[Transcriber's Note:
See end of _Essay_ for translation information.]

The Intention of _Horace_ in this Piece, is to expose an _impertinent_
Fellow, and to give a ludicrous Detail of his own _Embarrassment_;
Your Pleasure arises from the View which he gives you of his own
Mortification, whereby he lays himself fairly open to your _Raillery_;
This is the more poignant, and quick, from the real Distress which you
see he endur'd, in this odd Attack; At the same Time the particular Turn
of the Fellow, who chose in this Manner to pin himself upon another, is
a very odd Species of impertinent _Humour_.--This Piece, as it stands,
irresistibly forces your Mirth, and shakes you with Laughter; But to
a Person of Discernment, it is chiefly at _Horace_'s Expence; Who in
receiving and enduring such insolent Treatment, appears in a Light too
low and ridiculous, though he has thought fit himself to exhibit the
Scene again for the Diversion of the Public;

The
Misere, cupis, ---- abire,
Jamdudum video, sed nil agis, usque tenebo,
Persequar;--

was an absolute Insult; And very unfit to be related by the Person
who suffer'd it, as a Matter of Merriment;--Besides this Tameness
of _Horace_, the Impudence of the Fellow is excessively nauseous and
disgusting at the Bottom, though the whole carries a Froth of _Raillery_
and _Humour_ upon the Surface.

The Truth is, that this Piece, as it stands, would have properly