Page:Satire in the Victorian novel (IA satireinvictoria00russrich).pdf/89

 to laugh without responsibility. But one feels that such criticisms would not have ruffled the twinkling serenity of his placid spirit; that he would not have deplored the loss of power nor demurred at the penalty. He was a born sportsman. The hunting was good. Pleasure to him was in pursuit more than possession. Having had the fun, he would willingly give away his bag of game before he went home.

One turns with an especial interest to the belated ''Gryll Grange'' to see what change there may be thirty years after, but finds little more than the natural mellowing influence of time. He is indeed "satirist to the last," albeit he is disposed to use "more oil and less vinegar."

If Peacock is Horatian, without the Roman's sense of realism, Butler is more of a Juvenal, as the latter might have been, perhaps, had he lived under Victoria instead of Domitian. The wind of invective is now tempered, not to the shorn lamb, but to the modern prejudice against the rudeness of tempests unmitigated by sunshine.

Butler's publications, beginning two years after Pea-*

just that which is the essence of the greatness of the great humourists—Cervantes, Rabelais, Shakespeare." Walker: Lit. of the Victorian Era, 618. (He explains that humanity in work is meant, not of character.)]
 * [Footnote: some genius, he is a keen observer, a caustic critic. What he lacks is humanity,