Amador ledger., 1907-06-14
THE SOUL OF WIT.

| DiONlby LAS Do0u bu0 Ludrh6u Cudr
acteristic of many happy retorts
What could be more crushing, NOR
grimly witty, than the reply attri
buted to Talleyrand son an occasion
when a certain n torious personagt
i'll and in great pain said that he wa!
suffering the torments of the lost
Swiftly came the wicked retort "Deja'
already?
OF different complexion but equally
exemplifying the soul of wit was the
reply, which has been attributed tc
various painters to a questioner who
wished to know the vehicle with
which the painter mixed his colors.
DIR. John Brown tells the story OF
Opie. pray, Mr. Opie, may l ask
what you mix your colors with?''
said brisk dilettante student to the
great painter. With brain, SIR" was
the grutt reply-and the right one.'
Single-word replies, more or less
witty, says the London Globe, are
fairly common. A patient whom the
famous DIR. Abernethy had advised
to take walk on an empty stomach
calmly replied, "Whose?"
recent example was the answer of
the late Dean Hole to a boring Cock
ney fellow traveller on the Great
Northern railway. "What comes
after ''ltchin?" asked the bore.
''Scratchin, came the swift retort,
and thereafter the conversation tagged.
Many brief and telling replies are
laid to the account of Douglas
Jerrold. 1t will suffice to recall one.
whats going on?'' said a bore,
stopping Jerrold in the street. 81
am," and the speaker suited the
action to the word.
Akin to this was the answer of
John Wesley to the clustering
swaggerer who pushed against him on
the path, with the insulting remark,
81 never make way for fool" 81
always do,' said Wesley, quietly
stepping aside, and then placidIy
pursuing his way.
Brief and witty was the reply of
Catholic cleric to an opponent in
argument who had declared his dis
belief in purgatory. 'Ynu might go
farther and fare worse," was the
ecolesiastic's parting shot.
The wit of more than one of DIR.
Johnson's crushing retorts was
enhanced by brevity, but examples
are too familiar to be quoted. John
son came down like sledge hammer
on Scotland and things Scottish.
Less familiar, perhaps, is the retort
In which a Scotsman scored. An
Englishman in Scotland was abusing
the country, complaining of the state
of the larder and wondering where he
aould get less to eat.
II could tell ye place whaur ye
wad ge less,' said Scot, who was
listening to the TRADE. "Where 3
tnaC! asked Cne otner.
"Oh, just whaur an Elnglishman s
beenl" said the Scotsman dryly.
Brevity as the soul of wit is ex-
emplitied In many popular sayings.
Wit is by no means an inevitable
Ingredient in proverbs. Many of
them are of doubtful sense. and some
are foolish, yet there is a certain
spice. The definition of proverbs by
Howell as "Saylngs which combine
sense, shortness and SALT" is in the
main true. Though truth may be
altogether absent and wit barely per-
ceptible, yet there must be a certain
"salt," which gives life and SAVIOR to
the saying.
1t would be difficult to find sayings
more telling than some of,the shortest
such, for instance, as 'forewarned,
forearmed. " Extremes meet, ''or the
ancient "inter malleum ct incuben"
between the hammer and the anvil).
Many sayings which in English are
short were briefer still in their
original classical form.
That the soul of wit was eXemplihed
most strikingly among the Greeks IS
only what we should expect.
1t is curious to remember that our
word "laconic" preserves the memory
of the reputation for conciseness of
speech borne by the people of one
part of Greece-the Laconians or
Spartans. When Philip of Macedon
threatened them. elf l enter Laconia
| will level your city to the dust, -
they made the famous replY. "IfD