portant work, the Alliance between Church and
State, and in 1738 followed the first instalment of his principal
performance, the Divine Legation. During the following years he was the
most conspicuous theologian of the day, dreaded and hated by his
opponents, whom he unsparingly bullied, and dominating a small clique of
abject admirers. He is said to have condemned the Essay on Man when it
first appeared. He called it a collection of the worst passages of the
worst authors, and declared that it taught rank atheism. The appearance
of Crousaz's book suddenly induced him to make a complete change of
front. He declared that Pope spoke "truth uniformly throughout," and
complimented him on his strong and delicate reasoning.

It is idle to seek motives for this proceeding. Warburton loved
paradoxes, and delighted in brandishing them in the most offensive
terms. He enjoyed the exercise of his own ingenuity, and therefore his
ponderous writings, though amusing by their audacity and width of
reading, are absolutely valueless for their ostensible purpose. The
exposition of Pope (the first part of which appeared in December, 1738)
is one of his most tiresome performances; nor need any human being at
the present day study the painful wire-drawings and sophistries by which
he tries to give logical cohesion and orthodox intention to the Essay on
Man.

If Warburton was simply practising his dialectical skill, the result was
a failure. But if he had an eye to certain lower ends, his success
surpassed his expectations. Pope was in ecstasies. He fell upon
Warburton's neck--or rather at his feet--and overwhelmed him with
professions of gratitude. He invited him to Twickenham; met him with
compliments which astonished a bystander, and wrote to him in terms of
surprising humility. "You understand me," he exclaims in his first
letter, "as well as I do myself; but you express me much better than I
could express myself." For the rest of his life Pope adopted the same
tone. He sheltered himself behind this burly defender, and could never
praise him enough. He declared Mr. Warburton to be the greatest general
critic he ever knew, and was glad to instal him in the position of
champion in ordinary. Warburton was consulted about new editions;
annotated Pope's poems; stood sponsor to the last Dunciad, and was
assured by his admiring friend that the comment would prolong the life
of the poetry. Pope left all his copyrights to this friend, whilst his