burlesque, and by bemeaning comparisons and metaphors these false pretensions are stripped off, and thus the satirist becomes the dispenser of just punishment. Of this nature is the general idea of Cervantes, in his "Don Quixote," where he burlesques the institutions and customs of chivalry, by bringing them into ridicule. Such, also, is Butler's « Hudibras," in its burlesque of the Presbyterians and Independents, in the days of Charles II.

Under the second head those persons and things which, like those just mentioned, advance unjust pretensions, are not directly assailed; but meaner persons and objects are elevated into similar positions and clothed in similar false raiment, and thus by comparison the pretenders are rebuked and punished. In poetry this is known as the mock heroic. mock heroic, many examples are found in the classics. Such is Homer's "Battle of the Frogs and Mice;" and in modern literature, Pope's " Rape of the Lock,". is a notable example.

Of the

Under the third division by far the greater class of the efforts of wit are found; in this division wit subsidizes all the powers of language, and shines in many and brilliant forms in discourse: and upon this general ground it branches into many and various forms, from the most dignified sallies in oratory to the common forms of rebus, conundrums, and bon mots of every kind and degree.

In considering the present meaning of the word humour, we must refer to the old and long-exploded theory, that there were four distinct and yet connected humours or moistures of the human body; on the distribution and just admixture of which health of body and cheerfulness of mind alike depended. The next step was naturally a division, according to these supposed causes of our different moods, into good or bad humours; by a natural advance, good humour gave rise to spirited sallies of conversational eloquence; and thus it reached its rhetorical meaning. - Humour may be defined that quality of the mind which unites ideas in a fantastic manner, and tends to arouse our mirth by their communion. Humour may flow in a continuous current, and advance to a climax of the ludicrous; while in contrast, from the nature of Wit, it is evident that it excites an emotion of pleasure, which is of short duration. It has been said that wit must be natural; it may be farther remarked that wit, as an exertion of the intellect, must be spontaneous also. "Laboured or forced wit is no wit;" and there should not be even, of that which appears natural, too much in one discourse. This is alluded to by Pope, when he says:

-Works may have more wit than does them good,
As bodies perish through excess of blood."

Wit,.then, as distinguished from humour, is brilliant

and momentary, like the coruscations of heat lightning; Humour flows in a strong and enduring stream. The witty thoughts in a poem or play may be numerous, but they are distinct and independent of each other; the humour is in a vein, and forms the very essence of comedy.

It may further be remarked that wit is frequently of the nature of satire; it is bright and trenchant like a Damascus blade. Indeed, as we shall see, satire is properly denominated one kind of wit, while humour, although usually presenting objects in a ludicrous light, is so connected with human sympathy that it is neither sarcastic nor mocking. If wit be the sharper weapon, humour is the more genial encounter.

It has been usual, until within a recent period, to consider wit the higher manifestation of the two; but a little thought will show us that humour, in its highest development, is wit combined with human sympathy, and that true humour is a far more distinguishing mark of genius than the most brilliant wit.

(28.) Satire and Irony.

Classed under the general topic of Wit, and containing but little trace of genuine humour, are Satire and Irony; and it is lamentably true that very much of the most brilliant wit is of the specific kind called Satire.

This word probably comes to us from the Greek Satyric drama, in which old Silenus and his Satyrs appeared, and shamed men, by showing them what brute instincts would lead even the best of human beings to become, if the spark of divinity in us were withdrawn.

If, as some writers have supposed, it has another derivation, sat and ira, abounding in anger, this is at least significant of the manner in which the shafts of wit are often thrown by the satirists. They are sharp, unsympathetic, and angry, and are designed to pierce and wound; and yet this, it must be observed, is in open warfare; but they are delicate and refined weapons, which few can use with dexterity and success.

Irony, another species of Wit, is derived from the Greek, poveca, the act of dissembling one's meaning in discourse: this is also a censorious kind of wit, but instead of its being open, like Satire, its shafts are shot from a covert. This is done by expressing directly the opposite of what we mean, and often, by our presentation of this opposite, rendering it so ridiculous as to cause the mind to revert to the true object with a mischievous sort of pleasure.

This is a common form of wit in our ordinary discourse, and when used merely to enliven it, it is harmless and pleasant; as a logical weapon it is often of the nature of a fallacy, since it changes the point in dispute (v. Logic, p. 185) from the true

merit of the case, by casting ridicule and contempt upon our opponent when fair argument is no longer available.

A remarkable example of extended Irony is found in Dean Swift's "Argument for the Abolition of Christianity," aimed really against its opponents. And Defoe has left a powerful invective, which is also ironical, in his pamphlet entitled "The Shortest Way with the Dissenters;" in which he decides that any man who is guilty of becoming a dissenting minister should be put to death. To make the irony more striking, it must be remembered that Dean Swift was a beneficed clergyman; and that Defoe had been subjected to imprisonment and mutilation, for being a champion and ally of the dissenters.

It will be observed, that while these various forms of wit and humour are treated of here as belonging to the subject-matter of discourse, and as ranging justly under the general head of Rhetorical Esthetics, they owe much of their power to the language in which they are couched; and to that extent are also included in the subject of Style, and of the energy and ornaments of Style. This general subject will be considered hereafter.

(29.) Ridicule.

The element of discourse called Ridicule, is so