Union and American. [volume] (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1875-1877, 1876-01-27
DEAN swiYT's HABIT or Pun
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From John Rorster's Life of Jonathan
~ swih E.ft
a Swil was such a master of Ian.
guage that he elevated punning
into a fine art. The pun" writes
Mr.. Forster, sis not a high kind
of humor, because it is a thing
that can be made by almost any.
body; but the best things in even
this kind of wit remain, notwith-
standing. the property of only the
best intellects; and there is also a
sort of them so execrably bad, so
far above ordinary intcllects in
the extent and degree of atrocity,
as to claim rank OH that very
ground. These, and indeed tie
art of habit generally when taken
by superior men, are among
those coudescensions of the great
which will always be attractive;
and, low as the intellectual
achievement is, a pun is mostly
tolerated, and very raely fails W
amuse. Best and worst have coz
tended for the palm of laughter,
and Swift vas unapproached in
both. In the two extremes OF
witty meaning and e%xtravagant alb
surdity the best that have been
preserved are his. "a fellow hard
by pretends to cure agues, and has
set out a sign, and spells it 'egoes.
How does that fellow pretend b
cure aguesS said a gentleman OBJ.
serving it with me. / did not
know, | said; but / was sure il
was not by a spell" An admlra.
BILE pun. II will tell you," he says
in another letter, "a good thing ]
said to my Lord Carteret. SO,
says he, My Lord came up t,
me and asked me- etc. NO. sale
/, my Lord never did, MOI
ever can come up to you.' We al.
pun here sometimes" Then fol
lows an atrocity by Prior: Lore
Carteret set down Prior the otlel
day in his chariot, and Prior
thanked him for his c~harioty. J
do not remember to have heard
one good one from the ministry
which is really a shame" A su
pereminently good one by himsel
belongs to the days when Cartere'
was a ~viceroy. At one Of tn,
castle entertainments, a lady
whisking about her mantle, swep'
down with a crash a Cremona fiji
die; and Swift, who was by, re
peated Virgil's line:
"Mantua vac misere minimum vicina Gre
mone."
Still another pun is recorded
which greatly pleased Lord PEN
broke, who shortly after he wa.
named as Viceroy of Ireland, be
came very intimate with Swift
Attending to pay his respects, DR.
Delany relates that the Vicar O
Laracor found the Viceroy listen
ing to = lecture from a learned
physician Oh che qualities OF bees
which, IN every other sentence, h,
called u commonwealth or nation
yes" interposed Swift, "nC
doubt, and very ancient. Moses
numbers the Invites among tn,
nations Joshua was appointed tt
conquer" Pembroke was de
lighted, and punning became hi.
great enjoyment after that day. |
was Swif's remark later that he
first hit Lord Pembroke with (
pun.
In this connection, too, may b,
quoted the story which Scott, il
his sketch Of Dean Swift, attrib
utes to Lord Orrery, and which
Mr.. Forster accepts, because swift
was more likely to do such a thing
than Orrery was to invent it
"When he went to reside at Lara
cor" said Lord Orrery, "he gave
public notice to his parishonerl
that he would read prayers ever,
Wednesday and Friday. Upor
the subsequent Wednesday thu
bell was rung, and the rector at
tended in his desk, when afte.
having sat some time, and findin!
the congregation to consist only
of himself and his clerk Roger, h.
began with great composure anC
gravity, but with q tone peculia.
to himself, Dearly beloved Roger
the Scripture moveth You and m,
in sundry places; and then pro
ceeded regularly through the who'll
service" These are among TIL,
lighter touches with which Mr.
Forster enlivens the biography.
-Ue1e---
MOVING BEAE CROCK or A@Ess.,
The good people of the town o
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