Addresses of this Nature
have been long the customary
Tribute of Letters to superior
Merit: And tho' Flattery
may have thrown them into Disrepute,
yet this concludes no more against the
Continuance of honest Praise, than Hypocrisy
-- iv --
does against the Practice of Religion.
But Adulation no sooner began
to belye its Subject, than it perverted
the very Purpose of its Application;
while, amongst its many artful traverses,
it would now beg Protection for
the Book; and, now again, constitute
the Patron the sovereign Judge of its
Merit.
In this Light, Madam, you might
reasonably wonder to see a Collection
of Plays dedicated to one who reads
few Books besides those of Piety and
Moral; and will think, the Address
might have been made with somewhat
less Impropriety even to a Bishop. This
is true: but, as I said, this literary Connexion
is not, of right, between the
Patron and the Work; but between
him and the Author. Who, to carry
on his Commerce with a good Conscience,
must therefore search narrowly
for a Subject which will not dishonour
-- v --
Letters, while he is giving that to Merit,
which only Letters can bestow. But
I need not be asham'd to say, that the
Knowledge of you, has, at the same
time, abridged my Labour, and rewarded
the Integrity of my Purpose.
For if Friendship, Generosity, and the
Benevolence of Charity, added to every
female Virtue that most adorns your
Sex, demand this Acknowledgment, it
would be hard to find where it should
be earlier paid, or to whom, in fuller
Measure, returned.
If any now should affect to ask,
What Stranger this is, of whom so much
is said? Let him know, that this his
Ignorance is your supreme Praise; whose
Matron-modesty of Virtue declines all
Notice, but where the Influence of your
domestic Character extends. If, haply,
you have any further Ambition, it is
only this, the being known to constitute
the domestic Happiness of a Man
-- vi --
who does Honour to human Nature.
The mention of whose Relation to you,
reminds me of my own Happiness; who
enjoy so equal and so perfect a Share
in both your Friendships. This too is
my Fame and Reputation, as well as
Happiness; for Ambition would lose its
Aim, were I to wish that any thing of
me, or mine, should last longer than
the Memory of that Friendship. I am,
MADAM,
Your most obliged
and most faithful Servant,
W. Warburton.
-- vii --
Alexander Pope [1747], The works of Shakespear in eight volumes. The Genuine Text (collated with all the former Editions, and then corrected and emended) is here settled: Being restored from the Blunders of the first Editors, and the Interpolations of the two Last: with A Comment and Notes, Critical and Explanatory. By Mr. Pope and Mr. Warburton (Printed for J. and P. Knapton, [and] S. Birt [etc.], London) [word count] [S11301].
