Smyrna times., 1873-03-05
.MiSceIIU 10 e o. IL s.
Wit and Humor.

According to the British Quarterly, the dis
tinction between wit and humor may be said |
to consist in this, that the characteristic of the
latter is nature and of the former art Wit |
is more allied to intellect and humor to imagi
nation. HumOr is higher, finer and more
genial thing than wit. 1t is combination OF
the lsughaIle with tenderness, sympathy and
warm heartedness. Pure wit is often ill-natur-
ed, and has a sting but wit, sweetened by
kind, loving expression, becomes humor. Wit
is usually brief, sharp, epigrammatic and in-
ciSive, the fewer the words the better; but
humor, consisting more in the manner, is diff
fuse, and words are not spared IN it.
, Carlyle says: THE essence of humor is
scnsibity. warm, tender fellow feeling with all
forms of existence ;" and adds, of Jean Paurs
humor, that in Richter's smile itself touch
d ing rathos may lie hid too deep for tears. "
" Wit may be considered as the distinctive
d feature of the French genius, and humor of
n y the English but to show how difficult it is to
carry these distinctions out fairly. We may note
J. that England has produced Butler, one of
q q the greatest of wits and France "A Moliere, one
!. of the greatest of humorists. Fun includes all
ess those things that occasion laughter which arc
b, not included in the two former divisions. Buf
Of foonery and mimicry come under this heading,
tcst and it has been observed that the author of
comedy is a wit, the comic actor humorist
c and the clown a buffoOon. Old jests were
r. usually tricks. and in coarse times we find tha
little distinction is made between jOyOusnes
Of and malicious delight in the misfOrtunes o
'er others.
Of Civilization diScountenances practical jokes
ne he and refinement is required to keep laughte
md within bounds. As the world grows older, tu
ion becomes less boisteroCs, and wit gains in point
nts so that We cannot agree with Cornelius o Dow
when he says, The day of witty people
u.s. gone by. If there be men clever enough nov
the adays to say smart things, they are too clevt
-ts. to say them. The world we live in prefer
and placidity to brilliancy, and man like Curra
in our present-day society would be as unwe
! so Of come as a pyrOtechnist with pocketful
aud squibs.' This is only repetition of an o
and complaint and its incOrrectness is proved wht
dol we find the same thing said one hundred yea
ght- ago. In manuscript comedy, "ln FOrO,
,aHd Lady HoustOne, who died near the end of &
IT o, last century, one OF the characters observe
the wit is nowadays out of fashion; people a
stas %S well.bred, and talk upon level one does
An at present find wit but in some old comedy.
six. In spite of Mr.. Lever and Lady HOusto
Ss fe1 we believe that civilized society is speca
much suited for the display of refined wit. UnC
pndi such circumstances satire is sure to hOuri
for the pen takes the place Of the sword a
AM we know 1t can Slay an enemy as surely as ste
, and This notion owes its origin in part to an er
three in our mental perspective. 10y which we br
otaI. tue VIII vi al ayes ~ onS lOcue' ldhCJluS
i Dol was really far apart to have been close togett
Tfss that and thus comparing things which possess
here here proper elements of comparison and placing
with it were, in opposition to each other the aC
% SR aS TO muated broad and we'll storied tapestry of
owing owing past with the feeting moments of our d
rctors which are but it's still accumulatlng fri
and be Charles Lamb will not allow any great anti
ID dol ty for wit, and apOstrophizng candlelight 5
o'fee' This is our peculiar and household plaI
wards wanting it, what savage, unsoci4l nights n
of the our ancestors have spent, wintering IN c.
iSS1"S tsT, 81 and uniumned fastnesses They must
80, laid about and grumbled at one another in
'U'' dark What repartees could have pa
,nsrnt adir, when you must nave felt about for a ST
I to he and handled nelghOOr S cheek TO be SUR
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! of the uuueTsIOOu IL OOAeS CdIhe III Win Cduu