ANGER
230
ANGLING
ttma Eccleske et de Homme 2>eccat!, scilicet Antlchristo (London, 1624, 4to).— Wood, Atken. Oxon. vol. i ; Gen- tian m's Mag. lxiv, 785 ; Hoefer, Biog. Generate, ii, G51.
Anger (usually TX, aph, dp-/))'), the emotion of in- stant displeasure, which arises from the feeling of in- jury done, or the discovery of injury intended, or, in many cases, from the discovery of the omission of good offices to which we supposed ourselves entitled ; or, it is simply the emotion of displeasure itself, inde- pendent of its cause or its consequences. " Like most other emotions, it is accompanied by effects on the body, and in this case they are of a very marked kind. The arterial blood-vessels are highly excited; the pulse, during the paroxysm, is strong and hard, the face becomes red and swollen, the brow wrinkled, the eyes protrude, the whole body is put into commotion. The secretion of bile is excessive, and it seems to as- sume a morbid consistency. In cases of violent pas- sion, and especially in nervous persons, this excite- ment of the organs soon passes to the other extreme of depression ; generally, this does not take place till the anger has subsided, when there follows a period of general relaxation. The original tendency to anger differs much in individuals according to temperament ; but frequent giving way to it begets a habit, and in- creases the natural tendency. From the nature of anger, it is easy to see that it must be — often at least — prejudicial to health. It frequently gives rise to bile-fever, inflammation of the liver, heart, or brain, or even to mania. These effects follow immediately a lit of the passion ; other evil effects come on, after a time, as the consequence of repeated paroxysms, such as paralysis, jaundice, consumption, and nervous fe- ver. The milk of a mother or nurse in a fit of passion will cause convulsions in the child that sucks ; it has been known even to occasion instant death, like a strong poison. The controlling of anger is a part of moral discipline. In a rudimentary state of society, its active exercise would seem to be a necessity ; by imposing some restraint on the selfish aggressions of one individual upon another, it renders the beginnings of social co-operation and intercourse possible. This is its use, or, as it is sometimes called, its final cause. But the more social intercourse comes to be regulated by customs and laws, the less need is there for the vindictive expression of anger. It seems an error, however, to suppose that the emotion ever will be — or that it ought to be — extirpated. Laws themselves lose their efficacy when they have not this feeling for a background ; and it remains as a last resource for man, when society — as it does every now and then — resolves itself into its elements. Even in the most artificial and refined states of society, those minor mo- ralities on which half the happiness of social inter- course depends, are imposed upon the selfish, in great measure, by that latent fund of anger which every man is known to carry about with him." — Chambers, Encyclopaedia, s. v.
Anger is not evil per se. The mind is formed to be angn- as well as to love. Both are original suscepti- bilities of our nature. If anger were in itself sinful, how could God himself be angry? How could He, who was separate from sin and sinners, have looked round upon men with anger? An essentially immoral character cannot attach to it if it be the mere emotion of displeasure on the infliction of any evil upon us. Anger may lie sinful, when it arises too Boon, without reflection, when the injury which awakens it is only apparent, and was designed to do good. The disposi- tion which becomes speedily angry we call passionate. When it is disproportionate to the offence; when it is transferred from the guilt}' to the innocent; when it is too long protracted, it then becomes revengeful (Eph. iv, 1T,; Matt, v, 22; Col. iii, 8). When anger, hatred, wrath, are ascribed to God, they denote his holy and just displeasure with sin and sinners. In
him they are principles arising out of his holy and just. nature, and are, therefore, steady and uniform, and more terrible than if mere emotions or passions. See Pale}', Mar, Phil. ch. vii, vol. i; Seeker, S.rmons, serm. xxviii ; Fawcett, Essay on Anger ; Seed, I'osth. Serm. 11 ; Buck, Diet. s. v.
Angers (Axdegavense), a town in France, where the following councils were held: 453, for celibacy; 1055, against Berengar, archdeacon of Angers, for heresy ; 1062, on the same subject ; 1270, where four canons were made for the regulation of the clergy; 1306, on discipline ; 1448, for reforms. — Smith, Tables of Church Hist. ; Landon, Manual of Councils.
Angilbert, St., a noble Frank, first councillor of the Italian King Pepin and of Charlemagne. He is said to have been married to Bertha, the daughter of Charlemagne, but to have retired in 790, with the con- sent of his wife, to the convent of Centule (now St. Riquier). In 794 he became abbot of this convent, and died Feb. 18, 814. He is the author of a history of the abbey of Centule and of several poetical works, and was surnamed the Homer of his times. See Acta Sanctorum, Feb. 18; Ccillier, Auteurs sacres, vol. xviii.