The Portland daily press., 1879-12-12
IInannreciated Satire.

In all ages satire has been a favorite weapon
of wits against their enemies Very frequent
W however, the individual satirized is wholly
ignorant of the fact, takes the irony as truth,
and affords his assailant the interesting spec
tacle of the victim of the jest being the only
person ignorant of his meaning. When Pope
drew his character of Atossa, which might
have stood for satire on the birth of the duch-
esses of Marlborough and Buckingham, the
poet according to Horace Walpole) showed
the MS. to each lady in private, and tried 10
persuade her that the caricature was intended
to represent her rival. Sarah OF Marlborough
was acute enough to see that some, at least, OF
the sarcasm might be levelled at herself, and
offered the author $1,000 to suppress the poem:
but the duchess of Buckingham was less clear
sighted, and accepted the poets story Many
Of the Puritan party, failed to perceive the
satire in ''Hudibras," just as Defoe's 'Short
way with Dissenters'' was at first regarded as
serious production. 1t was thanks to one OF
his courtiers that George III. at last discovered
that Hogarths ''March of the Guards to Finch
ley' was undoubtedly intended as burlesque"
"a discovery that provoked the well-known
outburst, ''A burlesque!-how dare the fellow
burlesque my soldiers? But L hate bainting
and boetry both. Take the trumpery out Of
my sight.
Possibly the very dullness that provokes the
satirist acts as shield against his stings, but
it is certainly remarkable how many men have
remained comfortably ignorant of ridicule law
ished upon them-nay, have even accepted
the sarcasm as serious praise. We can imagine
4l,o IOoEipu on with Ynnph the
same enjoyment as a mischievous boy expert
ences when he has succeeded in attaching
piece of paper to ladys dress, and watches
his victim sail through fashionable crowd
serenely ignorant of the ridiculous appearance
she is presenting With many people satire
passes unnoticed under a veil of tiattery. Pope
tells story of Sir Godfrey Kneller's being
presented with a copy of verses in which flat
terry was pushed so far that all present thought
he would perceive he was being bantered.
But the great painters vanity rendered him
blind He listened with pleasure. and then
added: "It is all very fine and very true, but
one thing is forgotten; should have made q
good general, for was once at Venice, and
there was great 'girandole,' and all the Place
of Saint Mark smelt of gunpowder, and 1 liked
the smell-yes, L should have made great
generalp'
Every one is familiar with the trick prac-
tised by Swift on Lady Berkeley, when he
passed OH his SdTCdSllC luiltdbiOH VI DOJIO
''Refections'' as a genuine production OF her
favorite author. Yet, after all. the "Retiec-
tions on Broomstick" are rather an imitation
than satire, for Boyle reflected on quite as
strange subjects; for example, "On Receiving,
and lacking together my Apothecarys Bills"
Refection 81; son Drinking Water from the
Brim of my Hat (Rehection III; "On Being
Carved to at Feast" (Refection ~. Boyle's
quaint style provoked other satirists or imita-
tors, and Butler is generally credited with the
o,1tbO Of n Occasional Meditation
seeing DR.. Carleton feel Dogs Pulse at
Gresham House." another imitation OF Boyles
highly moral but somewhat tedious "retec-
tions.'' Like Lady Berkeley, many people
are deceived by ingenious limitations. When
the brothers Smith published their Rejected
Addresses" purporting to be poems on the re-
opening of Drury Lane Thatre, written by the
chief literary geniuses OF the age, the imita-
ticns of Byron, Scott, Crabbe, Wordsworth,
etc. were so cleverly done that many people
accepted them as genuine, and marveled that
they had been rejected" But, as we have
remarked, these limitations can hardly be
He'd satireS.
Dizziness and vanity are, after all, the best
defences against the lance OF a satirist. His
weapons can rarely penetrate such armor of
proof. He may enjoy his malicious wit, and
the beholders may enter into the Joke but the
victim will never understand it. When some
sarcastic person thanked lady, who was an
execrable performer, for her song, probably
she was the only person present who did not
guess that his ELUSIVE gratitude was, as he af-
forwards explained, because she had left of )"
Like Sir Godfrey Kneller some people would
swallow any amount of hattery, and never
doubt its being offered in perfect good faith.
The more absurd it seemed to others the less
they would be inclined to reject it. Who was
the astute individual who advised his disciples
to praise men for virtues they did not possess
if they wished to succeed in life? Then, as
SYDNEY Smith truly remarked, there are indi-
viduals who would require surgical operation
to get Joke into their understandings, and
these people arc equally incapable of compre-
hending satire 1t would be well il the satirist
ALWAYS restricted himself to ridicbling the dull
and the vain, for in these cases he obtains
amusement for himself without causing pain
to his victims. 1t is sadder to dwell on the
history of appreciated satire-on the cases of
sensitive minds who suffered acutely from its
infliction. More than one delicately organized
man has wellnigh broken his heart at sarcasms
a duler or vainer person would never have de-
tected. Pope and Swift were terrible foes to
their sensitive literary brethren; but in some
quarters even their shafts fell harmless. Some
great men appear to have had an almost NOR
bid dread of ridicule, and it is painful 10 read
of the suffering inflicted on such minds by
chance satire or a stray epigram. 1t is pleas
anter to turn to the numerous instances where
the satirist and his victim were equally well
content.-London Globe.