THE

HUMOROUS SPEAKER:

BEING

A Choice Collection of Amusing Pieces,

BOTH IN PROSE AND VERSE,

ORIGINAL AND SELECTED;

CONSISTING OF

DIALOGUES, SOLILOQUIES, PARODIES, &C.

DESIGNED

FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS, LITERARY SOCIETIES, DEBATING
CLUBS SOCIAL CIRCLES AND DOMESTIC ENTERTAINMENT.

BY OLIVER OLDHAM.

Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci,
Lectorem delectando pariterque monendo.-HORACE.

NEW YORK:

IVISON & PHINNEY, 321 BROADWAY
CHICAGO: S. C. GRIGGS & CO., 39 & 41 LAKE ST.

CINCINNATI: MOORE, WILSTACH, KEYS & CO.
PHILADELPHIA: SOWER, BARNES & CO.
ST. LOUIS KEITH & WOODS.
AUBURN: GOSS & WILLIAMS.
DETROIT: RAYMOND & SELLECK.
BUFFALO PHINNEY & CO.
NEWBURG: T. 8. QUACKENBUSH.

KD1179

HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY

SHELDON FUND

JULY 10, 1940

ww

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by

HENRY IVISON

In the Clerk's Office for the Southern District of New York.

STEREOTYPED BY THOMAS B. SMITH, 216 William St., N. Y

1

1

PREFACE.

HUMOR and fun!

Humor and fun!

There's nothing like it under the sun

But, if you'd have it a perfect thing,
All of it honey, none of it sting,
Except, perchance, an occasional fling
At pride, or folly, or some such thing,
Hold on the reins,

Or rather chains,

That Wisdom throws o'er Fancy's strains;

For Fancy she's a mettlesome steed,
That gives a thoughtless rider no heed;
Rushing right on-mud, gully, or mead,
With a sort of geometric speed;

Fills you with dirt,

The kind to hurt;
Addles your brains

With trifling trains

Of thought that chiefly entertains,

Because obscure, or low, or profane;

From which no useful lesson you gain,

Except you, with all your might and main,
Shun, as a viper, the filthy strain.