Pope had wide associations with literary men of his time， though.He made friends with both the Whig writers such as Richard Steele。Joseph Addison，William Congreve and William Walsh and the Tories like Jonathan Swift，John Gay and Thomas Parnell.In 1714 Pope and his friends formed a club which was to cooperate in a scheme to satirize all sorts of false learning and pedantry in literature，philosophy，science and other branches of knowledge.They created a figure Martinus Scriblerus（Martin the Scribbler）and used him as a butt of satire.The real importance of the club，however，is that it fostered a satiric temper which was to find exDression in such works as GulliverS Travels and The Dunci- ad.
Pope found among the men of letters both friends and enemies. He was loved and respected by many honorable，eminent and gifted men of his time。but was envied，derided and attacked by some less talented for his writings，his religion and even his physical deformi- ty.Pope。a very sensitive man，would strike back hard，and in the constant verbal battles he developed a style of biting satire.
As a representative of the Enlightenment，Pope was one of the first to introduce rationalism to England.He upheld the existing SO- cial svstem as an ideal one，but he was not entirely blind to the rapid moral，political and cultural deterioration.Commercialization and money-worship were invading all aspects of national life.He，there‘ fore.assumed the role of champion of traditional civilization：of rea- son.classical learning，sound art，good taste and public virtue.For him the suDreme value was order——cosmic order，political order， social order.aesthetic order，and this emphasis on order found ex- pression in all of his works.
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