The Washington herald., 1909-01-17

Ins SrandIatnerS OF the present gen
GRAFTON used TO have a great habit Of
sitting over the walnuts and wine or
over the rough table Of an inn, before
a huge quart Of ale. and telling old
chestnut jokes.
Whenever a particularly good one
would be drawn from the memory. 10 be
roasted in the fires OF conversation, one
or another Of the old gentlemen would
be sure to say tTiumphantiy- That's a
Joe Miller and the offender would re-
tire in confusion, covered with scorn and
contumely.
The expression has come down to the
present generation. Almost everybody
has heard the phrase Joe Miller ap-
piled to an old joke. but very few know
who Joe Miller was or what his most Pc
cuIiar and exceptional history. The fact Of
the matter is that Joe Miller was the
most prosaaic man that ever lived and,
more than that, he was famous in his
day for never either seeing or making
joke.
His name vas put upon a collection Of
good jokes. bon mOts and anecdotes pub
Hshed just after MS death simply as =
joke itself. yet the name Of the brilliant
and successful map who compiled this
book has been almost forgotten and the
victim Of his humor has gone into the
vocabulary Of the race
Such is the irony Of time, says the Bal
timore sun.
Joe Miller IS said 10 have been an Eng
lish comic actor who, OF the stage,
never cracked a smile. Whether this
was because OF his work or not no one
knows. but people were less apt IN con-
cealing their feelings in that day than
this
He was frequenter OF the Black Jack
a weIl-known London tavern OF the time.
where tradesmen were especially won't
to gather. These tradesmen were a merry
crew. Whenever they would address a
joke directly to Joe Miller he would say
''What?" or DO teH.' and whenever a
/ particularly good joke was told he looked
all the more bored.
/ For these reasons he became famous
/ Il became the custom OF the time TO
/ tack the name Of Joe Miller 10 any Joke
that was especially good. just 10 add d
new favor 10 the jest. It gave a man the
( feeling Of being man Of the world 10
I say. "Oh. that's a Joe Miller and then
laugh Ike a hyens
/ SO Joc's fame spread. He was a good
I subject for fame. being short and dark
and saturnine and addicted TO tobacco
I One day he died.
( Then a certain MottweH, who vas a
brilliant dramatist and 2 social Sjarffrz,
/ % the time. got out a sort Of holiday
edition. pasS-with-the-seasO book. cor
/ tanning the jokes OF the day. and he
/ called Il Joe MiIler's Jests" The book
was published in 1739 The jokes were
good and. beyond that. they were per
/ feet samples OF the lumor OF that gay
+ period In English history Immediately
after the Restoration
They gire to-day a perfect view OF ore
side OF that gifted gang that waltzed
and sang and caroused IN social Englan nd
/ IN the Wild reaction from Puritan
I Ism Immediately after the accession Of
{ the second Charles. So they have lived
down 70 the present. and have brought
I with them the name Of their butt The
rame q their cOmUleT and. in some
! eases. their author. has been almost
/ forgotten. and nothing can be found Of
/ him IN history except IN the most out-of-
I the-way corners
/ Almost everybody to-day has euIy a
/ veTy vague idea Of what the book is,
although they know the name OF Joe
I Miller.
I There have been two reprints Of the
book. one in England and one in America
in 1sS5-but both Of these were liber-
7 ally salted with new jokes.
The original Joe MiIler's Jests'' con-
tanned 1S2 Jests- It vas a thin pamphlet.
about by anches. bound in pasteboard-
I Il was printed in the oId-tirne black
faced type. and each joke was numbered.
! The title pase reads as follows
JOE NIILLER's JESTs:
o. THE WITS WADE MECUM
Belns ooneotia Ct the most brilliant 5sScs.
poftest TsTa-tees the most elegant bon uots and
mos pleasant Shor- Stories In the EuSiish Ian
E1aEe- First carefully collected n the co.urau-
and usny q then Transcribed from the mouth Of
ths FacstiOzs Gentleman whose name thev bear.
and now set forth and plb,ished bv his lament
s5le fiend and former companion. Elijah jenkins.
Most humbly inscribed 70 those Choice srs-ts
of the Age. Captain Bodeas NJ Alexander Poue.
Mr. Professor Lacy. 8Ir Orator Heuley and Job
BSker. the ke-tie-CSrUu-ner.
Lo1don; Printed ard Sold by T Read. IN Doz-
vel Court, Whites Frys-s Street.
"YIDCCxxXIx~
Not ali Of Joe Miller's jests can be re-
peated to-day in the presence Of ladies.
though in their day they were current in
the most polite circles. Not all OF them
are interesting to-day, as they hinge upon
conditions that have passed away All
OF them have a certain charm OF incident
or observation. however, and ali OF them
carry you hack 10 the good old days when
Stern Oliver had just passed away.
There follows a selection from Joe Nil
4 leT's teSts that is believed 10 contain the
cream Of the book The jokes bear scrl-
/ tiny. Many OF them don't yield I'D their
flavor without prolonged chewing. SO 10
/ the meal:
"A gentleman was saying one day al
/ the Tilt Yard Coffee House. when il
/ rained exceedingly hard. that It put him
/ in mind Of the general deluge. ICONS.
4 sir said an old campaigner who stood
/ by, who's thatT I have heard OF all
1 the Generals in Europe but him
"a pragmatical young fellow, sitting
/ at q table over against the learned John
Scott, asked him what difference there
was between Scott and sot2 Just the
breadth Of the table. answered the other.
| When Sir Richard Steele was fitting
up his great room in York Buildings for
public orations he happened at one
time to be pretty much behind-hand with
his wOrkmen and, coming one day among
them TO see how they went forward. or
dered one OF them to get into the ros-
trum and make a speech that he might
observe how II could be heard The fel-
low, mounting and scratching his pate
told him he knew not what to say, fol
in truth he was no orator. Oh said
the knight, no matter for that; speak
anything that comes Uppermost' Why
/ here. Sir Richard SAYS The feIlnr .us