Both these
expressions, and Wycherley's acknowledgment of them, were omitted in
Pope's publication. More than two years elapsed, when (in April, 1710)
Wycherley submitted a new set of manuscripts to Pope's unflinching
severity; and it is from the letters which passed in regard to this last
batch that the general impression as to the nature of the quarrel has
been derived. But these letters, again, have been mutilated, and so
mutilated as to increase the apparent tartness of the mutual retorts;
and it must therefore remain doubtful how far the coolness which ensued
was really due to the cause assigned. Pope, writing at the time to
Cromwell, expresses his vexation at the difference, and professes
himself unable to account for it, though he thinks that his corrections
may have been the cause of the rupture. An alternative rumour,[2] it
seems, accused Pope of having written some satirical verses upon his
friend. To discover the rights and wrongs of the quarrel is now
impossible, though, unfortunately, one thing is clear, namely, that Pope
was guilty of grossly sacrificing truth in the interests of his own
vanity. We may, indeed, assume, without much risk of error, that Pope
had become too conscious of his own importance to find pleasure or pride
in doctoring another man's verses. It must remain uncertain how far he
showed this resentment to Wycherley openly, or gratified it by some
covert means; and how far, again, he succeeded in calming Wycherley's
susceptibility by his compliments, or aroused his wrath by more or less
contemptuous treatment of his verses.
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