A Common Lyar (says the Old Moral) shall not be Believ’d, even when he
speaks True: But there’s a Great deal more in’t, of which hereafter.
There’s not One Man of a Thousand that Understands the Just, the Safe,
Warrantable, Decent, and Precise Limits, of that which we call Bantering,
or Fooling: But it is either too Course, too Rude, too Churlish, too
Bitter, too Much on’t, too Pedantique, too fine, out of Measure, or out
of Season. Now the Least Errour or Mistake in the Manage of This Humour,
lays People Open to Great Censure and Reproche. It is not Every Man’s
Talent to know When and How to Cast out a Pleasant Word, with such a
Regard to Modesty and Respect, as not to Transgress the True, and Fair
Allowances of Wit, Good Nature, and Good Breeding. The Skill and Faculty
of Governing This Freedom within the Terms of Sobriety and Discretion,
Goes a Great Way in the Character of an Agreeable Conversation; for
That which we call Raillery, in This Sense, is the very Sawce of
Civil Entertainment: And without some such Tincture of Urbanity, even
in Matters the most Serious, the Good Humour Flattens, for want of
Refreshment and Relief: But there’s a _Medium_ yet betwixt _All-Fool_,
and _All-Philosopher_. I mean, a Proper and a Discreet Mixture, that in
some sort Partakes of Both, and renders Wisdom it self so much the more
Grateful, and Effectual. The Gravity, in short, of the One, is Enliven’d
with the Spirit and Quickness of the Other; and the Gayety of a Diverting
Word serves as a Vehicle to Convey the Force of the Intent, and Meaning
of it. But the Main Drift at last of this Fable, is to shew us the
Dangerous Consequences of an Improper and an Unseasonable Fooling: With
All Respect however to the Ornament and Advantage of a Facetious Freedom
of Discourse, within the Compass of Sobriety and Honour. To Conclude; The
_Shepherd’s Boy_ went too far upon the Topique that he did not Understand.