was composed during a visit to Oxford. In a letter from thence to Martha Blount in the autumn of 1716, he says: "The Epistle of Eloisa grows warm, and begins to have some breathings of the heart in it, which may make posterity think I was in love. I can scarce find in my heart to leave out the conclusion I once intended for it." Whatever fair one might have been originally alluded to in the concluding lines of that poem, there can be no doubt (as we shall see) that in their printed form they were meant to have a relation to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. During this year the second volume of the Iliad came forth. A collection of Pope's Miscellaneous Poems in folio and quarto, in which Eloisa to Abelard was for the first time printed, and the third volume of the Iliad, appeared in 1717. To Lady Mary he forwarded copies of both publications, accompanied by a letter in which he says; Among the rest, you have all I am worth, that is, my works. There are few things in them but what you have already seen, except the Epistle of Eloisa to Abelard, in which you will find one passage that I cannot tell whether to wish you to understand or not." He was anxious to direct her attention to the conclusion of the poem: "And sure if fate some future bard shall join Such if there be, who loves so long, so well, The well-sung woes will soothe my pensive ghost; 1 During the same year, Gay produced his comedy called Three Hours after Marriage. That he was assisted in the composition of this piece by Pope and Arbuthnot, there can be no doubt: the character of Sir Tremendous (designed for Dennis) was most probably by the former, that of Fossile (meant for Dr. Woodward) by the latter. Such a mixture of extravagance, obscenity, and personal satire, was justly condemned by the public. The literary labours of our author were for a while suspended by the death of his father, who expired suddenly in the seventy-fifth year of his age. The event was thus communicated to the Miss Blounts: 66 "Nov. 1717. "MY poor father died last night. Believe, since I do not forget you this moment, I never shall. A. POPE." Between Pope and Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester, there existed a sincere attachment. They 66 1 "I must farther," says Gay in an advertisement, own the assistance I have received in this piece from two of my friends; who, though they will not allow me the honour of having their names joined with mine, cannot deprive me of the pleasure of making this acknowledgment." had now been acquainted with each other for several years; and the Bishop, who had formerly made an inefficient attempt to wean the poet from the errors of Romanism, again, in a letter addressed to him on his father's death, touched on the subject of his conforming to the church of England. Pope thus replies to the zealous prelate : "MY LORD. "Nov. 20, 1717. "I AM truly obliged by your kind condolence on my father's death, and the desire you express that I should improve this incident to my advantage. I know your Lordship's friendship to me is so extensive, that you include in that wish both my spiritual and my temporal advantage; and it is what I owe to that friendship, to open my mind unreservedly to you on this head. It is true, I have lost a parent for whom no make would be any equivalent. not my only tie: I thank God another still remains (and long may it remain) of the same tender nature. Genetrix est mihi; and excuse me if I say with Euryalus, gains I could But that was Nequeam lacrymas perferre parentis. A rigid divine may call it a carnal tie, but sure it is a virtuous one. At least, I am more certain that it is a duty of nature to preserve a good parent's life and happiness, than I am of any speculative point whatever: Ignaram hujus quodcunque pericli For she, my Lord, would think this separation more grievous than any other, and I, for my part, know as little as poor Euryalus did, of the success of such an adventure; for an adventure it is, and no small one, in spite of the most positive divinity. Whether the change would be to my spiritual advantage, God only knows: this I know, that I mean as well in the religion I now profess, as I can possibly ever do in another. Can a man, who thinks so, justify a change, even if he thought both equally good? To such an one, the part of joining with any one body of Christians might perhaps be easy, but I think it would not be so, to renounce the other. "Your Lordship has formerly advised me to read the best controversies between the churches. Shall I tell you a secret? I did so at fourteen years old; for I loved reading, and my father had no other books; there was a collection of all that had been written on both sides in the reign of King James the Second. I warmed my head with them, and the consequence was that I found myself a Papist and a Protestant by turns, according to the last book I read. I am afraid most seekers are in the same case, and when they stop, they are not so properly converted as outwitted. You see how little glory you would gain by my conversion. And after all, I verily believe your Lordship and I are both of the same reli gion, if we were thoroughly understood by one another; and that all honest and reasonable Christians would be so, if they did but talk enough together every day, and had nothing to ao together, but to serve God, and live in peace with their neighbour. "As to the temporal side of the question, I can have no dispute with you; it is certain, all the beneficial circumstances of life, and all the nining ones, lie on the part you would invite me But, it I could bring myself to fancy, what I think you do but fancy, that I have any talents for active life, I want health for it; and besides it is a real truth, I have less inclination (if possible) than ability. Contemplative life is not only my scene, but it is my habit too. I begun my life where most people end theirs, with a disrelish of all that the world calls ambition. I do not know why it is called so, for to me it always seemed to be rather stooping than climbing. I will tell you my political and religious sentiments in a few words. In my politics, I think no further than how to preserve the peace of my life, in any government under which I live; nor in my religion, than to preserve the peace of my conscience in any church with which I communicate. I hope all churches and all governments are so far of God, as they are rightly understood, and rightly administered: and where they are, or may be wrong, I leave it to God alone to mend or reform them; which whenever he does, it must |