Let us illustrate our meaning. Unless | A very favorite device with such perwe are greatly mistaken, the modern formers is the transposition of initials. punster by no means considers that it They invite you to "poke a smipe," or is necessary for the obvious and the tell you that it is "roaring with pain." suggested sense to be both appropriate Such habitual toying with words, as to the context. His strokes of wit de- we have already hinted, tends to bepend largely upon a conscious watching come mechanical, and just as a stutter for phonetic resemblances, a shuffling has been known to be acquired by conof words, syllables, and initials until stant imitation, so it is open to conjecthe desired result is attained. ture that the undesirable habit of say

Much so-called wit of the present ing the wrong word-which, if not on day is nothing more than the system- the increase, is so curiously noticeable atic torture of words. If in their at the present day- may have been natural form they will not satisfy the largely assisted by the practice we have sense of the grotesque, they must be described above. We are not speaking twisted and dislocated, or the shades of of the actual complaint known to mediMrs. Malaprop and Mrs. Ramsbotham cal men as aphasia, in which the brain must be invoked to wring laughter from and tongue refuse to work in perfect "alien jaws." "As a word-torturer, he accord, with a result that would be is unequaled," so, evidently meaning laughable were it not painful. And to express high praise, remarked a then, short of aphasia, there is that writer the other day of Mr. Burnand, mental haziness which has its outthe most characteristic representative come in malapropism more of this method. We do not wish to pronounced. Thus, we have heard speak slightingly of Mr. Burnand's recently of a hospitable nurse who powers, which are very remarkable, and spoke of the victim of a terrible acciin the domain of legitimate parody dent as being "methylated beyond all have often been exerted with signal resignation" [mutilated beyond all recsuccess; but we cannot help thinking ognition], and who alluded to a person. him largely responsible for much that of arbitrary and imperious behavior as is idiotic and insufferable in modern" a regular tyradical." So, too, we strivings after fun, by having set an know of a lady who accounted for the example so easily imitable in its vices. sudden arrival of her son from CamIn Mr. Burnand's own hands, the pro- bridge by explaining that he “had ridcess yields at times very ludicrous re- den all the way on his encylcopædia," sults. For example, he is credited which was approaching perilously near with explaining a poet friend's choice to aphasia. The mere addition of an of a mince-pie to lunch off by saying extra syllable will sometimes produce that "he evidently was getting him in- an amazing result, as in the case of spiration." But such a pun, excruci- "Immanuel labor." where nothing was atingly good in itself, nevertheless further from the mind of the speaker suggests the dangers of such a method than any profanity. Lastly, to end when ridden to death by inferior imi- this digression upon malaprops, we tators. Employed consciously at first, hope to be forgiven by the fair author it becomes almost automatic in the of a passing allusion to "the Roman case of some confirmed jokers-verbal Irene" [i. e., arena], for recording a contortionists, whose conversation is as confusion too exquisite to be consigned fatiguing to listen to as the dislocations to oblivion. of a mountebank to watch.

The foregoing examples, however,

illustrate a mental habit which had ex-quering congs," and on one occasion, isted for centuries until Sheridan im- ever memorable to his interlocutor, admortalized it in the person of Mrs. Mala- dressing himself to a gentleman who prop, a character which there are good had intruded upon. his seat in church, grounds for supposing him to have he politely remarked,-"Pardon me, drawn from the life. What we are more Sir, but I think you are occupewing nearly concerned with at present is a my pie." Here we are next door to species of dislocation or entanglement, the carrying out of the "Portmanteau. which takes various forms, but finds its principle, a proximity illustrated by the fullest development in the Portmanteau feats of two other clergymen, one of system, as formulated by Lewis Carroll whom gave out his text from "the Colin his preface to Alice through the ostle to the Epissians," while the other Looking Glass. The writer of the read "knee of an idol," for "eye of a present article had the privilege of needle." The rector of an Irish counworking as a boy under an eminent try parish whose church the writer has head-master who, if at all flurried, used frequently attended, was also liable, to transpose his words freely. "My out of nervousness, to contort and endear boy," he once asked of a Philistine tangle his words in strange fashion. member of his sixth form, "do you Thus, we have heard him speak of the mean to say that you have never heard "imperfurities" of man, when it was of that magnificent statue of Michael quite obvious that he could not make Angelo, by Moses?" up his mind between "imperfections" Clergymen seem especially addicted and "impurities," and ended by amalto this habit, perhaps because their ex-gamating the two words into one. cessive anxiety to be correct renders Here we have arrived at the Portmanthem nervous, and to those of their teau system pure and simple, and it is congregation who are gifted, fortunately impossible to avoid the conclusion that or unfortunately, with a keen sense of an immense literary impulse has been the ridiculous, such slips are excess- given to the practice by the writers. ively trying from the impropriety of who not only have illustrated it, but in openly testifying appreciation. "Sor-one case already mentioned, formulated row may endure for a joy," so an Irish its principles in the clearest way. In clergyman is reported to have read with an age where so much has to be crammed the utmost feeling; "but night cometh into a brief compass, no doubt much in the morning!" With the transposi- might be said on the ground of econtion of initial letters, a new field of solecism is opened up, in which a living cleric, in other respects intelligent and accomplished, works with an involuntary assiduity that is most upsetting to his hearers. "My brethren, so ran one of his most startling announcements, "we all know what it is to have a half warmed fish [i.e., half-formed wish] in our hearts." With him, however, the mischief goes further, extending to the mutual entanglement of words which is terrible to contemplate. He has been known to speak of "Kin

omy in favor of the extension of this "oral" shorthand, a "brachylogy" of which the grammarians never dreamed. It might be hard to fix the precise date at which portmanteau-words were first used, or to decide to whom belongs the credit of having invented them. We are inclined to think that the laureate of all nonsense-poets-Edward Lear-was the initiator of the practice. "Scroobious" and "borascible" certainly are to be found in his first book of rhymes, and in the third, when the influence of Lewis Carroll had doubtless

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begun to react upon him, we discover dulterated nonsense, we prefer to call it, an allusion to the Torrible Zone" free from all far-fetched equivoque, and which is one of the most beautiful of needing for its comprehension no intiportmantologisms. In calling Mr. Lear mate acquaintance with the latest the laureate of nonsense-writers, we "gag" of the music-halls. If Mr. Lear have not scrupled to place him above twist words into fanciful and grotesque Lewis Carroll, which will doubtless forms, it is with no malice prepense, seem rank heresy to many of the ad- with no ulterior motive. There is mirers of that delightful waiter. Our hardly such a thing as a pun from bereason for so doing is that no nonsense ginning to end of his books. Since is so absolutely devoid of arrière pensée some of his critics had shown a disposias that of Mr. Lear, none so refresh- tion to attach a symbolical meaning to ingly destitute of sense or probability. his rhymes, he published in the preface Our favorite piece is the History of the to his third book a vehement disclaimFour Little Children who Went Round er. "Nonsense pure and absolute has the World, a wonderful effort of sus- been my aim throughout." And it is tained and imaginative absurdity. It just for this reason that we are inclined does not lend itself well to quotation, to attach such a high value to his confor the illustrations are exceedingly tributions to the recreative literature of comic. But two extracts will serve to the day.-The Spectator.

defend our position:

"After a time they saw some land at a distance; and when they came to it, they found it was an island made of water quite surrounded by earth. Besides that, it was bordered by evanescent isthmuses with a great gulf-stream running about all over it, so that it was perfectly beautiful, and contained only a single tree, 503 ft. high.

Our next quotation shall be from the passage describing the children's adventures in the land of the Happy BlueBottle-Flies:

CURRENT THOUGHT.

SOME PHASES OF ARCADY'S FAITH.-The

Rev. Dr. Augustus Jessop, who is not altogether unknown to the readers of THE LIBRARY MAGAZINE, has just put forth a charming

book entitled Arcady: for Better, for Worse.

Arcady" is here simply a designation for the rural English parish of which Dr. Jessop is Rector. In the course of the book he gives "At this time an elderly Fly said it was the a characteristic anecdote of a certain School hour for the Evening-song to be sung; and Inspector, who in the course of an official exon a signal being given, all the Blue-Bottle- amination propounded this question: "If I Flies began to buzz at once in a sumptuous met you coming down the village street, and and sonorous manner, the melodious and mucilaginous sounds echoing all over the said, Animal! animal!' what would you waters, and resounding across the tumultuous say?" The right answer remains a mystery; tops of the transitory Titmice upon the inter- the real one ran : Saa! I shud saa yeow was vening and verdant mountains, with a serene a fule." Undaunted, the Examiner next and sickly suavity only known to the truly asked why the sea is salt. He got three virtuous. The moon was shining slobaanswers: one, Because of the Yarmouth ciously from the star-bespringled sky, while her light irrigated the smooth and shiny sides bloaters;" one, "To keep the drownded folk and wings and backs of the Blue Bottle-Flies sweet;" and one from a pious little maiden, with a peculiar and trivial splendor, while all nature cheerfully responded to the cerulean and conspicuous circumstances."

"What dreadful stuff!" some will exclaim. What delightful and una

Because God made it so." One of the pleasantest chapters in the book is entitled, "Some Phases of Arcady's Faith," one phase of which is thus illustrated:

A new vicar was appointed some five years

ago at Crayton. He was a good man, but em- | to give the Queen a cheese, weighing five tons, phatically a townsman, and one of those worthy made from the milk of 8,500 Canadian cows, persons who rarely speak of God, though to which proposition her Majesty has gravery frequently of Providence. One of his earliest pastoral visits was a visit of condolence to a small farmer who had lost his wife and been left desolate and alone. The good vicar spake such comfort as he could, and more than once insisted on the obvious truth that the ordering of Divine Providence' must not be murmured at, and that Providence' must needs be submitted to with resignation. The sorrowing farmer Istened patiently and silently for some minutes. At last he could refrain no longer, but he opened his mouth, and spoke, saying, That's right enef, that es ! There ain't no use a gainsayin' on it; but somehow that there Old Providence hev been agin me all along, he hev! Whoi, last year he mos' spailt my taters, and the year afore that he kinder did for my turnips, and now he's been and got hold o' my missus! Bui,' he added, with a burst of heroic faith and devout assurance, I reckon as there's

One aber as 'll put a stopper on ha if a' go too,

fur!'"

The great historical library of Dr. Leopold Von Ranke is to come to America, it seems, the Government of Prussia having declined to, buy it at the price the heirs set upon it. No contract has been drawn, but Professor Bennett, who was a pupil of the great historian, has 'verbally accepted' the library for the Syracuse University, the money being provided by a rich man, who will not have his name published. The exact price is not stated, but it is somewhat less than $25,000. Another remarkable American purchase of the sort is the library of Wilhelm Scherer, the philologist and historian, which comes to the Adelbert College at Cleveland. The Scherer library numbers 30,000 volumes, that of Von Ranke about 15,000, besides many old manuscripts."

A "JUBILEE" GIFT FOR THE QUEEN.-Mr. James Payn writes thus in The Independent. With all due respect to the Poet Laureate, we think the Queen would have acted wisely had she treated the "Carmen Sæculare" as she treated the Canadian cheese:--

"Among the many foolish Jubilee offerings, "from advertisers and others," there has been which one may literally be called 'monstrous,' from a wholesale cheeseman. He has proposed'

ciously replied that, though she fully appreciates the motive,' etc., she would rather not. Good gracious! so I should think. I only hope the motive to which she attributes such an offer is the right one. To my mind the man who could give his queen five tons of cheese can hardly wish her well. I know nothing about Canadian cheese; but if it had been Dutch cheese, he would surely have had something done to him. It is strange to note, by the by, that when George III. had his jubilee nobody dreamed of giving him anything. In those unadvertising days people only thought of giving to those who were in want, and his Majesty himself subscribed very handsomely to the relief of small debtors. No criminals, of course, were released, but deserters and those who had transgressed regimental law were pardoned."

COURTESY OF THE ENGLISH RUSTIC.-The

Rev. Dr. Jessop, in his Arcady,-for Better for Worse, seems to hold that the "Worse" preponderates over the "Better," in the Anglican Arcadia, where not only coarse manners but surely ill-nature seem the rule rather than the exception. Thus writes Dr. Jessop:—

"."Thet du Hull-ly pet me aywt, thet du!' said a scowling hedger to a friend of mine a year or two ago. He was following with his fiery eye the carriage of Lady S-, who with a friend had just driven by. What puts you 'What? Whoi, out, David?' said the other. ayw thet should tyake tew men and tew harses to cyart they tew women abaywt.' The brutal coarseness of the fellow was all the more shocking because the lady who had just passed had been, and is, and always will be, emphatically a generous friend of the poor, and was proverbial for her delicate tact and gracious courtesy."

ENGLISH HOMES. An American lady, writing from New York to Mrs. Anne Gilchrist, says:

"I find I am not quite able to shake off the attractions of London even at this distance, and feel that I shall be back there again in a What is the secret of the atyear or two. as I am? I often ask myself this question; it traction that London has to such a city-bater seems to attract most people who have been there in the same way; it seems to me it is because of its thoroughly domestic and home look and air. It is a vast aggregation of actual homes, and seems to exist, not for