Pope, and I propose to put in into
use."--_Letters from Warburton to C. Yorke_. 1812, 4to. p. 64.
Warburton then gave them to Ruffhead, who inserted them in his _Life of
Pope_, from which they were transferred in Bowles's editions of _Pope's
Works_ (vol. ii. p. 406), and in the supplementary volume to _Pope's Works_
(1807, 4to.). The extraordinary circumstance is, that they had appeared as
far back as 1753 in the miscellaneous works of Aaron Hill, published in
1753, in 4 vols. 8vo., and are included in that collection as his own.
Roscoe observes (Life of Pope, in vol. i. of his edition of _Pope's Works_,
p. 361., edit. 1824), without, however appearing to have been fully
acquainted with the facts of the case:
"These verses are not the production of Pope, as might indeed readily
have been perceived, but of Aaron Hill."
I must confess I cannot agree with the remark. If the point be to be
decided by internal evidence, the verses are surely Pope's. The collection
of A. Hill's miscellaneous works was a posthumous one for the benefit of
the family, and includes several other poems, which were certainly not
written by him.
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