which are collected by the learned editor of his works*. Some inftances of imitation however, feem to have escaped his recollection. The 84th line in particular, of the 4th paftoral †, on winter;

“Thy name, thy honour, and thy praise shall " live ‡!"

is an imitation, or rather indeed, a literal tranflation of the following line in Virgil

"Semper honos, nomenque tuum, laudefque manebunt."

* The present Bishop of Gloucefter.

+ This, which was our author's favourite paftoral, was written to the memory of Mrs. Tempeft, a lady of an antient family in Yorkshire, and particularly admired by our author's friend Mr. Walsh; who having celebrated her in a paftoral elegy, defired his friend to do the fame, as appears from one of his letters, where he fays," Your laft eclogue being on the fame fubject with that of mine on Mrs. Tempeft's death, I fhould take it very kindly in you to give it a little turn, as if it were to the memory of the fame lady, if they were not written for fome particular woman, whom you would make immortal. You may take occafion to fhew the difference between poets mistreffes, and other men's." The death of this lady having happened on the night of the great form in 1703, gave a propriety to his eclogue, which in its general turn alludes to it.

It is obfervable, that the fame line occurs, with little variation, towards the conclufion of the third canto of the Rape of the Lock

"So long my honour, name, and praife fhall live."

Thefe

These paftorals were fo much admired, that they brought our poet acquainted with the most eminent men of that time. Sir William Trumball, who was his zealous patron, firft fhewed them to Mr. Wycherley, who communicated them to Mr. Walsh, the author of many pieces both in profe and verse, and esteemed by Mr. Dryden, to have been one of the beft critics of his age. He was fo delighted with them, that, in his letter to Mr. Wycherley, he fays---" The author feems to have a particular genius for this kind of poetry, and a judgment that far exceeds his years. He has taken very freely from the antients, but what he has mixed of his own with theirs, is no way inferior to what he has taken from them. It is not flattery to fay that Virgil had written nothing fo good at his age. The preface is very learned and judicious; and the verses very tender and eafy. I fhall take it as a favour, if you will bring me acquainted with him."

Lord Lanfdown likewife, about the fame time, mentioning the youth of our poet, says (in a printed letter of the Character of Mr. Wycherley) that" if he goes on as he hath begun in the pastoral way, as Virgil first tried his ftrength, we may hope to fee English poetry vie with the Roman."

These paftorals alfo paffed through the hands of Dr. Garth, Lord Halifax, Lord Somers, Mr. Mainwaring and feveral others, who all gave our author the greatest encouragement.

Not

Notwithstanding the early time of their production, our author himself esteemed these as the most correct in the verfification, and mufical in the numbers, of all his works; being conscious, as we may learn from his preface, how much their excellence depended on those niceties; in which he appears, even then, to have had uncommon fkill: for in one of his letters to Mr. Walsh about this time, we find an enumeration of feveral niceties in verfification, which perhaps have never been strictly observed in any English poem, except in these pastorals.

Our poet, indeed, feems never to have remitted his attention to the correctness of his verfification; to which he was greatly encouraged by the advice of Mr. Walfh, who used to tell him there was one way left, of excelling: for that, though we had feveral great poets, yet we never had any that was correct; and he therefore recommended correctness to him, aş his principal study and aim.

It must be confeffed, however, that these paftorals did not escape the malice of criticifm, at the time of their publication.

Many, who had not judgment to distinguish what is rural from what is ruftic, imputed to them that they wanted that fimplicity, which is the characteristic of paftoral poetry. To ridicule thefe objections, Mr. POPE privately fent an effay, which was published in a paper called the Guardian; and which contained an ironical comparifon between

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between his own paftorals, and those of Phillips. In this effay, our author went fo far as to deny that his own had any claim to be called paftorals; adding humouroufly, that though they were by no means paftorals, yet they were fomething better.

He pleasantly obferves, that neither Theocritus nor Virgil intended their poems for paftorals; " and in that refpect," fays he, "Phillips hath excelled both Theocritus and Virgil. Virgil, he continues, hath been thought guilty of too courtly a ftile. Mr. POPE, he adds, hath fallen into the fame error with Virgil. His clowns do not converfe in all the fimplicity proper to the country: his names are borrowed from Theocritus and Virgil, which are improper to the scenes of his paftorals. He introduces Daphnis, Alexis, and Thyrfis on British plains, as Virgil hath done before him on the Mantuan. Whereas Phillips, who hath the ftricteft regard to propriety, makes choice of names peculiar to the country, and more agreeable to a reader of delicacy; fuch as Hobbinol, Lobbin, Cuddy, and Colin Clout."

One would think that the irony in this paffage, to fay nothing of the reft, was too obvious to be mistaken, even by a Boeotian critic; nevertheless many were ftupid many were ftupid enough to imagine it was a ferious criticism by Steele, (who received it from an unknown hand.) Nay all at Button's, confidered it as fuch, except Mr. Addifon, who faw into the joke immediately;

and

and the next time he met Mr. POPE, told him, into what a ridiculous fituation he had put his friends; who had declared their diflike of having Phillips fo extolled at the expence of another of the club: which is the language Steele had before held with POPE, when he first received the papers.

Some who were weak enough to fuppofe this comparison serious, thought that it proceeded from a partiality to Mr. Phillips; for whom Sir Richard was fuppofed to have a personal kindness.

But the real occafion of that ludicrous piece of criticism, was Mr. Phillip's injustice to Mr. POPE. Whether occafioned by the latter's fuperior talents, or the former's over-heated zeal for whiggifm, certain it is, that Mr. Phillips was always induftrious to reprefent Mr. Pope as engaged in the intrigues of the tory ministry; for which he had no other grounds whatever, than the acquaintance and friendship Mr. POPE had with thofe eminent tory wits Swift and Prior, as also the minifters Oxford and Bolingbroke. But in their frequent meetings, politics never entered among the topics of conversation: And I am warranted to fay from the best authority, that Mr. POPE never wrote a political paper in his life.

Mr. Phillips's mean injuftice on this head, raifed the indignation. of fome of Mr. POPE'S friends, and particularly occafioned the SHEP

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HERD'S