Odds And Ends Of Wit And Humour.

indites seems to have . been dipped in gall , and to have a smatch of Avormwood about it ) , give one the impression' that they emanate from hen-pecked httsbands , or ladies of a certain age , members of the Shrieking Sisterhood , jealous of their younger sisters . Thackerayin his

ad-, mirably written " English Humourists of the 18 th Century , " says : — "In treating of the English humourists of the past age it is of the men and of their lives rather than of their books that I ask permission to speak to you ; and in doing so you are

aAvare that I cannot hope to entertain you Avith a merely humourous or facetious story . Harlequin Avithout his mask is known to present a very sober countenance , and was himself ( the story is told of Grimaldi , and of Rich ) the melancholy

patient whom the doctor advised to go and see Harlequin—a man full of cares and perplexities , like the rest of us , Avhose self must always be serious to him under AvhateA'er mask or disguise , or uniform he presents it to the public . And as . all of you must needs be graA'e Avhen you think of your own past and present , you will not look to find in the histories of those

Avhose lives and feelings haA * e been described a story that is otherwise than serious aud often A ery sad . If humour only meant laughter you would scarcel y feel more interest about humourous writers than about the life of poor

Harlequin just mentioned , who possesses , in common Avith these , the power of making you laugh ; but the men regarding whose lives and stories your kind presence here shoAvs that you have curiosity about , and sympathy with , appeal to a great number

of our other faculties , besides our mere sense of ridicule . The humourous Avrifcer professes to aAvaken and direct your love , your pity , your kindness ; your scorn for untruth , pretension , imposture ; your tenderness for the weakthe poorthe

, , oppressed , the unhappy . To the best of his means and ability he comments on all the ordinary actions and passions of life almost . He takes upon himself to be the week-day preacher , so to speak . Accordingly as he findsand speaksand feels the

, , truth best , Ave regard him , esteem him , sometimes loA r e him . And as his business is to mark other people ' s lives and peculiarities , we moralize upon his life Avhenhe

is gone , and yesterday s preacher becomes the text for to-day ' s sermon . " Wit and humour are of all climes and kindred . Some nations are , perhaps , more famous than others for the possession of these qualities—the Irish and French , for

instance . Sydney Smith , you know , said that you could not get a joke info a Scotchman ' s head Avithout a surgical operation , but I am afraid the Avitty parson was too hard upon the canny Scot . Whoever has read Dean Ramsay ' s book

" Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character , " Avill scarcely say the Scotch haA'e no sense of humour . Some of his best stories are about idiots , and judging hy these , if the sane people are only half so funny as the insane , our North-British

fellow-countrymen are as much gifted as their more volatile nei ghbours of the Emerald Isle in sententious epigrammatic wit and dry humour . The Dean relates IIOAV a Avell-known idiot , Jamie Fraser , belonging to the parish of Lunenin

Forfar-, shire , quite surprised people sometimes by his replies . The congregation of his parish church bad for some time distressed the minister by their habit of sleeping in

church . He had often endeavoured to impress them Avith a sense of the impropriety of such conduct , and one day Avhen James was sitting in the front gallery wide awake , when many Avere slumbering round him , the clergyman endeavoured to awaken the attention of his hearers by

stating the fact , saying , " You see even Jamie Fraser the idiot does not fall asleep as so many of you are doing . " Jamie not liking , perhaps , to be thus designated , coolly replied , "An' I hadna been an idiot Imicht ha' been sleepin ' too "

, , Another of these imbeciles belonging to Peebles had been sitting at church for for some time listening attentively to a strong representation from the pulpit of the guilt of deceit and falsehood in Christian characters . He Avas observed to

turn red and grow very uneasy , until at last , as if wincing under the supposed attack upon himself personally , he roared out , " Indeed , minister , there ' s mair leears in Peebles than me . " There Avas a certain daft Will S peir , Avho Avas a privileged haunter of Eg linton Castle and grounds . He Avas discovered by the earl one day taking a near cut and