ir correspondence, he had written two years before; that
is, when he was only twenty-two years old, an early time of life for so
much learning and so much observation as that work exhibits.

On this poem Dennis afterwards published some remarks, of which the most
reasonable is, that some of the lines represent motion, as exhibited by
sculpture[115].

Of the epistle from Eloisa to Abelard, I do not know the date. His first
inclination to attempt a composition of that tender kind arose, as Mr.
Savage told me, from his perusal of Prior's Nut-brown Maid. How much he
has surpassed Prior's work it is not necessary to mention, when,
perhaps, it may be said with justice, that he has excelled every
composition of the same kind. The mixture of religious hope and
resignation gives an elevation and dignity to disappointed love, which
images merely natural cannot bestow. The gloom of a convent strikes the
imagination with far greater force than the solitude of a grove.

This piece was, however, not much his favourite in his latter years,
though I never heard upon what principle he slighted it[116].

In the next year, 1713, he published Windsor Forest; of which, part
was, as he relates, written at sixteen, about the same time as his
pastorals; and the latter part was added afterwards: where the addition
begins, we are not told. The lines relating to the peace, confess their
own date. It is dedicated to lord Lansdowne, who was then high in
reputation and influence among the tories; and it is said, that the
conclusion of the poem gave great pain to Addison, both as a poet and a
politician. Reports like this are often spread with boldness very
disproportionate to their evidence. Why should Addison receive any
particular disturbance from the last lines of Windsor Forest? If
contrariety of opinion could poison a politician, he would not live a
day: and, as a poet, he must have felt Pope's force of genius much more
from many other parts of his works.

The pain that Addison might feel it is not likely that he would confess;
and it is certain that he so well suppressed his discontent, that Pope
now thought himself his favourite; for having been consulted in the
revisal of Cato, he introduced it by a prologue; and when Dennis
published his remarks, undertook, not indeed to vindicate, but to
revenge his friend, by a Narrative of the Frensy of John Dennis.

There is reason to believe that Addison gave no encouragement to this
disingenuous