_Minerva_ to take upon her the Shape of any
Plenipotentiary concerned in this Great Work. I do further declare, that
I shall not allow the Destinies to have had an hand in the Deaths of the
several thousands who have been slain in the late War, being of opinion
that all such Deaths may be very well accounted for by the Christian
System of Powder and Ball. I do therefore strictly forbid the Fates to
cut the Thread of Man's Life upon any pretence whatsoever, unless it be
for the sake of the Rhyme. And whereas I have good Reason to fear, that
_Neptune_ will have a great deal of Business on his Hands, in several
Poems which we may now suppose are upon the Anvil, I do also prohibit
his Appearance, unless it be done in Metaphor, Simile, or any very short
Allusion, and that even here he be not permitted to enter, but with
great Caution and Circumspection. I desire that the same Rule may be
extended to his whole Fraternity of Heathen Gods, it being my design to
condemn every Poem to the Flames in which _Jupiter_ Thunders, or
exercises any other Act of Authority which does not belong to him: In
short, I expect that no Pagan Agent shall be introduc'd, or any Fact
related which a Man cannot give Credit to with a good Conscience.
Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall extend, or be
construed to extend, to several of the Female Poets in this Nation, who
shall be still left in full Possession of their Gods and Goddesses, in
the same manner as if this Paper had never been written.

O.

[Footnote 1: In this year, 1712, Bernard Lintot, having observed the
success of Tonson's volumes of Miscellanies, produced a Miscellany
edited by Pope (now 24 years old), and containing the first sketch of
his 'Rape of the Lock,' translations from Statius and Ovid, and other
pieces. Addison's delight with the discovery of rising genius leads him
to dispose in a sentence of 'that ingenious gentleman' who had just
published a 'Rape of the Lock,' and proceed to warm praise of his
personal friends, Thomas Tickell and Ambrose Philips. In his Poem to his
Excellency the Lord Privy Seal on the Prospect of Peace, Tickell invites
Strafford to 'One hour, oh! listen while the Muses sing.']

[Footnote 2: [that]]

* * * * *

No. 524. Friday, October 31, 1712. [1]

'Nos populo damus--'

Sen.

When I first of all took it in my Head to write Dreams and