The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1890-11-27

cOndltlOn or mlrthfulnoSS, happiness. en-
jOymont. or the appreciation of some ludi-
crOus incident. The feelings which give
rise to laughter are as varied and numerous,
as the individuals INDUCING in exclamation,
or the kind of laughter which we meet with
in daily life. We need not waste time in
theOrizing. but at once endeavOr to arrive at
some common sense and practical deduc-
tons from the study of laughter as an in
dicatlon of character. The general char
acter of the individual may, as rule, be
pretty correctly inferred from the nature of
his or her laugh-and, therefore. be con-
sidered as a tOleraby safe standard for our
choice OF friends.
The man or woman who never laughs is
a creature to be avoided and pitied. They
are usually the victims of disappointed am
bitiOn. of hopeless love, of abOrtve schemes
or detected cOnSpiracieS; or the perpetrators
of premeditated wrong against the cOmmu-
nifty of which they form part. Sullen,
msanthrOpical, lifelesS they hold them
selves alOOf from their fellows. and view
every thought, word and incident with a
jaundiced eye, and see neither good nor
pleasure in this world and its surroundings
they are the PARISHES of the human race;
and. devoid of all right feeling or generous
impulses. are equally dangerous and treach-
erOus. whether as friend or foe.
The malicious or cruel laugh is, alas, but
too common among us. Neither age nor
social status is exempt from it's exhibition.
The boy or youth who practices cruelty on
the helpless and inOffensive insect, animal,
or fellow creature for the mere pleasure of
witnessing its suffering; the individuals who
laugh at the antics of the rum craZed in
ebriate. at the mSfOrtuneS of the aged or
crippled, or at the moral downfall of their
companions or acqualntances--are human
mOnStrOSitieS, unworthy of classification as
men or women. and afford unmiStakeable
evidence of what their own future will be.
The spirit within them will work out its
own harvest just as assuredly as the seeds
of thistles will produce prickly fruit.
There is also the sardonic grin-the sickly
smile of the YagO's. the MarplOte and the
Joseph Surface of the fashionable world
the man "whO smiles and murders while he
smiles;;" expressive of the fiendish delight
they feel i'm the accomplishment of an evil
or revengeful act. 1t is the unfailing CHAR
acteristic of mean. low, grovelling nature
There are several varieties of the $50
ciety" laugh. There is the silly. causeless
exclamation of the professional IOunger:
the Itch he" of ill natured garrulOus Cos
sips; the "Haw-haw haw' of the brainless
dude; the senseless glggle mot unlike the
cackle of hen) of bevy of foolish girls
or the sinister. half smothered smoker of
the crafty, selfish schemer, who thrives on
the downfall of his fellows. There is moth
ing more tormenting or disgusting to intell-
gent minds than the society" laugh.
Merry, heartfelt laughter is a great sweet
ener Of life, but, alas, like good coffee, it
must be cleared-cleared of the sediment of
i'll will. prejudice. and partiality-and con-
tain no deleteriOus admixture or affectaton
earth more delightful to listen to than the
hearty, cheerful. genuine "Ha! ha! hal" of
the bright, good natured. sympathetic man
or woman. elected by some witty Observa-
ton. or humorous, mirth. provoking anec-
dOte.
What striking contrast to the hollow,
ghostly chuckle usually accorded by
would be fashionable people to the CONVEX
satiOn of visitor or acquaintance to a cur
rent society" scandal or ill natured criti-
cism! The bona fide honest laugh betrays
its genuineness by the appreciative sparkle
of the eye and the beaming good humOr
which pervades the features.
A really wicked man seldom laughs, and
when he does so. it resembles the CHASTITY
grin of deaths head" Humor is not
the attribute o. the cruel or the impure; and
humOr of the genuine sort is next to the
divine attribute in any nature. A person
who has real sense of humor-such as
those portrayed in Dickens's Incompatible
sketches of the Wellers, Mrs. Nickleby, the
Brothers Cheeryble. Tom Pinch. Mark
Tapley, Pickwick, etc.-will not usually
laugh at the, wrong thing. A questionable
or improper story has no charm for such.
Vice and impurity cannot thrive under the
genial. mellOwing influence of humorous,
laughter-IOving nature. Men and women
endowed with this choice attribute cannot
act unkindly either to their fellow creatures
or to the brute creation. They will step