Less obvious than the common
wit of the world, it excited thought and refined it--one of the
highest characteristics of this faculty.
"Lady Morley bore off the palm among the 'witty women' of the day.
She was never 'willing to wound.' Her printed pieces, though short
and scattered, attest the rare merits of her humour. The 'Petition
of the Hens of Great Britain to the House of Commons against the
Importation of French eggs,' is an excellent specimen of them."
In corroboration of this view of the different complexion of men's
humour I may mention that in the course of this work I have often had
the sayings of various wits intermixed and have always been able easily
to assign each to its author.
Considering the great diversity in the appreciation of the ludicrous,
the question arises is it merely a name for many different emotions, or
has it always some invariable character. To decide this we may ask the
question, Is one kind of humour better than another? Practically the
answer is given every day, one saying being pronounced "good" if not
"capital," and another "very poor," or a "mild" joke; and when we see
humour varying with education, and with the ages of men and nations, we
cannot but suppose that there are gradations of excellence in it.
Now, if we allow generally this ascending scale in the ludicrous, we
admit a basis of comparison, and consequently a link between the various
circumstances in which it is found.
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