LANGUAGE AND THE EMOTIONS. 199 



ladies. At present there is a strong reaction against the French idiom 

 in German. Politics and language are closely linked together in their 

 bearing upon one another, and loss in political prestige precedes repres- 

 sion of idiom. 



During the time of the Revolution we might have expected a re- 

 vival of the old word, such as Lust ; but the Revolution was puritanic 

 in spirit, and so, instead of being reinstated it was still more repressed, 

 for Puritanism with its stern features was ever averse to expressions 

 of joyful emotions. Only such joy as partook of a lofty, aspiring char- 

 acter was cultivated, and the amiable and light-hearted was immediate- 

 ly stamped as frivolous. I think we must look to Puritanism for an 

 explanation of one curious fact in these expressions. We find many 

 expressions of exalted joy, of temporary pleasurable states (as a con- 

 tribution from the French), and of the lower pleasure which is to be 

 spurned. But we hardly find a powerful word which expresses a last- 

 ing state of pleasure, comprising as Avell the smallest satisfaction as 

 the loftiest happiness — T mean a word corresponding to the German 

 Gliickseligkeit and the Greek evdatfiovia. In the German word the 

 " gluck " comprises all real happiness of life, and the " seligkeit " the 

 most exalted spiritual happiness, and both combine to a lasting posi- 

 tive whole. A person would hardly be shocked were an Epicurean 

 (a follower of the philosophy of Epicurus, I mean) to tell him that 

 " Gliickseligkeit was the aim of life," for this would include- the high- 

 est moral satisfaction ; while many people would be shocked to hear 

 that " pleasure," or even " happiness, is the aim of life." This I attrib- 

 ute chiefly to the fact that the Puritan spirit drew a marked line be- 

 tween pleasures : there were exalted pleasures, and there were low 

 pleasures ; the first are desirable, the rest are to be repudiated, and 

 there is no middle way. 



This spirit, of course, did not always reign supreme, and the natural 

 tendency is never totally to be extinguished, and we have some Saxon 

 expressions of light mirth. But to this spirit, and other natural and 

 historical causes, I attribute the fact that the dark side of expressions 

 has been developed in England out of proportion with the bright side. 

 So, for instance, we find that the German word Mitgefiihl is rendered by 

 the English " S3rmpathy." This word, which means a " feeling with," 

 originally meant a " suffering with." But while the German can subdi- 

 vide this *' feeling with " into with-joy and with-sufifering (GOnnen, Mit- 

 freude, and Mitleid), the English have two expressions of with-suffer- 

 ing, compassion, and pity, but have no expression for with-joy. One 

 may mention that congratulation ' conveys this meaning ; but, though 



' A curious instance in actual life which corroborates my statement was told me by a 

 friend. A naive and opeu-hearted lady was complaining to my friend of the difficulty 

 she experienced in expressing her gratification to a relative who had been ))lessed with a 

 baby. " You see," naively said this feeling person, " I can hardly express to her how 

 truly I experience her joy, how I the-very-opposite-of-grudge " (she needed the German 



