I have even heard of a man who never
laughed at humour because he hated falsehood, and we sometimes say of an
untrue statement that it must be taken with a "grain of salt."
It is so very common for men to flinch under ridicule, that it is said
to be a good test of courage. An old English poet says,
"For he who does not tremble at the sword,
Who quails not with his head upon the block,
Turn but a jest against him, loses heart.
The shafts of wit slip through the stoutest mail;
There is no man alive that can live down
The unextinguishable laughter of mankind."
Aristotle defines the ludicrous to be "a certain error and turpitude
unattended with pain, and not destructive," a statement which may refer
to moral or physical defects. Cicero and Quintilian, looking probably at
satire, consider it to be mostly directed against the shortcomings and
offences of men. Bacon in his "Silva Silvarum" says the objects of
laughter are deformity, absurdity, and misfortune, in which we trace a
certain severity, although he speaks of "jocular arts" as "deceptions of
the senses," such as in masks, and other exhibitions, were much in
fashion in his day. Descartes says that we only laugh at those whom we
deem worthy of reproach; but Marmontel, the celebrated pupil of
Voltaire, takes a view which bespeaks greater cultivation and a progress
in society.
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