Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-23

classifying man, each &C
cording to his object
in view, and the task is by no means yet complete
We have men classified according to their race and
nationality; the States, and even the Cities they
were born in; according to their religion and politics
their stages of culture their trades and professions
according to their sze the shape and size of their
heads the nature of their hair their characters and
temperaments the amount of money thew possess
the Offices they hold, their mode of dress their
dietary habits in fact, according to anything one
peases. No other animal be classified in so
many different ways, because other animal is so
wonderfully complex man.
One OF the most recent classifcations is that by
Monsieur Paulhan, who divides into two distinct
groups-the brave and the trnid. To the first
group belong those who well balanced and tran
quill men of strong wills, marked characters and
masters OF themselves; men who rulers and
authorities who are bold, ambitious enterprising
persistent, cold, rude etc. To the second group be-
long those who are feeble, nervous, emotional i'm
pressionable sentimental, melancholy, docile hum
Bile, affable tickle, playful, diettante suggestible
mystical, etc.
An Englishman, after pointing out that such gen.
eral differences obtain among the lower animals,
adds, There are men and women among us not
unity described by the slang that designates them
shark s,-people who always the pounce
some OF them aggressive in manner, many of them
bland and sly, yet none the less predatory, bent
upon turning everything and everybody to adj
vantage, whose outlook on the world is as place
wherein to acquire property, place, and power, and
who regard every neighbor as fair game And there
are others IN hosts who are mostly afraid,
ing persons both in manner and character, whose
chief desire they share with the rabbit-just to be
left alone-and who suggest, in their suspicion and
anxiety the apparent state of mind of the coy and
prudSh cow.
Rushing to Extremes
THE brave and the timid the good and the bad
the beautiful and the ugly the rich and the Door
the old and the young the wise and the foolish
we classify everything into pairs minds rush to
extremes, and ignore the which less strik
ing, but more numerous and therefore more difficult
to think about. 1t is mental Incidence which is the
of our many half baked notions and beliefs
our countless e]udices both small and great, and
the deeds of violence and injustice which result
from loose and haSty thinking. To classify men as
braves and towards is not only unscientifc but un-
just to the millions who belong to neither category,
but who, under favorable conditions, may become
either heroes pOltrOOnS.
Alexander the Great, who offered sacrifices to
Fear before going to battle, and Tullus Hostilius
who erected temples and consecrated priests to
it, may be accused of having been superstitious
but certainly not of having been ignorant of
human nature; for there never lived a brave who
incapable of quaking with fear, given the
proper conditions, nor a craven coward who could
not do deeds of daring when the time, the place. and
timid young mother who shrieks at the sight of a
mouse or bug will prove herself the equal of any
immortal hero if the life of her child is threatened;
and successful soldier, the idol of his people,
will tremble and perspire with fear when called
upon to address an audience of admirers. All
men fear or less, just as all men love and
hate,-the exceptions if there be any, are morbid.
Strangely enough all men fear when there is no
apparent reason for it, when no danger whatever
con1rontS them; namely, when they appear before
audience. This is one of the most peculiar phe-
nomena of human life, and is worthy of much more
study than it has received at the hands of scien-
lists. The Psychology of Stage Fright: what is it?
An Italians Description
FIRST of all let quote two excellent descrip-
tiOnS of this emotional disturbance which will
make the matter more concrete and enable us
better to explain it. One by the famous Italian
physologst Angelic Mosso "Al had to do