The sun., 1892-03-06


penmen that we are TO look for guidance In
such case: for men OF that order. being keen
| in style poor in judgment. and partial IN ieel-
| ing, nre no faithful witnesses as to tho real
| passages OF business. 1t is for Ministers ana
for great officers to Judge OF these things and
those who have handled the helm OF govern
ment and been acquainted with the difllcul-
| ties and m mysteries Of state business
| Geaius and Insanity.
It seems 10 us that sufficient attention has
| not been paid to book published some time
| ago by the Scribners English version OF
| the latest Italian edition OF The Man OF Genius.
by CEsApE 1oMBEoso tho we'll known professor
| OF legal medicine at the University OF Turin.
The purpose OF this work. by far the most
startling and yet authoritative that has yet ap-
| peared upon the subject. Is to explore the
causes Of genius. including the influences OF
race and heredity, and OF climate and the other
conditions Of mans environment. This aim.
of course. leads the author. following
tho inluctivo method. to investigate the
| mental and physical characteristics which
| have been displayed by mon OF genius IN
literature. art. politics. and religion. and to
| enter fully into the deeply interesting ques-
tions Of the relation between genius and in
| sanity. Before marking soine OF the more
| salient points In tho enormous mnss OF evil
| dence collected. It may be we'll to outline the
principal conclusions to which tho author con-
| sidprs himself impcled. Tho capital Inference
drawn from his data is that. between the physi-
ology of tho man Of genius and the pathology
| Of the insane. there are not only many indica-
| tions of coincidence. but there Is even actual
continuity. This proposition. If accepted.would
| explain tho frequent occurrence OF madmen
| of genius md. on tho other hand. Of men
| OF genius who have at intervals. or ulti-
| mately. become insane. Tho frequency OF
! delusions aud OF other degenerative character
| istics in the case OF men OF genius. show. In
| Lombrosos opinion. thai genius should bo
| defined rs a deeenerative psychosis of the
| epilcptoid group. The analogies and COIN
cidenccs between the phenomena Of genius
| and OF mental alteration. account for the fact
| that the destiny OF nations has often been in
| the hands OF the insane. and help ,is to under
stand how some OF the latter. by despising
obstacles which would dismay any sober
and cool mind. have been able to con-
tribute SO much to the progross OF mankind.
The data hero brought forward also help to
| preserve US from being daZzled by the bril-
liancy OF men OF genius, who from scientific
| viewpoint may be compared not to tho planets
which keep their appointed orbits. but to
| shooting and falling stars.
| The notion that genius is akin to insan
ity was already very old when Dryden en-
balmed It In the familiar couplet. 1t had been
averred by Aristotle that no excellent soul is
exempt from mixture OF lnadness"-an
apothegrn reproduced by Seneca in "There Is
no great genius without u tincture OF mad
| ness" The former philosopher justified his
averment by examples. pointing out that un
| der the influence Of congestion Of the head.
| MANY persons become poets. prophets. and
sybils and. like Marcus tho Syracusan. are
pretty good poets while they are maniacal. but
| when cured can no longer write verse;" And
| again. Men ilustrious in poetry. politics.
and arts. have often been melancholic
and mad. Even in modern times such charac-
ters have been noted in Socrates. Empedocles.
Plato. and in many others. especially poets"
| Plato himself. who is thus taxed with species
| Of dementia, affirms that "delirium is by no
| means an evil, but on the contrary. when 1t
comes by the gift OF the gods. OF very great
| beneit. 1t often happened that. when the gods
afflicted men with fatal epdemics. n sacred
delirium took possession Of some mortal and
inspired him with remedy for those misfor-
tunos Another kind OF delirium. that inspired
| By the muses.. when simple and pure
soul is excited to Rlorify with po-
the instruction of future generations"
Democrtus went further and would not admit
that there could be good poet who was not
out OF his mind. Lombroso suggests that 1t
was the observation OF such facts as We're
recorded by the philosophers. but which were
wrongly interpreted by the people and trans
formed into superstltons. that caused ancient
nations to venerate the insane as beings in
spired from on high.
There Is indeed no lack OF proof that
genius and insanity have often been con-
founded In the popular mind. Lombroso
quotes certain words from the Hebrew and
Sanscrt, in which the ideas OF dementia and
prophecy are confused and asstmiated. Prov
erbs also. to the same efIoct are cited from the
Latin. Italian. French. and German. We are
reminded. however. that the confusion OF gon-
ius and Of mania In the popular mind has dif-
forent effects according to the grade
OF civilization reached Among barbnr-
Gus people tho lunatic is during his
lifetime. feared and adored by the
masses. who often confide to him supreme Ru-
thority In modern times the same popular
conviction causes not only fame land until re-
cent years. even liberty to be denied to men
Of genius during their lives. but even the
means OF subsistence. After death. by way OF
compensation. they receive monuments and
rhetoric. Why is this? Mother the jealousy
Of rivals nor the envy OF mediocre mon seems
adequate to explain 1t. The reason given by
Lombroso is that. II We leave out certain
great statesmen. men OF genius are lacking In
tact in moderation. In the sense OF practical
life; that is to say. In the virtues. which are
alone recognized rs real by the massos.
and which alone are useful In social
affairs. Good sense Is worth more
than genius. according to an old French
adage. and Mirebeau put the samo idea
in a new form when lie said that good sense
means the absence OF every strong passion.
and only men OF strong passions eau be great"
In word. good sense travels on the wel-worn
paths: genius. never. That is why the crowd.
not altogether without reason. is so ready to
treat great men as lunatics, while people OF
letters cry out when q pitiless investigator