[15]Rev. W. Elwin, in his edition of Pope's Works, II. 224, says: "The authenticity of the Latin letters has usually been taken for granted, but I have a strong belief that they are a forgery.... It is far more likely that they are the fabrication of an unconcerned romancer, who speaks in the name of others with a latitude which people, not entirely degraded, would never adopt towards themselves. The suspicion is strengthened when the second party to the correspondence, the chief philosopher of his generation, exhibits the same exceptional depravity of taste."—Tr.
[16]"Vale, unice."
[17]Pope's Works, ed. Elwin; "Eloisa to Abelard," II. 245, lines 141-160.
[18]Ibid. II. 240, lines 51-58.
"Heav'n first taught letters for some
wretch's aid,
Some banished lover, or some captive
maid;
They live, they speak, they breathe
what love inspires,
Warm from the soul, and faithful to
its fires,
The virgin's wish without her fears
impart,
Excuse the blush, and pour out all
the heart,
Speed the soft intercourse from soul
to soul,
And waft a sigh from Indus to the
Pole."
[19]Ibid. II. 249, lines 207-222.
[20]Ibid. 255, line 317.
[21]"Eloisa to Abelard," II. 254, lines 297-302.
[22]M. Guillaume Guizot.
[23]Goethe sings:
"Liebe sei vor alien Dingen,
Unser Thema, wenn wir singen."
[24]See his "Epistle of the Characters of Women." According to Pope, this character is composed of love of pleasure and love of power.