Sept. 16. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



219 



The first perfect Edition of ''The Dunciad" 

 (Vol. X., p. 130.). —C. says, "Pope calls the 'first 

 perfect edition' that by Lawton Gilliver." Again, 

 "the edition of Lawton Gilliver mentioned by 

 Me. Thoms," stating, &c., and in the pj'olegomena, 

 that this is " the first perfect edition." And then 

 he refers to the quarto edition of 1729, which he 

 tells us " Pope afterwards stated was the first per- 

 fect edition." VVhat does C. wish to be inferred 

 from such contradictory assertions, even if made by 

 Pope ? These " Pope calls," however, and " Pope 

 afterwards stated," are much too vague to be 

 grappled with ; but the distinct reference to, and 

 the literal quotation — marked as quotation — 

 from the prolegomena is more tangible, and I beg 

 to be allowed to ask for the exact page where I 

 may find the words quoted. I cannot but believe 

 there is some mistake. I have examined my own 

 and Mb. Thoms' copy without Success. There is 

 no assertion, I think, that will bear such inter- 

 pretation in the prolegomena ; and Gilliver, in 

 his advertisement, only claims for his edition 

 (booksellers' fashion) that it is " more correct and 

 complete." Indeed, in a note referred to by C. 

 (p. 46.), we are distinctly told that " there was 

 no perfect edition before that of London, in 4to., 

 1728-9," which is an admission, in other words, 

 that the quarto was " the first perfect edition." 



E. T. D. 



Lewis Theobald's inscription in the copy of 

 The Dunciad presented to Mrs. Heywood, quoted 

 by Mb. Thoms (Vol. x., p. 110.), is another of 

 the numberless proofs where the wish is parent 

 to the thought. Pope was ever prosperous — but 

 never more so, or at least never more generous 

 in distributing his money for the relief of the 

 poor and suffering, than about the time when The 

 Dunciad was published, 1727-28. In addition to 

 known facts, this has been lately shown in The 

 Athenceum, in the case of Mrs. Cope and his old 

 master Deane : to the one he at that time allowed, 

 und to the other he proposed to allow, an annuity 

 for life. T. L. 



Warhurton's Edition of Pope, 1751. — I said in a 

 former communication, that Mr. Carruthers was 

 of opinion that this edition was in preparation, and 

 partly printed, before Pope's death. C. has doubts. 

 " I have not," he writes (Vol. x., p. 109.), " Mr. 

 Carruthers' volume at hand, but I can hardly 

 think that he says so." Here, then, are his words : 



« Pope died on the 30th May, 1744. He had prepared 

 a complete edition of his works, assisted by Warburton, and 

 it was nearly all printed off before his death, but it was not 

 published till 1751." 



M. M. K. 



Swift's Letters.— What does C. (Vol. x., p. 148.) 

 mean by "the Longleat copies ?" S. L. 



Popiana. — Some interesting articles on Pope 

 appeared in the Athenceum of the 8th, 15th, and 

 22nd July, containing a poem, and copies and ex- 

 tracts of letters, attributed to Pope ; very curious, 

 and not unimportant to the poet's character. But 

 may I be allowed to suggest that the writer of 

 that article should complete his revelations by 

 stating his authorities, and when and where the 

 original documents have been found ? Y. Z. 



CAPEL LOFFT AND NAPOLEON. 



In recently going through a huge pile of letters 

 and other MSS. belonging to a deceased relative, 

 I came upon a letter from the well-known Capel 

 Lofft, alluding to the rumoured arrest of Na- 

 poleon at Paris after the battle of Waterloo. As 

 anything from a man of so much celebrity in his 

 day is worth preserving, I send you a copy of it, 

 especially as it is in a very tattered condition : a 

 word in the first line is partially illegible. 



« Troston Hall, 27th Jan., 1815. 

 " Sir, 



" I cannot believe those .... ously lying 

 papers, which have for these fifteen years and 

 more been the tools of our ministry, and the 

 sources of delusion, war, and desolation to the 

 world. 



" Much less can I glory that such should have 

 been the conduct of any legislative assembly on 

 earth to incomparably the first man in the world, 

 who has performed every duty of a sovereign, a 

 general, and a soldier, with the highest ability and 

 most devoted perseverance. 



" I hope it cannot be so. If it be, the Bourbons 

 or anything may be fit for a nation which will 

 endure such conduct. Bonaparte was near being 

 victorious according to the noble declaration of 

 Lord Wellington. He would then have been 

 adored. I will not believe that he has been put 

 under arrest. I did not think of such horrid in- 

 gratitude and utter baseness. 



I am, yours sincerely, 



Capel Lofft. 



" I trust the whole intelligence from Paris is a 

 base and abominable falsehood, fabricated either 

 there by some creatures of the Bourbons, or in 

 London, or in Brussels, or Ghent. Even in the 

 days of Marat and Robespierre, I should have 

 thought that such a treatment of a general after 

 such a contest with the best general, excepting 

 himself, in the world, was beyond all their other 

 enormities ; but Bonaparte is far more than merely 

 a general who, if equalled, has never been ex- 

 celled. He has given to France laws and a con- 

 stitution of a most transcendent excellence and 

 mildness. He has been the great friend of the 

 arts, and cultivator of the sciences ; he has de- 



