His other great friend, Wycherley, had stronger claims upon his respect, but certainly was not likely to raise his standard of delicacy.

Wycherley was a relic of a past literary epoch.

He was nearly fifty years older than Pope.

His last play, the _Plain Dealer_, had been produced in 1677, eleven years before Pope's birth.

The _Plain Dealer_ and the _Country Wife_, his chief performances, are conspicuous amongst the comedies of the Restoration dramatists for sheer brutality.