Excellent as Dryden’s satires are, they cannot be said to have had an influence proportionate to their merit. Defoe’s _True-born Englishman_ (1701), probably the most popular satire between _Absalom and Achitophel_ and the _Dunciad_, did undoubtedly owe much to Dryden’s work; and it is also true that _MacFlecknoe_ suggested the plot of the _Dunciad_. During the eighteenth century, however, Dryden’s satires were not extensively imitated, chiefly because they were superseded as models by the work of Pope. Of the satirists after Pope, only Churchill seems to have preferred Dryden, and even he followed the principles of Pope in practice. Thus historically Dryden is of less importance in the history of satire than his successor and rival. In the period between the death of Dryden and the death of Pope, satirists labored assiduously for correctness. The importance of this step can hardly be overestimated, for satire, more perhaps than any other literary type, is dependent on style for its permanency. Its subject matter is usually concerned with transitory events and specific individuals, and when the interest in these subsides, nothing but an excellent form can ensure the durability of the satire. Of this endeavor for artistic perfection in satire, Pope is the completest representative. Pope boasted repeatedly that he had “moralized his song”; that is, that he had employed his satire for definite ethical purposes. In an invocation to Satire, he put into verse his theory of its proper use:-- “O sacred weapon! left for Truth’s defence, Sole Dread of Folly, Vice, and Insolence! To all but Heav’n directed hands deny’d, The Muse may give thee, but the Gods must guide; Rev’rent I touch thee! but with honest zeal, To rouse the Watchmen of the public Weal.”[4] The lofty tone of this address ought not, however, to obscure the fact that Pope was primarily a personal satirist, actuated too often merely by the desire to satisfy his private quarrels. His claim to being an agent for the cause of public virtue is sometimes justified in his work, but not infrequently it is but a thin pretence for veiling his underlying malice and vindictiveness. What Pope really wanted, most of all, in his satires, was to damage the reputation of his foes; and, it must be added, he generally achieved his aim.