and the Word forc'd (which was my own, and I perfwade myfelf for that Reafon only fubmitted to by you) feems to carry too doubtful a Construction, for an Epitaph, which, as I apprehend, ought as eafily to be understood as read. I fhall acknowledge it as a very particular Favour, if at your best Leisure you will perufe the inclos'd, and vary it, if you think it capable of being mended, and let me fee you any Morning next Week.

I am, &c.

Mr. Harcourt was the Lord Chancellor's only Son, and it is prov'd by his Letter, that Mr. Pope was in fome Meafure directed by him: The Line pointed at was alter'd, and the Infcription on the Monument in the Church of Stanton-Harcourt, in Oxfordshire, ftands thus:

T

O this fad Shrine, whoe'er thou art! draw near, Here lies the Friend moft lov'd, the Son moft dear,

Who ne'er knew Joy, but Friendship might divide, Or gave his Father Grief, but when he dy❜d.

How vain is Reafon, Eloquence how weak ! If POPE muft tell what HARCOURT cannot speak. Oh let thy once-lov'd Friend infcribe thy Stone, And, with a Father's Sorrows, mix his own!

Befides thefe, and other Epitaphs mention'd before, Mr. Pope wrote feveral more; on Sir William Trum ball; on the Earl of Dorfet; on General Withers; on Mr. Corbet; on the Hon. Robert, and on his Sifter Mary Digby; on Sir Godfrey Kneller, and on Sir Ifaac Newton, and Mr. Fenton.

Mr. Fenton was a Gentleman, for whom Mr. Pope had a very high Regard, and who was in much Efteem for his excellent Poems. He was educated

at

at Fefus-College in Cambridge, and was preferr'd to be Secretary to the Right Hon. Charles Earl of Ortery. He was interr'd at Easthamstead in Berks, in the Year 1730. His Epitaph:"

HIS modeft Stone, what but few Marbles can,
May truly fay, here lies an honeft Man.

A Poet, bleft beyond the Poet's Fate,

Whom Heav'n kept facred from the proud and Great.
Foe to loud Praife, and Friend to learned Eafe,
Content with Science in the Vale of Peace.
Calmly he look'd on either Life, and here
Saw nothing to regret, or there to fear;
From Nature's temp'rate Feaft rofe fatisfy'd,
Thank'd Heav'n that he had liv'd, and that he dy'd

Never was Character more true; and it was Men of this quiet and contented State, (notwithstanding Mr. Pope was not without Pride and fome Ill-nature, being almost always indifpos'd) that pleas'd him best to these he was continually making his Court, and fhowing himself in his beft Humours, and tho he entertain❜d them but fparingly, he entertain'd them chearfully: When we fay fparingly, we only mean temperately, for he was not a Niggard, but always avoided Luxury; lefs than which he could not well do, having openly exclaim'd againft it, and endea voured to prove Temperance the more happy State, therefore he fhow'd an Example of it; and it is feen at all Times, where the Occafion permits, as it does in the Invitation he gives Mr. Fenton, to come and remain with him, 'till Mr. Craggs fhould be ready to receive him at the House he had taken near Mr. Pope. The Letter we have copied :

Dear

I

Dear Sir,

Had not omitted anfwering yours of the 18th of laft Month, but out of a Defire to give you fome certain and fatisfactory Account, which Way, and at what Time you might take your Journey. I am now commiffion'd to tell you, that Mr. Craggs will expect you on the Rifing of the Parliament, which will be as foon as he can receive you in the Manner he would receive a Man de belles Lettres, that is, in Tranquility and full Leifure. I dare fay your Way of Life (which, in my Tafte will be the best in the World, and with one of the beft Men in the World) must prove highly to your Contentment. And I must add, it will be ftill the more a Joy to me, as I fhall reap a peculiar Advantage from the Good I fhall have done in bringing you together, by feeing it in my own Neighbourhood. Mr. Craggs has taken

Houfe clofe by mine, whither he proposes to come in three Weeks: In the mean Time I heartily invite you to live with me; where a frugal and philofophical Diet for a Time, may give you a higher Relish of that elegant Way of Life you will enter into after. I defire to know by the firft Poft how foon I may hope for you?

I am a little fcandaliz'd at your Complaint that your Time lies heavy on your Hands, when the Mufes have put fo many good Materials into your Head to employ them. As to your Question, what I have been doing? I answer, juft what I have been doing fome Years, my Duty; fecondly, relieving myfelf with neceffary Amusements, or Exercifes which ferve me inftead of Phyfick, as long as they can; thirdly, reading till I am tir'd; and laftly, Writing when I have no other Thing in the World

to

to do, or no Friend to entertain in Company. Believe me very affectionately,

Dear Sir, &c.

A. POPE.

When Mr. Pope receiv'd the News of the Death of this Gentleman, he was writing to a Friend, and was fo much mov'd with it, that he broke off abrupt ly, giving the melancholy Reafon; for Mr. Fenton's Death leffen'd the Circle of those who were in Mr. Pope's real Esteem, and was never mention'd by him without regretting the great Lofs of him.

Mr. Fenton had fome valuable Letters from Mr. Pope, which, at his Requeft, were again return'd to him, by that Means preventing their falling into Hands which might (perhaps not too faithfully) make them publick, which was done by many of his, by Curl, and Mr. Pope was fo exafperated at it, that be was very near making an Oath never to write a Letter, but fuch as might be immediately about Bufinefs, for in Reality he did not correfpond with a Friend upon the Terms of any free Subject of this Kingdom, fo that he was at laft reduc'd to beg of all his Acquaintance to fecure him from the like Ufage for the future, by returning him any Letters of his they might have preferv'd, left they should be publish' after his Death, perhaps being improper to be feen, or altered by the mercenary Purchafer, to ferve their bafe Ends: For of fuch Things they make no Scruple, how many Inftances might we give? And how many Things have been made publick, and Mr. Pope infinuated to have been the Author? Curl was continually accufing him with what came out in the GrubStreet Journal, which Mr. Pepe pofitively denies to have had any the leaft Correfpondence with; but the Town, though mistaken, were never more af

fur'd

fur'd than of his writing the Dialogue in the Paper call'd the Champion, Thursday Feb. 19, 1740-1, juft before the Election of the prefent Parliament:

Would not fee my Country fold abroad,
Or brib'd away at home.

Who fays it is!.

Fulvius.

But Greatness speaking by a Parallel,
Is fet far off, and never fairly feen,
Diminish'd by its Height to those that gaze;
Nor judg'd to true Proportion: Can the Eye
Diftinguish clearly, what it fcarcely fees?

Probus

I grant it true, that Distance makes Things feem Much smaller than they are to our weak Sight, And Power, and Greatnefs, do to fome fick Fancies Create that Diftance; and the Cheat lies there: For he that wears a Crown and Ermine Robes, Is juft what he appears, as near an Object, As plain a Subject of my Thoughts and Judgment, As he that goes in Rags; Man can't remove One Step from Man; his Nature fixes him.

Fulvius.

When well directed, take Mankind in grofs, They form their Judgment beft. How fhould they

know?

Are they in Council? Do they fee what moves?
Can they perceive the Balance of our Court?
And where we fhould incline? Could they fee this,