James' famous theory of the emotions, that they are simply the feeling of the bodily changes which directly follow the perception of an exciting fact, the observations which make any defense of the theory possible are sufficient evidence that, as he says, "the entire organism may be called a sounding-board, which every change of consciousness, however slight, may make reverberate." "Our whole cubic capacity is sensibly alive, and each morsel of it contributes its pulsation of feeling, dim or sharp, pleasant, painful or dubious, to that sense of personality that every one of us unfailingly carries with him.” 1

Now all these facts not only show again the marvelous intimacy of the relation between mind and body (which is not now the point under consideration), but also help us to see the bearing of emotion on volition, though it is here exerted indirectly through the body; they help us to see why emotion actually increases our sense of reality, and why it must have an important contribution to make to our deepest life. This is peculiarly true of joy, if it is taken in no shallow

1Op. cit., Vol. II, pp. 450, 451.

2 Cf. King, Personal and Ideal Elements in Education, pp. 227 ff.

surface way. It literally makes us live more, and so gives a deeper sense of the reality of all other life. For this very reason it helps directly to convictions which make volition easy. As Keats puts it: "Axioms are not axioms until they have been felt upon our pulses." We are made for joy-body and mind; our very constitution proclaims it. Pain is not a good in itself, and unnecessary depression and needless worry only lessen our power for work, and-what is moreweaken our power to will. The relation is close and simple. Joy directly increases our vitality. Greater vitality gives greater sense of reality. This means stronger convictions. Of convictions purposes are born. And conviction and purpose make influence certain. The spiritual life may not safely ignore these plain facts. Joy has its very distinct mission and place in the spiritual life. Are not Christian ministers too prone to forget that the message they are set to bring is a gospelgood news? An ultimate message of hope is essential to the strongest living.

The Danger of Strained and Sham Emotions. But while real joy has, within limits, a healthful, stimulating influence, strained and sham emotion is to be everywhere

avoided, for strained and sham emotion is followed by an inevitable reaction often profound, and by a more dreadful sense of unreality. The hysterical feeling taints with its falseness all else, and so saps conviction and motive for action. "When the soul pretends to graces which are denied it," says Granger, following St. Teresa, "the effect passes quickly, and 'aridity is the result.'"1 There is a kind of dishonesty, too, involved in these sham emotions that must react unfavorably on the whole life. Moreover, the false emotion hinders the true, and is a positive drain instead of help. Strain is everywhere drain. Neither physically nor mentally are we constituted for continuously tense conditions. And, where the tenseness is forced, we have made impossible normal, wholesome living. Healthful and helpful emotion simply comes as a normal attendant; it is not manufactured.

This counsel against sham and strained emotion has many applications. All personal relations, for example, suffer from hysterical emotion; no true friendship can be built upon a false foundation. And most of the abnormal elements in the religious life may be traced to the same cause. Ritschl seems

1 The Soul of the Christian, p. 127.

1

quite justified in saying: "The craving after assurance leads to an artificial tension of sentiment, with interruptions by moments of despair, or with the risk of lasting selfdeception." "Experiences" of any kind cannot healthfully be sought anywhere as ends in themselves. We shall find this consideration forced upon us later from another point of view, in the need of the objective mood.

The Influence of Moods on Willing.-In considering the emotional conditions of living, one must, also, not forget the great influence of moods on volition. Few great choices are made by a simple, heavy tug of the will. Commonly our moods must favor the will. And here lies the importance of what James has called the "serious and strenuous moods." It is in these moods that it becomes more easily possible for one to see life as it is, more easily possible to do what he ought. These are the natural birth hours of great decisions, and they should not be allowed lightly to pass. The production of the serious and strenuous mood is, moreover, by no means, wholly beyond our power. We can do much to induce the high thoughtfulness that makes us capable of great decisions.

1 Quoted by Granger, The Soul of a Christian, p. 81.

We can, at least, deliberately place ourselves in the presence of the great truths—we can give the spiritual world a chance to make its legitimate impression upon us. On the other hand, one needs so to guard himself that no significant decisions will come into his weak and nerveless moments.

The Danger of Passive Emotion.- Few psychologists from the time of Bishop Butler have failed to notice one other danger connected with the emotions-the danger of merely passive emotion. Höffding quotes Ideler as saying, "Passive emotion only, which is reduced to an empty longing, vain desire, foolish hope, or cowardly denial, is the root of madness." This is strong language, and yet we are all of us, in different degrees, subject to this danger of indulgence in merely passive emotion. It is not the habitué of the theater alone, nor the inveterate novel-reader, who suffers here. By the sure working of mental laws, to indulge merely passive emotion, followed by no action, is just so far to incapacitate ourselves for action. For our capacity for warm feeling under the same circumstances diminishes; and, unless this diminishing emotion is made 1Op. cit., p. 338.