Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-08-21
Puns end Punatars.

AS the pun Is one Of the Oldest forms
of wit, so also, In spite Of its enemies,
1t seems likely, with whatever vicissi-
tudes, to live as long as language IT.
self. That anything at once so inno-
cent, and so pleasing when c,eYerly
employed, should have been the sub
ject of so much hostility and detrac-
ton strikes one, at first thought, with
surprise. Thomas Hood who was
fdciEe DrinceDs among punsters an
cient and modern, attributes some
thing of this antipathy TO simple dull
ness. AS Swift had said, long before,
that SIT Is as offensive to speak wit In
q FOOLS company as 1t is 70 whisper IN
it, and for the same reason, namely,
that he Is ignorant of what Is said, so
Hood remarks, in the same vein OF
satire, ''It Is not wonderful that peo-
pie should be offended with two mean
ings Ito q word) who with difficulty
understand OneW Another famous
wit has observed that mo man ever
condemned good pun who was able
to make one," a remark which sug-
gests the real reason why puns have
been so often and so harshly de-
nounced-namely, that most puns are
bad ones, and thus the whole family
of punsters are brought under suspi-
cion, II not into positive odium and
disrepute. Every art Is damaged
more or less by bunglers and false pro-
fessoFs; and yet, we venture to affirm,
no punster ever became odious save
by his own bad puns. It is the would
be wit, In whatever sort Of fdcetiB,
who is dislIked and derided; the pun
steF along with the rest of the great
family of bores, and not more than his
brethren. 1t Is so easy to make bad
pun that every fool must try his hand
at punning, ignorant or needless OF
the fact that only men of wit can turn
to q witty account words Of two
senses or one. Sometimes it has
happened, as in the reign of
James l., of England, that the
genuine 6eGlEx espTitS having given
ecLdt to pUnning by their brilliant
jelLr de nlotS, all the Ounces in the
country, from the king to the dullest
Of his courtiers, set up their wits, and
deluged the land with puns, OF which
the excellent were to the exeCrable in
the ratio of Fallstaffs modicum of
bread to his quantum of sack; until
at last the real wits fastened to de-
nounee, and il possible destroy Gus
tom which had brought the art, in
itself not ignObIe, into odium or con-
tempt. So potent was the example of
" the royal pedant" that all classes
fell a-punning TO such a degree that
what from the lips and pens of few
men of wit was a delight became at
length, In the general abuse, an intol.
HI
the bench, parsons in the pulpit, and
thieves and homicides on their way to
NeWgate or Tyburn. The sermons of
the most eminent divines were as full
of puns as the rhymed plays of Planche
and John Brougham in our day; and
draWing-rOOm discourse was rendered
inane beyond its natural limit by
verbal quibbles as abundant and Of
fensive as the cOnundrums of the
present period, when giddy juveniles
worry their adult relations with eager |
questions touching the resemblance of
this to that, or the reason of the differ !
ence between that and the other. The
mania which commenced in the time |
of Elizabeth, and eliminated during |
the reign OF the JameSes, began to |
Abate in the days of "good Queen |
Anne,N when Addison, Pope, and |
Swift, and other eminent wits of the |
time, attacked the custom with SO |
much vehemence and vigor as to BAN
ish pUns at least from puIpits and |
draWing-rooms, where they had been
ofensively prevalent for nearly cen
tury. Swift, at once the most invete-
rate and brilliant punster in the king
dom, led the crusade in a pamphlet |
entitled "God's Revenge against Pun
ning;" and Addison headed hostile |
columns against the enemy In the
ELEGANT pages Of the Spectator.
While at its hight the punning ma
mia of England Fesembled, In its ex-
the famous tulip madness
OF Holland. There is another point
OF similarity worth mentioning
namely, that none the less for the alb
surd infatuation of the Dutch, the /
tulip remains a pretty flower; and,
despite the folly Of King James / and |
his quibbling parasites, a good pun is
still a pleasant thing, and will always
be so regarded while there are men of
wit to make and enjoy it.-JOhn @.
SdEe, ia HGrpers' Magazine for Sep
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