SOURCE: "Pope as a Moralist," in The Cornhill Magazine, Vol. XXVIII, No. 167, November, 1873, pp. 583-604.

Many scholars consider Stephen the most important literary critic of the Victorian Age after Matthew Arnold. In the following excerpt, Stephen judges the moralistic quality of Pope's verse.

The extraordinary vitality of Pope's writings is a remarkable phenomenon in its way. Few reputations have been exposed to such perils at the hands of open enemies or of imprudent friends. In his lifetime "the wasp of Twickenham" could sting through a sevenfold covering of pride or stupidity. Lady Mary and Lord Hervey writhed and retaliated with little more success than the poor denizens of Grub Street. But it is more remarkable that Pope seems to be stinging well into the second century after his death. His writings resemble those fireworks which, after they have fallen to the ground and been apparently quenched, suddenly break...