CHAPTER VI.

GROUP OF PRECAUTIONARY EMOTIONS AND PASSIONS.

THE emotional states of the propensities of acquisitiveness, cautiousness and secretiveness form this group. It has three subdivisions.

1. Acquisitive Class. Avarice or Greed of Accumulation, Covetousness.

2. Precautionary Class. Watchfulness, Prudence, Timidity or Indecision, Suspicion, Alarm, Fear, Terror, Horror, Despair, or Despondency.

3. Secretive Class. Secretiveness, Cunning, Slyness, Curiosity, Hypocrisy.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRECAUTIONARY

GROUP.

Mental. The acquisitive and secretive class is mentally pleasurable. There is enjoyment felt in hoarding and secreting. The passionate states of the precautionary class are mentally painful.

Physiological.-Vital action in the secretive and acquisitive class is moderately increased. In the passionate states of the precautionary class it is diminished.

Expressional.-The expression of the countenance is not open, the facial muscles draw the features inward

and downward. The attitudes of the body are catlike, the body itself is made as small as possible. In the passionate states the body trembles and the person seeks refuge in flight.

ACQUISITIVE CLASS.

Avarice or Greed of Accumulation.-Avarice arises from the excessive and perverted activity of the propensity of acquisitiveness. To provide for the future by the accumulation of wealth is a noble endeavor, but when this desire becomes an all-engrossing passion it leads to mean and niggardly actions. The desire for money in the heart of the miser is so intense that he will resort to the most base and selfish practices in order to amass it. The passion of avarice may be witnessed every day in some form or other among those who are engaged in the accumulation of property. The calculation of every cent, the sacrifice of innocent and healthful pleasures, the neglect to perform acts of kindness in order to make the accumulation as great as possible are only a few of the actions of an avaricious man. The expressions of this passion are those movements of the body and face which would be most likely to become habitual, because occurring in the daily occupations which have the accumulation of wealth as their aim. The body is bent or stooped. The walk is noiseless, the steps short, the hands move nervously. In all the attitudes there is an expression which seems to imply "quick to take and slow to give." A person who is avaricious is constantly in fear of penury. He always pleads poverty. Though he has abundance, he spends but little. The expression of his face is eager, thin, and grasping. All the lineaments of the

features are flattened, drawn in, or pinched; there is no frankness in the expression of the miser's face. In his business transactions he is selfish and often cruel, at times cowardly, always plodding and deceitful. The following lines faithfully portray a person under the influence of avarice.

THE MISER COUNTING HIS GOLD.

So, so! all safe! Come forth, my pretty sparklers,—
Come forth, and feast my eyes! Be not afraid!
No keen-eyed agent of the government
Can see you here. They wanted me, forsooth,
To lend you, at the lawful rate of usance,
For the state's needs, Ha, ha! my shining pets,
My yellow darlings, my sweet golden circlets!
Too well I loved you to do that-and so

I pleaded poverty, and none could prove
My story was not true.

Ha! could they see

These bags of ducats, and that precious pile

Of ingots, and those bars of solid gold

Their eyes, methinks, would water. What a comfort

Is it to see my moneys in a heap

All safely lodged under my very roof!

Here's a fat bag-let me untie the mouth of it.

What eloquence! What beauty! What expression!
Could Cicero so plead? Could Helen look

One half so charming.

Covetousness resembles avarice, and what has been said under that passion applies to this. The special difference seems to be in the direction of the spirit of greed. An avaricious man may desire the possessions of others, but his principle aim is accumulation by his own or by the industry of others; the covetous man, on the other hand, does not care for the things which he provides for himself, but would often have those of his neighbor. He looks with

longing eyes upon everything possessed by others and wishes that he possessed such things.

Language. This emotion gives a discontented, envious, and greedy look. It invests the property of others with more than actual value. The covetous man expresses himself in the language of desire. "Oh, I wish this was mine!" "Where did you get it?" "Could you obtain one for me?" "Won't you give it to me?" "I guess I will take it home, you have no use for it; it is just what I have been looking for." The hand fondles the coveted article, and the eye looks at it eagerly. Even when the article has been examined sufficiently he retains it and surrenders it very unwillingly. When unobserved he even acts as if he would fain conceal or carry it away in his pocket; if he is moved with hatred or a jealous envy of the possessor he will mutilate the object in order to diminish the joy which he fancies the possession brings to his rival.

PRECAUTIONARY CLASS.

Fear is a mental passion having its origin in the apprehension of danger. It springs from a preternatural excitement of the propensity of cautiousness, induced by the presence of an object, real or imaginary, which threatens great harm to life, character, fortune, or reputation. It is a very violent passion and dominates the whole body and mind of man while it lasts. Its effect upon the constitution is exceedingly depressing. It has many degrees of excitement, from a simple state to one of extreme violence. These grades are known by the names, fear, terror, horror, despair. Fear in its simple condition resembles astonishment in some of the bodily gestures. The eyes are strained wide open and the attitudes of the body are in a con

dition of attention as in astonishment. The more violent states of fear depend upon the nearness and the magnitude of the danger. If the person suffering from fear has committed murder, and punishment is near, he will be thrown into a violent state of terror.

If some dreadful calamity has just occurred which has destroyed many dear friends and from which the person himself has barely escaped, then the state of fear will be one of horror. Fear may be skillfully

employed in oratory, though it is much better to appeal to love, in support of measures advocated to arouse people to a sense of the danger in which they stand, either as sinners before God or as citizens, calmly submitting to the deprivation of their rights as freemen. It is often needful. The use of fear in efforts to control men has been the chief weapon of kings and priests. It is now more common and more noble to sway men by love. Fear is an ignoble passion, but love is an honorable sentiment.

FEAR.

Language.-In fear the senses of sight and hearing are intensely acute. The eyes are wide open and stare eagerly, the eyebrows are raised, the mouth is opened wide to inhale the air as noiselessly as possible. The frightened man stands motionless as a statue or crouches down as if to escape the threatening object. The heart beats so violently as to knock against the ribs. The mental and bodily state is disordered, the will is utterly powerless to control. The lines on the face are distorted, the face itself is pale, haggard, and fearful. Every muscle of the body trembles. The skin exudes a cold sweat, and icy cur