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Show 218 E/'PRESSION OF LOVJD, ETC. CHAP. v 111. Sy1npathy appears to constitute a separate or distinct emotion; and it is especially apt to excite the lacrymal glands. This holds good whether · we give or receive sympathy. Every one must have noticed how readily childr n burst out crying if we pity them for some srnaH hurt. With the melancholic insane, as Dr. Crichton Browne informs me, a kind word will often plunge them into unrestrained weeping. As soon as we express our pity for the grief of a friend, tears often come into our own eyes. The feeling of sympathy ir1 commonly explained by assuming that, when we see or hear of suffering in another, the idea of suffering is called up so vividly in our own minds that we ourselves suffer. But this explanation is hardly sufficient, for it does not account for the intimate alliance between sym} Jathy and affection. We undoubtedly sympathize far more deeply with a beloved than with an indifferent person; and the sympathy of the one gives us far n1ore relief than that of the other. Yet assuredly we can sympathize with those for whom we feel no affection. vVhy suffering, when actually experienced by ourselves, excites weeping, has been discussed in a former chapter. With respect to joy, its natural and universal expreRsion is laughter; and with all the races of man loud laughter leads to the secretion of tears more freely than does any other cause excepting distress. The suf~ fusion of the. eyes with tears, which undoubtedly occurs under groat JOy, though there is no laughter, can, as it seen1s to me, be explained throu{)'h habit and associa- . b twn on the same principles as the effusion of tears from ?rief, al th?ugh there is no screaming. Nevertheless it Is not a little remarkable that sympathy with the distresses of _others should excite tears more freely than onr own distress; and this certainly is the case. Many CHAP. Vlll. EXPRESSION OF LOVE, ETC. 21D a man, fro1n whose yc no suffering of his own could wring a tear, has shed tears at the sufferings of a beloved friend. It is still more remarkable that synlpathy with the happine s or good fortune of those wl m we tenderly love should lead to the same result, whilst a similar happine~s felt by ourselves would leave our eyes dry. V.7 e should, howev r, bear in mind that the long-continued habit of restraint which is so powerful in chocking tho free flow of tears from bodily pain, bas not been brought into play in preventing a mod rato effusion of tears in sympathy with the sufferings or happiness of others. Music has a wonderful power, as I have elsewhere attempted to show,24 of recalling in a vague and indefinite manner, those strong emotions which were felt during long-past ages, when, as is probable, our early progenitors courted each other by the aid of vocal tones. And as several of our strongest emotions-grief, great joy, love, and sympathy-lead to the free seer - tion of tears, it is not surprising that mu. ·ic should bo apt to cause our eyes to become suffused with tear , especially when we are already softened by any of the tenderer feelings. Music often produces another peculiar effect. We know that every strong sensation, emotion, or excitement- extreme pain, rage, terror, joy, or the passion of love-ail have a special tendency to cause the muscles to tremble; and the thrill or slight shiver which runs down the backbone and li1nbs of many persons when they are powerfully affected by music, seen1s to bear the same relation to the above tr mbling of the body, as a slight suffusion of tears from the power of music does to weeping from any strong and real emotion. 24 ' The D scent of Mo.n,' vol. ii. p. 3;JG, |