New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1843-12-04
From The Dial
THE COMIC.
ny RALpH WALDO JEFFERSON

LIE CCN1lC.
nY NALPH WALDO EMERSON.
Contnued
1t is true tic scnsibiity TO the ludicrous may
run into excess. Men celebrate their perception
of hallness and a latent lie by the peculiar ex-
plosions of laughter. So painfully susceptible
are some men to these impressions, that If man
of wit come into the room where they arc, 1t
seems to take them out Of themselves with violent
commissions Of the face and sides, and obstrcper-
Gus roarings Of the throat. How often and with
what unleigned compassion we have seen such
person receiving like willing martyr the wins
pers into his car of a man of wit. The victim
who has just received the discharge, if in a
solemn company, has the air very much of a
stout vessel which has Just shipped heavy sea !;
and though it docs not split it, the poor bark is
for the moment critically staggered. The peace
of society and the decorum Of tables seem to re-
quirc that next to notable wit should always be
posted phlegmatic bolt-upright man, able to
stand without movement of muscle whole broad
sides of this Greek fire. 1t is true shaft OF
Apollo, and rayerses the universe, unless 1t en-
counter mystic OF dunpish soul, and goes
everywhere hcraldcd and harbngercd by smiles
and greetings Wit makes itsown welcome, and
levels all distinctions. No dignity, no learning,
good wit. 1t is like ice on which no beauty Of
form, no majesty of carriage can plead any I'M
lnunity,-thcy must walk gingcrly, according to
the laws Of ice, or down they must 60, dignity
and all. " DOst thou think because thou art viz
tuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale 2"
Plutarch very happily expresses the value Of the
Jest as a legitimate weapon of the philosopher
" Men cannot exercise their rhetoric unless they
speak, but their philosophy even whilst they are
silent or Jest merrly; for as 1t is the highest de-
gree of injustice not to be Just and yet seem SO,
so it is the top Of wisdom to phllosophlze yet not
appear to do it, and in mirh to do the same with
those that are serious and seem in earnest Tor as
in Euripides the Bacch@, though unprovided OF
iron weapons and unarmed, wounded their lnva-
ders with the boughs of trees which they carried,
thus the very tests and merry talk of true PHI
losophers move those that are not altogether ~
sensible, and unusually reform
In all the parts of life, the occasion Of laughter
is some seeming, some keeping of the word to the
car and eye, whilst it is broken to the soul Thus,
as the rel gous sentiment is the most vital and
sublime of all our sentiments, and capable OF the
most prodigious effects, so is 1T abhorlent to our
whole nature, when In the absence of the scntl-
ment, the act or word or officer volunteers to
stand in its stead To the sympathi;s this is
shocking and occasions grief. But tc .;ie intel
lect, the lack Of the sentiment gives no pain; 1t
compares necessarily the sublime idea with the
bloated nothing which prctcnds.to be 1t, and the
sense OF the disproportion Is comedy And as
the religious sentiment is the most real and earn
est thing in nature. being mere rapture, and OK
GLIDING, when it appears, all other considerations,
the vitiating this is the greatest lie. Therefore,
the Oldest be Of literature is the ridicue of false
H. H.
the sentiment is all the rite indifferent. But the
inertia Of men inclines them when the sentiment
sleeps, to initiate that thing it did, it goes through
the ceremony emitting only the will, makes the
mistake of the wig for the head, the clothes for
the man. The older the mistake and the more
overgrown the particular form is, the more ridicu-
lous to the intellect There is excellent humor
in the part taken by Captain John Smith, the
discoverer Of New England, when the society in
London, who had contributed their means to cou-
vert the savagcs, hoping doubtless to see the
keokuks, Black Hawks, Roaring Thundcrs, and
Tustanuggces of that day, converted into church
wardens and dcacous at the least, pestered the
gallant rover with frequent solicitations out of
England, respecting the conversion of the Indl-
ans and enlargement of the church. Smith in
his perpexity how to satisfy the London churches,
sent out u party, caught an INDIAN and dispatch
ed him home in the first ship TO London, telling
the society, they might convert one themselves.
The satire reaches its climax when the actual
church is set IN direct contradiction TO the die
tates Of the religious sentiment, IN the famous
account of our Puritan politics IN Hudlbras.
Our brethren of New England use
Choice maleactors 10 excuse,
And hang the gullllesS in their stead,
OF whom the churches have less need
AS lately it happened in town
Where lved a cobbler and but one,
That out of doctrine could cut use,
And mend meas lives as well "a shoes
This precious brother having SLAIN
In times OF peace an Indian,
Not out of malice, but mere zeal.
Because he was an Isiidel,
The mighty Totupotimov
Sent 10 our cid, rs an envoy,
Complaining loudly of the breach
Of league held forth by brother Patch,
Against the articles in force
Between both churches, his and ours;
Forwhich he craved the saints 10 render
Into his hands, or hang the offender
But they maturely having weighed
They had no more but HIM OF the trade,
A man that served them IN the double
Capacity 10 teach and cobble,
Resolved TO spare him; YET 10 do
The Indian Hogan Alosan too
Impartial justice, IN his stead did
Hang an old weaver that was bed.rid.
In science, the Jest at pedantry is analogous to
that in religio which lies against superstition.
A classification or nomenclature used by the
scholar only as a memorandum of his last lesson