The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-07-23
j H 9TS.'

| FROM ne london Athengun.
Under the reign of the father OF the mad Mace
| doniAn, club Was established in the temple Of
| HerculCs, at Athens, whose members were all
| wits and j0kers. They met tor the express pur-
| pose OF not only saying good things, but Of Gu
| terDg al they said in a book. The process was
one much more liBely TO promote dullness than
| jocularity never theless, good volume came of
| it-oBe 20 highly przed that King Philip himself
| gave a sum equivalent to two hundred pounds
| sterling only 10 he permitted 10 read il. This
| collection was the father of the vast family OF
| textbooks, and the seed whence spraug the
gCodly crop of lending or circulating libraries.
| From the number Of members who cOntri5u'ed
70 it, IL was called the Book of the Sixty, and the
jokes it contained became at last, by constant
iteration, used, abused, aud worn TO rags, that
the telling Of Que OF them WAS met by coudcm-
nntory cry from the hearers "An Old Sixty"
just as in these times we make particular objec-
We may very well imagine that many Of these
Old Sixties have really been converted into Old
JOes. Even the fashion introduced some years
since of writing comic histories OF serious sub
jects is only the reintroducton of an old idea.
haireas the AleXandTian was the inventor of this
feat iD literature. His Comic Natural History"
contains inquiries into such matters as "Why
the swans never get drunk with drinking;' or
"WhethCr the sun, when he sets In The sea, does
not set off swimming;" and the like.
There are some witty stories of so thoroughly
IoBt' Christian character that inquiry about
them would seem TO lie superfuous. But they
all know the tale Of the oDe.eyed simpleton dis
putting with the metaphysician. by signs, as nei-
tber understood the language of the other. The
sage, at the close of the controversy, was de-
lighted with the acuteness of his opponent. II
held up finger, said he, ITO assert that there
was oLc God whereupon he held up two, Itn-
plying thrt there were Son and Father; and
whCn raised three, to symbolic the Trinity,
be doubied up his hand u show that tho three
wore but as one.
The Onc-eyed simplcton had another version
of the discussion. "That rude fellow" he said,
''put mp ore finger, as mockiDg my single eye;
but put up couple OF fingers TO show thlt my
one was as good US Lis two wherrat he extended
three fingers, meaning that there were hut three
eyes between us; and that made me double my
fist az him, as watnOg that would knock him
Gown FIR his rudonesS D." Most mrdern write
date this story from Rabelnis, where there is one
very nearly resembling it; some few derive il
fIom the accomplished iurist, Accursus; while
foIcalulus, learned writer on law, asserts that
the story is true, but OF age long anterior TO
| tie Christian ern.
According 10 this writer, and tO make his very
| long story short, the Romans, wishing to make
| sport Of an ambassador from Greece, who came
| on 2 question touching the Laws Of the Twelve
| Tables, sent an envoy to discuss the moter with
| b m, whOse plain Instructions were that he was
| TO be silent, and argue only by signs. The
| Greek, Therefore, took our friend for a Py ha-
| gOIean, and he raised finger, "a much AS TO
| say, there is only ono principle of nature in
the universe The Roman, taking this flr a
menace, held out two fingers and a thumb, in
| tending TO fake thC Creek by the nose; hut the
| latter stepped back admiring!y, and exclaimed,
| "He shows me the Pyth9g0Tean 1rias, the triple
God in Cnci" and herewith the Greek extended
The Hat Of his hand denotDg that the Trias was
tho "phQlaer OF ali things. The other, taking the
| =~..st. ..>rs y aasau,', ..-.-~,. =. . '''
! pA and awaited the coming OF the Greek. Per
feet cried the ambassador from Athens. 1T
Is true the divine supporter OF all things IS in
himself al-mightyp N@%, ID F"riatulus be
right, tlis was the o.igin Of the well
CstiDg story, to which a Christian colOring hli
| b,en given. We are not, however, to conclude
that where Jesting incidents resemble each othei
they are necessarily one and the same, the earlier
| date ti1iug the origin.
| We do rot suppose that Theodore Hook, wheT
be perptiratcd mis- famous Bcrners street IIo X,
| by which he pct hundreu5 OF anu, peCting people
| into that Srt cl at one moment, had ever heard o
CepbisodOrus, and yet this very early clus5ica
geutl man "did the BvTncrs street hoax lonl
before Theodore, by hiring hundreds Of day
labOTtrs, and Swing them Tup' Z9Ous IN such
LarrOw ttrttt tha, il became alt gelher hl0ckc,
mp. 10 the rreat delight OF CGphisodorus, wh
Looked on from q h'dng-phce.
| II We CEBIuiue the geography and chrOnOlOg
Il hish samples Of jokes al simplemiuded hi
| hCIIi us, We shAll fad that they hllnng neitle
10 Ireland or 70 an Irish era, For example
The tmid lri'hman Who protested that be w0ul
| never 90 into the water till no had learned Q
swim; or he who, being unable o set a repl
Iom a stk mar, wished himself 10 be 81 * au
sen,tless that be might return the ncivility
or ho who wished TO teach his horse TO y
On nothing, and wondered at the beast dyi,
just Us the experiment was on the point
succeCdngi these, with the lriShman who ca
! ried about brick rs a sample OF the house
had 10 sell and that other, who stood with h
| eyes closed before glass; in order that he migl
see how he looked when he was asleep; OF VIII
bought crow, 20 find out If il would live, as
was said 70 do, couple Of hundred years
OF who, in shipwreck, seeing every on
| lay hold OF some object whereby 70 be save
took hold, for his part, of the anchor. A
these, and very many more Of the like qualit.
are time-honorcd jokes, nearly two thOusau
four hundred years old. That time, at least, hi
elapsed since they were given 10 the world /
tic "As'eia' Of Hierocles, with his TenownC
, ! SchOlastikos for the hero Of every one Of then
Many, TOO, Of the ests in the volume before
/ are TO be found in the collection Of the PlatOn
= philosopher who taught at Alexandria nearly Il,
hundred years before the Chrstiin era. Tn
Hieroclcs derived them from the hast We do IA
| doubt, but il is vain TO inquire whence came sue
r | a man as he who said 10 q friend :''I heard 70
4 were dead" and when the friend denied q
, truth of the report, replied :-"Sure, he who to
| ne was more worthy Of belief than you are
| The story Is Irish, Greek, HindoO, Chinese; bl
its age is not 10 be determined
Wapole's jest-bOOk has not been pubishe
| nor Is IL likely 10 be. We have seen il ia mauu
! | script; and the only fault that we find with
Is that the s'Ores will not bear publication Tho
| are marvellous, however, as social illustrator
a Of the tines. What jokes could be written az
= publ, ,hGd Walpole has inserted in his letter
out Of which alone capital jest-bOok might
y complied. What Walpoe did indseriminatell
2 O'neiS are al least justified in doing with discr
J. jest Book The Choicest Anecdotes and Saying
"NN @'1~1s'ap by Mara Lemon. AaemllAn q q