s upon any Occasion, but he has here absolutely
mistaken his work; for instead of exhibiting the Properties of WIT in
a clearer Light, and confuting the _false Claims_ which are made to
it, he has made it his whole Business to perplex it the more, by
introducing, from all Corners, a monstrous Troop of new unexpected
_Pretenders_.

_Dryden_, in the Preface to his _Opera_, entitled, _The State of
Innocence_, or _Fall of Man_, gives the following _Decree_ upon WIT.
The _Definition of WIT_, (which has been so often attempted, and
ever unsuccessfully by many Poets) is only this: That it is _a
Propriety of Thoughts and Words; or in other Terms, Thoughts and
Words elegantly adapted to the Subject_.

If Mr. _Dryden_ imagined, that he had succeeded _himself_ in this
_Definition_, he was extremely mistaken; for nothing can be more
distant from the Properties of WIT, than those he describes. He
discovers no Idea of the _Surprize_, and _Brilliancy_ of WIT, or of
the sudden _Light_ thrown upon a Subject. Instead of once pointing at
these, he only describes the Properties of clear _Reasoning_, which
are _a Propriety of Thoughts and Words_;--Whereas WIT, in its sudden
_Flashes_, makes no Pretension to _Reasoning_; but is perceived in the
pleasant _Surprize_ which it starts, and in the _Light_ darted upon
a Subject, which instantly vanishes again, without abiding a strict
Examination.

The other Definition he gives, which is, _Thoughts and Words elegantly
adapted to the Subject_, is very different from the former, but
equally unhappy.

For _Propriety_, in _Thoughts_ and _Words_, consists in exhibiting
_clear, pertinent Ideas_, in _precise_ and _perspicuous Words_.

Whereas ELEGANCE consists in the _compt_, _well pruned_ and _succinct
Turn_ of a Subject.

The Object of the _First_, is to be _clear_, and _perspicuous_; whence
it often appears in pursuit of these, not _compt_ or _succinct_:
Whereas the _Essence_ of ELEGANCE is to be _compt_ and _succinct_,
for the Sake of which Ornaments it often neglect _Perspicuity_, and
_Clearness_.--In short, a _Propriety_ of Thoughts and Words, may
subsist without any _Elegance_; as an _Elegance_ of Thoughts and Words
may appear without a perfect _Propriety_.

The last _Definition_, as it is thus very different from the former is
also equally unhappy: For ELEGANCE is no _essential_ Property of WIT.
_Pure_ WIT resulting solely from the _quick Elucidation_ of one
Subject, by the sud