o difficult; it would
not, therefore, have excited, in any manner, the risible faculty. Had
it been an ox, it would have {110}connected with it the idea of too much
fury and devastation to entertain with the picture. But choosing a blind
horse, who, from his loss of sight and natural docility, may be
easily supposed to be led into such a situation; the mind adopts the
credibility, and enjoys the whimsical and mischievous consequence, while
it condemns the folly and puerility of the Blood who occasioned it.
It is this peculiar faculty of choice of subjects, situation, and
assemblage, which constitutes the excellence of a humorist, which
Stevens possessed in a most eminent degree; for he displays it in almost
every line of his Lecture. Indeed, in this art we know of none superior
to him, except it be Shakespeare in some of his comedies, which are
inimitable in every thing which relates to the _vis comica_. With
respect to the characters of this Lecture, they are such as will be
found to exist with human nature; except a few, who are described as
the devotees to particular fashions; and such will always be found while
vanity, luxury, and dissipation, exist in society. Therefore, from this
universality of character, his Lecture will ever be worthy the
perusal of every person who would wish to avoid being contemptible or
ridiculous: for {111}there is no person but may be liable to some vice
or folly, which he will find exposed by this masterly, pleasant, and
original, satirist.

His characters compose every part of the community. The old and young,
rich and poor, male and female, married and unmarried, and those
of every learned and unlearned profession, are the subjects of his
whimsical, yet judicious and pertinent, censure.

Having thus made some general remarks on the wit, humour, and character,
of this Lecture, it only remains for us to say a few words on its
apparatus. This was merely the picturesque part of the satire, which
gave that effect to the _tout ensemble_, which it would not otherwise
have produced as a representation. It was by this appendage that Mr.
Stevens was enabled to afford entertainment for nearly three hours
without a change of person, although he changed his appearance. The
apparatus was not only an ornament, but a visible illustration of what
would otherwise have been only mental. It was, therefore, indispensable
as a stage exhibition; for, to entertain an audience, the sight must be
exercised as