To return to English writers-Addison possessed the faculty of which we are treating, in a very eminent degree. In almost every work of his, into which it was properly admissible, an exquisitely delicate humour (far superior in this respect to Swift's,) may be discovered; and he is even equally successful, where he has allowed himself the use of a broader kind. I might offer, as examples, the General who was cashiered for washing his face; the hysterical Secretary of State; the reason assigned for the concord which, notwithstanding they were husbands and wives, subsisted between the members of the confederate states which he describes ;*-or again, Sir Roger's plan, of settling a coal pit on the perverse widow, to keep her in clean linen; and allowing her the profits of a wind-mill, for her fans.†

With Butler I am not well acquainted. But I doubt whether he be as humourous as he is witty;‡ and whether the effect of his witticisms be not injured by their number, and the rapidity of their succession. You have scarcely a glimpse of one ingenious and unexpected combination, before it vanishes, like the phantasms produced by a magic lantern; and gives place to another as transient as itself, From the

Humour, as already mentioned, I consider as a species of Wit. The other species I call by the generic name of Wit.

style of Hudibras, he conducts you to a Satin Doublet: from thence to a Catch: then takes you to the tower of Babel; and at last deposits you (most wittily I must confess) in Hell. And this voyage he performs in the compass of a few lines.*

Of Tristram Shandy, Mr. Gray's account appears to be a true one: viz. that "there is much good fun in it; and Humour sometimes hit, and sometimes missed." Its author however generally succeeds; partly from the merit, and not a little from the peculiarity of his vein. But though I do not think myself a very solemn Critic, he puts on his cap and bells too frequently for me. Indeed if even "in the pulpit you see him often tottering on the verge of laughter, and ready to throw his periwig in the face of the congregation."+ what can you expect from him in a less sacred place?

Perhaps the following may not be an unfair specimen of that peculiarity, which I have supposed to belong to the Humour of Sterne.

"It would not have been amiss if the streets (of Paris,) had been left a thought wider; were it only so much in every single street, as that a man might know (was it only for satisfaction,) on which side of it he was walking."‡

*Canto I. 1. 97 to 104.

+ Gray's Letters.

Tristram Shandy.

Nature's

Humour is natural; and accordingly Darling" was a Master of it. In proof of this, I need not instance so known a character as Falstaff; and as for Launce, he is so irresistibly comic, that I laugh as often as his image arises in my mind.

"I am the Dog. No; the Dog is himself, and I am the DogOh! the Dog is me and I am myself. Aye: so, so.”*

Can any thing be more ludicrous than this confusion of all personal identity between him and his dog? -unless it be the narrative, and expostulation which soon follow;

“I, having been acquainted with, &c. :

and again,

"When didst thou see me heave up my leg? &c.

"Didst thou ever see me do such a trick?"

I do not quote the above, as Humour of the delicate and semireducta kind; but as natural, sterling, and admirable in its way.

Humour may be the creature of the Pencil, as well as of the Pen: of which Hogarth's works supply abundant proof. It may be also eminently displayed by an Actor, on the stage; independently,

* Act 2, Scene 3.

+ Act 4, Scene 3.

I mean, of the matter which has been furnished by his Author. Nor (it almost follows,) does Pantomime exclude it: at least if laughter be the test of Pleasantry, though not of Truth.-But what regards this extern Humour, (for such, being a wielder of the pen, I choose to call it,) it would exceed my limits to discuss.

Humour sometimes soars to heights not within its ordinary sphere. Interdum vocem Comoedia tollit. But when within this, it is less dignified than other Wit; and its proper food is the familiar, and burlesque. Hence that union of pompous numbers with. mean or trivial subject, which produces the mock heroic, may lead to Humour. Such compositions are witty because they make incongruities coalesce: they are humourous because we are disposed to laugh at the coalition.

I should think myself deficient in justice to my Country, if I were to close such a paper as the present, without noticing the claim which Ireland has to Humour, as a talent, national in some degree. The pleasantry of the common Irish has been frequently admitted; and many of their bon mots are on record: nor are their powers of Humour stronger than their relish for it is keen But the talent is far from being confined to them. It is also to be found amongst our higher classes. In Scotland it is admitted (by the Mirror,) not to flourish; and it seems to me, that

neither the quantity nor quality of English Humour equals ours. In giving this opinion, I mean no disparagement of a Nation proverbial for its good sense ; and not inferior in intellectual endowments to our own. To go farther, and concede them any superiority in this respect, would be abjectly to contradict the history of ages, and basely to depreciate and betray my Country.

NUMBER XXIII.

SATURDAY, MAY 23d, 1807.

L.

Hic secura quies; et nescia fallere vita.

VIRG.

Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books.

THOMPSON.

I HAVE at length yielded to the repeated solicitations of my friend Sir Everard, and write this paper from Oakley Park. It has often been observed, that a period of calm felicity is not fertile of interesting occurrences, in the case of individuals or of nations, nor consequently favourable to the exertions of the biographer or historian. Accordingly, I feel myself