The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1876-04-06
HulllOr.

EVERY humorous sentiment is the en-
bodiment of some special idiosyncrasy, or
it would become commonplace. There
have been modest humorists; nay, a hu-
morist is invariably modest in one sense,
for it is his cue to laugh at all vanity as al
all incorporated emotion. Conceit i'm
plies that the world is worth taking Sc
riously and ought to take me seriously.
The most rooted conviction of the humor-
list is that the world is farce-a melan
choly farce, indeed, for otherwise there
would be no contradiction-but farce
where the sublime must never be separated
from its shadow, the ridiculous. His very
egotism, in short, is itself a contradiction.
1t implies the two beliefs that his person
ality is intensely interesting and yet in
tensely absurd. 1t is the egotism Of Lamb
or of Montague, who ere always dwelling
fondly on their own tastes and assoCia-
tions and biographical "reminiscences, and
yet quietly railing at that fondneSs.
Modest vanity, humble self-assertion, dis
play of their own peculiarities as at once
the most absorbing and the most tritling
Of all topics Of thought, are of the very
essence of the genuine humorist; and yet
the most logged of political economists
will be offended if you tell him he cannot
relish humor. HumOr, theretore-the in
ference is surely irresistible-is a morbid
secretion. If women and children do not
appreciate humor, it is because the best
part of creation is the simplest in its tastes.
II Frenchmen have ceased to be humorous
since Rabelais and Montaigne, it is be-
cause they are the keenest of lOgicianS.
If Germans are not humorous, it is be-
cause they love sentiment too heartily to
laugh at it. If the Scotch are not humOr-
Gus, it is because the Puritan conception
of the world realizes the solemnity Of life,
and scorns all trifing with its awful reali-
ties AS humor is complex, the humcr-
list is the product of conflicting forces; an
occasional freak of nature, to be valued
only by those who prefer oddity to beauty
ia hundred limbed Hindoo idol 10
Greek statue. Had Sophoclcs, or Phidias,
or Raphael, or Dante, or Milton, sense
of humor? Do you find humOrin Thomas
| a kempis, or in the Hebrew prophets? A
| loving apologist of the "BiglOw Papers
has tried to defend his client from a fool
ish charge of profanity by discovering
some touches Of humor with the Athanas-
ian Creed. Everything is fair in apollo
gctic writing, as in love and war. A pass
ing g!eam of irony may tinge some Scrip
tural denunciations of idolatrous folly Just
enough to excuse an apo!ogist driven to
his wits end for an argument; but there
is not enough to excuse anybody else. The
spirit of humOr-the hooking goblin who
| sits at the elbow of some men to chill en-
thusiasm, to prick all the bubbles Of the
ideal with the nccdle-point of prosaic fact,
to give imagination the lie, like the soul
| in Ralcighs verses to tell clOquenCC that
it is bombast, and poetry that it is unreal,
belongs to the lower earth. His master or
scrvant-for the familiar spirit is both
ruler and slave to the wizard-is tcthered
to the ground, and can never soar with
out danger Of Il sudden collapse. And
liLIi IIClI, llNC 'liiIl ilo VI tilS S'Ni vi
he rules by our bascr instincts, and his
rule is but for time. How much of all
that passes for humorous is simply pro-
fame, or indecent, or brutal? Half the
humorous stories that pass current in the
world are unfit for publication. The
great humorists, from Radicals to Swift
or Sterne, are no longer quotablc in their
naked reality; and as the world becomes
more decorous humor becomes tongue
tied and obsolete. OF the jests that sur
vive, half again owe their merit TO their
inhumanity. Look at any Of the current
stories of Douglas Jerrold, who passed
for humorist in these later days. Every
recorded jest of his that have seen is a
gross incivility made palatable by pun.
The substance of each phrase is, You are
a fool; the art consists in SO wrapping the
insolence in play of words that the hear,
ers laugh, and the victim is deprived of
sympathy. at was your father, then.
who was not SO handsomc?" is one Of
| Talleyrands brilliant retorts to man who
spoke of his mothers beauty. What is
this but to say, "IOu are an ugly beast, "
and yet to evade the legitimate resent
ment of the sufferer ?-CornhlH Magnztnc.