The record-union., 1898-01-23
REPARTEEs AND BON-MOTs
A Few Very Good Examples Not
Commonly Quoted.

L
out a suitable repartee at the right
moment most disinterested persons
would admit A good repartee requires
not merely talent, but something OF
genius and, what is as rare as genius,
presence Of mind. All will agree on
this point but, at the same time, IN
a world in which each is prone to i'm
agine himself a genius, the significance
of this truth is apt to pass unremarked,
and hence the enormous stock Of repair
tee on record, varying from the read
lest and wittiest down to those whlcn
Gn Macaulay's phrase every school
boy knows The Evening Post" has
already gathered from Lord Tenny-
sons Life" and other sources some bon
mots of the higher order, and perhaps
the following may be given as help
ing to swell the list Of really good
repartee:
At one of the recent general elections
in England the Earl of Carlisle q be-
lieve) was a candidate. The Earl is
exceedingly youthful in appearance,
and during one of his speeches he was
interrupted with the question, Does
your mother know you're out?" Quick
as lightning the Earl replied, Yes; and
tomorrow she'll know I'm in.' An
other political speaker who was stig
matiZed by an irate questioner as not
having the manners of a pig, had the
presence of mind TO retort: Sir, / am
sorry to see you have" On a. similar
occasion Sheridan was informed by one
of his queStionerS that the answers
given by him were so unsatisfactory
that he 0he questioneT could not give
him his countenance at the election,
whereupon the orator replied: Sir /
am very glad, for an uglier countenance
] never did see.''
Turning from politics to literature,
we have the famous encounter of Sir
Walter Scott and Robertson. one of the
Scots Judges. Between these two there
was a notorious feud. One day in
passing Robertson, Scott remarked to
a friend, There goes Peter of the
paunch" Robertson was equal to the
occasion with, And there goes Peveril
of the Peak" Scott's forehead. OF
course. was very pointed, while the pc
culiarity of Lord Robertson's figure
may be easily guessed from the story
What is it that constitutes a success
ful repartee? Undoubtedly one of the
main elements Is the rapidity of pro-
duction. OF course all quick replies or
remarks are not repartee, but the fol-
lowing borders so closely on the genu-
inc repartee that there is no reason
( why 1t should not find a place in the
list: There is true wit in the reply
of the Irishman to the gentleman who
asked him why his horse was so white
in the face: "Shure, sorr, and if your
head had been in a halter all day long
your face would be white. too" AS
the question was put as q test of an
ordinary lrishmans readiness, the
quesuoner ought TO have been salts
fled with the result.
Prs-eminent in this domain is the
name of Sir Richard Bethel (better
known as Lord Westbury). In his own
day this great lawyer was famous not
only Tor the readiness, but also for the
savdgery of his replies. 1t is said that.
when ore observed to him that a GER
tain brother Judge never sat alone on
the bench, but always along with other
Judges. Bethel replied that this was
doubtless due TO the dislike of all chill
dren to being alone in the dark. Can
this be beaten? Even when presiding
on the bench Bethel did not restrain
his to1gue. One day a case involving
the property of some mines was being
conducted before him. One of the five
lawyers instructed for the defendant
opened his speech with the observation
that his client had been at consider
able expense in boring. whereupon the
Judge blandly remarked. so see from
the number of counsel he has employ
s>I
be coupled that of another Judge, but
this time Scots one. Harry Erskine
ErskiEe's replies were quite as quick
as Betnell's, and certainly they were
not nearly so savage. On one occasion
Erskine was overtaken in the street by
a friend who introduced to him a gem
tleman, This gentleman expressed a
desire to witness an example of Err