466. SELF-ESTEEM.

2. Self-esteem leads to the loftier feeling of pride, or the lesser one of vanity and self-conceit. The former is often the mark of the greatest characters, and is associated with many high qualities. In itself it may be a most powerful aid to human effort. Vanity, on the other hand, is a petty feeling which is an element of weakness. There is what is called a proper pride, which saves from baseness or dishonor; and there is a lofty pride which sometimes arises from conscious superiority. It is this which history mentions in connection with Alexander, who, when Parmenio says that he would accept the offer of Darius, replies" So would I were I Parmenio." It also is illustrated in Cæsar's "Aut Cæsar aut nullus." And again in his words to the terrified boatman-"Quid times, Cæsarem vehis?" The greatest conception of human genius-the Satan of Milton-owes his greatness to pride, which is visible in all his words and actions.

§ 467. AMBITION.

3. Ambition may be the love of fame, power, or pre-eminence. It is closely associated with pride, though it frequently exists without it.

The desire for fame has its noble as well as its ignoble side. Poets hope for immortality. "Exegi," says Horace, ❝monumentum ære perennius." Kings aspire to found a dynasty; lesser mortals to establish a family, or in some other way to perpetuate their memory. The desire to have a good name among men, which is one form of this feeling, is laudable and beneficial. To be indifferent to this would be taken as the mark of a grovelling mind. No one of good character would be content to bear an evil reputation.

There is a morbid love of notoriety which prefers even infamy to obscurity, and marks the evil side of this desire. Empedocles jumped into Etna for this; and for this Eratosthenes set fire to the temple of Diana. Of this class also are

those conceited mortals who attitudinize, pose for effect, and appear always to be talking to imaginary audiences. But the love of fame is so strong that some philosophers consider it a fair substitute for the Christian immortality.

The desire for power is another form of ambition. Some value this for itself, others care nothing for it unless it is accompanied with all its trappings and decorations. Even Cromwell was not altogether satisfied with the solid reality, but sighed in secret for that unattainable "bauble”—the crown. Power was never held more modestly than by the great Hildebrand, when he stood behind the throne through several successive papacies, and brought forward measures the effect of which are still felt.

Power is wielded by men as kings, ministers, generals, reformers, philosophers, statesmen, orators. Some men, like Julius Cæsar, Charlemagne, Alfred the Great, represent nearly all these at the same time. The visit of Milton to Galileo has often been described as an interview of two supreme powers in different departments, the one of poetry, the other of science. Power is also wielded by women. There is the power of wit or brilliant social attraction, such as was exercised by Lady Mary Wortley Montague, Madame de Rémusat, Lady Holland; of great artistic talent, like that of Siddons, Lind, Grisi; of literary genius, like that of George Sand or George Eliot; and, above all, the irresistible power of beauty, like that of Helen or Cleopatra, which, after living its life in the real world, rises to an immortal life in the world of literature.

This desire for power of some kind is universal and ever active. There is a deep truth in the words which Milton puts into the mouth of Satan :

"Fallen cherub, to be weak is miserable,
Doing or suffering."

In literature nothing is more impressive than the display of power. Achilles puts armies to flight; Alexander sighs for more worlds to conquer; Hannibal thunders at the gates of Rome. These and others remain as great monumental figures arising out of the past, to which successive ages look back in wonder and admiration.

The desire for pre-eminence constitutes another force in life and literature. The remote cause of the whole "tale of Troy divine" was a struggle for this on the part of the three goddesses; and the judgment of Paris wrapped a world in flames. Like the struggle for power, this has filled the pages of history and fiction.

It is conspicuous in the Iliad, where Agamemnon chooses to assert his dignity too offensively by the unpardonable insult to Achilles; and it is shown still more strongly in Paradise Lost, where Satan contended with

"Heaven's perpetual King,

And put to proof his high supremacy;"

and still after his overthrow decides that it is

"Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven."

In modern fiction this feeling has a prominent place, being exhibited in such fruitful themes as the struggle for a rise in life and social advancement.

§ 468. AVARICE.

4. The Crœsuses and Crassuses-the millionaires of the past and of the present-have no direct influence on literature; but the feeling of avarice is widespread, and, together with the love which all possess for whatever is rich and splendid, may be shown to have an indirect effect.

Ist. The workings of this feeling may be made use of to point a moral, as when the man who has sacrificed all for wealth is represented as being more miserable than his neighbors.

2d. Appeals may be made to the love of what is rich and splendid, as in Milton's description of the throne of Satan. Such passages act as a stimulus to the mind. This love of barbaric pearl and gold is very visible in the Arabian Nights.

3d. It serves as a motif in works of fiction. Thus the "Count of Monte Christo" turns upon the discovery of an enormous treasure, and the use that is made of it. The "Wandering Jew" of Eugene Sue has for its motif the effort to acquire possession of an incalculable sum of money that has been accumulating for many years.

$469. THE DESIRE FOR KNOWLEDGE.

5. This is the purest and noblest of all, and serves as the ultimate cause and also as the animating force of the highest departments of literature. History records the struggles after knowledge of those ancient philosophers of China, India,

Greece, and Italy, who lived lives which were more admirable than those of the kings and conquerors who were their contemporaries. The men of knowledge and wisdom are always rivals in fame of the men of prowess and action; nor is it easy to decide who is the greater when we compare such men as Aristotle and Alexander, Cicero and Cæsar; when we estimate the separate renown of Milton and Cromwell, Goethe and Napoleon.

CHAPTER VI.

THE AFFECTIONS.

§ 470. THE AFFECTIONS.

THE affections and passions have much in common, and differ from one another not so much in kind as in degree. By the affections is generally meant a calm and settled state of mind, whether it be swayed by attraction or repulsion. By the passions is meant a vehement and agitated feeling. Thus the feelings of parental or fraternal love are called affections, while the state of mind that exists between two lovers is called the love passion.

The affections are chiefly the following: Parental, filial, fraternal, conjugal; friendship, esteem, veneration, gratitude, patriotism, philanthropy; the moral affections; the religious affections.

The affections hold an equally prominent place in narrative and expository literature, since in the former they are the subjects of portrayal, and in the latter means of persuasion.

Great stress is laid upon parental affection in the Sacred Scriptures. A large portion of the book of Genesis is taken up with the fatherly love of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Homer presents us with the piteous figure of the aged Priam; Euripides with the sorrowful Hecuba; Shakespeare delineates the stricken father in Lear and the despairing mother in Constance.

Filial affection is associated with paternal, as in Shakespeare's Cordelia; but sometimes it receives chief stress, as in the Antigone of Sophocles.

The fraternal has not proved so effective for literary handling as other affections, but the great figure of Antigone is a case where this is made the all-ruling motive, upon which turns the whole action of a play. Byron's lines to his sister, inspired by this feeling, are full of tender pathos.

The Alcestis of Euripides affords the greatest example in literature of the display of conjugal affection; for here it is made stronger than any other, and the devoted wife sacrifices all other feelings to her love for her husband. Tennyson's "Miller's Daughter" celebrates this feeling in exquisite

verse.

Ancient literature abounds in passages illustrative of friendship. Damon and Pythias, Orestes and Pylades, have become household words. It has received many beautiful commemorations in modern literature, of which Milton's "Lycidas" and Tennyson's "In Memoriam" are chief. But never has friendship been so strongly expressed, nowhere has it risen to such a height or exhibited such tenderness, as in the song of lamentation which David poured forth over Jonathan.

To the milder sentiment of esteem literature owes much. It is the foundation of all expressions of approval, of praise, eulogy, panegyric, and the like, to which may be added much of the language of benediction.

Veneration rises higher than esteem, and is exhibited towards any great and noble character, especially among those who have lived in the past. Ben Jonson's lines on Shakespeare may not, perhaps, rise beyond the language of high eulogy, but Milton's lines on the same subject show profound veneration :

"What needs my Shakespeare for his honored bones?" Wordsworth's lines on Milton afford another example:

"His soul was like a star, and dwelt apart."

Gratitude is especially powerful in religious themes. It is usually intermingled with the sentiments of friendship, esteem, or veneration, and other affections, but especially the filial.

Patriotism has exerted a wide influence over classical and modern European literature. It is found in many works, like a widely diffused and all-pervading influence. In the histories of Herodotus and Livy its power never slackens. Among dra