Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1896-01-24


Some people think not. and DR.. johnson
said that a man who would make pun
would pick pocket But the fact Is
that the general objection TO puns is be-
cause Of their frequent lack of wit
that is TO say, it is directed TO bad puns.
We do not want TO discuss bad puns-
or even 10 hear them. The point is,
whether good puns are admissible as
legitimate and commendable express
Eions of humor 1t is of no use to say,
like Sydney Smith, that puns ought TO
be in bad repute, and, although one
finds an incorrigible punster-often, Is
is true, an incorrigible bore-in every
little circlet of social life, one does not
find the race Of pickpockets TO be in
creasing alarmingly in numbers. Nor
do the statistics of crime seem TO bear
any relation to the productions OF
Planchet on Brough or of Gilbert to the
spread Of burlesque and the cultivation
of Bah balladist opera.
1t is probable that there are few.
even in these days of culture, capable Of
approaching the profound witticism
which De Quincy discovered in the
jests for which poor Klius Lamia was
put To death by Domitian.
Cicero had the name of being great
punster, although not many of his wit
ticisms have come down 10 US. There is
one, however, that may be appreciated
even without a knowledge of Latin.
Once q jew attempted 10 get the cause
of Verres into his own hands, and Cice-
70, who believed the jew to be mere
tool Of the culprls, opposed him by ask
ing, "What hath jew 10 do with
swine's fieshs" The Romans called
boar "verres, so that the point was
neat and appropriate,
If we want TO argue the legitimacy OF
puns we are obliged to fall back ON the
old discussion as 10 the difference be-
tween wit and humor. The definitions
are legional of course, but not one OF
them is wholly satisfactory. ''Knowl-
edge comes and wisdom fingers, Ten
nyson says, and perhaps we might found
upon this parody, with some approach
TO truth-that wit sparkles and humor
permeates. But there is little profit to
be got in analysis of this kind. What is
funny isn't necessarily witty, but what
is funny must have in it or suggested
by it some of the essence of humor.
Thus Charles Lamb was not SO far
wrong when he said that the most far
fetched and startling puns are the best.
The familiar inquiry, us it true that
the first apple was eaten by the first
pair?" is farfetched, but one cannot
deny the humor of it. Again, in the
conundrum, "Why is blind mans buff
like sympathy ?''-" Because it is a fell
low feeling for fellow creature, "
there is "a direct application which is
also unquesIionably humorous. Then,
as another example Of pun which is
absurdly apparent, there was Douglas
Jerrold's remark about man to whom
he had repeatedly written in vain for
some money.
Il have written him, said Jerrold
to an acquaintance, "but got nothing. =
"Strange, 2 said the other, ''for he is
man full of kindness
eyes" rejoined Jerrold, ''unremit-
ting kindness.
A pun which requires explanation in
brackets is indeed simply intolerable.
The Oxford scholar who, meeting a
porter carrying a hare through the
streets, asked, "Prithee, FRIEND is that
thy own hare or a wig?" required no
commentator. This same story is some-
times attributed to Charles Lamb. Nor
did Tom Hood, who, when all is said
and done, remains the prince of British
punsters. He puns as naturally as he
laughs A babe can see the point Of his
jokes, and the crustiest dry -as-dust can
not resist them.
Theodore Hook is thought by many
to be equal to Hood as punster, but
Hook was labored and slow in compari-
son. There is an impromptu air about
Hoods puns which is incompatible, and
an unexpectedness, even when you are
looking for them, that is delicious.
Frederick Locker once or twice seemed
to have Hood S unconscious ease, as thus:
He cannot be complete in aught
Who is not humorously prone
A man without merry thought
Can hardly have a funny bone.
John Hill Burton relates legal joke
which, to the legal mind, has all the
charm of pun. One day bailiff, serv-
ing writ. had been compelled by the
defendant to swallow the document. In
a state of great agitation and anger the
officer rushed into the court, over which
Lord Norbury was presiding, to COM
plain of the indignity. He was met by
the expression of his lordship's hope
that the writ was ssnOt returnablo in
this court. =
Bret Harte, by the way, is not usual
" regarded as a professional wit, and