Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1828-12-31

Good Living the Cause of Bad Writinx.

INV 0tseoUsftes
In a former paper, entitled " Evils Of Mea-
surement in Literature" while | discovered
the strongest ground for anticipating a speedy
renovation from its present alleged degcnera-
cy, ! proved, 10 the satlsfa ction Of oil unpreju-
diced persons. that the decay, more especially
in the quality of our periodical works, arose
rom the injudicious mode Of paying for the
commodity by external measurement. rather
than by intrinsic value. My limits would not
then allow me to follow up and expose the dis
aslrous consequences Of this system, which,
re-acting upon itself, tends to accelerate, in g
frightful ratio, the dcpravity Of taste that our
critics SO patheiically' deplore. BY writing
long articles, and running into difGsiveness.
authors have become rich, while the good liv-
ing consequent upon sudden wealth. has far
Their deterIorated the quality Of their writings.
pecuniary abundance invariably producing in
tellsotual penury. That the reader may yield
q perfect assent to the truth Of this PROPOSE
ton. no must bear in mind that the stomach
hath ever been held the seat of some Of our
noblest faculties and affections. Persius calls
it the dispenser Of genius ; the Hebrews con.
sidered it the head quarters of intellect , 81.
Pasl cautions the Philippians against making
u their Deity f; We ourselves, in common par.
lance, bold it to be tho seat Of pride and cou-
rage |; the Hindoos and other nations, reve-
renee il as the seat Of thought, whence in all
probability, beasts with two stoma chs came
originally 10 be called Eliminating animals, par
erceUence. l believe l have expressed this
opinion elsewhere = gsais n'imperte. 1t 10 too
plausible and pertinent to DO suppressed upon
an uncertainty. and if ! am repeating myself,
! may at-ieast plead the excuse Of the old
French wag, who was sometimes guilty Of the
same. mrsdemeaner -" II faut bien que vous
ma porpnftA1 do pad;ra d ar,o. ~ 49,. -
petitits comics ; sans celia je les oublierais."-
Where else than TO the stomach should we
look for the primary cause Of that irrita3ility
which in all ages has been the distinguishing
characteristic Of authors as we'll as for that
morbid state Of the intellectual faculties, by
which they are 90 often afflicted, and of which
the evidence 10 sometimes so lamentsbly seen
in the inferiority Of their writings ! Authors
are no longer Grub Street garretieers, invigo-
rating the : minds by Spartan temperance, and
their bodies by inhaling the pure and classical
air of an Attic lodging. The " mems ssna in
corpore sano" may now be pray ed for in vain.
Payment by the sheet of nine feet four has
tempted them to scrbble by the furlong they
have acquired riches, money has made them
luxurious, luxury has deranged their intestine
economy, the sympathizing soul embodies
and embrutes," and thus do come round to
shS So ~ hy PoPVAS a. iuSiCaiy ~
insontestibly prove that good living 10 the
cause of bad writing. .
A ready clue will be afforded us To- the ~
periority Of the ancient writer's over the mo-
derns, IL we r~ecollect that necessity 10 the mo.
Their Of invention, and that invention has al
ways been deemed the test, the erper;msntum
crucis. the sine qua non Of a great poet
What says Shakespeare, who, in confirmation
of his own dictum, nevor wrote q line after he
retired to Stratford, and fattened upon Alder
man ic fare
"Fat pannches make lean pates, aaj grosser bits
Make rich TIM ribs, but bankrupt OF the wits"
In a medical work now before ME, contain.
ing some excellent maxims for men Of letters,
the author observes that the most successful
writer's have been starved into excellence and
celebrity. Homer begged his bread ; Cicero
is described by Plutarch at one time Of his life
extremely lean and slender, and having such q
weakness in his stomac oh that he could eat but
little !; Tasso was often obliged to borrow half
a crown for q weeks subsistence ; Cervantes
wrote his immortal work in prison ; the author
Of Gil Bias lived in great poverty f; Milton sold
his " Paradise Lost" for ten pounds (; Otway
but there is no end TO the list. Read the
the Calamites Of Authors, and you will find
abundant proof in almost every page that
there is no Muse or Magic, no Pegasus or Par
nassus, no Helicon or Hippocrene, like hun.
ger. cit is we'll ascer.ained." says q n edi-
cal writer before me, " that a spare diet tends
very much to augment delicacy Of feeling,
liveliness of imagination, quickness Of appre-
hension, and acuteness Of judgment. The ma
jority Of our esteemed works have been COM
posed by men whose limited circumstances
compelled them to adopt very frugal repasts /;
and we havo much reason to suppose that
Ali r. =. ----ll l.
gree to the excellence Of their productions"
So convinced is our worthy physician Of the
fact, that no earnestly recommends q dose Of
medicine to authors, before they engage in
any particular study or composition ; and is
obliging enough to give recipes proportioncd
to the intensity Of the application required
We now see the reason why the a~ncients
made Apollo the god Of medicine as we'll as Of
poetry ; SO true is il that there is a hidden
wisdom in the most trivial detail Of their my
thology. if we could but unveil il. Is il not
notorious TO the most superficial parthologist.
either from personal experience or pure obscr-
walton, that ~gluttony s,upilios the reasoning ia
%culties, and that drunkenness destroys them
altogetherl and how could this result occur.
unless the stomach were the seat Of intellect.
the great sensorium Of the human franc p
That the fumes Of these mmane pottations,
slembicisod in the intestinos, ascend into the
head, and thus disorder the ratiocinstive pow
ers, is a nero medical %conceit, q fond imagin-
ing Of the theorists, unsupported by proof, and
even unwarrantsd by analogy. Let our li,era-
ii, then, cultivate the gripping Of a hungry bel.
ly as an infallible test Of inspiration. and Of
the presence Of the mems d~irinior. prompting
all sorts Of nimble, fiery, delestable and spi-
ritual fancies ; while the Philodsipnos, who
INDUCES IN poluphsgis and poluposia Il wish
to avoid the vulgar terms Of gluttony and inc
briefly, y will never be classical in his compost
tions ; his mind will become empty - hs bo-
dy 6lls, and he will produce heavy. somnolsnt,
dull. lssden w~ritines. msnifestly engsudsrsd