Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Spirit Lamp, 1892-1893 An efficient staff has been engaged, and the conduct of the Spirit Lamp has been distributed in four departments, viz., (i) Mild Criticism, (2) Really Sensible Articles, (3) Philosophy, Other Light Literature. The last department, which is infinitely the most important, has been entrusted to a number of gentlemen of varied and incalculable ability. Every shade of opinion will be represented, and it is safe to say that Realism, Idealism, Impressionism, and the Dissective method, will find worthy exposition in our columns. In these days of sharp definition and cut and dried analysis the Editor is sure to be asked what vein of humour exactly he proposes to indulge. Will it be the broad, the subtle, the old, the new, the obvious, the dry, or the cynical? It is rather early to give a decided answer; but there can be no harm in saying that the Editor is personally inclined to see What can be made of the unconscious humour of Shake speare's Comedies and the Book of Common Prayer: as sources of laughter they appear to be still fairly fresh. It is hoped that the Spirit Lamp will be able to draw a clear line of demarcation between wit and vulgarity; but no doubt a certain number of really funny jokes will be set apart for those who cannot see the other sort. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.