Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-03-28


Make One Gloomy.
"Mistrust 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 well known physi-
clan 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, 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
ness to detect the incongruous, 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
not enough to sniff and litter and giggle
from your throat outwardn-there must be
general relaxation of the muscles, a broad
lambert light must spread over the wrnkling
countenance, a CLEAN of conscious mirth
must come from the shining eyes, score of
pleasant curves must elongate about the
parted lips; there must be a backward pose
of the head and a convulsive movement Of
the ribs, and then a musical peal of ha ha
has, a reiteration of melodous outlaws.
That is the kind of laughter which makes a
man healthy and wise, because it calls into
play all the best qualities of his nature.
HUMOROUS CLERGYMAN
Dr. Henson, of Chicago, is Baptist minis
ter who advocates laughing and puts his be-
lief into practice. Not long ago he preached
a sermon on the subject, in which he advised
people to laugh whenever they could. He
told story about servant girl he had who
was very much shocked one day to see him
turn somerset out on the grass soon after
the family prayers. She said she did not
understand how 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 pious,
good man-so good that he never cracked q
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
had laugh at his expense. DR.. Vincent was
to deliver his lecture on Fools" In intro
ducing MIN DR.. Henson said:
'Dr. Vincent will now give you his lecture
on Fools. DR.. Vincent, | may say, is him
self one of the best orators of our church."
II may be fool said Dr. Vincent in be-
ginning, but am not half as big one as
| DR.. Henson would make you believe"
TRoPHoNIUs CAVE
Rev. Charles H. Eaton of New York, saws:
Pausanias gives description of Trophonus'
| cave, which he tells us was made in the form
of huge oven and had many particular cir
| cumstances which disposed the person who
entered it to he more pensive and thoughtful
than ordinary. A man who had once made
his entry into this cave was never observed to
| laugh again. 1t 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
look upon Christianity and the church as
kind OF Trophonius cave. There can be no
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 \ conventual
sermon was once preached in Rome, in which
it was asserted that laughter was the result
of ,ritr lii Il NOT
laugh before the fall. 1t is also true that
Christian experience tends to serious and
composed frame of mind. But the Old Testa-
ment writer who said Laughter is mad" said
also There is time to laugh | think 1t was a
Christian philosopher who said, Laughter
is the property of reason, though its excess is
folly"
1t must be admitted that Simeon Stylites
did not indulge very much i'll laughter, but
it 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 at their games
in the street and drawing them to him by
his good cheer and quiet laugh All are
agreed that laughter is good for the body and
the soul. Illus thought ne nau lost q day
when he had passed it without laughing"
Sterne says, Laughter lengthens the term
of life" We are familiar with Laugh and
grow fat while Goethe declares, He who
laughs can commit no SIM
CHRISTIANS SHOULD LAUGH
DR.. Deems, of the Church of the Stranger,
says:
Laughter is good. 1t may really be doubt
ed whether any but a good man can really
laugh. Children can The best and purest
laughter in the world comes from children,
from bright and good young people, and
from men who are most thoroughly sancti-
fed. This observation is the result of what
| have seen of laughter for sixty years in
many climes. So far from supposing that
there is anything profane in laughter, it is
quite the reverse. Who should laugh like
those who have the peace of God which pass
eth all understandings l remember once sit
ting in the gallery of church in London
near a gentleman who had a very pure and
radiant face | have seldom known a man