Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1889-11-02
WIT AND nuMoR.

AduBuIoC may Oo OlLnor ReulA1 Or
znalignant, but it is allied rather to
egotism and contempt than to affec-
lion and devotedness. the chief source
OF the iudicrous being the degradation
OF some person or thing which we
have been accustomed 10 associate with
power. dignity or gravity. Parcdics
ore iudicrous. Daniel O'CoEntl',
wishing to Iidiculo three obnoxious
Co onels, wrote tho following:
Threo Coloncs, IL thrcn d slant counties born
i ncnln, Armagh and Sligo u Il ndorn.
Tne first in ma CHESS impotence surpassed,
Tnc st IL h Cotrv. IN loLI tie last.
THO torcs OF nature could no further go;
10 Board tn thir she shaved The other two.
When wo find the laughter shading
Into mnlignity we have wit When
we find the laughter kindly we hnvo
humor. Sydney Smiths remark to n
committee on wooden pavement
was humorous: "We have only to
lay our heads together and tho thing
Is doac." But Dean Swift was wiI:y
when some one remarked to him:
~'Do you know, sir, that havo set up
for u wit?" and he replied: Then,
young man, take my advice and sit
UO"H uHuIu. 1uO ClGrulSIlC lem
pc amcnt inclines to humor. tho ego
ti>'ic To wit. There is little humor in
Swift. Hcine or Vo.taire.
Tho old meaning Of wit was clevcr-
ness or intelligence. the derivation Of
W.T. being from the Ang.o-Shxon verb
within, to know. We have q survival
OF this iginal meaning in tho coll
Ioquiai phrases, HE has lost his
wits" "Hc is at his wits end" We
now associate wit, not with wisdom.
butwi!h mirth. L. has become SO far de-
graded that paronomasia is on-ideres1'
q species OF wit. While nothing can
DO mo Q tedious than tho inveteraio
punsicr, p good pun has its relish.
Mrs. Grotc once appeared at q soirco
with u queer kind of turban on her
head. Look at that!" said Sydney
Smith, "thnt's tho origin OF the wo'.d
g"otcsquc." Daniel Purcell, asked ii
max. u pun impromptu, asked: ''On
what subjcct?' och. any subject
tho King" "Ah, but tho King is no
subject, was the prompt reply.
Tho old meaning Of humor was n
harmless eccentricity. In its modera
significatian, humor is u combinaticn
Of tho laughable with all element q!
Tenderness, sympathy or Affection.
AS Carly says: "Humor i, q sympn-
thy with the scumy sid, of things"
md Thacieray: "Humor is u COM
pound of wit and love"
AS to tho distinction between wit.
ind humor, we find that wit is sting
ing. humor kindly; that wit is con-
centrated and brief-"Brcvity is the
soul of wit'-whilo Il who w ume
may be humorous. According to Sya-
ney Smith, wit discovers real relations
that are not apparent and humor adj
mits apparent relations that uro not
real.
According to Hazlitt "Humor is tho
describing Of the ludicrous us it is in
itself; wit is thu exposing Of it by COM
pairing or contrasting it with some
thing else. Humor is. as it werc the
growth Of nature and accident; wit is
tho product Of art and fancy" Per-
haps tho distinction has been ex-
pressed most clearly by Webster: "Wit
denotes tho power Of selling on soma
thought or occurrence, and by q sud-
den turn, presenting it under aspects
wholly rev and Observation-Disclosures
emily natural and admissible, if nos
perfectly just, and bearing on the sub
icct or tho pa ties concerned with q
laughab. c lleennes5 and force" Ac.
c"rdin% TO this tho following story
would b witty: A "mute" who had
laughed at u funeral was upbraidcd By
his master. You rascal, you. have
been raising your wages for those two
years past on condition that you
should appear more sorrowful, and tho
higho' wages you recoivo the happier
You look"
'Hnmor,' says Webster, Consists
primarily in taking up tho peculiari-
tics of humorist (nn eccentric per-
sony md drawing them out, AZ Addison
Gid tho:o Of Sir Roger. do Covcr.y, 30
that wo enjoy hearty, good-natu"ed
laugh at tho unconscious development
I've makes OF his whims and oddities.
From this original scnse the to IN has