Mexico weekly ledger., 1878-12-19
JOSH BILLINGS.

JOSH BILLINGS.
THE PHILosOPHIC HUMoRIST AS HE AP-
PEARS IN HIS "ALLMINAX."
A few years awo provincial daily |
of no particular Importance made an
announcement of the fact that one of
its editors, whom it took the trouble
to name, would no longer be troubled
with the annoying restrictions of
journalistic life, and henceforth
could devote his whole time to con-
vivai pursuits. This amiable person
was at one time an auctioneer in the
town of Poughkeepsie, whittier flock
ed boys of humorous turn of mind
to listen to the origiaal speeches with
which the auctioneer was in the habit
of inviting purchasers to examine his
wares. The original auctioneer and
convival writer was no less distin-
guished person than Josh Billings,
whose misspelled aphorisms have
made his name household word
everywhere. How much truth there
was in the daily newspapers modest
announcement of his retirement from
it may be gathered from the fact that
both as lecturer and writer Mr.. Shaw
has since that time rendered himself
notorious.
In confning his apothegms to SEN
tences purposely misspelled Mr.. Shaw
has brought down upon his head the
objurgations Of the editorial fraterni-
ty, and unquesionably destroyed
himself among the compositors, who
rot only decline to see any fun in
having to correct takes carefully cor
rected by themselves. but who resent
fully declare that if thing is worth
saying at all is worth saying in Eng
lish. The general public, moreover,
has by his adoption of Artemus
Wards practice, compared him with
the best, in great many respects, of
professional American humorists, and
there he is at a disadvantage. He
has in the form of his fun started as
an amitator, and the wholesale de-
nunciGtion thus earned has extended
to the matter. In a little volume be-
fore us entitled "Josh Billings Farm
ers' Atlminx" for the ensuing year,
among the observations for August
we find the following extremely ILL
timed answer to his enemines:
"Thare amt nothing so cheap az
bad spellin, and if it IL sutch an ele-
ment of suckcess az sum shrewd
kriticks hav discovered, they owe it
to their airs and assines to adotp it at
once and bekum ritch and famous.
This is all very well and the re1ort
is good, if not courteous. Besides,
it is comforting to know that the au-
thor of the Allminax is both rich and
famous. But nobody,we believe, whose
opinion is worth having, has charged
Shaw with acquiring wealth and fame
merely by an unprovoked assault up
on the language. 1t is really because
he has achieved such reputation as
he enjoys for humor and originality
in spite of his way spelling that one
feels inclined to compliment him.
There is, 'unquestionably, a very
funny vein running through him, and
his humor is eminently American.
Besides this, there is a shrewdness of
observation about some of his aphor-
ism which generates respect. As for
others, they often present an old fact
In novel and memorable way. Here,
for instance, is neatly turned appli-
cation of an proverb, "Truth il sed
to be stranger than fickshun-it is, to
most pholks."
He sums up in two sentences two
really obvious, but frequently over
looked truths, the former of which we
offer humbly to our materialistic
friends who believe that mere mat
ter of policy should make the world
honest.
eff you undertake to hire a man
TO be honest you will hav to raize his
wages every morning and watch him
dredphull cluss besides :"
Another, which meets the absurd
demand to 'put up or shut up" and
the preposterous proverb that 'money
talks" is this:
81 hav finally cum to the konklu-
shun that if kant prove thing with
out betting five dollars on it, the
thing haz got dredphull weak spot
sumwhare.
1t is merely the presentation of a
logical conclusion in a grotesque and
| undignified way in both instances that
gives the paragraph weight, but no.
body who sees either of these is like
| ly to forget them, and the man who
first discovered and utilized the fac
ultyty of the human mind for ignor-
ing the commonplace and observing
the extraordinary certainly deserves
credit.
Four "questions and replize" are
characteristic:
SO. What IL the best religious
kreed to hav?
A. Charity. If man will swop
off all the religious kreed he has got
hand, and invest the proceeds In
charit6, he will always be proud OF