i 
 
 - 
 
 331 NS.*-i , *..♦ 
 
 1 NTV1 
 
 mm 
 
 
M-B F5 5 / 
 
 ~V,f? 
 
 Columbia (Hntuersftp 
 
 intljeCtiprflfrttgork 
 
 College of ip&pgtctang anb burgeons; 
 ILibvaxy 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 
 Open Knowledge Commons 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/dissertationoninOOtown 
 
DISSERTATION 
 
 ON THE 
 
 INFLUENCE OF THE PASSIONS 
 
 PRODUCTION AND MODIFICATION 
 
 DLStf£&$£ 
 
 BY PETER S. TOWNSEND, A. B. 
 
 Member of the Literary Institution of Columbia College, of the Medico-Cbteurgical 
 
 Society of this city, and Honorary Member of the Columbian 
 
 Peitho-Logian Society. 
 
 Passiones sunt tanquam rotae in curru quibus vebimur hoc mundo. Bernard. Ser. 35. 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, BY VAN WINKLE AND WILEY, 
 No. 3 Wall- Street. 
 
 1816. 
 
9 ~M 
 
 7? - 
 
 /m 
 
\ I AN 
 
 w 
 
 *i v 
 
 V ON ; v > 
 
 THE INFLJJENCE OF THE PASSIONS 
 
 \ • * 
 
 * . IN THE 
 
 PRODUCTION AND MODIFICATION 
 
 FICATION^ * 
 
 % 
 
 \ 
 
 DISEASE. * v 
 
 Ak \ \V\ * * * * 
 
 SyBJVligrTE'D TO/ THEfPJJBLIC. EXAMINATION 
 
 TRUSTEES AND PROFESSORS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS OF THE 
 UNIVERSITY OF NEW-YORK, 
 
 SAMUEL BARD, M. D. &c. PRESIDENT, 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 Degree of Doctor of Medicine. 
 
 Od the 6th day of May, 181 P. 
 
 
TO 
 
 SAMUEL LATHAM MITCHILL. M. D. 
 
 F. R. S. EDINBURGH ; 
 
 Professor of Natural Histcrry in the University of the State of New- York ; Fellow of the Society 
 of Arts at Albany ; Member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences at Boston ; Associate of the 
 American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia ; Member of the Wernerian Natural History, 
 and of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, and Honorary Member of the Society of the 
 Antiquarians of Scotland ; Corresponding Member of the Academy at Marseilles, of the 
 Medical Society in London, and of the Institution for Arts and Sciences at Leghorn, also, of 
 the Society for promoting Natural and Physical Science at Paris, and of the Royal Medical 
 Academy at Madrid, also, of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Preston, and of the 
 Agricultural Society of Philadelphia; late a Member of the House of Assembly, bf the Con- 
 gressional House of Representatives, and of the Federal Senate, for the State of New-York ; 
 Fellow of the Literary and Philosophical Society of New- York, and erne of its Corresponding 
 Secretaries, &c. kc. 
 
 A GENTLEMAN 
 
 NOT LESS PRE-EMINENT FOR HIS INESTIMABLE PRIVATE VIRTUES, ' 
 
 THAJS FOR TEE 
 
 VARTETY, EXTENT, AND PROFUNDITY OF HIS GENIUS, 
 
 THIS DISSERTATION 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, 
 
 A HUMBLE TRIBUTE OF THE ESTEEM AND ADMIRATION 
 
 HIS FRIEND, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
A 
 
 DISSERTATION 
 
 ON 
 
 THE PASSIONS 
 
 PART I. 
 
 MAN is endowed with a faculty termed Volition, 
 by which he is rendered a free agent, and made ca- 
 pable, as a moral being, of choosing for himself the 
 path which he shall pursue during his earthly resi- 
 dence. The object of this faculty is under the dic- 
 tates of the judgment, to control that great principle 
 of attraction which naturally exists between the 
 human mind and good and evil. 
 
 This attraction, or love, or desire,* as it may be 
 termed, not less extensive than the attraction which 
 governs the phenomena of the inanimate world, is, 
 as I have just hinted, divided into two great spe- 
 cies, viz., the Love of Good, and the Love of Evil. 
 These appear under the various forms of Love of 
 the Creator, &c, on the one hand, and the Male- 
 volent Affections, &c, on the other; as in the fol- 
 lowing table: 
 
 * I make Love and Desire here synonymous with Attraction. 
 
10 
 TABLE I. 
 
 ♦ DESIRE, LOVE, OR ATTRACTION. 
 CLASS I. 
 
 Love of Good, 
 
 This class may be subdivided into the following 
 Sections : 
 
 LOVE OF 
 
 1. CREATOR. 
 
 1. Faith. 
 
 2. Zeal. 
 
 3. Piety. 
 
 4. Devotedness. 
 
 5. Adoration. 
 
 6. Enthusiasm. 
 
 2. COUNTRY. 
 
 1. Obedience. 
 
 2. Patriotism. 
 
 3. Zeal. 
 
 4. Devotedness. 
 
 5. Enthusiasm. 
 
 3. HUMAN SPECIES, OR SYMPATHY. 
 
 a. Philanthropy, b. Natural Affection, c. Sexual Love. 
 
 1. Regard. ^f I S Indulgence. 1. Fondness. 
 
 2. Esteem. °JTf (Infatuation. 2. Love. 
 
 3. Reverence. Ms i Dutifulness. 3. Enthusiasm, 
 
 4. Admiration. |"| < Respect. 4. Infatuation. 
 
 5. Devotion. Is (Reverence. 
 
 6. Enthusiasm. _!,■! ( Fondness. 
 
 7. The Bene-°| s | \ Affection, 
 volent Affec- 
 tions, strictly 
 
 so called. 
 
 8. The Attri- 
 butes of Good 
 Breeding. 
 
II 
 
 4. SELF. 
 
 5. NOVELTY. 
 
 Pride. 
 Vanity. 
 The Virtues. 
 
 1. Inquisitiveness. 
 
 2. Curiosity. 
 
 3. Enthusiasm. 
 
 6. FAME. 
 
 7. SUBLIMITY. 8. BEAUTY. 
 
 . Ambition. 
 
 1. Admiration. 
 
 2, Enthusiasm. 
 
 CLASS II. 
 Love of Evil. 
 
 This class may be subdivided into the following 
 Sections : 
 
 1. MALEVOLENT AFFECTIONS. 
 
 a. Those founded b. Those founded c. Those founded 
 on Malice pure- on Hypocrisy and on Pride and 
 ly. Malice. Malice. 
 
 A. Attributes of III Breeding. 
 
 2. VICES. 
 
 Avarice, &c. 
 
 THE PASSIONS ARE, 
 
 1. JOY. 2. ANGER. 3. GRIEF. 4. FEAR. 
 
 The existence of a Repulsive Principle in the mind, 
 which has been asserted by some, is altogether un- 
 founded. Where repulsion or aversion appears to 
 
12 
 
 exist, it is only the effect of something more power- 
 fully attractive than that from which we seem to be 
 repelled. Hence it is, in fact, the most lucid exhi- 
 bition of the operation of Attraction. Thus, in that 
 state of mind called Rancour, where the greatest 
 possible aversion or abhorrence is supposed to exist, 
 its force is commensurate only with the protraction 
 of revenge; it dies instantly when our eagerness 
 to injure the hated object is glutted. This is the 
 Attraction of the mind to Evil. 
 
 The Passions, according to their general accepta- 
 tion, are merely the intense exertion of some of 
 these modifications of attraction; or where that at- 
 traction is no longer obedient to the direction of 
 Reason. In this state of over-exertion even the 
 principle which naturally inclines us to good, often 
 becomes as pernicious as that which makes us prone 
 to evil. 
 
 A Passion, in strict language, however, means a 
 sudden and violent commotion of the mind, accompanied 
 and distinguished by certain preternatural phenomena 
 of the voice, gesture, or expression ; and " opposed to 
 that state of tranquillity wherein a man is master of 
 himself" 
 
 The Passions, in this sense, are certain attributes 
 of the mind, which, though in the mouth of every 
 
13 
 
 one, and almost constantly before us, are but little 
 understood. To form some notion of them, we may 
 suppose them to have, in common, two states of ex- 
 istence ; first, that state where the passion causes no 
 commotion in the mind, barely having existence 
 there; or, in other words, where it is only latent: 
 and, secondly, where, clothed in dictatorial robes, it 
 rushes fearlessly forth in defiance and contempt of 
 Reason, and imposes itself upon our observation by 
 the most unequivocal phenomena. This is the state 
 of a passion, strictly and properly so called, and 
 which receives an easy solution by an attention to 
 the various ramifications of that great principle 
 of Attraction which determines the aspect and tenor 
 of human conduct. # It will then be seen that the 
 origin of those four great primary passions of the 
 mind, which we have merely marked in this table, is 
 explicable by the most simple deduction. 
 
 Thus, since there exists in the mind this great 
 attractive principle, it is rational to conclude that 
 its action may either be accelerated or consum- 
 mated, retarded or annihilated. Those causes 
 which tend to accelerate or consummate it, must 
 be in conformity or unison with the volition which 
 directs that action; and hence a source of satisfac- 
 tion, the prelude to Joy. Those causes, on the 
 
 * See Table L 
 
14 
 
 other hand, which tend to frustrate or destroy its ac- 
 tion, must, at the same time, contravene the opera- 
 tions of the will. There follows, hence, a natural 
 resistance to such obstacles, which resistance is dis- 
 played under the shape of Fear, Grief, or Anger. 
 To be a little more specific; whatever conspires 
 with our volition, or wishes, may excite our Joy ; 
 whatever opposes them may excite our Anger, our 
 Fears, or our Griefs. 
 
 Our Joy fills the measure of our happiness when 
 we have accomplished or obtained that which we 
 loved, or to which we were attached, whether it be 
 good or evil. 
 
 Our Grief denotes the powerful attraction which 
 existed between ourselves and -something which we 
 have now lost, or expect to lose. 
 
 Our Fear discovers the strong prepossession we 
 have that we are about to part with that to which 
 we are vehemently attached ; 
 
 And our Anger expresses not only opposition or 
 obstruction to our volition, but a strong determina- 
 tion to avenge ourselves upon the offending ob- 
 ject. 
 
 Hence, they all spring ultimately from this great 
 principle of Attraction.* 
 
 * The only writer who seems to have formed an opinion of the Pas- 
 sions, similar to the doctrine I have advanced, is the ingenious author 
 of an anonymous work, printed at London, in the year 1772, in 2 
 
15 
 
 All the passions (says Dr. Reid) imply the desire 
 of some object. If he had meant that the existence 
 of that original Desire, or Attraction, of which I 
 speak, is implied in every Passion, this observation 
 
 vols., 8vo., and entitled the " Philosophy of the Passions." " It seems to 
 me," says this writer, " that they (meaning Plato and Aristotle) give 
 several names to the same thiDg, that they divide the unity of Love, 
 and take its various effects for different Passions. So that after a due 
 examination of this matter, I am inclined to think that Love is the 
 only Passion whereby we are agitated ; for all those movements that 
 trouble our soul are but so many distinguished loves ; our fears, and our 
 desires, our hopes and our despairs, our pleasures and our pains, are 
 visages assumed by Love, according to the good or ill success it meets 
 with ; and, as the sea bears different names, according to the differ- 
 ent parts of the earth it washes with its waters, so love changes its 
 names according to its different situations. In the Pagan mythology 
 each perfection of God passed for a divinity : in like manner the 
 qualities of Love have been taken by the ancient philosophers for dif- 
 ferent Passions ; and those great men imagined that as often as it 
 changed its way of acting, or employment, it also changed its nature 
 and name. But if this argument were true, the soul must lose her 
 unity every time she produces different effects ; whence she that di- 
 gests meats, and distributes the blood through the veins, cannot be 
 the same that speaks with the tongue, and hears with the ears." 
 
 The same author, with equal perspicuity, confutes the objection 
 which has been raised to this doctrine on the supposition of a 
 principle of repulsion, or aversion, coinciding with myself in the 
 opinion which I have already expressed on this head: " These 
 cavillers forget (says he) that the same cause produces contrary 
 effects ; that the heat which melts wax, dries clay ; that the mo- 
 tion which raises our hearts to heaven, withdraws us from the 
 earth ; that our inclination of self-preservation is an aversion from 
 every thing that may contribute to hurt us, &c." 
 
16 
 
 would have been correct. But when, immediately 
 after, he observes that this desire cannot exist, with- 
 out aversion to its contrary, it is clear that he could 
 not have had a correct view of this part of his 
 subject; for, admitting the existence of this aversion, 
 or repulsion, how could the mind act under two 
 principles directly the reverse ? The result must 
 be a state of quiescence; but this is incompatible 
 with the idea of Passion. To repeat what 
 I wish so much to enforce, whatever conspires 
 with, or opposes, our volition, may excite our Pas- 
 sions. Passion is the concordance or resistance 
 of the mind to such causes, and he who tells what 
 makes up that concordance or resistance, gives us 
 an analysis of a Passion. If Dr. Reid had told us 
 that this analysis proves that desire, or attraction, 
 forms the chief constituent in a Passion, he would, 
 with regard to Anger, Grief, and Fear, have spoken 
 the truth. But when he attempts to accommodate 
 Joy, also, to this definition, he assuredly fails ; for 
 who would be so inconsistent as to desire that which 
 w T e have accomplished. 
 
 Instead of Desire constituting the perfection of a 
 Passion, or that characteristic mark whereby it may 
 always be distinguished, (as Lord Kaims asserts,) it 
 is, in regard to Joy, directly the contrary. Thus the 
 attraction between parents and offspring, or Natu- 
 ral Affection, (see Table 1.,) which no one calls Pas- 
 
17 
 
 sion, prompts a devoted mother ardently to desire 
 the return of a son who has been long absent. But 
 when once returned, and in her embrace, what more 
 can she wish ! Desire can no more exist now than 
 two bodies can occupy the same place at once. It 
 is, in fact, superseded by the most ecstatic trans- 
 ports of joy. "We have then only to feel; the 
 gratified wish has no prospective object."* The 
 same may be said of Sexual Love, the consum- 
 mation of which is the most celestial and unadulte- 
 rated Joy: far above desire, either mental or animal. 
 Thus, listen to the language of a lover who had been 
 seated by his mistress : 
 
 Clt ti5u at, §? 6%iois tit qw&s 
 
 Ou5iv !t' iTxii, 
 'AAAa xafifijv yK&crva layr Ktmov 3 5 
 Aun'xa x?<? ffu? viroStSfdiiaxtv 
 J Omr6.Ttaaw 5 1 kdiv ojiifi, inrippo/ir 
 
 €tuai 5' dxsi. 
 Ka55' idpuy -\J/uXf oj xin<u, rprf/i©' fit 
 ITacrav d<yyt~, xKuqoiiq a 51 iroias 
 1 Ejijii'* TtSvoixTiv 5' oAi'yto 'mdSvcrrw 
 
 (paivofia» dffVBs.T (Sappho.) 
 
 * MSS. Lecture on the connexion of "Physical Derangement 
 with Moral Character," by W. J. M'Neven, M. D. Professj of 
 Chemistry, &c, in the University of New-York; politely communi- 
 cated by the author. 
 
 f Or in the charming- translation of this ode by Mr. Ambrose Phil- 
 lips. 
 
 While I gaz'd, in transport tost, 
 
 My breath was gone, my voice was lost, 
 3 
 
18 
 
 Were we to coincide with Lord Kaims, in respect 
 to Desire, we should have to believe, with Hume, 
 that every principle of action is passion. We ac- 
 knowledge that every principle of action, in other 
 words, every species of Attraction comprehends 
 Desire, but that desire itself points out the existence 
 of passion we absolutely deny. 
 
 The word Emotion, which, as well as Desire, has 
 also given rise to much discussion, is a vague term, 
 sometimes applied to simple sensation, sometimes to 
 denote the degree of action in a passion, strictly so 
 called. (See Table II.) 
 
 Emotion should be made to signify the sudden 
 conflict of contending passions and affections, pro- 
 ducing, of course, a restriction of action. Thus the 
 indignation of a father towards his son, counteracted 
 
 My bosom glow'd ; the subtle flame 
 Kan quick through all my vital frame ; 
 O'er my dim eyes a darkness hung ; 
 My ears with hollow murmurs rung : 
 
 In dewy damps my limbs were chill'd ; 
 My blood with gentle horrors thrill'd ; 
 My feeble pulse forgot to play ; 
 I fainted, sunk, and died away. 
 
 (Spectator, No. 229.) 
 
19 
 
 by Natural Affection, checks the arm of retribution. 
 This is what should be termed an emotion of Indigna- 
 tion. So the contemplation of grandeur and beauty 
 raises an emotion of Awe mingled with Delight. 
 More or less Gloom too may be blended with both. 
 Thus, in that sublime and elegant passage in Con- 
 greve's Mourning Bride, (a passage which was 
 termed by Dr. Johnson the finest specimen of 
 Poetry in the English language,) we find the mind 
 struggling under the influence of all those three 
 Passions at the same moment : 
 
 " How reverend is the face of this tall pile, 
 
 Whose ancient pillars rear their marble heads, 
 
 To bear aloft its arch'd and ponderous roof, 
 
 By its own weight made steadfast and immoveable. 
 
 Looking tranquillity ! It strikes an awe 
 
 And terror on my aching sight ; the tombs 
 
 And monumental caves of death look cold, 
 
 And shoot achilness to my trembling heart," &c, 
 
 When we speak of an emotion of Fear, we gene- 
 rally mean a conflict in the mind, between the Pas- 
 sion and the Affection Pride. Thus, though an 
 officer, surrounded by his comrades on the field of 
 battle, should act in the most undaunted manner, 
 yet, were he alone, and attacked by some ferocious 
 animal, though armed and prepared, and even capa- 
 ble of destroying his antagonist, his Pride would 
 
20 
 
 most probably yield to the overwhelming influence 
 of Fear. In like manner, there may be an emotion 
 of Grief, commingled with Joy only. Thus, " the 
 memory of Joys that are past, (in the language 
 of Ossian,) are pleasant, though mournful to the 
 soul." 
 
 So there maybe an emotion produced by the syn- 
 chronous action of Fear and Joy — as in that " be- 
 lated peasant," whom Milton so elegantly speaks of 
 in the following passage : 
 
 — — " Like that pygmean race 
 
 Beyond the Indian mount, or fairy elves. 
 
 Whose midnight revels by a forest side 
 
 Or fountain, some belated peasant sees, 
 
 Or dreams he sees ; while over-head the moon 
 
 Sits arbitress and nearer to the earth 
 
 W r heels her pale course, they on their mirth and dance 
 
 Intent, with jocund music charm his ear ; 
 
 At once his heart with joy and fear rebounds." &c. 
 
 But if the presence or absence of rationality, with- 
 out regard to the duration of a Passion, be consi- 
 dered the only test of its characer, the term Passion 
 may be applied more extensively. Thus, in this 
 sense, it may properly be made to include certain 
 permanent habitudes and affections, which occasion- 
 ally usurp possession of the mind. That this usur- 
 pation takes place at the expense of Reason, is evi- 
 dent, from the pervading influence which, when pre- 
 
21 
 
 sent, they are seen to have upon all our actions. 
 Thus, from among the malevolent affections, a man 
 may have a Passion for Cruelty, Slander, Vulgar- 
 ity, Insolence, Hypocrisy, Blasphemy, &c. ; from 
 among the vices, a Passion for Obsequiousness* Ec- 
 centricity, Procrastination, &c. ; from among the 
 benevolent affections, a Passion for Benevolence, 
 (called Prodigality,) for Hospitality, Gallantry, (or 
 Chivalry,) Politeness, &c. ; from among the virtues, 
 a Passion for Honesty, for Candour, Chastity, &c. 
 The continued propensity, or subjection of the mind 
 to any of these affections, is what gives to them also, 
 in common opinion, the character of a Passion. 
 There are many other qualities of the mind, which 
 are so frequently met with, under this modification, 
 that they are by some always placed among the 
 Passions. Such are Vanity, and Pride ; Love of 
 Country, ( or Patriotism,) of Wealth, (or Avarice,) of 
 Fame, (or Ambition,) of Novelty, (or Curiosity ,f) &c. 
 Sexual Love, which is invariably set down among the 
 
 * " There are some minds which naturally sink into submission, 
 which look on grandeur with undistinguishing reverence* and which 
 can discover no defect where there is elevation of rank or affluence 
 of riches." Dr. Johnson's Lives of the Poets. 
 
 f I cannot pass by this opportunity of promulgating the following 
 ingenious definition of this affection, by my friend and fellow student 
 "Dr. B. P. Aydelott: " Novelty, (says he, in a MS. letter to the au- 
 thor,) you know, excites the curiosity, and thus becomes the keenest 
 spur to mental exertion. How great, therefore, should be our admi- 
 
22 
 
 Passions, has, in truth, no stronger claims to that title 
 than those affections which I have just enumerated ; 
 for it never becomes, in strict language, a Passion, 
 unless success crowns it with Joy, or disappoint- 
 ment shrouds it in Grief. Hence, we naturally 
 arrive at last to those four Primary Passions, only 
 to which our definition may be applied in every par- 
 ticular — viz. Joy, Grief, Anger, Fear. But since, 
 from the predominating influence of Sexual Love upon 
 the system, (more than almost every other species 
 of Attraction,) it most usually presents itself to us as 
 one of the continued forms of Grief or Joy, or as the 
 theatre of all the Passions indiscriminately, we have 
 thought proper to consider it, as regards its Me- 
 dical Influence, in the light of a Passion. 
 
 To invariably connect, however, with our idea of 
 a Passion that latitude of meaning of which we have 
 just spoken, (see p. 20, 21.,) though, perhaps, in a mo- 
 ral sense, highly proper, would involve us in a good 
 deal of obscurity. It even throws a cloud over the 
 distinction between virtue and vice. Thus, though 
 
 ratioa and gratitude, "when we consider what a listless, leaden- 
 minded race we should have been, had not the Almighty endued us 
 with Curiosity, or a capability of being excited by novelty — that 
 relative attribute of existence." To which he annexed the following 
 explanatory note : " Ideas or substances may be new to one and not 
 to another ; hence, I say, novelty is relative, or, in other words, that 
 it depends upon the condition of the mind with regard to former per- 
 ceptions. It is an attribute of existence, because it may be perceived 
 ia every thing that has being, both material and immaterial." 
 
23 
 
 the opinion of the world may, on most occasions, be 
 correct, who shall take upon himself to decide, in all 
 instances, upon the rationality of a man's conduct ? 
 who shall say where that system of Prudence which 
 virtue and wisdom recommend becomes Parsimony, 
 or even Avarice ? who shall tell when Politeness de- 
 generates into Punctiliousness, or where Pride rises 
 to Arrogance ? 
 
 Though the true definition of a Passion is such 
 as we have given it above, and though the four 
 radical Passions, which I have just mentioned, 
 (viz., Anger, Joy, Grief, and Fear,) are all measura- 
 ble by this definition; yet, certain it is, that they 
 are capable of appearing under a more permanent 
 and continued form than that to which the defini- 
 tion strictly applies. This state of the mind resem- 
 bles that of an affection where it runs into a propen- 
 sity, (see p. 20, 21.,) but it is more justly entitled to 
 the appellation of Passion, because it is originally 
 moulded in Passion. It is, in fact, a Passion " in ex- 
 tenso." This form might have been inferred, when 
 we bring to our recollection that the Passions are 
 capable, also, of combining with many of the Affec- 
 tions.* 1 The Passions vary, also, in their degree of 
 action ; this applies only to the action of a Passion, 
 strictly so called. 
 
 Hence the Passions are to be viewed under two 
 important heads, viz., 1st, according to their dura- 
 
 * See the following Table. 
 
24 
 
 tion, whether transient or permanent ; the first kind 
 constituting the only true form of a Passion, and va- 
 rying according to degree of action. And, 2d, ac- 
 cording to their combinations. To make this sub- 
 ject a little more plain, I subjoin the following Ta- 
 ble : 
 
 TABLE II. 
 
 THE PASSIONS. 
 
 So! 
 
 f-i 
 
 «5* < 
 
 a 
 
 ANGER.. 
 
 " 1. Disagreeable Sensation. 
 
 2. Irritated. 
 
 3. Indignant. 
 
 4. Enraged. 
 
 5. Incensed. 
 
 6. Furious. 
 
 7. Mad. 
 
 8. Frenzied. 
 
 ^ 9. Outrageous. 
 " Antipathy. ^ 
 
 Disgust. 
 
 Animosity. I ffi 
 
 Abhorrency. > » 
 
 Malignancy. ? 
 
 Revenge. 
 
 Rancour. J 
 
 Mistrust. \ g 
 
 Suspicion. > 5* 
 
 Jealousy. } % 
 
 Emulous. ~\ 
 
 Rivalling. f |? 
 
 Invidious. £ •< c 
 
 Envious. 3 S 
 
 f Peevishness. «_ 
 
 I Fretfulness. | 
 
 ^ Disinterestedness. J 
 
 | Churlishness. S 
 
 ^ Freakishness, &c. -g 
 
 Cholerickness. g 
 
 High-mettled. 
 
 Passionate. 
 
 Inflammable. 
 
 Hasty. 
 
 Quarrelsome. 
 ^ Distemperate, &c. 
 
 
 o5 
 
 FEAR. 
 
 1 . Disagreeable Sensation. 
 
 2. Wonder. 
 
 3. Surprise. 
 
 4. Fluttered. 
 
 5. Startled. 
 
 6. Amazed. 
 
 7. Alarmed. 
 
 8. Astonished. 
 
 9. Shocked. 
 
 10. Terrified. 
 
 11. Horror. 
 
 12. Dismay. 
 Skittish. 
 Irresolute. 
 Timorous. 
 
 Faint-heartedness, &c. 
 Fearful. 
 
 Dread. 
 Shiness. 
 Caution, &c. 
 
 1. Pusillanimity. 
 
 2. Spiritless. 
 
 3. Heartless. 
 
 4. Cowardly. 
 
 5. Dastardly, &c. 
 Guilt. 
 
 Repentance. 
 Contriteness. 
 Humility. 
 Lowliness. 
 Meekness, &c. 
 
25 
 
 GRIEF. 
 
 
 »„ in ** 
 E.2 © 
 
 a 
 
 •<3 £ 
 
 
 1. Disagreeable Sensation. 
 
 2. Sorrowful. 
 
 3. Mournful. 
 
 4. Doleful. 
 
 5. Repining*. 
 
 6. Distressful. 
 
 7. Comfortless. 
 
 8. Inconsolable. 
 
 9. Forlorn. 
 
 1. Sedateness. 
 
 2. Seriousness. 
 
 3. Solemnity. 
 
 4. Sad. 
 
 5. Gloomy. 
 
 6. Downcast. 
 
 7. Depressed. 
 
 8. Melancholy. 
 
 9. Desponding". 
 
 10. Dismal. | 
 
 11. Despair. «- 
 
 12. Desperation. n 
 
 1. Disquietude. .2 
 
 2. Solicitude. I 
 
 3. Anxiety. •§ 
 
 1. Forbearance. 2 
 
 2. Forgiveness. 
 
 3. Clemency. 
 
 4. Mercy. 
 
 5. Compassion. 
 
 6. Commiseration. 
 
 7. Condolence. 
 Sensibility. 
 
 a s 
 
 1. Agreeable Sensation . 
 
 2. Gladness. 
 
 3. Elevated. 
 
 4. Blissful. 
 
 5. Transport. 
 
 6. Rapture. 
 
 7. Ecstacy. 
 
 8. Enchantment. 
 
 9. Frantickness. 
 r 1. Equanimity. 
 
 2. Calmness. 
 
 3. Composure. 
 
 4. Complacency. 
 
 5. Serenitude. 
 
 6. Beatitude. 
 Hopeful. 
 Encouraged. 
 
 s Animated. 
 
 Cheerfulness. 
 
 Loveliness. 
 
 Sprightliness. 
 
 Jocund. 
 
 Jocose. 
 
 Vivacious. 
 ^ Gay, &c, 
 
 • ed -cl 
 i. S- 
 
 Remarks upon this Table. 
 
 It will be seen, that the Passions are sometimes 
 capable of combining with each other, (as Grief 
 and Fear,) and that some of the evanescent con- 
 tinued forms of one Passion, are with difficulty dis- 
 tinguished from those of the other; (as Sedateness 
 from Composure;) it is thus they run into each 
 other. The same difficulty attends some of their 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 continued forms and certain affections, which are so 
 intermingled, that they are promiscuously classed 
 under either head. Thus, with Caution, Shiness, 
 Wiliness, Wariness, &c. which with some would be 
 styled virtues, and with others, modifications of 
 Fear. 
 
 Irritability (see Anger) means the continued sus- 
 ceptibility of the mind to spasms of Anger, though 
 never amounting to a state of vehemence. Its va- 
 rious forms are given. The passion seems here to 
 wear itself out, by a constant repetition of feeble 
 efforts, as in the peevish child or old man. 
 
 Irascibility signifies a great susceptibility to the 
 Passion in its genuine form. Its forms are also 
 given. 
 
 Timidity bears the same relation to Fear that 
 Irritability does to Anger; it expresses a suscepti- 
 bility to perpetual alarms, but, unlike Irritability, it 
 does not seem to extenuate or ameliorate the force 
 of the Passion, but rather predisposes the mind to 
 be more powerfully affected by it. 
 
 Sensibility implies the susceptibility to Grief. 
 
 Though we willingly allow that there may be 
 continued forms of Fear, Grief, and Joy, as Dread, 
 Complacency, and Melancholy ; it may be asked, 
 whether we can, with equal propriety, give to Anger 
 also a permanent dress. It certainly is the most dis- 
 tinguished Passion on the list, and has an influence 
 
27 
 
 upon the affairs of men, more energetic, and more 
 extensive, than that of any other. Hence, it is 
 usually termed Passion, by way of pre-eminence. 
 So great is this influence, that we should not perhaps 
 err greatly from the common opinion, were we to 
 set it down as the parent of all the malevolent 
 affections of which the human mind is capable. 
 That it often lays the foundation of many of these 
 affections, is every day demonstrated ; but that they 
 may all be generated de novo, and that most of them 
 usually are so produced, is, in my view, equally clear. 
 This Passion (Anger) is undoubtedly, like all the 
 malevolent affections, marked by a strong inclination 
 to the commission of evil ; but this inclination differs 
 from that which they exhibit, in this important point, 
 that it is never premeditated. In one it is Malice, 
 in the other an instinctive and momentary impulse. 
 The difference, therefore, lies in this, that the attrac- 
 tion towards evil (see Table I.) must, in one in- 
 stance, be prepense, while in the other it is ever 
 transient, and lives only in the gust of Passion. 
 
 But inasmuch as Anger is so closely allied to 
 some of these Affections, by a malevolent disposition 
 of mind, common to both — I have placed Hatred, 
 Jealousy, and Envy, as among the number of its 
 continued forms. Revenge, perhaps, is the only de- 
 cided affection which deserves a place here ; for it is 
 Anger unappeased. 
 
28 
 
 Under Envy will be found Emulation, as one of its 
 varieties. Emulation is, in truth, a virtue founded on 
 Self Love, or the Love of Fame; and is only put 
 here to show that natural gradation, and intermix- 
 ture, which so universally pervades the immaterial, 
 as well as material, world. 
 
 The other malevolent affections being mostly 
 founded on malice purely, have nothing to do with 
 this table. They are denoted by a natural want of 
 feeling, or Insensibility, as in the Melancholic and 
 Phlegmatic Temperaments. 
 
 Though we have traced the action of the Passions 
 down to the mere state of disagreeable, or agreeable 
 sensation, (see Table II.,) it was only to preserve 
 the chain unbroken between simple feeling and pas- 
 sion. I need not enter into any tedious disqui- 
 sition between these two states of mind. Their dif- 
 ference is immediately perceptible ; the one being 
 clearly a state of simple, the other of complex sensa- 
 tion, the one arising most usually from any thing 
 which can cause corporal pain, or pleasure, the other 
 wholly intellectual, and ascribable to some exertion 
 of the mind solely. Some difficulty, however, might 
 be imagined, from their being often attended with si- 
 milar phenomena. Thus Fears, and Expressions of 
 distress in the countenance, which frequently follow 
 the simple sensation of pain, are a part also of the 
 phenomena of Grief. So the simple perception of 
 
29 
 
 an agreeable sensation by the mind, is very different 
 from the real Passion of Joy. But between the 
 point of mere feeling, and the commencement of 
 Passion, there is an impenetrable mist. It would be 
 as difficult to point out precisely where Passion be- 
 gins, as to draw the line between the animal and 
 vegetable world. For our notions of a Passion, we 
 must be content to examine some of the higher 
 grades of its action; and even some of these, I have 
 shown, are involved in considerable obscurity. 
 
 Hope is merely Joy in anticipation, in the same 
 way that Dread is imaginary danger. 
 
 Wonder and Surprise are not admitted to be Pas- 
 sions by Lord Kaims, and are attempted to be dis- 
 tinguished by much subtle speculation ; # but they 
 are, in fact, indubitably, degrees of Fear. Whatever 
 other Passions may afterwards follow, or combine 
 with them, they themselves, in their unalloyed and 
 insulated state, are certainly to be considered as 
 some of the most distinct illustrations of this Passion. 
 
 * " Elements of Criticism," Vol. L 
 
30 
 
 PART II. 
 
 The Passions, though they have been by some 
 improperly excluded from the Mind, are as much 
 emanations of that part of our being as any of its 
 faculties. It is from their having so direct, so pow- 
 erful, and immediate an influence on the material 
 part of Man, and by their operation, being always 
 accompanied by certain characteristic commotions 
 of the frame, that this error has arisen. The Me- 
 mory, the Imagination, the Perception, or the Judg- 
 ment, which are ordinarily termed the Faculties of 
 the Mind, may be called into the most intense 
 action, and yet not one function of the system be 
 disturbed. But the Passions thrill through every 
 nerve, and affect every fibre of the body. 
 
 What renders this difference between these two 
 orders of Faculties the more conspicuous, is, the 
 Diseases which they produce. That order which 
 is more particularly confined in its operations to the 
 mind, produces its morbid effects first in the mind, 
 but affects the body only secondarily. The delete- 
 
31 
 
 rious operation of the Passions, on the other hand, 
 is directed at once against the whole system. 
 
 The Appetites, as Hunger, Thirst, and Lust, are 
 totally distinct from the Passions, and are to be 
 ranked with the different Senses. 
 
 It may be observed of the Passions, that they are 
 ever accompanied by an exertion of the Imagination. 
 Whatever may be the object of the Passion, we al- 
 ways behold it through the exaggerating glass of 
 Fancy. 
 
 " Like a magic lanthorn, it raises up spectres and 
 apparitions that have no reality, and throws false 
 colours upon every object. It can turn deformity 
 into beauty, vice into virtue, and virtue into vice."* 
 
 Though the Passions are in such close alliance 
 with the Imagination, between them and the Reason- 
 ing Power of Man there is a decided and inveterate 
 hostility. When Passion assumes the rod, Reason 
 takes her flight, and soars aloft into more genial 
 regions. It would indeed be too ignominious for 
 that heavenly goddess to be subjected to the mis- 
 rule of this anarch of the mind. Nature never de- 
 signed it, but intended that Passion should ever be 
 subservient to the dictates of Reason. Acting: 
 under this auspicious Star, common sense informs 
 us, that " the Passions are as salutary and necessary 
 
 * Reid on the Mind. 
 
32 
 
 to the body, as storms and tempests are to the salu- 
 brity of the air.' ,# 
 
 Some have contended, with a prudence worthier 
 of a more enlarged conception, that the Passions 
 should be wholly eradicated from the mind, by the 
 most rigid system of Stoicism. But this is over- 
 weaning and short-sighted economy. Such per- 
 sons declaim against the Passions as they do against 
 the Elements, for they cannot deduce absolute good 
 from apparent evil. It needs the expanded mind of 
 a Shakspeare or a Johnson, to comprehend and 
 point out those vast designs of Providence. The 
 former could find, 
 
 l * sermons in stones, books in running brooks, and good in every 
 thing;? 5 
 
 while the tatter saw, that 4; the Sun which burnt up 
 the mountains fructifies the vales, and that the de- 
 luge which rushes down the broken rocks is sepa- 
 rated into meandering streams."! 
 
 We agree with the Peripatetics, and cordially 
 
 * Rdd on the " Human Mind." The Heathens considered the 
 Passions, Storms, and Tempests, as well as Distempers, all in the 
 same light, and worshipped them as divinities that they might do thea 
 no harm. (Plutarch.) 
 
 f " Lives of the Poets, M 
 
33 
 
 unite with Dr. Beattie in exclaiming against sto- 
 icism : 
 
 u Perish the lore that deadens young desire ! 
 Pursue, poor imp, th' imaginary charm, 
 Indulge gay hope and fancy's pleasing fire ; 
 Fancy and Hope too soon shall of themselves expire.* 
 
 Without Passion, man would sink into cold and 
 listless apathy, and be but a blank in the Creation. 
 
 " On life's vast ocean diversely we sail, 
 
 Reason the card, but Passion is the gale i 
 
 Nor God alone in the still calm we find, 
 
 He mounts the storms, and walks upon the wind."f 
 
 That unnatural action, or that deviation or depai% 
 ture from the ordinary and equable state of the va- 
 rious functions, which forms so prominent and deci- 
 sive a feature of the Passions, is generally of short 
 
 * Beattie's Minstrel, stanza 31. 
 
 f Pope's " Essay on Man." " There is no bad action which, 
 some passion may not prevent ; nor is there any external good action, 
 of which some passion may not be the main spring. The Passions 
 are a natural language common to mankind, without which it would 
 have been impossible to have invented any artificial language. It is 
 from the natural signs of the passions and dispositions of the mind, 
 that the human form derives its beauty ; that painting, poetry, and 
 music, derive their expression ; that eloquence derives its greatest 
 force, and conversation its greatest charm." R&id on the Mind. 
 
 5 
 
34 
 
 duration. When too long continued,- or too- violent 
 in degree, it gives to the Passions an altered form, 
 and often becomes the source even of morbid 
 changes. 
 
 Together with those to which, in my opinion, 
 according to the strict meaning of the term, more 
 properly belong the name of Passions, I have, for the 
 reasons already assigned, (p. 22, Part I.,) sub- 
 joined Sexual Love. Hence, we shall speak of the* 
 following five, viz. 
 
 ANGER, GRIEF, 
 
 LOVE, FEAR, 
 
 Joy. 
 
 And these more especially fall under our consider* 
 ation in this Dissertation, because, when acting in 
 their native energy, they rank among the most com- 
 mon sources of Disease. The few instances in 
 which they have, at such times, removed existing 
 Diseases, are indeed so few, that this accidental de- 
 viation from their general character does not affect 
 our position. 
 
 The passions may be generalized still farther, and 
 arranged, solely, according to their effects upon the 
 system. And this arrangement, inasmuch as it is 
 more medical, we shall here adopt, making two 
 
35 
 
 great Classes, viz. such as exhilarate, and such as 
 depress, the system. 
 
 In the First Class, those which exhilarate are An- 
 ger, Joy, and Love. 
 
 In the Second Class, such as depress are Grief 
 •and Fear.* 
 
 1st. THE EXHILARATING PASSIONS. 
 
 Of this class, it may be observed, in a general way, 
 that they increase the tone of the nervous, and the 
 force and velocity of the circulating, system ; and, in 
 short, act, in every sense, like the most powerful stimu- 
 lants. Perhaps, too, we might say here that their ac- 
 tion is either diffusible or permanent, according to the 
 nature of the object by which they are excited. Thus 
 a sudden burst of Anger, of Joy, or of Love, (which 
 in this instance would be no more nor less than Joy,) 
 roused by the sudden presence of objects destined 
 to call these passions into action, would be but of 
 momentary duration ; while, on the other hand, their 
 more gradual and continued exertion, formed from 
 a habitual occurrence of, and attention to, the ex- 
 citing objects, would leave effects fully as perma^ 
 nent;. 
 
 * I have considered the Symptoms of the Passions (for the term 
 Symptom is very appropriate here, since it is applied to the phenomena 
 of what are, when excessive, in reality, Mental Diseases) too fami- 
 liar to need particular detail- 
 
36 
 
 That the nervous and vascular systems are pow- 
 erfully excited under the operation of these Pas- 
 sions, is evident. All our functions are carried on 
 with greater vigour and activity; the mind acts 
 with redoubled energy, as evinced in the vivacity 
 and rapidity of thought; while the secretions and 
 excretions of the system are affected In a corres- 
 ponding manner. 
 
 From the general view we have taken of this 
 Class of Passions, we may draw some inferences in 
 regard to the morbid changes which they may in^ 
 duce in the system. I would first remark, then, that 
 from the sudden operation of such powerfully ex^ 
 citing agents, we are to apprehend effects as sudden 
 and disastrous. We are to look for the various 
 kinds of Hemorrhage, and to prognosticate results 
 more or less alarming, according to the seat of such 
 haemorrhage. I think, also, from the violent ges^ 
 tures, contortions, and motions, which, as their na- 
 tural language, often accompany these Passions, we 
 should not be surprised sometimes to find Disloca- 
 tions, Fractures, and Hernice. From the habitual and 
 continued exertion of such Passions, we rationally 
 anticipate prolonged excitement, or that which con- 
 stitutes Fevers and the Phlegmasia 
 
 We may now speak of these Passions singly, and 
 of their individual operation, 
 
37 
 
 ANGER. 
 
 Anger is that Passion which forms the indisso- 
 luble link between us and the animal creation. 
 It is the passion which, of all others, degrades and 
 brutalizes our natures, proving equally destruc- 
 tive to the morals and constitution. Independent of 
 its directly pernicious, and sometimes dangerous 
 operation upon the system, when often repeated it 
 becomes the source of innumerable diseases.* 
 
 No Passion rules with such absolute sway as 
 Anger. Under its baleful influence, the Human 
 Form is disrobed of all its angelic mildness, and 
 distorted with the hideous fury of the Tiger. 
 
 Senseless and deformed, 
 
 Convulsive Anger storms at large, f- 
 
 The due regulation of this Passion has formed 
 the most fruitful theme of remark, among the Philo- 
 sophers of all ages. One of the most beautiful pre- 
 cepts to be met with on this subject, and one which 
 conveys a most sententious but correct idea of the 
 Passion, is in Horace, and deserves to be recorded 
 here : — 
 
 Ira furor brevis est. Animum rege, qui nisi paret, 
 imperat : hunc fraenis, hunc tu compesce catena. 
 Fingit equum tenera docilem cervice magister 
 Ire viam, quammonstrat eques.J ■ — 
 
 * " Nulla pestis humano generi pluris stetit." — Seneca de Ira Lib. I. 
 f Thomson's Reasons. \ Epist. II. Lib. I. 
 
38 
 
 But it is a lamentable truth, that it too often re- 
 quires a severer rein than Reason to curb its fury; 
 and that even this rein is but too seldom applied. 
 Let me not, however, add to the list of calamities 
 that already attends this state of our existence, and 
 pray that some terrific malady might ever follow its 
 unguarded employment — but allow me to deplore 
 the state of that mind whose powers of ratiocination 
 are too weak or too unfledged to quell its licentious 
 turbulence. As if, indeed, to secure the living ma- 
 chine against the evil consequence which would in^ 
 evitably flow from the so constant prevalence of 
 this Passion in all animated creation, we find a par- 
 ticular provision as we go down the scale of Beings. 
 Even among human beings, according as they are, 
 more or less, the victims to Anger; and especially 
 as we descend into the class of brutes, we perceive 
 that nature has proportionably fortified every part 
 of the corporeal structure against the convulsive at- 
 tacks of an unbridled ferocity. 
 
 There are those, however, whose mental acquire- 
 ments would warrant the expectation of a manly 
 subjection of this Passion, but who, melancholy to 
 relate, are often, very often the creatures of the 
 most ungovernable rage. One of the most remarka- 
 ble instances of the dreadful effects of Anger, in 
 such persons, is the celebrated Hunter. But the 
 case is too well known to every yro of Medicine 
 
39 
 
 to- make it necessary to relate it here. In this ex- 
 traordinary case, the Passion into which he was 
 thrown may be said to have been the exciting cause 
 of his death. The predisposing cause was some 
 mal-organization of his heart. Whether this was the 
 effect of his naturally irascible temper, or whether 
 it was congenital, I know not, but it certainly was 
 the true disease of which he perished. At any rate, 
 the particular fit of Anger which finally terminated 
 his career, is an illustration of that kind of operation 
 in a Passion, by which it acted, not as the primary 
 cause of disease, but only as one fortuitous, or modi- 
 fying a disease already present in the system — that 
 sort of modification, indeed, which proved, alas, too 
 fatal. In other cases, by the rupture of a vessel 
 in some important part, we have seen it suddenly ar- 
 rest the most vigorous constitution, and in this awful 
 state of mind, in a moment, plunge the unfortunate 
 being into eternity. 
 
 Dr. Hosack relates the case of a gentleman, in 
 this city, who, in a fit of rage with his servant, 
 brought on a most alarming Hemorrhage from the 
 liver.* Other diseases induced by this passion are 
 Syncope, Asphyxia, Hysteria ;f Aphonia, Convulsions, 
 
 * "MS. Notes of Lectures on the Theory and Practice of Physic 
 in the University of New-York, by David Hosack, M. D. Profes- 
 sor, &c." 
 
 f Rush on the " Diseases of the ^lind." 
 
40 
 
 Delirium, Apoplexy, Epilepsy, Haemorrhoids ; # Diar~ 
 rhcearf Epistaxis,% Inflammatory Diseases. Aneurism 
 has been ruptured, and all Nervous Diseases are aggra- 
 vated by it. Aretaeus and Seneca set it down as an 
 especial cause of Madness. Hence, says Aretaeus, 
 " Ira immodica gignit insaniam." " In hot choleric 
 bodies, (says Burton,) nothing so soon causeth Mad- 
 ness as this passion of Anger." Ajax and Charles 
 VI. of France, are said to have fallen victims to 
 Madness thus induced. Aretaeus makes it a cause, 
 also, of Melancholy. Thus " Ira et moeror, et in- 
 gens animi consternatio, melancholicos facit." The 
 function of the Liver is also often affected, showing 
 a morbid increase of the bile, and hence Jaundice.** 
 
 * See Hildanus, Pechlin, Hoffman, &c. 
 
 f In the " Acta Naturae Curiosorura," there is recorded the sin- 
 gular case of a schoolmaster who was always obliged to hurry off to 
 the yard whenever his scholars put him in a Passion. 
 
 " It is on this principle of its increasing the bilious secretion, that 
 an ingenious Physician once succeeded in removing an obstinate cos- 
 tiveness. He prescribed a laxative potion, but ordered the attend- 
 ant not to administer it until he had first put the patient in a Passion. 
 From the same inertness that made him insensible to the irritations 
 of purgatives, he was not irascible, and the servant was despairing of 
 executing his commission, when a lawyer luckily came in to take an 
 inquest ; this was too much for the gentleman's patience, he began to 
 grow red, the servant saw the opportunity, administered the potion, 
 and it operated without delay." (MS. Lecture of Dr. M'Neven, 
 before quoted.) 
 
 J Dr. Hosack attended a patient with repeated and alarming bleed-* 
 ings from the nose, entirely induced by this cause* 
 
 ** Crichton6n " Mental Derangement." 
 
41 
 
 Harvey gives the case of a man who fell into a 
 violent rage on receiving a public affront which he 
 could not punish. He perished on the spot. On 
 dissection, the heart and large vessels were found 
 dilated to the size of those of an ox. 
 
 Anger is particularly pernicious to ivomen, de- 
 ranging their peculiar functions, and often causing 
 in them the most incurable vomitings. 
 
 The continued forms of this Passion, (Table II.,) 
 since they all denote Disappointment or Melancho- 
 ly, are, when productive of disease, efficient proba- 
 bly only from this cause. Dr. Rush (on the " Diseases 
 of the Mind") goes so far as to say that he believes 
 " most of the chronic diseases of high life arise from 
 these sources." Anger is but rarely salutary in its 
 operation ; Palsy, however, is said to have been sud- 
 denly cured by a fit of Anger. # 
 
 JOY. 
 
 Joy comes next to be spoken of. This Passion can 
 never be truly exerted, but from a generous prin- 
 ciple. Its effects, too, are almost universally sa- 
 lutary, acting, either in its continued or tran- 
 sient form, as a pure and cheering stimulus on the 
 constitution, which we should ever endeavour to 
 promote, rather than interrupt. Who indeed would 
 
 * Tulpius and Valerius M aximus. 
 
 6 
 
42 
 
 basely mar the exultation of the Patriot at the thrill- 
 ing trump of victory, or the unmingled joy of the 
 Cottager in the embraces of a long-lost child ! 
 
 But Joy, too, may be carried to excess, and even 
 prove fatal. We have heard of mothers who have 
 died for Joy on the return of their sons from 
 battle ! # Pliny mentions that Chilo, the Lacedemo- 
 nian, died upon hearing his son had gained a prize in 
 the Olympic Games. " Cum victore filio Olympise 
 expirasset Gaudio."f 
 
 Valerius Maximus tells us that Sophocles, the 
 tragic writer, in a contest of honour, died in conse- 
 quence of a decision being pronounced in his favour, 
 44 Sophocles ultimge jam senectutis, cum in certamine 
 trajediam dixisset, ancipiti sententiarum eventu diu 
 solicitus, aliquando tamen una sententia victor, cau- 
 sam mortis gaudium habuit.'' % In all these instances 
 (says Cogan) the previous state of mind was ob- 
 served to be that of extreme anguish; and that this 
 must have contributed to render the Passion fatal.§ 
 
 The heiress of Leibnitz, after rumaging through 
 the philosopher's papers with some vexation, died 
 of Joy on opening an old chest which she found full 
 of money. The door-keeper of Congress, died of 
 an Apoplexy, from Joy, upon hearing the news of 
 
 * Livy Lib. XXII. Cap. 7. 
 f Plin. Maj. Lib. VII. sect. 7. \ Val. Max. Lib. IX. Cap. 12, 
 
 € See his work on the Passions. 
 
43 
 
 the capture of Lord Cornwallis and his army, dur 
 ing our revolutionary war. 
 
 Cardan (in his 5th book of Wisdom) gives an in- 
 stance of a fellow citizen of his, a smith of Milan, 
 who, on being commended for repairing an instru- 
 ment that was said to have belonged to Archimedes, 
 ran mad for Joy. Plutarch (in the life of Artax- 
 erxes) speaks of a soldier who was so elated at the 
 thought of having wounded Cyrus in battle, that he 
 lost his wits. 
 
 Joy, accompanied by Mirth or Laughter, (see 
 Table II.,) is said to have, sometimes, caused death, 
 as in the philosopher Chrysippus, and a certain 
 Pope. 
 
 " How Joy (says Prof. M'Neven, in the Lecture 
 already alluded to) can produce such violent effects, 
 is a physiological question which I am not called 
 upon to discuss ; I am, however, disposed to think it 
 is by causing a paralysis of the sensorium." 
 
 Diseases induced by this Passion are Hysteria,* 
 Epilepsy^ Catalepsy and Paralysis 4 " It has also 
 increased the paroxysms of acute Fevers, aggravated 
 inflammatory symptoms, and, in plethoric habits, 
 has been productive of apoplexies, ."§ Excessive 
 
 * " MS. Notes of Hosack's Lectures." 
 
 f Van Swieten, Boerhaave. 
 
 } Cogan on the "Passions." § Ibid s .„ 
 
44 
 
 Joy has brought on Fever. Leo the Tenth died of 
 a Fever, occasioned by receiving the joyful news of 
 the capture of Milan. # It has sometimes, on the 
 other hand, even removed existing diseases. Thus, 
 Melancholy ,t Aphonia, Jaundice and Palsy ,J Ter- 
 tian Fever,§ and Stricture of the Pylorus, || have 
 all been cured by Joy. Dr. M'Neven had a pa- 
 tient sinking in Typhus, who, on being animated by 
 the sight of his intended, and the hope of speedy 
 nuptials, experienced a salutary turn in his disease, 
 and soon recovered. 
 
 LOVE. 
 
 I speak now of the Love of the Sexes. When 
 successful, it is a continued form of Joy, (see Table 
 II.,) and its operation is truly exhilarating. No 
 sensations indeed are more delightful than those of 
 Love ; and, as such, they cannot but help to shield 
 us from disease. 
 
 Love refines 
 
 The thoughts, and heart enlarges ; hath his seat 
 In Reason, and is judicious** 
 
 * Istoria de Guicciardini, Lib. XIV. 
 T Trallien. J Pechlin, M'Neven. 
 
 § Conrineus. || Lorry de Melancholia 
 
 m Paradise Lost, B. VIII. 
 
Nor does it 
 
 Live alone immured in the brain ; 
 But with the motion of all elements, 
 Courses as swift as thought in every power; 
 And gives to every power a double power, 
 Above their functions and their offices.* 
 
 4; Thus has it fortified the body against dangers, 
 difficulties, and hardships, which appeared superior 
 to human force."f 
 
 That modification of Attraction which we have 
 denominated Love of the Creator, (see Table I.,) it 
 would seem, is on certain occasions also possessed 
 of an analogous power. Thus, Dr. Clarke men- 
 tions, in his " Travels to the Holy Land," that "the 
 predestinarian Moslems, armed with a powerful 
 faith that nothing can accelerate or retard the fixed 
 decrees of Providence, pass unhurt through the 
 midst of Contagion." The same learned traveller 
 also mentions, that he " knew a Mahometan of high 
 rank, who, when his wife was attacked by the 
 plague, attended her with impunity until she died — 
 and in the hour of death, imprinted a parting kiss 
 upon her lips as he wept over her." But here the 
 antidote diffused through the system was imparted 
 by Faith and Sexual Love conjointly. Love is well 
 
 * Love's Labour's Lost, [Act IV.] 
 f Cogan on the " Passions." 
 
46 
 
 known to be a valuable remedy in Chlorosis. It 
 has also proved a remedy even in Consumption : 
 Tissot knew a young man in the last stage of Con- 
 sumption, who, happening to fall in love with a beau- 
 tiful woman, and meeting with a corresponding 
 attachment, was perfectly restored to health. To 
 give an idea of the opinion which the ancients en- 
 tertained of the salutary influence of Love ; — Hippo- 
 crates mentions, that " Eunuchi non laborant poda- 
 gra, neque calvi fiunt," and that " Puer non laborat 
 podagra, ante veneris usum." # 
 
 Love seems to be the mental expression of one of 
 our strongest appetites, or at least so intimately de«? 
 pendent upon it, that it cannot exist without it. 
 
 It was indeed for the evolution of this Passion 
 that the great division of the Sexes was established 
 with all those endearing sympathies which render 
 life so agreeable. Were it not for the existence of 
 this Passion, the world would become a cold and 
 dreary wild, void of every thing emulous or noble. 
 Not to speak of the destitution of other manly quali- 
 ties, the Warrior would lose his most powerful incen- 
 tive to battle ; and the Poet, deprived of the beamr 
 
 *"Euv5xoi a jro&ryjiwc-iv, n5t <pa\fixfoi 7ivoviai.'* Atpoj. 28. TfAnjia Exto>v 
 liars e ?ro5a7£ia ttjo ts cKpfcfSio-iciyjiou. 1 ' A<po? . 30 Tixr^xa Ewov. 
 
47 
 
 ing star of some directing fair one, pine into sense- 
 less indifference. 
 
 Well did Antiquity a God thee deeme i* 
 
 It may be remarked here, that wherever Love is 
 said by its intensity to have suddenly induced disease, 
 or removed or mitigated existing disease, it is to be 
 wholly attributed to the operation of the Passion 
 Joy, which, as I have before said, is to be considered 
 as the consummation of this as well as of every other 
 species of Attraction. This is to be borne in mind, 
 when we hear of its suddenly curing Intermittents, 
 Typhus Fever, &c. ; exciting Inflammatory Dis- 
 eases, &c. 
 
 To corroborate this explanation, mark the effects 
 of Love arrived at this acme, as described by Sap- 
 pho, (see p. 17. Part I.) 
 
 When slighted or unsuccessful, Love degenerates 
 successively into Melancholy or Despondency. In 
 this state of mind, nothing can exceed the idolatry 
 and infatuation of its votary. So fixed are his 
 thoughts upon his Laura, that unirritated by con- 
 tumely or reproaches, he pursues her at every risk, 
 and follows her into every recess. She is the mirror 
 of his wretchedness by day, and the delusive enchan- 
 
 * Fairy Queen, 
 
48 
 
 tress of his midnight slumbers. The victim to the 
 most enthusiastic reveries, all beside this imaginary 
 phantom seems clouded in the mist of insipidity, and 
 destitute of every charm and every pleasure : 
 
 The darken'd sun 
 
 Loses his light : The rosy bosom'd Spring" 
 
 To weeping 1 Fancy pines ; and yon bright arch. 
 
 Contracted, bends into a dusky vault : 
 
 All nature fades extinct ; she alone 
 
 Heard, felt, and seen, possesses every thought, 
 
 Fills every sense, and pants in every vein.* 
 
 He banishes himself from society — gropes along 
 the dark and winding mazes of Melancholy — till 
 impious Suicide at length caps the climax of his 
 miseries. At other times the reward of his ill-fated 
 devotion, is that most terrible of all diseases, that 
 chaos of the mind — Mania. This is the peculiar 
 and, dreadful to relate, not unfrequent termination of 
 Disappointed Love. 
 
 * " Thomson's Seasons." It is not astonishing that under such a 
 state of mind we should meet with variations of the Pulse as well as 
 other marks of debility. Hence we hear, that by the peculiar beat 
 and change of the pulse, Hippocrates discovered the love of Perdicas 
 for Phila, one of the wives of his father ; and that Erisistratus detect- 
 ed, in the same way, the passion of Antiochus for Stratonicej his step- 
 mother. (See Plutarch, &c.) 
 
49 
 
 Other diseases in its train, are those of the De- 
 pressing Passions in general ; for it has now assu- 
 med the garb and dress of one of the most deleteri- 
 ous of that class, (viz. Grief, quod vide infra.) 
 Hence, Hysteria, Diseases of the Stomach, Phthisis^ 
 Marasmus,* &c. Hawioptysis, and Phthisis, are also 
 aggravated by it. 
 
 The ravages of Disappointed Love upon the 
 constitution, are well described in the unadorned 
 language of Chaucer : 
 
 tyi& -steep, tjis meat, %i$ Brink is ijim toft, 
 ^Ijat lean ije taetf) ann nrg a$ a $aft, 
 fyte ege# fcollofo ana grifip to beijolD, 
 tyi$ Ijue pale ana a$en to unfolu, 
 Sino fifolitarg fje frag efoer alone, 
 gnn foafcing all tfje nigljt, making moa««f 
 
 forgotten quite 
 
 All former scenes of dear delight, 
 Connubial love — parental joy — 
 No sympathies like these his soul employ ; 
 But all is dark within.^ 
 
 There is another species of Love or Attraction,§ 
 which, from its singularly morbific operation on cer- 
 tain occasions, deserves our notice. This is Love of 
 
 * " MS. Notes of Hosack's Lectures." 
 
 $ " Knight's Tale." J Penrose. § See Table L 
 
50 
 
 Country. Under due regulation, it is the very ce- 
 ment of Society. Existing in a greater degree, it is 
 called Patriotism, but sometimes, though seldom, it 
 is so intense as to produce disease. This disease is 
 termed Nostalgia. 
 
 But, like Love of the Sexes, before it proves 
 so detrimental as this, it rather has assumed the 
 sjmpe of Grief or Despondency. 
 
 An indulgence in so glorious a Passion as the 
 Love of one's Country, though sometimes attended 
 with solemn consequences, the sympathy of every 
 generous Mind will know how to pardon. Though 
 the devoted Patriot should even breathe his last on 
 the altar of Suicide, " the Accusing Angel bearing 
 to Heaven's Chancery a deed in so hallowed a 
 cause, would shed a tear on the crime and blot it out 
 forever."* 
 
 2d. THE DEPRESSING PASSIONS. 
 
 The next class of Passions which I have propo- 
 sed to consider, are those which depress the powers 
 of the system. They are Grief and Fear, and their 
 different varieties, by whatever term they may be 
 distinguished. Like those which exhilarate their 
 effects, are either transient or durable, according to, 
 
 * Sterne. 
 
51 
 
 the nature and duration of the object which calls 
 them into action. Their sudden exertion, however, 
 is not usually so powerfully depressing as that of 
 the others is exciting. Consequently, their imme- 
 diate effects are not so much to be deprecated. 
 
 Whatever evils are to be attributed to this class of 
 Passions as their source, for the most part arise from 
 long-continued action, settled into a fixed habit. 
 
 The Depressing Passions differ from those of the 
 last class, in one important circumstance : viz. that 
 their operation is more rarely, or never, salutary. 
 Besides, the diseases which they induce are totally 
 distinct, nay, even of an opposite character. While 
 the Exhilarating Passions furnish too much excitement, 
 and too much life, the Depressing, with a contrary 
 tendency, always diminish their quantum. 
 
 The Depressing Passions lessen the force and 
 frequency of the Heart and Arteries, paralysing 
 the smaller, and, consequently, crowding the blood 
 upon the larger vessels. They also powerfully de- 
 bilitate the Nervous System. All the Functions 
 both of Body and Mind, are thus retarded below 
 the standard of Health. Obstructions in various 
 parts of the system are the inevitable consequence ; 
 Constipation, Hemorrhage, Diseases of the Heart, 
 &c. The greater number of Nervous Diseases, also, 
 follow in the train of the Depressing Passions, 
 
52 
 
 GRIEF. 
 
 Grief is the opposite of Joy ; it has a particular iiv 
 fluence on the Heart and Arteries, and the various Se- 
 cretions. Hence, the Bile is changed. " Hippocrates, 
 Galen, Boerhaave, &c„ observed this, but they erro- 
 neously ascribed the affection of the mind to this 
 change, whereas it is the contrary."* It assumes 
 the milder form of Melancholy in the Temperament 
 which bears that name, and which it characterizes. 
 In such Temperaments the attending depression is 
 the result of original conformation, in other habits 
 it is accidental, and arises from some external cause. 
 Grief, generally, is of considerable duration, and 
 most violent in its commencement. Time gradually 
 wears away the disagreeable impression, or some 
 afflicting disease is induced, which, adding to the ex- 
 isting miseries of the patient, strews his dying path 
 with thorns. The effect of a sudden fit of grief 
 upon the system, must, like the action of the exhila- 
 rating Passions, increase the velocity of the circula- 
 tion ; but not as they do its impetus. The condition 
 of the sanguiferous vessels, under such momentary 
 distress, is generally that of a state of irritability 
 rather than of fulness. Like the first stage of Ty- 
 
 * Crichtonon " Mental Derangement," vol. ii. p. 191—2, 
 
53 
 
 phus, it is dependent upon, and merely symptomatic 
 of, the previous debility and depression of the ner- 
 vous system. # Hence, the diseases are more usually 
 traceable to a derangement of the nerves, than to 
 the faulty action of the blood vessels. In some 
 habits, however, not only the rapidity, but the im- 
 pulse, also, of the circulation becomes increased. 
 And hence, merely by this violent impulse, we see 
 this Passion sometimes the source of Apoplexy, Hae- 
 moptysis, Active Hcemorrhage, in general, Synochal 
 Fever, Convulsions, and even Death ; analogous in 
 its effects to Anger. But this casual action of 
 Grief is not to be mistaken for its characteristic ope- 
 ration. Its primary and distinctive effect is discover- 
 able in the Nervous System. And what adds to 
 the truth of this position, is the particular class of 
 beings in whom this Passion is most prevalent. For 
 it must be remembered that Grief is the bane of 
 nervous and delicate habits.f 
 
 It is from gradually wasting away the powers of 
 the system, by long-continued Despondency, and not 
 by any sudden or violent shock, that this Passion 
 generally induces disease. 
 
 * See Hosack's Observations on the Typhoid state of Fever, in 
 the Appendix to his edition of Thomas's Practice. 
 
 ■f " Grief is a Passion to which the virtuous and tender mind is 
 particularly subject." — Dr. Johnson. 
 
54 
 
 Grief breaks the seasons and reposing 1 hours, 
 Makes the night morning-, and the noontide night.* 
 
 " The mournful ideas, first violently impressed, 
 and afterwards willingly received, so much engross 
 the attention, as to predominate in every thought, to 
 darken gaiety, and perplex ratiocination. An 
 habitual sadness seizes upon the soul, and the facul- 
 ties are chained to a single object, which can never 
 be contemplated but with hopeless uneasiness."t 
 
 A general torpor shows itself in the sanguiferous 
 system. Obstructions in the Liver, and other dis- 
 eases follow. " The mino^ being affected, the sto- 
 mach and adjacent organs must also be affected, and 
 the mind again operated upon by them.'°f Hence, 
 Dyspepsia, Dropsy, Jaundice, and Hypochondriasis.^ 
 Palsy and Aphonia are also among its consequences.|j 
 So also are Syncope, Asphyxia, Epilepsy, Catalepsy, 
 Phthisis, Apoplexy, Haemoptysis, Loss of Memory, 
 Mania,%. and even Death*** The Emperor Severus 
 
 * " Richard III." Act I.—" Omnis perturbatio miseria ; et carnifi- 
 cina est Dolor. "— (Tully.) 
 
 | Dr. Johnson. 
 
 | "MS. Notes of Hosack's Lectures." 
 
 § See Bonetus, Trallien, Lorry, Bag-livi, Hoffman, and Crichton. 
 
 || Ibid. % " MS. Notes of Hosack's Lectures." 
 
 ** "Worldly sorrow causeth Death." — (2 Cor. yii. 10.— -Psalm 
 xxxi. 10.) 
 
55 
 
 died of Grief, and how many myriads besides ! (says 
 Burton.) Grief is sometimes followed, also, by 
 Diseases of the Heart, as in the French Revolution.* 
 
 " Cor refrigerat Tristitia, spiritus exsiccat, inna- 
 tumque calorem obruit, vigillas inducit, concoctionem 
 labefactat, sanguinem incrassat, exaggeratque me- 
 lancholicum succum."t 
 
 In the case of an unfortunate female of this city, 
 whom Professor Mott, of this University, mentions 
 in his Lectures,^ though her death was sudden, she 
 had been for some time excessively desponding. 
 On that fatal evening which closed her existence, 
 her feelings were wound up to the highest pitch of 
 Despair; her spirits sunk under the oppressive 
 load \ her blood curdled in its vessels, and the last 
 contractile beat of the heart burst on its lifeless con- 
 tents ! She literally and truly died of a broken 
 heart, as was found on dissection. And there was 
 every reason to believe that this consummation of 
 her misery was the unavoidable consequence of her 
 exquisite dejection of Mind at that particular mo- 
 ment. Her previous sorrows paved the way for 
 this sad event, and, though the remote, were indeed 
 the true cause of her death. The bursting of her 
 
 * Vid. infra. 
 
 \ Fernelius, lib. i. c. 18. de morb. causis. 
 
 \ See the particulars of this case in the " New-York Medical 
 ?vlagazine," No. II. edited by Drs. Mott and Onderdonk. 
 
56 
 
 heart would seem to denote some sudden and vio- 
 lent action in that organ ; but the undisturbed and 
 natural posture in which she was found in her bed, 
 clearly demonstrate the error of such an opinion. 
 We have the strongest grounds, therefore, to con- 
 elude, that this rupture of her heart was the imme- 
 diate effect of the great accumulation of blood in 
 that organ, caused by the depressing influence of 
 the Passion.* 
 
 There is a very singular symptom or effect of 
 Grief, which, as it is not often noticed, deserves to 
 be mentioned, and that is Profound Sleep. " I have 
 often witnessed it (says Dr. Rush) even in mothers, 
 immediately after the death of a child." Criminals, 
 we are told by Mr. Akerman, the keeper of New- 
 gate, in London, often sleep soundly the night be- 
 fore their execution. The son of General Custine 
 slept nine hours the night before he was led to the 
 guillotine in Paris, and Marshal Ney reposed quietly 
 for two hours immediately on receiving his sentence.f 
 
 * Dr. Rush, in his work on the " Diseases of the Mind," mentions, 
 that dissections of persons who have died of grief show also that 
 there had been inflammation of the heart, as well as congestion of 
 this organ. 
 
 ■j- It can hardly be supposed that one who met death with that un- 
 paralleled heroism which is related of Ney, could at any time have 
 given himself up to puerile lamentations. But it is extremely pro- 
 bable, that the thought of so soon resigning "this pleasing, anxious 
 being," must, at least, have overshadowed his mind with a degree ei 
 gloom. 
 
57 
 
 Dr. Rush thinks that facts like these " will serve to 
 vindicate the disciples of our Saviour from a want 
 of sympathy with him in his suffering." They 
 slept during his agony in the garden, because their 
 " flesh was weak," and in consequence of " sorrow 
 having filled their hearts." (P. 319. on the " Dis- 
 eases of the Mind.") 
 
 Grief also predisposes to Contagion.* 
 
 FEAR. 
 
 Fear is distinguished from other Passions by this 
 peculiarity, that its effects are alike powerful upon 
 the system whether it result from the actual percep- 
 tion of terrible objects, or whether it be harrowed 
 up by some horrible phantom of the imagination. 
 The Power of the imagination, in fact, though it is 
 generally treated as some separate influence, induces 
 physical derangement only through the medium of 
 the Passions, and most of all through the operation 
 of Fear.f 
 
 In either case, when fully excited, this Passion 
 seems to have a peculiar operation upon the Ner- 
 vous Influence. It strikes at the root of some of 
 
 * Cogan. 
 
 f This is confirmed by Burton. " But most especially in passions 
 and affections, the imagination shows strange and evident effects." 
 Vol. i. p. 135. 
 
 8 
 
58 
 
 the noblest faculties of the Mind ; depriving us of 
 the power of Volition, and totally suspending our 
 Judgment and Memory* The Perception, too, it per- 
 verts, and the affrighted sufferer, as in a dream, 
 imagines that he beholds the most terrific spectres ! 
 
 1 Stat terror animis, et cor attonitum salit, 
 Pavidumque trepidis palpitat venis jecur.f 
 
 Some of the involuntary muscles, also, no longer 
 obey the direction of their nerves. Thus, even the 
 gallant soldier, " seeking the cannon's mouth," has 
 often been checked in his noble career by the sud- 
 den relaxation of his sphincters. " This is not to be 
 ascribed to cowardice, for many of these engage 
 voluntarily ; but the mind naturally recoils upon it- 
 self at the thoughts of dissolution, and the stoutest 
 hearts become appalled."{ Death itself not unfre- 
 quently results from the violence of this Passion; 
 as in the following cases : " The elder Cline visited 
 a young lady for tumour in the breast, and recom- 
 mended extirpation. She freely consented to the 
 operation, but assured her friends it would kill her. 
 The operation being trifling, it was urged by the 
 Surgeons, and the young lady reproved by her 
 
 * t&ctoi r /aJ jirivjinv im\r)CCti, tixvti 5\ aviv &kxris sSiv u$i\i". ThllCyd. lib, 
 
 ii. c. 81. — Metus enim memoriam excutit, ars vero sine fortitudine 
 nihil prodest. 
 
 f Senec. " Here. Oet." 
 
 t " MS. Notes of Hosack's Lectures." 
 
59 
 
 parents for her timidity. She, however, still insisted 
 that it would prove fatal, and, indeed, did die an 
 hour or two after it was performed. So confident 
 was she of her death, that she had arranged all her 
 private affairs some time before it." # 
 
 " I have known a man to be so much affected at 
 the idea of losing a leg, as to die in less than twenty- 
 four hours after the operation was proposed."f 
 
 The celebrated Pott sounded a man for a Stone 
 in the Bladder, and found it The patient was so 
 much agitated at the thought of a stone in the blad- 
 der, and that an operation was necessary to remove 
 it, that he died the same day. 
 
 Diseases resulting from the influence of this Pas- 
 sion, are Sadden Suppression of the Menses, or Milk, 
 Apoplexy, Hemorrhage, Mental Derangement, 
 Spasms, and Paralysis of different parts, as Apho- 
 nia, &c.J At other times it produces Hysteria, Mis-. 
 carriage, Prolapsus Ani in children ;§ Syncope and 
 Asphyxia.^ 
 
 * Politely furnished the author by Valentine Mott, M. D. Profes- 
 sor of Surgery in the University of New-York, &c. 
 
 f Ibid. 
 
 \ See Unzer, Ronetus, Pechlin, Donatus, Scaliger, Plater, Schen- 
 kius, Hildanus, Tralles, Schelhammer, Becker, Baglivi, Morton, La 
 Motte, Rivin de Peste, Haller, Montaigne, Rhodes, Greding, 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 § " MS. Notes of Hosack's Lectures." 
 
 II Rush on the " Diseases of the Mind," 
 
60 
 
 Mania was caused in a gentleman of Edinburgh 
 on hearing of the earthquake at Lisbon.^ Van 
 Swieten tells of a boy who had Epilepsy brought on 
 by the barking of a dog. " The cry of a female in 
 the Infirmary of Edinburgh, I have seen cause con- 
 vulsions in those who heard her shrieks."t 
 
 Fear has ever been observed to powerfully pre- 
 dispose to Contagious Diseases; as Yellow Fever ^ 
 Plague^ &c. It predisposes to Intermittents also. 
 It retards the cure of Ulcers, and has occasioned 
 Gangrene.^ " But pernicious as it usually is, it 
 has been known (says Cogan) to relieve agonizing 
 fits of the Gout, to have rendered Maniacs calm 
 and composed, and in some cases it has restored 
 them to the regular use of their faculties." The 
 effects of Fear in affording temporary relief in 
 Odontalgia and Singultus, are well known. It is 
 said, also, by some, to have cured Palsy, Dropsy, 
 
 * " MS. Notes of Hosack's Lectures." See also Burton's Me- 
 lancholy, vol. i. p. 143., &c. 
 
 f " MS. Notes of Hosack's Lectures." 
 
 I " The Greeks and Franks, who turn pale at the very name of the 
 Plague, are much more susceptible of this disease than the Armeni- 
 ans, who have very little dread of it, and the Turks, who calmly take 
 it as it comes." (Sulla Peste di Constantinopoli, del MDCCCIII. 
 Giornaledel Dottore Eusebio Valli, 1805, p. 81.) The distinguished 
 author of this excellent work is now on a literary tour to this coun 
 try. 
 
 § See Brambilla, 
 
61 
 
 Epilepsy, and Tertian Fever. But, though these 
 eases be doubtful, I believe we may assert, with 
 truth, that sudden Terror has sometimes so ex- 
 cited the apprehensions of hypochondriacs, as to 
 have obliterated ail their former maladies.* How 
 the operation of Fear sometimes produces a sud- 
 den whiteness of the hair, or causes it to come out 
 by the roots, has not been explained.f 
 
 From what we have said of Fear, it is evident 
 that its most striking operation on the system, 
 though transitory in duration, if it be too often sus- 
 tained, or of great intensity, may be the source of 
 the worst of evils. When endured in a more mo- 
 derate degree, its effects are but in a slight degree 
 depressing, and it then better deserves the appella- 
 tion of Dread. In a moral point of view, this degree 
 of Fear is of great importance. " The dread of the 
 magistrate, and the fear of future punishment, with 
 those who cannot be restrained by nobler principles, 
 are certainly most powerful motives to virtue ;"J 
 and as such ought, undoubtedly, to be kept alive in 
 every community. 
 
 But that modification of Fear, combined with 
 Grief, which arises from the Fear of Futurity, and 
 which is so beneficial under proper restrictions, has 
 
 * See Cog-an. f See Borelli. 
 
 | Reid on the " Mind." 
 
62 
 
 been, alas ! too often prostituted to the vilest pur- 
 poses. In the hands of fanaticism and hypocrisy, 
 by inculcating the most frightful despair, it has 
 caused the untimely de^ath of thousands of innocent 
 beings. 
 
63 
 
 PART III. 
 
 Hitherto we have endeavoured to point out the 
 force of each individual Passion, in as far as that 
 force tended to the production or modification of 
 Disease. This has been considered abstractedly, 
 and as if the Passion, such as it was implanted in 
 us by nature, had been directed in every instance, 
 solely and uninterruptedly to the accomplishment of 
 those changes. But this is taking too analytical a 
 view of the subject. The power of the Passions 
 may be compared to that of Affinity ; it never acts 
 without receiving some modification in its capacity 
 from a variety of extraneous Agencies: such are 
 Education and Climate. Of these, Climate is ever 
 present, and, therefore, always energetic; but its 
 influence is not very great, else why should we find 
 nations, living under precisely the same climate, dif- 
 fering so widely in their moral character. 
 
 Education may be considered as fortuitous, though, 
 possessing, more than all other causes, infinite 
 power in moulding the Passions. So great is this, 
 indeed, that it is the origin of that great chasm in 
 
64 
 
 society, between Refinement and Barbarity. Un- 
 der Education I include the operation of Govern- 
 ment, whether man be the nursling of Republican- 
 ism or Monarchy. 
 
 Unless, however, the human mind be subjected 
 to the iron hand of Despotism, the Government of 
 a People cannot be said to have any distinctly mor- 
 bific influence upon the Passions. But with regard 
 to Despotic Governments, where they do exist, their 
 influence is most pointed. Themselves the offspring 
 of diabolical Passions, in their turn, what Griefs! 
 what Hatreds! what Horrors! have they not en- 
 gendered ! 
 
 Goaded on by their cruelties and enormities, the 
 human mind has been wrought up to the most ex- 
 quisite pitch of torment, and taught to glory in deeds 
 that it else had never dreamt of. Passions have 
 been roused, which hybrid-like, had no natural ex- 
 istence, and whose nameless miseries have surpassed 
 the conceptions of the most consummate fancy. 
 How oft, too, have Passions been thus excited and 
 let frantic into the world ; which, but for this cause, 
 had for ever lain dormant, or never shot beyond their 
 spheres! Better, far, that man had never existed, or 
 never been torn from his primitive wilds, than that 
 he should ever have been the creature of slavery! 
 It throws a stigma upon society and civilization 
 
65 
 
 which has never been removed, but which the Ex- 
 cesses and Outrages of the present day only tend to 
 heighten. 
 
 There are certain Passions which, when not ex- 
 cessive, always raise agreeable sensations. Such 
 are Joy, and its various modifications. But Anger, 
 Fear, and Grief, on the other hand, always occasion 
 distress. And such are the Passions which Tyranny 
 calls forth in their most horrible forms. The 
 Diseases which they occasion, must necessarily cor- 
 respond ; hence, they are of the most dangerous 
 and fatal kind that accompany those Passions : as 
 Rupture of the Heart, and of the Large Blood Vessels, 
 Diseases of the Heart, Apoplexy, Epilepsy, Hypochon- 
 driasis, Syncope, Convulsions, &c. We should not be 
 surprised therefore to meet death at these outlets, 
 in all countries groaning under the sway of despo- 
 tism. The same might be expected during revolu- 
 tions resulting from such despotism. Hence, says 
 Corvisart, Diseases of the Heart were observed to 
 be particularly prevalent during the epoch of the 
 French Revolution.* 
 
 I do not know whether the observation has been 
 made by any other person, but it is probable that 
 the history of almost every nation would furnish pa- 
 rallel instances. 
 
 * " Organic Diseases of the Heart," p. 276. 
 
 9 
 
66 
 
 The Passions constitute the great Features in the 
 Life of Man — the Outlines of the Human Character, 
 They are the chief springs to human action, and are 
 of the utmost importance to society. 
 
 To illustrate this subject still further, they may be 
 Considered in three different ways, viz: 1st. As they 
 appear at different periods of life. 2dly. As they 
 distinguish particular classes of individuals, (or the 
 temperaments,) — and, Lastly, As they give a cast 
 to national character, i. e. as they are modified by- 
 Education. 
 
 The influence of Age or Temperament is depend- 
 ent chiefly upon original conformation. That of 
 Education, as has been already observed, is alto- 
 gether extraneous. This view of the Passions is 
 only introduced in order to show under what cir~ 
 cumstance9 they and their effects may be rationally 
 anticipated. 
 
 1st. Youth is proverbially the period of Passion, 
 In the language of Horace, 
 
 Puer iram 
 
 Colligit ac ponit temere, et mutatur in horas. 
 
 But if the season of Youth be more strongly 
 marked by the predominance of the Passions, they 
 are transient in their stay, and leave no violent traces 
 behind. They appepj* in quick succession, and as 
 
67 
 
 soon retire. If not duly regulated, however, they are 
 highly injurious, especially Anger, " which proves 
 particularly dangerous at this time, from impairing 
 the nervous system."* 
 
 The same remark might have been made of Fear ; 
 which at this tender period of life, often so breaks 
 down the mental faculties, as to leave behind it an 
 incurable imbecility or even idiotism. The vile 
 practice of impressing on the belief of children the 
 existence of Ghosts, Hobgoblins, Witches, &c., has 
 not unfrequently been the source of these, or more 
 deplorable, calamities. 
 
 After the age of Puberty, Love acts an important 
 part in the affairs of man, The ancients considered 
 it of so much importance at this period of our lives, 
 that they called it " a remedy provided by the gods 
 for the safety and preservation of youth."f This 
 corresponds with the opinion of Theocritus \ 
 
 Oi 5t nohvvns, iv -niicm yr^6.ffuiaiv.t 
 
 Though, Mad. De Stael says, it constitutes the 
 whole life of a woman, and but an episode in that of 
 
 * " MS. Notes of Hosack's Lectures." 
 
 f Vid. Plato, " Conviv." It is mentioned by Plutarch from this 
 source. 
 | EiSuM. it'. Qui autem amant, in die senescunt 
 
68 
 
 a man, I believe as many of one sex have fallen vic- 
 tims to it as of the other. 
 
 The Passions now begin to make a serious and 
 more durable impression, and Manhood is the arena 
 on which they stride in all their majesty. 
 
 In old age again the mind is too feeble to bring 
 any of its faculties into extraordinary action ; 
 
 — And for the air of youth, 
 
 Hopeful and cheerful, in the blood doth reign 
 A melancholy damp of cold and dry 
 To weigh the spirits down, and last consume 
 The balm of life.* 
 
 2dly. Temperaments. In all the Temperaments, 
 except the Phlegmatic, the Passions form the spe- 
 cific lines of distinction. And even this Tempera- 
 ment is negatively characterized by them. 
 
 The Sanguineous is the creature of sudden bursts 
 of Anger or Joy. The Choleric is almost the slave 
 of perpetual Rage, and while the unfortunate 
 victim to Melancholy pines away his life in Grief, the 
 pitiable JVervous is alive to every blast, 
 
 3dly. Education and National Character. Though 
 Man is essentially the same in all parts of the world, 
 he derives, as we have already said, some modifica- 
 tion of his existence from the fortuitous but powerful 
 
 * Milton's Paradise Lost. 
 
69 
 
 influences of Climate and Education. The most re- 
 markable of these is Education ; and, according to a 
 sentiment just expressed, the most intelligible deline- 
 ations of its power are more likely to be discovered 
 in the various combinations of the Passions, than in 
 any other part of the Human Character. Hence, 
 it is most common to depict National Character by a 
 representation of their predominating Passions. 
 This will ordinarily hold good. But in the instance 
 of Despotic Governments, of which we have spoken, 
 no particular conclusion can be drawn as to the Na- 
 tional Character from this source. Under the deep 
 and solemn gloom of Tyranny, all is wrapped in 
 Mystery. And whatever dispositions of National 
 Feeling may be at times developed, or which may 
 afterwards more freely vent themselves in the march 
 of Revolutions, I still maintain that these cannot be 
 taken as the lineaments of the native genius of the 
 People. There is a morbid state of Society at such 
 times, and, consequently, any deductions from the 
 phenomena then exhibited are fallacious. But, un- 
 der a different face of things, the Passions furnish a 
 true test of National Character. 
 
 The wild and noble ardour of the Hibernian, the 
 conscious pride of virtuous freedom, which beams on 
 the countenance of the favoured child of Columbia, 
 are familiar to every one.-— While the inexorable ha- 
 
70 
 
 tred-of the Spaniard, the cold-blooded ferocity of the 
 English, and the irresistible fury of the Gaul, have 
 been the source of too many changes in the history 
 of this world to be soon forgotten. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 
 
 This book is due on the date indicated below, or at the 
 expiration of a definite period after the date of borrowing, 
 as provided by the rules of the Library or by special ar- 
 rangement with the Librarian in charge. 
 
 DATE BORROWED 
 
 DATE DUE 
 
 DATE BORROWED 
 
 DATE DUE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 C28<638)M50 
 
 
 
 
to ___^- 
 
 
 18s 
 
 *~ J^J^^^Stn 
 
 s^^s^ 
 
 "^z^S^^^l^^ 
 
 25^^^=*-^ 
 
 S^^O 
 
 <^^o 
 
 T66