Perhaps the finest satire which
distinguished this wonderful era was the _Argenis_ of John Barclay, a
politico-satiric romance, or, in other words, the adaptation of the
"Milesian tale" of Petronius to state affairs.
During the Parliamentary War, satire was the only species of
composition which did not suffer more or less eclipse, but its
character underwent change. It became to a large extent a medium for
sectarian bitterness. It lost its catholicity, and degenerated in great
measure into the instrument of partisan antagonism, and a means of
impaling the folly or fanaticism, real or imagined, of special
individuals among the Cavaliers and Roundheads.[12] Of such a character
was the bulk of the satires produced at that time. In a few instances,
however, a higher note was struck, as, for example, when "dignified
political satire", in the hands of Andrew Marvell, was utilized to
fight the battle of freedom of conscience in the matter of the
observances of external religion. _The Rehearsal Transposed, Mr.
Smirke, or the Divine in Mode, and his Political Satires_ are
masterpieces of lofty indignation mingled with grave and ironical
banter. Among many others Edmund Waller showed himself an apt disciple
of Horace, and produced charming social satires marked by delicate wit
and raillery in the true Horatian mode; while the Duke of Buckingham,
in the _Rehearsal_, utilized the dramatic parody to travesty the plays
of Dryden. Abraham Cowley, in the _Mistress_, also imitated Horace, and
in his play _Cutter of Coleman Street_ satirized the Puritans'
affectation of superior sanctity and their affected style of
conversation.
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