pamphlet entitled, A Key to the Lock, or a Treatise proving, beyond all contradiction, the dangerous Tendency of a late poem, entitled, "The Rape of the Lock,' to Government and Religion, by Esdras Barnivelt, Apoth. This had prefixed to it several commendatory verses, after the fashion of the day; and also an 'Epistle dedicatory to Mr. Pope', in which The Rape of the Lock is referred to as the poison which hath been so artfully distilled through your guile, and conveyed to the world through the pleasing vehicle of your numbers', and 'the uncommon sale of this book (for above 6,000 of 'em have been already vended) was also a further reason that called aloud upon me to put a stop to its further progress.'

This was written by Pope himself,1 and apparently had been some time in contemplation. The matter of the Key to the Lock may be summarized as follows:- Mr. Barnivelt' says: I consider it to be my duty to warn the public against The Rape of the Lock. The author, as we all know, is a Papist, and may well have been corrupted by the Jesuits, although, generally speaking, he is level-headed enough. Now, Papists know that the publication of books tending to propagate their doctrines is dangerous, so they are obliged to disguise their productions. They know, too, that in England the Church and the State are so firmly united that attacking one is attacking the other. Though I cannot positively affirm that The Rape of the Lock was intended to spread Roman Catholic ideas, I am led to think so by the fact that many Roman Catholics have appropriated the various characters in the poem to themselves. For instance, Sir Plume and

1 Swift writes from Dublin to Pope on June 28, 1715: I saw the Key to the Lock but yesterday: I think you have changed it a good deal to adapt it to present times.'

Belinda (the last-named in spite of the disclaimer contained in the dedication).

'Looked at from a political point of view, if we may assume, as we may do, that by the Lock itself is symbolized the Barrier Treaty, then we have Belinda representing Great Britain, or (which is the same thing) Queen Anne herself; the Baron, who cuts off the Lock (the Barrier Treaty), is the Earl of Oxford; Clarissa, who lent the scissors, is my Lady Masham; Thalestris, who resents the loss of the Lock, or Treaty, is the Duchess of Marlborough; 2 Sir Plume is Prince Eugene; the Sylphs and Gnomes are the two rival political parties, Ariel being Lord Oxford, and Umbriel some other

66

grave and worthy minister "; Zephyretta, Brillante, and the rest, are the Queen's ladies; the wounded Sylph is Lord Townshend; the pet dog " Shock" is Dr. Sacheverell; and the line about the power of "unresisted steel" (canto iii. 178) is a punning allusion to the poet's friend Richard Steele, of The Tatler. Furthermore, by the game of Ombre is meant the late war, in which Belinda (Britain) plays against

1 The Barrier Treaty, which was signed in November 1715, was the embodiment of an agreement come to with the States-General in 1713; and this agreement was itself but a modification of the prior treaty of 1709, by which England had engaged to support the Dutch in obtaining abarrier' against France, consisting of a line of ten fortresses on the Flemish frontier. This treaty had been signed by Lord Townshend on behalf of England, as the Duke of Marlborough would have nothing to do with it. The agreement of 1713 had modified it considerably, to the disadvantage of the Dutch, and to the benefit commercially of England. The treaty had for one of its results strained relations between England and Austria prior to the outbreak of the Seven Years' War; and it was eventually annulled by the Treaty of Fontainebleau in 1785.

This is an allusion to the rivalry between the Duchess of Marlborough and Mrs. Masham (who eventually supplanted her), which had been much inflamed when the latter had persuaded the Queen not to wear at the Thanksgiving Service for the victory of Oudenarde the jewels which the Duchess had arranged for her.

E

France and Spain; "Pam" is the Duke of Marlborough ; the Tea-Table is the Council; the squabbling after the Rape represents the fierce political discussions; Dapperwit is the President of the Council [Earl of Nottingham]; the bodkin is the royal sceptre; the three seal-rings are the three kingdoms; and the happy ending is the Peace of Utrecht. Considered from the point of view of religion and the propagation of Popery, we may look upon the Sylphs as symbolizing the guardian angels and patron saints which figure so largely in Roman Catholicism; the Toilette being the Mass, and the Chief Goddess our Lady of Loretto; Belinda herself is the "Scarlet Woman ", and by the lunar sphere is typified Purgatory.'

It will be seen from this how very far-fetched and ridiculous is the matter of the Key to the Lock.

V

Numerous references have been made above to the machinery' of the poem, which is a matter of interest from many points of view. Incidentally, the question of its introduction gave rise to the misunderstanding between Pope and Addison, to which we owe the celebrated portrait of 'Atticus' -a score of lines as unmatched in polished satire as they were, in all probability, unjust in fact. It is Pope's use of this machinery, moreover, which, more than any other single feature, made the poem the signal success that it is. Furthermore, the whole subject of the Rosicrucian Fraternity is in itself a curious one. While it has made not a little noise in the world, its origin, character, and indeed its existence are only known from the claims of anonymous ex parte manifestoes, such as the Fama Fraternitatis. Though it is now

generally regarded as a mere hoax, at least one writer has seen in it a benevolent secret society, probably founded by Bacon, to which we owe not merely Shakespeare', but the works of most of the leading Elizabethans.

6

It will be sufficient, however, for our present purpose to give some account of the work on which Pope's knowledge of the subject was mainly based.

The Spectator for May 15, 1712, the day after Pope's Messiah had appeared in that paper, had contained an account of the discovery of the Tomb of Rosicrucius. The article in question is usually attributed to Eustace Budgell, who was Addison's cousin and secretary; and Dr. Johnson used to say that 'Addison wrote Budgell's papers in The Spectator, at least mended them so much that he made them almost his own.' It may have been this paper which first turned Pope's attention to the subject of the Rosicrucians, but whether that is so or not, he says in the Introductory Letter to Miss Fermor that the best account of them known to him is to be found 'in a French book called Le Comte de Gabalis'. This book was originally published in 1670, and the full title was Le Comte de Gabalis ou Entretiens sur les sciences secrètes. It was written by the Abbé de Montfaucon de Villars, though it has been asserted that it originated with one Joseph Francis Borri, a Milanese quack, who died in 1695. The Abbé, however, was looked upon as its author by his contemporaries; for, although the book was well received at first, it soon came to be considered as dangerous and was proscribed, and the Abbé was forbidden to preach; and three years after its publication he was assassinated on the road near Lyons. Pope's mention of this book in the Introductory Letter to The Rape of the Lock led to its being translated into English and published in London in the same year, 1714.

Prefixed to this English translation is Bayle's 'Account of the Rosicrucians', in which it is stated that the fraternity first appeared in Germany in the beginning of the seventeenth century, and that according to their own account the sect was founded by a 'Gentleman of Germany, whose name is not known but by these two letters, A. C.'; that this founder had died in 1484 after communicating to his disciples the secrets (including that of the Philosopher's Stone) which he had himself learned from the Arabs in Damascus. From the Comte de Gabalis Pope conceived the idea of elaborating The Rape of the Lock by the introduction of the machinery' of the Sylphs and Gnomes; which would have the effect of heightening the mock-heroic character of the poem, and at the same time render it more impersonal in tone, and so less distasteful to the Fermor family. Most of the friends to whom he communicated his idea seem to have warmly approved of it, and in particular Dr. Garth, who had himself written a mock-epic, The Dispensary, which does not, however, comprise any similar machinery'. The one dissentient was Addison, who urged Pope to leave the poem as it stood, saying that it was a delicious little thing' and 'merum sal' (pure wit). Pope, however, took umbrage at this attitude on Addison's part, and, as mentioned above, it led to an estrangement between them which was never entirely healed.

Pope himself was especially pleased and proud of the new production, and afterwards spoke of it as one of the greatest proofs of judgment of anything I ever did'. What he did was to convert a mere squib, too free and personal considering his want of acquaintance with the persons against whom it was directed, into a masterly and playful satire upon the follies and frivolities of the fashionable young ladies and beaux of