This was acting, but not like the acting of the stage.

He was in transports, and self-satisfaction at his own judgment mingled pleasantly with his admiration.
In this cheerful exhibition, one joined not--Mr.Cibber.

His theories had received a shock (and we all love our theories).

He himself had received a rap--and we don't hate ourselves.
Great is the syllogism! But there is a class of arguments less vulnerable.
If A says to B, "You can't hit me, as I prove by this syllogism" (here followeth the syllogism), "and B, _pour toute reponse,_ knocks A down such a whack that he rebounds into a sitting posture; and to him the man, the tree, the lamp-post and the fire-escape become not clearly distinguishable; this barbarous logic prevails against the logic in Barbara, and the syllogism is in the predicament of Humpty Dumpty.

In this predicament was the Poet Laureate.