n; if
we laugh at them, we are equally entitled to laugh at their author.
This latter condition, however, is not indispensable, since the saying
or expression has a comic virtue of its own. This is proved by the fact
that we find it very difficult, in the majority of these cases, to say
whom we are laughing at, although at times we have a dim, vague feeling
that there is some one in the background.

Moreover, the person implicated is not always the speaker. Here it
seems as though we should draw an important distinction between the
WITTY (SPIRITUEL) and the COMIC. A word is said to be comic when it
makes us laugh at the person who utters it, and witty when it makes us
laugh either at a third party or at ourselves. But in most cases we can
hardly make up our minds whether the word is comic or witty. All that
we can say is that it is laughable.

Before proceeding, it might be well to examine more closely what is
meant by ESPRIT. A witty saying makes us at least smile; consequently,
no investigation into laughter would be complete did it not get to the
bottom of the nature of wit and throw light on the underlying idea. It
is to be feared, however, that this extremely subtle essence is one
that evaporates when exposed to the light.

Let us first make a distinction between the two meanings of the word
wit ESPRIT, the broader one and the more restricted. In the broader
meaning of the word, it would seem that what is called wit is a certain
DRAMATIC way of thinking. Instead of treating his ideas as mere
symbols, the wit sees them, he hears them and, above all, makes them
converse with one another like persons. He puts them on the stage, and
himself, to some extent, into the bargain. A witty nation is, of
necessity, a nation enamoured of the theatre. In every wit there is
something of a poet--just as in every good reader there is the making
of an actor. This comparison is made purposely, because a proportion
might easily be established between the four terms. In order to read
well we need only the intellectual side of the actor's art; but in
order to act well one must be an actor in all one's soul and body. In
just the same way, poetic creation calls for some degree of
self-forgetfulness, whilst the wit does not usually err in this
respect. We always get a glimpse of the latter behind what he says and
does. He is not wholly engrossed in the business, because he only
brings his intelligence into play. So any poet may reveal h