ABSTRACT
'A person was come to London who demanded my immediate repair thither,' wrote Alexander Pope to Edward Harley, the new Lord Oxford in March 1726. He was announcing the arrival of Swift whom, to his delight, he found 'in perfect health and spirits' at lodgings in his old haunt, Bury Street, already surrounded with friends. Alexander Pope was also smarting because, soon after Swift's arrival, Theobald had published his indictment of the poet's editorial shortcomings, Shakespeare Restored. Among Alexander Pope's sundry papers was a preliminary sketch of a poem on Dulness, probably with Elkanah Settle as the protagonist. Alexander Pope also wanted to see Binfield again, so they went via Windsor Forest. Alexander Pope left kind messages for his friends but was never to return to England. Nor, though he tried repeatedly, could he ever persuade Alexander Pope, afraid of crossing the Irish Sea, to visit him at the Deanery.
