an so generally beloved, and was equally anxious to
show that he had behaved generously and been treated with injustice and,
indeed, with downright treachery. And yet, after reading the various
statements made by the original authorities, one begins to doubt whether
there was any real quarrel at all; or rather, if one may say so, whether
it was not a quarrel upon one side.

It is, indeed, plain that a coolness had sprung up between Pope and
Addison. Considering Pope's offences against the senate, his ridicule
of Philips, his imposition of that ridicule upon Steele, and his
indefensible use of Addison's fame as a stalking-horse in the attack
upon Dennis, it is not surprising that he should have been kept at arm's
length. If the rod suspended by Philips at Button's be authentic (as
seems probable), the talk about Pope, in the shadow of such an ornament,
is easily imaginable. Some attempts seem to have been made at a
reconciliation. Jervas, Pope's teacher in painting--a bad artist, but a
kindly man--tells Pope on August 20, 1714, of a conversation with
Addison. It would have been worth while, he says, for Pope to have been
hidden behind a wainscot or a half-length picture to have heard it.
Addison expressed a wish for friendly relations, was glad that Pope had
not been "carried too far among the enemy" by Swift, and hoped to be of
use to him at Court--for Queen Anne died on August 1st; the wheel had
turned; and the Whigs were once more the distributors of patronage.
Pope's answer to Jervas is in the dignified tone; he attributes
Addison's coolness to the ill offices of Philips, and is ready to be on
friendly terms whenever Addison recognizes his true character and
independence of party. Another letter follows, as addressed by Pope to
Addison himself; but here alas! if not in the preceding letters, we are
upon doubtful ground. In fact, it is impossible to doubt that the letter
has been manipulated after Pope's fashion, if not actually fabricated.
It is so dignified as to be insulting. It is like a box on the ear
administered by a pedagogue to a repentant but not quite pardoned pupil.
Pope has heard (from Jervas, it is implied) of Addison's profession; he
is glad to hope that the effect of some "late malevolences" is
disappearing; he will not believe (that is, he is strongly inclined to
believe) that the author of _Cato_ could mean one thing and say
another; he will show Addison his first two books of Homer as a proof of
thi