The Complete Gentleman

Horace reveals himself in his poetry as a master of raillery, and an amiable companion of great men. In short, he is perfectly well-bred: ‘He shews the Gentleman even whilst he reads the most serious Lectures of Philosophy’. ¹ By keeping his reader (and victim) in countenance, Horace is able to strike suddenly and woundingly under the reader’s guard. It is much easier to ward off the direct frontal assault of a piece of invective. For one thing, the blows are less well aimed. In such poems as Oldham’s Satyrs upon the Jesuits the author is too passionate to control his material effectively; he dissipates his strength instead of concentrating it. Pope remarked to Spence that ‘Oldham is a very undelicate writer. He has strong rage, but ‘tis too much like Billingsgate.’ ² Further, the railing satirist lays himself open to the charge of impure motives. It has long been a commonplace that excessive rage may be actuated by guilt, or may even betray a secret fascination with the object attacked: ‘Nothing gives so sharp a Point to one’s Aversion, as good Breeding; as, on the contrary, ill Manners often hide a secret Inclination.’ ³ The well-bred satirist can vex mankind without losing his temper. His indignation will not cloud his judgment; he will remain in control of himself, of his satirical weapons, and, most important, of his victims. 41The polite and unruffled manner of Pope’s Epistles to Several Persons deceives us into believing that Timon and Sir Balaam and Peter Walter, though they are forms of eighteenth-century life, are also in some sense merely the creatures and creations of Pope. He is their omniscient prosecutor.