The Portland daily press., 1882-12-15
w Use or Witty.
Origin of Few of the Phrases that Have
Become Identified with the Lang uage
[st. James Gazetteer

In book recently written by S. A. Bent,
bearing the title of 'shor Sayings of Great
Men," one will meet with great many SEN
fences and phrases that are part of the common
language of modern politics, like the En-
peror Nicholass "Sck man" and Carlyle's
"Unspeakable Turk" Lord Beaconsfield's
"Peace with honor" ''Bismark's ''Blood and
iron,'' and mach CanosSa gehen eir aicht;'
Palmt rston's Accidental and fortuitons cor
course of atoms; Napoleon HIS "LEanpire
cest la pair;" Cavour's "a free church is
free State, and Gladstone's "Resources Of
civilization" A new edition will probably in
include Governing quietly and well.''
Soldiers, from Alexander and Caesar to Ma
poeop, have said some particularly good
things, and even some modern soldiers have
made important contributions to the phrase
book. Among these are to be mentioned
Grants 81 propose to move Immediately on
your works." MacMahon's ",7'y suiS III roster
al" and General Bosquet's "C'eSt mGgnifqate
mails ce NEST pos la guerre'' Grants, LET us
have peace" and LET no guilty man escape'
belong rather to the civil list The sailors
too, have not been behind the soldiers. oar
own navy has contributed such telling phrases
as OtcaturS -'Our country, right wrong ~
Paul Jones Il have not yet begun the fight"
Lawrence's Don't give up the ship" and Tat
nails revival of BLOOD is thicker than water
There are some great men who are mainly
rememb red for their famous sayiDgs-men like
Foote and Selwyn and SidLey Smith Reau
Brummel, Lord Chesterfield and TallI Grand
Burke was an another great maker of lnots
and so were Voltaire, Horace Walpoe Goethe
DR.. johnson, Wilkes and Sheridan 1t was
the witty author OF ''The School for Scandal"
Il
1Dg-rUom recollection for ones wit, and this
very saying showed that wit may sometimes
be matter OF memory. Says Mr.. Bent: ''The
publication OF Moore's Life of Sheridan
showed that many OF the jeuG d'eSprat which
amused the House of Commons, aud were
thought to be unprecedented illusions, had in
reality been set in notebook learn'd and
conn'd by rote.' He had thus put down for
future use: He employ his fancy IN his mar
rative, aid keeps his recollections for his wit
This was enlarged into when he makes his
Jokes, you applaud the accuracy of his memo
ry, and it is only when he states his facts that
you admire the flights of his Imagination
" Len the opportunity occurred he introduced
1t IN the house, III speaking OF Mr. Dundas,
who generally resorts to his memory for his
jokes, and to his imagination for the facts "
This gives us an interesting inside view of
the process by which jokes are manufactured
This process, however, is not always confiDeo
to one mind. There many imperfectly de-
yeloped jokes which, after floating around the
world fer centuries, have been taken in hand
by professional wit, rounded and polished by
him, and lbenceforth made his own. Other
wis have seized upon the vagraDt jokes with
out improving them, while others, simply be-
cause they were professional wits, have had
numerous progeny of small jokes attributed to
them for which they were never responsible.
George Selwyn in his time was one of these.
He was called 'the receiver-general of wit and
stray jokes, and TO this day, though he has
been dead near century, anecdotes of Sell
wyn float about in the newspapers. But those
which Mr.. Bent has been able to trace to him
are not very numerous, aud are by no means
the most brilliant in the book. Here are some
of them:
When told that Reynolds intended to stand for
Parliament: 'Sir Joshua is the ablest men know
a So
George III alluded to selwyn one day as "that
rascal George" who ked 'What does that N. an?''
and added "Oh forgot; it is one OF the Eeredita-
ry titl.s Of the &c rges.''
When a ramtsake OF Fox was hanged at Tyburn
the orator asked Sewyu, who was generally present
on sucn occasions, if he attended the execution.
mo. make it a point never to attend rehear-
sals.''
it was in reference to this passion of Selwvn's
which once caused tim in Paris, to be taken for an
executi9ner on vacation that Lord Holland said
ON bis deahbed: "f Mr.. Selwyn calls let him ia
If am awe shall be very glad to see him, and if
l am dead he will be veiy glad to me.''
The examples of Sydney Smith are more num-
erous and more diversified and more diverting.
He was genuine wit and no mere picker-up
of worn-out jokes, and there was scarcely CT
tatioD on the half-dozen pages devoted to him
that is not witty and that is not more or less
famous. Indeed, the most of them are so IA
mlilaT that it seems not hardly worth while to
copy any of them here There is one of SSd-
ney Smiths maxims that must always be treas
ured by the book receiver: ST never read
book before reviewing il" he says; lit prejudi-
ces man So" Who wouldn't like to have
said that first? Perhaps Smith was not the
first, but il is traced no further back and he
was one of those who might have stood with
Donatns: "PeredntilH qati ante nos noStra di1-
eru1t"