ded
him as a pensioner from early youth, directing the learning which had
been obtained by the public money to his own selfish desire of power,
and that he "had always endeavoured to cut down new-fledged merit."
The conversation now became a contest, and was broken up without
ceremony. Such was the notable interview between two rival wits, which
only ended in strengthening their literary quarrel; and sent back the
enraged satirist to his inkstand, where he composed a portrait, for
which Addison was made to sit, with the fine _chiar' oscuro_ of
Horace, and with as awful and vindictive features as the sombre hand
of Juvenal could have designed.

FOOTNOTES:

[225] Sir William Blackstone's Discussion on the Quarrel between
Addison and Pope was communicated by Dr. Kippis in his
"Biographia Britannica," vol. i. p. 56. Blackstone is there
designated as "a gentleman of considerable rank, to whom the
public is obliged for works of much higher importance."

[226] Dennis asserts in one of his pamphlets that Pope, fermenting
with envy at the success of Addison's _Cato_, went to Lintot,
and persuaded him to engage this redoubted critic to write the
remarks on _Cato_--that Pope's gratitude to Dennis for having
complied with his request was the well-known narrative of
Dennis "being placed as a lunatic in the hands of Dr. Norris,
a curer of mad people, at his house in Hatton-garden, though
at the same time I appeared publicly every day, both in the
park and in the town." Can we suppose that Dennis tells a
falsehood respecting Pope's desiring Lintot to engage Dennis
to write down _Cato_? If true, did Pope wish to see Addison
degraded, and at the same time take an opportunity of
ridiculing the critic, without, however, answering his
arguments? The secret history of literature is like that of
politics?

[Dennis took a strong dislike to Addison's _Cato_, and his
style of criticism is thus alluded to in the humorous account
of his frenzy written by Pope: "On all sides of his room were
pinned a great many sheets of a tragedy called _Cato_, with
notes on the margin by his own hand. The words _absurd_,
_monstrous_, _execrable_, were everywhere written in such
large characters, that I could read them without my
spectacles." Wart