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Letters of Mr. Alexander Pope, and several of his friends
Letters of Mr Alexander Pope and several of his friends Author:Alexander Pope Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: LETTERS TO and FROM Mr. WYCHERLEY, From the Year 1704 to 1711. Letter I. Binfieldm Windfor Foreft Dec. 26, 1724. T was certainly a great f... more »atisfaandion to me, to fee and converfe with a Man, whom in his writings I had long known with pleafure ; but it was a high addition to it, to hear you at our very firft meeting do juftice to your dead friend Mr. Dryden. I was not fo happy as to know him : Virgilium tantum vidi: The Author's Age then Sixteen. had I been born early enough, I muft have known and lov'd him: For I have been aflured, not only by your felf, but by Mr. Con- greve and Sir William Trumbul, that his perfonal Qualities were as amiable as his Poetical, notwithftanding the many libellous mifreprefentations of them, againft which the former of thefe Gentlemen has told me he will one day vindicate him. I fuppofe thofe injuries were begun by the violence of Party, but 'tis no doubt they were continued by Envy at his fuccefs and fame: And thofe Scriblers who attacked him in his latter times, were only like gnats in a fummer's evening, which are never very troublefome but in the fineft and moft glorious feafon; for his fire like the fun's, fhined cleared towards it fetting. You muft not therefore imagine, that when you told me my own performances were above thofe Critics, I was fo vain as to believe it; and yet I may not be fo humble as to think my felf quite below their notice. For Critics, as they are birds of prey, have ever a natural inclination to carrion: and tho' fuch poor writers as I are but beggars, no beggar is fo poor but he can keep a cur, and no author is fo beggarly but he can keep a critic. I am far from thinking the attacks of fuch people would be either any Honour or Difhonour even to me, much lefs to Mr.Dryden. I agree with you,...« less