"
Or, again, we may remember the harsh contortions of dry
cachinnation indulged in by the rebel spirits, when they have
succeeded in toppling over with their artillery the armed hosts of
Seraphim. Milton certainly did not intend to subtract all humour
from the celestial regions. The only pity was that he had not
himself emerged beyond the childish stage, which finds its deepest
amusement in the disasters and catastrophes of stately persons.
It may be asked whether we have any warrant in the Gospel for the
Christian exercise of humour. I have no doubt of it myself. The
image of the children in the market-place who cannot get their
peevish companions to join in games, whether merry or mournful, as
illustrating the attitude of the Pharisees who blamed John the
Baptist for asceticism and Christ for sociability, is a touch of
real humour; and the story of the importunate widow with the unjust
judge, who betrayed so naively his principle of judicial action by
saying "Though I fear not God, neither regard men, yet will I
avenge this widow, lest by her continual coming she weary me,"
must--I cannot believe otherwise--have been intended to provoke the
hearers' mirth.
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