The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1861-06-08
Hoods wit.

We find the grOtcs1uc through Hoods
writings in union with the fantastic and
the fanciful. His fertility in the most IN.
expected analOgieS bccomes to the reader
Of his works 4 matter Of continual won.
der. Strange and curious contrasts and
likencsScS, both mental and verbal, whirh
might never once occur even 10 mind
Of more than common eccrntricltv and
inv, miinn, seem TO have been in his mind
with the ordinary flow of thinking. Plen-
Icons aud sustained, Therefore, as his wit
j., il never ceases to Startlc. We have no
doubt O( his endless resources, and each
new instance brcomcs a New marvel. His
Wit, too, is usually pr, gnant and vital
with force and meaning. In verbal wit he
Las had but few equals, and in punS he
Ens had none lie made the pun an in.
Airun,cnt Of power and havi his wit been
malignant he could have pointed the pun
10 sharpness that would have wounded
deep as thought; and.cduld have adIcda
poison To it that would have kept them
ranking aS long as memory lasted. The
secret of his power in the pun is that he
docs not r, st in the analogy Of sound alone,
hut seeks also for analogy Of significance.
Generally there is q subtle coincidence
between his meaning and what the sound
of the pun signifies, and thus the pun be-
comes an amusing or illustrative image,
or most emphatic and striking condcn-
Sation Of his thought. Take care 0fyOur
ugh." he writes to his engravcr. "lrSt
you 60 10 the cOughy pot, as said before;
but did not say before, that nobody is
20 likely MS wood cngraver TO cut his
stick" Speaking Of his wife, he says,
ITO be sure, She still sticks TO her old
fault Of going to sleep while am dicta.
ting, till VOW to change my tcOmdnuensiS
for mdnuensis." How keenly aud well
the pun serves him in burlesque, in his
comic limitations Of the great morali>t.
lie hits off with inimitnble Tidicule the
great moralisIs dislike to Scotland. Bos-
we'll inquired the Doctors opinion on
illicit diStillation, and how the great NOR
alist would act in an affray between the
smugglcrs aud the excise. "If went by
the letter Of the law, ! should assist the
customs: but according to the spirit, |
should stand 10y the cOntrabandStS"
The Doctor VAS always very satnrical
on the want 0f timber in the NORTH
Sir" said he to the young Lord Of In
combaEy, who was going to join his regi-
Incnt. "may Providence preserve you in
battle, and especially your neither limbs!
You may grow . walking stick here, but
YOU must import q wooden leg" At
Dunsinnane the old prejudice broke out.
Sir" said he to Boswell, Macbeth was
m idiot; he ought to have known that
every wood in Scotland might be carried
in the mans hand The Scotch, sir, are
like the frogs in the fable: If they had
log, they would make king Of it" We
will quote here stanza which contains
quite serious application Of the pun
and for HoOd's purpose no other word
could so happily or so Pungcntly express
bis meaning. The poem is an Address
TO Mrs Fry;" aud the doctrine Of it is,
that it is better and wiser to teach the
young and uncOrrupted that are yet out
side the prison than the vicious and the
hardened who have got inside it. Then
lie goes on:
81 like your chocolate. good Mistress Fry!
like your cookery in every way;
] like your ShrOve.tIde service and supply;
like to hear your sweet Pandeans play;
like the pity in your full brimHed eye;
like your carriage and your silken gray,
Your dOVe-like habits, and your silent preaching,
hut don't like your NewgatOry teaching"