An Essay towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit, Humour, Railery, Satire, and Ridicule

An Essay towards Fixing the
True Standards of Wit, Humour,
Railery, Satire, and Ridicule

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Standards
of Wit, Humour, Railery, Satire, and Ridicule (1744), by Corbyn
Morris This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and
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Title: An Essay towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit, Humour,
Railery, Satire, and Ridicule (1744)
Author: Corbyn Morris
Commentator: James L. Clifford
Release Date: July 7, 2005 [EBook #16233]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE TRUE STANDARDS OF WIT ***

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Series Two: Essays on Wit No. 4
[Corbyn Morris] _An Essay towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit,
Humour, Raillery, Satire, and Ridicule_ (1744)

With an Introduction by James L. Clifford and a Bibliographical Note

The Augustan Reprint Society November, 1947 Price: $1.00
* * * * *
GENERAL EDITORS
RICHARD C. BOYS, University of Michigan EDWARD NILES
HOOKER, University of California, Los Angeles H.T.
SWEDENBERG, JR., University of California, Los Angeles
ADVISORY EDITORS
EMMETT L. AVERY, State College of Washington LOUIS I.
BREDVOLD, University of Michigan BENJAMIN BOYCE,
University of Nebraska CLEANTH BROOKS, Yale University
JAMES L. CLIFFORD, Columbia University ARTHUR FRIEDMAN,
University of Chicago SAMUEL H. MONK, University of Minnesota
JAMES SUTHERLAND, Queen Mary College, London
* * * * *
INTRODUCTION
The Essay here reproduced was first advertised in the London Daily
Advertiser as "this day was published" on Thursday, 17 May 1744 (The
same advertisement, except for the change of price from one shilling to
two, appeared in this paper intermittently until 14 June). Although on

the title-page the authorship is given as "By the Author of a Letter from
a By-stander," there was no intention of anonymity, since the
Dedication is boldly signed "Corbyn Morris, Inner Temple, Feb. 1,
1743 [44]."
Not much is known of the early life of Corbyn Morris. Born 14 August
1710, he was the eldest son of Edmund Morris of Bishop's Castle,
Salop. (_Alumni Cantabrigienses_). On 17 September 1727 he was
admitted (pensioner) at Queen's College, Cambridge, as an exhibitioner
from the famous Charterhouse School. Exactly when he left the
university, or whether he took a degree, is not certain.
Morris first achieved some prominence, though anonymously, with _A
Letter from a By-stander to a Member of Parliament; wherein is
examined what necessity there is for the maintenance of a large regular
land-force in this island_. This pamphlet, dated at the end, 26 February
1741/42, is a wholehearted eulogy of the Walpole administration and is
filled with statistics and arguments for the Mercantilist theories of the
day. At the time there was some suspicion that the work had been
written either by Walpole himself or by his direction. When the _Letter
from a By-stander_ was answered by the historian Thomas Carte, an
angry pamphlet controversy ensued, with Morris writing under the
pseudonym of "A Gentleman of Cambridge." Throughout, Morris
showed himself a violent Whig, bitter in his attacks on Charles II and
the non-jurors; and it was undoubtedly this fanatical party loyalty
which laid the foundation for his later government career.
The principal facts of Morris's later life may be briefly summarized. On
17 June 1743 he was admitted at the Inner Temple. Throughout the
Pelham and Newcastle administrations he was employed by the
government, as he once put it, "in conciliating opponents." From 1751
to 1763 be acted as Secretary of the Customs and Salt Duty in Scotland,
in which post he was acknowledged to have shown decided ability as
an administrator. From 1763 to 1778 he was one of the commissioners
of customs. He died at Wimbledon 22 December 1779 (_Musgrave's
Obituary_), described in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ as a "gentleman
well known in the literary world, and universally esteemed for his

unwearied services and attachment to government."
Throughout his long years of public service he wrote numerous
pamphlets, largely on economic and political questions. Merely the
titles of a few may be sufficient to indicate the nature of his interests.
_An Essay towards Deciding the Question whether Britain be
Permitted by Right Policy to Insure the Ships of Her Enemies _(1747);
Observations on the Past Growth and Present State of the City of
London (containing a complete table of christenings and burials 1601-
1750) (175l); A Letter Balancing the Causes of the Present Scarcity of
Our Silver Coin (1757).
It would be a mistake, however, to consider Morris merely as a
statistical economist and Whig party hack. A gentleman of taste and