80 THE PRINCIPLE OF THE DIRECT Cdap. III. 



offences and put himself into a passion, unconsciously 

 for the sake of reinvigorating himself; and since hear- 

 ing this remark, I have occasionally recognized its full 

 truth. 



Several other states of mind appear to be at first 

 exciting, but soon become depressing to an extreme 

 degree. When a mother suddenly loses her child, some- 

 times she is frantic with grief, and must be consid- 

 ered to be in an excited state; she walks wildly about, 

 tears her hair or clothes, and wrings her hands. This 

 latter action is perhaps due to the principle of anti- 

 thesis, betraying an inward sense of helplessness and 

 that nothing can be done. The other wild and vio- 

 lent movements may be in part explained by the relief 

 experienced through muscular exertion, and in part by 

 the undirected overflow of nerve-force from the excited 

 sensorium. But under the sudden loss of a beloved 

 person, one of the first and commonest thoughts which 

 occurs, is that something more might have been done 

 to save the lost one. An excellent observer, 12 in de- 

 scribing the behaviour of a girl at the sudden death 

 of her father, says she " went about the house wring- 

 ing her hands like a creature demented, saying ' It was 

 her fault; ' ' I should never have left him; ' ' If I had 

 only sat up with him/ " &c. With such ideas vividly 

 present before the mind, there would arise, through 

 the principle of associated habit, the strongest tendency 

 to energetic action of some kind. 



As soon as the sufferer is fully conscious that nothing 

 can be done, despair or deep sorrow takes the place of 

 frantic grief. The sufferer sits motionless, or gently 

 rocks to and fro; the circulation becomes languid; res- 

 piration is almost forgotten, and deep sighs are drawn. 



12 Mrs. Oliphant, in her novel of ' Miss Majoribanks,' 

 p. 362. 



