Series One:
_Essays on Wit_
No. 3
John Gay, _The Present State of Wit_ (1711)
With an Introduction by
Donald F. Bond
and
a Bibliographical Note
and
Excerpts from
_The English Theophrastus: or the Manners of the Age_ (1702)
With an Introduction by
W. Earl Britton
The Augustan Reprint Society
May, 1947
_Price_: 75c
GENERAL EDITORS: _Richard C. Boys_, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor;
_Edward N. Hooker_, _H.T. Swedenberg, Jr._, University of California,
Los Angeles 24, California.
Membership in the Augustan Reprint Society entitles the subscriber to
six publications issued each year. The annual membership fee is $2.50.
Address subscriptions and communications to the Augustan Reprint
Society, in care of one of the General Editors.
EDITORIAL ADVISORS: _Louis I. Bredvold_, University of Michigan; _James
L. Clifford_, Columbia University; _Benjamin Boyce_, University of
Nebraska; _Cleanth Brooks_, Louisiana State University; _Arthur
Friedman_, University of Chicago; _James R. Sutherland_, Queen Mary
College, University of London; _Emmett L. Avery_, State College of
Washington; _Samuel Monk_, Southwestern University.
Lithoprinted from Author's Typescript
EDWARDS BROTHERS, INC.
_Lithoprinters_
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN
1947
THE
Present State
OF
WIT,
IN A
LETTER
TO A
Friend in the Country.
_LONDON_ Printed in the Year, MDCCXI
(Price 3 d.)
INTRODUCTION
Gay's concern in his survey of _The Present State of Wit_ is with the
productions of wit which were circulating among the coffee-houses of
1711, specifically the large numbers of periodical essays which were
perhaps the most distinctive kind of "wit" produced in the "four last
years" of Queen Anne's reign. His little pamphlet makes no pretence at
an analysis of true and false wit or a refining of critical distinctions
with regard to wit in its relations to fancy and judgment. Addressed to
"a friend in the country," it surveys in a rapid and engaging manner the
productions of Isaac Bickerstaff and his followers which are engrossing
the interest of London. In other words it is an early example of a
popular eighteenth-century form, of which Goldsmith's more extended
_Inquiry into the Present State of Polite Learning_ is the best known
instance.
As such it well deserves a place in the Augustan Reprints series on wit.
It has been reproduced before in this century, in _An English Garner:
Critical Essays and Literary Fragments_ (Westminster, 1903, pp. 201-10),
with an attractive and informative introduction by J. Churton Collins.
More information, however, is now at our disposal in the forty year
interval since Collins wrote, both in regard to John Gay and to the
bibliography of periodical literature in Queen Anne's time. Furthermore,
the Arber reprint is difficult to obtain.
Gay is writing, he tells us, without prejudice "either for Whig or
Tory," but the warm praise which he extends to Steele and Addison makes
his pamphlet sound like the criticism of one very close to the Whigs.
Though Gay is ordinarily associated with the Tory circle of Swift and
Pope, he was in 1711 still in the somewhat uncertain position of a
youngster willing to be courted by either group. His earliest
sympathies were if anything on the side of the Whigs, in spite of the
turn of events in the autumn of 1710. Gay's interests in these early
years are nowhere so well analyzed as in the early pages of W.H.
Irving's _John Gay: Favorite of the Wits_ (Durham, N.C., 1940): cf. the
title of the second chapter: "Direction Found--the Year 1713." Even as
late as 1715 Swift apparently thought of him as a Whig (Swift's
_Letters_, ed. Ball, II, 286, cited by Irving, p. 91).
One need not be surprised, then, to find Gay eulogizing Captain Steele
as "the greatest scholar and best casuist of any man in England," an
essayist whose writings "have set all our wits and men of letters on a
new way of thinking." Swift's reaction is well known. "Dr. Freind was
with me," he writes to Stella on May 14th, "and pulled out a two-penny
pamphlet just published, called, _The State of Wit_, giving a character
of all the papers that have come out of late. The author seems to be a
Whig, yet he speaks very highly of a paper called the _Examiner_, and
says the supposed author of it is Dr. Swift. But above all things he
praises the _Tatlers_ and _Spectators_; and I believe Steele and Addison
were privy to the printing of it. Thus is one treated by these impudent
dogs" (_Journal to Stella_, ed. J.K. Moorhead, Everyman's Library, p.
168).
In addition to the _Tatler_ and _Spectator_ Gay discusses a dozen other
periodical publications which are of some interest to-day. Dr. King's
"monthly _Philosophical Transactions_," mentioned in the third
paragraph, had begun as a parody of the Royal Society's publications,
but they had failed to hold the public interest, in spite of the wit of
the author of the _Art of Cookery_: "though that gentleman has a world
of wit..., the town soon grew weary of his writings." King's _Useful
Transactions in Philosophy_ had in fact run to only three numbers in the
early months of 1709. The _Monthly Amusement_ of John Ozell, mentioned
in the following paragraph, which Churton Collins erroneously considered
to be not a periodical but "simply his frequent appearances as a
translator" (p. xxxii)--a statement, repeated by Lewis Melville in his
_Life and Letters of John Gay_ (London, 1921, p. 12)--ran for only six
numbers, from April to September 1709. Gay's statement that it "is still
continued" may refer to the better known _Delights for the Ingenious; or
a Monthly Entertainment for the Curious of Both Sexes_ (edited by John
Tipper) which was currently appearing in 1711.
As to the political papers Gay's observations are moderate in tone.
_Defoe's Review_ (1704-13) and _The Observator_ (1702-12), begun by John
Tutchin, are noticed in rather supercilious fashion. _The Examiner_
(1710-14) is damned with faint praise: though "all men, who speak
without prejudice, allow it to be well written" and "under the eye of
some great persons who sit at the helm of affairs," Gay's admiration is
reserved for its two chief opponents, Addison's short-lived _Whig
Examiner_ (1710) and _The Medley_ (1710-12).
The real hero of the pamphlet, however, is Richard Steele, with his
coadjutor Mr. Addison, "whose works in Latin and English poetry long
since convinced the world, that he was the greatest master in Europe of
those two languages." The high praise which Gay lavishes upon this
pair--comparable in their own field, he says, to Lord Somers and the
Earl of Halifax--is eloquent testimony to the immense interest aroused
by their two papers in the London of 1709-12. There is no need to review
here the particulars of Gay's eulogy, but one or two points may be
noted. In the first place, Gay's remarks are not extravagant when
compared with other contemporary testimony. Many of these tributes were
brought together by Aitken in his monumental biography of Steele, and
since 1889 other contemporary sources have been published which give
corroborating support. Hearne first mentions the _Spectator_ on April
22, 1711, in a comment on No. 43, and even this crusty Tory and Jacobite
notes in his diary: "But Men that are indifferent commend it highly, as
it deserves" (_Remarks and Collections_, ed. Doble, III, Oxford, 1895,
p. 154). The published reports of the Historical Manuscripts Commission,
too, contain many contemporary references (see, e.g., _Manuscripts of
the Hon. Frederick Lindley Wood_ (1913), p. 247; _Manuscripts of the
Marquess of Downshire_, I (1924, 889)). It is interesting to observe,
further, that Gay makes no reference to the political prejudices of the
_Spectator_ though it was not without criticism at the time for its
meddling in politics. _The Plain Dealer_ of May 24, 1712, for example,
objected to the publication of No. 384 (the reprinting of the Bishop of
St. Asaph's Introduction to his _Sermons_) and hinted at a "Mercenary
Consideration" behind this sorry attempt to "propagate ill Principles."
Gay's attitude on this point would, be another reason for Swift's
dislike of the pamphlet.
The "continuations" of the _Tatler_ are given due attention by Gay, as
well as three of its imitators: _The Grouler_ (6 numbers, 1711), _The
Whisperer_ (one number, 1709), and _The Tell Tale_, which may be _The
Tatling Harlot_ (3 numbers, 1709), or, as Churton Collins conjectured,
_The Female Tatler_ (1709-10). Gay's postscript makes an agreeable
reference to _The British Apollo_ (1708-11), which has "of late,
retreated out of this end of the town into the country," where "it still
recommends itself by deciding wagers at cards, and giving good advice to
shopkeepers and their apprentices," an interesting comment in view of
Gay's own possible connection with this journal (cf. Irving, pp. 40-56).
It is these casual remarks, as well as the more extensive critical
comments on the present state of "wit," which give Gay's pamphlet a
permanent interest.
The typescript copy of the _Present State of Wit_ is taken from the
pamphlet owned by the Henry E. Huntington Library.
Donald F. Bond
University of Chicago
THE
PRESENT STATE
of
WIT, &c.
SIR,
You Acquaint me in your last, that you are still so busie Building at
-----, that your Friends must not hope to see you in Town this Year; At
the same time you desire me that you may not be quite at a loss in
Conversation among the Beau Monde next Winter, to send you an account of
the present State of Wit in Town; which, without further Preface, I
shall therefore endeavour to perform, and give you the Histories and
Characters of all our Periodical Papers, whether Monthly, Weekly, or
Diurnal, with the same freedom I used to send you our other Town News.
I shall only premise, that as you know I never cared one Farthing either
for Whig or Tory, So I shall consider our Writers purely as they are
such, without any respect to which Party they may belong.
Dr. King has for some time lain down his MONTHLY PHILOSOPHICAL
TRANSACTIONS, which the Title Page informed us at first, were only to be
continued as they Sold; and tho' that Gentleman has a World of Wit, yet
as it lies in one particular way of Raillery, the Town soon grew weary
of his Writings; tho' I cannot but think, that their Author deserves a
much better Fate, than to Languish out the small remainder of his Life
in the Fleet Prison.
About the same time that the Doctor left off Writing, one Mr. Ozell put
out his MONTHLY AMUSEMENT, (which is still continued) and as it is
generally some French Novel or Play indifferently Translated, is more or
less taken Notice of, as the Original Piece is more or less Agreeable.
As to our Weekly Papers, the Poor REVIEW is quite exhausted, and grown
so very Contemptible, that tho' he has provoked all his Brothers of the
Quill round, none of them will enter into a Controversy with him. This
Fellow, who had excellent Natural Parts, but wanted a small Foundation
of Learning, is a lively instance of those Wits, who, as an Ingenious
Author says, will endure but one Skimming.
The OBSERVATOR was almost in the same Condition, but since our
Party-Struggles have run so high, he is much mended for the better;
which is imputed to the Charitable Assistance of some out-lying Friends.
These Two Authors might, however, have flourish'd some time longer, had
not the Controversie been taken up by much abler Hands.
The EXAMINER is a Paper, which all Men, who speak without Prejudice,
allow to be well Writ. Tho' his Subject will admit of no great Variety,
he is continually placing it on so many different Lights, and
endeavouring to inculcate the same thing by so many Beautiful Changes of
Expressions, that Men, who are concern'd in no Party, may Read him with
Pleasure. His way of assuming the Question in Debate, is extremely
Artful; and his Letter to Crassus, is, I think, a Master-piece. As these
Papers, are suppos'd to have been Writ by several Hands, the Criticks
will tell you, That they can discern a difference in their Stiles and
Beauties, and pretend to observe, that the first EXAMINERS abound
chiefly in Wit, the last in Humour.
Soon after their first appearance, came out a Paper from the other Side,
called the WHIG EXAMINER, writ with so much Fire, and in so excellent a
Stile, as put the Tories in no small pain for their favourite Hero,
every one cry'd Bickerstaff must be the Author, and People were the more
confirm'd in this opinion, upon its being so soon lay'd down; which
seem'd to shew, that it was only writ to bind the EXAMINERS to their
good Behaviour, and was never design'd to be a Weekly Paper. The
EXAMINERS therefore have no one to Combat with at present, but their
Friend the MEDLEY; The Author of which Paper, tho' he seems to be a Man
of good Sense, and expresses, it luckily enough now and then, is, I
think, for the most part, perfectly a Stranger to fine Writing.
I presume I need not tell you that the EXAMINER carries much the more
Sail, as 'tis supposed to be writ by the Direction, and under the Eye of
some Great Persons who sit at the helm of Affairs, and is consequently
look'd on as a sort of publick Notice which way they are steering us.
The reputed Author is Dr. S---t, with the assistance, sometimes, of Dr.
Att---y; and Mr. P---r.
The MEDLEY, is said to be Writ by Mr. Old---n, and supervised by Mr.
Mayn---g, who perhaps might intirely write those few Papers which, are
so much better than the rest.
Before I proceed further in the account of our Weekly Papers, it will be
necessary to inform you, that at the begining of the Winter, to the
infinite surprize of all Men, Mr. Steele flung up His TATLER, and
instead of Isaac Bickerstaff Esq.; Subscrib'd himself Richard Steele to
the last of those Papers, after an handsome Compliment to the Town for
their kind acceptance of his Endeavours to divert them. The Chief
Reason he thought fit to give for his leaving off writing, was, that
having been so long look'd on in all publick Places and Companies as the
Author of those Papers, he found that his most intimate Friends and
Acquaintance were in Pain to Act or Speak before him. The Town was very
far from being satisfied with this Reason; and most People judg'd the
true cause to be, either that he was quite spent, and wanted matter to
continue his undertaking any longer, or that he lay'd it down as a sort
of Submission to, and Composition with the Government for some past
Offences; Or lastly, that he had a Mind to vary his Shape, and appear
again in some new Light.
However that were, his disappearing seem'd to be bewailed as some
general Calamity, every one wanted so agreeable an Amusement, and the
Coffee-houses began to be sensible that the Esquires Lucubrations alone,
had brought them more Customers than all their other News papers put
together.
It must indeed be confess'd, that never Man threw up his Pen under
Stronger Temptations to have imployed it longer: His Reputation was at a
greater height than, I believe, ever any living Author's was before him.
'Tis reasonable to suppose that his Gains were proportionably
considerable; Every one Read him with Pleasure and Good Will, and the
Tories, in respect to his other Good Qualities, had almost forgiven his
unaccountable Imprudence in declaring against them.
Lastly, It was highly improbable that if he threw off a Character, the
Ideas of which were so strongly impress'd in every one's mind, however
finely he might write in any new form, that he should meet with the same
reception.
To give you my own thoughts of this Gentleman's Writings, I shall in the
first place observe, that there is this noble difference between him and
all the rest of our Polite and Gallant Authors: The latter have
endeavour'd to please the Age by falling in with them, and incouraging
them in their fashionable Vices, and false notions of things. It would
have been a jest, sometime since, for a Man to have asserted, that any
thing Witty could be said in praise of a Marry'd State, or that Devotion
and Virtue were any way necessary to the Character of a fine Gentleman.
Bickerstaff ventur'd to tell the Town, that they were a parcel of Fops,
Fools, and vain Cocquets; but in such a manner, as even pleased them,
and made them more than half enclin'd to believe that he spoke Truth.
Instead of complying with the false Sentiments or Vicious tasts of the
Age, either in Morality, Criticism, or Good Breeding, he has boldly
assur'd them, that they were altogether in the wrong, and commanded them
with an Authority, which perfectly well became him, to surrender
themselves to his Arguments, for Vertue and Good Sense.
'Tis incredible to conceive the effect his Writings have had on the
Town; How many Thousand follies they have either quite banish'd, or
given a very great check to; how much Countenance they have added to
Vertue and Religion; how many People they have render'd happy, by
shewing them it was their own fault if they were not so; and lastly, how
intirely they have convinc'd our Fops, and Young Fellows, of the value
and advantages of Learning.
He has indeed rescued it out of the hands of Pedants and Fools, and
discover'd the true method of making it amiable and lovely to all
mankind: In the dress he gives it, 'tis a most welcome guest at
Tea-tables and Assemblies, and is relish'd and caressed by the Merchants
on the Change; accordingly, there is not a Lady at Court, nor a Banker
in Lumbard-Street, who is not verily perswaded, that Captain Steele is
the greatest Scholar, and best Casuist, of any Man in England.
Lastly, His Writings have set all our Wits and Men of Letters upon a new
way of Thinking, of which they had little or no Notion before; and tho'
we cannot yet say that any of them have come up to the Beauties of the
Original, I think we may venture to affirm, that every one of them
Writes and Thinks much more justly than they did some time since.
The vast variety of Subjects which he has treated of in so different
manners, and yet All so perfectly well, made the World believe that
'twas impossible they should all come from the same hand. This set every
one upon guessing who was the Esquires Friend, and most people at first
fancied it must be Dr. Swift; but it is now no longer a Secret, that his
only great and constant assistant was Mr. Addison.
This is that excellent Friend to whom Mr. Steele ow's so much, and who
refuses to have his Name set before those Pieces, which the greatest
Pens in England would be Proud to own. Indeed, they could hardly add to
this Gentleman's Reputation, whose Works in Latin and English Poetry,
long since convinc'd the World, that he was the greatest Master in
Europe of those Two Languages.
I am assur'd from good hands, That all the Visions, and other Tracts in
that way of Writing, with a very great number of the most exquisite
Pieces of Wit and Raillery throughout the Lucubrations, are intirely of
this Gentleman's Composing; which may in some Measure account for that
different Genius, which appears in the Winter Papers from those of the
Summer; at which time, as the EXAMINER often hinted, this Friend of Mr.
Steele's was in Ireland.
Mr. Steele confesses in his last Volume of the TATLERS, that he is
oblig'd to Dr. Swift for his "Town Shower," and the "Description of the
Morn," with some other hints received from him in Private Conversation.
I have also heard, that several of those Letters, which came as from
Unknown Hands, were writ by Mr. Henly; which is an Answer to your Query,
Who those Friends are, whom Mr. Steele speaks of in his last TATLER?
But to proceed with my account of our other Papers: The Expiration of
Bickerstaff's Lucubrations, was attended with much the same Consequences
as the Death of Melibæus's Ox in Virgil; as the latter engendred Swarms
of Bees, the former immediately produc'd whole Swarms of little
Satyrical Scriblers.
One of these Authors, call'd himself The GROWLER, and assur'd us, that
to make amends for Mr. Steele's Silence, he was resolv'd to Growl at us
Weekly, as long as we should think fit to give him any Encouragement.
Another Gentleman, with more Modesty, call'd his Paper The WHISPERER;
and a Third, to Please the Ladies, Christen'd his, The TELL-TALE.
At the same time came out several TATLERS; each of which, with equal
Truth and Wit, assur'd us, That he was the Genuine Isaac Bickerstaff.
It may be observ'd, That when the Esquire laid down his Pen, tho' he
could not but foresee that several Scriblers would soon snatch it up,
which he might, one would think, easily have prevented, he Scorn'd to
take any further Care about it, but left the Field fairly open to any
Worthy Successor. Immediately some of our Wits were for forming
themselves into a Club, headed by one Mr. Barrison, and trying how they
could shoot in this Bow of Ulysses; but soon found that this sort of
Writing, requires so fine and particular a manner of Thinking, with so
exact a Knowledge of the World, as must make them utterly Despair of
Success.
They seem'd indeed at first to think, that what was only the Garnish of
the former TATLERS, was that which recommended them, and not those
Substantial Entertainments which they every where abound in.
According they were continually talking of their Maid, Night-Cap,
Spectacles, and Charles Lillie. However there were now and then some
faint endeavours at Humour and Sparks of Wit, which the Town, for want
of better Entertainment, was content to hunt after, through an heap of
Impertinencies; but even those are at present, become wholly Invisible,
and quite swallow'd up in the Blaze of the SPECTATOR.
You may remember I told you before, that one Cause assign'd for the
laying down the TATLER was, want of Matter; and indeed this was the
prevailing Opinion in Town, when we were Surpriz'd all at once by a
paper called The SPECTATOR, which was promised to be continued every
day, and was writ in so excellent a Stile, with so nice a Judgment, and
such a noble profusion of Wit and Humour, that it was not difficult to
determine it could come from no other hands but those which had penn'd
the Lucubrations.
This immediately alarm'd these Gentlemen, who (as 'tis said Mr. Steele
phrases it) had The Censorship in Commission. They found the new
SPECTATOR come on like a Torrent and swept away all before him; they
despaired ever to equal him in Wit, Humour, or Learning; (which had been
their true and certain way of opposing him) and therefore, rather chose
to fall on the Author, and to call out for help to all Good Christians,
by assuring them again and again, that they were the First, Original,
True, and Undisputed Isaac Bickerstaff.
Mean while The SPECTATOR, whom we regard as our shelter from that Flood
of False Wit and Impertinence which was breaking in upon us, is in every
ones Hand, and a constant Topick for our Morning Conversation at
Tea-Tables, and Coffee-Houses. We had at first indeed no manner of
Notion, how a Diurnal paper could be continu'd in the Spirit and Stile
of our present SPECTATORS; but to our no small Surprize, we find them
still rising upon us, and can only wonder from whence so Prodigious a
Run of Wit and Learning can proceed; since some of our best Judges seem
to think that they have hitherto, in general, out-shone even the
Esquires first TATLERS.
Most People Fancy, from their frequency, that they must be compos'd by a
Society; I, with all, Assign the first places to Mr. Steele and His
Friend.
I have often thought that the Conjunction of those two Great Genius's
(who seem to stand in a Class by themselves, so high above all our other
Wits) resembled that of two famous States-men in a late Reign, whose
Characters are very well expressed in their two Mottoes (viz.) Prodesse
quam conspici, and Otium cum Dignitate. Accordingly the first was
continually at work behind the Curtain, drew up and prepared all those
Schemes and Designs, which the latter Still drove on, and stood out
exposed to the World to receive its Praises or Censures.
Mean time, all our unbyassed well-wishers to Learning, are in hopes,
that the known Temper and Prudence of one of these Gentlemen, will
hinder the other from ever lashing out into Party, and rend'ring that
wit which is at present a Common Good, Odious and Ungrateful to the
better part of the Nation.
If this piece of imprudence do's not spoil so excellent a Paper, I
propose to my self, the highest Satisfaction, in Reading it with you
over a Dish of Tea, every Morning next Winter.
As we have yet had nothing new since the SPECTATOR, it only remains for
me to assure you, that I am
Yours, &c.
J.G.
Westminster,
May 3, 1711.
POSTSCRIPT.
Upon a Review of my Letter, I find I have quite forgot The BRITISH
APOLLO; which might possibly happen, from its having of late Retreated
out of this end of the Town into the City; where I am inform'd however,
That it still recommends its self by deciding Wagers at Cards, and
giving good Advice to Shop-keepers, and their Apprentices.
FINIS.
The / Present State / of / Wit, / in a / Letter / to a / Friend in the
Country. / [double rule] / London / Printed in the Year, MDCCXI./ (Price
3 d.) /
Collation: A-C4. Pp. [1-24] P. [1] half-title, signed "A"; p. [2] blank;
p. [3] title, as above; p. [4] blank; pp. 5-22 text; p. [23] Postscript;
p. [24] blank.
This appears to be the only contemporary edition.
Colton Storm
THE
_English Theophrastus_:
OR, THE
Manners of the Age.
Being the
MODERN CHARACTERS
OF THE
COURT, the TOWN,
and the CITY.
* * * * *
_Quicquid agunt Homines, Votum, Timor, Ira, Voluptas, Gaudia, Discursus,
nostri est Farrago, Libelli._
Juven.
--_Quis enim Virtutem amplectitur ipsam?_
Id.
* * * * *
_LONDON_,
Printed for _W. Turner_, at _Lincolns-Inn Back-Gate_; _R. Basset_ in
_Fleetstreet_; and _J. Chantry_, without _Temple Bar_, 1702
INTRODUCTION
Abel Boyer, a Huguenot who settled in London in 1689, devoted himself to
language, history, and literature. As a linguist, he tutored Allen
Bathurst and the Duke of Gloucester in French, prepared a textbook for
English students of French, compiled a French and English dictionary,
and endeavored to promote a better understanding between France and
England by translating works of each nation into the language of the
other. As a historian, he recorded the principal events of English
national life from 1688 to 1729. As a literary figure, he wrote a play
that was approved by Dryden and published two collections of characters.
Coming in on the great flood of character books which reached its crest
in the seventeenth century, Boyer's collections were part of the final
surge before the character was taken over by Steele and handed on to the
novelists. The first was _Characters of the Virtues and Vices of the
Age; or, Moral reflections, maxima, and thoughts upon men and manners.
Translated from the most refined French wits ... and extracted from the
most celebrated English writers.... Digested alphabetically under proper
titles_ (1695). The second, resembling the first in design but
considerably enlarged, was published in 1702 under the title _The
English Theophrastus: Or The Manners of the Age. Being the Modern
Characters Of The Court, the Town, and the City_. No author is given on
the title page, but the work is usually ascribed to Boyer because his
name appears beneath the dedication.
That Boyer's purpose in preparing _The English Theophrastus_ was moral
is evident in the preface, where he describes the subject of his book as
the "Grand-Lesson, _deliver'd by the_ Delphian _Oracle_, Know thy Self:
_Which certainly is the most important of a Man's Life_." Distempers of
the mind, he continues, like those of the body, are half cured when well
known. Although philosophers of all ages have agreed in their aim to
expose human imperfections in order to rectify them, their methods have
differed. Those moralists who have inveighed magisterially against man's
vices generally have been "_abandon'd to the ill-bred Teachers of Musty
Morals in Schools, or to the sowr Pulpit-Orators_." Those who, by
"_nipping Strokes of a Side-wind Satyr, have endeavour'd to tickle Men
out of their Follies_," have been welcomed and caressed by the very
people who were most abused. Since self-love waves the application,
satire, unless bluntly direct, can fail as completely as reprehension.
Modern moralists, according to Boyer, have pursued a third course and
cast their observations on men and manners into the entertaining form
employed by Theophrastus, Lucian, Plutarch, and Diogenes Laertius. Among
the moderns, La Rochefoucauld, Saint-Evremond, and La Bruyère are
admired by all judicious readers. From these French writers Boyer has
selected materials for the groundwork of his collection. He has added
passages from Antoninus, Pascal, and Gratian; from the English authors
Bacon, Cowley, L'Estrange, Raleigh, Temple, Dryden, Wycherley, Brown
and others; and from his own pen. They range from a single line to a
passage of several pages. Those of English origin are distinguished by
"_an_ Asterism," his own remarks by inverted commas. Other matter is
unmarked.
Although Boyer has used as his title _The English Theophrastus_,
examination of the sections here reprinted will show that he has
departed from the way of the Greek master. Instead of sharply defined
portraits, Boyer offers maxims, reflections, and manners, after the
French pattern. Gathered from a variety of sources, these observations
are sometimes related to one another only by their common subject
matter, but often they have been altered and rearranged by Boyer for
sharper focus and unity. A few examples will make his method clear.
Of the paragraphs that begin on page eight of the first selection, the
second and fourth are taken from _An Essay in Defence of the Female Sex_
(1696), perhaps the work of Mrs. Judith Drake. The first of these is the
last half of a paragraph from Drake, but minus her concluding figure,
"as Fleas are said to molest those most, who have the tenderest _Skins_,
and the sweetest _Blood_" (p. 78). Into the first line of the second
paragraph from Drake, "Of these the most voluminous Fool is the Fop
Poet," Boyer inserts a reference to Will's. Thereafter, he follows Drake
rather closely, but replaces the final portion of the paragraph with two
or three sentences from other parts of her essay. The Drake material
ends at the paragraph break on page nine. Between these two paragraphs
Boyer places the single statement, "There's somewhat that borders upon
_Madness_ in every exalted _Wit_," which may be his own version of
Dryden's line, "Great Wits are sure to Madness near allied" (_Absalom
and Achitophel_, l. 248). By means of these alterations in his sources,
Boyer has compiled a passage that has focus and direction, and gives
little evidence of its patchwork origin.
In other instances Boyer adheres more closely to the original form of
the material he borrows. The long passage from the middle of page twenty
to the middle of twenty-five is taken from "Des Ouvrages de L'Esprit" of
La Bruyère's _Les Caractères_. Though retaining the sequence of these
observations, he has deleted certain paragraphs. In most cases he has
translated the French faithfully, but here and there he has paraphrased
a passage or added a brief remark of his own. There was little he could
do, of course, with La Rochefoucauld, from whose _Maximes_ all of page
282 and about half of 283 of the second selection are taken. Boyer was
content to translate almost literally these remarks upon wit and
judgment which he collected from widely scattered sections of the
_Maximes_.
Boyer's own contribution to his collection was slight, covering, all
told, little more than fifteen of the 383 pages. Distinguished neither
by originality of conception nor individuality of style, it is,
nevertheless, marked by good sense. A moderate man in his
pronouncements, Boyer was less clever than reasonable.
Boyer's remarks on wit are in keeping with his character. Like many of
his contemporaries, he has something to say on the subject, but uses the
term rather loosely. He would seem, though, to identify wit with genius,
which gives evidence of itself in literary utterance. But judgment is a
necessary concomitant of good wit. Conversely, the would-be wit lacks
genius, expression, and judgment, and therefore turns critic, that he
may denounce in others what is not to be found in himself. Hence the
word critic has come to mean a fault finder rather than a man of sound
judgment.
The following selections are reproduced, with permission, from a copy of
_The English Theophrastus_ in the library of the University of Michigan.
W. Earl Britton
University of Michigan
THE
MANNERS
Of the AGE.
_Authors, Wits, Poets, Criticks,_ Will's _Coffee-House, Play-House,_ &c.
"Eubulus fancying himself Inspir'd, stands up for the Honour of Poetry,
and is mightily provok'd to hear the Sacred Name of _Poet_, turn'd into
Scandal and Ridicule; He tells you what a profound Veneration the
_Athenians_ had for their Dramatick Writers; how greatly _Terence_ and
_Virgil_ were Honour'd in _Rome_; the first, by _Scipio_ and _Lælius_,
the other by _Augustus_ and _Mecænas_; how much _Francis_ the First, and
Cardinal _Richelieu_, encourag'd the Wits of _France_; and drawing his
Argument more home, he relates to you, how in this Island the
_Buckinghams_, the _Orrerys_, the _Roscommons_, the _Normanbys_, the
_Dorsets_, the _Hallifaxs_, and several other Illustrious Persons have
not only encouraged Poetry, but ennobled the Art itself by their
Performances.
"True _Eubulus_; we allow Poetry to be a Divine Art, and the name of
_Poet_ to be _Sacred_ and Honourable, when a _Sophocles_, a _Terence_, a
_Virgil_, a _Corneille_, a _Boileau_, a _Shakespear_, a _Waller_, a
_Dryden_, a _Wycherly_, a _Congreve_, or a _Garth_ bears it: But then we
intend it as a Scandal, when we give it to _Mævius, Chapelain, Ogilby_,
W---- D----, D----, S----, and _your self_.
"I question whether some Poets allow any other Poets to have Perform'd
better, than themselves, in that kind of Poetry which they profess. Sir
_R---- B----_, I suppose, tho' he has declaim'd against Wit, yet is not
so conceited, as to Vie with _Horace_ and _Juvenal_ for _Satyr_; but as
to _Heroick Poetry_, methinks he Reasons thus with himself; _Homer_ has
writ the _Ilias_ and the _Odysseis_, and _Virgil_ only the _Æneid_; I
have writ _Prince Arthur_, and _King Arthur_; am I not then equal to
_Homer_, and Superior to _Virgil_? No, _B----re_, we judge of _Poetry_
as we do of _Metals_, nor by the _Lump_, but the intrinsick Value. New
cast your Poems; purge 'em of their Dross; reduce 'em to the Bulk of the
_Dispensary_, and if then they weigh in the Balance with _that_, we will
allow you a Place among the First-Rate _Heroick Poets_.
"The _Wits_ of mean Descent and scanty Fortune, are generally apt to
reflect on Persons of Quality and Estates, whom they rashly tax with
Dullness and Ignorance, a _Normanby_, a _Dorset_, a _Spencer_, a
_Hallifax_, a _Boyle_, a _Stanhope_, and a _Codrington_, (to pass over
abundance more) are sufficient to convince the World, that either an
Ilustrious Birth, or vast Riches, are not incompatible with _deep
Learning_, and _Sterling-Wit_.
"_Rapin_, St. _Evremont_, and some other _French_ Criticks, do the
_English_ wrong, in the Judgments they pass upon their Plays: The
_English_ Criticks are even with them, for generally they judge as _ill_
of _French_ Poetry.
"There is a great reach of Discernment, a deep Knowledge, and abundance
of Candor requir'd to qualifie a Man for an _equal Judge_ of the Poetry
and ingenious Compositions of two Nations, whose _Tempers,_ _Humours_,
_Manners_, _Customs_, and _Tastes_, are so vastly different as the
_French_ are from the _English_: _Rapin_, St. _Evremont_, and _Rymer_,
are _candid_, _judicious_, and _learned_ Criticks, I own it; but yet
neither the two first are sufficiently acquainted with _England_, nor
the latter with _France_, to enter equally into the Genius of both
Nations; and consequently they cannot pass a just Sentence upon the
Performances of their respective Writers.
"Tis a great piece of Injustice in us, to charge the _French_ with
Fickleness; for, to give them their due, They are ten times more
constant in their Judgments, than we; Their _Cid_ and _Iphigenia_ in
_Aulis_, are Acted at this very day, with as much Applause as they were
thirty Years ago: All _London_ has admir'd the _Mourning Bride_ one
Winter, and endeavoured to find fault with it the next.
"_Philo_ comes _piping hot_ out of the College, and having his Head full
of Poetical Gingles, writes an _Elegy_, a _Panegyrick_ or a _Satyr_ upon
the least frivolous Occasion: This brings him acquainted with all the
_Second-Rate Wits_; One of these introduces him at _Will's_, and having
a Play upon the Stocks, and ready to be Launch'd, he prevails with
_Philo_ to write him a _Song_, a _Dialogue_, a _Prologue_ and
_Epilogue_, in short, the Trimming of his Comedy. By this time, _Philo_
begins to think himself a great Man, and nothing less than the writing
of a Play, can satisfie his towring Ambition; well, the Play is writ,
the Players, upon the Recommendation of those that lick'd it over, like
their Parts to a Fondness, and the _Comedy_, or _Tragedy_, being
supported partly by its real Merit, but most powerfully by a _Toasting_,
or _Kit-cat-Club_, comes off with universal Applause. How _slippery_ is
_Greatness_! _Philo_ puff'd up with his Success, writes a second Play,
scorns to improve it by the Corrections of better Wits, brings it upon
the Stage, without securing a Party to protect it, and has the
Mortification to hear it _Hist_ to death. Pray how many _Philos_ do we
reckon in Town since the Revolution?
"The reason we have had so many _ill Plays_ of late, is this; The
extraordinary _Success_ of the worst Performances encourages every
Pretender to Poetry to Write; Whereas the indifferent Reception some
excellent Pieces have met with, discourages our best Poets from Writing.
"After all, one of the boldest Attempts of Human Wit, is to write a
taking _Comedy_: For, how many different sorts of People, how many
various Palates must a Poet please, to gain a general Applause? He must
have a _Plot_ and _Design_, _Coherence_ and _Unity_ of _Action_, _Time_
and _Place_, for the Criticks, _Polite Language_ for the Boxes,
_Repartee_, _Humor_, and _Double Entendres_ for the Pit; and to the
shame of our Theatres, a mixture of Farce for the Galleries, What Man of
Sense now will venture his Reputation upon these hard Terms.
"The Poet often arrogates to himself the Applause, which we only give
to Mrs. _Barry_ or _Bracegirdle_'s inimitable Performances: But then he
must take as often upon his Account the Hisses, which are only intended
for _Cæsonia_, and _Corinna's abominable Acting_. One makes amends for
'tother.
"Many a pert Coxcomb might have past for a _Wit_, if his Vanity had not
brought him to _Will_'s.
"The same thing that makes a Man appear with Assurance at _Court_;
qualifies him also to appear unconcern'd among Men of Sense at _Will_'s:
I mean _Impertinence_.
"As some People _Write_, so others _talk themselves_ out of their
_Reputation_."
* The name of a _Wit_ is little better than a Slander, since it is
generally given by those that have _none_, to those that have _little_.
"How strangely some words lose their Primitive Sense! By a _Critick_,
was originally understood a _good Judge_; with us now-a-days, it
signifies no more than a _Fault-finder_."
* A _Critick_ in the Modern Acceptation, seldom rises, either in
_Merit_, or _Reputation_; for it argues a mean grov'ling Genius, to be
always finding Fault; whereas, a candid Judge of Things, not only
improves his Parts, but gains every Body's Esteem.
* None keep generally worse Company than your Establish'd _Wits_, for
there are a sort of Coxcombs, that stick continually to them like Burrs,
to make the Town think from their Company, that they are Men of Parts.
* _Criticks_ are useful, that's most certain, so are Executioners and
Informers: But what Man did ever envy the condition of _Jack Ketch_, or
_Jack P----r_.
* How can we love the Man, whose Office is to torture and execute other
Men's Reputation.
* After all, a _Critick_ is the last Refuge of a pretender to _Wit_.
"Tis a great piece of Assurance in a profest _Critick_ to write _Plays_,
for if he does, he must expect to have the whole Club of _Wits_,
scanning his Performances with utmost Severity, and magnifying his
_Slips_ into _prodigious Faults_."
* I don't wonder Men of Quality and Estate resort to _Will_'s, for
really they make the best Figure there; an indifferent thing from 'em,
passes for a Witty Jest, and sets presently the whole Company a
Laughing. Thus we admire the pert Talk of Children, because we expected
nothing from 'em.
"There are many unpertinent _Witlings_ at _Will_'s, that's certain; but
then your Retailers of _Politicks_, or of second-hand Wit at _Tom_'s,
are ten times more intolerable."
* _Wits_ are generally the most dangerous Company a Woman can keep, for
their Vanity makes 'em brag of more Favours than they obtain.
"Some Women care not what becomes of their Honour, so they may secure
the _Reputation_ of their _Wit_.
"Those People generally talk _most_, who have the least to say; go to
_Will_'s, and you'll hardly hear the Great _Wycherley_ speak two
Sentences in a quarter of an Hour, whilst _Blatero_, _Hamilus_,
_Turpinus_; and twenty more egregious Coxcombs, deafen the Company with
their Political _Nonsense_.
"There are at _Will_'s some _Wit-carriers_, whose business is, to
export the fine Things they hear, from one Room to another, next to a
Reciting-Poet; these Fellows are the most exquisite Plague to a Man of
Sense.
"In spight of the intrinsick Merit of _Wit_, we find it seldom brings a
Man into the _Favour_, or even _Company_ of the _Great_, and the _Fair_,
unless it be for a Laugh and away; never thought on, but when present;
nor then neither, for the sake of the Man of _Wit_, but their own
Diversion. The infallible way to ingratiate ones self with Quality, is
that dull and empty Entertainment, called _Gaming_, for _Picket_,
_Ombre_, and _Basset_, keep always Places even for a _quondam Foot-man,_
or a _Drawer_ at the _Assemblies_, _Apartments_, and _Visiting-days_. If
you lose, you oblige with your Money; if you Win, you command with your
Fortune; the _Lord_ is your _Bubble_, and the Lady what you please to
make her."
* _Flattery_ of our _Wit_, has the same Power over Us, which _Flattery_
of _Beauty_ has over a Woman; it keeps up that good Opinion of our
selves which is necessary to beget _Assurance_; and _Assurance_ produces
success both in _Fortune_ and _Love_.
* Some Men take as much Pains to persuade the World that they have
_Wit_, as _Bullies_ do that they have _Courage_, and generally with the
same Success, for they seldom deceive any one but themselves.
* Some _pert Coxcombs_, so violently affect the Reputation of _Wits_,
that not a _French Journal_, _Mercury_, _Farce_, or _Opera_, can escape
their Pillaging: yet the utmost they arrive at, is but a sort of
_Jack-a-lanthorn Wit_, that like the Sun-shine which wanton Boys with
fragments of Looking-glass reflect in Men's Eyes, dazles the
Weak-sighted, and troubles the strong. These are the Muses
_Black-Guard_, that like those of our Camp, tho' they have no share in
the Danger or Honour, yet have the greatest in the Plunder; that
indifferently strip all that lie before 'em, dead or alive, Friends or
Enemies: Whatever they light on, is _Terra incognita_, and they claim
the right of Discoverers, that is, of giving their Names to it.
* I think the _Learned_, and _Unlearned Blockhead_ pretty Equal: For
'tis all one to me, whether a Man talk _Nonsense_, or _Unintelligible
Sense_.
* There is nothing of which we assent to speak with more Humility and
Indifference than our own _Sense_, yet nothing of which we think with
more Partiality and Presumption. There have been some so bold, as to
assume the Title of the _Oracles_ of Reason to themselves, and their own
Writings; and we meet with others daily, that think themselves _Oracles
of Wit_. These are the most vexatious Animals in the World, that think
they have a privileee to torment and plague every Body; but those most
who have the best Reputation for their Wit and Judgment.
* There's somewhat that borders upon _Madness_ in every exalted _Wit_.
* One of the most remarkable Fools that resort to _Will_'s, is the
_Fop-Poet_, who is one that has always more Wit in his Pockets than any
where else, yet seldom or never any of his own there. _Æsop_'s Daw was a
Type of him, for he makes himself fine with the Plunder of all Parties;
He is a smuggler of Wit, and steals _French_ Fancies, without paying the
customary Duties; Verse is his _Manufacture_; for it is more the Labour
of his _Fingers_, than his _Brain_: He spends much time in _writing_,
but ten times more in _reading_ what he has written: He asks your
Opinion, yet for fear you should not jump with him, tells you his own
first: He desires no Favour, yet is disappointed if he is not Flatter'd,
and is always offended at the Truth. He is a _Poetical Haberdasher of
small Wares_, and deals very much in _Novels_, _Madrigals_, _Funeral_
and _Love Odes_, _Panegyricks_, _Elegies_, and other Toys of
_Parnassus_, which he has a Shop so well furnish'd with, that he can fit
you with all sorts in the twinkling of an Eye. He talks much of
_Wycherley_, _Garth_, and _Congreve_, and protests, he can't help having
some Respect for them, because they have so much for him and his
Writings, otherwise he could make it appear that they understand little
of Poetry in comparison of himself, but he forbears 'em meerly out of
Gratitude and Compassion. He is the _Oracle_ of those that want _Wit_,
and the _Plague_ of those that have it; for he haunts their Lodgings,
and is more terrible to them than their Duns.