In SECTION V. many instances one Emotion is productive of another. The same of Passions. 102. In the first chapter it is observed, that the relations by which things are connected, have a remarkable influence on the train of our ideas. I here add, that they have an influence, no less remarkable, in the production of emotions and passions. Beginning with the former, an agreeable object makes every thing connected with it appear agreeable; for the mind gliding sweetly and easily through related objects, carries along the agreeable properties it meets with in its passage, and bestows them on the present object, which thereby appears more agreeable than when considered apart. No relation is more intimate than that between a being and its qualities: and accordingly, every quality in a hero, even the slightest, makes a greater figure than more substantial qualities in others. The propensity of carrying along agreeable properties from one object to another, is sometimes so vigorous as to convert defects into properties: the wry neck of Alexander was imitated by his courtiers as a real beauty, without intention to flatter: Lady Percy, speaking of her husband Hotspur, By his light Did all the chivalry of England move, To do brave acts. He was indeed the glass, And speaking thick, which Nature made his blemish, For those who could speak slow and tardily, Second Part, Henry IV. Act II. Sc. 6. 103. The same communication of passion obtains in the relation of principal and accessory. Pride, of which self is the object, expands itself upon a house, a garden, servants, equipage, and every accessory. A lover addresseth his fair one's glove in the following terms: Sweet ornament that decks a thing divine. Veneration for relics has the same natural foundation; and that foundation, with the superstructure of superstition, has occasioned much blind devotion to the most ridiculous objects-to the supposed milk, for example, of the Virgin Mary, or the supposed blood of St. 102. Influence of the relations of things in producing emotions and passions.-The influence of an agreeable object on connected objects.-The relation of a being and its qualities. The propensity of carrying along agreeable properties from one object to another.The wry neck of Alexander.-The speech of Lady Perey concerning Hotspur. Januarius. A temple is in a proper sense an accessory of the deity to which it is dedicated: Diana is chaste, and not only her temple, but the very icicle which hangs on it, must partake of that property: The noble sister of Poplicola, The moon of Rome; chaste as the icicle That's curdled by the frost from purest snow, Coriolanus, Act V. Sc. 3. Thus it is, that the respect and esteem which the great, the powerful, the opulent naturally command, are in some measure communicated to their dress, to their manners, and to all their connections and it is this communication of properties, which, prevailing even over the natural taste of beauty, helps to give currency to what is called the fashion. The sen 104. By means of the same easiness of communication, every bad quality in an enemy is spread upon all his connections. tence pronounced against Ravaillac for the assassination of Henry IV. of France ordains that the house in which he was born should be razed to the ground, and that no other building should ever be erected on that spot. Enmity will extend passion to objects still less connected. The Swiss suffer no peacocks to live, because the Duke of Austria, their ancient enemy, wears a peacock's tail in his crest. A relation more slight and transitory than that of enmity, may have the same effect: thus the bearer of bad tidings becomes an object of aversion : Fellow, begone; I cannot brook thy sight; King John, Act III. Sc. 1. Yet the first bringer of unwelcome news Second Part, Henry IV. Act I. Sc. 3. In borrowing thus properties from one object to bestow them on another, it is not any object indifferently that will answer. The object from which properties are borrowed, must be such as to warm the mind and enliven the imagination. Thus the beauty of a woman, which inflames the imagination, is readily communicated to a glove, as above mentioned; but the greatest beauty a glove is susceptible But why worship the cross which is supposed to be that upon which our Saviour suffered? That cross ought to be the object of hatred, not of veneration. If it be urged, that as an instrument of Christ's suffering it was salutary to mankind, I answer, Why is not also Pontius Pilate reverenced, Caiaphas the high-priest, and Judas Iscariot? 103. The communication of passion in the relation of principal and accessory.--Pride.Love.-Veneration for relics.-A temple.-Diana.-The fashion. 54 of, touches the mind so little, as to be entirely dropped in passing any remarkable 105. The emotions produced as above may properly be termed secondary, being occasioned either by antecedent emotions or antecedent passions, which in that respect may be termed primary. And to complete the present theory, I must add, that a secondary emotion may readily swell into a passion for the accessory object, provided the accessory be a proper object for desire. Thus it happens that one passion is often productive of another: examples are without number; the sole difficulty is a proper choice. I begin with self-love, and the power it hath to generate love to children. Every man, besides making part of a greater system, like a comet, a planet, or satellite only, hath a less system of his own, in the centre of which he represents the sun darting his fire and heat all around; especially upon his nearest connections: the connection between a man and his children, fundamentally that of cause and effect, becomes, by the addition of other circumstances, the completest that can be among individuals; and therefore self-love, the most vigorous of all passions, is readily expanded upon children. The secondary emotion they produce by means of their connection, is sufficiently strong to move desire even from the beginning; and the new passion swells by degrees, till it rivals in some measure self-love, the primary passion. To demonstrate the truth of this theory, I urge the following argument. Remorse for betraying a friend, or murdering an enemy in cold blood, makes a man even hate himself: in that state, he is not conscious of affection to his children, but rather of disgust or ill-will. What cause can be assigned for that change, other than the hatred he has to himself, which is expanded upon his children. And if so, may we not with equal reason derive from self-love, some part at least of the affection a man generally has to them? 106. The affection a man bears to his blood relations, depends A house and gardens surrounded with pleasant fields, all in good order, bestow greater lustre upon the owner than at first will be imagined. The beauties of the former are, by intimacy of connection, readily communicated to the latter; and if it have been done at the expense of the owner himself, we naturally transfer to him whatever of design, art, or taste appears in the performance. Should not this be a strong motive with proprietors to embellish and improve their fields? 104. Bad qualities in an enemy diffused.-Sentence against Ravaillac.-The Swiss against peacocks.-The Bearer of bad tidings. Illustrations from Shakspeare.-In borrowing properties from one object to bestow them on another, not every object will answer. Illustrate. 105. Distinction between secondary and primary emotions.-One passion productive of another.-Self-love produces love to childern,--Man compared to the solar system.-Selfhand, arising from a base act, is extended to his children. partly on the same principle: self-love is also expanded upon them; and the communicated passion is more or less vigorous in proportion to the degree of connection. Nor doth self-love rest here it is, by the force of connection, communicated even to things inanimate; and hence the affection a man bears to his property, and to every thing he calls his own. Friendship, less vigorous than self-love, is, for that reason, less apt to communicate itself to the friend's children, or other relations. Instances, however, are not wanting of such communicated passion, arising from friendship when it is strong. Friendship may go higher in the matrimonial state than in any other condition; and Otway, in Venice Preserved, takes advantage of that circumstance: in the scene where Belvidera sues to her father for pardon, she is represented as pleading her mother's merits, and the resemblance she bore to her mother: And again, Priuli. My daughter! Belvidera. Yes, your daughter, by a mother Dear to your arms. By all the joys she gave you The lineaments of hers y' have kissed so often, Belvidera. Lay me, I beg you, lay me By the dear ashes of my tender mother: She would have pitied me, had fate yet spard'd her. Act V. Sc. 1. This explains why any meritorious action, or any illustrious qualification, in my son or my friend, is apt to make me over-value my self: if I value my friend's wife or son upon account of their connection with him, it is still more natural that I should value myself upon account of my connection with him. 107. Friendship, or any other social affection, may, by changing the object, produce opposite effects. Pity, by interesting us strongly for the person in distress, must of consequence inflame our resentment against the author of the distress: for, in general, the affection we have for any man, generates in us good-will to his friends, and ill-will to his enemies. Shakspeare shows great art in the funeral oration pronounced by Antony over the body of Cæsar. He first endeavors to excite grief in the hearers, by dwelling upon the deplorable loss of so great a man: this passion, interesting them strongly in Caesar's fate, could not fail to produce a lively sense of the treachery and cruelty of the con 106. The affection a man bears to blood relations, and even to things inanimate, depends on what?-Communicated passion arising from friendship; especially in the matrimonial state. Instance from Venice Preserved.-The effect upon us of any meritorious qualifi ation in a son or friend spirators; an infallible method to inflame the resentment of the people beyond all bounds: Antony. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now You all do know this mantle. I remember The first time ever Cæsar put it on; 'Twas on a summer's evening, in his tent, That day he overcame the Nervii Look! in this place ran Cassius' dagger through; See what a rent the envious Casca made. Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd; If Brutus so unkindly knock'd or no: For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel. For when the noble Cæsar saw him stab, Quite vanquish'd him; then burst his mighty heart; Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell, O what a fall was there, my countrymen! Julius Casar, Act III. Sc. 6. Had Antony endeavored to excite his audience to vengeance, without paving the way by raising their grief, his speech would not have made the same impression. 108. Hatred, and other dissocial passions, produce effects directly opposite to those above mentioned. If I hate a man, his children, his relations, nay his property, become to me objects of aversion: his enemies, on the other hand, I am disposed to esteem. The more slight and transitory relations are not favorable to the communication of passion. Anger, when sudden and violent, is one exception; for, if the person who did the injury be removed out of reach, that passion will vent itself against any related object, however slight the relation be. Another exception makes a greater figure: a group of beings or things becomes often the object of a communicated passion, even where the relation of the individuals to the percipient is but slight. Thus, though I put no value upon a single man for living in the same town with myself; my townsmen, however, considered in a body, are preferred before others. This is still more remarkable with respect to my countrymen in general: the grandeur of the complex objects swells the passion of self-love 107. Any soc at affection, by changing the object, produces opposite effects.--Pity leads to resentment.-The funeral oration of Antony over the dead body of Cæsar. Πεν adapted to excite to vengeance. |