ABSTRACT
Mr. J-—n or the English Lexiphanes and the Critick meet. After some compliments past between them, Lexiphanes rehearses his Rhapsody. It contains a rant about Hilarity and a Garret; Oroonoko’s1 adventure with a Soldier; his own journey to Highgate, and adventures there and on the road; his return to London, and lawsuit about his horse; his walk to Chelsea, where he plays at skittles; his being frightened by a calf on his return, which he mistakes for the Cock-lane Ghost;2 his amours and disappointments at a Bagnio. He is now interrupted by the Critick, who takes him to task for his hard words and affected style, and thinking him mad, applies to a Physician passing by, who proves to be the British Lucretius. He repeats a great many verses, and the Critick gets
rid of him with some difficulty. Another Doctor comes up, who is the Critick’s friend. They talk together upon Lexiphanes’s cafe, and other matters concerning taste and writing. They force him to swallow a potion which makes him throw up many of his hard words. The Doctor goes to a consultation, and the Critick instructs Lexiphanes how to avoid his former faults, and write better for the future.
