3 In the arrangement of an epistolary correspondence two distinct methods have been resorted to; the first is that of a strict chronological series, by which, without regard to the persons to whom they are addressed, the letters are given according to their date; the other is that of arranging the letters of each correspondent under a separate and peculiar head. The former of these modes has been generally adopted, and has in its favour the high authority, amongst others, of the excellent edition of the works of Swift by Sir Walter Scott; but in the various editions of the works of Pope, from his own time to the present, the latter method has been preferred, and has hitherto been adhered to in the present edition. That each of these has its peculiar advantages and disadvantages must be admitted; and it would be well if the former could be obtained without incurring the latter. This, however, it is evident can only be done in particular cases, where a chronological order can be combined, if not with a perfect unity of subject, at least with such an association between the parties, and such a participation of their opinions, studies, and pursuits, as intimately connect them together, and render each portion an illustration of the rest. An occasion of this kind, it is conceived, has occurred in the following correspondence; in which a number of celebrated literary characters are introduced, frequently engaged in discussing the same subject, two or more of them sometimes joining in the same letter, maintaining a constant understanding and participation of sentiment, and each of them, as it were, bearing a part in the same drama, insomuch that it would scarcely be possible to separate the correspondence into distinct portions, without destroying in a great degree its proper effect. Of characters so well known as those which stand at the head of the present collection, it would be unnecessary here to speak. To mention their names is to suggest their history. The humorous gravity, shrewd penetration, and caustic misanthropy of Swift, frequently perhaps assumed as a cover for the throbbings of a too sensible heart, may be contrasted with the open simplicity, the unaffected wit, and the mildness of Gay; the stately and polished style of Lord Bolingbroke, with the more loose and careless manner of Congreve, or Parnelle; whilst those who are pleased in tracing the nicer diversities of language, may apply themselves to 4 discriminate the shades of difference that are perceptible in the style of Arbuthnot and of Pope. It is not however merely by uniting in one series the letters heretofore found under detached heads, that an attempt has been made to give additional interest to the present volume. Many letters of Pope, printed in the works of his correspondents, but not heretofore included in his own, are now for the first time added; and several letters of other persons, either addressed to him, or relating chiefly to him and his productions, will also be found, arranged, as far as was practicable, according to their respective dates; exhibiting on the whole an example of a literary and friendly intercourse, carried on for nearly thirty years between the most distinguished characters of the age; not only without the slightest indication of dissension or jealousy; but with a common sentiment of affectionate and friendly attachment which pervades the whole, and gives an additional charm to the correspondence, by uniting the liveliest effusions of wit with the warmest feelings of the heart. LETTERS BETWEEN MR. POPE, DR. SWIFT, MR. GAY, MR. CONGREVE, LETTER I. MR. POPE TO MR. GAY. Binfield, Nov. 13, 1712. You writ me a very kind letter some months ago, and told me you were then upon the point of taking a journey into Devonshire. That hindered my answering you, and I have since several times inquired of you, without any satisfaction; for so I call the knowledge of your welfare, or of any thing that concerns you. I passed two months in Sussex, and since my return have been again very ill. I writ to Lintot in hopes of hearing of you, but had no answer to that point. Our friend, Mr. Cromwell, too, has been silent all this year: I believe he has been displeased at some or other of my freedoms,* which I very innocently take, and most with those I think most my friends. But * We see by the letters to Mr. Cromwell, that Mr. Pope was wont to rally him on his turn for trifling and pedantic criticism. So he lost his two early friends, Cromwell and Wycherley, by his zeal to correct the bad poetry of the one, and the bad taste of the other. Warburton. |