on of Lord Mansfield: if this was taken from the life, he must have begun. to paint earlier; for Betterton was now dead. Pope's ambition of this new art produced fome encomiaftick verfes to Jervas, which certainly fhew his power as a poet, but I have been told that they betray his ignorance of painting.

He appears to have regarded Betterton with kindness and efteem; and after his death published, under his name, a verfion into modern English of Chaucer's Prologues, and one of his Tales, which, as was related by Mr. Harte, were believed to have been the performance of Fope himself by Fenton, who made him a gay offer of five pounds, if he would fhew them in the hand of Betterton.

The next year (1713) produced a bolder attempt, by which profit was fought as well as praife. The poems which he had hitherto written, however they might have diffufed his name, had made very little addition to his fortune. The allowance which his father made him, though, proportioned to what he had, it might be liberal, could not be large; his religion hindered him from the occupation of any civil employment, and he complained that he wanted even money to buy books *.

He therefore refolved to try how far the favour of the publick extended, by foliciting a fubfcription to a verfion of the Iliad, with large notes.

* Spence.

Το

To print by fubfcription was, for fome time, a practice peculiar to the English. The firft confiderable work for which this expedient was employed is faid to have been Dryden's Virgil; and it had been tried again with great fuccefs when the Tatlers were collected into volumes. There was reafon to believe that Pope's attempt would be fuccessful. He was in the full bloom of reputation, and was perfonally known to almost all whom dignity of employment or fplendour of reputation had made eminent; he converfed indifferently with both parties, and never difturbed the publick with his political opinions; and it might be naturally expected, as each faction then boasted its literary zeal, that the great

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great men, who on other occafions practifed all the violence of oppofition, would emulate each other in their encouragement of a poet who had delighted all, and by whom none had been offended.

With those hopes, he offered an Englifh Iliad to fubfcribers, in fix volumes in quarto, for fix guineas; a fum, according to the value of moncy at that time, by no means inconfiderable, and greater than I believe to have been ever afked before. His propofal, however, was very favourably received, and the patrons of literature were bufy to recommend his undertaking, and promote his intereft. Lord Oxford, indeed, lamented that fuch a genius fhould be

wafled

wafted upon a work not original; but propofed no means by which he might live without it: Addison recommended caution and moderation, and advised him not to be content with the praise of half the nation, when he might be univerfally favoured..

The greatnefs of the defign, the popularity of the author, and the attention of the literary world, naturally raifed fuch expectations of the future fale, that the bookfellers made their offers with great eagerness; but the highest bidder was Bernard Lintot, who became proprietor on condition of fupplying, at his own expence, all the copies which were to be delivered to fubfcribers, or prefented to friends, and