]
[Footnote 106: modus operandi: method of working.]
[Footnote 107: Martinus Scriblerus: a reference to Memoirs of Martinus
Scriblerus written principally by John Arbuthnot, and published in
1741. The purpose of the papers is given by Warburton and Spence in
the following extracts quoted from the Preface to the Memoirs of the
Extraordinary Life, Works and Discoveries of Martinus Scriblerus in
Elwin and Courthope's edition of Pope's works, vol. x, p. 273:-- "Mr.
Pope, Dr. Arbuthnot, and Dr. Swift, in conjunction, formed the project
of a satire on the abuses of human learning; and to make it better
received, proposed to execute it in the manner of Cervantes (the
original author of this species of satire) under a continued narrative
of feigned adventures. They had observed that those abuses still kept
their ground against all that the ablest and gravest authors could say
to discredit them; they concluded, therefore, the force of ridicule was
wanting to quicken their disgrace; and ridicule was here in its place,
when the abuses had been already detected by sober reasoning; and
truth in no danger to suffer by the premature use of so powerful an
instrument."]
"The design of this work, as stated by Pope himself, is to ridicule all
the false tastes in learning under the character of a man of capacity
enough, that had dipped into every art and science, but injudiciously
in each.
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