ish'd by the Magistrate, any more than for any other Faults in writing;
but either to neglect and despise it, as Rage and Scolding, which drop
into Oblivion with the Sound, and would have a Life given it by
Resentment: or to allow Men to _criticize_ and _ridicule_ one another for
their _Ironies_ and _Drollery_, and to exercise their Wit and Parts
against each other; that being the true Method to bring Things to a
Standard, to fix the Decency and Propriety of Writing, to teach Men how to
write to the Satisfaction of the ingenious, polite, and sensible Part of
Mankind: for Decency and Propriety will stand the Test of Ridicule, and
triumph over all the false Pretences to Wit; and Indecency and
Impropriety will sink under the Trial of Ridicule, as being capable of
being baffled by Reason, and justly ridicul'd. And if any kind or degree
of _Ridicule_ be absurd or _ridiculous_, that will appear so upon Trial,
no less than the low and gross _Ridicule_ prevalent among the unpolite
Part of the World: But that will never appear. On the contrary, _Ridicule_
of certain kinds, and under reasonable Directions and Rules, and used in
proper Time, Place, and Manner, (all which also are only to be found out
and fix'd by Trial and Experience) is both a proper and necessary Method
of Discourse in many Cases, and especially in the Case of _Gravity_, when
that is attended with Hypocrisy or Imposture, or with Ignorance, or with
soureness of Temper and Persecution; all which ought to draw after them
the _Ridicule_ and _Contempt_ of the Society, which has no other effectual
Remedy against such Methods of Imposition. And to determine in some
measure the Nature and Extent of the _Irony_ I contend for, as _Just_, I
profess to approve the noble _Sarcasm_ of _Elijah_[56]; wherein he thus
mocks the _Priests_ of _Baal_, saying in effect to them, "_Cry aloud, for_
your _Baal_ is a fine God: _He is either talking, or he is pursuing, or he
is in a Journey; or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked_." And I
concur with the _Psalmist_[57], who thought it no Indecency to say, that
_he that sits in Heaven shall laugh them_ (that is, certain Kings, who
were _David_'s Enemies) _to scorn; the Lord shall have them in Derision_:
and must judge, that _laughing to scorn_, and _deriding_ the greatest Men
upon Earth, even Kings and Princes, to be a laudable and divine Method of
dealing with them, who are only to be taught or rebuk'd in some artful
way. I also appr