Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1863-04-25
MEMPHIS, March q, 1863.

a Capital Jeu D'Esprit
The following jsa d'sspr;t is taken from a lat,
English paper. The writer is evidently al
American. We give his Introductory commu
niestion:
To the Editor OF the Liverpool Mereury:
/ GENTLEMEN: As the political comm0tion in
the United States is ovet, and everything is
! quiet, thought would send you 2 specimen
j Of political csmmOtion which sometimes hap
pen at particular places. The following is what
/ picked up in my FIVE years sojourn in Cali
iornia. It was repeated at a regular DciaO-
/ cratic meeting which occurred in the State II
/ you consider il sufficiently amusing, you nlxv
| iasert it in your paper for the qualification of
yeur readers. Yours, etc, CAL.
Al the marine monsters, big fish and small
fry Of the great deep, lately Tae5 in g ccn0eatj0a
to take into consideration the conduct Of the
! ocean, and also of mankind 10 general. Ths
Whale was elected president, and from his great
ness might be termed the Prince Of WAales He
opened the eOzDsHtiOE by stating tbs. he did not
wish to MAKE q speech, be would take 10 as
little room and be no longer than possible.
[Cheers.
The s1ark whispered to the swordfsh that it
was not possible for the Whale TO be mach
longer, for be was eighty feet now; in his opin-
ion be only wanted chance to spout, and he
conVideTed him regular old blower.
The Whale contended that, notwithstanding
his general size, Chs might add tssTs,) he was
not exempt from suffering. He had been grossly
iusulted by mamie would say lampOonod; not
that he would pun upon the use made Of his fat,
as he did not wish TO make tigAt Of such mat
ter. He had been harpooned st least. Men
we've sarcastic toward him, and his shafts were
sharp and pointed. Some of his fellow whales
had been very much cut up, and exceedingly
irtd He had lately learned that a substitute
for oil had been invented, which might Lessen
the persecution Of whales but he feared it was
all gas. The Whale alluded to q harpoon which
hsd lately bit him; it had made great impress
sion on him, and he feared had affected him
deeply. Great sensation. Here bis feelings
overpoW6Ted him, and hs sat down Con the
Shark,) amid q great blu5ber.
The Shark rose with soma difficulty, and re-
marked that the tail Of tbs whsls had moved
him; in fact, it was very striking. His ewn
situation was far from pleasant. He was by
profession a lawyer, and he hatte5ed himself
one of the deep kind. lCheers aud laughter.
But business was bsd, aad had bson obliged to
take few pupils. He had lately presentsd q /
Gne opening for young man who fell 0Usrb0ari
but was soon sftarward obliged to reject his
suit as indigestible. Unless he had more cases !
he should leave the law, and open as 3 dentist,
SIS he was well acquainted with the art Of set
ting teeth. lie held up one in as a signal that
be had flashed.
The Sea Serpent cid not wish to inirude upon |
the convention, as he did net know whether he |
properly belonged to the fish tribe-did not
wish to appear Of fish OEs All he asked was to /
be classified with the Eal, whom he considered |
q slippery charectsr. Here the Eel was OBJ |
served to w1iggle. Lately be was passing q |
certain species Of the Eel, when he Just hsp- |
pened to touch him; he had been so shocked /
that he hsd hardly recovered.
The Eel hastily arose, and said he was eloctri-
fed at these remarks: it was evident that toe /
Serpent was more than half seas over, aud, if he 4
was not careful, would get himself into a regu- /
lar coil. AS for his being 'slippery chsrac-
tor" be thanked NeptRne he did not belong to 1
such sealy set as the Ssrpsnt.
The Whele called the Eel to order, and The |
Eel called the Whale a confounded Old swell
head and was then summarily put out Of the
The Turtls was suffering from slight indis-
position. He was walking ashors, some time
since, when he met party Of jolly young sail
ors The result was that he was laid Fat on his
back and was unable to movo for some time,
and since, he had not felt as lively as usual.
There was one thing to which be would call tho
attention of the convention. He pTidsd himself
upon tho purity of his political principles; he
was the alderman's best friend. The Shark had
lately insultsd him by calling him a regular
Here the Shark interrupted him BY asking if
that was not his case
The Turtle replied that he should cay nothing
more at present, but should have something to
lag before the next meeting.
The Shark, (contemptuouslys) yes tci0 eggs
probably.
The Porpoise did not exactly understand the
purpose of the convention, nor whether all the
members were present. TIE Secretary called
tho roll. The Whale called him to order, and
was sorry to see him Teeling about in that dis
graceful condition. His motion was quite out
Of order, and he appeared to be attempting to
pet up revolution. The POTp0ise assured the
convention thst his movements proceeded en-
lirely from the motion of the waves: but stiil
be should have his motion. BE then took
back seat amid cries Of 'gOa're a JLOl0sr"
The President remarked that he should be
happy to hser from soms Of the small fTy-the
oyster, lobster and others; who, if not the "bone
and sinew" Of the tribe, were st least the mus
eles.
The oyster proceeded to open his case, which
Gos 8 hard one. He was continually in trouble
md always in sOme stew or brol. BE had
ismily troubles, sl-o; his half brother, the Clam,
was q disgrace to the family, always IN liquor,
and generally considered squirt" Some of
bis family are very lazy, and spend most Of
.heir time in beds. There had also beea soma
-skes among them, ereatizg great disturbance.
He was most respectable himself; his father
was quite distinguished, and his maternal an
seslor was hfothsr Of Pearl. He went in for his
1wn rights, and did not care whether tho rest
rot theirs or not
The S5sd, too, in bis spring migrsiions up the
rivers, had been greatly prosecuted, particularly
BY the members Of the Legislature. Men had
greatly method him, ana had neaTly driven him
insane. He was a superstidOus fish, and most
lnlucEy day to him was Friday. However, he
thought bis enemies had suffered somewhat IN
he warfare, aud found his tail regular Bony-
1srte.
The Flatfsh was not particularly fsttering in
-eply to the Shad, for he did not believe there
was a shadow of truth in his remarks.
The Salmon, also had his troubles. He was
an aristocrat-( here there was a general turning
I'D of noses, and some httering)-not Of the
,odfsh kind either, and did not associate with
he small fry. He spent most of his time in
travelling, and in summer went up the inland
.ivers, and took bis family to the springs and
The falls. He had been lately much afflicted and
grossly msltreated at the South. Passing up
he Savannah river his family had been sur
rounded by party Of Infamous kidnaPpeTs,
as