New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1843-12-01

In virtne of mans access to Reason or the
Whole the human form is pledge OF wholeness,
srgoes,s to our Imagination the perfection OF
trnl6 or goodness, and exposes by contrast any
halfness or inlperfection. We have primary
association between perfectness and this iorh'
But the facts that transpre WHEN actual men
enter, do not make good this anticipation; ois-
crepancy which is at once detected by the intel
cct, and the outward sign is the muscular ifti'd
ton Of laughter J..
Reason does not ioke, and men OF reason 90
not; prophet, in whom the moral sentiment
| predominates, or philosopher, N WnoIh tle
love of truth predominates, these DO not ]oke' oce
! they bring the Standard the ideal Whoie; exposing
all actual defect and hence, the best OF ali jokes
| is the sympathetic contemplation OF thhgs ny
the understanding from the philosopher point OF
view There is no joke so true and deep IN ac-
tua life, as when some pure ldeallst goes up and
! down among the institutions OF society, attended
by { man who knows the world, and who sylnya-
thzing with the philosophers scrutiny, sympa,
thzes also with the confusion and indignation OF
the detected skuking institutions. His percep-
ton of disparity, his eye wandering perpetually
from the rule, to the crooked lying ,h!eving fact,
makes the eyes run over with laughter.
This is the radical joke of life and then OF
literature. The presence of the ideal OF right
and of truth in all action, makes the yawnlng
del!nquences of practice remorseiul to the con-
science, tragic to the interest, but droll to the
intellect The activity of our sympathcs may
for time hinder our percclvlng the fact intel,
lectually, and SO deriving mlrlh from It, but all
fa!sehoods, and vices seen at sufficient distance,
seen from the point where our moral sympathlcs
do not interfere, becomes ludlcreus The comedy
is in the intellccts perception OF discrepancy
And whilst the presence Of the ideal discovers the
difference, the comedy Is embraced whenever
that ideal is embodied visbly In man. thus
Falstaf, in Shakespeare, is character OF the
broadest comedy, giving himself unrescrvedly to
his senses, cooly Ignoring the reason, whilst he
invokcs its name pretending to patriotism and to
but only to make the fun perfect by enjoying the
confusion betwixt reason and the negation OF
reason, in other words, the rank rascaldom he Is
calling by its name. Prince Hall stands by, as
the acute understanding, who secs the Right and
sympathizes with it, and in the heyday Of youth
feels also the full attraction of pleasure, and is
thus emincntly qualified to enjoy the joke. AT
the same time, he is TO that degree under the
reason, that it does not aInuse HIM as much as
1t amuses another spectator.
If the essence of the comic be the contrast IN
the intellect between the idea and the false per
fornance, there is good reason why we should
be affected by the exposure. We have no deeper
interest than our integrity, and that we should
be made aware by joke and by stroke, of any
lie that we entertain. Besides, perception OF
the comic seems to be balancc-wheel IN our
metaphysical structure. 1t appears TO be an es
scntial element in fine character. Wherever
the intellect is constructive, it will be found. We
feel the absence Of it as defect in the aoblcst
and most oracuar soul. 1t insulatcs the man,
cuts down all bridges between him and other
men. The perception of the comic is tie of
sympathy with other men, is pledge OF sanity,
and is protection from those perverse tendencies
and gloomy insanties into which fine lntelects
sometimes lose themselves. a man alive to the
ludicrous is still convertible. If that sense Is
lost, his fellow men can do little for him.
h.ro