PHILOSOPHY OF IRONY. 139 with guile!" That is, "How absurd to suppose, if what I have said is true, that I could have used craft and guile !" 59. The Philosophy of Irony.—The philosophy of it seems to be, that some thoughts which the author wishes to repel are so manifestly false that they need only to be distinctly uttered to make the hearer see their falsity and reject them with indignity. Or, if the irony is playful, the hearer is pleased with the ingenuity of the author, who can express, as if true, such absurd ideas. The absurdity also of the sentiment is clearly exposed. Therefore, Irony has two offices: to expose false sentiment by asserting it so baldly as to induce others to see its falsity, and to present ludicrously inconsistent associations as though true, but in such a way as to amuse and perhaps instruct the hearer. It is an efficient exposer of falsehood, though it acts itself under the guise of falsehood (illustrating the maxim "that it takes a rogue to catch a rogue"). Thus Shakspeare represents Marc Antony as attempting artfully to inflame the Roman people against Brutus because he had stabbed Cæsar; and ever and anon, when quoting the words of Brutus, he adds, "And Brutus is an honorable man!" The proper intonation intimates that Brutus is very dishonorable man, and the rabble are represented as soon understanding the speaker. Mr. Fox, in Parliament, responded to an opponent in a passage that has often been quoted, and is a good specimen of Irony: "But we must pause !' says the honorable gentleman. If a man were present now at the field of slaughter, and were to inquire for what they were fighting, 'Fighting!' would be the answer; 'they are not fighting; they are pausing.' Why is that man expiring? Why is that other writhing with agony? What means this inexplicable fury? The answer must be, 'You are quite wrong, sir; you deceive yourself; they are not fighting; do not disturb them; they are merely pausing! Lord help you, sir, they are not angry with one another; they have now no cause of quarrel, but their country thinks that there should be a pause!" By such expressions as the above, Mr. Fox ridiculed the idea that had been advanced, that the great events then occurring were simply a "pause" in history. Dr. Johnson, in his indignant letter to Lord Chesterfield, refusing his patronage and favor which were not offered till he began to be popular and did not need assistance, inquires: "Is not a patron, my lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and when he has reached ground, encounters him with help?" Of course Johnson does not ask such a question for information, but intends by his question to intimate precisely the opposite idea as the truth. Shakspeare, that great delineator of every passion, often employs Irony. In King Lear, Cordelia is represented as ridiculing a blunt plain-speaking man as coarse and rude, thus: "This is some fellow, Who, having been praised for bluntness, doth affect Quite from his nature. He can not flatter, he! IRONY IN CONTROVERSY. 141 The words printed in italics are a repetition by Cordelia of what the rough man is supposed to say of himself craftily. She repeats them, to show their falsity, simply by a peculiar emphasis. This kind of irony is often prompted by anger. 60. Irony in Controversy.-Controversialists sometimes resort to Irony to expose the ridiculousness of the errors which they oppose. Thus Henry Rogers* ironically asks deists to construct a book as ingenious and powerful as the Bible. He begs of them, "Do not let your imaginative forms be so exquisite as to make mankind take them for genuine history" [as they have taken the Bible]; "do not, I warn you, so transcend Homer and Shakspeare, as to make people fancy your fable fact! Or else not only will you fail of your object, but will have added unexpectedly another to the many historical religions!" This is exquisite Irony, as is the whole letter from which it is taken. None can deny the efficiency of this weapon, when properly used, either to expose error, or meanness, or ignorance, or vice. Bishop Haret has a long argument, in the form of a letter, to dissuade young clergymen from studying the Bible, so written as to show that such a neglect as it pretends to advise would be cowardly and guilty. Such ironical writing, when well done, is exceedingly efficient. *The Greyson letters: Selections from the Correspondence of R. G. H. Greyson, Esq. Edited by Henry Rogers (Boston, 1857), p. 428. The Works of Dr. Francis Hare, Lord Bishop of Chichester (London, 1746), vol. ii. p. 1-38. 61. Irony intended to Amuse.-The lighter use of Irony, simply to amuse, may be seen principally in humorous productions. Some whole volumes have a vein of irony running through them; and while to superficial readers they appear to be sober, are really ridiculing some theory or practice. This covert, gentle irony, it is, that gives such an inexpressible charm to such works, as "Don Quixote," the "Vicar of Wakefield," and many of the writings of Dean Swift and Sydney Smith. Washington Irving, in his “Knickerbocker's History of New York," has given us some of the best specimens of this kind of irony. We have room but for a single passage: "Of the creation of the world we have a thousand contradictory accounts; and though a very satisfactory one is furnished us by divine revelation, yet every philosopher feels himself in honor bound to furnish us with a better. As an impartial historian, I consider it my duty to notice their several theories, by which mankind have been so exceedingly edified and instructed." Who does not perceive in this a ridicule of the absurd theories of the origin of the world that have been promulgated? One of the most successful specimens of ironical writing is a pamphlet by the celebrated humorist Swift, entitled, "A Modest Proposal to the Public for preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from being a Burden to their Country, and for making them Beneficial to the Public?" The "modest proposal" is that the little children be fattened and used for food! He enters into grave statistical calculations of the pecuniary profit of such a course, written with such an appearance of candor and cool brutality, that ILLUSTRATION OF IRONY. 143 it is said a contemporary writer in France was actually deceived by it, and denounced it as horribly inhuman. The design of Swift was to censure England for an alleged disregard for the rights of the Irish people. Henry Ward Beecher commends fishing thus: "Alas! that a world should be so barbarous as to condemn piscatory sports so long as they contribute to exercise taste, sentiment, and moral enjoyment; and that all objection ceases when a man can prove that he labored for his mouth alone. It is all right, if it was eating that he had in mind. The frying-pan is in universal favor. This is the modern image that fell down from heaven, which all men hold in reverence *יין In the above, an idea which the author disapproves is first soberly stated. It is then repeated in other forms again and again, till the very strength of statement begins to make it ridiculous, and the mind recoils from accepting it, when it becomes Irony. By the punctuation the author indicates that the last sentence alone is ironical. We think the two preceding sentences should be punctuated in the same way. This gradual sliding into irony is common with earnest, eloquent controversialists who have a vein of wit in their nature. 62. Tronical Questions.-Irony is often forcibly ex· pressed in the form of questions: "Can gray hairs render folly venerable ?" Hon. Mr. Fessenden, in the Senate, inquired: "Are we not men of some degree of sense and discretion? Are we sent here, senators, chosen men of states, representatives, the se * Star-Papers; or, Experiences of Art and Nature. By Henry Ward Beecher (New York, 1855), p. 238. |