(CONSIDERED FROM A MORAL STANDPOINT.) Fear is an unsettlement of
soul consequent upon the apprehension of some present or future
danger. It is here viewed from the moral standpoint, that is, in
so far as it is a factor to be reckoned with in pronouncing upon
the freedom of human acts, as well as offering an adequate
excuse for failing to comply with positive law, particularly if
the law be of human origin. Lastly, it is here considered in so
far as it impugns or leaves intact, in the court of conscience,
and without regard to explicit enactment, the validity of
certain deliberate engagements or contracts. The division of
fear most commonly in vogue among theologians is that by which
they distinguish serious fear (metus gravis) and trifling fear
(fetus levis). The first is such as grows out of the discernment
of some formidable impending peril: if this be really, and
without qualification, of large proportions, then the fear is
said to be absolutely great; otherwise it is only relatively so,
as for instance, w