Odds And Ends Of Wit And Humour.

coarseness as to be unfit for reproduction here . People thought more coarsely , ancl talked more cosrsel y then than they do now ; but 1 question Avith all our extra refinement Avhether we are much better , or whether a good deal of it is not merely surface-polish — veneering , and no more .

Swift was one day in company with a young coxcomb , Avho , rising from his chair , said , " I would have you to know , Mr . Dean , I set up for a Avit . " " Do you , indeed , " replied the Dean , " then take my advice ancl sit cloion again . " The

folioAving epigram on Dr . Hort , Bishop of Kilmore , afterwards Archbishop of Tuam , is rather good , but almost blasphemous in its bitterness . He wrote a book on quadrille , a gambling game , I believe , and for which the publisher , who Avas imprisoned for it , was never indemnified by the bishop .

" On seeing a worthy prelate go out of church in the time of divine service to Avait on his Grace the Duke of Dorset on his coming to town . Lord Pam in the church , could you think it ? kneeled down !

When told that the Duke was just come to toAvn . His station despising , unawed by the place , He flies from his God to attend on his Grace . To the Court it Avas fitter to pay his devotion ,

Since God had no hand in his lordshi p ' s promotion . " What a fund of satirical aud sarcastic Avit is to be found in "Gulliver ' s Travels . " I suppose when Ave read that marvellous book as boys we read it for the storyas

, we read Bunyan ' s Pilgrim ' s Progress , and never thought of the hidden meaning . Poor fellow , like many another Avit he was a miserable man . A remarkable story is told by Scott of Delany , Avho interrupted Archbishop King and SAvift in a

conversation Avhich left the prelate in tears , and from which Swift rushed away Avith marks of strong terror and agitation in his countenance , upon Avhich the Archbishop said to Delany , " You have just met the most unhappy man on earth ; but on the

subject of his wretchedness you must never ask a question . " Sheridan was a thorough Irish spendthrift as Avell as a wit , and Avhen his

creditors called upon him he used to have them all sent into separate rooms , the doors carefully locked , ancl then he would order the servant to open the front door softly and walk out . There Avas mother Avit in this , at all events . Speaking of Irish and French AvitsI am reminded that

Vol-, taire once praised another writer very heartily . "It is very strange , " said the person Avhom he was addressing , " that you speak so Avell of him , for he says that you are a charlatan . " " Oh , " replied Voltaire , " I think it is very likely that both of us

may be mistaken . " But it is time that I should speak of our own countrymen as Avits and humourists ; ancl AVIIO that has read of Gougreve and Addison , Steele , Prior , Gay and Pope , Smollett and Fielding , Sterne and Goldsmith , but Avill admit that we have had some famous wits

and humourists . I am told that Steele and Goldsmith Avere Irishmen , and Smollett a Scotchman ; but let that pass . Then there is Charles Lamb , the gentle " Elia , " what good things he said ; and Sydney Smith , who Avas the impersonation of AVit and' wisdom . Besides theseMoore—an

, Irishman , by the Avay—ancl Tom Hood and Theodore Hook . The clowns of Shakespeare are wonderful fellows . How quaint and incongruous—but incongruity is the soul of humour , as breA'ity is the soul of wit—is the dialogue betAveen the

gravedigger and Hamlet , you will remember the scene ; and then some of Hamlet ' s own speeches abound in Avit . How funny is the dialogue between Touchstone and . the shepherd in " As you like it . " But

the wisdom of Shakespeare is even more admirable than the Avit . I wish time or space would permit of my giving the readers of the MAGAZINE some quotations from his immortal Avorks , but I doubt not they are familiar to you all as household words . How strange to think that Dr . Johnson

should run down Shakespeare ; one could scarcely put much faith in his judgment , remembering his detraction of the Swan of Avon . Of the great humourists of our own generation I have only to mention the names of Dickens , Thackeray , Douglas

Jerrold , the author of the Ingolclsb y Legends—not to mention Mrs . Brown , Avho appears to give her opinions upon every fresh topic whicli crops up , —to show that the race is not extinct .