[225] Sir William Blackstone's Discussion on the Quarrel between
Addison and Pope was communicated by Dr. Kippis in his
"Biographia Britannica," vol. i. p. 56. Blackstone is there
designated as "a gentleman of considerable rank, to whom the
public is obliged for works of much higher importance."
[226] Dennis asserts in one of his pamphlets that Pope, fermenting
with envy at the success of Addison's _Cato_, went to Lintot,
and persuaded him to engage this redoubted critic to write the
remarks on _Cato_--that Pope's gratitude to Dennis for having
complied with his request was the well-known narrative of
Dennis "being placed as a lunatic in the hands of Dr. Norris,
a curer of mad people, at his house in Hatton-garden, though
at the same time I appeared publicly every day, both in the
park and in the town." Can we suppose that Dennis tells a
falsehood respecting Pope's desiring Lintot to engage Dennis
to write down _Cato_? If true, did Pope wish to see Addison
degraded, and at the same time take an opportunity of
ridiculing the critic, without, however, answering his
arguments? The secret history of literature is like that of
politics?
[Dennis took a strong dislike to Addison's _Cato_, and his
style of criticism is thus alluded to in the humorous account
of his frenzy written by Pope: "On all sides of his room were
pinned a great many sheets of a tragedy called _Cato_, with
notes on the margin by his own hand. The words _absurd_,
_monstrous_, _execrable_, were everywhere written in such
large characters, that I could read them without my
spectacles." Warton says that "Addison highly disapproved of
this bitter satire on Dennis, and Pope was not a little
chagrined at this disapprobation; for the narrative was
intended to court the favour of Addison, by defending his
_Cato_: in which seeming defence Addison was far from thinking
our author sincere."]
[227] In the notes to the Prologue to the Satires.
[228] Pope's conjecture was perfectly correct. Dr. Warton confirms it
from a variety of indisputable authorities.--Warton's "Pope,"
vol. iv. p. 34.
[229] In the "Freeholder," May, 1716.
[230] Pope himself thus related the matter to Spence: "Phillips seemed
to have been encouraged to abuse me in coffee-houses and
conversations; and Gildon wrote a thing about Wycherly, in
which he had abused both me and my relations very grossly.
Lord Warwick himself told me one day that it was in vain for
me to endeavour to be well with Mr. Addison; that his jealous
temper would never admit of a settled friendship between us,
and to convince me of what he had said, assured me that
Addison had encouraged Gildon to publish those scandals, and
had given him ten guineas after they were published."--ED.
[231] The strongest parts of Sir William Blackstone's discussion turn
on certain inaccurate dates of Ruffhead, in his statements,
which show them to be inconsistent with the times when they
are alleged to have happened. These erroneous dates had been
detected in an able article in the Monthly Review on that
work, April, 1769. Ruffhead is a tasteless, confused, and
unskilful writer--Sir William has laid great stress on the
incredible story of Addison paying Gildon to write against
Pope, "a man so amiable in his moral character." It is
possible that the Earl of Warwick, who conveyed the
information, might have been a malicious, lying youth; but
then Pope had some knowledge of mankind--he believed the
story, for he wrote instantly, with honest though heated
feelings, to Addison, and sent him, at that moment, the first
sketch of the character of Atticus. Addison used him very
civilly ever after--but it does not appear that Addison ever
contradicted the tale of the officious Earl. All these facts,
which Pope repeated many years after to Spence, Sir William
was not acquainted with, for they were transcribed from
Spence's papers by Johnson, after Blackstone had written.
[This is fully in accordance with his previous conduct, as he
described it to Spence; on the first notification of the Earl
of Warwick's news, "the next day when I was heated with what I
had heard, I wrote a letter to Mr. Addison, to let him know
that I was not unacquainted with this behaviour of his; that
if I was to speak severely of him, in return for it, it should
not be in such a dirty way; and that I should rather tell
himself freely of his faults, and allow his good qualities;
and that it should be something in the following manner: I
then adjoined the first sketch of what has since been called
my Satire on Addison. Mr. Addison used me very civilly ever
after, and never did me any injustice that I know of from that
time to his death, which was about three years after."]
[232] That Addison did occasionally divert Pope's friends from him,
appears from the advice which Lady Mary Wortley Montague says
he gave to her--"Leave him as soon as you can, he will
certainly play you some devilish trick else: he has an
appetite to satire." Malone thinks this may have been said
under the irritation produced by the verses on Addison, which
Pope sent to him, as described above. Pope's love of satire,
and unflinching use of it, was as conspicuous as Addison's
nervous dislike to it.--ED.
[233] From Lord Egmont's MS. Collections.--See the "Addenda Kippis's
Biographia Britannica."
[234] The earliest and most particular narrative of this remarkable
interview I have hitherto only traced to "Memoirs of the
Life and Writings of A. Pope, Esq., by William Ayre, Esq.,"
1745, vol. i. p. 100. This work comes in a very suspicious
form; it is a huddled compilation, yet contains some
curious matters; and pretends, in the title-page, to be
occasionally drawn from "original MSS. and the testimonies
of persons of honour." He declares, in the preface, that he
and his friends "had means and some helps which were never
public." He sometimes appeals to several noble friends of
Pope as his authorities. But the mode of its publication,
and that of its execution, are not in its favour. These
volumes were written within six months of the decease of
our poet; have no publisher's name; and yet the author,
whoever he was, took out "a patent, under his majesty's royal
signet," for securing the copyright. This Ayre is so
obscure an author, though a translator of Tasso's "Aminta,"
that he seems to have escaped even the minor chronicles of
literature. At the time of its publication there appeared
"Remarks on Squire Ayre's Memoirs of Pope." The writer
pretends he has discovered him to be only one of the
renowned Edmund Curll's "squires," who, about that time, had
created an order of literary squires, ready to tramp at
the funeral of every great personage with his life. The
"Remarker" then addresses Curll, and insinuates he speaks
from personal knowledge of the man:--"You have an adversaria
of title-pages of your own contrivance, and which your authors
are to write books to. Among what you call _the occasional,
or black list_, I have seen Memoirs of Dean Swift, Pope,
&c." Curll, indeed, was then sending forth many pseudo
squires, with lives of "Congreve," "Mrs. Oldfield," &c.; all
which contained some curious particulars, picked up in
coffee-houses, conversations, or pamphlets of the day. This
William Ayre I accept as "a squire of low degree," but a real
personage. As for this interview, Ayre was certainly
incompetent to the invention of a single stroke of the
conversations detailed: where he obtained all these
interesting particulars, I have not discovered. Johnson
alludes to this interview, states some of its results, but
refers to no other authority than floating rumours.
[235] The line stood originally, and nearly literally copied from
Isaiah--
"He wipes the tears for ever from our eyes;"
which Steele retouched, as it now stands--
"From every face he wipes off every tear."
Dr. Warton prefers the rejected verse. The latter, he thinks,
has too much of modern quaintness. The difficulty of choice
lies between that naked simplicity which scarcely affects, and
those strokes of art which are too apparent.
[236] The last line of Addison's tragedy read originally--
"And oh! 'twas this that ended Cato's life."
A very weak line, which was altered at the suggestion of Pope
as it stands at present:--
"And robs the guilty world of Cato's life."--ED.