The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-05-13
THE ART OF LAUGHING
Man the Only Animal With Hunor-Comfort in
 Real Laughter.

derness were given the red rose of love surely to Adam was given laughter for his help to courage. And if these two hand in hand would share their gifts it was but few petals of that rose for Adam and scant measure of his own dear possession for Eve, so that man has cherished laughter and wom- an love through all the generations Witty a woman often is-that is a mere twist of clever brain; but we cannot imagine her looking on life with Mir. Dooley's eyes or giving to the world book in the vein of the inim- itable "Three Men in a Boat" T could not see much to it." lady once con- fided in me. Now, if they had saved a pretty girl from drowning and all fal- len in love with her, and George had ." In fact, the book had inter- ested her not at all. She wanted them to play the usual game.
 If love makes the world go round Laughter prevents it going round too fast. It is capital brake for the pas- sions; but for it we should soon be worn out The serious defect in love is its lack of humor. We dare not woo with an epigram or write testing verses to our adored one; we should soon be sent about our business. Relying on observation of young love, 1 should say that could we see ourselves as others see us we should conceal our passion The lover must lose his sane and healthy outlook on life; he must stife his instincts for the ridiculous; he is possessed by a sweet madness, and his absurdities make him mark for the sneers and laughter of all observers.
 You think 1t is worth it? Well, so do l.
 Of all created beings, man only can laugh. His other emotions he shares with the brute creation. l have seen COW weep. If mans superiority be en- trely due to his sense of humor it must be his highest attribute. I am not at all sure it is not. Should such an assumption detract from the dignity of mankind, why not let it2 Man nev- CT got much comfort from his dignity; often it helps him little, even with the brute creation. Where they are big and active he does not rely on it at all; he carries a gun. The man who is really great puts on no cloak of dig nity; he is so sure of his position that 1t does not occur to him others are | frVi fp ha1 ,I,t tn
 pering be forced on him, smiles cheer fully and goes on his way. The little man trying to persuade his friends that he Is big is forever guarding his posi- tion. It is a sign 1t is not very se- cure. Tiny villas in suburbia must have their grand names; the dwellers in Park lane are content with a mere number. What do we want with this dignity? A throne is a lonely seat
 we can laugh better on the top of an omnibus. "The Hohenzollerns have no use for dressing gowns, lonce declared the German emperor. Poor Hohenzol- lernsl It is often in our dressing gown hours we live the best If home be a temple, as they say 1t should be, the dressing gown is the prestly raj ment. Could you be genial and expan- sive and praise your wife's cooking in a German military uniform? Could you laugh in it? Misguided Hohenzol- lerns.
 True laughing is an inward grace, of which there may be no outward sign; that healing ointment for the soul is not applied with twisted face and ex- plosive noises. The testing god is not so worshipped; he has no love of it.
 You must laugh in your mlnd not in your lungs Humor does not demand that accompaniment so aptly compared to the cracking of thorns beneath pot. Your true laugher may talk an hour in the drawing-room among the ladies and still keep his popularity.
 Surely our places of amusement pro- vide us with strange food for merri- ment. They present for our entertain ment chiefly pictures of drunkenness, accident, domestic quarrels, infidelity and true love scorned. Small wonder that some of us, in the opinion of the majority, laugh when we should not, and leave undone the laughing we } ought to have done. The clown with his red-hot poker seems merely luna tic with a dangerous weapon; he in- clines us more to horror than merri- ment. Yet we may comfort ourselves ) with the thought that the pun is dead, : and that the practical joke, except : among mi-barbarous people and on the Stock exchange, is dying. Wit, true jewel that 1t is, sparkles the more for cutting and polishing. Its power Is tremendous; the bludgeoning of im- passioned phrases is harmless com , pared to the napier thrust of a witty sarcasm Ridicule is the flaming sword in the hand of the social reformer. Dickens knew it, and so slew his drag ons; others, neglecting 1t, have been but voices crying in the wilderness Mankind rather likes being preached at; he feels important; he has a rare fondness for being considered a sad
 dog. But he cannot endure being laughed it. He would rather be good The art of laughing is quite distinct from the art of amusing others. The society humorist who has made his friends laugh all the evening often f iudheS HIS Mlle cry SolnS nome Tn the
 cab. The real laugher you'd do , neither the one nor the other; he can ! Inot, to borrow phrase, keep the room i in roar; it would roar as gently as . any sucking dove if it relied on him. F The most he can do in a battle of din-
 ner-table wits is to indulge in what the writer of stories would describe as a
 quiet chucke (How do you chuckle? {? F Is 1t audible, or entirely of the mind ? l .a..l- A....