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About University of Oregon monthly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1897-???? | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1908)
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON MONTHLY 17 humor rather than sarcasm^ a humor which he knew exactly hoW“ Io use, in order to make, himself heard whether it be in the coffee house or in the boudoir of some court beauty. Allvover London people read the “Spectator” eagerly th a t' they- might .eufoy the quiet drollery of Addison. His writing is* ^p^full of sympathy, at times Sven pathos, that the rtibsVsensitive could not take Offense. In his. essays he laughs with hearty good-will at the follies of/the court, the uselessness the fine ladies and gentlemen of the day. These' empty-headed flowers of fashion he could have reached in no dither way and -yet they were anxious to read anything that Ad dison m ight write. Thus, little by little, his g H g l had its in fluence upon the corruption of the'court,’, an influence .¿which worked slpwJy and quietly and was probably hardly*'realized until long after his death. , It is an- especially noticeable fact -in regard to ridicule’ that >tt has in modern times become the most popular weapon of literature. Nearly'all of the recent novels, that is'- those-of teal literary* value, the productions of such men as Shaw and Wells, are-written in a satirical mood. Ridicule is, the favorite method of attack? in political speeches; magazine articles,'and even newspaper editorials-run in 3 satirical .vein. In this day of; invective? against social and govern mental evils ridicule seems to fle-considered th e 'm q st vital and powerful force. j .Why ;is* it, I wonder, that .ridicule has this pow er to work re form where laws, where, reason- and wherel sermons fail? Partly because it reaches »those who either do-not know the law or skilh fully evade it, those who are too ignorant to understand argument arid, would riot .-listen if they, could, and those who disdain all ser- simply because they ate sermons. -The prime reason, how- I R lies in man’s .vanity-/ and' back of his vanity, in -his.isocial instinct ,He must stand well in the eyes of his neighbors,,and ridi cule* h e feels to he the fatal' biow. yzhich will deprive'him of social position. . B ffl ¿ '¿ ^ J e n n i e Lilly, TO.
