SECTION XI. OF THE EPISTLE TO DR. ARBUTHNOT. 1. SHUT, shut the door, good John, (fatigu'd, I said;} Tie up the knocker; say I'm sick, I'm dead! The dog-star rages! nay, 'tis past a doubt, All Bedlam or Parnassus is let out: Fire in each eye, and papers in each hand, This abrupt exordium is animated and dramatic. Our poet, wearied with the impertinence and slander of a multitude of mean scribblers that attacked him, suddenly breaks out with this spirited complaint of the ill usage he had sustained. This piece was published † in the year * Ver. 1. † With this motto, since omitted: Neque sermonibus Vulgi dederis te, nec in premiis humanis spem posueris rerum tuarum: suis te oportet illecebris ipsa Virtus trahat ad verum decus. Quid de te alii loquantur, ipsi videant sed loquentur tamen. TULLY. year 1734, in the form of an epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot; it is now given as a Dialogue, in which a very small share indeed is allotted to his friend. Arbuthnot was a man of consummate probity,* integrity, and sweetness of temper: he had infinitely more learning than POPE or SWIFT, and as much wit and humour as either of them. He was an excellent mathematician and physician, of which his letter on the usefulness of mathematical learning, and his treatise on air and aliment, are sufficient proofs. His tables of ancient coins, weights, and measures,† are the work of a man intimately acquainted with ancient history and literature, and are enlivened with many curious and interesting particulars of the manners and ways of living of the ancients. The History of John Bull, the best parts of the Memoirs of Scriblerus, the Art of Political Lying, VOL. II. P the * Swift said, " he was a man that could do every thing but walk." His chearfulness was remarkable: "As for your humble servant, with a great stone in his kidneys, and a family of men and women to provide for, he is as chearful as ever in public affairs." Letters, vol. xx. p. 206. "Oh, (says Swift) if the world had but a dozen of Arbuth ́nots in it, I would burn my Travels!" Letters, vol. ix. p. 56. ́ the Freeholders' Catechism, It cannot rain but it pours, &c. abound in strokes of the most exquisite humour. It is known that he gave numberless hints to Swift, and Pope, and Gay, of some of the most striking parts of their works. He was so neglectful of his writings, that his children tore his manuscripts, and made paperkites of them. Few letters in the English language are so interesting, and contain such marks of Christian resignation* and calmness of mind, as one that he wrote to Swift a little before his death, and is inserted in the 3d vol. of Letters, page 157. He frequently, and ably, and warmly, in many conversations, defended the cause of revelation against the attacks of BOLINGBROKE and CHESTERFIELD. The * "I make it my last request (says Arbuthnot in his last letter to POPE) that you will continue that noble disdain and abhorrence of vice, which you seem naturally endued with; but still with a due regard to your own safety; and study more to reform than chastise; though the one cannot be effected without the other." Letters, vol. viii. p. 290. The words are remarkable, and cannot fail of raising many reflections in the mind of the reader. POPE, in his answer, says, " To reform, and not to chastise, is impossible; and the best precepts, as well. as the best laws, would prove of small use, if there were no examples to enforce them." This is not a sufficient and solid defence of personal satire. The strokes of satire in many parts of this epistle, have such an extraordinary energy and poignancy, that our author's want of temper has been much censured; and I know not whether it will be a sufficient justification to say, that these malevolent scribblers, however impotent and insignificant, attacked his person, morals, and family. If Boileau ridicules and rallies vile writers, with more seeming pleasantry and good-humour, yet we ought to recollect, that Boileau was the aggressor, and had received no previous abuse, when he fell upon Cotin de Pure, Quinault, St. Amand Colletet, Chapelain, and Theophyle. It was on this account that the Duke de Montausier, à man of rigid virtue, so much condemned Boileau, that it was with great difficulty he was brought to read his works, and be reconciled to him. The authors that POPE proscribed, were, in truth, so mean and contemptible, that Swift said, "Give me a shilling, and I will insure you that posterity shall never know you had a single enemy, excepting those whose memory you have preserved." Laissez mourir un fat dans son obscurité. P 2 Le Le Jonas inconnu seche dans la poussiere. Dont les noms en cent lieux, placez comme en leurs niches, Vont de vos vers malins remplir les hemistiches. BOILEAU, Satire ix. v. 89. This is exquisitely pleasant; and expressed with that purity and force, both of thought and diction, that happy Horatian mixture of jest and earnest, that contribute to place Despreaur at the head of modern classics.† I think it must be confessed, that he has caught the manner of Horace more successfully than POPE. It is observable that Boileau, when he first began to write, * Quinaut did not deserve to be so severely satirized. See his Atys, Armide, and Alceste. + His generosity was equal to his genius. PATRU was reduced to great extremities, and compelled to sell his very va luable library. He not only gave PATRU a larger sum for his books than he could get of any body else, but added to the conditions of the sale, that he should continue to use his library as long as he lived. |