Transcriber's note: Text in italics is enclosed between underscores (_italics_). The Augustan Reprint Society WALTER HARTE AN ESSAY ON SATIRE, Particularly on the DUNCIAD. (1730) Introduction by THOMAS B. GILMORE Publication Number 132William Andrews Clark Memorial LibraryUniversity of California, Los Angeles1968 * * * * * GENERAL EDITORS George Robert Guffey, _University of California, Los Angeles_ Maximillian E. Novak, _University of California, Los Angeles_ Robert Vosper, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_ ADVISORY EDITORS Richard C. Boys, _University of Michigan_ James L. Clifford, _Columbia University_ Ralph Cohen, _University of Virginia_ Vinton A. Dearing, _University of California, Los Angeles_ Arthur Friedman, _University of Chicago_ Louis A. Landa, _Princeton University_ Earl Miner, _University of California, Los Angeles_ Samuel H. Monk, _University of Minnesota_ Everett T. Moore, _University of California, Los Angeles_ Lawrence Clark Powell, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_ James Sutherland, _University College, London_ H. T. Swedenberg, Jr. , _University of California, Los Angeles_ CORRESPONDING SECRETARY Edna C. Davis, _William Andrews Clark Memorial Library_ * * * * * INTRODUCTION Since the first publication of Walter Harte's _An Essay on Satire, Particularly on the Dunciad_, [1] it has reappeared more than once: theunsold sheets of the first edition were included in _A Collection ofPieces in Verse and Prose, Which Have Been Publish'd on Occasion ofthe Dunciad_ (1732), and the _Essay_ is also found in at least threelate eighteenth- or early nineteenth-century collections of poetry. [2]For several reasons, however, it makes sense to reprint the _Essay_again. The three collections are scarce and have forbiddingly smalltype; I know of no other twentieth-century reprinting; and, perhapsmost important, Aubrey Williams claims that "the critical value forthe _Dunciad_ of Harte's poem has not been fully appreciated. "[3] Itsvalue can best be substantiated, or disputed, if it is rescued fromits typographical limbo in the collections and reprinted from its moreattractive first edition. Probably the immediate reason for the _Essay_ was Harte's admirationfor Pope, which arose in part from personal gratitude. On 9 February1727, Harte wrote an unidentified correspondent that "Mr. Pope waspleased to correct every page" of his forthcoming _Poems on SeveralOccasions_ "with his own hand. " Furthermore, Harte may have learnedthat Pope had petitioned Lady Sarah Cowper, in 1728, to use herinfluence to obtain him a fellowship in Exeter College, Oxford. [4] But however appealing the _Essay_ may be as an installment on Harte'sdebt to Pope, there must obviously be better reasons for reprintingit. Harte himself doubtless had additional reasons for writing it. Tounderstand them and the poem, we must also understand, at least inbroad outline, the two traditional ways of evaluating satire whichHarte and others of his age had inherited. One of them was distinctlyat odds with Harte's aims; to the other he gave his support and madehis own contribution. One tradition stressed the "lowness" of satire, in itself and comparedwith other genres. This tradition, moreover, had at least two sources:the practice of Elizabethan satirists and the critical custom ofassigning satire to a middle or low position in the hierarchy ofgenres. From the time of _Piers Plowman_, it was characteristic of Englishsatirists "to taxe the common abuses and vice of the people in roughand bitter speaches. "[5] This native character was reenforced by theElizabethan assumption that there should be similarities betweensatire and its supposed etymological forebears--the satyrs, legendaryhalf men, half goats of ancient Greece. Believing that the Romansatirists Persius and Juvenal had imitated the uncouth manners andvituperative diction of the satyrs, Elizabethan satirists likewisestrove to be as rough, harsh, and licentious as possible. [6] Despitethe objections to the satire-satyr etymology stated by IsaacCasaubon, [7] scurrilous satire, especially as a political weapon, wasa recognizable subspecies in England at least to 1700. The anonymousauthor, for instance, of _A Satyr Against Common-Wealths_ (1684)contended in his preface that it is "_as disagreeable to see a SatyrCloath'd in soft and effeminate Language, as to see a Woman scold andvent her self in_ Billingsgate _Rhetorick in a gentile andadvantageous Garb_. " But as Harte certainly realized, _The Dunciad_differed greatly from unvarnished abuse, and thus required differentstandards of critical judgment. Harte also rejected the critical habit of giving satire a relativelylow rank in the scale of literary genres. This habit can be traced toHorace, who belittled the literary status of his own satires, [8] andit was prominent in the Renaissance. The place of satire in ahierarchical list of Julius Caesar Scaliger is perhaps typical: "'Andthe most noble, of course, are hymns and paeans. In the second placeare songs and odes and scolia, which are concerned with the praises ofbrave men. In the third place the epic, in which there are heroes andother lesser personages. Tragedy together with comedy follows thisorder; nevertheless comedy will hold the fourth place apart by itself. After these, satires, then exodia, lusus, nuptial songs, elegies, monodia, songs, epigrams. '"[9] Similar rankings of satire frequentlyrecurred in the neo-classical period, [10] as did the Renaissancesupposition that each genre has a style and subject matter appropriateto it. This supposition discouraged any "mixing" of the genres: inRichard Blackmore's words, "all comick Manners, witty Conceits andRidicule" should be barred from heroic poetry. [11] The influence ofthe genres theories even after Pope's death may be shown by the factthat Pope, for the very reason that he had failed to work in the majorgenres, was often ranked below such epic or tragic poets as Spenser, Shakespeare, and Milton. [12] One senses the foregoing critical assumptions about satire behind muchof the early comment on _The Dunciad_. Most of the critics, to besure, were anything but impartial; in many instances they weresmarting from Pope's satire and sought any critical weapons availablefor retaliation. But it will not do to dismiss these men or theirresponses to _The Dunciad_ as inconsequential; they had the weight ofnumbers on their side and, more important, the authority oflong-established attitudes toward satire. Although it is frequently impossible to determine exactly whichcritics Harte was answering in his _Essay_, brief illustration of twoprominent types of attack can indicate what he had to vindicate _TheDunciad_ against. One of those types resembled Blackmore's objectionto a mixing of genres. If satire should be barred from heroic poetry, the reverse, for some critics, was also true, and Pope should not haveused epic allusions and devices in _The Dunciad_. Edward Ward, forone, thought the poem an incongruous mixture "against all rule. "[13]Pope's violation of "rule" seemed almost a desecration of epic toThomas Cooke; of the mock-heroic games in Book II of _The Dunciad_, hecomplained that "to imitate _Virgil_ is not to have Games, and thosebeastly and unnatural, because _Virgil_ has noble and reasonableGames, but to preserve a Purity of Manners, Propriety of Conductfounded on Nature, a Beauty and Exactness of Stile, and continuedHarmony of Verse concording with the Sense. "[14] The other kind of attack accused Pope of wasting his talents in _TheDunciad_, but palliated blame by reminding him of his demonstratedability in more worthy poetical pursuits. This was one of Ward'sresources; perhaps disingenuously, he professed amazement that a poetwith Pope's "_sublime Genius_, " born for "an Epick Muse, " "sacredHymns, " and "heav'nly Anthems, " would lower himself to mock at"_trifling Foibles_" or "the Starvlings of _Apollo's_ Train. "[15] Moreconcerned with Pope's potentialities than with his recent ignominy, George Lyttelton nevertheless made essentially the same point: Popecould never become the English Virgil if he "let meaner Satire . .. Stain the Glory" of his "nobler Lays. "[16] And Aaron Hill wrote anallegorical poem to show Pope the error of _The Dunciad_ and tosuggest means of escape from entombment "in his _own_ PROFUND. "[17] Insuch censure we perhaps glimpse an opinion attributable to the stillinfluential genres theories: a poet of "_sublime Genius_" should workin a more sublime poetic genre than satire. In opposing this low view of satire, Harte drew upon ideas morecongenial to his purposes and far more congenial to _The Dunciad_. Originating with the Renaissance commentaries on the formal versesatire of the Romans, their lineage was just as venerable as that ofthe low view. These critical concepts were probably just asinfluential too, for they continued to be reiterated by commentariesdown to and beyond Pope's time. Whatever their quarrels, the Renaissance commentaries were virtuallyunited in regarding satire as exalted moral instruction and satiristsas ethical philosophers. Casaubon's choice for this sort of praise wasPersius; Heinsius and Stapylton likened their respective choices, Horace and Juvenal, to Socrates and Plato; and Rigault considered allthree satirists to be philosophers, distinguished only by thedifferent styles which their different periods required. The satiristmight disguise himself as a jester, but only to make his moral wisdommore easily digestible; peeling away his mask, "we find in him all theGods together, " "_Maxims or Sentences, that like the lawes of nature, are held sacred by all Nations_. "[18] Dryden's _Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire_drew heavily and eclectically upon these commentaries, investing theirjudgments with a new popularity and authority. Although Drydencondemned Persius for obscurity and other defects, he agreed withCasaubon that Persius excels as a moral philosopher and that "moraldoctrine" is more important to satire than wit or urbanity. Drydenknew, moreover, that the satirist's inculcation of "moral doctrine"meant a dual purpose, a pattern of blame and praise--not only "thescourging of vice" but also "exhortation to virtue"--long recognizedas a definitive characteristic of formal verse satire. [19] But ifDryden insisted on the moral dignity of satire, he laid equal stresson the dignity attainable through verse and numbers. Aftercomplimenting Boileau's _Lutrin_ for its successful imitation ofVirgil, its blend of "the majesty of the heroic" with the "venom" ofsatire, Dryden speaks of "the beautiful turns of words and thoughts, which are as requisite in this [satire], as in heroic poetry itself, of which the satire is undoubtedly a species"; and earlier in the_Discourse_ he had called heroic poetry "certainly the greatest workof human nature. "[20] It is clear that Harte's _Essay_ belongs in the tradition of criticismestablished by the commentaries on classical satire and continued byDryden. Like these predecessors, Harte believes that satire is moralphilosophy, teaching "the noblest Ethicks to reform mankind" (p. 6). Like them again, he believes that to fulfill this purpose satire mustnot only lash vice but recommend virtue, at least by implication: Blaspheming _Capaneus_ obliquely shows T'adore those Gods _Aeneas_ fears and knows, (p. 10)[21] But perhaps Harte's overriding concern was to do for satire (with _TheDunciad_ as his focus) what Dryden's _Discourse_ had done: to reassertits dignity and majesty. Although Harte is quite careful to distinguish satire from epicpoetry, the total effect of his _Essay_ is to blur this distinctionand to raise _The Dunciad_ very nearly to the level of genuine epic. The term "_Epic Satire_" (p. 6) certainly seems to refer to thewedding of two disparate genres in _The Dunciad_, lifting it abovesatire that is merely "rugged" or "mischievously gay" (p. 8). (Theepithet is also, perhaps, a thrust at Edward Ward, who had pinned iton _The Dunciad_ with a sneer. )[22] Harte's claim that _Books and the Man_ demands as much, or more, Than _He who wander'd to the Latian shore_ (p. 9) has a similar effect. The greatest epic poets and satirists havealways transcended rules to follow "Nature's light"; Pope, over-topping them all, has "still corrected Nature as she stray'd"(pp. 19, 21). But perhaps Harte's most successful attempt to elevate_The Dunciad_ comes in section two of his poem. Unlike Dryden, inwhose _Discourse_ the account of the "progress" of satire is confinedalmost exclusively to a few Roman writers, Harte begins his account ofits progress with Homer and brings it down to Pope. Deriving theancestry of _The Dunciad_ from Homer, the greatest epic poet, obviously enhances Pope's satire. Perhaps less obviously, by extendingDryden's account to the present, Harte makes _The Dunciad_ not only achronological _terminus ad quem_ but, far more important, the fruit ofcenturies of slowly accumulating mastery and wisdom. The strategies mentioned thus far constitute one series of answers tocritics who charged Pope with debasing true epic. But Harte alsoaddressed himself to such critics more directly. Although AubreyWilliams (p. 54) has clearly demonstrated Harte's awareness that theworld of _The Dunciad_ does in one sense sully epic beauties, at thesame time, I think, Harte knew that the epic poems to which _TheDunciad_ continually alludes remain fixed, unsullied polestars;otherwise the reader of the poem would lack a way of measuring themeanness of its characters and principles. The "charms of _Parody_" in_The Dunciad_ provide a contrast between its dark, fallen world andthe undimmed luster of epic realms (p. 10). By using the ambiguousword _parody_, which in the eighteenth century could mean eitherridicule or straight imitation, [23] Harte skillfully suggests thecomplex purpose of Pope's epic backdrop. The dunces, not Pope, ridicule the epic world by their words and deeds; but in turn, thisworld ridicules them simply by being "imitated" and incorporated in_The Dunciad_. And its incorporation is by no means equivalent to thepollution of epic. That, Harte hints, is the achievement of scribblerslike Blackmore (p. 12). It is they who inadvertently write mock-epics, parodies which degrade their great models; Pope, nominally writingmock-epic, actually approaches epic achievement. Harte's reply to those who believed Pope had wasted his talent inattacking "the Refuse of the Town" centers in the stanza beginning onp. 24 but can be found elsewhere as well. Literary "Refuse, " herealized, could not safely be ignored, for he at least came close tounderstanding that it was "the metaphor by which biggerdeteriorations, " social and moral, "are revealed" (Williams, p. 14). . .. Rules, and Truth, and Order, Dunces strike; Of Arts, and Virtues, enemies alike. (p. 24) Ultimately, then, Harte seemed aware that the dunces pose a colossalthreat, a threat which warrants Pope's numerous echoes of _ParadiseLost_. Harte's _Essay_, in fact, contains several echoes of the samepoem. Though, like most of Pope's, these Miltonic echoes are given acomic turn which indicates a wide gap between the real satanic hostand its London auxiliary, there is little doubt that Harte grasped theunderlying seriousness of his mentor's analogies and his own. * * * * * A few words remain to be said about Boileau's _Discourse of SatiresArraigning Persons by Name_, which so far as I know appeared with allearly printings of Harte's _Essay_. The _Discourse_ was first published in 1668, with the separatelyprinted edition of Boileau's ninth satire; in the same year it wasincluded in a collected edition of the satires. It was occasioned, evidently, by a critic's complaint that the modern satirist, departingfrom ancient practice, "offers insults to individuals. "[24] The only English translation of the _Discourse_ that I have discoveredbefore 1730 appears in volume two (1711) of a three-volume translationof Boileau's works. This, however, is not the same translation as theone accompanying Harte's _Essay_; it is noticeably less fluent andlacks (as does the French) the subtitle "arraigning persons by name. " The 1730 translation is faithful to the original, and the subtitlecalls attention to the aptness of the _Discourse_ as a defense ofPope's satiric practice. [25] It is so apt, indeed, that one couldalmost suspect Pope himself of making the translation and submittingit to Harte or his publisher. Pope had already invoked Boileau's nameand precedent in the letter from "William Cleland"; nothing could bemore logical than for Pope to turn the esteemed Boileau'sself-justification to his own ends. Cornell College NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION [1] Robert W. Rogers, _The Major Satires of Alexander Pope_, IllinoisStudies in Language and Literature, XL (Urbana, 1955), p. 140, datesthe Essay January 7-14, 1731, N. S. , on the evidence of _TheGrub-Street Journal_; No. 484 of _The London Evening-Post_ (Saturday, January 9, to Tuesday, January 12, 1731) advertises its publicationfor the following day. [2] Rogers, p. 141. Thomas Park, _Supplement to the British Poets_(London, 1809), VIII, 21-36; Alexander Chalmers, _The Works of theEnglish Poets_ (London, 1810), XVI, 348-352; Robert Anderson, _AComplete Edition of the Poets of Great Britain_ (London, 1794), IX, 825-982 [_sic_]. [3] _Pope's "Dunciad": A Study of Its Meaning_ (Baton Rouge, 1955), p. 54n. [4] _The Correspondence of Alexander Pope_, ed. George Sherburn(Oxford, 1956), II, 430 n. , 497. [5] George Puttenham, _The Arte of English Poesie_ (1589), in_Elizabethan Critical Essays_, ed. G. Gregory Smith (Oxford, 1904), II, 27. [6] Alvin Kernan, _The Cankered Muse: Satire of the EnglishRenaissance_, Yale Studies in English, CXLII (New Haven, 1959), pp. 55, 58, 62; Oscar James Campbell, _Comicall Satyre and Shakespeare's"Troilus and Cressida"_ (San Marino, 1959), pp. 24-25, 27, 29-30. [7] _De Satyrica Graecorum Poesi, & Romanorum Satira Libri Duo_(Paris, 1605). [8] J. F. D'Alton, _Roman Literary Theory and Criticism: A Study inTendencies_ (London, New York, and Toronto, 1931), pp. 356, 414 andn. ; George Converse Fiske, _Lucilius and Horace: A Study in theClassical Theory of Imitation_, University of Wisconsin Studies inLanguage and Literature, No. 7 (Madison, 1920), p. 443. [9] Bernard Weinberg, _A History of Literary Criticism in the ItalianRenaissance_ (Chicago, 1961), II, 745. For similar appraisals ofsatire, see also I, 148-149; II, 759, 807; and Puttenham, pp. 26-28. [10] E. G. , John Dennis, "The Grounds of Criticism in Poetry" (1704), in _The Critical Works_, ed. Edward Niles Hooker (Baltimore, 1939-1943), I, 338; Joseph Trapp, _Lectures on Poetry Read in theSchools of Natural Philsophy at Oxford_ (London, 1742), p. 153. [11] _Essays upon Several Subjects_ (London, 1716-1717), I, 76. [12] Paul F. Leedy, "Genres Criticism and the Significance of Warton'sEssay on Pope, " _JEGP_, XLV (1946), 141. [13] _Durgen. Or, A Plain Satyr upon a Pompous Satyrist_ (London, 1729), p. 48. [14] "The Battel of the Poets, " in _Tales, Epistles, Odes, Fables, etc. _ (London, 1729), p. 138n. Though the poem was first published in1725, it was revised to attack _The Dunciad_; Cooke claims ("ThePreface, " p. 107) that not more than eighty lines in the two versionsare the same. [15] _Durgen_, pp. [i], 19, 40-41. [16] _An Epistle to Mr. Pope, from a Young Gentleman at Rome_ (London, 1730), pp. 6-7. [17] _The Progress of Wit_ (London, 1730), p. 31. Two months afterHarte's Essay appeared Hill's _Advice to the Poets_, which complementsthe earlier allegory by urging Pope to shun "_vulgar Genii_" andemulate "Thy own _Ulysses_" (pp. 18-19). [18] Daniel Heinsius, "De Satyra Horatiana Liber, " in _Q. HoratiFlacci Opera_ (1612), pp. 137-138; Sir Robert Stapylton, "The Life andCharacter of Juvenal, " in _Mores Hominum. The Manners of Men, Described in Sixteen Satyrs, by Juvenal_ (London, 1660), p. [v];Nicolas Rigault, "De Satira Juvenalis Dissertatio" (1615), in _DeciiJunii Juvenalis Satirarum Libri Quinque_ (Paris, 1754), p. Xxv; andAndré Dacier, _An Essay upon Satyr_ (London, 1695), p. 273. [19] _Essays of John Dryden_, ed. W. P. Ker (Oxford, 1900), II, 75, 104-105; Howard D. Weinbrot, "The Pattern of Formal Verse Satire inthe Restoration and the Eighteenth Century, " _PMLA_, LXXX (1965), 394-401; Causaubon, _De Satyrica Graecorum Poesi, & Romanorum SatiraLibri Duo_, pp. 291-292; Heinsius, pp. 137-138. [20] _Essays_, II, 43, 107-108. [21] See Weinbrot, p. 399. [22] _Durgen_, p. 3. [23] Howard D. Weinbrot, "Parody as Imitation in the 18th Century, "_AN&Q_, II (1964), 131-134. [24] Boileau, _Oeuvres Complètes_, ed. Françoise Escal (ÉditionsGallimard, 1966), p. 924. [25] Numerous protests against Pope's use of names made such a defensedesirable. See, for example, Ward (p. 9) and "A Letter to a NobleLord: Occasion'd by the Late Publication of the Dunciad Variorum, " in_Pope Alexander's Supremacy and Infallibility Examin'd_ (London, 1729), p. 12. Boileau's _Discourse_ is a particularly apposite replyto the latter, which had contrasted Pope's satiric practice with thatof Horace, Juvenal, and Boileau. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE The text of this edition is reproduced from a copy in the Universityof Illinois Library. AN ESSAY, ON SATIRE, Particularly on the DUNCIAD. (Price One Shilling. ) Speedily will be Published, The Works of VIRGIL Translated into Blank Verse by _J. Trapp_, D. D. In Three Volumes in 12º with Cuts. AN ESSAY ON SATIRE, Particularly on the DUNCIAD. BY Mr. _WALTER HARTE_ of St. _Mary-Hall_, Oxon. To which is added, A DISCOURSE _on_ SATIRES, _Arraigning Persons by Name_. By Monsieur BOILEAU. _LONDON:_ Printed for LAWTON GILLIVER at _Homer's_ Head against St. _Dunstan's_ Church, in _Fleetstreet_, MDCCXXX. THE CONTENTS. I. _The Origine and Use of_ Satire. _The Excellency of_ Epic Satire_above others, as adding Example to Precept, and animating by_ Fable_and sensible Images. Epic Satire compar'd with Epic Poem, and whereinthey differ: Of their_ Extent, Action, Unities, Episodes, _and theNature of their_ Morals. _Of_ Parody: _Of the_ Style, Figures, _and_Wit _proper to this Sort of Poem, and the superior Talents requisiteto Excel in it. _ II. _The_ Characters _of the several Authors of Satire. 1. TheAncients;_ Homer, Simonides, Archilochus, Aristophanes, Menippus, Ennius, Lucilius, Varro, Horace, Persius, Petronius, Juvenal, Lucian, _the Emperor_ Julian. _2. The Moderns;_ Tassone, Coccaius, Rabelais, Regnier, Boileau, Dryden, Garth, Pope. III. _From the Practice of all the best Writers and Men in every Ageand Nation, the_ Moral Justice _of_ Satire _in General, and of thisSort in Particular, is Vindicated. The_ Necessity _of it shewn in_this Age _more especially, and why bad Writers are at present the_most proper Objects of Satire. _The_ True Causes _of bad Writers. _Characters _of several Sorts of them now abounding; Envious Critics, Furious Pedants, Secret Libellers, Obscene Poetesses, Advocates forCorruption, Scoffers at Religion, Writers for Deism, Deistical and_Arrian-_Clergymen. _ _Application of the Whole Discourse to the_ DUNCIAD _concluding withan Address to the Author of it. _ AN ESSAY ON SATIRE. T' Exalt the Soul, or make the Heart sincere, To arm our Lives with honesty severe, To shake the wretch beyond the reach of Law, Deter the young, and touch the bold with awe, To raise the fal'n, to hear the sufferer's cries, And sanctify the virtues of the wife, Old Satire rose from Probity of mind, The noblest Ethicks to reform mankind. As _Cynthia's_ Orb excels the gems of night: So _Epic Satire_ shines distinctly bright. Here Genius lives, and strength in every part, And lights and shades, and fancy fix'd by art. A second beauty in its nature lies, It gives not _Things_, but _Beings_ to our eyes, _Life_, _Substance_, _Spirit_ animate the whole; _Fiction_ and _Fable_ are the Sense and Soul. The _common Dulness_ of mankind, array'd In pomp, here lives and breathes, a _wond'rous Maid_: The Poet decks her with each unknown Grace, Clears her dull brain, and brightens her dark face: See! Father _Chaos_ o'er his First-born nods, And Mother _Night_, in Majesty of Gods! See _Querno's Throne_, by hands Pontific rise, And a _Fool's Pandæmonium_ strike our Eyes! Ev'n what on C----l the Publick bounteous pours, Is sublimated here to _Golden show'rs_. A _Dunciad_ or a _Lutrin_ is compleat, And _one_ in action; ludicrously great. Each wheel rolls round in due degrees of force; E'en _Episodes_ are _needful_, or _of course_: _Of course_, when things are virtually begun E'er the first ends, the Father and the Son: Or else so _needful_, and exactly grac'd, That nothing is _ill-suited_, or _ill-plac'd_. True Epic's a vast World, and this a small; One has its _proper_ beauties, and one _all_. Like _Cynthia_, one in _thirty days_ appears, Like _Saturn_ one, rolls round in _thirty years_. _There_ opens a wide Tract, a length of Floods, A height of Mountains, and a waste of Woods: _Here_ but one Spot; nor Leaf, nor Green depart From Rules, e'en Nature seems the Child of Art. As _Unities_ in Epick works appear, So must they shine in full distinction here. Ev'n the warm _Iliad_ moves with slower pow'rs: That forty days demands, This forty hours. Each other Satire humbler arts has known, Content with meaner Beauties, tho' its own: Enough for that, if rugged in its course The Verse but rolls with Vehemence and Force; Or nicely pointed in th' _Horatian_ way Wounds keen, like _Syrens_ mischievously gay. Here, All has _Wit_, yet must that Wit be _strong_, Beyond the Turns of _Epigram_, or _Song_. The _Thought_ must rise exactly from the vice, _Sudden_, yet _finish'd_, _clear_, and yet _concise_. _One Harmony_ must _first_ with _last_ unite; As all true Paintings have their _Place_ and _Light_. _Transitions_ must be _quick_, and yet _design'd_, Not made to fill, but just retain the mind: And _Similies_, like meteors of the night, Just give one flash of momentary Light. As thinking makes the Soul, low things exprest In high-rais'd terms, define a _Dunciad_ best. _Books and the Man_ demands as much, or more, Than _He_ who _wander'd to the Latian Shore_: For here (eternal Grief to _Duns_'s soul, And _B_----'s thin Ghost!) the _Part_ contains the _Whole_: Since in Mock-Epic none succeeds, but he Who tastes the Whole of Epic Poesy. The _Moral_ must be clear and understood; But finer still, if negatively good: Blaspheming _Capaneus_ obliquely shows T' adore those Gods _Æneas_ fears and knows. A _Fool's_ the _Heroe_; but the _Poet's_ end Is, to be _candid_, _modest_, and a _Friend_. Let _Classic Learning_ sanctify each Part, Not only show your Reading, but your Art. The charms of _Parody_, like those of Wit, If well _contrasted_, never fail to hit; One half in light, and one in darkness drest, (For contraries oppos'd still shine the best. ) When a cold Page half breaks the Writer's heart, By this it warms, and brightens into Art. When Rhet'ric glitters with too pompous pride, By this, like _Circe_, 'tis un-deify'd. So _Berecynthia_, while her off-spring vye In homage to the Mother of the sky, (Deck'd in rich robes, of trees, and plants, and flow'rs, And crown'd illustrious with an hundred tow'rs) O'er all _Parnassus_ casts her eyes at once, And sees an hundred Sons--_and each a Dunce_. The _Language_ next: from hence new pleasure springs; For _Styles_ are dignify'd, as well as _Things_. Tho' Sense subsists, distinct from phrase or sound, Yet _Gravity_ conveys a surer wound. The chymic secret which your pains wou'd find, Breaks out, unsought for, in _Cervantes'_ mind; And _Quixot_'s wildness, like that King's of old, Turns all he touches, into _Pomp_ and _Gold_. Yet in this Pomp discretion must be had; Tho' _grave_, not _stiff_; tho' _whimsical_, not _mad_: In Works like these if _Fustian_ might appear, Mock-Epics, _Blackmore_, would not cost thee dear. We grant, that _Butler_ ravishes the Heart, As _Shakespear_ soar'd beyond the reach of Art; (For Nature form'd those Poets without Rules, To fill the world with _imitating Fools_. ) What _Burlesque_ could, was by that Genius done; Yet faults it has, impossible to shun: Th' unchanging strain for want of grandeur cloys, And gives too oft the horse-laugh mirth of Boys: The short-legg'd verse, and double-gingling Sound, So quick surprize us, that our heads run round: Yet in this Work peculiar Life presides, And _Wit_, for all the world to glean besides. Here pause, my Muse, too daring and too young! Nor rashly aim at Precepts yet unsung. Can Man the Master of the _Dunciad_ teach? And these new Bays what other hopes to reach? 'Twere better judg'd, to study and explain Each ancient Grace he copies not in vain; To trace thee, Satire, to thy utmost Spring, Thy Form, thy Changes, and thy Authors sing. All Nations with this Liberty dispense, And bid us shock the Man that shocks Good Sense. Great _Homer_ first the Mimic Sketch design'd What grasp'd not _Homer's_ comprehensive mind? By him who _Virtue_ prais'd, was _Folly_ curst, And who _Achilles_ sung, drew _Dunce the First_. [26] Next him _Simonides_, with lighter Air, In Beasts, and Apes, and Vermin, paints the _Fair_: The good _Scriblerus_ in like forms displays The reptile Rhimesters of these later days. More fierce, _Archilochus_! thy vengeful flame; Fools read and _dy'd_: for Blockheads then had _Shame_. The Comic-Satirist[27] attack'd his Age, And found low Arts, and Pride, among the Sage: See learned _Athens_ stand attentive by, And _Stoicks_ learn their Foibles from the Eye. _Latium's fifth Homer_[28] held the _Greeks_ in view; Solid, tho' rough, yet incorrect as new. _Lucilius_, warm'd with more than mortal flame Rose next[29], and held a torch to ev'ry shame. See stern _Menippus_, cynical, unclean; And _Grecian Cento_'s, mannerly obscene. Add the last efforts of _Pacuvius'_ rage, And the chaste decency of _Varro_'s page. [30] See _Horace_ next, in each reflection nice, Learn'd, but not vain, the Foe of Fools nor Vice. Each page instructs, each Sentiment prevails, All shines alike, he rallies, but ne'er rails: With courtly ease conceals a Master's art, And least-expected steals upon the heart. Yet _Cassius_[31] felt the fury of his rage, (_Cassius_, the _We----d_ of a former age) And sad _Alpinus_, ignorantly read, Who murder'd _Memnon_, tho' for ages dead. Then _Persius_ came: whose line tho' roughly wrought, His Sense o'erpaid the stricture of his thought. Here in clear light the _Stoic_-doctrine shines, Truth all subdues, or Patience all resigns. A Mind supreme![32] impartial, yet severe: Pure in each Act, in each Recess sincere! Yet _rich ill_ Poets urg'd the _Stoic_'s Frown, And bade him strike at _Dulness_ and a _Crown_[33]. The Vice and Luxury _Petronius_ drew, In _Nero_ meet: th' imperial point of view: The Roman _Wilmot_, that could Vice chastize, Pleas'd the mad King he serv'd, to satirize. The next[34] in Satire felt a nobler rage, What honest Heart could bear _Domitian_'s age? See his strong Sense, and Numbers masculine! His Soul is kindled, and he kindles mine: Scornful of Vice, and fearless of Offence, He flows a Torrent of impetuous Sense. Lo! Savage Tyrants Who blasphem'd their God Turn Suppliants now, and gaze at _Julian_'s Rod. [35] _Lucian_, severe, but in a gay disguise, Attacks old Faith, or sports in learned Lyes;[36] Sets Heroes and Philosophers at odds; And scourges Mortals, and dethrones the Gods. Then all was Night--But _Satire_ rose once more Where _Medici_ and _Leo_ Arts restore. _Tassonè_ shone fantastic, but sublime: And He, who form'd the _Macaronique_-Rhime: Then _Westward_ too by slow degrees confest, Where boundless _Rabelais_ made the World his Jest; _Marot_ had Nature, _Regnier_ Force and Flame, But swallow'd all in _Boileau_'s matchless Fame! Extensive Soul! who rang'd all learning o'er, Present and past--and yet found room for more. Full of new Sense, exact in every Page, Unbounded, and yet sober in thy Rage. Strange Fate! _Thy solid_ Sterling _of two lines, _ _Drawn to our_ Tinsel, _thro' whole Pages shines!_[37] In _Albion_ then, with equal lustre bright, Great _Dryden_ rose, and steer'd by Nature's light. Two glimmering Orbs he just observ'd from far, The Ocean wide, and dubious either Star, _Donne_ teem'd with Wit, but all was maim'd and bruis'd, The periods endless, and the sense confus'd: _Oldham_ rush'd on, impetuous, and sublime, But lame in Language, Harmony, and Rhyme; These (with new graces) vig'rous nature join'd In one, and center'd 'em in _Dryden_'s mind. How full thy verse? Thy meaning how severe? How dark thy theme? yet made exactly clear. Not mortal is thy accent, nor thy rage, Yet mercy softens, or contracts each Page. Dread Bard! instruct us to revere thy rules, And hate like thee, all Rebels, and all Fools. His Spirit ceas'd not (in strict truth) to be; For dying _Dryden_ breath'd, O _Garth!_ on thee, Bade thee to keep alive his genuine Rage, Half-sunk in want, oppression and old age; Then, when thy pious hands repos'd his head, [38] When vain young Lords and ev'n the Flamen fled. For well thou knew'st his merit and his art, His upright mind, clear head, and friendly heart. Ev'n _Pope_ himself (who sees no Virtue bleed But bears th' affliction) envies thee the deed. O _Pope_! Instructor of my studious days, Who fix'd my steps in virtue's early ways: On whom our labours, and our hopes depend, Thou more than Patron, and ev'n more than Friend! Above all Flattery, all Thirst of Gain, And Mortal but in Sickness, and in Pain! Thou taught'st old Satire nobler fruits to bear, And check'd her Licence with a moral Care: Thou gav'st the Thought new beauties not its own, And touch'd the Verse with Graces yet unknown. Each lawless branch thy level eye survey'd. And still corrected Nature as she stray'd: Warm'd _Boileau_'s Sense with _Britain_'s genuine Fire, And added Softness to _Tassonè_'s Lyre. Yet mark the hideous nonsense of the age, And thou thy self the subject of its rage. So in old times, round godlike _Scæva_ ran _Rome_'s dastard Sons, a _Million_, and a _Man_. Th' exalted merits of the Wise and Good Are seen, far off, and rarely understood. The world's a father to a Dunce unknown, And much he thrives, for Dulness! he's thy own. No hackney brethren e'er condemn him _twice_; He fears no enemies, but dust and mice. If _Pope_ but writes, the Devil _Legion_ raves, And meagre Critics mutter in their caves: (Such Critics of necessity consume All Wit, as Hangmen ravish'd Maids at _Rome_. ) Names he a Scribler? all the world's in arms, _Augusta_, _Granta_, _Rhedecyna_ swarms: The guilty reader fancies what he fears, And every _Midas_ trembles for his ears. See all such malice, obloquy, and spite Expire e're morn, the mushroom of a night! Transient as vapours glimm'ring thro' the glades, Half-form'd and idle, as the dreams of maids, Vain as the sick man's vow, or young man's sigh, Third-nights of Bards, or _H_----'s sophistry. These ever hate the Poet's sacred line: These hate whate'er is glorious, or divine. From one Eternal Fountain _Beauty_ springs, The Energy of _Wit_, and _Truth of Things_, That Source is GOD: From _him_ they downwards tend, Flow round--yet in their native center end. Hence Rules, and Truth, and Order, Dunces strike; Of Arts, and Virtues, enemies alike. Some urge, that Poets of supreme renown Judge ill to scourge the Refuse of the Town. How'ere their Casuists hope to turn the scale, These men must smart, or scandal will prevail. By these, the weaker Sex still suffer most: And such are prais'd who rose at Honour's cost: The Learn'd they wound, the Virtuous, and the Fair, No fault they cancel, no reproach they spare: The random Shaft, impetuous in the dark, Sings on unseen, and quivers in the mark. 'Tis Justice, and not Anger, makes us write, Such sons of darkness must be drag'd to light: Long-suff'ring nature must not always hold; In virtue's cause 'tis gen'rous to be bold. To scourge the bad, th' unwary to reclaim, And make light flash upon the face of shame. Others have urg'd (but weigh it, and you'll find 'Tis light as feathers blown before the wind) That Poverty, the Curse of Providence, Attones for a dull Writer's want of Sense: Alas! his Dulness 'twas that made him poor; Not _vice versa_: We infer no more. Of Vice and Folly Poverty's the curse, Heav'n may be rigid, but the Man was worse, By good made bad, by favours more disgrac'd, So dire th' effects of ignorance misplac'd! Of idle Youth, unwatch'd by Parents eyes! Of Zeal for pence, and Dedication Lies! Of conscience model'd by a Great man's looks! And arguings in religion--from No books! No light the darkness of that mind invades, Where _Chaos_ rules, enshrin'd in genuine Shades; Where, in the Dungeon of the Soul inclos'd, True Dulness nods, reclining and repos'd. Sense, Grace, or Harmony, ne'er enter there, Nor human Faith, nor Piety sincere; A mid-night of the Spirits, Soul, and Head, (Suspended all) as Thought it self lay dead. Yet oft a mimic gleam of transient light Breaks thro' this gloom, and then they think they write; From Streets to Streets th' unnumber'd Pamphlets fly, Then tremble _Warner_, _Brown_, and _Billingsly_. [39] O thou most gentle Deity appear, Thou who still hear'st, and yet art prone to hear: Whose eye ne'er closes, and whose brains ne'er rest, (Thy own dear Dulness bawling at thy breast) Attend, O _Patience_, on thy arm reclin'd, And see Wit's endless enemies behind! And ye, _Our Muses_, with a _hundred tongues_, And Thou, O _Henley!_ blest with _brazen lungs_; Fanatic _Withers!_ fam'd for rhimes and sighs, And _Jacob Behmen!_ most obscurely wise; From darkness palpable, on dusky wings Ascend! and shroud him who your Off-spring sings. The first with _Egypt_'s darkness in his head Thinks Wit the devil, and curses books unread. For twice ten winters has he blunder'd on, Thro' heavy comments, yet ne'er lost nor won: Much may be done in twenty winters more, And let him then learn _English_ at threescore. No sacred _Maro_ glitters on his shelf, He wants the mighty _Stagyrite_ himself. See vast _Coimbria_'s comments[40] pil'd on high, In heaps _Soncinas_, [41] _Sotus_, _Sanchez_ lie: For idle hours, _Sa_'s[42] idler casuistry. Yet worse is he, who in one language read, Has one eternal jingling in his head, At night, at morn, in bed, and on the stairs . .. Talks flights to grooms, and makes lewd songs at pray'rs His Pride, a Pun: a Guinea his Reward, His Critick _G-ld-n_, _Jemmy M-re_ his Bard. What artful Hand the Wretch's Form can hit, Begot by _Satan_ on a _M----ly_'s Wit: In Parties furious at the great Man's nod, And hating none for nothing, but his God: Foe to the Learn'd, the Virtuous, and the Sage, A Pimp in Youth, an Atheist in old Age: Now plung'd in Bawdry and substantial Lyes, Now dab'ling in ungodly Theories; But so, as Swallows skim the pleasing flood, Grows giddy, but ne'er drinks to do him good: Alike resolv'd to flatter, or to cheat, Nay worship Onions, if they cry, _come eat_: A foe to Faith, in Revelation blind, And impious much, as Dunces are by kind. Next see the Master-piece of Flatt'ry rise, Th' anointed Son of Dulness and of Lies: Whose softest Whisper fills a Patron's Ear, Who smiles unpleas'd, and mourns without a tear. [43] Persuasive, tho' a woful Blockhead he: Truth dies before his shadowy Sophistry. For well he knows[44] the Vices of the Town, The Schemes of State, and Int'rest of the Gown; Immoral Afternoons, indecent Nights, Enflaming Wines, and second Appetites. But most the Theatres with dulness groan, Embrio's half-form'd, a Progeny unknown: Fine things for nothing, transports out of season, Effects un-caus'd, and murders without reason. Here Worlds run round, and Years are taught to stay, Each Scene an Elegy, each Act a Play. [45] Can the same Pow'r such various Passions move? Rejoice, or weep, 'tis ev'ry thing for _Love_. The self-same Cause produces Heav'n and Hell: Things contrary as Buckets in a Well; One up, one down, one empty, and one full: Half high, half low, half witty, and half dull. So on the borders of an ancient Wood, Or where some Poplar trembles o'er the Flood, _Arachnè_ travels on her filmy thread, Now high, now low, or on her feet or head. Yet these love Verse, as Croaking comforts Frogs, [46] And Mire and Ordure are the Heav'n of Hogs. As well might Nothing bind Immensity, Or passive Matter Immaterials see, As these shou'd write by reason, rhime, and rule, Or we turn Wit, whom nature doom'd a Fool. If _Dryden_ err'd, 'twas human frailty once, But blund'ring is the Essence of a Dunce. Some write for Glory, but the Phantom fades; Some write as Party, or as Spleen invades; A third, because his Father was well read, And Murd'rer-like, calls Blushes from the dead. Yet all for Morals and for Arts contend---- They want'em both, who never prais'd a Friend. More ill, than dull; For pure stupidity Was ne'er a crime in honest _Banks_, or me. See next a Croud in damasks, silks, and crapes, Equivocal in dress, half-belles, half-trapes: A length of night-gown rich _Phantasia_ trails, _Olinda_ wears one shift, and pares no nails: Some in _C----l_'s Cabinet each act display, When nature in a transport dies away: Some more refin'd transcribe their Opera-loves On Iv'ry Tablets, or in clean white Gloves: Some of Platonic, some of carnal Taste, Hoop'd, or un-hoop'd, ungarter'd, or unlac'd. Thus thick in Air the wing'd Creation play, When vernal _Phoebus_ rouls the Light away, A motley race, half Insects and half Fowls, Loose-tail'd and dirty, May-flies, Bats, and Owls. Gods, that this native nonsense was our worst! With Crimes more deep, O _Albion!_ art thou curst. No Judgment open Prophanation fears, For who dreads God, that can preserve his Ears? Oh save me Providence, from Vice refin'd, That worst of ills, a _Speculative Mind_![47] Not that I blame divine Philosophy, (Yet much we risque, for Pride and Learning lye. ) Heav'n's paths are found by Nature more than Art, The Schoolman's Head misleads the Layman's Heart. What unrepented Deeds has _Albion_ done? Yet spare us Heav'n! return, and spare thy own. Religion vanishes to _Types_, and _Shade_, By Wits, by fools, by her own Sons betray'd! Sure 'twas enough to give the Dev'l his due, Must such Men mingle with the _Priesthood_ too? So stood _Onias_ at th' Almighty's Throne, Profanely cinctur'd in a Harlot's Zone. Some _Rome_, and some the _Reformation_ blame; 'Tis hard to say from whence such License came; From fierce Enthusiasts, or Socinians sad? _C----ns_ the soft, or _Bourignon_ the mad? From wayward Nature, or lewd Poet's Rhimes? From praying, canting, or king-killing times? From all the dregs which _Gallia_ cou'd pour forth, (Those Sons of Schism) landed in the _North_?-- From whence it came, they and the D----l best know, Yet thus much, _Pope_, each Atheist is thy Foe. O Decency, forgive these friendly Rhimes, For raking in the dunghill of their crimes. To name each Monster wou'd make Printing dear, Or tire _Ned Ward_, who writes six Books a-year. Such vicious Nonsense, Impudence, and Spite, Wou'd make a Hermit, or a Father write. Tho' _Julian_ rul'd the World, and held no more Than deist _Gildon_ taught, or _Toland_ swore, Good _Greg'ry_[48] prov'd him execrably bad, And scourg'd his Soul, with drunken Reason mad. Much longer, _Pope_ restrain'd his awful hand, Wept o'er poor _Niniveh_, and her dull band, 'Till Fools like Weeds rose up, and choak'd the Land. Long, long he slumber'd e'er th' avenging hour; For dubious Mercy half o'er-rul'd his pow'r: 'Till the wing'd bolt, red-hissing from above Pierc'd Millions thro'----For such the Wrath of _Jove_. _Hell_, _Chaos_, _Darkness_, tremble at the sound, And prostrate Fools bestrow the vast Profound: No _Charon_ wafts 'em from the farther Shore, Silent they sleep, alas! to rise no more. Oh POPE, and Sacred _Criticism!_ forgive A Youth, who dares approach your Shrine, and live! Far has he wander'd in an unknown Night, No Guide to lead him, but his own dim Light. For him more fit, in vulgar Paths to tread, To shew th' Unlearned what they never read, Youth to improve, or rising Genius tend, To Science much, to Virtue more, a Friend. Footnotes: [26] Margites. [27] Aristophanes. [28] Ennius. [29] ----clarumq; facem præferre pudori, _Juv. S. _ 1. [30] _See_ Varro_'s Character in_ Cicero_'s Academics. _ [31] _Epode_ 6. [32] _Alludes to this Couplet in his second Satire_, Compositum jus fasq; animi, sanctiq; recessus, Mentis, & incoctum generoso pectus honesto. [33] _See his first Satire of_ Nero_'s Verses, _ &c. [34] Juvenal. [35] _The_ Cæsars _of the Emperor_ Julian. [36] Lucian_'s True History. _ [37] Roscommon, _Revers'd. _ [38] _Dr_. Garth _took care of Mr. _ Dryden_'s Funeral, whichsome Noblemen, who undertook it, had neglected. _ [39] Three Booksellers. [40] Coimbria_'s comments. _ Colleg. Conimbricense, _a Society in_ Spain, _which publish'd tedious explanations of_ Aristotle. [41] Soncinas, _a Schoolman. _ [42] Sa (Eman. De) _See_ Paschal_'s Mystery of Jesuitism. _ [43] Pompeius, tenui jugulos aperire susurro. Juv. S. 4. Flet, si lacrymas aspexit amici, Nec dolet. S. 3. [44] ------Noverat ille Luxuriam Imperii veteris, noctesq; Neronis Jam medias, aliamq; famem. Juv. S. 4. [45] Et chaque Acte en fa pièce & una pièce entière. _Boil. _ [46]_'When a poor Genius has labour'd much, he judges well not to expectthe Encomiums of the Publick: for these are not his due. Yet for fearhis drudgery shou'd have no recompense, God (of his goodness) hasgiven him a personal Satisfaction. To envy him in this wou'd beinjustice beyond barbarity itself: Thus the same Deity (who is equallyjust in all points) has given Frogs the comfort of Croaking, &c. '_ Le Pere Gerasse Sommes Theol. L. 2. [47] Plato _calls this an Ignorance of a dark and dangerous Nature, under appearance of the greatest Wisdom. _ [48] Gregory Nazianz: _a Father at the beginning of the Fourth Century. He writ two most bitter Satires (or Invectives) against the Emperor_Julian. A DISCOURSE OF SATIRES _Arraigning Persons by Name_. By Monsieur BOILEAU. When first I publish'd my Satires, I was thoroughly prepar'd for thatNoise and Tumult which the Impression of my Book has rais'd upon_Parnassus_. I knew that the Tribe of Poets, and above all, Bad Poets, are a People ready to take fire; and that Minds so covetous of Praisewou'd not easily digest any Raillery, how gentle soever. I may farthersay to my advantage, that I have look'd with the Eyes of a Stoickupon the Defamatory Libels that have been publish'd against me. Whatever Calumnies they have been willing to asperse me with, whateverfalse Reports they have spread of my Person, I can easily forgivethose little Revenges; and ascribe 'em to the Spleen of a provok'dAuthor, who finds himself attack'd in the most sensible part of aPoet, I mean, in his Writings. But I own I was a little surpriz'd at the whimsical Chagrin of certain_Readers_, who instead of diverting themselves with this Quarrel of_Parnassus_, of which they might have been indifferent Spectators, chose to make themselves Parties, and rather to take pet with Fools, than laugh with Men of Sense. 'Twas to comfort these People, that Icompos'd my ninth Satire; where I think I have shewn clearly enough, that without any prejudice either to one's Conscience or theGovernment, one may think bad Verses bad Verses, and have full rightto be tir'd with reading a silly Book. But since these Gentlemen havespoken of the liberty I have taken of _Naming_ them, as an Attemptunheard-of, and without Example, and since Examples can't well be putinto Rhyme; 'tis proper to say one word to inform 'em of a thing ofwhich they alone wou'd gladly be ignorant, and to make them know, thatin comparison of all my brother Satirists, I have been a Poet of greatModeration. To begin with _Lucilius_ the Inventer of Satire; what liberty, orrather what license did he not indulge in his Works? They were notonly Poets and Authors whom he attack'd, they were People of the firstQuality in _Rome_, and Consular Persons. However _Scipio_ and_Lælius_ did not judge that Poet (so determin'd a Laugher as he was)unworthy of their Friendship; and probably upon occasion no morerefus'd him, than they did _Terence_, their advice on his Writings:They never thought of espousing the part of _Lupus_ and _Metellus_, whom he ridicul'd in his Satires, nor imagin'd they gave up any partof their own Character in leaving to his Mercy all the Coxcombs of theNation. ----_num_ Lælius, _aut qui_ _Duxit ab oppressa meritum Carthagine nomen, _ _Ingenio offensi, aut læso doluere_ Metello _Famosisve_ Lupo _co-operto versibus?_ In a word, _Lucilius_ spar'd neither the Small nor the Great, andoften from the Nobles and the Patricians he stoop'd to the Lees of thePeople. _Primores populi arripuit populumq; tributim. _ It may be said that _Lucilius_ liv'd in a Republick where those sortof liberties might be permitted. Look then upon _Horace_, who liv'dunder an Emperor in the beginnings of a Monarchy (the most dangeroustime in the world to laugh) who is there whom he has not satiriz'd byname? _Fabius_ the great Talker, _Tigellius_ the Fantastick, _Nasidienus_ the Impertinent, _Nomentanus_ the Debauchee, and whoevercame at his Quill's end. They may answer that these are fictitiousNames: an excellent Answer indeed! As if those whom he attack'd wereno better known; as if we were ignorant that _Fabius_ was a _Roman_Knight who compos'd a Treatise of Law, that _Tigellius_ was a Musicianfavour'd by _Augustus_, that _Nasidienus Rufus_ was a famous Coxcombin _Rome_, that _Cassius Nomentanus_ was one of the most noted Rakesin _Italy_. Certainly those who talk in this manner, are notconversant with ancient Writers, nor extreamly instructed in theaffairs of the Court of _Agustus_. _Horace_ is not contented withcalling people by their _Names_; he seems so afraid they should bemistaken, that he gives us even their Sir-names; nay tells us theTrade they follow'd, or the Employments they exercis'd. Observe forExample how he speaks of _Aufidius Luscus_ Prætor of _Fundi_. Fundos Aufidio Lusco _Prætore libenter_ _Linquimus, insani ridentes præmia scribæ_ _Prætextam & latum clavum, _ &c. _We were glad to leave_ (says he) _the Town of_ Fundi _of which one_Aufidius Luscus _was Præator, but it was not without laughing heartilyat the folly of this man, who having been a Clerk, took upon him theAirs of a Senator and a Person of Quality. _ Could a Man be describ'dmore precisely? and would not the Circumstances only be sufficient tomake him known? Will they say that _Aufidius_ was then dead? _Horace_speaks of a Voyage made some time since. And how will my Censorsaccount for this other passage? _Turgidus_ Alpinus _jugulat dum_ Memnona, _dumque_ _Diffingit_ Rheni _luteum caput: hæc ego ludo_. _While that Bombast Poet_ Alpinus, _murders_ Memnon _in his Poem, andbemires himself in his description of the_ Rhine, _I divert my self inthese Satires. _ 'Tis plain from hence, that _Alpinus_ liv'd in thetime when _Horace_ writ these Satires: and suppose _Alpinus_ was animaginary Name, cou'd the Author of the Poem of _Memnon_ be taken foranother? _Horace_, they may say, liv'd under the reign of the mostPolite of all the Emperors; but do we live under a Reign less polite?and would they have a Prince who has so many Qualities in common with_Augustus_, either less disgusted than he at bad Books, or morerigorous towards those who blame them? Let us next examine _Persius_, who writ in the time of _Nero_: He notonly Raillies the Works of the Poets of his days, but attacks theVerses of the Emperor himself: For all the World knows, and all theCourt of _Nero_ well knew, that those four lines, _Torva Mimalloneis_, &c. which _Persius_ so bitterly ridicules in his first Satire, were_Nero_'s own Verses; and yet we have no account that _Nero_ (so much aTyrant as he was) caus'd _Persius_ to be punish'd; Enemy as he was toReason, and fond as every one knows of his own Works, he was gallantenough to take this Raillery on his Verses, and did not think that theEmperor on this occasion should assert the Character of the Poet. _Juvenal_, who flourish'd under _Trajan_, shews a little more respecttowards the great Men of his age; and was contented to sprinkle thegall of his Satire on those of the precedent reign. But as for the_Writers_, he never look'd for them further than his own time. At thevery beginning of his Work you find him in a very bad humor againstall his _cotemporary Scriblers_: ask _Juvenal_ what oblig'd him totake up his Pen? he was weary of hearing the _Theseide_ of _Codrus_, the _Orestes_ of this man, and the _Telephus_ of that, and all thePoets (as he elsewhere says) who recited their Verses in the Month of_August_, _----&_ Augusto _recitantes Mense Poetas. _ So true it is that the right of blaming bad Authors, is an ancientRight, pass'd into a Custom, among all the Satirists, and allow'd inall ages. * * * * * To come from the Ancients to the Moderns. _Regnier_ who is almost theonly Satirical Poet we have, has in truth been a little more discreetthan the rest; nevertheless he speaks very freely of _Gallet_ thefamous Gamester, who paid his Creditors with _Sept_ and _Quatorze_, and of the _Sieur de Provins_ who chang'd his long Cloak into aDoublet, and of _Cousin_ who run from his house for fear of repairingit, and of _Pierre de Puis_, and many others. What will my Critics say to this? When they are ever so littletouch'd, they wou'd drive from the Republick of Letters all theSatirical Poets, as so many disturbers of the Peace of the Nation. Butwhat will they say of _Virgil_; the wise, the discreet _Virgil_? whoin an Eclog where he has nothing to do with Satire, has made in oneLine two Poets for ever ridiculous. _Qui_ Bavium _non odit, amet tua carmina_ Moevi. Let them not say that _Bavius_ and _Moevius_ in this place are_suppos'd names_, since it would be too plainly to give the Lye to thelearned _Servius_, who positively declares the contrary. In a word, what would my Censors do with _Catullus_, _Martial_, and all the Poetsof Antiquity, who have made no more scruple in this matter than_Virgil_? What would they think of _Voiture_ who had the conscience tolaugh at the expence of the renowned _Neuf Germain_, tho' equally tobe admir'd for the Antiquity of his Beard, and the Novelty of hisPoetry? Will they banish from _Parnassus_, him, and all the ancientPoets, to establish the reputation of Fools and Coxcombs? If so, Ishall be very easy in my banishment, and have the pleasure of verygood company. Without Raillery, wou'd these Gentlemen really be morewise than _Scipio_ and _Lelius_, more delicate than _Augustus_, or morecruel than _Nero_? But they who are so angry at the Critics, how comesit that they are so merciful to bad Authors? I see what it is thattroubles them; they have no mind to be undeceiv'd. It vexes them tohave seriously admir'd those Works, which my Satires have expos'd touniversal Contempt; and to see themselves condemn'd, to forget intheir old Age, those Verses which they got by heart in their Youth, asMaster-pieces of Wit. Truly I am sorry for 'em, but where's the help?Can they expect, that to comply with their particular Taste, weshould renounce common Sense? applaud indifferently all theImpertinencies which a Coxcomb shall think fit to throw upon paper?and instead of condemning bad Poets (as they did in certain Countries)to lick out their Writings with their own Tongue, shall Books becomefor the future inviolable Sanctuaries, where all Blockheads shall bemade free Denizens, not to be touch'd without Profanation? I could saymuch more on this subject; but as I have already treated it in myninth Satire, I shall thither refer the Reader. _FINIS. _ _BOOKS printed for_ LAWTON GILLIVER _at_ HOMER'S HEAD, _against St. _ DUNSTAN'S _Church, _ Fleetstreet. Two Epistles to Mr. _POPE_, concerning the Authors of the Age. By theAuthor of the Universal Passion. _Imperium Pelagi_: A Naval Lyrick; Written in Imitation of _Pindar_'sSpirit. Occasion'd by His Majesty's Return, _Sept. 1729_, and thesucceeding Peace. By the same Author. Just publish'd, The SECOND EDITION of the DUNCIAD Variorum, 8º withsome additional NOTES and EPIGRAMS. The ART of POLITICKS, in Imitation of _Horace_'s Art of Poetry, with acurious Frontispiece. _Risum Teneatis Amici. _ M. HIERONYMI VIDÆ OPERA OMNIA POETICA, quibus adjicitur ejusdem dedignitate Rei-publicæ recensione. Dialogus. R. Russel, A. M. Two Toms, 12º. Quintus Horatius Flaccus. Compedibus Metricorum numerorum solutus: Inusum Tyronum. Opera & Studio N. Bailey. The Adventures of Telemachus in twenty-four Books. Done into Englishfrom the last Paris Edition, by Mr. Littlebury and Mr. Boyer: Adorn'dwith twenty-four Plates, and a Map of Telemachus's Travels; allcuriously engraven by very good Hands. The Twelfth Edition, 2 Vols. 8_vo. _ A few remaining Copies of Dr. Hickes's Thesaurus Ling. Vett. Septentrionalium. Three Toms, Folio. Printed at Oxford. ARRIAN'S History of ALEXANDER'S Expedition and Battles: To which isadded, A Criticism on Q. Curtius, as a fabulous Historian. By M. LeClerc, in two Vols, 8_vo. _ The History of the COUNCIL of CONSTANCE. Written in French by JamesLenfant. Done into English from the last Edition, printed at Amsterdam1727. Adorned with twenty Copper Plates, curiously Engraven by thebest Hands. Two Vols, 4to. The NURSE'S GUIDE: Or, The right Method of bringing up Young Children:To which is added, An Essay on preserving Health, and prolonging Life. With a Treatise of the Gout, and Receipts for the Cure of thatDistemper. By an Eminent Physician, 8_vo. _ POMONA: Or, The Fruit-Garden illustrated. Containing sure Methods forimproving all the best Kinds of Fruits now extant in England. By BattyLangley, of Twickenham. Thirty-nine Sermons on several Occasions. By the late Reverend Mr. John Cooke, A. M. One of the Six Preachers of the Cathedral Church ofCanterbury, in two Vols. 8_vo. _ _Where may be had the_ Spectators, Tatlers, Guardians, Freeholder, Lover, _and_ Reader, _&c. Books in the_ LAW, _and other_SCIENCES; _with great Variety of single_ PLAYS. THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. LOS ANGELES PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT 1948-1949 16. Henry Nevil Payne, _The Fatal Jealousie_ (1673). 18. Anonymous, "Of Genius, " in _The Occasional Paper_, Vol. III, No. 10 (1719), and Aaron Hill, Preface to _The Creation_ (1720). 1949-1950 19. Susanna Centlivre, _The Busie Body_ (1709). 20. Lewis Theobald, _Preface to the Works of Shakespeare_ (1734). 22. Samuel Johnson, _The Vanity of Human Wishes_ (1749), and two_Rambler_ papers (1750). 23. John Dryden, _His Majesties Declaration Defended_ (1681). 1950-1951 26. Charles Macklin, _The Man of the World_ (1792). 1951-1952 31. Thomas Gray, _An Elegy Wrote in a Country Churchyard_ (1751), and_The Eton College Manuscript_. 1952-1953 41. Bernard Mandeville, _A Letter to Dion_ (1732). 1962-1963 98. _Select Hymns Taken Out of Mr. Herbert's Temple_ (1697). 1963-1964 104. Thomas D'Urfey, _Wonders in the Sun_; or, _The Kingdom of theBirds_ (1706). 1964-1965 110. John Tutchin, _Selected Poems_ (1685-1700). 111. Anonymous, _Political Justice_ (1736). 112. Robert Dodsley, _An Essay on Fable_ (1764). 113. T. R. , _An Essay Concerning Critical and Curious Learning_(1698). 114. _Two Poems Against Pope_: Leonard Welsted, _One Epistle to Mr. A. Pope_ (1730), and Anonymous, _The Blatant Beast_ (1742). 1965-1966 115. Daniel Defoe and others, _Accounts of the Apparition of Mrs. Veal_. 116. Charles Macklin, _The Covent Garden Theatre_ (1752). 117. Sir George L'Estrange, _Citt and Bumpkin_ (1680). 118. Henry More, _Enthusiasmus Triumphatus_ (1662). 119. Thomas Traherne, _Meditations on the Six Days of the Creation_(1717). 120. Bernard Mandeville, _Aesop Dress'd or a Collection of Fables_(1704). 1966-1967 122. James MacPherson, _Fragments of Ancient Poetry_ (1760). 123. Edmond Malone, _Cursory Observations on the Poems Attributed toMr. Thomas Rowley_ (1782). 124. Anonymous, _The Female Wits_ (1704). 125. Anonymous, _The Scribleriad_ (1742). Lord Hervey, _The DifferenceBetween Verbal and Practical Virtue_ (1742). 126. _Le Lutrin: an Heroick Poem, Written Originally in French byMonsieur Boileau: Made English by N. O. _ (1682). Subsequent publications may be checked in the annual prospectus. Publications #1 through 90, of the first fifteen years of AugustanReprint Society, are available in bound units at $14. 00 per unit ofsix from: KRAUS REPRINT CORPORATION 16 East 46th Street New York, N. Y. 10017 Publications in print are available at the regular membership rate of$5. 00 yearly. Prices of single issues may be obtained upon request. William Andrews Clark Memorial Library: University of California, LosAngeles THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY _General Editors_: George Robert Guffey, University of California, LosAngeles; Maximillian E. Novak, University of California, Los Angeles;Robert Vosper, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. _Corresponding Secretary_: Mrs. Edna C. Davis, William Andrews ClarkMemorial Library. The Society's purpose is to publish reprints (usually facsimilereproductions) of rare seventeenth and eighteenth century works. Allincome of the Society is devoted to defraying costs of publication andmailing. Correspondence concerning memberships in the United States and Canadashould be addressed to the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 2520 Cimarron St. , Los Angeles, California. Correspondence concerningeditorial matters may be addressed to any of the general editors atthe same address. Manuscripts of introductions should conform to therecommendations of the MLA _Style Sheet_. The membership fee is $5. 00a year in the United States and Canada and 30--in Great Britain andEurope. British and European prospective members should address B. H. Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England. Copies of back issues inprint may be obtained from the Corresponding Secretary. PUBLICATIONS FOR 1967-1968 127-128. Charles Macklin, _A Will and No Will, or a Bone for theLawyers_ (1746). _The New Play Criticiz'd, or The Plague of Envy_(1747). Introduction by Jean B. Kern. 129. Lawrence Echard, Prefaces to _Terence's Comedies_ (1694) and_Plautus's Comedies_ (1694). Introduction by John Barnard. 130. Henry More, _Democritus Platonissans_ (1646). Introduction by P. G. Stanwood. 131. John Evelyn, _The History of . .. Sabatai Sevi . .. The Suppos'dMessiah of the Jews_ (1669). Introduction by Christopher W. Grose. 132. Walter Harte, _An Essay on Satire, Particularly on the Dunciad_(1730). Introduction by Thomas B. Gilmore. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Next in the series of special publications by the Society will be avolume including Elkanah Settle's _The Empress of Morocco_ (1673) withfive plates; _Notes and Observations on the Empress of Morocco_ (1674)by John Dryden, John Crowne and Thomas Shadwell; _Notes andObservations on the Empress of Morocco Revised_ (1674) by ElkanahSettle; and _The Empress of Morocco. A Farce_ (1674) by Thomas Duffet, with an Introduction by Maximillian E. Novak. Already published inthis series are reprints of John Ogilby's _The Fables of AesopParaphras'd in Verse_ (1668), with an Introduction by Earl Miner andJohn Gay's _Fables_ (1727, 1738), with an Introduction by Vinton A. Dearing. Publication is assisted by funds from the Chancellor of theUniversity of California, Los Angeles. Price to members of theSociety, $2. 50 for the first copy and $3. 25 for additional copies. Price to non-members, $4. 00. THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY William Andrews Clark Memorial Library 2520 CIMARRON STREET AT WEST ADAMS BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90018 Make check or money order payable to THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OFCALIFORNIA. * * * * * Transcriber's note: The elongated "s" has been modernized. Footnote marker placement has been made consistent. Misprint "oe r" was corrected to "oe'r" (page 31). Extra line spacing is intentional to represent both the end of a quote and the beginning of a new paragraph as presented in the original.