Aug. 11, 1882.] 



• KNOWLEDGE 



17; 



winter. Any ordinary chart of the world will plainly show- 

 how, during the prevalence of winds from the Is orthAVest to 

 the north-east by the north, the resorts on both sides of our 

 country which lie within II. and III. interlatitudinal zones, 

 enjoy not only the purest but the driest of sea winds, which 

 have blown over an almost boundless area of sea ; and it 

 will be seen hereafter that these resorts, which we have 

 just shown differ little from the southern in their winter 

 temperatures, have climates of remarkable tonic power, 

 which, when other factors are present, such as rock-bound 

 coasts, etc., acting as force-breakers to the wind, conduce to 

 the prevention in youth of the development of that dreadful 

 disease, consumption, which in the ten years 1861-70 killed 

 529,-125 persons. 



THE HUMOUR OF THE AEYAN RACE.* 



AN American writer. Miss Elizabeth Robins, has 

 recently been working in a branch of ethnology 

 entirely new — viz., the study of the humour of the Aryan 

 nations ; and the articles she has published on that subject 

 are replete with new facts, the result of much knowledge 

 and acute observation. They suggest, moreover, fresh lines 

 of inquiry, and some account of them may not prove un- 

 interesting to the readers of Knowledge. The primary 

 object of all historical studies is to arrive at a conception 

 of the growth of the human race, and to recognise in its 

 earliest eflbrts and strivings the mighty source from which 

 our present civilisation has been evolved. In such investi- 

 gations it is with profound satisfaction that we discover 

 the evidence of the working of the mind of man, and the 

 monuments of antiquity have little value to us beyond the 

 human interest they possess, j^ow, there is no facultj- of 

 man so purely human as that of humour, wherefore its 

 study has an attraction for us that some others do not 

 present. But it is not easy to trace with the historic 

 development of mankind. Even now wit and pleasantry 

 are difficult to apprehend, and fly Proteus-like from hiai 

 that pursues ; but of the earlier ages of our history mucJi is 

 lost that would enlighten us, and what remains is but little 

 understood. Yet Miss Robins' articles throw much light on 

 this by-way of ethnological science. 



From the time when the Hindus crossed the snowy 

 Himalayas from their primordial home, and settled by the 

 banks of the Seven Rivers, they have maintained the 

 mental characteristics that quickly distinguished them ; 

 and thus the Hindu of to-day represents well his ancient 

 ancestors The dreary calm engendered in him by the 

 climate in wliich he lived caused the Hindu to repine at 

 the activity the requirements of life entailed, and his ideal 

 Elysium was a state of perfect passivity and rest " There 

 never was a nation," says Professor Max Miiller, " believing 

 so firmly in another world, and so little concerned al)Out 

 this." This weary spirit bore fruit in the Buddhist doc- 

 trine of Nirvana, which taught the Hindu to look forward 

 to his absorption into Atman, the One Great 8elf, when the 

 toil of existence should cease, as the chief and final 

 good. Such a metaphysical belief as this, when the 

 essence of progress is wanting, and the tone of mind 

 that led to it, have left a deep impress on Hindu 

 civilisation, and have marked its literature with a special 

 character. The Vedas of the Hindus, as Miss Robins points 

 out, contain many sublime passages ; their law-books are 

 filled with wisdom ; their epics celebrate the deeds of great 



• " Hinda Humour— Loki—JIischicf in tlio Middle Ages." 

 By Elizabeth Eobins. dtlanUc ifonthlt/, 1881-82. 



heroes, and their dramatic works have a strong affinity to 

 ours ; but even in these the quiescence of the Hindus pre- 

 vents the great lights of tears and laughter, the glory of 

 the literature of other nations. In other words, they have 

 never realised the higher pleasures and greater pains that 

 are the lot of more sensitive men. They were apt, in their 

 metaphysical speculations, to laugh at the folly of mankind 

 for rejoicing or despairing in a world where there was no 

 reality; and their humour is often so bitter and misan- 

 thropical, that it is often not easy for Western readers to 

 distinguish that which is humorous from that which is 

 grave. Miss Robins considers the story of Baital Pachisi 

 to be the masterpiece of Sanskrit humour, of which it is 

 distinctly typical. It represents the subjection of humaa 

 power and wisdom to the Vampire, the representative of 

 all that is vile, and it is withal so entertaining that it has 

 been very popular. 



Unlike their kinsmen in Asia, who with the lotus- 

 eaters have " no joy but calm," the northern Aryans have 

 met in their migrations with hardship and cold ; and 

 learning to value that gift of life for which they have 

 fought so hard, they have been invigorated by labour and 

 rewarded by its fruits. The ancient Greeks, settled in 

 the land of Hellas, in "that fair clime where every 

 season smiles," speedily assumed the first place in Euro- 

 pean civilisation. They enjoyed a vigorous life, in the 

 open air ; and, communing much with nature, they became 

 lovers of the beautiful, which witli them was the external 

 form of the good. It was thus that the inhabitants of 

 Olympus were assimilated to themselves, and became the 

 types of the higher life of the Hellenic genius. But the 

 Greek gods were not humoroas in the sense in which we 

 understand the word now. They were mirthful, it is 

 true, and laughed loudly at the grotesque appearance of 

 Pan, and at his mad tricks, but their amusement was 

 chiefly derived from external objects and ridiculous decep- 

 tions. But the early Greeks had serious aims, and did 

 not think the comic worthy of attention, for which reason, 

 says Aristotle, the archon did not until late assign a chorus 

 to the comic {'oets. The humour of the Romans resembled 

 strongly that of the later Ci reeks, but it was of a rougher 

 nature, consisting chiefly of satire, often bitter of its kind, 

 with much buflbonery and broad fun. 



Passing to the colder climes of northern Europye, the 

 Scandinavian and Teutonic races depended on the chase 

 for their livelihood, and were hardened by the toil that 

 attended it The old Scandinavians, stormful Jarls and 

 Vikings, wild huntsmen and sea-goers, imbibed a taste 

 for distant and dangerous adventure, and became brave 

 and fearless, sharp, vigorous, and original. No pessimists 

 they, like the Hindus, no philosophers, like the Greeks, 

 but men with whom the stream of life ran tumultuous 

 and cataract-like. They were rough a-.id homely men, 

 with big hearts and rugged exteriors, and loudly could 

 they laugh as they quailed their mighty ale over stories 

 of combat bravely done. And tlieir gods were like them- 

 selves. Even Odin, the all-father, " the terrible and 

 severe god," could drink like a Norseman. Thus he says . 



" Drunk I was, 

 1 WHS ovor dniiik, 

 .Vt that cunning Fialars." 



But the god Ix)ki, of whom Miss Robins has given a 

 vigorous sketch, is the type of the Norse genius, the incar- 

 nation of mischief, full of jesting and mummen,-, cunning 

 and fond of his own amusement And his history is that 

 of the pleasure-seeker, a quick descent from amusement to 

 vice ; and the mirtliful scofler V>econies " the calumniator 

 of the gods, the contriver of all fraud and mischief, and 



