perhaps Welsted, was originally aimed at, since Theobald never published any Translation of Horace. And as to the author's practice, which he continued till his death, of changing the names at his pleasure, the publisher is made to say in the first edition (1728): "Whoever will consider the unity of the whole design, will be sensible that the poem was not made for these authors, but these authors for the poem. And I should judge that they were clapped in as they rose, fresh and fresh, and changed from day to day, in like manner as when the old boughs wither we thrust new ones into the chimney." If it be legitimate to form a conjecture in the matter, I should infer from all these circumstances, that the part of the poem first written was the Third Book, which seems to answer to the description of the 'Satire' mentioned in Pope's letter to Swift of October, 1725. The Vision of Dulness forms a separate episode in itself; it has satirical references both to Gildon and Philips; and it "corrects the taste of the town" for pantomime. At all events it is evident that the 'Dunciad' was not, as Pope would have us believe, the product of a sudden inspiration, prompted by the desire of "doing good by detecting and dragging into light the common enemies of mankind; " but a plan of vengeance, long meditated, carefully matured, and skilfully executed by the poet, in repayment of the bitter attacks which his enemies for years past had been making upon his reputation. 6 Not more consistent with the actual facts of the case is the account which Pope, or his spokesman, Savage, gives of the first appearance of the poem. When Pope brought out his first authorised edition of the 'Dunciad' in 1729, he included in it a preface which had already appeared in what he called "the five first imperfect editions of the Dunciad' in three books, printed at Dublin and London in octavo and duodecimo," and, in the edition of 1736, he added as the date of these imperfect editions, 1727.' This was a mere blind, intended to carry on the mystification originally started in what was doubtless the first edition of the Dunciad,' viz., the one published in London on the 28th May, 1728, with the following title-page: THE DUNCIAD. AN HEROIC POEM IN THREE BOOKS. DUBLIN Printed, LONDON Re- Now it is true that (including the edition just mentioned) five "imperfect" editions of the 'Dunciad' (i.e., editions want ing the Notes Variorum and the Prolegomena), were published between the 28th May, 1728 and 12th March, 1729, when the first complete edition was presented to the King by Walpole; but no editions are known to exist bearing the date. 1727, and, even reckoning the year to begin with the 25th of March, it appears from Pope's correspondence that, for some time after that date, the poem was safe in his own keeping. Swift writes to him, on the 10th of May, 1728, "You tell me of this Dunciad,' but I am impatient to have it, volitare per ora; there is now a vacancy for fame; the 'Beggar's Opera' has done its work; discedat uti conviva satur." As the correspondence between Pope and Swift affords a key to the secret history of the 'Dunciad,' and explains the transformations through which it passed, it will be advisable to give in full those passages in it which bear on the question. The first reference to the progress of the satire is made on the 22nd of October, 1727: "My poem," writes Pope to Swift, "(which it grieves me that I dare not send you a copy of for fear of the Curlls and Dennises of Ireland, and still more for fear of the worst of traitors, our friends and admirers), my poem, I say, will show you what a distinguishing age we live in. Your name is in it, with some others, under a mask of such ignominy as you will not much grieve to wear in that company. Adieu, and God bless you and give you health and spirits. Whether thou choose Cervantes' serious air, These two verses are over and above what I have said of you in the poem." In January, 1727-8, he sends another letter to the Dean, from which it appears that the satire was originally meant to bear another title, and that the inscription was somewhat differently drafted. "It grieves me to the soul," he says, "that I cannot send you my chef-d'œuvre the poem on 'Dulness,' which after I am dead and gone will be printed. with a large commentary, and lettered on the back, Pope's Dulness.' I send you, however, what most nearly relates to yourself, the inscription to it, which you must consider, and re-consider, criticise, hypercriticise, and consult about with Sheridan, Delany, and all the literati of the kingdom,-I mean to render it less unworthy of you. Incipit propositio: Books and the man I sing, &c. And thou, whose sense, whose humour, and whose rage, Whether thou choose Cervantes' serious air, Or laugh and shake in Rab'lais' easy chair, Praise courts and monarchs, or extol mankind, Or thy grieved country's copper chains unbind ; Yet grieve not thou at what our isle acquires; In the following month Bolingbroke still further raised the Dean's expectations by writing to him: "In the meantime Pope's Dulness grows and flourishes as if he was there (in Dublin) already." Still, however, the satire did not appear. and on Feb. 26, 1727-8, Swift writes to Gay: "Why does not Mr. Pope publish his Dulness? The rogues he mawls will die of themselves in peace, and so will his friends; and so there will be neither punishment or reward." What delayed the appearance of Pope's satire was no doubt the popularity of the 'Beggar's Opera,' which, having been first acted on Jan. 29, 1728, had enjoyed a run of sixty-three nights, and engrossed conversation to such an extent, that, as Swift wrote to Pope (March 28, 1728) it had "knocked down Gulliver." Meantime Pope had begun to make certain alterations in his original design. The first of these he announced to Swift in a letter dated March 23, 1727-8: "As for those scribblers for whom you apprehend I would suppress my 'Dulness' (which, by the way, for the future you are to call by a more pompous name, the 'Dunciad '), how much that nest of hornets are my regard, will easily appear to you when you read the Treatise of the 'Bathos."" A more important change was in contemplation, and was confidentially announced to Swift on the eve of the publication of the 'Dunciad.' "The Doctor (Delany)," writes the Dean to Pope, on the 1st June, 1728, "told me your secret about the Dunciad,' which does not please me, because it defers gratifying my vanity in the most tender point, and perhaps may wholly disappoint it." The meaning of these words is explained by the form in which the Dunciad' made its first appearance. As we have already seen, when the poet formed the design of the satire, he intended to publish it in his own name, with a commentary, and an inscription to Swift. But when it was first published there were no notes, the inscription to Swift was omitted, and not only did Pope's name not appear on the title-page, but an Advertisement from the publisher to the reader insinuated that he was not the author. After stating that the writer of the poem, finding that no voice was raised to protest against the repeated slanders by which the author of the Bathos' was assailed, had thought it right to step forward. in his defence, the publisher proceeds to make the following mysterious announcement: "That he (the writer) was in his (Pope's) particular intimacy, appears from the knowledge he manifests of the most private authors of all the anonymous pieces against him, and from his having in this poem attacked no man living, who had not before printed and published against this particular gentleman. How I became possessed of it is no concern to the Reader; but it would have been a wrong to him had I detained this publication: since those names which are its chief ornaments die off daily so fast, as must render it soon unintelligible. If it provoke the author to give us a more perfect edition I have my end. Who he is I cannot say, and (which is great pity) there is certainly nothing in his style and manner of writing, which can distinguish or discover him." The names of the persons satirised were in most cases suppressed in this edition, their places being supplied by asterisks or initial letters. The words "Dublin Printed, London Re-printed," on the title-page, were a disguise intended to raise the idea that there had been a previous edition published in Dublin-an impossibility, as appears from the correspondence between Swift and Pope already quoted; while the inscription to Swift was suppressed lest it should too evidently indicate the author. These mystifications were doubtless the fruit of Pope's fears. As the time approached for the publication of a relentless satire directed against already exasperated enemies, he recoiled from the consequences of his daring. On the one hand, he was uncertain of the reception the 'Dunciad' would meet with from the public; on the other, he must have known that he was exposing himself to the most malignant vengeance the Dunces could inflict. Hence his elaborate scheme to disguise his connection with the poem. If it proved a success with the public, he would have no occasion to disavow the authorship, already indicated not obscurely beneath the transparent veil of the Advertisement; if it were disapproved of, he might shelter himself behind the strict letter of the publisher's notice, or at least deny that the poem had been published with his consent. He was soon relieved of one half of his apprehensions: the public read the poem with avidity, and |