The addition of two previously missing columns threw things off. I now have a checklist of what to do the next time (one hopes there is no next time) missing columns have to be added.
This January 3, 1912 “Free Lance” column is the first appearance I know of Mencken’s famous definition of democracy as “the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.” This quote was embalmed between the covers of “A Little Book In C Major” in 1916.
That democracy definition reappeared in 1920 in the second edition of “A Book Of Burlesques”. That book also gives Mencken’s less famous definition of an anti-vivisectionist as “one who gags at a guinea pig and swallows a baby.” That quote also appears in this January 3rd column.
5 responses to “The Free Lance 188, January 3, 1912”
The Free Lance columns for Jan 2, and Jan 3, 1912 are “Not Found” on this server, etc.
This has been fixed.
The addition of two previously missing columns threw things off. I now have a checklist of what to do the next time (one hopes there is no next time) missing columns have to be added.
The Free Lance 180, December 23, 1911 is still missing.
This January 3, 1912 “Free Lance” column is the first appearance I know of Mencken’s famous definition of democracy as “the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.” This quote was embalmed between the covers of “A Little Book In C Major” in 1916.
That democracy definition reappeared in 1920 in the second edition of “A Book Of Burlesques”. That book also gives Mencken’s less famous definition of an anti-vivisectionist as “one who gags at a guinea pig and swallows a baby.” That quote also appears in this January 3rd column.