An Essay on Satire, Particularly on the Dunciad Part 4

[46]_'When a poor Genius has labour'd much, he judges well not to expect the Encomiums of the Publick: for these are not his due. Yet for fear his drudgery shou'd have no recompense, G.o.d (of his goodness) has given him a personal Satisfaction. To envy him in this wou'd be injustice beyond barbarity itself: Thus the same Deity (who is equally just in all points) has given Frogs the comfort of Croaking, &c.'_

Le Pere Gera.s.se Sommes Theol. L. 2.

[47] Plato _calls this an Ignorance of a dark and dangerous Nature, under appearance of the greatest Wisdom._

[48] Gregory n.a.z.ianz: _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 that Noise and Tumult which the Impression of my Book has rais'd upon _Parna.s.sus_. 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 Praise wou'd not easily digest any Raillery, how gentle soever. I may farther say to my advantage, that I have look'd with the Eyes of a Stoick upon the Defamatory Libels that have been publish'd against me.

Whatever Calumnies they have been willing to asperse me with, whatever false Reports they have spread of my Person, I can easily forgive those little Revenges; and ascribe 'em to the Spleen of a provok'd Author, who finds himself attack'd in the most sensible part of a Poet, 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 _Parna.s.sus_, 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 I compos'd my ninth Satire; where I think I have shewn clearly enough, that without any prejudice either to one's Conscience or the Government, one may think bad Verses bad Verses, and have full right to be tir'd with reading a silly Book. But since these Gentlemen have spoken of the liberty I have taken of _Naming_ them, as an Attempt unheard-of, and without Example, and since Examples can't well be put into Rhyme; 'tis proper to say one word to inform 'em of a thing of which they alone wou'd gladly be ignorant, and to make them know, that in comparison of all my brother Satirists, I have been a Poet of great Moderation.

To begin with _Lucilius_ the Inventer of Satire; what liberty, or rather what license did he not indulge in his Works? They were not only Poets and Authors whom he attack'd, they were People of the first Quality in _Rome_, and Consular Persons. However _Scipio_ and _Laelius_ did not judge that Poet (so determin'd a Laugher as he was) unworthy of their Friends.h.i.+p; and probably upon occasion no more refus'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 part of their own Character in leaving to his Mercy all the c.o.xcombs of the Nation.

----_num_ Laelius, _aut qui_ _Duxit ab oppressa meritum Carthagine nomen,_ _Ingenio offensi, aut laeso doluere_ Metello _Famosisve_ Lupo _co-operto versibus?_

In a word, _Lucilius_ spar'd neither the Small nor the Great, and often from the n.o.bles and the Patricians he stoop'd to the Lees of the People.

_Primores populi arripuit populumq; tributim._

It may be said that _Lucilius_ liv'd in a Republick where those sort of liberties might be permitted. Look then upon _Horace_, who liv'd under an Emperor in the beginnings of a Monarchy (the most dangerous time in the world to laugh) who is there whom he has not satiriz'd by name? _Fabius_ the great Talker, _Tigellius_ the Fantastick, _Nasidienus_ the Impertinent, _Nomenta.n.u.s_ the Debauchee, and whoever came at his Quill's end. They may answer that these are fict.i.tious Names: an excellent Answer indeed! As if those whom he attack'd were no better known; as if we were ignorant that _Fabius_ was a _Roman_ Knight who compos'd a Treatise of Law, that _Tigellius_ was a Musician favour'd by _Augustus_, that _Nasidienus Rufus_ was a famous c.o.xcomb in _Rome_, that _Ca.s.sius Nomenta.n.u.s_ was one of the most noted Rakes in _Italy_. Certainly those who talk in this manner, are not conversant with ancient Writers, nor extreamly instructed in the affairs of the Court of _Agustus_. _Horace_ is not contented with calling people by their _Names_; he seems so afraid they should be mistaken, that he gives us even their Sir-names; nay tells us the Trade they follow'd, or the Employments they exercis'd. Observe for Example how he speaks of _Aufidius Luscus_ Praetor of _Fundi_.

Fundos Aufidio Lusco _Praetore libenter_ _Linquimus, insani ridentes praemia scribae_ _Praetextam & latum clavum,_ &c.

_We were glad to leave_ (says he) _the Town of_ Fundi _of which one_ Aufidius Luscus _was Praeator, but it was not without laughing heartily at the folly of this man, who having been a Clerk, took upon him the Airs of a Senator and a Person of Quality._ Could a Man be describ'd more precisely? and would not the Circ.u.mstances only be sufficient to make him known? Will they say that _Aufidius_ was then dead? _Horace_ speaks of a Voyage made some time since. And how will my Censors account for this other pa.s.sage?

_Turgidus_ Alpinus _jugulat dum_ Memnona, _dumque_ _Diffingit_ Rheni _luteum caput: haec ego ludo_.

_While that Bombast Poet_ Alpinus, _murders_ Memnon _in his Poem, and bemires himself in his description of the_ Rhine, _I divert my self in these Satires._ 'Tis plain from hence, that _Alpinus_ liv'd in the time when _Horace_ writ these Satires: and suppose _Alpinus_ was an imaginary Name, cou'd the Author of the Poem of _Memnon_ be taken for another? _Horace_, they may say, liv'd under the reign of the most Polite 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 more rigorous towards those who blame them?

Let us next examine _Persius_, who writ in the time of _Nero_: He not only Raillies the Works of the Poets of his days, but attacks the Verses of the Emperor himself: For all the World knows, and all the Court 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 a Tyrant as he was) caus'd _Persius_ to be punish'd; Enemy as he was to Reason, and fond as every one knows of his own Works, he was gallant enough to take this Raillery on his Verses, and did not think that the Emperor on this occasion should a.s.sert the Character of the Poet.

_Juvenal_, who flourish'd under _Trajan_, shews a little more respect towards the great Men of his age; and was contented to sprinkle the gall 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 the very beginning of his Work you find him in a very bad humor against all his _cotemporary Scriblers_: ask _Juvenal_ what oblig'd him to take up his Pen? he was weary of hearing the _Theseide_ of _Codrus_, the _Orestes_ of this man, and the _Telephus_ of that, and all the Poets (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 ancient Right, pa.s.s'd into a Custom, among all the Satirists, and allow'd in all ages.

To come from the Ancients to the Moderns. _Regnier_ who is almost the only Satirical Poet we have, has in truth been a little more discreet than the rest; nevertheless he speaks very freely of _Gallet_ the famous Gamester, who paid his Creditors with _Sept_ and _Quatorze_, and of the _Sieur de Provins_ who chang'd his long Cloak into a Doublet, and of _Cousin_ who run from his house for fear of repairing it, and of _Pierre de Puis_, and many others.

What will my Critics say to this? When they are ever so little touch'd, they wou'd drive from the Republick of Letters all the Satirical Poets, as so many disturbers of the Peace of the Nation. But what will they say of _Virgil_; the wise, the discreet _Virgil_? who in an Eclog where he has nothing to do with Satire, has made in one Line 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 the learned _Servius_, who positively declares the contrary. In a word, what would my Censors do with _Catullus_, _Martial_, and all the Poets of Antiquity, who have made no more scruple in this matter than _Virgil_? What would they think of _Voiture_ who had the conscience to laugh at the expence of the renowned _Neuf Germain_, tho' equally to be admir'd for the Antiquity of his Beard, and the Novelty of his Poetry? Will they banish from _Parna.s.sus_, him, and all the ancient Poets, to establish the reputation of Fools and c.o.xcombs? If so, I shall be very easy in my banishment, and have the pleasure of very good company. Without Raillery, wou'd these Gentlemen really be more wise than _Scipio_ and _Lelius_, more delicate than _Augustus_, or more cruel than _Nero_? But they who are so angry at the Critics, how comes it that they are so merciful to bad Authors? I see what it is that troubles them; they have no mind to be undeceiv'd. It vexes them to have seriously admir'd those Works, which my Satires have expos'd to universal Contempt; and to see themselves condemn'd, to forget in their old Age, those Verses which they got by heart in their Youth, as Master-pieces of Wit. Truly I am sorry for 'em, but where's the help?

Can they expect, that to comply with their particular Taste, we should renounce common Sense? applaud indifferently all the Impertinencies which a c.o.xcomb 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 become for the future inviolable Sanctuaries, where all Blockheads shall be made free Denizens, not to be touch'd without Profanation? I could say much more on this subject; but as I have already treated it in my ninth 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 the Author of the Universal Pa.s.sion.

_Imperium Pelagi_: A Naval Lyrick; Written in Imitation of _Pindar_'s Spirit. Occasion'd by His Majesty's Return, _Sept. 1729_, and the succeeding Peace. By the same Author.

Just publish'd, The SECOND EDITION of the DUNCIAD Variorum, 8 with some additional NOTES and EPIGRAMS.

The ART of POLITICKS, in Imitation of _Horace_'s Art of Poetry, with a curious Frontispiece. _Risum Teneatis Amici._

M. HIERONYMI VIDae OPERA OMNIA POETICA, quibus adjicitur ejusdem de dignitate Rei-publicae recensione. Dialogus. R. Russel, A. M. Two Toms, 12.

Quintus Horatius Flaccus. Compedibus Metricorum numerorum solutus: In usum Tyronum. Opera & Studio N. Bailey.

The Adventures of Telemachus in twenty-four Books. Done into English from the last Paris Edition, by Mr. Littlebury and Mr. Boyer: Adorn'd with twenty-four Plates, and a Map of Telemachus's Travels; all curiously 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 is added, A Criticism on Q. Curtius, as a fabulous Historian. By M. le Clerc, in two Vols, 8_vo._