Year: 1875

which would not have failed to honor
his name. Jokes have done us far more
good than the Illiad or the Agamemnon,
they have cheered very sad moments,
and put angry men into more Christian
frame of mind succeeding where the soft
answer might have failed in turning
away wrath. One would like to know
and revere the memory Of the men who
first said good thing. 1t would be
worth ascertaining, too, how the first re-
partee was received by our remote fore
fathers. Doubtless the man who was
stung by it, if strong enough, kicked
the wit, and so turned the laughter
against him. In primitive times a kick,
or a sudden box on the ear, was proba-
bly, held to be the smartest kind of re-
ply to an impertinence. The eldest He
brew joke, for instance, is somewhat in
this vein. The elders of Succoth, we
read in the Book Of Judges, refused a
requisition of Gideons, and went so far
as to positively chafe " that great gen.
eral. His notion of clever retort was
shown when the town fell into his hands
The historian grimly chronicles the Incl
dent. "And he took the elders of the
city, and thorns of the wilderness and
briers, and with them he taught the men
of Succoth."


1t is difficult to know where to draw
the line between what is permissible in
conversation and what is not. Refec.
tions on the moral character of anybody
while that person is present are unpar-
donable, however brilliant may be the
wit in which they are wrapped. OF
course there is further rule which is
very comprehensive, namely, that moth.
ing should ever be said that should in
any way give pain to any person within
hearing. But while human nature re.
mains as it has been from the beginning,
men can hardly be expected to refrain
from thousand-and-one ways of telling
each other they are fools We have all
heard of the wit which never gave a
wound" and " that exquisite mimicry
which ennobled instead of degrading, "
but we seldom meet with either. After
all the sting of the sarcasm lies in the
intention of the speaker, and one may
trust that the best of the pleasantries
over which succeeding generations have
made merry, were uttered with enough
good humor to take all the venom out
of them. There was surely a genial
smile on the face of NJ d'Argenson when
he congratulated his ignorant nephew on
his appointment as librarian to the king,
and observed that he would now have
an excellent opportunity of learning to
read. And perhaps General Quintus
Icilius smiled little when he hazarded
little jest with the great Frederick at
a time when his majesty was not in a
laughing humor. just before engaging
the French at Rossbech, the king said to
the General, that if he were beaten he
should fly the country, 60 to Venice, and
turn doctor. " Your majesty would then
keep to the profession of an assassin /"
growled the old soldier.


Much clumsy wit has been leveled at
doctors in all times but it was a doctor
who furnished the best anecdote of his
profession. He had just cut off pa
tient's leg. A friend of the victim in
quired anxiously whether the doctor
thought he would soon get well. He p"
replied the doctor; q" he never had a
chance" 4" Why, then, put him to need
less pain " go, you cannot tell pa
tient the truth all at once; you must
first of all amuse him little"


The prize for good nature combined
with a sense of humor, for perfect
readiness to give and take, should be as
signed to Henry VI of France. The
straight laced English nation hardly
does justice to this debonair prince /; but
he. is, as he well deserves to be, the typi-
cal hero Of our gallant neighbors. He
may be said to have had but one fault,
and that fault common to kings and
Frenchmen. 1t is city, too, that the
jests of the wise and witty kings are, as
a rule, impossible to reproduce in an
English conventional dress; but we NAV
give charming instance of his kindly
forbearance which is related by the
grandfather of Madame de Maintenon.
1t was the turn of NJ. d'Aubigne to sleep
in the kings ante-chamber. Fancying
the king was asleep, he began to talk to
NJ. de la Force, who shared the watch
with him, saying aloud " Your master
is the most ungrateful of men," La
Force, half asleep, asked him what he
was talking about, when Henry cried !:
" Wake up; he is telling you that l am
the most ungrateful of men," Pray
gotosleep, sire, " interrupted D'Aubigne
" we have a great deal more to say about
YOU" The king never showed less kind