The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-05
APRIL POOLING
BY zITELLA COOKIE,

It is said that April Pooling is as old as the hills before the Deluge and seure of ali popular traditions. The search of the antiauarian is in vain: Examples of fools and citations of dupes abound in the history and lite the first perpetrator and the first vic- tim of the April joke, remain to be discovered, and just how the time the first day of April arose, no man is and ancient instances. on this, as on thes ars as p,entiful as csrates fn England, princes in Russia. or black berries in North Carolina. but. since all definitions and solutions are unsatis- famous French Marichal, when he. re- viewed his troops: "Savants and don keys to the rear; we do not need is with. us: and, evidently. to stay until the end of time.
 However. we can hardly fail to be on the part of some pretentious au- thorities. who are. wiser than seven men who can render a reason. For instance. we are Informed that the the 1st of April, began from the mis- taks of Noah. in sending the dove out of she ark, before the waters had among the Hebrews, corresponds to our April. Whether or, not this can De considered q Hebraism. ii is diff origin is recorded in mythology, inas- much as Proserpina was playing in the .Nysian meadows on the list of % ana wsie ShS gs sbs wss ns eeased 9 @ in 9Thrs that delightful pastime, Pluto seized her, and transported her to his own king happy girl. heard the echo of her daughters screams. and Immediately went in search of her--a fruitless uns has the adventurous spirit of research stopped short of sacred ground. since one hypothesis. and by no means, lucid one. insists that the origin of fers to tho mockery of the Messiah who was sent from one tribunal to an- other, which. as we estimate time. oc- cured about the beginning of -the month of April. Another investigator of causes. not to be outdone. contends that the custom originated in Whitby wners y @n1 the patients in the insane So,sdy ,assy
 on the first of April and were sent upon ridiculous errands and visits by rated ThH $ %od nevsr seem been ts
 ate the assertion of the philosopher who insisted that April Pooling was nothing more nor less than making q not take you for knave.
 The synieism of the churlish Ape mantus doubtless offers the safest
 We make ourselves fools to d:sport
 The bow. however taut. must and people. as well as ifsdividGals. NTnEst must have their seasons of folly and recre- ation. which means in truth, re-crea- fion; Rom. The Feftum fSn stuItorIm of the ridiculous of all carnivals. in which nonsense and absurdity knew no l:m- itations. Plutarch. speaks of the who. through ignorance of their. own curia or tribe. had missed the cele- bration of the Fornacalia in honor of the goddess of ovens. were permitted to hold tn cir feasts and foiI:es. so that. as far as home was concerned, the day after the feast was quite as festive and fun-provoking as the feast itself
 Nor did the Brahmins, in all the dig nity of the highest caste. disdain the traditional merry making of April. and the Feast of Hui chronicles today tn e same foolish errands and adventures As the gentle Imogene said. Fools are not always mad folk" and the nom men is to be found in every country and in every age The learned Italian gentleman who declared that he had discovered April Pooling in fourteen migh have added to his list. If he had continued his investigations concern ing that pristine pieasantry. Eeauti-
 made and win make fools the wide world oVeri
 According to Shakespeare, Patroclus and .Thersites entertained Achilles and Ajax with follies and mimics, and Seneca writes to Lucilius of some fool cries practiced in his own house. and ous remark. If Nave mind to laugh at fool. need not seek him far-I can laugh at myself, Good Queen Bess who hesrtiiy enjoyed a jest. and. place--a most estimable quality of mind and heart--was said to have ap- preciated thoroughly the April Fool tiers and to have laughed none thA less even when 1t was her lot to get who is goodnatured when he loses at play, or who can enjoy a joke at h;s own expense. It Is remarkable how many very good persons there are who attend church with unflaggins zeal and regularity. and get very angry when they are made the victims of an inno- cent jest, In Province, while the Con honored joke among the villagers, to send persons on the first day Of April to the monastery for a pot of "pois struction that the moreimportunate they were. the larger share they would ob- tain of the luscious peas, but tt not unfreoIientiv. Happened that persistent irnportunity exhausted the patience of the Carthusian monks. and instead of inc Iegumfpous gifts In hand. the beg gar rece:ved on his head the we'll aimed pot he had brought in apticpa tion of generous contribution. There arc natures which do not enjoy silly iokes and the Jesuit Gavesce said that rather than listen to, them. or see them performed. he would endure the most mona stery! There are persons who must have everything done and said sE FortunatAlv. like Charles Lamb | tbere are others who are willing to say temporarily Stultus sum. and to Insh hrnu, the man who would stand