The weekly American banner. (Yazoo City, Miss.) 1855-18??, 1855-08-24
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t. Celebrated VII snd humofist M Sd !
hey Smith. has given % analysis 81 Nh ikom which
We learn, firstly. that "surprlJs = - mild ~
gredient d wiz secondly that TIE 5eatfon ~
tween ideAs which excite surprise, III order 10 b
witty, must not excite any feeling u ths bsaufi-
fals Again, hsexpresses Il thus, that wit y
produced By those relAtions between d1ns which
sxcite surprise, ana surprise only he sams
writer says that carcasm (which Is another spo.
cies Of witt generally consists iathe obliquay d
the invective. It must not be DIR assertion,
but something established BY inference and anal
Ogy; something which the mind does not At irst
perceive. but in the discovery Of which It experen
Co the pleasure ofsarprise. A true sarcasm i
like sword-stick, appears at first night, to be
much more innocent than Il really is, till, oil Of
sudden there leaps something out Of it-sharp. and
deadly. and incisive-which makes you trembIe
and recoil"
Z This much we have quoted preliminary to few
remarks on the last efnsion Of sOne OF the Com
mittse." This article might be viewed in several
aspects. We might comment on its fairness and
forexamples we might cite that we are represents
ed q saying we had never been q Wing; that we
would nave voted for Mr.. Clay Tor made him
president as zone Of the Committee" expresses i'll
but for our homage: that we had modestly placed
ourself upon an equality with Mr.. Clay, BY con
trasting II ereatasss and renosen, with our own
hun and obscure position; that we said we
would be . Democrat. if thereby we could secure
the destruction Of the Constitution and every right
which it guarantees;' and various other things
which have no foundation in truth.
These gross miAtatements and misrepresenta-
tions, together with the unfounded insinuation
that we have 'stooped" to assail private charac-
ter, we pass over, because, in looking over the
names of the committee we cannot find One Of
whom we are unwilling to believe that be would
wilfully persert almost every sentence Of our ar.
ticle we therefore prefer attributng his errors tc
that partizan blindness which also offers itsel
for consideration blindness that prevented him
from perceivng any neaning at all in our FIRST ar
,ticle, which nevertheless he condescended to an
J misconceive the plain meaning Of our second arti
Gle; and which leads him to the conclusions tba
the &. n faction, as be is pleased to cali the A
.;sgi isa party, SIS of the relics Of tin
old federal and the dregs, scum, and filth, Of al
othes parties, and especially the old Whig.party
q blindness which caused him in advance Of an,
reliable report, to decide that in the deplorabl
riots in Louisville, his own countrym alone wer
3 criminal, and their opponents we're prosecuted
: Indeed the view which he takes of the whole sub
ject aud his style of treating it. place "One of th
Committee before the public in the attitude q
the youth, who having a curiosity to see wha
was going OH in chamber, walked up to tn
i window on his hands, and peeped IN ruth h
9 heels.
We might notice also that in his disgust fc
our .mik and water effusion 10 One OF the Con
9 mittee" has discarded from his own illusions a
:. ingredients as clean as milk or water. And,
d passing we win r mark that we will continue I
! give our readers Dater from the pure fountain
truth, mingled with the ''miik of human Kindness
e which seems to be unknown to Zone ofthe Con
Il mittee." We might notice farther, that @One
:. the Committee" speaks of our infancy in sue
trims of contempt as might induce one to suppo
. ne had never experienced such thing as ch,l
iooi, though the whole tenor his datr;l
-yinces that heis at last entering npon the enjo
l. nent of all butts inEoQence. We might COZ
nent on the style of the several illusions of 'sO
's { the Committee and show that they pose
/ uch characteristics as will lead the future ant
4 luarian TO the conclusion that zone Of the Cor
,e nittee" had graduated witllgthe first honors in
ish market. -
p These things we might notice. but. we prefer
y notice the wa Of the last article Of "Oae of Il
Committee" Here we might select many e
. amples, but we omit what 10 said about ia,
!: and infumy. which belongs to that class of W
= 50 familiar with School boys, which is general
e. couched in the expression "You are another
pc We might examine the rich vein of wit <Rhi,
), is hid beneath the assertion that ga trial By
spsction'' would result in our being declared
N infant snosc, hence oracard, and foreuermo,
ne though our years might reach those of Methusak
in which the itasiss have much to do with {
To- point. We pass to the following example. 1T
illusions which emanate from his pen, II We,
" say brain, il he had any) are conclusive" &
It Ire is the master stroke Of wit, modesty
liz within the enclosure Of parentheses! He no,
III say bra n. If zoe had nny! We find here all {
II surprise necessary to comply with the first
" QUESTION of Sydney Smith. It would be van
Ne perhaps, to suppose that our readers will be 81
to prised to hear that our seffusions' emanate OF
NJ from our pen, and that we have no bran;
4. leaving that out of the account, it will certain
excite great surprise that man of such abil
ste as 'sOne of the Committee should consent
all run an intellectual tit against one who has
brain. The next requisite of wit as specif
by Rev Sydney Smith WILDE found, not Of
in this example but in all the productions Of |
ready pen OF One Of the Committee" I'll
Ter are entirely free fram any thing which may {
az cite any feeling Of the beautiful The exa
tie pls which we have selected belongs to that 81
Il. cies ofwit which SCALED ga sarcasm" and
he one can fail to perceive the delicate "obliqsl