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Page 15
4.
_Leonidas_ the _Spartan_ General, when he advanced near the _Persian_
Army, was told by one of his own Captains, that _their Enemies were so
numerous, it was impossible to see the Sun for the Multitude of their
Arrows_; To which he gallantly reply'd, _We shall then have the
Pleasure of fighting in the Shade_.
The vast Cope of _Persian_ Arrows is here the _original_ Subject;
which instead of being observed by _Leonidas_ with Terror, presents
to his Fancy the pleasant Idea of a cool _Canopy_. There is an
_Agreement_ and Affinity between the two Objects, in regard to the
_Shelter from the Sun_, which is at once obvious, and _unexpected_;
And the Cloud of the Enemies Arrows is thus gaily _elucidated_, by the
_Arrangement_ and Comparison of it with so desirable an Object as
_shady Covering_.
This Saying of the _Spartan_ General has been handed through many Ages
to the present Time; But the chief Part of the Pleasure it gives us,
results not so much from the WIT it contains, as from the _Gallantry_,
and _chearful Spirit_, discover'd in Danger, by _Leonidas_.
5.
An Instance of WIT in the _Opposition_, I remember to have read
somewhere in the _Spectators_; where Sir _Roger de Coverley_
intimating the Splendor which the perverse Widow should have appear'd
in, if she had commenced Lady _Coverley_, says:
_That he would have given her a_ Coalpit _to have kept her in_ clean
Linnen: _And that her Finger should have_ sparkled _with one hundred
of his richest_ Acres.
The joint Introduction of these _opposite_ Objects, as a _Coalpit_
with _clean Linnen_, and _dirty Acres_ with the _Lustre_ of a _Jewel_,
is _just_ in this Instance, as they really produce each other in their
Consequences; The _natural Opposition_ between them, which is strongly
_elucidated_ by their _Arrangement_ together, and at the same time
their _unexpected Connexion_ in their Consequences, strike us with a
_Surprize_, which exhibits the _Brilliancy_ and _Sparkling_ of WIT.
There is also in this Instance, besides the WIT, a Spirit of
_Generosity_, and _Magnificence_, discover'd by Sir _Roger_, from
the known Value of a _Coalpit_, and of so many rich _Acres_.
This Kind of WIT, resulting from the sudden _Arrangement_ together of
two _opposite_ Objects, is rarer, than that which is obtained from
two _similar_ Objects; It abounds with a high _Surprize_, and
_Brilliancy_; and also strongly _elucidates_ the _original_ Object,
from the _Contrast_ presented between _this_, and the _auxiliary_ one;
In the same manner as _White_ is more clearly set _off_, by being
arranged with _Black_.
It may be proper to observe, that WIT, besides being struck out by
_just_, and _direct_ Introductions of _auxiliary_ Subjects, is also
sometimes obtain'd by _Transitions_ from one Subject to another, by
the Help of an _equivocal Word_; which like a _Bridge_, with two
Roads meeting at the End of it, leads to two different Places.
_Transitions_, thus made from the right Course, have indeed the
Pretence of being _natural_; but they ought always to lead us
to something _brilliant_ or poignant, in order to justify their
_Deviation_; and not to end only at a ridiculous PUN, void of all
Spirit and Poignancy.
The WIT, in such Instances, results, as in all others, from the quick
_Arrangement_ together of two Subjects; But that, which was first
intended for the _original_ one, is dropped; And a new _original_
Subject is started, through the _double Meaning_ of a Word, and
suddenly _enlighten'd_.
To give a _trite_ Instance of this kind of WIT.
A PEER coming out of the House of Lords, and wanting his Servant,
called out, _Where's my Fellow?_ To which another PEER, who stood by
him, returned, _Faith, my Lord, not in_ England.
A Transition is here unexpededly made from the Sense intended in the
Question to another Point, through the double Meaning of the word
_Fellow_; it being obvious, that his Lordship's _Servant_ is the
Sense of the Word in the Question; and what Person is _like_ to his
Lordship, the Construction put upon it in the Answer: Thus a new
_original_ Subject is started, and being suddenly _arranged_ with all
that appear _similar_ to it, is _enlighten'd_ thereby, being found to
have no _equal_ in _England_.
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