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