. Thackerayana;. of a play, will find me so farin the right that a double entendre strikes the first row into anaffected gravity, or careless indolence; the second will venture ata smile; but the third take the conceit entirely, and express theirmirth in a downright laugh. When I descend to particulars, I find the reserved prude willrelapse into a smile at the extravagant freedoms of the coquette,the coquette in her turn laughs at the starchness and awkwardaffectation of the prude ; the man of letters is tickled with thevanity and ignorance of the fop, and the fop confesses his ridiculeat the
. Thackerayana;. of a play, will find me so farin the right that a double entendre strikes the first row into anaffected gravity, or careless indolence; the second will venture ata smile; but the third take the conceit entirely, and express theirmirth in a downright laugh. When I descend to particulars, I find the reserved prude willrelapse into a smile at the extravagant freedoms of the coquette,the coquette in her turn laughs at the starchness and awkwardaffectation of the prude ; the man of letters is tickled with thevanity and ignorance of the fop, and the fop confesses his ridiculeat the unpoliteness of the pedant. I fancy we may range the several kinds of laughers under thefollowing heads :— The Dimplers, The Laughers, The Smilers, The Grinners, The Horse-laughers. The Dimple is practised to give a grace to the features, and isfrequently made a bait to entangle a gazing lover. This wascalled by the ancients the Chian laugh. 1 The Smile is for the most part confined to the fair sex, and THE GUARDIAN: 283 male retinue. It expresses our satisfaction in a silent sort of ap-probation, doth not too much disorder the features, and is practisedby lovers of the most delicate address. This tender motion of thephysiognomy the ancients called the Ionic laugh. The Laugh among us is the common risus of the ancients. The Grin, by writers of antiquity, is called the Syncrusian, andwas then, as it is at this time, made use of to display a beautifulset of teeth. The Horse-laugh, or the Sardonic, is made use of with greatsuccess in all kinds of disputation. The proficients in this kind,by a well-timed laugh, will baffle the most solid argument. Thisupon all occasions supplies the want of reason, is always receivedwith great applause in coffee-house disputes ; and that side thelaugh joins with is generally observed to gain the better of hisantagonist. The prude hath a wonderful esteem for the Chian laugh, orDimple ; she looks upon all the other kinds of laughter as exce
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