But he that mounts into the air of Fame Must have two wings, Nature and Art, to fly; And that he may soar safely with the same Must take his rise low from humility; And not with you a goose's quill to take, Thinking with that an eagle's flight to make. Your stately Muse, starched with stiff-neck'd pride, Dain'd it amongst us, most imperiously; With lavish laughter she did each deride That came within the prospect of her eye: Despising all, all her again despise, Contemn'd of foolish and condemn'd of wise." At this easy rate "W. I." ambles on; and the quiet leisurely stanzas are a relief after the fury of the _Scourge_. Modern readers will feel that Marston was not driven by "sæva indignatio" to write satire, and they will not be inclined to accept the young author of _Pygmalion_ as a sedate moralist. "W. I." puts the matter clearly: "He scourgeth villainies in young and old As boys scourge tops for sport on Lenten day." The publication of _The Whipping of the Satire_ could hardly have been agreeable to Marston, but it is highly improbable that he is to be held responsible for the poor answer to _The Whipping_, published anonymously in the same year, under the title of _The Whipper of the Satire, his Penance in a White Sheet; or the Beadle's Confutation_.[10] If I have read _The Whipper_ aright, it is the work of one of Marston's personal friends, or of some admirer who had more zeal than wit. There are some general remarks, of slight account, on the use of satire; and Marston is exhorted to persist in his task of scourging the vices of the age. It will be enough to quote two stanzas:-- "Meantime, good satire, to thy wonted train, As yet there are no lets to hinder thee: _Thy touching quill with a sweet moving strain Sings to the soul a blessèd lullaby_: Thy lines beget a timorous fear in all, And that same fear deep thoughts angelical. So that the whilom lewd lascivious man Is now remote from his abhorred life, And cloathes [loathes?] the dalliance of a courtezan; And every breathing wicked soul at strife, Contending which shall first begin to mend That they may glory in a blessèd end." The italicised lines give a delightfully ludicrous description of _The Scourge of Villainy_. It is abundantly clear that Marston's uncouth satires, which to-day are so difficult to read, caused much excitement at the time of their publication. Meres in _Palladis Tamia_, 1598, reckons Marston among the leading English satirists. John Weever, in his _Epigrams_, 1599, couples Marston's name with Jonson's:-- "_Ad Jo. Marston et Ben Johnson._