ans, their lineage was just as venerable as that of
the low view. These critical concepts were probably just as
influential too, for they continued to be reiterated by commentaries
down to and beyond Pope's time.

Whatever their quarrels, the Renaissance commentaries were virtually
united in regarding satire as exalted moral instruction and satirists
as ethical philosophers. Casaubon's choice for this sort of praise was
Persius; Heinsius and Stapylton likened their respective choices,
Horace and Juvenal, to Socrates and Plato; and Rigault considered all
three satirists to be philosophers, distinguished only by the
different styles which their different periods required. The satirist
might disguise himself as a jester, but only to make his moral wisdom
more easily digestible; peeling away his mask, "we find in him all the
Gods together," "_Maxims or Sentences, that like the lawes of nature,
are held sacred by all Nations_."[18]

Dryden's _Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire_
drew heavily and eclectically upon these commentaries, investing their
judgments with a new popularity and authority. Although Dryden
condemned Persius for obscurity and other defects, he agreed with
Casaubon that Persius excels as a moral philosopher and that "moral
doctrine" is more important to satire than wit or urbanity. Dryden
knew, moreover, that the satirist's inculcation of "moral doctrine"
meant a dual purpose, a pattern of blame and praise--not only "the
scourging of vice" but also "exhortation to virtue"--long recognized
as a definitive characteristic of formal verse satire.[19] But if
Dryden insisted on the moral dignity of satire, he laid equal stress
on the dignity attainable through verse and numbers. After
complimenting Boileau's _Lutrin_ for its successful imitation of
Virgil, its blend of "the majesty of the heroic" with the "venom" of
satire, Dryden speaks of "the beautiful turns of words and thoughts,
which are as requisite in this [satire], as in heroic poetry itself,
of which the satire is undoubtedly a species"; and earlier in the
_Discourse_ he had called heroic poetry "certainly the greatest work
of human nature."[20]

It is clear that Harte's _Essay_ belongs in the tradition of criticism
established by the commentaries on classical satire and continued by
Dryden. Like these predecessors, Harte believes that satire is moral
philosophy, teaching "the noblest Ethicks to reform mankind" (p. 6).
Like the