clearest and cleanest " of all that Pope had written, made one or two suggestions about the types of character that might be introduced, notably that of an old beauty ordering her coffin to be lined with white satin and gold fringe. This suggestion gave Pope the idea for the character of Narcissa. Pope's theory of the ruling passion, which was supposed to reconcile the apparent inconsistency of human nature, is further developed in the course of this Epistle. The poet's own couplet To observations which ourselves we make, We grow more partial for th' observer's sake is particularly applicable to himself. He was an extreme instance of the amateur philosopher who insists upon cutting his facts to fit his theories. It is urged that without the key provided by / the ruling passion doctrine, the puzzle presented by the contradictions, affectations, and quick transitions of the mind would baffle the student of human nature. See the same man in vigour, in the gout; Friendly at Hackney, faithless at Whitehall.1 After giving examples of the inconsistencies of man in all ranks of life, the poet asks Judge we by nature? Habit can efface, Int'rest o'ercome, or policy take place : 1 The Middlesex members are put into nomination at Hackney. Therefore the allusion in the couplet is to the friendly profession of a candidate for Parliament, and his faithlessness when he finds himself secure in a seat. By actions? those uncertainty divides: 2 The two most celebrated instances of the ruling passion may be found in Mrs. Oldfield with her desire to be beautiful, even in death, and the Duke of Wharton, with his unconquerable lust of praise. Thus : Odious, in woollen ! 'twould a saint provoke ! 8 The satire on Wharton goes home with the 1 Of these eight lines Warton remarks: "We find here an anatomy of human nature; more sense and observation cannot well be compressed in a narrower space." • Anne Oldfield, the famous actress (1683-1730). She was admirable alike in comedy and tragedy, but she made a great "hit" in the part of Narcissa in Cibber's play, Love's Last Shift. She was buried in Westminster Abbey, between the tombs of Craggs and Congreve, her body being clothed in a Holland shift with double ruffles of Brussels lace, a pair of new kid gloves, and a Brussels lace head-dress. An act compelling the dead to be buried in woollen had been passed in 1678, with the object of protecting homespun goods against foreign linen. Philip Wharton (1698-1731), son of the first Marquis of Wharton, and created Duke of Wharton in 1718. He was a brilliant speaker, a wit, a profligate, and a traitor. After running through his fortune he joined the cause of "James III." in 1726, and was outlawed in 1727 for serving against Gibraltar. He adopted the Roman Catholic religion, and died in a monastery in Catalonia. Pope had been jealous of Wharton's friendship with Lady Mary Wortley, and he knew that the duke had written a satire against him. more certainty because the duke is given credit for his brilliant parts at the same time that he is condemned for his vices. It is difficult to believe in a monster, and most of the satirical characters and caricatures of this period portray monsters of the most inhuman type; but we are more easily persuaded of the truth of a portrait in which the subject is given human features and there is a due regard to light and shade. A part of the character may be quoted : Wharton, the scorn and wonder of our days, Thus with each gift of nature and of art, He dies, sad outcast of each church and state, 1 Wharton was a bad and neglectful husband to his first wife, Miss Holmes, but there is no evidence that he was a tyrant to his VOL. II 9 The Epistle concludes with a fine compliment to Lord Cobham : And you, brave Cobham! to the latest breath, "Oh, save my country, Heaven!" shall be your last. Swift was beginning to grow restive because none of these fine compliments came his way. He was always ambitious of the immortality that is conferred by mention in the work of contemporary genius, and more than once addressed to Pope the plea of Cicero, Orna me. 1 "I am pleased and flattered by your expression of Orna me," replied the poet. "The chief pleasure this work can give me is, that I can in it, with propriety, decency, and justice, insert the name and character of every friend I have, and every man that deserves to be loved or adorned. . . . Your lady friend is semper eadem, and I have written an Epistle to her on that qualification in a female character, which is thought by my chief critic in your absence [Lord Bolingbroke] to be my chef d'œuvre; but it cannot be printed perfectly in an age so sore of satire, and so willing to misapply characters." After covering his house with stucco, and thus making it more deserving of the name of "Little Whitehall," which his friends had given it, Pope second wife, a Miss O'Byrne, who was one of the maids-of-honour to the Queen of Spain. 1 The "Moral Essays," which were intended as part of one great work. The "Epistle to a Lady on the Characters of Women." was published in 1735. It set off early in June upon his summer rambles. Bolingbroke tells Swift on June 27 that the poet was then at Cirencester. "He came thither from my Lord Cobham's; he came to my Lord Cobham's from Mr. Dormer's ; to Mr. Dormer's from London; to London from Chiswick; from Chiswick to my farm; from my farm to his own garden; and he goes soon from Lord Bathurst's to Lord Peterborough's; after which he returns to my farm again. The demon of verse sticks close to him. He has been imitating the Satire of Horace which begins, Ambubaiarum collegia pharmacopol,' etc.,1 and has chosen rather to weaken the images than hurt chaste ears overmuch. He has sent it to me; but I shall keep his secret as he desires, and shall not, I think, return him the copy; for the rogue has fixed a ridicule upon me, which some events of my life would seem perhaps to justify him in doing.2 "I am glad you approve of his 'Moral Essays.' They will do more good than the sermons and writings of some who had a mind to find great fault with them." We get a glimpse of Pope on his travels from a letter addressed to Lady Suffolk on June 19 by Mr. Berkeley, to whom she was married the following year. Writing from Shotover, near Oxford (then in the possession of Mr. Schutz), he says: 8 1 Published under the title of "Sober Advice from Horace." It is a sermon against adultery, though not in favour of morality. 2 Pope alludes to St. John's predilection for women of the lowest class, whom he adored-temporarily—as if they had been princesses. 3 Lady Suffolk retired from the position of Court favourite this |