R I D 



t.iat has been partially caftrated, or which is not properly 

 formed in the cod. 



RIDICULE, in Ethics, is commonly ufed in the fame 

 fenfe with irrilion ; and has for its objects the abfurditics 

 and misfortunes of mankind. The latter, however, are 

 very improper objects of ridicule, whole province fhould ex- 

 tend only to the carelcfsncfs, inconftancy, humour, affeftation, 

 impertinence, and in fhort all the letter follies and imper- 

 fections of mankind. Such are generally the fubjefts of 

 Horace's Satires ; and Dr. More obferves, that irrilion, 

 which is the parent of ridicule, was the original of fatire. 



Dr. Campbell (Philof. of Rhet. vol. i.) obferves, that 

 ridicule is not only confined to queltions of lefs moment, but 

 is fitter for refuting error than for fupporting truth, forre- 

 ftrninino- from wrong conduct, than for inciting to the prac- 

 tice of what is right. It is not properly levelled at xXxcfalfe, 

 but at the abfurdin tenets ; and it is not the criminal part of 

 mifconduft which it attacks, but that we denominate filly or 

 fooli(h. With regard to doftrine, it is not falfity or miitake, 

 but palpable error or abfurdity (a thing hardly confutable 

 by mere argument) which is the objeft of contempt ; and 

 confequently thofe dogmas are beyond the reach of cool 

 reafoning which are within the rightful confines of ridicule. 

 This Itatement is obvioufly inconfiflent with the mode of 

 arguing adopted (very improperly, as we conceive) by 

 thofe who make ridicule, or raillery, the teft of truth. To 

 this clafs we may refer a noble writer, who, in his " Charac- 

 terises" (vol. i.) after alleging that truth may bear all 

 lights, obferves that one of thole principal lights or natural 

 mediums, by which things are to be viewed, in order to a tho- 

 rough recognition, is ridicule itfelf, or that manner of proof 

 by which we difcern whatever is liable to juft raillery in any 

 fubjeft. So much, at leall, is allowd by all, who at any 

 time appeal to this criterion. His advocates, however, have 

 afferted, that unjuft reprefentations have often been given 

 of the pofitions which he has maintained in his " Effay on the 

 Freedom of Wit and Humour," and it has been faid, parti- 

 cularly in the " General Dictionary, " that he was very far 

 from vindicating a vague, indecent, and boundlefs ridicule, 

 or inclined to employ his wit and humour otherwife than 

 under certain reltnftions, and when particular occafions 

 called for and juftified it. Although it be allowed, that his 

 lordfhip has been in fome inftancea mifunderftood and mifre- 

 prefented, and he has written in a manner fo inaccurate and 

 unguarded, as to have fubjefted himfelf to juft animadverfion 

 and cenfure, Dr. Brown, in his " Effays on the Charac- 

 teriftics," has animadverted on his lordfhip's reafoning ; and 

 with great ingenuity contended, that though ridicule is a 

 fpecies of eloquence, reafon alone is the deteftor of falfehood, 

 and the teft of truth ; that ridicule can never pretend to 

 this character ; that it is one of the moft powerful engines by 

 which error can be maintained and eftablifhed ; and that its 

 proper object is folly of conduft, and chiefly affeftation. 

 Other writers have defended his lordfhip, among whom we 

 may reckon the Rev. Mr. Charles Bulkley, an ingenious and 

 learned diflenting miniftcr. In a work afcribed to Mr. Ram- 

 fay, the painter, the author has attempted to fhew, that ri- 

 dicule is of two kinds, and that it may be applied to opinions 

 as well as to manners. The ufual objefts of ridicule are, 

 indeed, certain improprieties ami peculiarities of character 

 and conduct, and to aflert, in general, that it is the tell of 

 truth, is advancing a falfe pofition. Reafon is undoubtedly 

 the genuine and proper teft of truth. Neverthelcfs, ridi- 

 cule may in fome cafes bejuilly applied to opinions. There 

 are tenets fo flagrantly abfurd, that it is not eafy to refrain 

 from viewing them in the light of humour and raillery, and 

 perhaps the belt way of expofing them may be to difplay 



7 



KID 



them in that light. Neverthelefs, it muft be acknowledged, 

 that ridicule, when applied to grave and important fub- 

 jefts, is a very dangerous weapon ; that it ought to be 

 adopted with the utmoft difcrction, and that it has often 

 been made ufe of in an improper manner. 



With regard to conduct, fays Dr. Campbell, we may 

 difcover to what kind ridicule is applicable, by dircftinjr 

 our attention to the different departments of tragedy and 

 of comedy. In the laft it has a mighty influence : but into 

 the hrit it never legally obtains admittance. Thofe things 

 which principally come under its lafh are aukwardnefs, 

 rufticity, ignorance, cowardice, levity, foppery, pedantry, 

 and affeftation of every kind. But againft murder, cruelty, 

 parricide, ingratitude, or perfidy, to attempt to raife 

 a laugh, would fhew fuch an unnatural infenfibility in 

 the fpeaker, as would be exceflively difguftful to any au- 

 dience. To punifh fuch enormities, the tragic poet muft 

 take a very different route. It fhould be carefully remem- 

 bered, fays our author, that where nothing reprehenfible, or 

 fuppofed to be reprehenfible, either in conduct or fentiment, 

 is ftruck at, there is properly no fatire (or, as it is fometimes 

 termed, pointed wit), and confequently no ridicule. We 

 may here obferve, that the words " banter" and " raillery" 

 are ufed to fignify ridicule of a certain form, applied, in- 

 deed, more commonly to praftices than to opinions, and 

 oftener to the little peculiarities of individuals, than to the 

 diltinguilhing cuitoms or ufages of fefts and parties. The 

 only difference in meaning between the two terms is, that 

 the firft generally denotes a coarfer, the fecond a finer fort 

 of ridicule ; the former prevails moft among the lower 

 claffes of the people, the latter only among pcrfons of 

 breeding. Dr. Campbell, after remarking that an air of 

 ridicule in difproving or difl'uading, by rendering opinions or 

 praftices contemptible, hath occafionally been attempted 

 with approbation by preachers of great name, fuggefts the 

 abfolute neceffity, in the ufe of it, of the greateft care and 

 delicacy, that it may not degenerate into a ltrain but ill 

 adapted to fo precious an occupation. 



Our author cites the authority of Ariftotle in favour of 

 the general principles with regard to the fubjeft of ridicule 

 which he has endeavoured to eltablifh. " The ridiculous," 

 fays the Stagyrite, " implies fomething deformed, and con- 

 fiits in thofe fmaller faults, which are neither painful nor 

 pernicious, but unbefeeming : thus a face excites laughter, 

 in which there are deformity and diftortion without pain." 

 Ariftotle here fpeaks of ridicule, not of laughter in general ; 

 and not of every fort of ridicule, but folely of the ridiculous 

 in manners, of which he has, in few words, given a very ap- 

 pofite defcription. Laughter is not his theme, but comedy 

 and laughter, only fo far as comedy is concerned with it ; 

 and the concern of comedy reaches no farther than to that 

 kind of ridicule which relates to manners. For an account 

 of Hobbes's theory of laughter and Dr. Campbell's objec- 

 tion to it, fee Laughter. 



On the fubjeft of laughter, Dr. Hartley | Obf. on Man) 

 remarks, that young children do not laugh aloud for fome 

 months. The lirlt occalion of doing this feems to be a fur- 

 prife, which brings on a momentary fear firft, and then a mo- 

 mentary joy, in confequence 'I thi removal of that fear, 

 agreeably to what may beobferved of the pleafurea that fol- 

 low the removal of pain. This may appear probable - , inaf- 

 much as laughter is a nafcent cry, Hopped of a ludden ; and 

 alfo bocaufe, if the fame furprife, which makes young chil- 

 h, !>'■ a very little increafed, they will cry. As chil- 

 dren learn the life ol , they learn to laugh at fen- 

 or llorics, by which certain alarming notions and ex- 

 pectations are railed in them, and again diflipated inflan- 



taneoully, 



