Essay upon Wit | Page 2

it
will be refined and purified. By this process, the works of Dryden,
Congreve, Southerne, Wycherley, Garth, and Vanbrugh will be melted
down to separate the sludge from the pure metal. In the Nature of Man
(1711) he takes a more kindly attitude towards Wit and pairs it with
Sense, Reason, Genius, and even Piety. While he is moderate in his
denunciation of Wit in the Essay upon Wit, he does insist that even at
its best it can never be noble. Wit is harmful, he states, because it is
often employed in immoral subjects, raillery, ridicule, and satire. It is
chiefly useful as ornamentation: "The Addition of Wit to Proper
Subjects, is like the artful Improvement of the Cook, who by his
exquisite Sauce gives to a plain Dish, a pleasant and unusual Relish".
Addison's Freeholder essay (No. 45) was inspired by Blackmore's
Essay upon Wit, to which he paid a compliment in his opening remarks
(much to the disgust of Swift, who accused him of double-dealing).
Although Addison had praised Blackmore's Creation warmly in the

Spectator No. 339, he had not always been friendly, for earlier
Blackmore had sneered at Addison in the Satyr against Wit, a jibe that
drew Steele's reply in Commendatory Verses.
Blackmore's Essay upon Wit appeared in his _Essays upon Several
Subjects_; the one-volume first edition of this work was published in
1716 and was followed by the second edition, in two volumes, the
following year. The present reprint is from the first edition. The 1716
Freeholder No. 45 here reproduced is from the edition of 1758. Both
copies are owned by the University of Michigan.
Richard C. Boys
University of Michigan

AN ESSAY UPON WIT.
The Inclinations of Men, in this their degenerate State, carry them with
great Force to those voluptuous Objects, that please their Appetites and
gratify their Senses; and which not only by their early Acquaintance
and Familiarity, but as they are adapted to the prevailing Instincts of
Nature, are more esteem'd and pursu'd than all other Satisfactions. As
those inferior Enjoyments, that only affect the Organs of the Body are
chiefly coveted, so next to these, that light and facetious Qualification
of the Mind, that diverts the Hearers and is proper to produce Mirth and
Alacrity, has, in all Ages, by the greatest Part of Mankind, been admir'd
and applauded. No Productions of Human Understanding are receiv'd
with such a general Pleasure and Approbation, as those that abound
with Wit and Humour, on which the People set a greater Value, than on
the wisest and most instructive Discourses. Hence a pleasant Man is
always caress'd above a wise one, and Ridicule and Satyr, that entertain
the Laughers, often put solid Reason and useful Science out of
Countenance. The wanton Temper of the Nation has been gratify'd so
long with the high Seasonings of Wit and Raillery in Writing and
Conversation, that now almost all Things that are not accommodated to
their Relish by a strong Infusion of those Ingredients, are rejected as the
heavy and insipid Performances of Men of a plain Understanding and
meer Masters of Sense.
Since the Power of Wit is so prevalent, and has obtained such Esteem
and Popularity, that a Man endow'd with this agreeable Quality, is by
many look'd on as a Heavenly Being, if compar'd with others, who have

nothing but Learning and a clear arguing Head; it will be worth the
while to search into its Nature, and examine its Usefulness, and take a
View of those fatal Effects which it produces, when it happens to be
misapply'd.
Tho perhaps the Talent which we call Wit, like that of Humour, is as
clearly understood by its simple Term, as by the most labour'd
Description; an Argument or which is this, That many ingenious
Persons, by their unsuccessful Essays to explain it, have rather obscur'd
than illustrated its Idea; I will notwithstanding adventure to give the
Definition of it, which tho it may fall short of Perfection, yet I imagine,
will come nearer to it, than any that has yet appear'd. _Wit is a
Qualification of the Mind, that raises and enlivens cold Sentiments and
plain Propositions, by giving them an elegant and surprizing Turn_.
It is evident, that Wit cannot essentially consist in the Justness and
Propriety of the Thoughts, that is, the Conformity of our Conceptions
to the Objects we conceive; for this is the Definition of Truth, when
taken in a Physical Sense; nor in the Purity of Words and Expression,
for this may be eminent in the Cold, Didactick Stile, and in the correct
Writers of History and Philosophy: But Wit is that which imparts Spirit
to our Conceptions and Diction, by giving them a lively and novel, and
therefore an agreeable Form: And thus its Nature is limited