; and it gave no
small uneasiness to Mr. Pope: Who had indeed drawn it upon himself, by
being the aggressor in his Dunciad.--This afterwards occasioned a
private paper-war between those writers, in which 'tis generally thought
that Mr. Hill had greatly the advantage of Mr. Pope. For the
particulars, the reader is referred to a shilling pamphlet lately
published by Owen, containing Letters between Mr. Pope and Mr. Hill, &c.

The progress of wit begins with the eight following lines, wherein the
SNEAKINGLY APPROVES affected Mr. Pope extreamly.

Tuneful Alexis on the Thames' fair side,
The Ladies play-thing, and the Muses pride,
With merit popular, with wit polite,
Easy tho' vain, and elegant tho' light:
Desiring, and deserving other's praise,
Poorly accepts a fame he ne'er repays:
Unborn to cherish, SNEAKINGLY APPROVES,
And wants the soul to spread the worth he loves.

During their controversy, Mr. Pope seemed to express his repentance, by
denying the offence he had given; thus, in one of his letters, he says,

'That the letters A.H. were apply'd to you in the papers I did not know
(for I seldom read them) I heard it only from Mr. Savage[4], as from
yourself, and sent my assurances to the contrary: But I don't see how
the annotator on the D. could have rectified that mistake publicly,
without particularizing your name in a book where I thought it too good
to be inserted, &c.[5].'

And in another place he says,

'I should imagine the Dunciad meant you a real compliment, and so it has
been thought by many who have ask'd to whom that passage made that
oblique panegyric. As to the notes, I am weary of telling a great truth,
which is, that I am not author of them, &c.'

Which paragraph was answer'd by the following in Mr. Hill's reply.

'As to your oblique panegyric, I am not under so blind an attachment to
the goddess I was devoted to in the Dunciad, but that I know it was a
commendation; though a dirtier one than I wished for; who am neither
fond of some of the company in which I was listed--the noble reward, for
which I was to become a diver;--the allegorical muddiness in which I was
to try my skill;--nor the institutor of the games you were so kind to
allow me a share in, &c.'--A genteel severe reprimand.

Much about the same time he wrote another poem, called Advice to the
Poets; in praise of worthy poetry, and in censure of the misapplication
of poetry in general. The following lines here quot