Because a kick in that part, more

Hurts honour, than deep wounds before.

Ibid. canto 3.

Ludicrous junction of fmall things with great,

as of equal importance :

This day black omens threat the brightest fair
That e'er deferv'd a watchful fpirit's care:

Some dire difafter, or by force, or flight;

But what, or where, the fates have wrapt in night:
Whether the nymph fhall break Diana's law;
Or fome frail china jar receive a flaw;

Or ftain her honour, or her new brocade;
Forget her pray'rs, or mifs a masquerade;
Or lofe her heart, or necklace, at a ball;
Or whether Heav'n has doom'd that Shock must fall.
Rape of the Lock, canto ii. 101.

One speaks the glory of the British Queen,
And one defcribes a charming Indian screen.
Ibid. canto iii. 13.

Then flash'd the living lightning from her eyes,
And fcreams of horror rend th' affrighted fkies.
Not louder fhrieks to pitying heav'n are cast,
When hufbands, or when lapdogs, breathe their laft;
Or when rich china veffels fall'n from high,
In glitt❜ring duft and painted fragments lie!

Ibid. canto iii. 155.

Not youthful kings in battle feiz'd alive,
Not fcornful virgins who their charms furvive,
Not ardent lovers robb'd of all their blifs,

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 fuch rage, refentment, and despair,

As thou, fad virgin! for thy ravish'd hair.

Joining things that in appearance are opposite. As for example, where Sir Rodger de Coverley, in the Spectator, fpeaking of his widow,

That he would have given her a coal-pit to have kept her in clean linen; and that her finger fhould have fparkled with one hundred of his richest acres.

Premiffes that promife much and perform nothing. Cicero upon that article fays,

Sed fcitis effe notiffimum ridiculi genus, cum aliud expectamus, aliud dicitur: hic nobifmetipfis nofter error rifum movet *.

Beatrice.

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

Much ado about nothing, act 2. fc. 1.

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

Le medicin que l'on m'indique
Sait le Latin, le Grec, l'Hebreu,

Ibid.

* De oratore, 1. 2. cap. 63.

Les

Les belles lettres, la physique,
La chimie et la botanique.
Chacun lui donne son aveu:

Il auroit auffi ma pratique ;
Mais je veux vivre encore un peu.

Again,

Vingt fois le jour le bon Grégoire
A foin de fermer fon armoire.
De quoi penfez vous qu'il a peur ?
Belle demande! Qu'un voleur
'Trouvant une facile proie,

Ne lui raviffe tout fon bien.

Non; Grégoire a peur qu'on ne voie

Que dans fon armoire il n'a rien.

Again,

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

Il s'eft fuit, à grands fraix, tranfporter en Bretagne.
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 difcuffed 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 choofing a word that hath different fignifications: by that artifice hocus-pocus tricks are played in language, and thoughts plain and fimple take on a very different appearance. Bb 4

Play

Play is neceffary for man, in order to refreth him after labour; and accordingly man loves play, even fo much as to relifh a play of words: and it is happy for us, that words can be employed, not only for useful purposes, but also for our amusement. This amusement, tho' humble and low, unbends the mind; and is relished by fome at all times, and by all at fome times.

It is remarkable, that this low fpecies of wit, has among all nations been a favourite entertainment, in a certain ftage of their progress toward refinement of taste and manners, and has gradually gone into disrepute. As foon as a language is formed into a fyftem, and the meaning of words is afcertained with tolerable accuracy, opportunity is afforded for expreffions that, 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 fenfe difguised 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 long endurance: for as language ripens, and the meaning of words is more and more afcertained, words held to be fynonymous diminifh daily; and when thofe that remain have been more than once employed, the pleasure vanifheth with the novelty.

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

A feeming refemblance from the double meaning of a word:

Beneath this ftone my wife doth lie;

She's now at reft, and so am I.

A feeming contraft from the fame caufe, termed a verbal antithefis, which hath no despicable effect in ludicrous fubjects:

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

Difpenfary, Canto 2.

And how frail nymphs, oft by abortion, aim
To lofe a fubftance, to preferve a name.

Ibid. canto 3.

While nymphs take treats, or affignations give.

Rape of the Lock.

Other seeming connections from the fame caufe:

Will you employ your conqu'ring fword,

To break a fiddle, and your word?

Hudibras, canto 2.

To whom the knight with comely grace

Put off his hat to put his cafe.

Ibid. part 3. canto 3.

Here