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Page 20
7. The odd Adventures, and Embarrassments, which _Persons_ in _real
Life_ are drawn into by their _Foibles_, are fit Subjects of _Mirth_.
--Whereas in pure WIT, the Allusions are rather _surprizing_, than
_mirthful_; and the _Agreements_ or _Contrasts_ which are started
between Objects, without any relation to the _Foibles_ of _Persons_
in real Life, are more fit to be _admired_ for their _Happiness_ and
_Propriety_, than to excite our _Laughter_.--Besides, WIT, in the
frequent Repetition of it, tires the Imagination with its precipitate
Sallies and Flights; and teizes the Judgment.--Whereas HUMOUR, in the
Representation of it, puts no Fatigue upon the _Imagination_, and
gives exquisite Pleasure to the _Judgment_.
These seem to me to be the different Powers and Effects of HUMOUR and
WIT. However, the most agreeable Representations or Competitions of
all others, appear not where they _separately_ exist, but where they
are _united_ together in the same Fabric; where HUMOUR is the _Ground-
work_ and chief Substance, and WIT happily spread, _quickens_ the
whole with Embellishments.
This is the Excellency of the _Character_ of Sir _John Falstaff_;
the _Ground-work_ is _Humour_, the Representation and Detection of
a bragging and vaunting _Coward_ in _real Life_; However, this alone
would only have expos'd the _Knight_, as a meer _Noll Bluff_, to the
Derision of the Company; And after they had once been gratify'd with
his Chastisement, he would have sunk into Infamy, and become quite
odious and intolerable: But here the inimitable _Wit_ of Sir _John_
comes in to his Support, and gives a new _Rise_ and _Lustre_ to his
Character; For the sake of his _Wit_ you forgive his _Cowardice_; or
rather, are fond of his _Cowardice_ for the Occasions it gives to his
_Wit_. In short, the _Humour_ furnishes a Subject and Spur to the
_Wit_, and the _Wit_ again supports and embellishes the _Humour_.
At the _first_ Entrance of the _Knight_, your good Humour and Tendency
to _Mirth_ are irresistibly excited by his jolly Appearance and
Corpulency; you feel and acknowledge him, to be the fittest Subject
imaginable for yielding _Diversion_ and _Merriment_; but when you
see him immediately set up for _Enterprize_ and _Activity_, with his
evident _Weight_ and _Unweildiness_, your Attention is all call'd
forth, and you are eager to watch him to the End of his Adventures;
Your Imagination pointing out with a full Scope his future
Embarrassments. All the while as you accompany him forwards, he
_heightens_ your Relish for his future Disasters, by his happy Opinion
of his own Sufficiency, and the gay Vaunts which he makes of his
Talents and Accomplishments; so that at last when he falls into a
Scrape, your Expectation is exquisitely gratify'd, and you have the
full Pleasure of seeing all his trumpeted Honour laid in the Dust.
When in the midst of his Misfortunes, instead of being utterly
demolish'd and sunk, he rises again by the superior Force of his
_Wit_, and begins a _new_ Course with fresh Spirit and Alacrity;
This excites you the more to _renew_ the Chace, in full View of his
_second_ Defeat; out of which he recovers again, and triumphs with
new Pretensions and Boastings. After this he immediately starts upon
a _third_ Race, and so on; continually detected and caught, and
yet constantly extricating himself by his inimitable _Wit_ and
_Invention_; thus yielding a perpetual _Round_ of Sport and Diversion.
Again, the genteel _Quality_ of Sir _John_ is of great Use in
supporting his Character; It prevents his _sinking_ too low after
several of his Misfortunes; Besides, you allow him, in consequence of
his _Rank_ and _Seniority_, the Privilege to dictate, and take the
Lead, and to rebuke others upon many Occasions; By this he is sav'd
from appearing too _nauseous_ and _impudent_. The good _Sense_
which he possesses comes also to his Aid, and saves him from being
_despicable_, by forcing your Esteem for his real Abilities.--Again,
the _Privilege_ you allow him of rebuking and checking others, when he
assumes it with proper Firmness and Superiority, helps to _settle_
anew, and _compose_ his Character after an Embarrassment; And reduces
in some measure the _Spirit_ of the Company to a proper _Level_,
before he sets out again upon a fresh Adventure;--without this, they
would be kept continually _strain'd_, and _wound up_ to the highest
Pitch, without sufficient Relief and Diversity.
It may also deserve to be remark'd of _Falstaff_, that the _Figure_
of his _Person_ is admirably suited to the _Turn_ of his _Mind_; so
that there arises before you a perpetual _Allusion_ from one to the
other, which forms an incessant Series of _Wit_, whether they are in
_Contrast_ or _Agreement_ together.--When he pretends to _Activity_,
there is _Wit_ in the _Contrast_ between his _Mind_ and his _Person_,
--And _Wit_ in their _Agreement_, when he triumphs in _Jollity_.
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