Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 January 1889 — Samples of Ready Wit [ARTICLE]

Samples of Ready Wit

Parliamentary elections usually afford a good field for the exercise of wit. While a noble lord was conducting his canvass he met a bully, who declarel fiercely that he would “sooner vote for the devil than for him.” “I’ve not the slighest doubt of it, my friend,” said the candidate, quietly; “but in the event of your friend not coming forward, may I count on your vote?” Here is another of the same kind: At an open political meeting a man cried: “Hurrah for Jackson!” to which a bystander retorted: “Hurrah for a jackass!” “All right, my man,” exclaimed the first speaker; “you hurrah for your favorite candidate, and I’ll do the same for mine.” An enviable quickness of repartee was show'n by a French actor when the head of a goose was thrown upon the stage. Advancing to the footlights, he said: “Gentlemen, if anyone among you has lost his head, I shall be glad to restore it at the conclusion of the piece. ” Deservedly severe also was the reply of Descartes to a nobleman who, seeing that he enjoyed the pleasures of the table, remarked: “I see, sir, that philosophers can sometimes indulge in good cheer.” “Why not?” asked Descartes. “Do you really imaging that Providence intended the gooa things of this earth only for the foolish and ignorant ?” Chambers' Journal.