Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1853-10-15

ORIGINALITY Many of the weekly papers of the
day laden with two three columns per week of
what they choose to style wit and Humor" Stale
jokes, centuries old, appear with new captions and
characters, and invite attention as being and
fresh from the mint. The truth is that but small
quantity of genuine wit is aoat in print and of that
small quantity, at least nine tenths must be credited
to the ancients. There is hardly witticism to be
found, "going the round of the newspapers" whose
paternity cannot be traced back to obscure ages be-
fore the Christian era. The smart things which are
fathered upon "Pat or Cuffee" or a Yankee"
Mrs Partington all have their prototypes in the
sayings of "Skolastkos" the buffoon of Greek Lit
erature The mine of wit was well nigh exhausted
at an early day.
1t is equally true that few new ideas are found in
modern writers. There is scarcely thought now
current in the world, whose germ may not be found
either in the Bible or in Shakespeare And if we look
closely shall find that the great dramatist himself
was to no small extent borrower from writers OIL
der than himself The most beautiful of modern
poems are but combinations of ideas world-old,
decked in anew language, and suited to modern
We have just now in our mind poem which has
stamped one OF our countrymen irrevocably man
of genus-a poem, too, of no small merit, and yet
there is not in the whole of it a thought, form
of expression, to which the antecedent cannot be
found in Homer, Horace, Shakespeare.
Originality, then, is almost out of the question.
We have dived into the sea to drag up metaphors
we have scaled mountains to pluck down SMILES, and
having exhausted the whole realm of nature, seem
to have nothing left u.s. but the choice of authors
from whom to steal. The very phrases of literature
have become stereotyped, so that Ounce pro-
duce work nearly excellent the of genius.
The Printing Press has reduced men, Intellectually,
to dead level just fashion makes all coats
of the same cut and color.
Thus mil ht student reason, who had spent his
days in porting the musty tones of library;
and so far his experience goes, he is right. But
there is nevertheless constant bubbling up of ORR
ginal thought, both in country and city, not 1.-THE
of which gets itself uttered in print. Let one
cast off his dignity and mingle with the promiscuous
crowd upon the forward deck of steamer, or with
the laborers line of roilroad and he will find
in five minutes that there is wit, and humor and
pathos, and poetry, that he had conceived Of
Language there walks without stlts in blessed indie
pendence of grammar and dictionary; and unettered
and women will teach the scholar that he is af
ter ALL nothing but the mitator of mitators If he
can but muster courage to break through the tram
mes of habit, custom and authority, and think and
write freely, he. will perhaps, after practice
quire style at once vigorous and original. But if
he continues to pore books till his very thoughts
move to rhythm, and his dreams become grammat-
ical he will nfallibly remain at the dead level of
medocrity-a thinker and writer, published, but
pontless. The field is open for originality. Nature
is beckoning to her children to and interpret
her mysteries Who in this age shall step forth from
the rank of common place writer's and show to
the world that originality of ought and style is yet
possible .Richns0nd Dispatch.