28 Milton D. Baumgartner 



damals bliihenden Postal machte." While he asserts that "Nation- 

 und Zeitmaszig folgt daraus wenig," yet he praises Wernicke by 

 saying his depictions are so true that page after page would apply 

 equally well to Germany in 1801 as in 1700, and concludes by im- 

 ploring the spirits and critics : " thut Eure Krafte, Eure Launen 

 zusammen, um uns den Lohenstein und Hoffmannswaldau, den 

 neuen Postel und Stoppo aus den Gliedern zu treiben"! 



2. Other Satires of Dryden in Germany 



While Mac Flecknoe left a deep impression upon German criti- 

 cism, the other satires of Dryden did not appear prominently and 

 seem to have exerted but little influence. Ahsolom and Achito- 

 phel, The Medal, and The Hind and the Panther are incidentally 

 discussed by critics. Of these Ahsolom and Achitophel plays the 

 most prominent role, due to the famous character sketch of Zimri 

 (Buckingham), which the author himself regarded a model. A 

 part of the Zimri sketch appeared in The Spectator (Nos. 163 and 

 222), translated by Mrs. Gottsched; the whole Zimri sketch is 

 translated in prose in the Britischen Bihliothek,''^ accompanied 

 with the remark that it fits the Duke's character. The review of 

 Hume's History of Great Britain, also in the Britischen Bihlio- 

 thck, lauds the great talent of Dryden, but regrets that in common 

 with other poets he produced so much that was crude, coarse, and 

 smutty, but concludes : " Doch unter der grossen Anzahl unwiirdi- 

 gen Geburten, entdecken einige kleine Stiicke, und der grosste 

 Theil seines Absolom und Achitophel so viel Genie, einen solchen 

 Reichtum des Ausdrucks .... "'* Flogel believes The Rehearsal 

 to be a better satire ihzn Ahsolom and Achitophel, however, he pro- 

 nounces the latter " Eine beissende Satire."'^ Blankenburg briefly 

 describes it and calls attention to its popularity by citing the two 

 translations made soon after its appearance/® while Bouterwek 

 designates it the most artistic poem of Dryden.^^ 



" Loco citato, p. 86, 1758. 

 ■=■4 Ibid., p. 622, 1757. 

 '■s Loco citato, II, p. 263. 



'■^ Friedrich von Blankenburg, Litterarische Zusdtse zu Johann Georg 

 Sulsers algemeiner Theorie der schoncn Kiinste, III, p. 57°, Leipzig, 1796. 



316 



