The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-11-05
s4ashrille Mnipn.
WM. CAMERON q co., Publishers.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER S, 1855.


Elulli tHf aAl-4aNA heNlehs OGtoi1I T.
There are times when the body Graves for
laughter a. il does for food. This Is the
laughter which, on some occasion or other,
has be rayed US all into scandalous, IN
seas03able, remorseful gaiety. After long
abstinence from cheerful thought, there are
| occasions so sad and solemn as 10 render this
] importune revolt impossible, unless where
4 grief abs0rbs the whole soul, aud lowers
! the system to uniformity Of sadness In
/ fact. e. 10 solemnity can be safe from incon-
/ gruitss. such occasions are not seldom the
! especial sceue CT these exposures-of eXr o.
sons Of a wild psrverse hilariiy taking the
eulprit q unawares; and this even while
he is aghast at his dagrant insensib.lity 70
/ the demand Of the hour. This the laugh
| ter so often ascribed TO Satanic influence.
| The nerves can not forego the wanted slim
ulus and are Indignantly on The watch, as
I it were, TO betray the higher faculties into
/ this unseemly indulgence. Thus John and
| Cbsrles Wesley ia the early days Of their
/ pnblic career, set forth one particular day
/ 10 sing hymns together in the fields but,
on uplifting the first stave, one Of them
was suddenly struck with sense Of some
1 thing ludicrous in their errand, the other
caught the infection, and bO.h fell into con-
vulsious Of laughter, renewed on every at
tempt to carry out their first design, till
| they were lam 70 give up, and own them
selves, for that Tins, conquered by the devil.
| There is a story Of DR.. Johnson much to
the same purpose Naturally melancholy,
he was vet great laugher, and thus was
an especial victim TO the possession we
speak Of for no one laughs IN depression
who has not learned 10 laugh in mirth.
He was dining with his friend Chambers in
the Temple, and at first betrayed so much
physical suffering and mental detection that
haHr -
with remedies. By degrees he rallied, and
with the rally came the need of 8 enersl
reaction. At this point hambers hsppened
TO say that a common friend had been with
him that morning making his Will. John
sOn-Or rather his nervous system-seized
upon this as the required subject. He
raised a ludicrous picture of the 'testa-
tor"s going about boasting Of the fact Of
his wlll-making 10 any body that would
lis'eu, down 70 the inn-keeper on the 70 d.
Roaring with laughter, he trusted that
Chambers had had the conscience lot 70
describe the testator as Of sound mind,
hoped there was legacy to himself, and
concluded with saying tnat he would have
| the Will set TO verse and a ballad made out
| OF il. Mr.. Chambers, not a. ell rehshlng
| his pleasantly, got rid Of his guest as soon
as he could But not 50 did johnson get
rid Of his merTiment; he rolled in cOnvul-
sions Till he got out Of Temple Gate, and
then, supporting himself against a post
sent forth peals so load as, in the silence Of
the night, 10 be heard from Temple Bar 10 |
| Fleet Ditch. We hear Of stomach coughs;
this was a stomach, or ganglionic, laugh.
The mistimed laughter Of children has
often some such source as this, though the
spite that pOssesses them has rarely the |
goOme-like essence. A healthy boy, after a |
certain length of constraint, is sometimes as |
little responsible for his laughter as the |
byp0chOndriac. Mrs. Beecher Stowe, in
describing, and even defending q Puritsni-
cal strictness of Sabbath observance, re
calls the long family exposition and ser |
mons which alternated in her youth with |
prolix meeting services, at all OF which the |
younger members Of the household were |
required to assist in profound stiffness Of /
attention. On one OF these occasions, on |
hot summer afternoon, needless grasshOp /
per, of enormous dimensions, leaped on the /
sleeve Of one of the boys. The tempting d. /
version was not to be resisted he Silly Sc
cured the animal, aud imprisoned a hind /
leg between his firmly compressed lips.
One by one, the youthful congregation be- /
came alive to the awkward cOntoftions and |
futile struggles Of the loo Ong-legged captive /
they knew that to laugh was to be hOgged, |
but after SO many sermons the need was !
imperative, and they laughed, and were |
fogged accordingly.
Different from all these types is the |
grand, frank laugh that finds its place 10 /
history and biography, and belongs TO mas
ter minds.
Political and party feeling may arise, in
string times, any amount OF animOslty, |
even in good -natured mem but once bring /
about a laugh between them, and an an
swerig chord is struck, a tie is established /
not easily broken. Something Of the old /
raneor is gone forever. There IS a story OF /
Canning and BgOugham, after hating and /
spiting one another through a session, find
ing themselves suddenly face 10 face in
some remote district in Cumberland, with i
only a turnpike gate between them. The
situation reused their mHgnsnimity stimuli
taneously they broke into laughter, and
passed each on his separate way, better
friends from that time 10th.
No honest laugher knows anything about
his own laugh. which is fortunate, as it is I
apt 10 be the most grolesque part Of the man,
especially il he is anything OF an original.
Character, humor 0ddity, all expatiate IN /
II. and the features and voice have to &C
eommodate themselves TO the ocrasion as
thew car. Thee is Prince Halls laugh,
Htill his face is Ike wet cloak III laid ups"
there is the laugh we see in Dutch pictures,
where every wrinkle Of the old face seems
to be in motion Lnere IS the cOIVulSlHe /
laugh. in which arms and legs join there is
the whitney, the ventral laugh, Dr. John
sons laugh, Ike a rhinoceros Dominic |
Simpsons laugh, lapsing without any inter
mediate stsge into dead gravity, and the
ideal social laugh, the delighted aud de-
lighting chuckle which ushers in q joke,
and the cordial triumphant laugh which
sounds its praises.
We say nothing Of sll the laughs-snd
how many there are which have no mirth
in them nor Of the "hai ha - Of melOdra
ma, and the ringing laugh Of the novel, as
being each unfamiliar 20 our waking ears.
Whatever the laugh, IL il be genuine and
come from decent people, it IS as attractive
as the Piper Of Hamelin. IL Is impossible
not TO want to know what hearty laugh is
about. some Of the sparkle Of life is near,
and we long to share it. he gift OF laugh
Ter is one Of the compensRting powers Of the
world. A nation that laughs is 50 far pros
perous Il may not have material wealth,
but it has the poetry Of prosperity. When
LADY Duff Gordon laments that sne never /
hears hearty laugh in Egypt, and when
Mr. Palgrave, on the contrary, makes the
Arabs proper a laughing people, we place
Arabia, for this reason, higher among the
than its cid neighb0r. And it is
the same with homes. Wherever there is
pleasant laughter, the inestimable memo
ries are being stored Up, and such fres play |
given % nerve and brain that whatever
thought and power the family circle Is ca
pable Of viii have fair chance Of due ex-
pansion.