English Jests and Anecdotes, Collected from Various SourcesVarious
General
English Jests and Anecdotes, Collected from Various Sources
Various
Anecdotes -- England; English wit and humor
A young but ambitious M.P. of the last age, having long resolved upon
attempting some speech which should astonish the House, at last rose
solemnly up, and, after three loud hems, spoke as follows:--“Mr.
Speaker, have we laws, or have we not laws? If we have laws, they are
not observed, to what end were those laws made?” So saying, he sat
down, his chest heaving high with conscious consequence; when another
rose up, and delivered his thoughts in these words:--“Mr. Speaker, did
the honourable gentleman who spoke last, speak to the purpose, or not
to the purpose? If he did not speak to the purpose, to what purpose did
he speak?” It is needless to describe the roar of laughter with which
the House was instantly shaken, or to say that the orator never spoke
again in that place.
A TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF PUFFING.
Some years ago, a gentleman at Windsor took the place of the organist,
with a view to shew his superiority in execution. Among other pieces,
he was playing one of Dr. Blow’s anthems; but, just as he had finished
the verse part, and begun the full chorus, the organ ceased. On this,
he called to Dick, the bellows-blower, to know what was the matter.
“The matter?” says Dick; “I have played the anthem below.” “Ay,” says
the other, “but I have not played it above.” “No matter,” quoth Dick,
“you might have made more haste, then; I know how many puffs go to one
of Dr. Blow’s anthems, as well as you do: I have not played the organ
so many years for nothing.”
DR. BUTLER.
Dr. Butler was a man of peculiar manners. Being sent for to a lady’s
house, the lady desired a servant to ask what he would have for supper.
“A roasted horse,” said the doctor. The man stared, and vanished; but,
turning upon the stairs, soon re-appeared, and said to the reverend
divine, “Sir, will you please to have a pudding in his belly?” Butler,
laughing, said, “Thou hast a pudding of wit in thy head, and I like
thee well. But why ask me what I choose for supper? I came here to give
advice and not to eat. I shall eat as the rest.”
WEST INDIAN BEES.
A travelled man was descanting one day upon what he had seen in his
peregrinations. He was particularly impressive on the largeness to
which common reptiles and insects grew in tropical climates. “In the
West Indies,” said he, “bees are about the size of our sheep.” “And
how large may the bee-hives be?” inquired one of the company. “Oh,
about the ordinary size,” said the traveller, without thinking of
the exaggerated size he had just ascribed to the tenants of these
receptacles. “Then,” said the inquirer, “how do the bees get into the
hives?” “Oh,” replied the detected Manchausen, “let the bees look to
that!”
A THROUGH-GOING MINISTRY.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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