Then flash'd the living lightning from her eyes,
And fcreams of horror rend th' affrighted skies.
Not louder shrieks to pitying heav'n are caft,
When husbands, or when lapdogs breathe their last;
Or when rich china vessels fall'n from high,
In glitt'ring dust, and painted fragments lie!

Ibid. canto iii. 155.

Not youthful kings in battle seiz'd alive,
Not scornful virgins who their charms survive,
Not ardent lovers robb'd of all their bliss,
Not ancient ladies when refus'd a kiss,
Not tyrants fierce that unrepenting die,
Not Cynthia when her manteau's pinn'd awry,
E'er felt such rage, resentment, and despair,
As thou, sad virgin! for thy ravish'd hair.

Ibid. canto iv. 3.

Joining things that in appearance are opposite. As for example, where Sir Roger de Coverley, in the Spectator, speaking of his widow, "That he would have given " her a coal-pit to have kept her in clean " linen; and that her finger should have

sparkled with one hundred of his richest " acres."

Premisses that promise much and perform nothing. Cicero upon this article says, " Sed

!

" Sed scitis esse notiffimum ridiculi genus, cum aliud expectamus, aliud dicitur: hic nobismetipfis nofter error rifum mo

"vet *."

Beatrice.

-With a good leg and a good

foot, uncle, and money enough in his purse, such a man would win any woman in the world, if he could get her good-will.

Much ado about nothing, act 2. Sc. I.

Beatrice. I have a good eye, uncle, I can fee a church by day-light.

Le medecin que l'on m' indique
Sait le Latin, le Grec, l' Hebreu,
Les belles lettres, la physique,
La chimie et la botanique.
Chacun lui donne fon aveu:
Il auroit aussi ma pratique;
Mais je veux vivre encore un peu.

Again,

Vingt fois le jour le bon Grégoire
A foin de fermer son armoire.

De oratore, 1. 2. cap. 63.

ibid.

De

De quoi pensez vous qu'il a peur ?
Belle demande! Qu'un voleur
Trouvant une facile proie,

Ne lui ravisse tout fon bien.

Non; Gregoire a peur qu'on ne voic
Que dan fon armoire il n'a rien.

Again,

L'athsmatique Damon a cru que l'air des champs Repareroit en lui le ravage des ans,

Il s'est fait, a grands fraix, transporter en Bre

tagne.

Or voiez ce qu'a fait l'air natal qu'il a pris!
Damon feroit mort à Paris:

Damon eft mort à la campagne.

Having discussed wit in the thought, we proceed to what is verbal only, commonly called a play of words. This fort of wit depends for the most part upon chusing words that have different significations. By this artifice, hocus-pocus tricks are played in language; and thoughts plain and fimple take on a very different appearance. Play is necessary for man, in order to refresh him after labour; and accordingly man loves play. He even relisheth a play of words;

words; and it is happy for us, that words can be employed, not only for ufeful purposes, but also for our amusement. This amusement accordingly, though humble and low, is relished by some at all times, and by all at some times, in order to unbend the mind.

It is remarkable, that this low species of wit, has, at one time or other, made a figure in most civilized nations, and has gradually gone into disrepute. So foon as a language is formed into a system, and the meaning of words are ascertained with tolerable accuracy, opportunity is afforded for expreffions, which, by the double meaning of fome words, give a familiar thought the appearance of being new. And the penetration of the reader or hearer, is gratified in detecting the true sense disguised under the double meaning. That this fort of wit was in England deemed a reputable amusement, during the reigns of Elifabeth and James I. is vouched by the works of Shakespear, and even by the writings of grave divines. But it cannot have any any long endurance: for as language ripens, and the meaning of

(

words is more and more afcertained, words held to be synonymous diminish daily; and when those that remain have been more than once employed, the pleasure vanisheth with the novelty...

I proceed to examples, which, as in the former cafe, shall be distributed into different classes.

A seeming resemblance from the double meaning of a word.

Beneath this stone my wife doth lie:
She's now at rest, and so am I.

A seeming contrast from the fame cause, termed a verbal antithesis, which hath no despicable effect in ludicrous subjects.

Whilft Iris his cosmetic wash would try
To make her bloom revive, and lovers die.
Some ask for charms, and others philters chuse,..
To gain Corinna, and their quartans lose,

Dispensary, canto 2.

And how frail nymphs, oft by abortion, aim
To lose a substance, to preferve a name.

Ibid. canto 3.

Other