The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1879-08-07
WIT AND nUmoR.

The gravest animal ia the ass, tn,
gravest bird the owl, and the graves
fish the oyster. 1t is the fools only
who are serious. Gravity is often tn,
very essence of imposture. Gravity
of demeanor is no test of mental ca
pacity. There are people who think
they are pious when they are bilious
Most of you can call to mind persons
who never made an attempt at mirth
L have some as invincible as the old
lady at Concord: "Have you given
electricity trial for your complaint
madam ?' asked the minister, as he
took tea with the old lady. Elec-
tricity ?" said she. 8. Well. yes, 1 reck-
on I have. I was struck by lightning
last summer and hove out of the win
dow, but it didn't seem to do me no
sort of good"
On the morning after the first deliv-
cry of this lecture in Massachusetts
town, the driver who was taking me
to the station, said to me: "That was
pretty tol'rable good what you gave
'em up to the hall last night. Haven't
seen nobody that didn It like it but old
Deacon Fry, and he never likes moth
ing. He said it might be well enough
for light minded folks, but he thought
there was parts on it dreadful shall
low" The principle of mirth is not a
deep one, but it is as innate in the
mind as any other original faculty we
possess. More sayings and incidents
provocative of true mirth can be found
nowhere than in our Northern States
on all subjects. We are apt to find
only what we look for, and this pecu-
liar wit often has to be explained to
people in good set terms.
1 once heard a man inquired of in q
shop as to the health Of his wife.
"Oh, WE'LL" said he, "she's very
poorly; she don't seem to get no better
at all. She has been sick about seven
years, now, and the doctors don't ap-
pear to know what to make of 1t; but
she kind o. hangs along. and it is q
great trial, declare. L do wish she'd
get well, or-something." The other
party gravely acquiesced, and neither
of them saw anything funny in it.
Frequently the speaker has no ade-
quate conception of the force of his
own remarks. "I'm kept SO busy
with this big estate my brother left
me-" said sharp Yankee lawyer, "I
declare, sometimes almost wish John
hadn't died." I remember having
read, in q letter from tourist in our
Northwestern States, description Of
the difficulty of shooting the rapids of
one of our northern rivers, and the
slow process of polling up stream again.
Two of the settlers undertook to dis
pense with the usual boatmen the
boat was upset, and the two adventur-
ers were swept rapidly down the river.
A tall, gaunt shopkeeper ran down the
pier, crying, Save the red-headed
one !! For heavens sake. save the man
with the red head!" This started the
people to work, and they saved him.
The tall, gaunt man waited to see that
life was not quite extinct, and then
turned away with the remark, "I
wouldn't have had that man drowned
for considerable. He owes me sixteen
dollars" "Well, there's something
in that" said one of the bystanders.
expect q man don't know how val
liable he is in this world till he owes
somebody some money. Then folks
wants to know where he's g0in'." A
stage driver on the White Mountains,
when asked what he thought of the
Notch, replied: "Well, was born
around here, you know, and I don't
mind it so much. But If should go
down to New York, reckon likely
I'd gawk around considerable myself"
Violent contrasts are common to both
wit and humor. None of the more
acute writer's on mirth vary much from
this idea. The most exhaustive def
milton has been given by DIR. Barrow: !:
sometimes the wit of IL thing lieth in
the pat allusiOn to q known story |,
sometimes it is wrapped up in dress
of humorous expression sometimes
couched in a bold form of speech or in
acute nonsense sometimes in affected
simplicity; sometimes from a crafty
resting, but oftener from-One hardly
knows what" But we may get more
distinct idea from the remark of Haz-
litt: Man is the only animal in the
world who laughs, because he is the
only one who can see the difference
between things as they are and things
as he knows they ought to be-" Du-
ring the existence of the Dorr rebellion
in Rhode Island, the leader of the in
surgents drew up his men on the sum-
NIT of q hill near Providence. Point
ing to the advancing troops, he said !: