It will be recognised how much of our humour depends upon our keen
perception of the weaknesses and imperfections of other
nationalities. A great statesman once said that if a Scotchman
applied for a post and was unsuccessful, his one object became to
secure the post for another Scotchman; while if an Irishman made an
unsuccessful application, his only aim was to prevent any other
Irishman from obtaining the post. That is a humorous way of
contrasting the jealous patriotism of the Scot with the passionate
individualism of the Celt. The curious factor of this species of
humour is that we are entirely unable to recognise the typicality
of the caricatures which other nations draw of ourselves. A German
fails to recognise the English idea of the German as a man who,
after a meal of gigantic proportions and incredible potations,
among the smoke of endless cigars, will discuss the terminology of
the absolute, and burst into tears over a verse of poetry or a
strain of music. Similarly the Englishman cannot divine what is
meant by the Englishman of the French stage, with his long
whiskers, his stiff pepper-and-salt clothes, walking arm-in-arm
with a raw-boned wife, short-skirted and long-toothed, with a bevy
of short-skirted and long-toothed daughters walking behind.
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