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Page 25
[Transcriber's Note:
See end of _Essay_ for translation information.]
The Intention of _Horace_ in this Piece, is to expose an _impertinent_
Fellow, and to give a ludicrous Detail of his own _Embarrassment_;
Your Pleasure arises from the View which he gives you of his own
Mortification, whereby he lays himself fairly open to your _Raillery_;
This is the more poignant, and quick, from the real Distress which you
see he endur'd, in this odd Attack; At the same Time the particular Turn
of the Fellow, who chose in this Manner to pin himself upon another, is
a very odd Species of impertinent _Humour_.--This Piece, as it stands,
irresistibly forces your Mirth, and shakes you with Laughter; But to
a Person of Discernment, it is chiefly at _Horace_'s Expence; Who in
receiving and enduring such insolent Treatment, appears in a Light too
low and ridiculous, though he has thought fit himself to exhibit the
Scene again for the Diversion of the Public;
The
Misere, cupis, ---- abire,
Jamdudum video, sed nil agis, usque tenebo,
Persequar;--
was an absolute Insult; And very unfit to be related by the Person
who suffer'd it, as a Matter of Merriment;--Besides this Tameness
of _Horace_, the Impudence of the Fellow is excessively nauseous and
disgusting at the Bottom, though the whole carries a Froth of _Raillery_
and _Humour_ upon the Surface.
The Truth is, that this Piece, as it stands, would have properly
proceeded from another Person, who had intended to expose the
Impertinence and Impudence of the Fellow, and freely to _rally_ poor
_Horace_, with some Mixture of _Ridicule_, upon his unfortunate
Embarrassment; upon this Basis it will appear with Propriety; Without
which all Compositions of _Wit_, or _Humour_, or _Taste_, tho' at
first they may pleasurably strike the Fancy or Sight, are at last
disgusting to the Judgment.
Having here occasionally offer'd some Remarks upon this Composition,
as it now stands, it may be proper to point out the Manner in which
the _Humour_ and _Raillery_ of such an Embarrassment, might have been
carried to the highest Pitch; And the Description of it have been
given by _Horace_ himself, without any Diminution of his own Gentility
or Importance;--Imagine then that he had been join'd in his Walk by a
weak, ignorant Person, of Good-nature, and the utmost Civility; one
who fancy'd himself possessed of the greatest Talents, and fully
persuaded that he gave all he convers'd with a particular Pleasure;--
Upon such an Attack, no Resentment or Anger could have been decently
shewn by _Horace_, As the Person thus pestering him, was all the while
intending the highest Compliment; And must therefore be received, and
attended to, with perfect Complaisance; The _Humour_ of this Person
would have been very entertaining, in the strange Conceit which he
held of his own Abilities, and of the paticular Pleasure he was
granting to _Horace_, in condescending to give him so much of his
Company; In these Sentiments he should regard all _Horace_'s Excuses,
Endeavours, and Struggles to be gone, as Expressions of his Sense of
the Honour done him; which should be an Argument with this Person for
obstinately persisting to honour him still further; All the while he
must be supported by some _real Importance_ belonging to him, attended
with _good Breeding_, and strengthened by such occasional Instances
of _Sense_, as may secure him from being trampled upon, or becoming
absolutely contemptible; In such an Adventure the Mortification, and
Distress of _Horace_, would be excessively whimsical and severe;
especially as he would be depriv'd of all Succour and Relief; being in
Decency oblig'd, not only to suppress all Anger or Uneasiness, but,
what is exquisitely quick, to receive this whole Treatment with the
utmost Complacency; An _Embarrassment_ of this sort, finely described,
would have yielded the greatest Pleasure to the Reader, and carried
the _Raillery_ upon _Horace_, without hurting or degrading him, to the
highest Degree of _Poignancy_; And from hence may be conceiv'd, what
delightful Entertainments are capable of being drawn from _Humour_ and
_Raillery_.
It is also easy to apprehend, that the several Subjects of _Wit_,
_Humour_, _Raillery_, _Satire_, and _Ridicule_, appear not only
_singly_ upon many Occasions, or _two_ of them combined together,
but are also frequently united in other Combinations, which are
more _complicate_; An Instance of the Union together of _Humour_,
_Raillery_, and _Ridicule_, I remember to have read somewhere
in _Voiture_'s Letters; He is in _Spain_, and upon the Point of
proceeding from thence to some other Place in an _English_ Vessel;
After he has written this Account of himself to a Lady at _Paris_,
he proceeds in his Letter to this Purpose;
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