med
"epidexioi", dexterous Men
The Greek _may_ read "epidezioi"; the letter-form makes it
uncertain.

page 14: ... without any Reference to their whimsical _Oddities_
or _Foibles_;
Text reads _Oddistie_.

page 20 and elsewhere: "Biass" is an attested variant spelling;
it has not been changed.

page 25: "teizes" (modern "teases") is an attested variant spelling;
it has not been changed.

page 40: --It is therefore no wonder that Signior _Don Quixote of
la Mancha_ ...
Text reads _Quoxote_. ]

* * * * *
* * * *
* * * * *

An
ESSAY

Towards Fixing the
TRUE STANDARDS
of
WIT, HUMOUR, RAILLERY,
SATIRE, and RIDICULE.

To which is Added, an
ANALYSIS
Of the CHARACTERS of

An HUMOURIST, Sir John Falstaff,
Sir Roger De Coverly,
and Don Quixote.

Inscribed to the RIGHT HONORABLE
ROBERT Earl of ORFORD.

By the AUTHOR of a
LETTER from a BY-STANDER.

---- _Jacta est Alea_.

LONDON:

Printed for J. ROBERTS, at the Oxford-Arms,
in Warwick-lane; and W. BICKERTON,
in the Temple-Exchange, near the
Inner-Temple-Gate, Fleet-Street.

M DCC XLIV. [Price 2s.]

* * * * *

INTRODUCTION.

An Attempt to _describe_ the precise _Limits_ of WIT, HUMOUR,
RAILLERY, SATIRE and RIDICULE, I am sensible, is no easy or slight
Undertaking. To give a _Definition_ of WIT, has been declared by
Writers of the greatest Renown, to exceed their Reach and Power; and
Gentlemen of no less Abilities, and Fame, than _Cowley_, _Barrow_,
_Dryden_, _Locke_, _Congreve_, and _Addison_, have tryed their Force
upon this Subject, and have all left it free, and unconquered. This,
I perceive, will be an Argument with some, for condemning an _Essay_
upon this Topic by a young Author, as rash and presumptious. But,
though I desire to pay all proper Respect to these eminent Writers,
if a tame Deference to great Names shall become fashionable, and the
Imputation of Vanity be laid upon those who examine their Works, all
Advancement in Knowledge will