Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-08-17
Feminine HTiIsiOr.

MANY OF the most amusing things that
ever have been said in this world are, in |
one direction or another, such as would be
totally incompatible with the feminine
sense of delicaoy. If snyb body would take
Rabelais, or Swift, or Sterne, or Voltalre,
and endeavor to adapt them for general
reading on the principles applied to Shsks-
peare by the notorious Bowdler, he would
certainly find the shrinkage enormously
great The stories current in bachelor
society, even under the refnements Of the
present day, occasionally require certain
pairing down. or at least lowering OF
tone, before they can, be repeated with
perfect confidence in drawing room. Sir
Walter Scott describes the astonishment
with which an old lady who had studied
Mrs. Aphra Behnin her youth, returned
to her fayorite writer in her old age, and
discovered what vast change had taken
place in the standard of decorum during
the interval. Better writers than Mrs.
Aphra Behn have been exiied from the
modern ladies' library; and, if we could
regard the matter from purely artistic
point of view, we might be inclined to re-
greet many rules tending to narrow the
range within whIch a powerful writer
is permitted to seek for his effects. The
faculty of humorous perception is more
generally desired than would be the case
if it were quite compatible with the pos
session of the highest christian virtues.
There is something about it which flatters
the bad as we'll as the nobler side of our
characters. a humorist may be thor
ouxhly excellent and amiable person but
he is hardly likely to be a saint.
We cannot imagine the lOftiest spiritu-
al nature having the full appreciation of
Joke. We have known some very good
men who liked puns and small wittieisms
but we have always found them shocked,
1sven by the innocent varieties of humor.
The humori4t, In fact, has Just that ten
dency to look at the seamy tide OF things,
and that delight in bringing high emo
lions TO the test of some vulgar or gro
tesoue association, from which the man
of sanity nature cfaracteristically
shrink.. II he has a spice of i'll nature in
his composition, hs Is apt to degenerate
into downright eynio, and at all events
he prefers to occupy the position of a spec
tator rather than an actor, in the great
movements Of the world He feels that,
when all il said there is something rather
absurd about men in general, and that i'll
cannot be quite worth while 10 20 into
heroics about so mixed an animal. His
sense of humor, in fact. is always tripping
him up, and instead of joining vigorously
in a struggle. he likes to lie down and en-
Joy quiet ohuokle over the persons who
are going through such needless excite
ment. Hence it may be urged that wo-
men are too good to be humorists They
are too pure and saintlike and enthusias-
tic to und erstand masculine cynicism,and
they hate to be told than any cause to-
which they have given their affections has
after al, tinge of absurdity. They are
naturally hero-worshipers, and, but for
the case of Mr.. Carlyle. VIC might say
that hero-worship was incompatible with
a sense of humor. L0n721 S.turd1y Re
uieV. e. :.-