To all this is to be added, that either _Gallantry, Raillery_,
_Humour_, _Satire_, _Ridicule_, _Sarcasms_, or other Subjects, are
generally blended with WIT; It has been for want of this Discovery,
and of a proper Separation of these Subjects, that the Attempts which
have hitherto been made to _define_ WIT, have been all involv'd and
overwhelm'd in Perplexity; For the different Mixtures of these foreign
Ingredients with WIT, have discover'd such various and opposite
_Colours_ and _Substances_, as were impossible to be comprehended in
one certain steady _Definition_;--Whereas _pure_ WIT alone, constantly
appears in _one uniform_ Manner; which is, _In the _quick Elucidation_
of one Subject, by _unexpectedly_ exhibiting its _Agreement_ or
_Contrast_ with another Subject_.
It is proper in this Place, to distinguish between WIT, SIMILES,
and METAPHORS. SIMILES, though they _illustrate_ one Subject, by
_arranging_ it with another Subject, are yet different from WIT,
as they want its _sudden_ and _quick Elucidation_.
Again; In WIT, the _Elucidation_ is thrown only upon _one_ Point of a
Subject; or if more Points be _elucidated_, they are so many different
Strokes of WIT;--Whereas every SIMILE touches the Subject it
_illustrates_ in _several Points_.
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