106 On the Theory of the Ludicrous. [March 13, 



But again, the Ludicrous has a distinct ethical value. Aristotle 

 places evrpaTreXla among the virtues, and by evrpaTreXla he means 

 decorous wit and humour, as distinguished from the low buffoonery 

 to which Dr. Kennedy so strongly objected. It is said that ridicule 

 is the test of truth. And there is a true sense in the saying. The 

 Platonic irony — which is really the feigning of ignorance in order to 

 get a man to make a fool of himself — may illustrate this. And, to 

 look at the matter from another point of view, it may be seriously 

 maintained that we never really believe a thing until we are able to 

 treat it sportively. The more profound our wisdom, the more lightly 

 we shall wear it. It is a tradition of the Catholic Church, in her 

 colleges and seminaries, that all ethical questions should be dealt with 

 humorously. The Professor of Moral Philosophy in those institu- 

 tions is " der Lustige," as the Germans would say : the man who 

 does the comic business. Carlyle, in one of his early Letters, speaks 

 of a sense of the ridiculous as " brotherly sympathy with the down- 

 ward side." It is a most pregnant saying. " Twenty-seven millions, 

 mostly fools." Well, better to view them as fools than as knaves. 

 For the emotion raised by folly is rather pity and ruth than anger. 

 Then again, the Ludicrous, and especially the variety of it which we 

 call Satire, is an inestimable instrument of moral police. I do not say 

 of moral reformation. "What moral reformation really means is the 

 conversion of the will from bad to good. And I do not think Satire, 

 as a rule, likely to effect that. But it is certainly a most effective 

 deterrent. Goethe makes Werther, as the supposed author of the 

 * Letters from Switzerland,' say, " One would always rather appear 

 vicious than ridiculous to any one else." And I suppose this is true 

 of the vast majority of people. Hence it was that Pope was led to 

 magnify his of&ce : — 



" Yes, I am proud, I must be proud, to see 

 Men not afraid of God, afraid of me ; 

 Safe from the Bar, the Pulpit and the Throne, 

 But touched and scared by ridicule alone." 



But the clock, which beats out the little lives of men, has beaten out 

 the brief hour of the lecturer. And so with these noble lines of the 

 great ethical poet of the last century, I take my leave of my subject 

 and my audience. 



[W. S. L.] 



