Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1868-04-17
OLD NEW JOKES.

utcd TO the -iryosy by DR.. Doran, from
which wo extract few passages
"'Thcrc IS nothing now under tho
sum-" ana that wcll-uscd remark was
probably, itself without novelty when
it became pat Of tho chronicle from
which we derive it. There is moth
ing new under tho sun, not cvcn our
Jokes, nor oar fairy stories, nor our
legends. They all como to US. more
Or less, from the East.
J "Wo asci'ibo to Theodore Hook
tho merit Of m'schiovous originality
IN tho 'Berncrs street Hoax where.
BY he brought Il thousand or two Of
people, besides horses and carriages,
into ono street, and making toward
ono. house, atonc and the samo mo-
mcnt. Now, tho honor of originality
in this matter belongs to ono Ciphis-
odorua, who advertised for thousands
Ct day l"bo:crs to repair to 4 certain
street in .Egypt, at Il certain hour
This was enjoyed from n SECURE hi
dinS-placc all the fun he expected
from witnessing tho confusion in q
narrow street caused by crowds Of
disappointed men fighting their way
! out against crowds of hopeful men
fighting their way in.
"Thcrc is scarcclya q modern illus
tration Of witty or humorous Irish
simplicity which is not, at least, as
old ss tho Planton,c philosopher Of
Alexandria, Hleroclcs, who lvod five
centuries before the Christian era.
At that carly period mon laughed
ut the sin'plcton who resolved never
10 go in the water till ho had learn cd
TO swim; or at him who wished him
self as speechlcss as tho sick man from
whom he could obtain no reply, in Or
der that hc might return Tho inValid's
incivility; or at the other who at
tempted 10 keep his horse alive with
out food, and who failed Just at tho
momont of success by tho obstinate
brute dying. Greeks laughed, long
before 1rishmen, at their respectively
alleged tollow-countryman who car
rlcd i brick about as sample Of the
house he had to sell. The Hibernian
who shut his eyes before a looking-
glass, that he might SEQ how lie look
cd whom Lo was asleep; who
bought a crow, to test tho truth
OF his assertion that tho bird lived u
couple Of centuries; who in a ship
wreck, c!ung to an anchor, to save
himself from drowning; and who res
marked 10 q friend who reasonably
denied the asserted fact of his repor-
ted death, that the fact had been
vouched for Ly ono who was moro
worthy of credit than he who dcnou
it-tLat uikernian is an old Crock in
modern guise, and tho Greek, as in
tho story Of Amphitryon; is believed
into be dcbted TO lIindoo prodcccs,
sor, who may, probably, turn and
'CAin, chin {" to original inventor of
tho story in Pckin.
"Thcre would roally seem to be
nothing now; tramways are found in
Thebcs and Memphis; tho balloon
dics in idea through many a classical
story tho telegraph under another
form, flashed Intelligence from one
district TO another of tho anciont
world and even our choicest classi-
cal traditions have various homes.
When Europeans first arrived among
Now Zcalanders, they found Hero and
LeanGor a local legend, with tho
slight difference that it was tho lady
who dashed through tho flood to meet
the dusky lover, who quietly held tho
lamp to guido her to. tho trusting
place. So .'.'' '-.,' ''..
=" "rbere is something very singular
in the way in which errors still spring
up, like woods, on ,tho spot where the
original seed was sown. Not many
months ago, tho ZInaes' correspondent
iq. Paris eommunicaled to that paper
tho translation Of a letter which had
just appeared in. y French provincial
journal, as an ILLUSTRATION OF tho sim
plicity Of tho moderd Gaul. The
sample was afforded by letter alleg-
cdiy written by soldier in hospital to-
bis colonel, who had sent the news
Of his fathers DEATH. THE soldiers
epistle was to this effect: Colonel: l
thaDkyou for the dsuth Of my fathor
Tvs an incident, like any other; lot
US hope, howevor, that it will have no
bad consequences. :. T have just
brokon my log, with which I have,
the honor to bo your very obcdicnt
servantp Now, this sample Of mod
srn French simplicity and humor is
as Old as the. oldest. French jss,:book,
and shat y yi|l give # On nas ego Of Of several "