and defcriptions
in a poetical mind, that I expect, you,
and all fuch as you (if there be any
.fuch), at leaft all who are not down-
right dull tranflators, like your fer-
- i vant,
LETTERS. 79
vant, muft neceffarily be productive
of verfes.
I LATELY faw a iketch this
on the bovver of *BEDINGTON: I
could
* The lines here alluded to are as follows :
In Tempe's (hades the living lyre was ftrung*
And the firft Pope (immortal Phoebus) fung,
Thefe happy {hades, where equal beauty reigns,
Bold rifing hills, flant vales, and far-ftretch'd plains^
The grateful verdure of the waving woods,
The foothing murmur of the falling floods,
A nobler boaft, a higher glory yield,
Than that which Phoebus ftampt on Tempe's field :
All
8o MR. P O P E'S
could wi(h you tried fomething in the
defcriptive way on any fubject you
pleafe, mixed with vifion and moral;
like pieces of the old provencal poets,
which abound with fancy, and are
"the moft amufing fcenes in nature.
There are three or four of this kind
in Chaucer admirable : " the Flower
and the Leaf" every body has been
delighted with.
All that can charm the eye, or pleafe the ear,
Says, Harmony itfelf inhabits here.
I HAVE
LETTERS. 81
I HAVE long had an inclination to
tell a Fairy tale, the more wild and
exotic the better ; therefore a vtfion t
which is confined to no rules of pro-
bability, will take in all the variety
and luxuriancy of defcription you
will; provided there be an apparent
moral to it. I think, one or two of
the Perfian tales would give one hints
for fuch an invention : and perhaps
if the fccnes were taken from real
places that are known, in order to
compliment particular gardens and
buildings of a fine tafte (as I believe
L feveral
$2 MR. POPE'S
feveral of Chaucer's defcriptions do,
though it is what nobody has ob-
ferved), it would add great beauty to
the whole.
I WISH you found fuch an amufe-
ment pleafing to you: if you did but,
at leifure, form defcriptions from ob-
jects in nature itfelf, which ftruck you
mofl livelily, I would undertake to
rind a tale that fhould bring them all
together: which you will think an
cdd undertaking, but in a piece of
this fanciful and imaginary nature I
i am
LETTERS. 83
am fure is practicable. Excufe this
long letter; and think no man is more
Your faithful
and obliged fervant,
A. POPE.
L 2 CON-
C 85 ]
CONTENTS.
LETTER I.
page i
LETTER II.
page 13
LETTER III.
page 21
LET-
[ 86 J
LETTER IV..
page 23
LETTER v.
page 38
LETTER VI.
page 33
LETTER VII.
page 42
LETTER VIII.
page 49
LETTER IX.
page 56
LET-
LETTER X.
page 59
LETTER XL
page 67
LETTER XII.
page 74
THE END.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
Los Angeles
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.
PP'n
JUN
** Aft*
- -
Olfc
i U 1974
-tfl
(ARGF-URt
RL JUW05 1978
M/IY n lu