The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-09-20

Rev. Dr.. Hidden shows That tho Ancient


ancient hebrews give the idea Of a people
VINO went about their business and their
! pleasure as gravely as a society of beav-
| eis' the smile and the laugh being often
mentioned metaphorlcaIly." though tbo
! sinne is one Of cOmplacency, and the laugh
| one OF scOrn.
Now. as We know little or nothing Of an
Client Hebrew history. or OF ancient He
| brow literature, except what we have I'm
inc hlDe, 1t may DO fairly assumed that
thesa criticisms have reference TO the
biblical writer's: and II the critic had
these writers in mind. then, 80 far as tho
smile is concerned, no has made his
! ground. for the word smile" does not
once occur IN the Bible.
IL is not surprising. however that the
| Bible. upon tho whole Is not a funny
book. If holy men Of old were moved by
the Holy Spirit 10 write Gods message OF
salvation 20 a ruined world. what reason
have we for expecting them 70 write other
Wise than seriously?
James Madison was witty man. He
| knew how 10 unbond among his friends.
| and 10 set the table In q roar, when time
place. company. and occasion suited. But
| his papers IN tho "Boderali5t" are all per-
| fcctly serious and though very ably and
! admirably written, they show no sign Of
the authors wit. Mr.. Madison was deeply
| I'm earnest when no wrote those fine
| articles. lie believed that the future Of
his country depended upon the adoption of
the proposed scheme Of goyernment-the
! Constitution OF 1857: and hence he was in
no mood for making jokes. and would
doubtless have thought them greatly out
/ of place. and entirely impertinent to his
subject
Stnl. IL our critic had carefully scanned
/ his Bible he would scarcely have written
so Dramatically IN denying wit 10 the
ancient Hebrews. Shaw. in his English
Idterature"-a very admirable book
| makes the fine observation that nature
/ has placed the springs OF laughter hard
by the fountain of tears. and Il IS a note
worthy fact that the greatest masters OF
pathos are also the greatest wits. Shake
spcare easily leads IN both departments
the pathetic and the humorous. The over
whelming pathos of Lear. and the side
splitting fun of Falstaff. are perfectly
familiar 10 the educated world Of English
| speaking people; and they are, OF them
selves. enough 10 establish Shakespeare
fame as the greatest master Of the pathe-
tic and OF the humorous.
Burns perhaps, should come next; and
/ then. with q long interval, Hood and Dick
ems.
But 10 our original theme. The first
! specimen Of wit which We note In the
| Bible Is found in the ninth chapter Of the
/ book Of Judges; and, naturally enough, IL
occurs I'm a political stump speech. Ihat
worthless demagogue. Abimelech' hAd
| been made king. JOtham saw the ridicu-
| LOUIS absurdity OF this proceeding, and, az
/ the risk Of his life he determined TO ex-
/ nose the popular craze with the loity
/ Graz OF Mount Gerizim for his PLATFORM
le addresses the people," and, Ike nearly
! an the successful stump speakers OF mod
| crn times. he tells pointed anecaole'
| which throws Iidicule upon the Wild pro-
/ cccdings Of his c0untrymen IL was
! straight-0ut stump speech rom inc
! "Oppositiou." II was sharp-pointed ana
vittv The anecdote about the trees going
] forth ito anOint a king over tnen was
/ eencciallv smart, appropriate, and str-k-
/ inc. and the climax set forth In the reply
/ az "the bramble" Verse 80 ought 20 have
/ "brourht down the house. II any or the
! wild mob had sense enough TO appreciate
us point and humOr. With nothing uul
/ this speech TO guide us, we should conil-
IDENTIFY say that lothian was gifted as
/ stump speaker
Eiiab must have been master or sarcaa-
tic Wit. In Samuel 70. % he speaks two
or three sentences which seem 10 selle
/ this point beyond reasonable question Let
us briefly recall the circumstances. inc
raw stripling David, visits the Hebrew
/ camp. bringing "a box from home for his
three elder brothers in the army. David
has probably never seen a battle 1ie is
/ standing among veterans who are familiar
| with scenes Of carnage, and yet he IS the
only man in all that host who IS willing
/ to face Goliath IN single combat. Ills tax
reminds us Of a captain Of raw militia
/ who volunteers 10 charge force from
which the "Stonewall Brigade has recoil-
ed. Eliab Davids big brother" natural
/ " enough thought this presumptuous; and
so he asks: with whom hast thou left
those few sheep IN the Wilderness 10
may well be doubted II Thomas Carlyle
ever made a more singing sarcasm.
I'M KINGS is. q we have a specimen Of
very genuine wit from that grave and sol-
emn prophet, Elijah. 4 god who is so
husv talking or pursuing or travelling or
is so sound asleep that lie cannot be
aroused by the desperate cries Of four
hundred and fifty Of his prophets. yelling
after him for a half a day. is certainly
funny god and Elljah's sarcasm made tAls
god ridiculous.
Tho book Of Proverbs IS by no means
/ lacking in wit. Some OF the situations de-
scribed in tho twenty-sixth chapter cannot
| fan to be witty 70 any reader who has
/ Imagination enough 10 picture the scenes
/ IN his minds eye" The wit In the 18Th.
| ith. 18th. and especially the 18th verses
/ is quite sharp The man who has tho dog
bv the ears "can neither hold on with
/ comfort. nor let go with safety as Judge
| Jere Black Pointedly puts IL.
| 'paronomasia," or play upon words. Is
bv no means uncommon in the Bible, and
| occasionally occurs IN the most solemn
messages in the prophets. Now ana then 1t
takes o form which. IN our time would
be called "a pun" Paul frequently intro
| duces IT, But as the play is upon He
brow words IN tho old Testament, and
upon Greek words in the New. 1t IS us
uallv impractlcable 20 present II 10 the
Fnclish reader IN his own tongue IN
Romans L: g. however. our translators
Seem 10 have stumbled upon case which
| does not occur in the original: BE not
co,formed 10 this world. but be ye TRIMS
formed by the renewing OF your mind,
! o.c The Westminster rcyisers here nave
"foehione.l" instead Of 'cOnformed' ana
thus steer clear OF the paronomasia, or
Witch Pours Greek here shows no trace.
when paul wrote. Bear with me a 1T
90 I'm ro,, folly" q Cor II. y. he was de-
ci5eaiv sarcastic: and so also when he
wrote "as a fool receive me- tverselO
and II speak as O fool verse 20.
Ta,allv sarcastic is Cor. 4: 10: I'VE are
fools for Chrlst's sake, but we are wise
g., christ. we are weak. but We are strong:
hoe ma HaeYf sod