ROBERT EARL OF OXFORD, AND EARL MORTIMER 1. UCH were the notes thy once-lov'd Poet sung, 'Till Death untimely stopp'd his tuneful tongue. Oh just beheld, and lost 2! admir'd and mourn'd! For him, thou oft hast bid the World attend, Absent or dead, still let a friend be dear 1 Epist. to Robert Earl of Oxford,] This Epistle was sent to the Earl of Oxford with Dr Parnell's Poems published by our Author, after the said Earl's Imprisonment in the Tower, and Retreat into the Country, in the Year 1721. P. [As to Parnell v. ante p. 437. Robert Har ley, though descended from a Puritan family and in the early part of his career an extreme Whig, had, by a transition not unparalleled in political history, become the leader of the Country Party; and was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons in 1701. In 1704 he became Secretary of State in the Godolphin Ministry, and after being expelled from office succeeded in obtaining the Chancellorship of the Exchequer by employing female intrigue and raising the cry of the Church in danger.' (Macknight.) He subsequently was created Earl of Oxford and made Lord Treasurer; and it was at this time that he principally availed himself of the services of Swift and his friends. The rivalry between himself and Bolingbroke ended in his downfall immediately after the death of Queen Anne; in 1716, he was impeached for treasonable intrigues with the Jacobites during his tenure of power; and confined in the Tower. In 1717 the trial was abandoned; and he died in retirement in 1724.] 2 [Verg. Æn. VI. 870.] Recall those nights that clos'd thy toilsome days; And sure, if aught below the seats divine Thro' Fortune's cloud one truly great can see, 40 EPISTLE TO JAMES CRAGGS1, Esq. SOUL as full of Worth, as void of Pride, A Which nothing seeks to shew, or needs to hide, Which nor to Guilt nor Fear, its Caution owes, A Face untaught to feign; a judging Eye, That darts severe upon a rising Lie, And strikes a blush thro' frontless Flattery. All this thou wert, and being this before, Know, Kings and Fortune cannot make thee more. 1 James Craggs was made Secretary at War in 1717, when the Earl of Sunderland and Mr Addison were appointed Secretaries of State. Bowles. [He succeeded Addison in the latter office in 1720, and to him Addison dedicated his works in the last letter which he ever composed. Craggs was afterwards involved in the South Sea speculations (concerning which he advised Pope); 10 but his death in 1721 saved him from the exposure with which he was threatened. He was a frequent correspondent of Pope's during the years from 1711 to 1719; and is celebrated by Gay as 'bold generous Craggs whose heart was ne'er disguised.' Compare Epitaph v. infra.] 2 Secretary of State.] In the Year 1720. P. Be not, exalted to whate'er degree, 15 EPISTLĖ TO MR JERVAS1, WITH MR DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF FRESNOY'S ART OF PAINTING. HIS Verse be thine, my friend, nor thou refuse THIS verse m or ungrateful Muse. Whether thy hand strike out some free design, 5 ΤΟ Smit with the love of Sister-Arts we came, 15 And each from each contract new strength and light. While summer-suns roll unperceiv'd away; How oft our slowly-growing works impart, While Images reflect from art to art; 20 How oft review; each finding like a friend Something to blame, and something to commend! What flatt'ring scenes our wand'ring fancy wrought, With thee, on Raphael's Monument I mourn, 1 Epist. to Mr Jervas.] This Epistle, and the two following, were written some years before the rest, and originally printed in 1717. P. [Charles Jervas was an early and intimate friend of Pope's, and instructed him in painting about the year 1713. Three years later we find Pope Occupying the painter's house during the absence of the latter from London. As a painter, Jervas 25 30 is spoken slightingly of by Horace Walpole. He is also, says Roscoe, well known by his excellent translation of Don Quixote.] 2 [Du Fresnoy's Art of Painting, hastily turned into English by Dryden as a piece of hack work, was afterwards more elaborately translated by Mason, who was himself a proficient in the art.] Each heav'nly piece unwearied we compare, Paulo's free stroke, and Titian's warmth divine. This small, well-polish'd Gem, the work of years! Muse! at that Name thy sacred sorrows shed, Each pleasing Blount shall endless smiles bestow 3, Oh lasting as those Colours may they shine, 65 Led by some rule, that guides, but not constrains; 1 [Guido Reni.] 2 By Caracci's strength, Pope probably meant to refer to Annibale Caracci only; the most distinguished of the three brothers (A., Agostino and Ludovico) for his knowledge of the human figure. Roscoe. of four sisters. She died March 1714, aged 27. Bowles. [Pope in a letter to Gay, August 23rd 1713, quoted in Carruthers' Life, speaking of his own attempts, says that he has thrown away among other portraits, 'two Lady Bridgewaters and a Duchess of Montagu.' In a fragment of Pope's published in Roscoe's Supplement (1825) the fair 4 Fresnoy employed above twenty Years in Bridgewater and Jervas are compared to Camfinishing his Poem. P. 3 [Paolo Veronese.] 5 [See next note.] 6 Churchill's race were the four beautiful daughters of John the great Duke of Marlborough: Henrietta, Countess of Godolphin, afterwards duchess of Marlborough; Anne Countess of Sunderland; Elizabeth Countess of Bridgewater; and Mary, Duchess of Montagu. Their portraits are at Blenheim. Lady Bridgewater, whom Jervas affected to be in love with, and who accused herself at his expense; was the most beautiful of the paspe and Apelles.] 7 Frances Lady Worsley, wife of Sir Robert Worsley, Bart., mother of Lady Carteret, wife of John Lord Carteret, afterwards Earl Granville. Warton. This name originally stood Wortley: but the compliment was transferred from her after her quarrel with Pope by the alteration of a single letter. Carruthers. Yet should the Graces all thy figures place, 75 And these be sung 'till Granville's Mira die1; EPISTLE TO MISS BLOUNT 2, WITH THE WORKS OF VOITURE3. IN N these gay thoughts the Loves and Graces shine, His easy Art may happy Nature seem, Trifles themselves are elegant in him. Sure to charm all was his peculiar fate, Who without flatt'ry pleas'd the fair and great; With wit well-natur'd, and with books well-bred : And the gay mourn'd who never mourn'd before; The Smiles and Loves had died in Voiture's death, A long, exact, and serious Comedy; And, if it can, at once both please and preach. [See Windsor Forest, v. 298.] 2 [Miss Teresa Blount. See Introductory Memoir, p. xxx. This Epistle was first published in Lintot's Miscellany in 1712; so that Pope's note (ante, p. 443) is not accurate.] 3 [Vincent Voiture (1598-1648), one of the chief ornaments of the Hotel Rambouillet (the centre of the society of the so-called précieux and précieuses at Paris under the regency of Mary de' Medici). 'His great merit,' says a 5 10 15 20 25 30 |