We cannot say that enthusiasm in Art or Science should not exist, and
yet a manifestation of it seems absurd when we do not sympathise in it.
The most amiable and beneficent of men, it has been remarked, "have
always been a favourite subject of ridicule for the satirist and
jester." Personal deformities seem absurd to some, but those who have
made them their study see nothing extraordinary in them. Sometimes our
laughter shows us that something seems wrong, which our highest ideal
would approve. I remember seeing an aged man tottering along a rough
road in France, with a heavy bag of geese on his back. One of his
countrymen, who by the way have not too much reverence for age, came
behind him and jovially exclaimed, "_Courage, mon ami, vous etes sur le
chemin de Paradis_." The old man ought to have been glad to have been on
the road to heaven, but our laughter reminds us that most would prefer
to stay on earth.
It must be admitted that our feelings with regard to right and wrong are
very shifting and changeable, and that we condemn others for doing what
we should ourselves have done under the same circumstances. We have also
an especial tendency to adopt the view that what we are accustomed to is
right. We sometimes observe this in morals, where it causes a
considerable amount of confusion, but it holds greater sway over such
light matters as awaken the sense of the ludicrous.
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