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Page 9
The subsequent Remark of Mr. _Addison_, _That the Poet, after saying
his Mistress's Bosom is as white as Snow, should add, with a Sigh,
that it is as cold too, in order that it may grow to_ WIT, is I fear,
very incorrect. For as to the _Sigh_, it avails not a Rush; and this
Addition will be found to be only a _new_ Stroke of WIT, equally
_trite_, and less perfect, and natural, than the former Comparison.
It may also be observed, That Mr. _Addison_ has omitted the
_Elucidation_ of the _original_ Subject, which is the grand Excellence
of WIT. Nor has he prescribed any _Limits_ to the Subjects, which are
to be arranged together; without which the Result will be frequently
the SUBLIME or BURLESQUE; In which, it is true, WIT often appears,
but taking their whole Compositions together, they are different
Substances, and usually ranked in different _Classes_.
All that Mr. _Congreve_ has delivered upon WIT, as far as I know,
appears in his _Essay_ upon HUMOUR, annexed to this Treatise. He
there says,
To define HUMOUR, perhaps, were as difficult, as to define WIT;
for, like that, it is of infinite Variety.
--Again, he afterwards adds,
But though we cannot certainly tell what WIT is, or what HUMOUR
is, yet we may _go near_ to shew something, which is not WIT, or
not HUMOUR, and yet often mistaken for both.
--In this _Essay_, wherein he particularly considers HUMOUR, and
the Difference between _this_, and WIT, he may be expected to have
delivered his best Sentiments upon both: But these Words, which I
have quoted, seem to be as important and precise, as any which he has
offered upon the Subject of WIT. As such, I present them, without any
Remarks, to my Reader, who, if he only _goes near_ to be _edified_ by
them, will discover a great Share of _Sagacity_.
The Sentiments of these eminent Writers upon WIT, having thus been
exhibited, I come next to the Subject of HUMOUR. This has been
_defined_ by some, in the following Manner, with great _Perspicuity._
--HUMOUR is the genuine WIT of _Comedies_,--which has afforded
vast Satisfaction to many _Connoissures_ in the _Belles Lettres_;
especially as WIT has been supposed to be incapable of any
_Definition._
This Subject has also been particularly considered by the
_Spectatator_ N�. 35. inserted at the End of the following
_Essay_. Mr. _Addison_ therein _gravely_ remarks, that
It is indeed much easier to describe what is not HUMOUR, than
what it is;
which, I humbly apprehend, is no very _important_ Piece of
Information.--He adds,
And very difficult to define it otherwise, than as _Cowly_ has
done WIT, by Negatives.
This Notion of _defining_ a Subject by _Negatives_, is a favourite
_Crotchet_, and may perhaps be assumed upon other Occasions by future
Writers: I hope therefore I shall be pardoned, if I offer a proper
Explanation of so good a _Conceit_;--To declare then, _That a Subject is
only to be_ DEFINED _by_ NEGATIVES, is to cloath it in a _respectable_
Dress of _Darkness_. And about as much as to say, That it is a _Knight_
of _tenebrose Virtues_; or a _serene Prince_, of the _Blood_ of _Occult
Qualities_.
Mr. _Addison_ proceeds,
Were I to give my own Notions of HUMOUR, I should deliver them
after _Plato's_ Manner, in a Kind of Allegory; and by supposing
HUMOUR to be a Person, deduce to him, all his Qualifications,
according to the following Genealogy: TRUTH was the Founder of
the Family, and the Father of GOOD SENSE; GOOD SENSE was the
Father of WIT, who married a Lady of a collateral Line called
MIRTH, by whom he had Issue HUMOUR.
--It is very unfortunate for this _Allegorical_ Description, that
there is not one Word of it just: For TRUTH, GOOD SENSE, WIT, and
MIRTH, represented to be the immediate _Ancestors_ of HUMOUR; whereas
HUMOUR is derived from the _Foibles_, and whimsical _Oddities_
of _Persons_ in real Life, which flow rather from their
_Inconsistencies_, and _Weakness_, than from TRUTH and GOOD SENSE;
Nor is WIT any _Ancestor_ of HUMOUR, but of a quite different
_Family_; it being notorious that much HUMOUR may be drawn from
the Manners of _Dutchmen_, and of the most formal and dull Persons,
who are yet never guilty of WIT. Again, MIRTH is not so properly
the _Parent_ of HUMOUR, as the _Offspring_.--In short, this whole
_Genealogy_ is a _nubilous_ Piece of Conceit, instead of being any
_Elucidation_ of HUMOUR. It is a formal Method of trifling, introduced
under a deep Ostentation of Learning, which deserves the severest
Rebuke.--But I restrain my Pen, recollecting the _Visions_ of MIRZA,
and heartily profess my high Veneration for their admirable Author.
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