nations, like individuals, stand self-betrayed in their pastimes and their jests. the ancient historians recognized this truth, and thought it well worth their while to gossip pleasantly into the ears of attentive and grateful generations. cleopatra playfully outwitting anthony by fastening a salted fish to the boastful angler’s hook is no less clear to us than cleopatra sternly outwitting c?sar with the poison of the asp, and we honor plutarch for confiding both these details to the world. their verity has nothing to do with their value or our satisfaction. the medi?val chroniclers listened rapturously to the clamor of battle, and found all else but war too trivial for their pens. the modern scholar produces that pitiless array of facts known as constitutional history; and labors under the strange delusion that acts of parliament, or acts of congress, reform bills, and political pamphlets represent his country’s life. if this sordid{95} devotion to the concrete suffers no abatement, the intelligent reader of the future will be compelled to reconstruct the nineteenth century from the pages of “punch” and “life,” from faded play-bills, the records of the race-track, and the inextinguishable echo of dead laughter.
for man lives in his recreations, and is revealed to us by the search-light of an epigram. humor, in one form or another, is characteristic of every nation; and reflecting the salient points of social and national life, it illuminates those crowded corners which history leaves obscure. the laugh that we enjoy at our own expense betrays us to the rest of the world, and the humorists of england and america have been long employed in pointing out with derisive fingers their own, and not their neighbor’s shortcomings. if we are more reckless in our satire, and more amused at our own wit, it is because we are better tempered, and newer to the game. the delight of being a nation, and a very big nation at that, has not yet with us lost all the charm of novelty, and we pelt one another with ridicule after the joyously aggressive fashion of schoolboys pelting one another with snowballs. already{96} there is a vast array of seasoned and recognized jokes which are leveled against every city in the land. the culture of boston, the slowness of philadelphia, the ostentation of new york, the arrogance and ambition of chicago, the mutual jealousy of minneapolis and st. paul,—these are themes of which the american satirist never wearies, these are characteristics which he has striven, with some degree of success, to make clear to the rest of mankind. add to them our less justifiable diversion at official corruption and mismanagement, our glee over the blunders and rascalities of the men whom we permit to govern us, and we have that curious combination of keenness and apathy, of penetration and indifference which makes possible american humor.
now englishmen, however prone to laugh at their own foibles, do not, as a rule, take their politics lightly. those whom i have known were most depressingly serious when discussing the situation with friends, and most disagreeably violent when by chance they met an opponent. neither do they see anything funny in being robbed by corporations; but,{97} with discouraging and unhumorous tenacity, exact payment of the last farthing of debt, fulfilment of the least clause in a charter. our lenity in such matters is a trait which they fail to understand, and are disinclined to envy. one of the most amusing scenes i ever witnessed was an altercation between an exceedingly clever englishwoman, who for years has taken a lively part in public measures, and a countrywoman of my own, deeply imbued with that gentle pessimism which insures contentment, and bars reform. the subject under discussion was the street-car service of philadelphia (which would have been primitive for asia minor), and the englishwoman was expressing in no measured terms her amazement at such comprehensive and unqualified inefficiency. in vain my american friend explained to her that this car-service was one of the most diverting things about our quaker city, that it represented one of those humorous details which gave philadelphia its distinctly local color. the englishwoman declined to be amused. “i do not understand you in the least,” she said gravely. “you have a beautiful city, of which you should be{98} proud. you have disgraceful streets and trams, of which you should be ashamed. yet you ridicule your city as if you were ashamed of that, and defend your trams as if you were proud of them. if you think it funny to be imposed on, you will never be at a loss for a joke.”
yet corruption in office, like hypocrisy in religion, has furnished food for mirth ever since king log and king stork began their beneficent reigns. diogenes complained that the people of athens liked to have the things they should have held most dear pelted with dangerous banter. kant found precisely the same fault with the french, and even the history of sober england is enlivened by its share of such satiric laughter. “wood was dear at newmarket,” said a wit, when sir henry montague received there the white staff which made him lord high treasurer of england, for which exalted honor he had paid king james the first full twenty thousand pounds. the jest sounds so light-hearted, so free from any troublesome resentment, that it might have been uttered in america; but it is well to remember that such witticisms pointed un{99}erringly to the tragic downfall of the stuarts. indeed, the gayest laugh occasionally rings a death-knell, and so our humorists wield a power which could hardly be entrusted into better hands. “punch” has the cleanest record of any english journal. it has ever—save for those perverse and wicked slips which cost it the friendship of stouthearted richard doyle—allied itself with honor and honesty, and that sane tolerance which is the basis of humor. “life” has fought an even braver fight, and has been the active champion of all that is helpless and ill-treated, the advocate of all that is honorable and sincere. the little children who crawl, wasted and fever-stricken, through the heated city streets, the animals that pay with prolonged pain for the pleasures of scientific research,—these hapless victims of our advanced civilization find their best friend in this new york comic paper. the girl whose youth and innocence are bartered for wealth in the open markets of matrimony, sees no such vigorous protest against her degradation as in its wholesome pages. it is scant praise to say that “life” does more to quicken charity, and to purify social corrup{100}tion than all the religious and ethical journals in the country. this is the natural result of its reaching the proper audience. it has the same beneficent effect that sermons would have if they were preached to the non-church-going people who require them.
when we have learned to recognize the fact that humor does not necessarily imply fun, we will better understand the humorist’s attitude and labors. there is nothing, as a rule, very funny, in the weekly issues of “punch,” and “puck,” and “life.” many of the jokes ought to be explained in a key like that which accompanied my youthful arithmetic; and those which need no such deciphering are often so threadbare and feeble from hard usage, that it is scarcely decent to exact further service from them. it has been represented to us more than once that the english, being conservative in the matter of amusement, prefer those jests which, like “old grouse in the gunroom,” have grown seasoned in long years of telling. “slow to understand a new joke,” says mrs. pennell, “they are equally slow to part with one that has been mastered.” but there are some time-honored jests—the young{101} housekeeper’s pie, for example, and the tramp who is unable to digest it—which even a conservative american, if such an anomaly exists, would relinquish dry-eyed and smiling. it is not for such feeble waggery as this that we value our comic journals, but for those vital touches which illuminate and betray the tragic farce called life. “punch’s” cartoon depicting bismarck as a discharged pilot, gloomily quitting the ship of state, while overhead the young emperor swaggers and smiles derisively, is in itself an epitome of history, a realization of those brief bitter moments which mark the turning-point of a nation and stand for the satire of success. “life’s” sombre picture of the young wife bowing her head despairingly over the piano, as though to shut out from her gaze her foolish, besotted husband, is an unflinching delineation of the most sordid, pitiful and commonplace of all daily tragedies. in both these masterly sketches there is a grim humor, softened by kindliness, and this is the key-note of their power. they are as unlike as possible in subject and in treatment, but the undercurrent of human sympathy is the same.
is it worth while, then, to be so contentious{102} over the superficial contrasts of english and american humor, when both spring from the same seed, and nourish the same fruit? why should we resent one another’s methods, or deny one another’s success? if, as our critics proudly claim, we americans have a quicker perception of the ludicrous, the english have a finer standard by which to judge its worth. if we, as a nation, have more humor, they have better humorists, and can point serenely to those unapproached and unapproachable writers of the eighteenth century, whose splendid ringing laughter still clears the murky air. it is true, i am told now and then, with commendable gravity, that such mirth is unbecoming in a refined and critical age, and that, if i would try a little harder to follow the somewhat elusive satire of the modern analyst, i should enjoy a species of pleasantry too delicate or too difficult for laughter. i hesitate to affirm coarsely in reply that i like to laugh, because it is possible to be deeply humiliated by the contempt of one’s fellow-creatures. it is possible also to be sadly confused by new theories and new standards; by the people who tell me that exaggerated types, like mr.{103} micawber and mrs. gamp, are not amusing, and by the critics who are so good as to reveal to me the depths of my own delusions. “we have long ago ceased to be either surprised, grieved, or indignant at anything the english say of us,” writes mr. charles dudley warner. “we have recovered our balance. we know that since ‘gulliver’ there has been no piece of original humor produced in england equal to knickerbocker’s ‘new york;’ that not in this century has any english writer equaled the wit and satire of the ‘biglow papers.’”
does this mean that mr. warner considers washington irving to be the equal of jonathan swift; that he places the gentle satire of the american alongside of those trenchant and masterly pages which constitute the landmarks of literature? “swift,” says dr. johnson, with reluctant truthfulness, “must be allowed for a time to have dictated the political opinions of the english nation.” he is a writer whom we may be permitted to detest, but not to undervalue. his star, red as mars, still flames fiercely in the horizon, while the genial lustre of washington irving grows{104} dimmer year by year. we can never hope to “recover our balance” by confounding values, a process of self-deception which misleads no one but ourselves.
curiously enough, at least one englishman may be found who cordially agrees with mr. warner. the rev. r. h. haweis has enriched the world with a little volume on american humorists, in which he kindly explains a great deal which we had thought tolerably clear already, as, for example, why mark twain is amusing. the authors whom mr. haweis has selected to illustrate his theme are washington irving, dr. holmes, mr. lowell, artemus ward, mark twain and bret harte; and he arranges this somewhat motley group into a humorous round-table, where all hold equal rank. he is not only generous, he is strictly impartial in his praise; and manifests the same cordial enthusiasm for boston’s “autocrat” and for “the innocents abroad.” artemus ward’s remark to his hesitating audience: “ladies and gentlemen! you cannot expect to go in without paying your money, but you can pay your money without going in,” delights our kindly critic beyond{105} measure. “was there ever a wittier motto than this?” he asks, with such good-natured exultation that we have a vague sense of self-reproach at not being more diverted by the pleasantry.
now mr. haweis, guided by that dangerous instinct which drives us on to unwarranted comparisons, does not hesitate to link the fame of knickerbocker’s “new york” with the fame of “gulliver’s travels,” greatly to the disadvantage of the latter. “irving,” he gravely declares, “has all the satire of swift, without his sour coarseness.” it would be as reasonable to say, “apollinaris has all the vivacity of brandy, without its corrosive insalubrity.” the advantages of apollinaris are apparent at first sight. it sparkles pleasantly, it is harmless, it is refreshing, it can be consumed in large quantities without any particular result. its merits are incontestible; but when all is said, a few of us still remember dr. johnson—“brandy, sir, is a drink for heroes!” the robust virility of swift places him forever at the head of english-speaking satirists. unpardonable as is his coarseness, shameful as is his cynicism, we must still{106} agree with carlyle that his humor, “cased, like ben jonson’s, in a most hard and bitter rind,” is too genuine to be always unloving and malign.
the truth is that, when not confused by critics, we americans have a sense of proportion as well as a sense of humor, and our keen appreciation of a jest serves materially to modify our national magniloquence, and to lessen our national self-esteem. we are good-tempered, too, where this humor is aroused, and so the frank ignorance of foreigners, the audacious disparagement of our fellow countrymen, are accepted with equal serenity. newspapers deem it their duty to lash themselves into patriotic rage over every affront, but newspaper readers do not. surely it is a generous nation that so promptly forgave dickens for the diverting malice of “martin chuzzlewit.” i heard once a young irishman, who was going to the world’s fair, ask a young englishman, who had been, if the streets of chicago were paved, and the question was hailed with courteous glee by the few americans present. better still, i had the pleasure of listening to a citizen of seattle, who was describing to a{107} group of his townspeople the glories of the fair, and the magnitude of the city which had brought it to such a triumphant conclusion. “chicago, gentlemen,” said this enthusiastic traveler in a burst of final eloquence, “chicago is the seattle of illinois.” the splendid audacity of this commended it as much to one city as to the other; and when it was repeated in chicago, it was received with that frank delight which proves how highly we value the blessed privilege of laughter.
perhaps it is our keener sense of humor which prompts america to show more honor to her humorists than england often grants. perhaps it is merely because we are in the habit of according to all our men of letters a larger share of public esteem than a more critical or richly endowed nation would think their labors merited. perhaps our humorists are more amusing than their english rivals. whatever may be the cause, it is undoubtedly true that we treat mr. stockton with greater deference than england treats mr. anstey. we have illustrated articles about him in our magazines, and incidents of his early infancy are gravely narrated, as{108} likely to interest the whole reading public. now mr. anstey might have passed his infancy in an egg, for all the english magazines have to tell us on the subject. his books are bought, and read, and laughed over, and laid aside, and when there is a bitter cadence in his mirth, people are disappointed and displeased. england has always expected her jesters to wear the cap and bells. she would have nothing but foolish fun from hood, sacrificing his finer instincts and his better parts on the shrine of her own ruthless desires, and yielding him scant return for the lifelong vassalage she exacted. it is fitting that an english humorist should have written the most sombre, the most heart-breaking, the most beautiful and consoling of tragic stories. du maurier in “peter ibbetson” has taught to england the lesson she needed to learn.
the best-loved workers of every nation are those who embody distinctly national characteristics, whose work breathes a spirit of wholesome national prejudice, who are children of their own soil, and cannot, even in fancy, be associated with any other art or literature save the art or literature of their fatherland.{109} this was the case with honest john leech, whom england took to her heart and held dear because he was so truly english, because he despised frenchmen, and mistrusted irishmen, and hated jews, and had a splendid british frankness in conveying these various impressions to the world. what would leech have thought of peter ibbetson watching with sick heart the vessels bound for france! what a contrast between the cultured sympathy of du maurier’s beautiful drawings, and the real, narrow affection which leech betrays even for his staffordshire roughs, who are british roughs, be it rememberd, and not without their stanch and sturdy british virtues. he does not idealize them in any way. he is content to love them as they are. neither does mr. barrie endeavor to describe thrums as a place where any but thrums people could ever have found life endurable; yet he is as loyal in his affection for that forbidding little hamlet as if it were florence the fair. bret harte uses no alluring colors with which to paint his iniquitous mining camps, but he is the brother at heart of every gambler and desperado in the diggings. hu{110}manity is a mighty bond, and nationality strengthens its fibres. we can no more imagine bret harte amid jane austen’s placid surroundings, than we can imagine dr. holmes in a mining-camp, or henry fielding in boston. just as the autocrat springs from puritan ancestors, and embodies the intellectual traditions of new england, so tom jones, in his riotous young manhood, springs from that lusty saxon stock, of whose courage, truthfulness, and good-tempered animalism he stands the most splendid representative. “the old order is passed and the new arises;” but sophia western has not yet yielded her place in the hearts of men to the morbid and self-centred heroines of modern fiction. truest of all, is charles lamb who, more than any other humorist, more than any other man of letters, perhaps, belongs exclusively to his own land, and is without trace or echo of foreign influence. france was to lamb, not a place where the finest prose is written, but a place where he ate frogs—“the nicest little delicate things—rabbity-flavored. imagine a lilliputian rabbit.” germany was little or nothing, and america was less. the child of london streets,{111}
“mother of mightier, nurse of none more dear,”
rich in the splendid literature of england, and faithful lover both of the teeming city and the ripe old books, lamb speaks to english hearts in a language they can understand. and we, his neighbors, whom he recked not of, hold him just as dear; for his spleenless humor is an inheritance of our mother tongue, one of the munificent gifts which england shares with us, and for which no payment is possible save the frank and generous recognition of a pleasure that is without peer.
