PLAYFULNESS. 353 



"He was the prince of punsters," as his friend Dr 

 George Wilson once remarked to us. But what of that ? 

 Who can photograph a flying shot ? or what can be poorer 

 than a printed pun I 



"It is very difficult," writes the Duke of Argyll in a 

 letter of characteristic recollections, " in the form of anec- 

 dote, to give an impression, to those who did not know 

 him, of the inimitable fun and light-in-handness of his 

 conversation ; for it is veiy rarely that this kind of humour 

 can bear formal repetition. I recollect one instance of that 

 humour which much amused those who heard it, connected 

 with the Fishery question. The subject of fishing for 

 herring with what are called trawl nets had been under 

 discussion — whether it was or was not to be considered' 

 as an illegitimate mode of fishing, — most of the company 

 being very adverse to it. The conversation happened to 

 change suddenly, and a gentleman present speaking of the 

 health of his wife, who was a great invalid, mentioned 

 that her room was under a chapel, and, as she was unable 

 to move, she had a gutta percha pipe carried through the 

 ceiling to the pulpit, by which means she heard the ser- 

 mon perfectly. James Wilson observed, with the greatest 

 gravity, that he could not approve of such a proceeding ; 

 'it is in fact a kind of trawling for sermons/ The gravity 

 of his countenance and the tones of his voice were great 



elements in the effect which he produced, and these cannot 



z 



