iend," said to Pope--"There
is at least one virtue of writing in which an English poet of to-day may
excel his predecessors; that is--CORRECTNESS." But it is more likely that
the perception of this virtue in the poetical intellect of Pope drew out
the remark from Walsh, than that the remark suggested to the poet the
pursuit of the virtue. Pope, in his verse, in his prose, in his life,
_rules himself_. Deliberated purpose, resolutely adopted and consistently
executed, characterises the man and the writer. It is nature, or some
profounder control than a casual suggestion of a literary aim, that
imparts this pervading character. As little could he owe to another the
nice discrimination, the intellectual precision, the delicacy of
perception--in a word, the critical sense and apprehension which make up
one aspect of the mind, impressed upon the style, generally considered, of
Pope. As far, then, as the virtue of correctness is to be predicated of
his writings--and we do not believe that the countrymen of a poet go on
predicating of him, for generation after generation, gratuitously--we must
believe that we have to thank himself for it, and not Walsh.

We said, "UPON THE STYLE, GENERALLY CONSIDERED,"--for we acknowledge
exceptions and contradictions to the general position; inaccuracies and
incorrectnesses, that would make an answer to the question--"What is the
CORRECTNESS OF POPE?" a somewhat troublesome affair. But we resolutely
insist that when, in his "Essay on Criticism," he calls upon the poet
himself severely to school his own mind in preparation; when he requires,
that in working he shall not only feel and fancy, but understand too;
when, in a word, he claims that he shall possess his art AS AN ART; he
speaks, his own spirit impelling; and so stamps a fine personality, which
is one mode of originality, on his work.

The praise that is uppermost in one's mind of the _Essay on Criticism_, is
its rectitude of legislation. Pope is an orthodox doctor--a champion of
the good old cause. Hence, after almost a century and a half, this poem of
a minor (Warburton says his twentieth year) carries in our literature the
repute and weight of an authority and a standard. It is of the right good
_English_ temper--thoughtful and ardent--discreet and generous--firm, with
sensibility--bold and sedate--manly and polished. He establishes himself
in well-chosen positions of natural strength, commanding the field; and he
occupies them in t