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Article COMMENTS ON STERNE. ← Page 8 of 9 →
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Comments On Sterne.
no great pretence , and of unparellelled originality , which ignorance only can ascribe to-any polished writer . It would be enjoining zsi impossible task , to exact much knowledge on subjects frequently treated , and yet to prohibit the use of thoughts and expressions rendered familiar by study , merely because they had been occupied byformer Authors . There is a kind of imitation which the Ancients encouragedand which even our Gothic Criticism admits , when
, acknowledged . But justice cannot permit the Polygraphic Copy to be celebrated at the expence of the Ori ginal . Voltaire has compared the merits of Rabelais and Sterne , as Satirist of the Abuse of Learning , and , I think , has done neither of them justice . This great distinction is obvious ; that Rabelais derided absurdities then existing in full force , and intermingled mucit
sterling sense with the grossest parts of his book ; Sterne , on tlie contrary , laughs at many exploded opinions , and abandoned fooleries , and contrives to degrade some of his most solemn passages by a vicious levity . Rabelais flew a higher pitch , too , than Sterne , Great part of the voyage to the Pays de Lantemois * , which so severely stigmatizes the vices of the Romish Clergy of that age , was
performed in more hazard of fire than water . The follies of the Learned may as justly be corrected , as the vices of Hypocrites ; but for the former Ridicule is a sufficient punishment . Ridicule is even more effectual to this purpose , as we'll as more agreeable than scurrility , which is generally preferred , not withstanding , by the learned themselves in their contests , because Anger seizes the readiest weapons ; Jamque faces et saxa volant : furor arma ministrat :
And where a little extraordinary Power has accidentally bee-a lodged in the hands of disputants , they have not scrupled to employ the most cogent methods of convincing their adversaries . Dionysius the Younger sent those Critics who disliked his verses , to work ii * t the Quarriesf ; and there was a pleasant Tyrant , mentioned by Hovace , who obliged his deficient debtors to hear him read his owa Compositions , amaras historias , by way of commutation . I say
nothing of the . " holy faith of pike and gun , " nor of the strong cudgel with which Luther terminated a theological dispute , as I desire to avoid Reli gious Controversy . But it is impossible , on this subject , to forget the once-celebrated Dempster , the last of the formidable sect of Hoplomachists , who fought every day , at his School in Paris , either with sword or fist , in defence of his doctrines in omni scibilij . The imprisonment of Galileo , and the example of Jordano Bruno , burnt alive for asserting the Plurality of Worlds ([ , among other
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Comments On Sterne.
no great pretence , and of unparellelled originality , which ignorance only can ascribe to-any polished writer . It would be enjoining zsi impossible task , to exact much knowledge on subjects frequently treated , and yet to prohibit the use of thoughts and expressions rendered familiar by study , merely because they had been occupied byformer Authors . There is a kind of imitation which the Ancients encouragedand which even our Gothic Criticism admits , when
, acknowledged . But justice cannot permit the Polygraphic Copy to be celebrated at the expence of the Ori ginal . Voltaire has compared the merits of Rabelais and Sterne , as Satirist of the Abuse of Learning , and , I think , has done neither of them justice . This great distinction is obvious ; that Rabelais derided absurdities then existing in full force , and intermingled mucit
sterling sense with the grossest parts of his book ; Sterne , on tlie contrary , laughs at many exploded opinions , and abandoned fooleries , and contrives to degrade some of his most solemn passages by a vicious levity . Rabelais flew a higher pitch , too , than Sterne , Great part of the voyage to the Pays de Lantemois * , which so severely stigmatizes the vices of the Romish Clergy of that age , was
performed in more hazard of fire than water . The follies of the Learned may as justly be corrected , as the vices of Hypocrites ; but for the former Ridicule is a sufficient punishment . Ridicule is even more effectual to this purpose , as we'll as more agreeable than scurrility , which is generally preferred , not withstanding , by the learned themselves in their contests , because Anger seizes the readiest weapons ; Jamque faces et saxa volant : furor arma ministrat :
And where a little extraordinary Power has accidentally bee-a lodged in the hands of disputants , they have not scrupled to employ the most cogent methods of convincing their adversaries . Dionysius the Younger sent those Critics who disliked his verses , to work ii * t the Quarriesf ; and there was a pleasant Tyrant , mentioned by Hovace , who obliged his deficient debtors to hear him read his owa Compositions , amaras historias , by way of commutation . I say
nothing of the . " holy faith of pike and gun , " nor of the strong cudgel with which Luther terminated a theological dispute , as I desire to avoid Reli gious Controversy . But it is impossible , on this subject , to forget the once-celebrated Dempster , the last of the formidable sect of Hoplomachists , who fought every day , at his School in Paris , either with sword or fist , in defence of his doctrines in omni scibilij . The imprisonment of Galileo , and the example of Jordano Bruno , burnt alive for asserting the Plurality of Worlds ([ , among other