The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-03-21
Njfl!l zEagle
THE MAN WHO LAUGHS.

liz M9A " III LII - ~ AAC'
THE GOOD 1T DOES HIM, IN EVERY
WAY, TO SHAKE HIS SIDES.
Healthy Laughter Is Mentally and Physi'
rsIIv RenefciaI-The Views of Three
CIergymen - Christianity Should Not
Make One Gloomy.
"oiistrust that man that hath no mood for laugh
ter
"A merry heart doeth good like medicine"
The laughing man is healthy man.
There is not the remotest corner or little
inlet of the minute blood vessels Of the hui
man body that does not feel some wavelet
from the commissions occasioned by good,
hearty laughter" said a well known physi-
clan. 1.-The life principle, or the central
man. is shaken to its innermost depths, send
ing new tides of life and strength to the sur
face. thus materially tending TO insure good
health to the persons who indulge therein.
The blood moves more rapidly, and conveys
a different impression to all the organs Of
the body, as it visits them on that particular
mystic journey, wien the man is laughing
from what it does at other times For this
reason every good, hearty laugh in which a
person INDUCES tends to lengthen his life,
conveying, as it does, new and distinct slim
illus TO the vital forces"
The worlds greatest criminals have always
been men who did not laugh.
Enjoyment in life really depends upon ones
capacity for laughter-that is, on ones readi-
ness to detect the homogeneous, the unex-
pected, the humorous side of things.
"There is always something to laugh at in
this world, and if everything else fails you
can laugh at yourself
a man may sheer or Singer. and a woman
may shipper, but that is not laughter. 1t is
nos enough 10 sniff and litter and giggIe
from your throat outward there must be a
General relaxation Of the muscles, a broad
lambert light must spread over the wTinkhng
countenance. q CLEAN of conscious mirth
mast come from the shining eyes, a score of
pleasant curves must elongate about the
parted lips; there must be a backward pose
of the head and q cOnyulsive movement Of
the ribs, and then musical peal Of la. la,
has. a reiteTation of melodious outlaws
That is the kind Of laughter which makes d
man healthy and wise, because it calls into
play all the best qualities OF his nature.
HUMOROUS CLERGYMAN
Or. Henson, of Chicago, is & Baptist minis
ter who advocates laughing and puts his be-
lief into practice. Not long ago ne preached
c sermon on the subject, in which he advised
people 10 laugh whenever they could He
told story about servant girl he had who
was very much shocked one dav to see him
turn a somerset out on the grass soon after
the family prayers. She said she did not
understand how a man could pray and turn
a somerset the same day.
Il did not blame the girl, Dr. Henson said,
''for she had been in the family of a piouS.
good man-so good that he never cracked a
smile. He was SO good that they put him in
the penitentiary to keep the outside world
from COMMUNICATING him
DR.. Henson tells how his congregation once
Lad laugh at his expense. DR.. Vincent was
tc deliver his lecture on Fools" In intro
ducing him Dr.. Henson said:
"Dr. Vincent will now give you his lecture
on Fools DR.. Vincent, l may say, is HIM
self one of the best orators of our church.
Il may be Il fool, said Dr. Vincent. in be-
ginning, 'but am not half as big one as
DR.. Henson would mako YOU believe
TRoPHoNTUs' CAVE.
Rev. Charles H Eaton. Of New York. saws: |
Pausanias gives a description of Trophonius' |
cave, which he tells us was made in the form |
Of huge oven and had many particular cir |
which disposed the person who |
entered it TO be more pensive and thoughtful |
man ordinary. A man who had once made |
lis entry into this cave asnever observed TO |
augh again. II was usual in those DAYS when /
any one was more than usually gloomy to |
say that he looked like one who had Just come |
out of TrophOniuS' cave. There are some who /
ook upon Christianity and the church as a |
Iind Of 1rophoGius' cave. There can be 10 /
doubt that certain pessimistic views which /
have been associated with Christian doctrine |
and some of the teachings Of the pulpit afford /
justification for the opinion that Christianity |
favors a gloomy disposition A conventual /
sermon was once preached in Rome, in which /
it was asserted that laughter was the result /
of original sin, and that Adam could not /
laugh before the fall 1t is also true that |
Christian experience tends to a serious and /
frame of mind. But the Old Tesla
ment writer who said Laughter is mad. " said /
also There is time to laugh. -" / thiull~it was q
Christian philosopher who said. Laughter
IS the property of reason, though its excess is
follya
ii must be admitted that Simeon Stvlites
md not indulge very much in laughter, but
il may be said also that he equally dispensed
with the true Christian spirit and manner of
life. The old masters have painted the in.
nocent and wonder eyed babe in the Manager
and the thorn crowned and bleeding victim.
The world waits the master who shall paint
Christ watching the children al their games
N the street and drawing them to him nv
BIS good CHEER and quiet laugh. All are
agreed that laughter Is good for the body and
he soul Titus thought he mad lost a dav
when he had passed it without laughing
StsrEe says, Laughter lengthens the term
II life. We are familiar with Laugh and
,row fat, while Goethe declares, He who
aughS can commit no sin"
CHRISTIANS SHOULD LAUGH
DR.. Deems, Of the Church Of the Stranger.
ayS:
Laughter Is good 1t may really be doubt
u whether any but n good mau can really
augh. Children can. The best and pIrest
augnter IN the world comes from children.
rom bright and good young people, and
rom men who are most thoroughly sancti-
led This observation is the result OF what
have seen of laughter for sixty years in
many chimes. So far from supposing that
here Is anything profane in laughter. it Is
uite the reverse. Who should laugh like
hose who have the peace Of God which pass
IN all understanding remember once sit
Ing in the gallery Of a church in London
ear a gentleman who had a very pure and
adlanT faca ] hnNa Nal.snr,, -, . 49,.