Note 486 — TO THE UNKNOWN AUTHOR[486] OF THE FOLLOWING POEM, AND THAT OF ABSALOM AND ACHITOPHEL.

There seems to have been some uncertainty, both among Tories and Whigs, concerning the author of "The Medal." Settle, himself, did not recognize the hand of Dryden; for he thus expresses himself:—"I am not of opinion, that the author of "The Medal," and that of "Absalom and Achitophel," is one person, since the style and painting is far different, and their satires are of a different hue, the one being a much more slovenly beast than the other; yet, since they desire to be thought so, let the one bear the reproaches of the other."—Preface to Medal Reversed.