The Present State of Wit (1711) Part 2

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 princ.i.p.al 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 t.i.tles_ (1695). The second, resembling the first in design but considerably enlarged, was published in 1702 under the t.i.tle _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 t.i.tle 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 Bruyere are admired by all judicious readers. From these French writers Boyer has selected materials for the groundwork of his collection. He has added pa.s.sages 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 pa.s.sage 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 t.i.tle _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 s.e.x_ (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 pa.s.sage 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 pa.s.sage from the middle of page twenty to the middle of twenty-five is taken from "Des Ouvrages de L'Esprit" of La Bruyere's _Les Caracteres_. 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 pa.s.sage 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 p.r.o.nouncements, 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 _Laelius_, the other by _Augustus_ and _Mecaenas_; 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 Ill.u.s.trious Persons have not only encouraged Poetry, but enn.o.bled 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 _Maevius, 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 _aeneid_; 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 pa.s.s over abundance more) are sufficient to convince the World, that either an Il.u.s.trious 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 pa.s.s 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 pa.s.s 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 Tr.i.m.m.i.n.g 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 _Caesonia_, and _Corinna's abominable Acting_. One makes amends for 'tother.

"Many a pert c.o.xcomb 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 a.s.surance 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 c.o.xcombs, 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 a.s.surance 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, pa.s.ses 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 c.o.xcombs, 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 _Ba.s.set_, keep always Places even for a _quondam Foot-man,_ or a _Drawer_ at the _a.s.semblies_, _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."