THE SENSE OF HUMOUR.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 577, 4 August 1909, Page 9

THE SENSE OF HUMOUR.

Sir,r—ln: : thcso, dull times it is certainly, exhilarating.to read such a funny letter from your:, very funny/, correspondent "Lynio Dror" I think, however, before, he accuses nie , ,of.'. having l ' no sense of humour ..he should' distinguishbeWoen humourand ■ sarcasm.' •His. letter "has.'no real humour in .-it,-..-for real humour, is'a buoyant and gfnerous expression of good-feeling, or, as- tho dictionary has it, ."the power. .of,, saying things so as ;to; cause .fun and'laughter.l'lio only funiijr tiling about his letter is that although 1 it is'meant to bo funny it has no, real fun in.it, and it is only funny because it is not ; what; tho'.writer . iiitcndod it .to bo; henco wo fiah enjoy a good laugh at the. fun wo 1 imagines is. contained therein, and we beconio all . the more hilarious tho more w0,,-havo to draw upon our imagination, and tho less wo arc ablo: to perceive .the sense of humour in your correspondent's letter. So, then, , what was meant to be humorous turns out to be "a bitter remark in scoru 'or. con- • which-i's sarcasm. It is. not 1 always . : tlioso who,,try f to. be, funny, accuso . others of having no senso of humour who aro the most possessed of that generous ' quality. ' Possibly, howover, "Lyme Dror'' is an., unconscious, .humorist,; 'seeing . only humour, in his owii remarks, aud unconscious of'any in thoso' of others. It is better to bo- unconscious ; of tho senso of humour one may not be supposed to, possess,' thau to supppso onself to bo alono 'conscious of tho , sense of. humour ..which one may not, like your correspondent, really possess or know how, to express except in. terms of biting sarcasm over which we* can afford to'.laugh in, all good humourjvkriowing-that the ■senso of humour wo have to imagine in his letter is,/ironical,.and,riot' like, my book, "worth its .weight,iii gold," which expression, is ovil donee}' of real humour,' if not accepted as ■' fact.lf your ,correspondent; : is ■ 'a 1 Socialist, let ' him " rather endeavour to help ; on .tho cause than hinder it by;,trying to hold up another to ridicule; let him prove .. his own generosity by paying for a copy ; of my book, and find ,ouf for himself'.what originality it ,really: contains,, to say nothing of its; sense of humour, expressed, before'he accuses me of being miserly'.with l my ideas. ' The true-' Socialist will not expect, another Socialist to always be it is 1 sufficient .for the. cause that ho stands firm ta I his principles, then; whatever new ideas lie j hai can" wait awhile untip the wotld has . cultivated enough of the senso of humour to want to make happiness abound, and let ' satire give place to ]oy.—l am, etc., !> , • J. B. MORTON BARNES; f July 31. '"