Dryden's _Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire_ drew heavily and eclectically upon these commentaries, investing their judgments with a new popularity and authority. Although Dryden condemned Persius for obscurity and other defects, he agreed with Casaubon that Persius excels as a moral philosopher and that "moral doctrine" is more important to satire than wit or urbanity. Dryden knew, moreover, that the satirist's inculcation of "moral doctrine" meant a dual purpose, a pattern of blame and praise--not only "the scourging of vice" but also "exhortation to virtue"--long recognized as a definitive characteristic of formal verse satire.[19] But if Dryden insisted on the moral dignity of satire, he laid equal stress on the dignity attainable through verse and numbers. After complimenting Boileau's _Lutrin_ for its successful imitation of Virgil, its blend of "the majesty of the heroic" with the "venom" of satire, Dryden speaks of "the beautiful turns of words and thoughts, which are as requisite in this [satire], as in heroic poetry itself, of which the satire is undoubtedly a species"; and earlier in the _Discourse_ he had called heroic poetry "certainly the greatest work of human nature."[20] It is clear that Harte's _Essay_ belongs in the tradition of criticism established by the commentaries on classical satire and continued by Dryden. Like these predecessors, Harte believes that satire is moral philosophy, teaching "the noblest Ethicks to reform mankind" (p. 6). Like them again, he believes that to fulfill this purpose satire must not only lash vice but recommend virtue, at least by implication: Blaspheming _Capaneus_ obliquely shows T'adore those Gods _Aeneas_ fears and knows, (p. 10)[21] But perhaps Harte's overriding concern was to do for satire (with _The Dunciad_ as his focus) what Dryden's _Discourse_ had done: to reassert its dignity and majesty. Although Harte is quite careful to distinguish satire from epic poetry, the total effect of his _Essay_ is to blur this distinction and to raise _The Dunciad_ very nearly to the level of genuine epic. The term "_Epic Satire_" (p. 6) certainly seems to refer to the wedding of two disparate genres in _The Dunciad_, lifting it above satire that is merely "rugged" or "mischievously gay" (p. 8). (The epithet is also, perhaps, a thrust at Edward Ward, who had pinned it on _The Dunciad_ with a sneer.)[22] Harte's claim that _Books and the Man_ demands as much, or more, Than _He who wander'd to the Latian shore_ (p. 9)