men would be most inclined to mirth and sociability, which we do not find to be the fact.-According to Hobbes' notion of the origin of these feelings, we have only to go into the company of the most ignorant and stupid, if we wish to be exceedingly merry. In such company we could not fail to be sensible of some eminency in ourselves, in comparison with the infirmities of others. We should here be in a situation, corresponding to his definition of laughter, but there can be no doubt, that multitudes would be but very little inclined to indulge that feeling in the midst of such associates.

But while we cannot receive this writer's account of the feeling in question, we may undoubtedly be well agreed in respect to it, as far as this;-That it implies a quick and playful delight of a peculiar kind, arising on the discovery of unexpected relations of ideas, and the perception or apparent perception of some incongruity.

§. 77. Of what is to be understood by wit.

The subject of emotions of the ludicrous is closely connected with what is termed Wit. This last-named subject, therefore, which it is of some importance to understand, naturally proposes itself for consideration in this place. In regard to wir, as the term is generally understood at the present time, there is ground to apprehend, that an emotion of the ludicrous is always, in a greater or less degree, experienced in every instance of it.

This being the case, we are led to give this definition, viz. WIT consists in suddenly presenting to the mind an assemblage of related ideas of such a kind as to occasion feelings. of the ludicrous.This is done in a variety of ways; and among others in the two following.

§. 78- Of wit as it consists in burlesque or in debasing objects.

The first method, which wit employs in exciting the feeling of the ludicrous, is, by debasing those things, which are grand and imposing; especially those, which have an appearance of greater weight and gravity and splendor, than they are truly entitled to. Descriptions of this sort are term. ed burlesque.

An attempt to lessen what is truly and confessedly serious

and important, has in general an unpleasant effect, very different from that, which is caused by true wit. And yet it is the case, that objects and actions truly great and sublime may sometimes be so coupled with other objects, or be represented in such new circumstances as to excite very different feelings from what they would otherwise. Among the various sayings of the Emperor Napoleon, none is more true, than his very appropriate remark to the Abbe de Pradt, at the time of his secret flight on a sledge through Poland and Prussia, that there is but a single step from the sublime to the ridiculous..

In the practice of burlesque, as on all other occasions of wit, there is a sudden and uncommon assemblage of related ideas. Sometimes this assemblage is made by means of a formal comparison. Take as an instance the following comparison from Hudibras ;

"And now had Phoebus in the lap

"Of Thetis taken out his nap;

"And, like a lobster boiled, the morn

"From black to red began to turn.

We find illustrations of burlesque also in those instances, where objects of real dignity and importance are coupled with things mean and contemptible, although there is no direct and formal comparison made. As in this instance from the above mentioned book;

"For when the restless Greeks sat down
"So many years before Troy-town,
"And were renowned, as Homer writes,

"For well-soaled boots, no less than fights.

In these instances we have related ideas. In the first, there is undoubtedly an analogy between a lobster and the morning, in the particular of its turning from dark to red. But however real it may be, it strikes every one, as a singular and unexpected resemblance. In the other passage, it is not clear, that Butler has done any thing more than Homer in associating the renown of the Greeks with their boots, as well as their valor. But to us of the present day the connection of ideas is hardly less uncommon, and singular, not to say incongruous, than in the former.

§. 79. Of wit when employed in aggrandizing objects. The second method, which wit employs in exciting emotions of the ludicrous, is by aggrandizing objects, which are in themselves inconsiderable. This species of wit may be suitably termed mock-majestic or mock-heroic. While the former kind delights in low expressions, this is the reverse, and chooses learned words, and sonorous combinations. In the following spirited passage of Pope, the writer compares dunces to gods, and Grub-street to heaven.

"As Berecynthia, while her offspring vie
"In homage to the mother of the sky,
"Surveys around her in the blest abode
"An hundred sons, and every son a god ;

"Not with less glory mighty Dulness crowned,

"Shall take through Grub-street her triumphant round;

"And her Parnassus glancing o'er at once,

"Behold a hundred sons, and each a dunce.

In this division of wit are to be included those instances, where grave and weighty reflections are made upon mere trifles. In this case, as in others, the ideas are in some respects related, or have something in common; but the grouping of them is so singular and unexpected, that we cannot observe it without considerable emotion.

"My galligaskins, that have long withstood
"The winter's fury and encroaching frosts,
"By time subdued, (what will not time subdue!)
"An horrid chasm disclose.

It may be proper to make the remark in this place, which is applicable to wit in all its forms, that many sayings, which would otherwise have appeared to us witty, lose no small share of their intended effect, whenever we are led to suspect, that they were premeditated. Hence an observation or allusion, which would be well received in conversation, would often be insipid in print; and it is for the same reason that we receive more pleasure from a witty repartee, than a witty attack. Our surprise at the sudden developement of intellectual acuteness is much greater at such times.

§. 80. Of other methods of exciting emotions of the ludicrous.

But it is not to be supposed, that wit is limited to the

methods of assembling together incongruous ideas, which have just been referred to. A person of genuine wit excites emotions of the ludicrous in a thousand ways, and which will be so diverse from each other, that it will be found exceedingly difficult to subject them to any rules. It would be difficult, for instance, to bring within any established classification of the specific sources of wit, many passages of the poet Butler. In the first Canto of his poem of Hudibras, we have a particular account of the hero's horse; in which the writer very singularly compares the animal to a Spaniard in majesty and deliberation of gait, and in some other respects to the celebrated horse of Cæsar, as follows.

"He was well stay'd, and in his gait
"Preserved a grave, majestic state.
"At spur or switch no more he skipt,
"Or mended pace, than Spaniard whipt;
"And yet so fiery he would bound,
"As if he grieved to touch the ground.
"That Cæsar's horse, who, as fame goes,
"Had corns upon his feet and toes,
"Was not by half so tender hooft,

"Or trod upon the ground so soft;

"And as that beast would kneel and stoop,

"So Hudibras's, ('tis well known)

"Would do the same, to set him down.

§. 81. Of the character and occasions of humor.

Closely connected with the general subject of ludicrous emotions and of wit, is that of Humor. It is well known, that we often apply the terms, humor and humorous, to descriptions of a particular character, whether written, or given in conversation; and which may be explained as follows.

It so happens that we frequently find among men what seems to us a disproportion in their passions; for instance, when they are noisy and violent, but not durable. We find inconsistencies, contradictions, and disproportions in their actions. They have their foibles, (hardly any one is without them,) such as self conceit, caprice, foolish partialities, and jealousies. Such incongruities in feeling and action cause an emotion of surprise, like an unexpected combination of ideas in wit. Observing them, as we do, in connection with

the acknowledged high traits and responsibilities of human nature, we can no more refrain from an emotion of the ludicrous, than we can on seeing a gentleman of fine clothes and high dignity making a false step, and tumbling into a gutter. A person, who can seize upon these specialities in temper and conduct, and set them forth in a lively and exact manner, is called a man of humor; and his descriptions are termed humorous descriptions.

Mr. Addison has given many examples of the humorous in the incidents and characters of the Tatler and Spectator. But excellence in this species of writing is not very frequently found, and is an attainment of considerable difficulty. In general it implies something peculiar in the character of the writer. There are some persons, who seem to have a natural inclination for noticing those traits in the feelings and actions of men, which cause ludicrous emotions. Whatever may be the cause of it, there can hardly be a question as to the fact, that some possess this characteristic more than others. This was particularly true of Swift, and the same characteristic has been ascribed to Fontaine. Writers, who have a natural turn of this sort, will be more likely to excel in the humorous, than others.

§. 82. Of the practical utility of feelings of the ludicrous.

It is not impossible, that the feelings, which we have examined in this chapter, may have the appearance to some minds of being practically useless. If this were the fact, it would be at variance with the economy of the mind in other respects; which gives evidence every where, that its original tendencies are engrafted upon it for some practical ends. But it is not so. The feeling of the ludicrous, (or as it is sometimes called the sense of ridicule,) is attended with results, which, although they may not be perfectly obvious at first, will be found, on a little examination, to be of no small moment. It is entirely clear, that it constitutes one of the important guides and aids, which nature has appointed, of human conduct. Scarcely any one is willing to undergo ridicule even in its milder and more acceptable forms; much less to subject himself to the "world's dread laugh." And many persons would be less attentive to the decencies and