New-York tribune., 1868-07-31
THE FUNNY JOURNALS.


Upon examining number of the pr0fessedly
comic newspapers which are printed in London,
we have been surprised to observe how little
wit or even humOr appears TO satisfy the En-
glish public. We have found in Punch, in The
Olcl, in The TomdhdWk, in Judy and in Fun,
hardly anything except puns. A fatal objec-
ton TO this species of drollcry is that it speed
ily becomes intolerably tresome, not less in
print than in conversation, and thus defeats III
the most dismal way its own facetious purpose.
A pun which is no more than n pun, and which
does not include that suggestion of likeness in
incOngruity which is the essence of wit. is
really worthless, and quite within the capacity
of the dullest of mOrtals. We have known
many silly woman whose conversation was
stuffed with this idiOtic play upon words, and
many silly man who necessarily fshed for
the applause of his fellow-cr creatures with the
same lamentable imbccility. This is irritating
enough in colloquial intercourse; but here are
some half-a-dozen weekly journals in London
which make it their whole business TO furnish
puns to the British public and do that business
with reckless and truly astonishing disregard
Of sense and of literary decency. TO illustrate
our meaning we are obliged, much against our
will, to offer our readers few selected speci-
mems, which are neither better nor worse than
the mass of nonsense from which we extract
them.
QUESTION FOR CoSvocATIos.-Q What is a Gravameni
A. ii is an Amen said at the end OF His Grace's Bene
diction. Hence the word, 0raye-Amen. II two
utter IT. the word is used In tho plural, and becomes
GrareAniind The T Is short. and therefore the word
has nothing TO do with the heroine Of the 6Onnambua"
-lPtneh.
hle xyhi hat ha
ally walks glDgerly.-lFHn. ..'
PLEASANT RAnLERY-Reeommendn O friend to In
vest In railroad stocks.--lT The Tonahdtck. ...
The Owk .. ..I.T. 'T'
These specimens, we fancy, will be quite
sufficient for the strongest stomach. Mostly,
as the reader will perceive, they are merely
twisting Of words with very little ingenuity.
Whoever would understand the emptiness
and worthlessness of quirks like these,
should compare them with the incsive
and pregnant puns of Rabelais, or even
with the bubbles Of some of Shake
speare's Fools. The notion of these verbal
cobblers for comic newspapers seems to be
that "a jokes a joke although there's nothing
int.' The jest does not come leaping natu-
rally to their lips, sparkling in its palpability
or fraught with an occult seriousness; it is
simply manufactured to order and built up
with pains prepense; it is impossible to con-
ceive OF anything less like an inspiration; it is
the clumsy result of skill which is within
the reach of the stupidest of school-boys, and
which, with sufficient patience might be i'm
parted to dogs, to pigs, or to canary birds.
II we take the trouble to compare these puns
with those of genuine humorist, the differ
ence between nonsense nnre and simnle and
drollery with purpose, will be easily per-
ceived. Charles Lamb said that he supposed
the Mantchou (manchew} Tartars were so
called-the pun is as bad as possible--because
they were cannibals. He took this for granted, |
and did not trouble himself about the fact
but nc contriyed to suggest distant and mys.