New-York tribune., 1874-02-10
COMPARISONS OF HUMoR.

COMPARISONS OF HUMOR.
LECTURE BY THE REV. DR. fokikous-IN0iis"
SCOTCH AND AMERICAN WIT.
The Rev G. h. Porteous, ID. d., Of London whose
address in Brooklyn, short time ago, on Englands
Vices and yirtues attracted considerable attention
from its capdor delivered lecture at East Side Hail.
in Yorkyille last evening, upon English, Scotch,
and American Wit" The lecturer compared the
humorous traits of these nations. large audience
attended. He began in this way;
Dr. Chalmer said there was a connection bet"een
divinity and love. That there can he q connection
hetween divinity and humor Englshman cannot un
derstan nd but an American can. In America nearly aI
religious people crack joke and understand 1t too
don't know crack lOke myself, but don't re
quire surgical operation like the scotchman, TO under
stand IT, Therefore tie better to entertain
nay 10 instruct you, l have chosen 10
let my eyes take the place OF the HUMOROUS
faculty and will read 10 YOU what other writers may
say regard 20 Wit. Let me anticipate one ooJeeuoh
tits very well for Thackeray TO lecture about wit OF for
Aremas Ward lecture at Piecady, but for clergy
man 10 speak about fun little anomalous, II not
indlscreet. could not help being clergyman put
clergymen know something about good eating, good
drinking, and good living, and such things
are very humorous in their way. Ana why
should O clergyman be de0arred from oeihg
himself humorist, from advocating the culture OF
wit and humor others Is there any moral or spiritual
objection to mans being witty well as wisei Lhe
is a comedy 8 well a tragedy There is another
popular objection TO man and woman, as such' nduiging
in wit Lfe the theologan says, is very serious I1e
is very real, also IL Is tremendously serious
life, with tremendous issues. II is HE OF man
hood and womanhood which can neither be laughed
out Of recognition scorned for ITS httleness'
But also very comca thing The serious involves
the humorous We made to realize TO the utmost all
fhatp hafu aneial N
ancient has said that wit aud woman constitute the
happiness Of man. Now believe nearly all NewYorkers
are teetolers whether they indulge really In the multi
iarious cocktails described by the press In England
I know not But believe then that wine,
wit, and woman are really tho constituent
elements OF a healthy life. don't apply
the terms in any lewd sense, but mentally
The wits OF England may be divided into three
classes First the sad wits secondly, the joyful wits
ana thirdly, the sadly joyful wits. begin with the sad
Wits There are shades and degrees Of hese-the duh
wit the bright wit, the brown wit the green VIII, the
opal wit. All wits, rule, are sad men, ana ths
reveals fact deeper than 1t appears, that all men who
produce greatest humor also produce the greatest
! sadness. The sad wits OF England were Tom
| Hood, Charles Lamb, De Quincey per
| haps also one might say Shakespeare. Tom
| Hood was a man OF most intense, mental sadness.
Every line he writes s dashed, not with gold, but with
sadness In his highest flights in his best fances IN
| his most pungent humor this man Is sad. When we
| think OF him in connection with the "sons OF the
Shirt" We would think he humorist; on the con-
trary you would say he was OF all the least calcu-
! lated TO crack joke. Charles Lamb was a sour wit.
With Hood all men were brethren he suffered with the
suffering; but with Lamb there too much 1ttlenesH
ef nature to make him great dual wit, Only when he
| gets to great dinner does he become genial Wit
Lander belonged to the school nursed in the lap
Of ease, lie was always with cross. 1t was cross
arising partly from nature and partly from grace
! His wit the whole is sound and easy.
Now those other Wits who sadly cad or sadly
Joyful Among these must be classed Thackeray.
lie looked like Landscape in uproar. have
thought all along that humOr went along with q
certain impOverishment OF nature Thackeray had all
the sadly Joyful him; he hated shams ever
did man could Int his gleetu fist and smlte down
hypocrisy and wrong as he & That mad made MIN 4im great
Bret arte the ear alone Is not sufficient but IN these
ii different The lecturer them read the jack
daw of Rheims" in the "Ingoldsby Legends"
| phfylng this sadly joyful mood
The Scotch. from tnelr long habit Of chershng Cal
ynistc doctrines were caricatured. reactlonary
school Burns school, established. His genius is
good stuff It is honest not defiant of religion. IL would
strip mask from the face OF religion. would speak
of Sam o'shanter, which shows the subtest wit with
the highest mentahqualtles read this poem as an ex
ample OF religious wit Ut then read) The wits OF
scotland nearly all religious. The Scotch clergy
baye Kind OF dry humor but is nearly always on re
ligiOus subjects Ramsay has immoralized many in
stances OF this hundred years ago they were notorl
Gus for IT, The Scotchman now does not allow himself
to perpetrate joke unless IL has some remote reference
10 religion. In England we never allow joke in the
pulpit, and SpurgeOn Is the only one who does
American VIII, II strikes me- Is true wit II ID wit OF
exaggeratioD the humor OF grOtesqueness. Nou are
very a nation, but your Wit and humor not
young. Ii has smack OF age and maturity. The wit
Train and Artenas Ward aud Bret Hare is strangely
enough better known in England than here. II is go
intensely dry and full 30 exaggerated, that II IS i'm
| possible not TO be drawn toward IL 1t comes TO
| us as a surprise as well as pleasure. Here
is one OF the most intensely witty things he
| then read Artemus Wards visit to Brigham Young }
THIS wit is shown not only by your humoris,s. but in
your daily papers Your alterations, your headings OF
paragraphs, your notices of events. They dry
TO astound people You saturated with humor and
cannot help yourselves. Your wit nearly all social.
have not any thorough specimen Of religious wit
! Your wIts are not capable OF Seriousness. Here and
there Bret Harte there is line OF tenderness, but
only and there In Aremus Ward there here and
| witty.
lecturer closed by stating that the anclents knew
how laugh and the benefits OF laughing The world
had had much divinity in the last 20 that il
wanted mOre w.t. more cheerfulDess, to give silver
| lining 10 the dark clouds.