WITTY & PUNNY

It is indeed impossible to kill a weed, which the soil has a natural disposition to produce. The seeds of PUNNY is In the minds of all men; and though they may be subdued by reason, reflection, and good sense, they will be apt to shoot up in genius. Imitation is natural to us, and when it does not give rise to poetry, painting, music or other arts, it often breaks out in PUNNY.

Punny appears in many merry speeches and compositions, and now delivered with great intent from the chapel, or pronounced in the most solemn tones of the Council Chamber. The greatest authors, in their most serious works make frequent uses of Punny. Writers of great rhetoric have treated punny with great respect.

When the world is furnished with these great authors of the first eminence, there grew up another set of writers, who gain reputation by the remarks which they made on the works of those who preceded them who appreciate their wit and are considered perfect because they are founded in TRUTH.

If we must lash at one another, let it be with the manly strokes of wit and satire; for I am of the old philosophers' opinion, that if I must suffer from one or the other, I would rather it should be from the paw of a lion, than from the hoof of an arse.

Punny from its original to its downfall, differs only in the sense. The only way therefore to try a piece of wit, is to translate it into different language. If it bears the test, it is true wit, but if it vanishes you have a punny.