Those friends of Pope that were trusted with the secret went about
lavishing honours on the new-born poet, and hinting that Pope was
never so much in danger from any former rival. To those authors
whom he had personally offended, and to those whose opinion the
world considered as decisive, and whom he suspected of envy or
malevolence, he sent his Essay as a present before publication, that
they might defeat their own enemity by praises which they could not
afterwards decently retract. With these precautions, in 1733, was
published the first part of the "Essay on Man." There had been for
some time a report that Pope was busy upon a "System of Morality,"
but this design was not discovered in the new poem, which had a form
and a title with which its readers were unacquainted. Its reception
was not uniform. Some thought it a very imperfect piece, though not
without good lines. While the author was unknown, some, as will
always happen, favoured him as an adventurer, and some censured him
as an intruder, but all thought him above neglect. The sale
increased, and editions were multiplied. The subsequent editions of
the first epistle exhibited two memorable corrections. At first,
the poet and his friend


"Expatiate freely o'er this scene of man,
A mighty maze OF WALKS WITHOUT A PLAN;"


for which he wrote afterwards,


"A mighty maze, BUT NOT WITHOUT A PLAN;"