Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1855-02-22

Wit and Humor.
ILLUSTRATED BY ANECDOTES.

ILLUSTRATED BY ANECDOTES.
The wit that makes us laugh most freely,
is that which instantly accepts another man s
premises, and draws conclusion from them
in his own favor. A country gentleman was
once showing his Improvements to the Prince
de Ligne, and among other things pointed out
TO him muddy spot which he called his lake.
1t is rather shallow, is it not,' said the
Prince. 'Iassure you, Prince, man drowned
himself in it,
All, he must have been fatterer, then, ;
answered de Ligne.
Of the same kind is the story told of one of
our old Massachusetts clergynen, DR.. Morse.
At an association dinner, debate arose as to
the benefit of whipping in bringing up chill
dren. The Doctor took the affirmative, and
his chief opponent was young minister whose
reputation for veracity was not very high
He affirmed that parents often did harm to
their children by unjust punishment, from not
knowing the facts of the case. Why said
he, 'the only time my father whipped me was
for telling the truth WELL, retorted the
Doctor, 'it cured you of it, didn't it!' In wit
OF this sort there is latent syllogism.
Then there is the wit which detects an un-
Intentional bit of satire in word of double
meaning as where Sir Henry Wotton takes
advantage of the phrase commonly used in his
day to imply merely residence, and finds an
nndermeaning In it-saying that ambassadors
were persons sent to lie abroad for the service
Of their Prince
Capt. Basil Hall, when he travelled in this
country, found the Yankees people entirely
destitute Of wit and humor. Perhaps our
gravity, which ought to have put him on the
more perfect example of wit than something,
which, as have heard, was said to the cap
tain himself Stopping at village inn there
came up a thunderstorm, and Captain Hall,
surprised that new country should have
reached such perfection in these meteorologic
napufactures, said to by-stander, why, you
have very heavy thunder here We'll, yes, ;
replied the man I'VE da, considerin' the num-
Der of inhabitants Here is another story
which stage-driver told me once IA wag
on the outside of the coach called to man by
the roadside who was fencing in some very
poor land-'l say, mistur, what are you fenc-
ing that pasture for It would take forty
acres ont to starve middle-sized cow sJes
so; and I'm tenciD' of it in to keep eOul
kettle esut y"
Now, IN the forty acres part Of this story
we have an instance of what is called Ameri'
can exaggeration, and which take to be the
symptom of most promise in Yankee fun
For it marks that desire for intensity of ex.
presSpn which is one phase OF Imagination
Indeed, many of these sayings are purely i'm.
aginatiye; as where a man said of painter
he knew, that he painted single SO exactly
like marble, that when it fell into the river 4
sunk A man told me once that the peopl.
of certain country town were so universally
dishonest, that they had to take in their sion,
walls at night
In some of these stories, imagination ap
pears yet more strongly and in that contradic
tory union with the understanding which liel
at the reet Of the highest hamor. For exam
pie, eoachman driving up some mountain
in Vermont, was asked il they were as steel