Warburton himself, on the _Dunciad_. "The _good purpose_ intended
by this satire was, to the _herd_ in general, of less efficacy than
our author hoped; for _scribblers_ have not the common sense of _other
vermin_, who usually abstain from mischief, when they see any of their
kind _gibbeted_ or _nailed up_, as terrible examples."--Warburton
employed the same strong image in one of his threats.

One of Pope's Literary Quarrels must be distinguished for its romantic
cast.

In the Treatise on the _Bathos_, the initial letters of the bad
writers occasioned many heartburns; and, among others, Aaron Hill
suspected he was marked out by the letters A. H. This gave rise to a
large correspondence between Hill and Pope. Hill, who was a very
amiable man, was infinitely too susceptible of criticism; and Pope,
who seems to have had a personal regard for him, injured those nice
feelings as little as possible. Hill had published a panegyrical
poem on Peter the Great, under the title of "The Northern Star;" and
the bookseller had conveyed to him a criticism of Pope's, of which
Hill publicly acknowledged he mistook the meaning. When the Treatise
of "The Bathos" appeared, Pope insisted he had again mistaken the
initials A. H.--Hill gently attacked Pope in "a paper of very
pretty verses," as Pope calls them. When the _Dunciad_ appeared,
Hill is said "to have published pieces, in his youth, bordering upon
the bombast." This was as light a stroke as could be inflicted; and
which Pope, with great good-humour, tells Hill, might be equally
applied to himself; for he always acknowledged, that when a boy, he
had written an Epic poem of that description; would often quote absurd
verses from it, for the diversion of his friends; and actually
inserted some of the most extravagant ones in the very Treatise on
"The Bathos." Poor Hill, however, was of the most sickly delicacy,
and produced "The Caveat," another gentle rebuke, where Pope is
represented as "sneakingly to approve, and want the worth to cherish
or befriend men of merit." In the course of this correspondence,
Hill seems to have projected the utmost stretch of his innocent
malice; for he told Pope, that he had almost finished "An Essay on
Propriety and Impropriety in Design, Thought, and Expression,
illustrated by examples in both kinds, from the writings of Mr.
Pope;" but he offers, if this intended work should create the least
pain to Mr. Pope, he was willing, with all his heart, to have