Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Masterpieces of American Wit and Humor, Vol. 4
Once out of his customary light-heart edness, asked himself, and his readers, and the ghost of Charles Dickens - all three powerless to answer - whether the dismal seriousness of the present day was going to last forever; or whether, when the great wave of earnestness had rippled over our heads, We would pluck up heart to be merry and, if needs be, foolish once again. Not that mirth and folly are in any degree synony mous, as of old; for the merry feel, too scarce, alas! Even in the times When Jacke of Dover hunted for him in the highways, has since then grown to be rarer than a phenix. He has carried his cap and bells and jests and laughter elsewhere, and has left us to the mercies of the serious fool, who is by no means so seductive a companion. If the Cocque cigrues are in possession of the land, and if they are tenants exceedingly hard to evict, it is be cause of the encouragement they receive from those to whom we innocently turn for help: from the poets, novelists and men of letters whose duty it is to brighten and make glad our days.
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