Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, W.T. [i.e. Wis.]) 1843-1844, 1844-01-13

THE COMIC.
IY RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

Ii is true the sensibility TO the ludic-
rous may run into excess. Men celc-
brate their perception Of halfnes and a
latent lie by the peculiar explosions of
laughter. So painfully susceptible are
some men TO these impressions that il
a man Of wit come into the room where
they are, it seems to take them out oil
themselves with VIOLENT commissions oil
the face and sides, and obstcperious
roarings of the throat. How often and
with what unfeigned compassion we
have seen such person receiving like
a willing martyr the whispers of a man
OF wit. The victim who has Just re-
ceiyed the discharge, if in solemn COM
pany, has tho air very much of a stout
vessel which has just shipped a heavy
sea; and though it does not split it, the
poor bark is for the moment critically
staggered. The peace of society and
the decorum of tables seem to demand
that next to a notable wit should al
ways be postcdphlegmatic bolt-upright
man, able TO stand without movement
of muscle whole broadsides Of this
Greek fire. 1t is true shaft of Apol-
10, and trayerscs the universe, unless il
encounter mystic or dunpish soul,
and goes everywhere heralded and har-
Fingered by smiles and greetings. -
Wit makes its own welcome, and lev
els all distinctions. No dignity, no
learning, no force Of character can
make any stand against good wit. II
is like ice on which no beauty Of form
no majesty Of carriage can plead any
immunity; they must walk gingcrly
according to the laws of ice, or down
they must go, dignity and all. "Dost
thou think because thou art virtuous,
there shall be no more cakes and alc?"
Plutarch very happily expresses the
value Of the Jest as a legitimate weapon
Of the philosopher. "AIen cannot ex-
ercise their rhetoric unless they speak,
but their philosophy even whilst they
are silent or jest merrily; for as it is the
highest degree of injustice not to be
just and yet seem so, so it is the top Of
wisdom TO philosopher yet not appear
TO do it, and in mirih TO do the same
with those that are serious and seem in
earnest; for as in Euripides, the Bac-
chn, though unprovided Of iron wea.
pons and unarmed. wounded their in
vadcrs with the boughs Of the trees
which they carried, thus the very ies,s
and merry talk OF true philosophers
move those that arc not altogether in
sensible, and unusually reform"
In all the parts of life, the occasion
Of laughter is some seeming, some
keeping of the word TO the ear and eye,
whilst il is broken 10 the soul Thus,
as the religious sentiment is the most
vital and sublime OF all our-Sentlments,
and capable ftho most prodigious cf-
tectS, so il is abhorant to our whole ma
turc, when in the absence of the senti-
ment, the act or word or officer volun-
tecrs to stand in its stead. To the SYM
pathies this is shocking, and occasion
grief. Bat 10 the intellect, the lack of
the sentiment gives no pain; il com
parcS inccssantly the sublime idea with
the Llca'cd nothing which pte,nds to
be At, and the sense of the diSpropor-
ton l. comedy. And as the religious
sentiment is the most real and earnest
thing in nature, be mere rapture, and
excluding, when it appears, all other
considerations. the. Whaling this is the
greatest lie. Therefore, the oldest iibc
ofliterature is the ridiculc of false re-
ligion, This is the Joke OF Jokes. In
religion, the sentiment is all; the rite
indifferent But the inertia OF men in
clines them when the sentiment sleeps,
10 initiate that thing il did: it goes
through the ceremony emitting only 4
the viii. makes the mistake Of the wig
for the head. the clothes for the mar. 4
The older the mistake aud the more
ridiculous 10 the intellect. There is
eXeeIeot hpmor in the part taken by
Captain John Smith, the discOverer Of
New Eaganl, Wien the society in
London, who hal contributed their
neansto convert the SavaEes. h oninc
to see the Keokuks, BLACK