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APPENDIX.

MAPLEDURHAM MANUSCRIPTS.

AFTER the death of Martha Blount in 1763, a mass of letters and other papers which she had left, came into the possession of the family at Mapledurham; and among them was part of the correspondence carried on by Pope with the sisters so intimately connected with his personal history. All the poet's letters and those addressed to the ladies by other friends were, it is believed, submitted by the late Michael Blount, Esq. (who died in 1821), to the publishers of Mr. Bowles's edition of Pope's Works, which was brought out in 1806. Mr. Bowles appears to have seen them, but Mr. A. Chalmers selected such as were deemed fit for publication, adding a few explanatory notes. The letters were then in a loose state, and many were lost, in passing through different hands, or were never returned to Mr. Blount. Such as were preserved were bound together, and now remain at Mapledurham, forming three quarto volumes. The Pope letters are mostly comprised in the first volume, the two others being filled with letters from other correspondents at home and abroad. No attempt at arrangement appears to have been made; and in enumerating them we shall simply follow the order in which they are placed, referring the reader to the pages of this volume in which some of the letters will be found, and for the others to Roscoe's Pope, vol. viii., edit. of 1824:

1. Pope to Martha, May 25, 1712; ante, p. 65, Roscoe, 387. 2. Do. Sept. 13, 1717; ante, p. 84, and Roscoe, 437.

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3. Do. Aug. 6, 1718; ante, p. 186 (copy addressed to Lady Mary). 4. Lines on Martha's Birthday, Jan. 15, 1723.

5. Pope to Martha, Aug. 25, 1735; ante, p. 329, Roscoe, 481. 6. Do. Dec. 27; Roscoe, 484.

7. Do. June 3; Roscoe, 401.

8. Do. Stowe, July 4; Roscoe, 497.

9. Do. London, Tuesday; Roscoe, 436.

[Addressed to Mrs. B.,

at "Mr. Thos. Reeves, in Sion Rowe, Twickenham."]

10. Do. Tuesday night; Roscoe, 452.

11. Do. (No date); ante, p. 142, Roscoe, 420.

12. Do. (No date); ante, p. 378, Roscoe, 507.

13. Pope to Miss Blounts, no date, addressed "A Mademoiselles Therese & Marth. Blount, Pres." Roscoe, 425.

14. Pope to Teresa (" Mrs. Blount"), no date or sig. Roscoe, 445. 15. Pope to Martha, no date or sig.; ante, p. 149, Roscoe, 423.

16. Pope to Miss Blounts, Thursday; ante, p. 112, Roscoe, 402. 17. Do. "DEAR LADIES,-If you'll take an airing this fine morning in Kensington Gardens, I'll carry you thither at eleven o'clock, by which time my visit to the D. of B. will be performed. I have sent the bearer for the haunch of venison, so you may spare George's gravity that trouble. I am faithfully yours, A. POPE."

18. Do. No date or sig.; ante, p. 129, and Roscoe, 407. 19. Do. No date or sig.; Roscoe, 448.

20. Letter of James Moore-Smythe, signed "Alexander," and by mistake marked as from Pope.

21. Pope to Martha. "MADAM,-I cannot but put you once more in mind of your appointment on Sunday; but I find I cannot return with you, and therefore let you know it, that you may, if you like it, fill up your number in the coach with anybody you would bring; as any one you like must, of course, be agreeable to, madam, your most obliged and obedt. servt., A. POPE.Tuesday. If you can drink nothing but claret, you must bring a bottle with you."

22. Do. No date, signed "A. P." Roscoe, 455.

23. Do. Stowe, Saturday. Franked by Cobham, and addressed to "Mrs. M. Blount, at Mrs. Blount's, Welbeck-street," &c. Roscoe, 500.

24. Do. Easter-day; ante, p. 384, Roscoe, 504.

25. "DEAR SISTERS,-Jeremy Taylor says in his Holy Living_and Dying," &c. In surreptitious editions published as "To a Lady in the name of her Brother." The letter gives a description of a monster then exhibiting in London. We may venture to quote one passage as containing a touch of Pope's humour: "Mr. Poole looks upon it as a prodigy, portending

THE MAPLEDURHAM MSS.

421

some wonderful revolution in the State, and to strengthen his opinion produces the following prophecy of Nostrodamus, which he explains politically:

"Whenas tway sexes join in one

Shall in the realm of Brute be shown,
Eke factions shall unite (if I know)
To seek a Prince jure divino.
Thilke prodigy of common gender
Is neither sex but a Pretender,

And so God shield the Faith's Defender!'"

Pope made several verbal alterations on this letter, in transcribing it for the press, one of which is characteristic. "The Priest, you may be sure, was in his heart most an infidel." This is printed, "The Priest, you may maliciously fancy," &c. 26. Pope to Miss Blounts. Roscoe, 394. The original begins: Fair Ladies (I would call you Dear Ladies if I durst),—I returned home as slow and as contemplative after I had parted from you as my Lord B. himself retired from the Court and glory to his melancholy country seat and wife a week ago." Signed, "Your admirer and humble servt., A. POPE." With this postscript, "My faithful service to Mrs. Blount, Mr. Blount, and Mr. Holman." The address is, "Au Mademoiselles, Mademoiselles de Mapledurham." 27. Pope to Martha. Sunday; Roscoe, 454. 28. Do. Bristol, Monday; Roscoe, 491.

Mr. Roscoe dates this

letter 1742, but this must be wrong, as Pope sends remembrances to Cleland, who died in 1741.

29. Do. June 22. Account of Sherborne; Roscoe, 411.

30. A fragment; see ante, p. 68.

31. Pope to Martha. Bath, Oct. 6; Roscoe, 398.

32. Do. No date. "Most Divine," &c.; see ante, p. 72, and Roscoe, 390. Considerable passages are necessarily left out of this letter. The concluding words, "God keep her husband," are erroneously printed "God help," &c.

33. Do. "It is usual with unfortunate young women to betake themselves to romances, and thereby feed and indulge that melancholy which is occasioned by the want of a lover. ... I presume it may be so far your present case as to render the five volumes of the Grand Cyrus no unreasonable present to you. My dear madam, if you are disposed to wander upon adventures, suffer the unhappy Artamenes to be your companion. Great as he afterwards was, he would rather have chose to rule your heart than the empires of Persia and Medea. Let your faithless sister triumph in her ill-gotten treasures; let her put on new gowns to be the gaze of fools and pageant

of a birthday, while you with all your innocence enjoy a shady grove and dwell with a virtuous aunt in a country paradise. ... I have been at home besieged with fifty Greek books.

As soon as I am able to attend to the things of this world I'll consult the elders of the city concerning her [Teresa's] profits in the Mammon of iniquity, and I will then write to her on the grovelling subject," &c. (No sig.)

34. Pope to Miss Blounts. See ante, p. 73.

35. Do. Oakley Bower, Oct. 8; ante, p. 154, Roscoe, 431. Some passages necessarily omitted.

36. Do. "LADIES,-I have repented, and can't find in my heart to go, if you care to let me see you again to-day. Whatever company you thought of having I shall be glad to make one, provided you'll promise not to be confined from any on my account. If Mrs. Scrope be come, pray give me a word's notice, and I'll call first at her door to pay her a visit. I'll write to-night by candlelight what I should have writ tomorrow, and finish it to-morrow night at Chiswick. From Dr. Arbuthnot's."

37. Pope to Martha, at Bath. "Tuesday, the

." Roscoe, 472.

Mr. Roscoe reads this as addressed to both Martha and Teresa, but it is evidently to the former only. As Lady Suffolk is mentioned (not Mrs. Howard), the letter must have been written after she succeeded to the title in 1731.

38. Do. Letter from Bristol. Saturday, the 24th. See ante, p. 357, and Roscoe, 494.

39. Pope to Miss Blounts. Thursday morn. Roscoe, 441, and ante, p. 74.

40. Do. "DEAR LADIES,-If you are inclined to go to-morrow to Sir Richard Child's I shall be very glad to attend you; otherwise I would take Mr. Fenton with me to Chiswick very early. Today I have been in the utmost engagements of business, and as soon as I can get from Mr. Dormer's, where I dine at three, must be with my architect. If you send a note to-night to my lodging I'll take all other necessary cares upon me. I hope you are both well. I am sincerely yours, A. P."

41. Pope to Martha. Friday. Roscoe, 419. Pope desires Martha and her sister to accept a present of a fan each; but there is no authority for Mr. Bowles's statement that "these were the fans on which the verses were written, 'To a Lady with a present of a Fan."" Pope had desired Jervas to purchase two of the best fans-the date apparently 1714 or 1715. See Hearne's Supp., p. 6.

42. Pope to Teresa. "MADAM,-I ought to acknowledge so much civility when my sincerity so little deserves it. My mother has been in racking pains of the rheumatism, has had no rest

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