TEENTH CENTURY

THE ENGLISH HUMOURISTS

OF THE

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

A Series of Lectures

DELIVERED IN ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

[First edition, 1853; second edition, revised, 1853]

Lecture The First. Swift

In treating of the English humourists of the past age, it is of the men
and of their lives, rather than of their books, that I ask permission to
speak to you; and in doing so, you are aware that I cannot hope to
entertain you with a merely humorous or facetious story. Harlequin without
his mask is known to present a very sober countenance, and was himself,
the story goes, the melancholy patient whom the Doctor advised to go and
see Harlequin(21)--a man full of cares and perplexities like the rest of
us, whose Self must always be serious to him, under whatever mask, or
disguise, or uniform he presents it to the public. And as all of you here
must needs be grave when you think of your own past and present, you will
not look to find, in the histories of those whose lives and feelings I am
going to try and describe to you, a story that is otherwise than serious,
and often very sad. If Humour only meant laughter, you would scarcely feel
more interest about humorous writers than about the private life of poor
Harlequin just mentioned, who possesses in common with these the power of
making you laugh. But the men regarding whose lives and stories your kind
presence here shows that you have curiosity and sympathy, appeal to a
great number of our other faculties, besides our mere sense of ridicule.
The humorous writer professes to awaken and direct your love, your pity,
your kindness--your scorn for untruth, pretension, imposture--your
tenderness for the weak, the poor, the oppressed, the unhappy. To the best
of his means and ability he comments on all the ordinary actions and
passions of life almost. He takes upon himself to be the week-day
preacher, so to speak. Accordingly, as he finds, and speaks, and feels the
truth best, we regard him, esteem him--sometimes love him. And, as his
business is to mark other people's lives and peculiarities, we moralize
upon _his_ life when he is gone--and yesterday's preacher becomes the text
for to-day's sermon.

Of English parents, and of a good English family of clergymen,(22) Swift
was born in Dublin in 1667, s