The last of them, Mr.Carruthers, writing in 1857, observes upon the pain given to Pope by the treachery of Swift--a treachery of course palliated by Swift's failure of mind.

At last Mr.Dilke discovered the truth, which has been placed beyond doubt by the still later discovery of the letters to Orrery.

The moral is, apparently, that it is better to cheat a respectable man than a rogue; for the respectable tacitly form a society for mutual support of character, whilst the open rogue will be only too glad to show that you are even such an one as himself.
It was not probable that letters thus published should be printed with scrupulous accuracy.

Pope, indeed, can scarcely have attempted to conceal the fact that they had been a good deal altered.

And so long as the letters were regarded merely as literary compositions, the practice was at least pardonable.