I would beg the insertion of the following Note, which occurs at p. 338. of
Walker's _Historical Memoir on Italian Tragedy_; with a view to
ascertaining whether any light has been thrown on the subject since the
publication of the work in question. I fear there is little chance of such
being the case, but still I would be glad to learn from any of your
correspondents, whether there is other evidence than the passage given from
the Marquis's letter to Voltaire, to prove that Pope was actually engaged
in the translation of his tragedy; or whether there is any allusion in the
cotemporary literature of the day, to such a work having been undertaken by
the bard of Twickenham.
"It seems to have escaped the notice of all Pope's biographers, that
when the Marquis Maffei visited Twickenham, in company with Lord
Burlington and Dr. Mead, he found the English bard employed on a
translation of his _Merope_: yet the public have been in possession of
this anecdote about fifty years. The Marquis, in his answer to the
celebrated letter addressed to him by Voltaire, says: 'Avendomi Mylord
Conte di Burlington, e il Sig. Dottore Mead, l'uno e l'altro talenti
rari, ed à quali quant' io debba non posso dire, condotto alla villa
del Sig. Pope, ch' è il Voltaire dell Inghilterra, come voi siete il
Pope della Francia, quel bravo Poeta mi fece vedere, che lavorava alla
versione della mia Tragedia in versi Inglesi: se la terminasse, e che
ne sia divenuto, non so.'--_La Merope_, ver. 1745, p. 180. With the
fate of this version we are, and probably shall ever remain,
unacquainted: it may, however, be safely presumed, that it was never
finished to the satisfaction of the translator, and therefore committed
to the flames."