*79^' ON '^^'^'^' 267 



The wit of the fchclar is fometimes your dry wit ; 

 but the chief excellence of it lies in being as little un- 

 derftood as may be. What would become of Wit if 

 .we always knew where it lay ? Where would be thofe 

 burfts of mirth which fet the table in a roar ; thofe 

 merry chinkings, thofe widely extended mouths, fpeech- 

 lefs in all the extafy of laughing, were it not from fome 

 caufe unknown ? Yes ; the Wit of which 1 fpeak de- 

 pends nor upon words finely fet together, nor upon 

 iparkling fentiments, which grow flale by repetition, 

 and pall upon the fenfe ; it depends upon nature and 

 patural fympathy, like ele£tric fire it darts from link to 

 link, from breaft to breaft : its caufe is deep as philo- 

 fophy, and like the larum, it rattles till it is down. 

 The only danger is left we fliould wholly fail in our 

 attempt : but the prize is great, and we cannot hazard 

 too much for it. Happy would it be for us, if we can 

 adopt thelanguageof that honeft gentleman who could 

 fay, he was equally well pleafed whether the company 

 laughed with him or at him. 



The wit of men of fafliion is quite another thing. 

 All the beauties of affefted mifunderftandings, 

 the delicate double entendre, are theirs : their's is the 

 witty pun, and verfes jingling in all the oddities of 

 rhyme. I cannot, however conceal, that none of 

 thefe are neceflary qualities of this fpecies of Wit; 

 fince they may be, and, in faft, often are, difpenfed 

 with in favour of another ingredient, namely, /wear i ng ; 

 a term which perhaps may need fome explanation.- — 

 Swearing confifts of a number of words, not forming a 

 complete fentence, but thought to have a pecuHarly 

 grateful efFc£l upon the ear, and fuppofed to unite in x 

 fmall compafs all the quinteflence of gaiety, fentiment, 

 and Wit. Scholars, indeed, are vehemently againfk 

 this figure, and never make ufe of it. They pretend 

 to fay, that the words alluded to by no means anfwer 

 this dcfcription, but are naturally harlh and difcordant } 

 that thev have no reafon in tliem j that the fillieft of 

 LI 2 



