t merit, to have met with such prodigious success both here, and
in England.

As to poetry, eloquence and music, which are said to have most power over
the minds of men, it is certain that very few have a taste or judgment of
the excellencies of the two former, and if a man succeeds in either, it
is upon the authority of those few judges, that lend their taste to the
bulk of readers, who have none of their own. I am told there are as few
good judges in music, and that among those who crowd the operas, nine in
ten go thither merely out of curiosity, fashion, or affectation.

But a taste for humour is in some manner fixed to the very nature of man,
and generally obvious to the vulgar, except upon subjects too refined,
and superior to their understanding.

And as this taste of humour is purely natural, so is humour itself,
neither is it a talent confined to men of wit, or learning; for we
observe it sometimes among common servants, and the meanest of the
people, while the very owners are often ignorant of the gift they
possess.

I know very well, that this happy talent is contemptibly treated by
critics, under the name of low humour, or low comedy; but I know
likewise, that the Spaniards and Italians, who are allowed to have the
most wit of any nation in Europe, do most excel in it, and do most esteem
it.

By what disposition of the mind, what influence of the stars, or what
situation of the climate this endowment is bestowed upon mankind, may be
a question fit for philosophers to discuss. It is certainly the best
ingredient toward that kind of satire, which is most useful, and gives
the least offence; which instead of lashing, laughs men out of their
follies, and vices, and is the character which gives Horace the
preference to Juvenal.

And although some things are too serious, solemn or sacred to be turned
into ridicule, yet the abuses of them are certainly not, since it is
allowed that corruption in religion, politics, and law, may be proper
topics for this kind of satire.

There are two ends that men propose in writing satire, one of them less
noble than the other, as regarding nothing further than personal
satisfaction, and pleasure of the writer; but without any view towards
personal malice; the other is a public spirit, prompting men of genius
and virtue, to mend the world as far as they are able. And as both these
ends are innocent, so the latter is highly commendable. With regard to
the former, I demand w