Pope, we may therefore believe, was heartily delighted when, some months after Dennis's attack, a notice of his _Essay upon Criticism_ appeared in the _Spectator_, December 20, 1711. The reviewer censured some attacks upon contemporaries--a reference obviously to the lines upon Dennis--which the author had admitted into his "very fine poem;" but there were compliments enough to overbalance this slight reproof. Pope wrote a letter of acknowledgment to Steele, overflowing with the sincerest gratitude of a young poet on his first recognition by a high authority. Steele, in reply, disclaimed the article, and promised to introduce Pope to its real author, the great Addison himself. It does not seem that the acquaintance thus opened with the Addisonians ripened very rapidly, or led to any considerable results. Pope, indeed, is said to have written some _Spectators_. He certainly sent to Steele his _Messiah_, a sacred eclogue in imitation of Virgil's _Pollio_. It appeared on May 14th, 1712, and is one of Pope's dexterous pieces of workmanship, in which phrases from Isaiah are so strung together as to form a good imitation of the famous poem, which was once supposed to entitle Virgil to some place among the inspired heralds of Christianity. Pope sent another letter or two to Steele, which look very much like intended contributions to the _Spectator_, and a short letter about Hadrian's verses to his soul, which appeared in November, 1712. When, in 1713, the _Guardian_ succeeded the _Spectator_, Pope was one of Steele's contributors, and a paper by him upon dedications appeared as the fourth number. He soon gave a more remarkable proof of his friendly relations with Addison.