The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-08-24
f1.snload ilispatth.
,,>,v AUGUST q, 1871.
nnos and Punsfcrs.


A. the pun is one OF the o.; 3a. anomies. II
Nit so, also, in sphc Oh -" -;o;ssstn6es, to
WIZ. ",,,s I,kev, with whatever yic'S rSat INV.
seems " ,nn: as language itself. Ihat any
, NV a, once 40 innocent. ana SO poa, go
lhs''s ~ ',ouer,v employed. should nave te.n
whcn ,m ni 60 much hostility ana ae.las-
nc ns one. at first thought. WIN VIZ ~
, ,'r;nn Thomas Hood, who was .Iac.so
rns omonu puns!ers ancient al anu m ~
.ttrihuics something oil tn'S IA Az sa;S iono
simnle dullncss. As o"n H.r "r ~ sneak
before, c"ni.s company as ii Is TO Whisper
WI: VIZ. -. I'D for the same reason, namely, mat
10 IT, ; nn Of what is said,' so Hood re-
j.. in the same vein Of satire. 1T Is
nnt wonderful that people should be OF
tended with two meanings TO word) VINO
with difficulty understand one u Announcer
f,mous wit has observed that ono man
ever condemned n good pun who was anie
IA make one" n remark which suggests inc
rr,I reason why puns have been so oiteh
and so harshly dcnounccd-namciy, tuas
most puus are bad ones; and mus shc
whole family of punStcrs are brohGn. unu,
suspicion, if not into positive ouiuti, ', ~,
lisrcpute. Every art is DAMAGED inoi and
less by bunglers and false professors o,.or
vet. we venture TO affirm, no p,,d nnno
hcc,mn odious save by his own nI'i p.."sI
., ,:' III ,,n,,id- hewitt in whatever sort OF
~ r - w, ,bn e Ii;sul;cd and derided the
.n,,nstnr along with the rest oil lhe great
trn;Iv IF horcs and not more inan III"
i,rn,j,.cn. II is so easy TO make 4 Dad pun
that every fool must try ms h"nu ~
punnnn. ignorant or needless oi tn'
(tct That only men OF VII can tu'n
to 4 witty account WORDS OF wv" S.n
nr one. Sometimes it has happened'
q. in the reign of James ]. OF England
,y,t rho penuine beaur csp11tS having gwen
/riu, TO running by their brilliant JcmL ar
,uots. all the ounces i'll the country. lrol''
the king to the dullcst OF his court'eIf. SIh
ND their wits, aud delu9ed the iahu WIN
m,us, of which the excellent were 10 .ho
aaxcrrable in the ratio OF Fastaf ) lnodiculll
nc hrn,d 70 bis.ouantum of sack; until at
last the real wits FASTENED I" drhotiiicI' n,. I
if 'uosSible destroy, Il custom wliich il'.u
nrnunbt the art IN itself not ignohle, INTO
ogirm or contempt. So potent was the
example of "thc royal pcdant that All
class, fell a-punning to such degree
that what from the lips and pens oil il
few men of wit was 4 delight became
~ lcnotb. in the general abuse, al
intolcrablc nuisance. Judges puhnca vi,
The bench, parsons in the pulpit, ana
thieves aud homcides on their way 10 new
cate or I'yburn. The sermons ol the moS'
eminent divincs were us full OF puns rs the
rhymed plays of blanche and Johu Brou@-
hmm in our day, and drawlng-room JUS
course was rendered insane beyond It's nat
urul limit by verbal bubbles as abundant
and offensive rs the conrndrum5 OF inc pre-
sent period, when giddy Juveniles worry
their adult relations with eager questions
launching the resemblance of this TO that. or
he reason of the difference between
that and the other. The mania whlch
commenced in the time ct Elizabeth, anu
eliminated during the reign OF the Jalneses'
began to abate in the days OF " good Queen
Anne" when Addison, Pope, and swirl,
and other eminent wits Of the time, attacked
the custom with SO much Hchemchce anu
yi"or as to Danish puns ut least rom pun.
pits and drawing-roOmS, where they had
i,crn Extensively prevalent for nearly cen
Iurv. swift, ut once the most lnHc'ela'I
aud brilliant runStcr in the kingdom, lcd
the crusade i'm II pamphlet entitled COD ;
Revenge Against punning, and ADDISON
headed hostile columns agalnt the enemy
in the elegant pages of the Spectator.
while at its height, the punn'n@ mama OF
England rescmbict, in its cNtravag!ncc,
the famous tulip madness OF Holiand.
There is another point OF similarity worth
mentioning that none the less Tor
the absurd intatualion OF the outch, the
tulip remains Il pretty flower ana, despite
the folly of King James !. and his qulhhllnS
parasites, Il good pun is sill a pleasant
lining, and will always lie so regarded Whiie
there are men of wit 10 mike and ENJOY II.
,foi,n e. Sdre, IN Harpey'S Magazine for
SclJ, 1uH,T.