New-York tribune., 1880-06-13
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
ALEXANDER POPE.

Men
I2aIo, PIP. 200. Harper &BrO'hefs
Tn this latest contribution to the popular sees Oh
a,ogropb,es of English Men Of Letters, hr. LeSne
stephen has found subject OF exceptional interest
syhe life of Pope has been tempting study 1or
more than hundred years, and 1t ls not yet eA-
haus,e 1t 10 full of pQuaDt mysteries ht Ior ant'-
auaran research, aud dramatic surprises whieh cap
tiyate the fancy of the literary artist IL orngS US
into brilliant society of WITS beaus statesmen ana
saslionab,e philosophers; 1t opens glinpses of the
souaor of Grub Street and the rascalites OF pirati
cal boosellers and it leads into some OF the most
memorable of literary quarrels. 1t mas been sad thaV
Poue could hardly drink tea without sfratageni'
He loved to surround his most trivial actons WI"
obscurity and nisconception, TO msleau mo
temporarie, to puzzle posterlty. 10 unraNel Vuo
true history Of the notable passages IN h's e'ue'i
IL like trying to solve riddle or TO trace ho is"n'
aetors In crime; and we read tue narrative vi pa
tient investigation with the same aDsoroi"e
that we nav to an ingenious detective novel
po,,o WAC not only liar and hypOcrite but as Mr'
ctanhen antlv remarks " he was always hand-to-
,,or,b.liarn and wo are never so much IN douoC
ahout abatement in his life as when we have u IN
bis own hand. He began the practice OK myst,no"-
f;op quite early His boz ish correspondence wiz" '"S
veteran dramatist, Wycherley, was mutllateu an"
falsifed when he gave it to the public Ills aosoio-
ING vanity could not bear the reveiauon Vi th0
full degree in which he had fawned upon tne ue-
eayed dramatist whose nferierity to hmseh was
now plaiuly recognized. He altered the Whoio 'one
~ the correspondence by omission, and still worse
NV addition. He did not publish letter IN which
Wvcberley gently demonstrates with his young al
n,irer for excessive adulatiOn; he omitted from
bis own letters the phrase which had provoked the
remonstrance and with more daring falslhcaton'
he manufactured an imaginary letter 10 Wycnelie!
ont of letter really addressed to his friend CarVh'
In this letter Pope had himself addressed 10
Caryll a remonstrance similar TO that WHICH
he had received from Wycherley' Wheh pun
i,sbed as a letter to Wycheiley, 1t gives
the impression that Pope, at tue age OF
/, seventeen was already rejecting excessive COM
ailments addressed to him by his experienced
friend. By these audacious perversions OF tue
trutb Pope is enabled to heighteu his youthIal III
dependence and to represent himself as aireaoy e~-
hibitna graceful superiority to the reception VI
the Offering of incense; whilst he thus precseiy III
vers the relation which really existed between
himself and his correspondent"
The tricks and suOterfuges TO which rope resorteu
an the publication of The Dunciad are described
with entertaining mnuteness; aud the still more
intricate and discreditable history OF the puolca-
tion of the Letters" is told in the light cast upon
that famous literary mystery by the researches OF
Mr.. Dixie and MIR. Elwin. By most elaborate ap-
narstns of fraud Pope caused surreptltous editions
of his own private letters to be put FORTH and then
complained bitterly of the piracy. The worst OF
the transactions was the device by which he pro-
cured the publication of his letters to Swift, ana
then accused Swift of breach OF confidence.
The tone of literary society in POpes day Is well
indicated in the following remarks OIL the EsSaS
upon Criticism" -
Critics have remarked upon the poverty Of the
rhymes. and observed that be makes ten rhyme
Occurrence OF tue words is the awkward because
they are curOusly ambiguous WI was peg nnlng @ 10 10
as Sometimes equivalent intelligence in general,
sometimes to the poetic faSu y anu les 10 .cs .ne
Pope would have been still more puzzled II asied 10 ue
ne S@ se sSdS CS s oppo
turns out to be only "nature methodlzeu." we have,
tSd is the same thing as to study Homer, and Homer
should be read day and night with yG ioG g6OS
Homer Virgil, and the siagyrte ALL hseems' come to
would very to pick holes in this very loose Loose
the assumptions which guided his whole career No one
will SSft R eCsfTn o at ss ss
may as well throw Pops aside at once, and with rope
The doISinant fgnre IN Popcs day was the Wit The
wit-takeu persOnaly-was tue man WHO represebted
Bsn an fvraDDIznc over The faculties from which
II TOO often suffers Violence The favored faculty never
doubted its qualification for sup einacy ID every
HOLES and Locke over Tie remnants az schUlasucsm
under Tloson. It WAS expellinG mystery IRON religion;
and In ara declar NJ against the eStfavAgant,
the romantic the mystic and tie Gothica word tuen
used asupe term o abuse WI ana sense NE @ are nut
different ayaiars OF the same spirit VII was the form IN
which IL show ed itset In cO ehOuseS aud sense al In
WaIsS told POpo to correct he virtually advising
bim carry tue same spirit into poetry 1LS classics
models were the historical symbols of the movement
which Pope He stats his view very 5efSe
by the barOaans, and the monks " n3sned WD9t M tne
(iotns began" Letters revived when the study OF cas
u
guidance.
"Atlcngth Erasmus, that great injured name,
stemiu' ID the wild torreut OF a barbarOas age.
And drove these hoiy Vaudais of the stage"
The cassicalsm of Popes time was no doubt very
view il differed only because the contemporaries Of Dry
den had more t1oro1sy d persed me usts 0i Tue oar oar
frOn which even Milton or C0wiey Dad NOT completely
with their Interpreters. Rosconmon, Sheffield. ana
Walsh who rules in Aristotle, anu drew their pre-
aas Of TTsdeeTs,td sense To this school wit aud
sense, aud nature, and tue classics. all meant pretty
much the same. That pronounced 10 be unnatural
which was SHY OF 100 exalted, to
approve iteef TO the good sense OF VIII ana Tue very
to found IN the classics The test OF thorough pos
Wih M appropriate phrisc from Horace or Virgil o.
prchxiug Creek motto to an essay ln me spectator
sonSea suthofity reference TO Longnus or Aristotle
wns the Datura device. Perhaps me acquaintance will
suppIied at least convenient mOel for the spirl
which had triumphed against Gothic Oarourlsm ant
scholastic pedantry.
Some further observations in the same genera
line will be found in the bIoGrapheTs review of tn
Essay OH Man" where the extent of PopC's indebt
edness to Bolingproke is pointed out with grea
clcaruess.
During the last twenty-five years Of his lf
Popes home was at his famous villa at Twicken
ham, ON the Thames -
There he had the advantage OF being just on til
boundary of tine great world. He was within easy
OF HAMPTON Court, Richmond, and Kew places which
during POye's residence were frequently Rl0rited b.
the presence of George H. and his heir and natuIs
enemy Frederick, Prince Of Wales. Pope indeed, d.
not enjoy the honor Of any personal interview Wit
said TO have called him homes