way. These five or six years I still look upon as the happiest part of my life."

It was when very young that he wrote something towards a tragedy, and afterwards an entire one on the legend of St. Geneviève. His epic poem on Alcander Prince of Rome he wisely burnt by the advice of Atterbury. He mentions that he never read any arts of logic or rhetoric. Locke was insipid to him. He read Sir William Temple's essays, but passed over all the political matter. It was Lord Lansdowne who insisted on his publishing his Windsor Forest, and to this the motto · "Non injussa cano," bears an allusion.

Pope's

sister says“I believe no body ever studied so hard as my brother did in his youth - he did

nothing else but write and read." Pope says, he was between twelve and thirteen when he went to the Forest, and continued in the close pursuit of pleasure and languages till nineteen or twenty. "I may be said," he observes, "to have taught myself Latin as well as French and Greek." Ogilby's translation of Homer was one of the first large poems he ever read, and he always spoke of the pleasure it then gave him with a sort of rapture. This lead him to Sandys' Ovid and Statius. Pope thought himself better in some respects for not having had a regular education. He had a vast memory, and was full of application. About fifteen he became acquainted with Walsh, who used

to encourage him in telling him that there was one way left of excelling, for though we had several great poets, we never had one great poet that was correct, and he desired him to make correctness his study and aim. He learnt versification only from Dryden's works.

Pope tells us that it was while he lived in the Forest, he got well acquainted with Sir William Trumbull, who loved very much to read and talk of the classics in his retirement. They used to take a ride out together, three or four days in the week, and at last almost every day. He adds that another of his earliest acquaintance was Walsh. Pope was with him at his seat in Worcestershire, for a good part of the summer of 1705, and shewed him his Essay on Criticism in 1706. Walsh died the year after. Pope was early acquainted with Lord Landsdowne, Garth, Betterton, and Wycherley, and not long afterwards with St. John.

Mr. Manwick says Wycherley was Mr. Pope's first poet friend, and Walsh his next. Wycherley, who submitted his verses to the judgment of his younger friend, was at last really angry for Pope's correcting his verses so much, and he was extremely plagued with the old man and his rhymes for about two years, but it went off pretty well at last. Among Wycherley's original verses in his posthumous works, many of Pope's are inserted;

not difficult to be distinguished.* And there are also some lines by Pope in Gardiner's translation of Rapin on Gardens. At the end of the Essay on Criticism may be seen a very beautiful, and even affecting tribute of gratitude, paid by the youthful poet to the memory of his early friend and instructor

Such late was Walsh, the muse's judge and friend, &c.

Having now given this sketch of Pope's early life, which it is hoped will not be found uninteresting, I will proceed to describe his house. There can be no doubt but that a great part of the original house has been pulled down, and upon the site of which the present mansion has been erected. Pope's study, however, still remains, and is now the housekeeper's room, with some of the original offices attached to it. It is a very small room on the ground floor, lighted by one window, and at present rendered rather dark by a large screen of laurels. Such as it is, however, we viewed it with great interest, especially as the poet's name is still honored in the recollection of the inhabitants of the place.

But we must now take our leave of Pope, having fulfilled our object of accompanying him during those days of his youth which he passed at Bin

There is a poem by Wycherley addressed to Pope on his pastorals to be found in the sixth volume of Dryden's Miscellanies.