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;
"You may perhaps apprehend, that I shall be in some Danger this Voyage, of falling into the Hands of a Barbary Corsair; But to relieve you from all such Fears, I shall beg Leave to tell you, what my honest Captain has inform'd me himself, for my own Satisfaction; He suspected, it seems, that I might have some Uneasiness upon this Head; and has therefore privately assured me, that I have no need to be afraid of being taken with him; for that whenever it is likely to come to this, he will infallibly blow up the Ship with his own Hands;--After this, I presume, you will be perfectly easy, that I am in no Danger of going to Sallee;"
This is exquisitely rich; The brave and odd Fancy of the English Captain, in finding out for himself, and privately communicating to Voiture, this Method of Security from Slavery, abounds with the highest Humour; At the same time the honest Tar, as a Projecter, is excessively open to Ridicule, for his Scheme to blow them all up, in order to prevent their being taken Prisoners; There is besides these, a very full Raillery, which Voiture here opens upon himself; For as this Adventure, which he is going to be engaged in, has been attended, as yet, with no Mischief; nor is certain to be so, the whole is to be consider'd, at present, as only a slight Scrape; especially as he exhibits it in this manner himself, and invites you to make it the Object of your Pleasure, and Raillery;--It may also be observ'd, that the Humour in this Subject, which flows from the Captain, is adorn'd with a very peculiar, and pleasing Propriety; As it is not barely a Whim, or the Result of an odd Sourness or queer Pride, but the Effect of his Courage, and of that Freedom from all Terror at Death, which is perfectly amiable in his Character.
There are other Combinations of Wit, Humour, Raillery, Satire, and Ridicule, where four of them, or all five, are united in one Subject;--Like various Notes in Music, sounding together, and jointly composing one exquisite Piece of Harmony;-- Or like different Rays of Light, shining together in one Rainbow: It is pleasant to divide these Combinations, and to view as with a Prism, the different Rays united in each; of which Humour, like the Red, is eminent for its superior Force and Excellence;-- When the Judgment is thus capable of parting, and easily assigning the several Quantities, and Proportions of each, it heightens our Pleasure, and gives us an absolute Command over the Subject; But they are often so intimately mix'd, and blended together, that it is difficult to separate them clearly, tho' they are all certainly felt in the same Piece;--Like the different Flavours of rich Fruits, which are inseparably mix'd, yet all perfectly tasted, in one Pine-Apple.
Raillery, and Satire, are extremely different;
1. Raillery, is a genteel poignant Attack of slight Foibles and Oddities; Satire a witty and severe Attack of mischievous Habits and Vices.
2. The Intention of Raillery, is to procure your Pleasure, by exposing the little Embarrassment of a Person; But the Intention of Satire, is to raise your Detestation, by exposing the real Deformity of his Vices.
3. If in Raillery the Sting be given too deep and severe, it will sink into Malice and Rudeness, And your Pleasure will not be justifiable; But Satire, the more deep and severe the Sting of it is, will be the more excellent; Its Intention being entirely to root out and destroy the Vice.