respect, then,
his superior; of established literary fame when Pope was yet young;
preceding him in age and rank; and fortunate in all the views of human
ambition. But what if Addison's foible was that of being considered a
great poet? His political poetry had raised him to an undue elevation,
and the growing celebrity of Pope began to offend him, not with the
appearance of a meek rival, with whom he might have held divided
empire, but as a master-spirit, that was preparing to reign alone. It
is certain that Addison was the most feeling man alive at the fate of
his poetry. At the representation of his _Cato_, such was his
agitation, that had _Cato_ been condemned, the life of Addison might,
too, have been shortened. When a wit had burlesqued some lines of this
dramatic poem, his uneasiness at the innocent banter was equally
oppressive; nor could he rest, till, by the interposition of a friend,
he prevailed upon the author to burn them.[233]

To the facts already detailed, and to this disposition in Addison's
temper, and to the quick and active suspicions of Pope, irritable, and
ambitious of all the sovereignty of poetry, we may easily conceive
many others of those obscure motives, and invisible events, which none
but Pope, alienated every day more and more from his affections for
Addison, too acutely perceived, too profoundly felt, and too
unmercifully avenged. These are alluded to when the satirist sings--

Damn with faint praise; assent with civil leer;
And, without sneering, teach the rest to sneer;
Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike;
Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike, &c.

Accusations crowded faster than the pen could write them down. Pope
never composed with more warmth. No one can imagine that Atticus was
an ideal personage, touched as it is with all the features of an
extraordinary individual. In a word, it was recognised instantly by
the individual himself; and it was suppressed by Pope for near twenty
years, before he suffered it to escape to the public.

It was some time during their avowed rupture, for the exact period has
not been given, that their friends promoted a meeting between these
two great men. After a mutual lustration, it was imagined they might
have expiated their error, and have been restored to their original
purity. The interview did take place between the rival wits, and was
productive of some very characteristic ebullitions, strongly
corroborative of the facts as t