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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

FɔP THE USE OF SCHOOLS, LITERARY SOCIETIES, DEBATING

CLUBS SOCIAL CIRCLES AND DOMESTIC ENTERTAINMENT.

BY OLIVER OLDHAM.

Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulcis
Lectorem delectando pariterque monendo.-HORACL.

NEW YORK:
IVISON & PHINNEY, 321 BROADWAY

CHICAGO: S. C. GRIGGS & CO., 39 & 41 LAKE ST.
CINCINNATI: MOORE, WILSTACH, KEYS & CO. ST. LOUIS: KEITH & WOODS,
PHILADELPHIA: SOWER, BARNES & co. DETROIT: RAYMOND & SELLECK.
AUBURN: GOSS & WILLIAMS. BUFFALO: PHINNEY & 00.
NEWBURG: T. 8. QUACKENBUSH.

KD1179

HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY

SHELDON FUND
JULY 10. 1940

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

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

STEREOTYPED BY
THOMAS B. SMITH,

216 William St., N. Y

V

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
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.

your brains