I cannot close this Essay without taking Notice of the Perverseness of Men, who pretend to Wit and Judgement, towards one another: It appears mostly in Pretenders, and is very well markt by Boileau, in these two Verses translated by Mr. Dennis, and equal to the Original:
Thus one Fool lolls his Tongue out at another,
And shakes his empty Noddle at his Brother.
It was not so when Judgement and Wit were something more than Pretence only, when they were in the Heighth of Excellence, under the Patronage of Augustus. My Lord Roscommon, in his Preface to Horace's Art of Poetry writes thus: I am below the Envy of the Criticks, but if I durst, I would beg them to remember, that Horace ow'd his Favour and his Fortune to the Character given of him by Virgil and Varius; that Fundanius and Pollio are still valued by what Horace say of them, and that in that Golden Age there was a good Understanding among the Ingenious; and those who were the most esteem'd were the best natur'd. Dryden has made the same Observation: Certainly, the Poets of Ovid's Age enjoy'd much Happiness in the Conversation and Friendship of one another. The antient Criticks, says the Spectator, are full of the Praises of their Contemporaries. They discover Beauties which escap'd the Observation of the Vulgar, and very often find out Reasons for palliating and excusing such Slips and Oversights, as were committed in the Writings of eminent Authors. Mr. Addison has imitated them in his Remarks upon Milton's Paradice Lost; but it must be allowed that the Task was made very easy, and the Beauties shine so brightly, that there's no taking one's Eye off of them. It has also been wish'd, that the two or three Slips in Expression which he quotes out of Milton had been excused, as they might have been by observing, that if there's a Pun in the Paradice Lost, 'tis the Devil that makes it.
One of the surest Signs, that the Wits of the past and present Age, English and French, are not of the Size of those of the Age of Augustus, is their Jealousies and Broils. The Spectator has this Remark, No 409; I cannot think, that Corneille, Racine, Moliere, Boileau, La Fontaine, Bruyere, Bossu, or the Dacier's, would have written so well as they did, had they not been Friends and Contemporaries. 'Tis said very much in Favour of good Nature, and therefore is very agreeable: But I Question, whether Emulation, and sometimes even Resentment, may not produce very good Effects in the Works of the Ingenious. Facit Indignatio versus. Godeau, Vaugelas, Malherbe, were Men of great Merit; and so were also, Maynard, La Mothe Le Vayer, and Costar; yet they wrote against one another with some Acrimony.
'Tis Envy and Spleen, that produce a Set of Writers in England, call'd Answerers, whose Modesty may be conceived by some of their Titles, The best Answer that ever was. Part 1st. The best Answer that ever was. Part the 2d. A better Answer than the best Answer. The Unanswerable Answer, by Lesley and others. You can't publish a Pamphlet or Essay, but it is immediately snapt at to be answer'd: Nay, Dr. Halley's Calculation of the Eclipse in a Half-sheet had two or three political Answers.
The Itch of Answering is so great, that some Authors have taken it in Dudgeon, not to have been thought worthy of an Answer; and to prevent such Disgrace a second Time, have written on Purpose that they might answer themselves. I have heard, that the learned and ingenious Robinson Crusoe is in the Number of these.
How can it be expected, that Men of Passions, worldly Minds, and Lay-men should escape this Infection, when the Fathers themselves in the first Ages of the Church, could not help writing against one another, with as much Sharpness as any modern Writers. St. Jerom, in Particular, is charg'd with this Weakness, in his Writings against Lactantius, St. Ambrose, St. Hilary, Didymus. 'Tis said, that he spar'd neither Antients nor Moderns; no not the inspir'd Elders that translated the Septuagint: Himself having translated the Bible into Latin, and he seem'd to be as fond of his Works as are other Translators.
Our Neighbours, the French, have not been altogether free from this Humour of Answering, or rather writing against one another; as will appear by the following List of a dozen Authors of a Side; most of them of the French Academy; and I might name as many more of equal Rank:
| Balzac, |  | Written against by |  | Pere Goulu, Theophile. |
| Godeau, | Maynard, Vavasseur. | |||
| Vaugelas, | La Mothe Le Vayer. | |||
| Chapelain, | Boileau, Ligniere. | |||
| Ablancourt, | Marole. | |||
| Menage, | Pere Bouhours. | |||
| Costar, | Girac. | |||
| Malherbe, | Costar. | |||
| Voiture, | Richelet. | |||
| Bossu, | Perrault. | |||
| Corneille, | Dacier. | |||
| Richelet, | Furetiere. |
As the most delicate Praise is that which has the Face of Satyr, so the most delicate Satyr is that which has the Face of Praise. Of the latter Kind are the Verses to the honourable Edward Howard on his incomparable and incomprehensible Play. Those Verses were written by the Duke of Buckingham, the Lord Dorset, Mr. Waller, and others. Of the former Kind are several of Voiture's Letters to the Prince of Conde, and Boileau's to the Duke de Vivonne in Imitation of them. Indeed we must allow, that the French do understand the Belle Raillerie better than we do, at least for the Generality, there being some Authors in English, that have succeeded in fine Raillery as well as the French. Thus did Archbishop Tillotson treat Sergeant the Popish Priest: Thus Bishop Sprat handled Sorbiere; and Dr. Burnet of the Charter-house treated one Warren who had attack'd his Theory. If our Answerers could write as they did, they would both divert and instruct us. But we have already explained what they mean by Raillery. They know not how to parry like good Fencers, and therefore knock down like Cudgel Players.