"This therefore Mr. Pope, with great modefty and prudence, left to the critic by profes "fion:" and, to give the utmost poffible perfection to an edition of Shakespear, he with equal judgment and fuccefs pitched-on Mr. Warburton, to fupply his deficiency. Here then is the foundation of the Alliance between poet and critic; which has this advantage over the famous one between church and ftate, that here are evidently two diftinct contracting parties: it is formed, not between Mr. Pope the critic, and Mr. Pope the poet; but between Mr. Warburton the critic, and Mr. Pope the poet; and the produce of this alliance is a fort of Act of Uniformity; which is to put a stop to, by being the laft inftance of, "the prevailing folly of altering the text of celebrated authors with"out talents or judgment;" and to* fettle and establish the text of Shakespear, fo as none shall hereafter dare dispute it. Let us pause a little; and admire the profound judgment and happy fuccefs of the projecter of this alliance. The reafons hinted-at for Mr. Pope's not undertaking this work alone, are his great modefty and prudence; the one made him judge himself unfit for this arduous task; the other prevented his undertaking it, as he was unfit. Now, if his co-adjutor had had the fame qualities, what were we the nearer? How fhould one be able to make-up the deficiences of the other? There must be a boldnefs of conjecture, d Mr. W.'s Pref. p. 10. ib. p. 19. 3 e * See the title. a har a hardiness in maintaining whatever is once asferted, and a profound contempt of all other editors, in a profess'd critic; which are incompatible with the qualities beforementioned, but which you will fee the advantages of in many inftances; in Mr. Warburton's edition. To return. Here was work to be done in publishing Shakespear, which poets were not fit for. Though you might believe this on Mr. Warburton's word, or collect it from the bad fuccefs of the poetical editors, and from the "fcrude and fuperficial judgments on books and things" made by another great poet; “which "has given rife to a deluge of the worst fort of "critical jargon:" yet I fhall give you undeniable proof of it by one or two inftances, out of many which are to be met-with in Mr. Warburton's edition. In King Lear, Act III. Sc. 3. the fool fays, I'll speak a prophecy, or e'er I go. which Mr. Warburton alters to I'll speak a proph'cy, or two, e'er I go, where the word prophecy is, with great judgment, I cannot fay melted, but hammer'd into a diffyllable, to make room for the word two; and you have the additional beauty of the open vowels, fo much commended by Mr. Pope in his Art of Criticifm; which make a fine contrast to the agreeable roughness of the former part of the line. f Mr. W.'s Pref. p. 18, 19. * Vol. 6. p. 26. I fhall I fhall not dispute the genuineness of this prophecy; which is not, as Mr. Pope says, in the old edition; nor whether it is neceffary to make the fool divide his difcourfe with the method and regularity of a fermon: but what I admire in this emendation, even above the harmony of the numbers, is the reason given for it; because or e'er I go is not English. On the contrary, if we examine, I believe it will be found; that e'er, which is a contraction of ever, is never used, as it is here, in the sense of before; without or being either exprefs'd or understood. I may fay, there is hardly a more common expreffion in our language; and, not to mention the Dictionaries, which render or ever by antequam, prius-quam; Mr. Warburton, as Dr. Caius fays, "has* pray "his pible well;" to fay an expreffion is not English, which he may meet with frequently. there; OR EVER your pots can feel the thorns,Pfal. lviii. 8. OR EVER the filver cord be loofed, Ecclef. xii. 6. OR EVER they came at the bottom. of the den, Dan. vi. 24. We, OR EVER be come, near, are ready to kill him ; A&ts xxiii, 15. Nay Shakespear himself uses it, uncorrected by Mr., Warburton, in Cymbeline; Vol. P. 241. or e'er I could Give him that parting kifs. And elsewhere. Though Mr. Warburton, when it makes for his purpose, "interprets a thing of no vowels. by i. e. without fenfe; yet on other occafions he * Merry Wives of Windfor, Vol. 1. p. 290. Vol. 7. p. 398. 3 feems feems very fond of these elifions, fo much avoided by the ill-judging poets. In 1 Hen. VI. Vol. 4. P. 489. where the vulgar editions, that is, all but his own, have, -'tis prefent death. He affures us, that Shakespear wrote; -i'th' prefence 't's death. a line, which seems penned for Cadmus when in the state of a ferpent. In Othello, Act III. Sc. 7. the Once more. Farewel the neighing steed, and the fhrill trump, This epithet of ear-piercing a poet would have thought not only an harmonious word, but very properly applied to that martial inftrument of mufic; but Mr. Warburton fays, I would read, th' fear-fperfing fife. which is such a word, as no poet, nor indeed any man who had half an ear, would have thought of; for which he gives this reafon,' which none but a Profeffed Critic could have thought of; that piercing the ear is not an effect on the bearers. Mr. Pope has been blamed by fome people for the very fault, which Mr. Warburton charges y To do Mr. W. juftice, I would fufpect this is a false print; it fhould be, I would write; for no man living can read fuch a cluster of confonants. z Vol. 8. p. 345. on on the other poetical editor, Mr. Rowe; not attending enough to the business he pretended to undertake: it has been faid, that he rather yielded to the hafty publication of fome notes, which he had made obiter in reading of Shakespear; than performed the real work of an editor. If this be not fo, what a prodigious genius muft Mr. Warburton be; who can fupply what Mr. Pope," by the force of an un"common genius," and in his maturest age, could not perform; merely by giving us obfervations and notes, which, though they "take in the whole compass of criticism, yet (to "use his own words) 'fuch as they are, were (c among his younger amusements; when ma ny years ago he used to turn-over thefe fort "of writers, to unbend himself from more feri"ous applications!" And here I must do Mr. Warburton the justice to say; that, however he may be flandered by the ignorant or malicious Tartufes, it is very apparent that he has not interrupted his more serious studies by giving much of his time and attention to a playbook. Mr. Pope's however, I fuppofe, was as good an edition as a mere poet could produce; and nothing, as Mr. Warburton juftly obferves, will give the common reader a better idea "of the value of Mr. Pope's edition; than the • Mr. W.'s Mr. W's Pref. p. 14. Pref. p. 10. Ib. p. 19. "two |