"would be prevailed upon to give us Ovid's Epistles "by his hand, for it is certain we see the original of "Sappho to Phaon with much more life and likeness "in his verfion, than in that of Sir Car Scrope, And this (he adds) is the more to be wifhed, because in "the English tongue we have scarcely any thing truly "and naturally written upon Love s." He also, in taxing Sir Richard Blackmore for his heterodox opinions of Homer, challengeth him to answer what Mr. Pope hath faid in his preface to that Poet. Mr. OLDMIXON calls him a great mafter of our tongue; declares "the "purity and perfection of the English language to be "found in his Homer; and, faying there are more "good verfes in Dryden's Virgil than in any other work, except this of our author only'." The Author of a Letter to Mr. CIBBER, says, "u Pope was fo good a verfifier [once] that, his predeceffor Mr. Dryden, and his contemporary Mr. "Prior excepted, the harmony of his numbers is equal "to any body's. And, that he had all the merit, that "a man can have that way." And Mr. THOMAS COOKE, after much blemishing our author's Homer, crieth out, "But in his other works what beauties fhine, "While fweetest Music dwells in every line! Commentary on the Duke of Buckingham's Essay, octavo, 1721, p. 97, 98. In his profe Effay on Criticism. • Printed by J. Roberts, 1742, p. 11. "Thefe "These he admir'd, on these he stamp'd his praise, "And bade them live to brighten future days w." So alfo one who takes the name of H. STANHOPE, the maker of certain verfes to Duncan Campbell *, in that poem, which is wholly a fatire upon Mr. Pope, confeffeth, "'Tis true, if finest notes alone could fhow " (Tun'd justly high, or regularly low) "That we should fame to these mere vocals give; "Pope more than we can offer should receive : "For when fome gliding river is his theme, "His lines run fmoother than the fmootheft stream," &c. MIST'S JOURNAL, June 8, 1728. Although he fays, "The fmooth numbers of the Dun"ciad are all that recommend it, nor has it any other "merit;" yet that fame paper hath these words : "The author is allowed to be a perfect master of an "eafy and elegant verfification. In all his works we "find the most happy turns, and natural similies, won"derfully short and thick fown." The Effay on the Dunciad also owns, p. 25. it is very full of beautiful images. But the panegyric, which crowns all that can be faid on this Poem, is bestowed by our Laureate, Mr. COLLEY CIBBER, w Battle of the Poets, folio, p. 15. x Printed under the title of the Progrefs of Dulness, duodecimo, 1728. who who "grants it to be a better Poem of its kind than "ever was writ:" but adds, "it was a victory over a parcel of poor wretches, whom it was almost cowar❝dice to conquer.-A man might as well triumph for "having killed so many filly flies that offended him. "Could he have let them alone, by this time, poor "fouls! they had all been buried in oblivion y." Here we see our excellent Laureate allows the justice of the fatire on every man in it, but himself; as the great Mr. Dennis did before him. The faid Mr. DENNIS and Mr. GILDON, in the most furious of all their works (the forecited Character, p. 5.) do in concert confefs, "That fome y Cibber's Letter to Mr. Pope, p. 9. 12. "men z in concert] Hear how Mr. Dennis hath proved our mistake in this place, "As to my writing in concert with "Mr. Gildon, I declare upon the honour and word of "a gentleman, that I never wrote fo much as one line in concert with any one man whatsoever. And these two Letters from Gildon will plainly fhew, that we are "not writers in concert with each other. Sir, -The height of my Ambition is to please men of the beft Judgment; and finding that I have entertained my Mafter agreeably, I have the extent of the Reward of my Labour.' Sir, I had not the opportunity of hearing of your excellent pamphlet till this day. I am infinitely fatisfied and pleased with it, and hope you will meet with that encouragement your admirable performance deferves,' CH. GILDON. &c. "Now "men of good understanding value him for his rhymes." And (p. 17.) "that he has got, like Mr. Bays in the "Rehearsal, (that is, like Mr. Dryden) a notable "knack at rhyming, and writing smooth verse." Of his Effay on Man, numerous were the praises beftowed by his avowed enemies, in the imagination that the fame was not written by him, as it was printed anonymously. Thus fang of it even BEZALEEL MORRIS. "Aufpicious bard! while all admire thy ftrain, "Alike informs the Soul, and charms the Ear," &c. And Mr. LEONARD WELSTED thus wrote a to the unknown author, on the first publication of the faid Effay; "I muft own, after the recep"tion which the vilest and most immoral ribaldry hath " lately met with, I was furprized to fee what I had "long defpaired, a performance deferving the name "Now is it not plain, that any one who fends fuch compliments to another, has not been used to write in 66 partnership with him to whom he fends them?" Den-. nis, Remarks on the Dunciad, p. 50. Mr. Dennis is therefore welcome to take this piece to himself. a In a Letter under his own hand, dated March 12, 1733 "of "of a poet. Such, Sir, is your work. It is, indeed, "above all commendation, and ought to have been "published in an age and country more worthy of it. "If my teftimony be of weight any where, you are "fure to have it in the ampleft manner," &c. &c. &c. Thus we fee every one of his works hath been extolled by one or other of his moft inveterate Enemies; and to the fuccefs of them all they do unanimoufly give teftimony. But it is fufficient, inftar omnium, to behold the great critic, Mr. Dennis, forely lamenting it, even from the Effay on Criticism to this day of the Dunciad! "A most notorious inftance (quoth he) of "the depravity of genius and taste, the approbation "this Effay meets with b.-I can safely affirm, that I "never attacked any of these writings, unless they had "fuccefs infinitely beyond their merit. This, though "an empty, has been a popular scribbler. The epide"mic madness of the times has given him reputation c. "-If, after the cruel treatment fo many extraordinary "men (Spenfer, Lord Bacon, Ben Jonfon, Milton, "Butler, Otway, and others) have received from this "country, for these last hundred years, I should shift ❝ the scene, and fhew all that penury changed at once "to riot and profuseness; and more squandered away 66 upon one object, than would have satisfied the greater part of thofe extraordinary men; the reader to b Dennis, Pref. to his Reflect. on the Effay on Criticifm. c Preface to his Remarks on Homer, " whom |