The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1880-06-24

Benefits OF LAUGHTER.
Essay Road BY Col. r. 7. Cooper
Before the Press Convention in
Yazoo city, June I'd, 1880.

Before the Press Convention in
Yazoo city, June ID, 1880.
1 desire to say to my brothers and
sisters Of the press, and to these
kind friends who have so numerous
ly honored US with their presence
here tonight, that it is my purpose
to treat this subject in truly phi
losophical vein, and not to attempt
an illustration Of it by saying things
that are irritating or calculated to
provoke excitement or to stir up
discord, and thereby disturb the
gravity of this intellectual audience,
Or the dignity Of these solemn pro-
ceedings. My object is not to un-
dertake an explanation of the pheno-
mena of laughing, as Sunset Cox
has, or to show "Why we Laugh"
I have seen performances in this
fine that baffled all my powers to
find reasonable excuse for. | have
known men and women too, for that
matter-to laugh continuously and
immoderately at the faintest outline
of joke, to go into commissions over
the thinest ghost Of bon. mot.
One would suppose, from the way
they carried on, that they had dis
covered whole solar system OF
mirth that poured down on their
happy souls in a constant stream of
fun. Why they laughed, | was not
able to tell. Let Sunset Cox contin-
ue to wrestle with the problem in
books, while | content myself with
simply pointing out the practical ad
vantages of the exercise.
Some people are more subject to
paroxysms of laughter than others.
Occasionly you meet man who has
no latitude in his facet is all lon
gitude-nor no combustibility in his
bosOm-that is a BabcOck extin-
guisher-and if he should ever SC
far forget himself as to break out
into a cackle, it would startle him
and at the sametime, have freezing
effect on the nerves of his neighbors
On the contrary, you are liable tc
encounter men in all the walks OF
life who abuse the gift and laugh toe
much and too often in the wrong
place, or when the provocation is en-
tirely insufficient.
l consider laughing valuable
achievement, and the man or wo
man who is able to execute it with
skill as the professor of o very de-
sirable and useful accomplishment
A 1good laugh is worth at least
least a dollar almost at any stage Of
the market. A fresh and good joke
is an advantageous contribution to
the sanitary welfare of commune
ty, and if judiciously economical it
can be made to go long way and to
last some weeks, thus evoking sew
eral laughs and making itself worth
several dollars. 1t saves doctors
bills, enhances the physical and
mental powers to work and think,
promotes digestion. opens the pores
of humanity, and gives misanthropy
and stoicity chance to ooze out.
1t draws out in beautiful relief the
bright side of human nature, brings
joy, buoyancy, hope, happiness and
wealth. 1t also obviates the neces-
sity for stimulating drinks-the
laugh itself is an admirable stimu-
lator. You never saw a man who
had keen relish for the ludicrous,
like my old friend the Nestor of
Oktibbeha, and who was able to
ring out a clear, hearty horse laugh
at every bob which was fired at him,
who became drunkard or died with
consumption. l can't help but pity
the state of that man who is COM
PEELED to squander fifteen cents for
whisky whenever he wants to enjoy
the sensation of feeling rich. If he
would only just laugh he might have
this wealth all the same, without
costing him a cent.
There is no rule by which to
measure the true worth of a sound,
and unrestricted, and untrammelled
and uncontaminated, and unsophis-
ticated, and open-hearted, land open
mouthed laugh. A joke is called
rich, and it is rich if it can provoke
laughter. To find out something
about the real market value of a
laugh, take the case of the average
alderman. Why is he generally SC
fat and slick? Because he is a
fair and square laugher. There is SC
much humor in the position of am
alderman, and SO much fun trans
pires in the council proceedings,that
he soon learns the art of laughing
and masters the old proverb
which demands that he should
Laugh and grow fat" People
think that it is big salaries and higt
living that makes the aldermen 81
fat, but 1 tell you it is his fine ca
pacity to laugh that gives him ap
petite and rotundity. Look at SOM
of.our expanding preachers and law
yers! Mark how the physique swell
with the mental development! A
leading lawyer once gravely told M
that success in life was mere mat
ter of stomach-that as man.
| physical equator widened, and hi
| ability to fill up the big arm chai
increased, so also did his menta
power to grasp great questions en-.
large. lsss4 .sagF VI
Aud this great principle i
brought out in our doctors, illustra
ting in them also the soundness o
Tony Weller's philosophy tha
svidth and wisdom 60 together
When you are sick the slim docto
finds great difficulty in putting ol
looks wise enough to produce favor
able results. But when the healin,
man of respectable volume approach
es the sick beadside, feels you
pulse, gives his head classic turn
throws out his gazeion a scientifi
angle of thirty three and third de
grees and utters one or two learne'
grunts, all he has to do is to say n
little as possible, use his medicin
as sparingly as he can, and keep u
Ia vigorous air of wisdom. The pro
found veneration which the scientii
ic expansion of his Circumference
has inspired in your mind for hi
great learning, will bring you out
You are cured by the fat docto
when the lean Esculapian with th
same identical doses would proba
ly send you over the river Jor
dan.
Take the cause of Beecher for ey