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The unintentional injury was atoned for, and the unmerited reproaches of the satirist, though perhaps felt keenly, were unanswered, and we may be sure forgiven, amidst higher cares and public duties.

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CHAPTER III.

THE GAY PERIOD OF POPE'S LIFE. HIS REMOVAL TO TWICKENHAM.

HIS

GARDEN AND GROTTO. HIS PASSION FOR LADY MARY WORTLEY
MONTAGU. QUARRELS WITH CIBBER AND CUrll. DEATH OF HIS
FATHER. COMPLETION OF THE ILIAD, AND GAY'S CONGRATULATORY
POEM.

THE Homer subscription had brought the poet honour, wealth, and troops of friends. The year 1714 may be considered as marking the commencement of the gayest period of Pope's life. It was the beginning of a decade of prosperous years, in which, through all circumstances, his spirit was sanguine, exultant, and defiant. He had not yet assumed the philosopher's robe, or hardened down into severe satire and ethics. His wit was sportive: and his enemies-for he always supposed himself to be surrounded by a cloud of enemies-he could afford to smile at. His pen was the sword with which he had cut his way through the world, and it was bright and trenchant, ready for any service. At first his good fortune seems to have transported him into excesses foreign to his real character. He set up for a bon-vivant and rake-frequented the October Club and gaming-houses (but was never known to bet)-boasted of sitting till two in the morning over burgundy and champagne-and grew ashamed of business. Poor authors, of course, were his special aversion. He sketched plans and architectural designs with Lord Burlington; lounged in the library of Lord Oxford; breakfasted with Craggs; talked of the Spanish war with the chivalrous Mordaunt, Lord Peterborough, the English Amadis; or, in the evening joined in the learned raillery of Arbuthnot. With young

Lord Warwick and other beaux-esprits he had delicious lobster-nights and tavern gaieties-how different from life in Windsor Forest! At the country seats of Lords Harcourt, Bathurst, and Cobham, he was a frequent visitor-criticising groves, walks, glades, gardens and porticoes; and he may claim the merit of having done more than any other poet to render English scenes classic ground-a distinction in which he was followed by Gray and Walpole, the latter acting as historian of patrician improvement and rural beauty. In the society of ladies of rank and fashion the diminutive figure of the poet might be seen in his suit of black velvet, with tie-wig and small sword, discoursing on topics of wit and gallantry, his fine eye and handsome intellectual face soon making the defects of his person forgotten; for in company entirely to his

LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU.

mind, Pope then possessed the art and gaiety that could "laugh down

many a summer sun. The accom

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plished Lady Mary
Wortley Montagu
had recently quitted
her retirement at
Wharncliffe,
shone "a bright
particular star" in
the brilliant circles
of the metropolis.
Pope was often by
her side, whisper-
ing flatteries that
were afterwards to
be changed to
curses. The Duch-

esses of Queensberry, Hamilton, and Montagu smiled gra

THE GAY PERIOD OF POPE'S LIFE.

111

ciously on the laurelled poet, and carried him to their concerts and pleasure parties on the Thames.1 The Maids of Honour in the court of the Princess Caroline-the beautiful Mary Bellenden, Mary Lepell, Miss Griffin, and Mrs. Howard, admitted him to their confidence" took him into their protection, contrary to the laws against harbouring Papists"—and instructed him in the tracasseries of the Court, or joined him in ridiculing pompous Ministers of State and sage Doctors of Divinity. They had also their own grievances to pour into the poet's ear; for the life of a Maid of Honour was little better at Hampton Court under the philosophical Caroline, than Fanny Burney found it at Kew or Windsor under the regime of Queen Charlotte and George III. "To eat Westphalia ham in a morning, ride over hedges and ditches (hunting in Windsor Forest), come home in the heat of the day with a fever and a red mark on the forehead from a beaver hat (sic orig.); simper an hour and catch cold in the Princess's apartment; thence to dinner with what appetite they may; and after that till midnight, walk, work, or think, which they please." Such is Pope's catalogue of evils (none of them very formidable), "and I can easily believe," he says, rising with his subject, "that no lone house in Wales, with a mountain and a rookery, is more contemplative than this court." He then adds, with a touch of pride,

1 From one of these lively duchesses he received the following invitation, which we copy from the original, in the British Museum. It is addressed to "Alex. Pope, Esq., at Mr. Jervas's House in Cleveland Court."

66

SIR,-My lady duchess being drunk at this present, so not able to write herself, has commanded me to acquaint you, that there is to be music on the water on Thursday next; therefore desires you to be that evening at her house in Bond Street, by six o'clock at farthest; and her grace will call of you there to take you to her barge, which she ordered to be ready at that time at Whitehall, with provisions, and shall land you on the wished-for shore. I am, Sir, your most humble servant, G. MADDISON."

"East Acton, Tuesday night."

(In another hand.) "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. So POPE is the word, a disappointment is not to be endured."

to make Teresa Blount jealous, "Mrs. Lepell walked with me three or four hours by moonlight, and we met no creature of any quality but the King, who gave audience to the Vice Chamberlain all alone under the garden wall." The poor king!

For true unostentatious satisfaction and delight, Pope had the cordial society of his painter-friend Jervas (whose house was his town residence), the witty Arbuthnot, the gentle Parnell, Rowe-who laughed everywhere but in his tragedies the simple, admiring John Gay, Colonel Disney, a clever man of the world, who had seen service and reaped his opima spolia, and two excellent Devonshire worthies, learned in the law, Fortescue and Bickford. Country excursions on horseback were occasionally adventured upon by this light-hearted brotherhood, and Jervas's notes-short notes full of sense, business, and kindness, let us see how they managed the details. Arbuthnot, as the oldest and gravest of the party, laid down rules, and was inflexible in cutting off all superfluities and impediments. "The Doctor proposes," says Jervas, "that himself or his man ride my spare horse, and that I leave all equipage to be sent by the carrier, with your portmanteau. The Doctor says he will allow none of his friends so much as a night-gown or slippers for the road, so a shirt and cravat in your pocket is all you must think of in his new scheme. His servant may be bribed to make room for that. You shall have a shorter and less bridle sent down on Saturday, and the other shall be returned in due time. The tailor shall be chastised if it is really negligence on his part, but if it is only vapours, you must beg pardon." "Your old sword went with the carrier, and was tied to the other things with a cord, and my folks say very fast. You must make the carrier responsible; mine will swear to the delivery." A particular man, the poet, and somewhat troublesome!

Visits to Bath were then a favourite summer recreation, and the Abbey bells often rang in Pope and his friends. The poet relished the amusements of the place, regulated

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