, 1872-12-29

than it has damaged the hustinga. Socrates, -
we Bee him in the "Memorabila, }" barefoot, and
plainly clad, inexorab1y logical and the iucarnur
! ton Of comraon SENSE must haye been one Of
| the most brilliant and instructive talkers
| OF classic times. Chatting in the
agora, the gymnasia, the shop Of the
corsot-1naker, in tho studio Of the s:a:uary and
at the table, ho must have been kind OF walk
ing encyclopedias, college On legs; ard the
whole State must have felt tho influence Of hia
philosophy in all the veins Of it's moral being
The few sayings ne have OF Themistocles and
A1cibiades 'steeEed in the very brine OF con-
ceit, and sparkle like salt in fire." Most Of the
| reported n1ots Of Diogenes are SO pungent and
racy, that VIC regret that there was 10 Bozzy to
give us more OF them. The man who coined the
word "cosmopoute must have been, in spite Of
his cyniclsm, d rare and catholic thinker.
Cicero WAS q most brilliant talker, and must
have been what Sydney Smith calls ia dine1-out
OF the highest lustre.' He ras q Wit as we'll es
an orator, and even deigned to pun when he
could bit hard by doing SO. He IVES 30 famous
for his oon-nots, that Caesar employed man
Like Baron Grimm to send him collection OF
them from time to time, to any place where he
might be encampcd Though but few Of his jests
are preserved,-th Liber Joculdr1s, or collection
of them by Ills freedman, Trio, having been lost
yet they arc Of such quality Us to show that he
had q prompt as well "a razor-liko wit, that
could draw blood when he chose; AMI it il =
wonder that me Of them did not cost him his
head. 4 Roman lady having told him that
she vas but 80 years old,-"1t must be
truo," replied Tully, for have heard it these
twenty yeara." When Pompey, who had mar
ried Cesar's daughter, a~.1ed Cicero,-referring
to Dolobelln, who had joined Casars party
"Whereis your son-in-law?" Cicero retorted,
"With your father-in-1aw.'' QuintiIan cele-
brates Cicero's urbanitas, by which the ancionts
expressed that peculiar delieacy and eloeuence
Of humor that smacks Of tho cultivation Of
capital; but the great orator sometimes stopped
to coerse Righteousness, IS when. in allusion to
the Oriental custom Of borirg the ears Of Slaves
| he replied to q man Of Eastern and servile de-
t scent, who complained TINT he could not hear
him, Yet yon have holes in your ears.'
Joe Miller is the great storehouse to which it
Is supposed that most of the modern jeckdaws Of
wit go for their Eue feathers. But in the
''Ana" of antiquity, as III English writer re-
| marks, We shall fud more thaa one je4 despru
which now adorns the brazen front OF the
plagiary. What can be finer than Foote'S
! reply to the English Lord who was boasting the
great age Of the vine WHICH, in bis par.
simony, he had caused to bo set tged in extremely
small glasses-'It is very little OF its
aga2" Yet this identical witticism, says NJ.
Hannay, is in Athen1eus, where it is assigned to
| q woman whose jokes we're better than bel
character. "Wit, like gold," continues the
same pleasant writer. Is circulated some
| times with one head on it and sometimes al
other, according to the poseutates who rule its
| realm. Few situations are more trying than to
| sit at dinner and hear racontestr telling the
capital thing said by Louis XIV to eo-and-so,
with 3 distinct recollection that the same thing
was said by Augustus to provincial. You can
| not quote Maerobius without the i-nputation Of
pedantry, even if you wore capable Of the
cruelty and you grin pleasant appreciation "i:h
| the consciousness TINT you are hypocri:o."
Robert 8. Duncanson, artist Tlo had It
tanned considerable celebrity in this countrv,
died On Saturday week. in an insane asylum, near
Detroit. He WIS born in New York, but for
over thirty years made Cincinnati his home.
It added 8 special feature Of interest to his
paintings that Mr. Duncanson had negro blood
| in his veinp, and his pictures we're, therefore,
looked upon with more or less Of curiosity, and
this fact sometimes gained for them sale which
| could not always have been secured for them Il
| their real artistic merit. as lis work Was very
uneven. During the time that he resided in
| Cincinnati Mr.. Duncanson frequently visited
Europe, and painted in England. Scotland, and
Italy. In England he was received with special
hono1s. During his last visit, TennyRon r.
ceiyed him at his home, as recognition Of one
ct his pictures, the Land of the Lotos Eaters"
which was suggested by 'Tennyaon's poem.
Through the influence Of Miss Charlotte Cush-
man, who has always been devoted patron Of
art, he found sale for many Of bis works in
that country. some OF which we're purchased
By the Duchess OF Sutherland One OF his best
paintings was *'Recollections Of Italy" he
was not great artist, but he had peculiarly
poetica1 temperament, which manifested itself
in his work, especially in his pictures painted in
Italy, and his labor was always conscientious.
The Cincinnati Commercial says Of him: He
was man Of 3 modest ard retiring disposition,
and for an artist singularly free from the
petty jcalousies and chickering's which embitter
and estrange the fraternity. The poetic warmth.
Of his art glowed in his remarkably soft, dark,
hazel eye, and WIS reflected from 8 nature at
one sunny and amiable. He WAS gentleman
whom every one who knew hin respected, and
his loss will be sincerely regretted by wide cir
Gle Of pereonal friends aud professional admirers
| in this city, His insanity WAS not Ct very re-
| cent development, az long since hs became pos
| sessed OF tie idea that in his painting he vas
aided by the spirit Of Michae1 Angelo.
| ( man in Rntherfordton, n G., recently
lodged complaint before the Mayor against biz
wife for calling him !" Old Pewter Buttons
! He had suffered varions assaults with broom
! sticks, and irons, and othe. weapons with which
t woman a7enges her wrongs, Ind been sco'det
various times, and On sundry occasions had bee:
driven out Of the house, but Of these he has1
never made compliant. It WIS only when nc
WAS called sold Pewter Buttons " that hl5
manly spirit WAS aroused, and he called l.
the aid Of the civil law, the adninist7s-
| ton Of which has been so impartial for many
; yea-s past in that favored State. The worthy
Mayor few to his relief, and fined the woman O
! nrcsent fine. and made her give bonds to keep