pear in him, but only in a patient stillness, while his rider mounts him : he is, indeed, a horse; and all other jades you may call beasts. Constable. Indeed, my lord, he is a most absolute and excellent horse. Dauphin. It is the prince of palfreys; his neigh is like the bidding of a monarch, and his countenance enforces homage. There is more of it and greater; but I stop; for the wit, like the thing it speaks of, has taken wings, and carried us into the highest region of poetry. The spirit of Continuity arises from the same excess of pleasantry, and enjoyment of the subject in hand, as that of Exaggeration, and is to be found in the same writers. Rabelais will repeat a mere list of things, till the reader is conquered into laughter; just as we see people forced out of a grave face by the like kind of pertinacity in the repetition of some unmeaning word or grimace. The absence of very warrant for laughter in the first instance compels it to come at last by dint of the sense of contrast, and the importunity of the idea which is to be avoided. We think of nothing but the joke, because there is no joke to think of. Perhaps there is something of the same kind of understood dulness on occasions that seem altogether of a different sort. Thus when we laugh at the repetition of the words "Pauvre homme,” in a celebrated passage in Molière, it is because of the stupid simplicity of the speaker, who turns the very selfishness and enjoyments of his idol into grounds of adoring pity. Tartuffe is a scoundrelly hypocrite and pretended saint, who has got the ascendency in the house of his dupe, and repays him for it by every species of villainy. The lady's-maid has found him out, and would fain enlighten her master, but to no purpose. Orgon. Well, Dorina, has everything been going on as it should do these two days? How do they all do? And what have they been about? Dorine. My mistress was ill the day before yesterday with a fever. She had a headache quite dreadful to think of. Orgon. Dorine— Tout s'est-il, ces deux jours, passe de bonne sorte ? Qu'est-ce qu'on fait céans? Comme est-ce qu'on s'y porte ? Avec un mal de tête étrange à concevoir. Org. And Tartuffe ? Dor. Tartuffe! Oh he is wonderfully well; fat and hearty, fresh complexion, and a mouth as red as a rose. Org. (turning about with an air of fondness). Poor soul! with a Dor. In the evening my mistress was taken ill, and couldn't touch a bit at supper, her head was so bad. Org. And Tartuffe? Dor. Oh, seeing she couldn't eat, he ate by himself; and very devoutly swallowed two partridges, with a good half of a hashed leg of mutton. Org. Poor soul! Dor. My mistress didn't shut her eyes all night. The fever hindered her from getting a wink of sleep; so that we were obliged to watch by her till morning. Org. And Tartuffe ? Dor. Tartuffe, happy gentleman, with a comfortable yawn, goes right from table to bed, where he plunges into his warm nest, and sleeps soundly till morning. Org. Poor soul! Dor. At last we prevailed upon madame to be bled, which gave her great relief. Org. Et Tartuffe ? Dor. Gros et gras, le teint frais, et la bouche vermeille. Tartuffe il se porte à merveille, Le soir, elle eut un grand dégoût, Org. Le pauvre homme! Dor. Et ne put, au souper, toucher à rien du tout: Dor. Il souper, lui tout seul, devant elle ; Et fort dévotement il mangea deux perdrix, Avec une moitié de gigot en hachis. Org. Le pauvre homme ! Dor. Dor. Org. And Tartuffe ? Dor. Monsieur Tartuffe was very much relieved also. He found himself charming; and to repair the loss of blood which madame had sustained, took four good swigs of wine with his breakfast. Org. Poor soul! Dor. In short, they are both very well now; so I'll go and tell my mistress you are coming, and how happy you are to hear she is recovered. Org. Et Tartuffe ? Dor. Il reprit courage comme il faut; Tous deux se portent bien enfin : Et je vais à madame annoncer, par avance, La part que vous prenez à sa convalescence. But I must try to get over my ground a little faster, or this Essay will take up the whole volume, and become an overture with no play to it. 7th. Any kind of Juxtaposition of Ideas having a Pleasant Ef fect, down to those depending on Sound; such as Puns, Macaronic Poetry, Half-Jargon Burdens of Songs, and even Nonsense Verses. This is a wide range, and is intended to include everything in Barrow's account of Wit, which is omitted in the foregoing sections. The reader will have observed that we have for some time been in the region of Humor as well as Wit. I shall endeavor to show the distinct remaining portions of the former presently. The section before us is a kind of play-ground common to both. Animal spirits are here in their most fugitive passages and most arbitrary freaks of caprice. But I must endeavor not to let them detain me. Contempt expressed of one person by praise of another : With him came mighty Davies.-On my life, That Davies hath a very pretty wife. Churchill of the Actors. Extravagant imputation against a character, producing a true general impression of it :— Narcissa's nature, tolerably mild, To make a wash would HARDLY stew a child. Subtle and confounding contradiction of appearances : Zara resembles Etna crown'd with snows; Pope. Young's Love of Fame. One excessive conceit refuted by greater excess in another : [Dryden's lover (in one of his plays), lamenting an unworthy passion.] My wound is great, because it is so small. Then 'twould be greater, were it none at all. [Buckingham, from the side boxes.] An exception without one :— The Germans in Greek Are sadly to seek ; Not one in five-score, But ninety-nine more; All save only Herman, And-Herman's a German. Porson, of the German Professors. The monotonous jingle in the last line of this epigram on the words Herman and German gives double effect to its air of indifference or nullification. Contemptuous mimicry. Sound echoing to the sense:— Hear the pretty ladies talk, Tittle tattle, tittle tattle: Like their pattens when they walk ; Pittle pattle, pittle pattle. Dr. Darwin. This is very ungallant of the Doctor; but he was a ladies' man not of the most sentimental order; and such are always ready to become their satirists. Hear a greater genius of the same class, crowning his love with the king of rhymes : But oh! ye lords of ladies intellectual, Inform us truly,-haven't they hen-peck'd you all? Don Juan, Canto i. Butler is so profuse of good and astounding rhymes, that they become a part of his wit, by the increase and gaiety of the surprise. The best of them are brought together in the present volume. Here are two excellent ones of Prior's, the latter rendered perfect in its application by its imitating the language of the school-divines : Egyptian gard'ners thus are said to They chipp'd while yet in its paneity ; that is to say, its state of being bread. Swift is famous for his rhymes. They are often admirable, but in general not so happy as Butler's. He forces them too much for their own sakes. Butler brings them out of the words before him, as they naturally present themselves in the flow of composition. He is resolved that nothing shall baulk him; and nothing does. Swift, however, often wrote forced verses as a pastime, for the avowed purpose of forcing them; and they are sure to be clever and amusing. He is not content with triple rhymes. He quadruples, and even quintuples them. I thought the lady at St. Catherine's (pronounced Cattern's) Knew how to set you better patterns. Answer to Sheridan. Dear Tom,-This verse, which, however the beginning may appear, yet in the end's good metre, |