á kind of pride that the noble manfion and domains of his ancestors ftill remain in the poffeffion of his defcendants. Here (1704), he first saw, in manuscript, the Pastorals of Pope. It may not be carrying the fancy too far, to suppose, that such fubjects, treated fo melodiously, might have been peculiarly in unifon with Sir William's fentiments and circumstances. The stripling minstrel of Binfield was, of course, applauded, and received with the greatest kindnefs. Under fuch aufpices began the poetical career of Pope the manufcript of his Paftorals was circulated among thofe who those who were confidered as competent judges, and the dawn of genius was hailed by all men of acknowledged taste in literature. Wycherley, who lived near, and had himself " old grown in rhyme," was enthufiaftic in his admiration. This celebrated wit, now in his 69th year, who to his laft fcene continued the farce of rhyme and ribaldry, thinking, no doubt, that Pope was like fomething inspired, cultivated his friendship, with the highest profeffions of admiration and esteem, chiefly with a view of having his own inferior compofitions corrected and elevated by fuch a genius. During this intercourse, the applause and compliments which they mutually bestowed on each other were not lefs ridiculous, than a friendship between a fentimental liber tine and a young man perfectly ignorant of the world was unnatural. Lady M. W. Montagu fays, "Pope courted Wycherley as he did other rich old men, with a view of a legacy." It was not likely, however, that at this age he should have been fo coldly and selfishly prudent. It was fufficient that he was young, and flattered by a person who had gained a kind of celebrity. He fays, in his first letter, and probably with truth," it was certainly a great fatisfaction to me to see and converse with a man, whom in his writings I had fo long known with pleasure."-Dec. 26, 1704. Of a friendship fo uncongenial, and begun with fuch circumstances, a little knowledge of human nature may easily anticipate the conclufion. Unfortunately, after great pains had been taken with Wycherley's verfes, which had been the pride and labour of a long life, the young critic feriously advised him, when all was done, to turn them INTO PROSE!! This wound, which Pope, no doubt, gave unconscioufly, was never entirely healed. Some faint attempts were made to renew the original kindness, but their friendship could not be re-established, and the superannuated bard died not long after. By Wycherley the Paftorals in manuscript were fhewn to Cromwell, and by Cromwell to Walsh. After having been more widely circulated, and as highly applauded, the paftoral ftrain was fucceeded by the defcriptive; at least the defcriptive poem of Windfor Windfor Forest was now begun, but not finished till 1713. There was a particular beech-tree, under which Pope used to fit; and it is the tradition of the place, that under that tree he compofed the Windfor Forest. The original tree being decayed, Lady Gower of Bill-hill had a memorial carved upon the bark of another immediately adjoining; "Here Pope fang." The marks are visible to this day, but are faft wearing out. During Lady Gower's life, the letters were new cut every three or four years. Such was the early progress of this great writer's reputation. The Paftorals, which had been four years circulated in manuscript, were published when he was twenty years of age, having been written at fixteen (1709). The letter of old Jacob Tonfon, who offered his prefs, is extant; and as it is characteristic, it is here inferted, " SIR, "I have lately feen a Paftoral of yours, in Mr. Walsh's and Congreve's hand, which is extremely fine, and is approved by the best judges in poetry. I remember I have formerly seen you in my shop, and am forry I did not improve my acquaintance with you. If you defign your poem for the prefs, no one fhall be more careful in printing it, nor no one can give greater encouragement to it than, Sir," &c. The most extraordinary productions said to have been written fo early as his fourteenth year muft not be paffed over. These were the Alterations from Chaucer's Wife of Bath, and the tranflation of Ovid's Epiftle from Sappho to Phaon. Dr. Warton fays, that from his profeffion" he had seen compofitions of youths of fixteen years old, far beyond the Pastorals in point of genius and imagination, though not of correctness." But I fear not to affert, that he never could have feen any compofitions of boys of that age so perfect in verfification, fo copious, yet fo nice in expreffion, fo correct, so spirited, and fo finished, as these alterations and tranflations. It is most probable they were corrected and heightened when the tafte of the author was matured; and when he was in a greater degree mafter of that "copia verborum," which gives fo beautiful a precision to his language, and forms one of the chief characteristical excellencies of his poetry. He had already without fuccefs attempted the bolder flight of the Epic fong (1708), and, like Icarus, (Jule ceratis, &c.) found himself unequal to the effort. He fays very claffically, cr -Cynthius aurem Vellit, & admonuit." Having, however, obtained fo much diftinction, he effayed to cope for the lyric palm with Dryden, and published haud paffibus aquis, the Ode on St. Cecilia's Day, and, not long afterwards, the Choruses for for the Duke of Buckingham's vapid and prefumptuous alterations of Shakespeare's Julius Cæfar. His acquaintance was now courted by most men of distinguished character in the republic of letters. At the age of nineteen he wrote the Effay on Criticism. This was, indeed, a moft fingular and ftriking production; and as we may date from it the first public enmity of the author to his contemporaries, it ought to be more particularly confidered. After the circulation of his Pastorals, the testimonies to his poetical merit were many and illuftrious; but, at this time, one individual, who had great weight as a claffical and critical judge, was filent: this was the memorable John Dennis. Dennis, of whofe judgment in his favour Pope would most probably have been proud, was not found among the numbers of his admirers. That he had faid fomething against the Paftorals, feems apparent from these lines: "Soft were my numbers, who could take offence, Dennis had certainly published nothing; but as he did not join in the general voice of praise, this circumstance alone, from one who was confidered the most accurate critic of the age, was fufficiently mortifying to the self-love of a young author. To |