The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1894-11-02
Genius and Degeneration.


cal geniuses, or those who, for the most
part, deal with material fact, do not, as
a rule, show any signs of degeneration.
l have only to instance Darwin, Galileo,
Edison, Watts, Rumsey, Howe and
Morse to prove the truth Of this asser-
tion. II is only thu genius Of e,thetic-
ism, the genius Of emotions, that is gen
orally sceompauied by upmistakable
esigns of degeneration. Swiuburne's .
poems show clearly the mental bias of
tkair author, who is described as being
peculiar and eccentric. Many of the
men of genius who have assisted in
making the history of the world haye
been the victims of epilepsy: Julius
Caesar, military leader, statesman, poll
ticiau and author, was an epileptic.
Twice, on the field of battle, he was
str;ken down by this disorder. On one
occasion, while seated TT the tribune, he
was unable to rise when the senators,
consuls and pra!ors paid him visit Of
ceremony and honor. They were Of
tended at his seeming lack Of respect,
and retired showing signs of anger.
Caesar returned home, stripped off his
clothes and offered his throat to be cut
by any one. He then explained his
conduct to the senate, saying that he
was tho victim Of malady which, at
times, rendered him incapable of stand
ing.
Many men of genius have suffered
from spasmodic and choreic movements
notably Lenau, Moutesquieu, Button
DIR. johnson, Santeuil, Crcbillop, LON
bardini, Thomas Campbell, Carducci
Napoleon and Socrates. Suicide, os-
sentially symptom of mental disorder,
has hurried many man of genius out
into the unknown, The list begins
with such eminent men as Xeno, Clean
thes, Dionysias, Lucau and Stilpo, and
contains the names of such immortals
as Chatterton, Blount, Hayden, Give
and David, Alcoholism and morphin-
ism, or an uncomfortable desire for
alcohol or opium in some form or other,
are now recognized as evidences of de-
generation. Men of genius, both in the
old world aud in the new, have shown
this form of degeneration. Among, the
men and women of genius of the old
world who abused the use of alcohol
aud opium were Coleridge, James
Thomson, Carew, Sheridan, Steele, Ad-
olson, Hoffman, Charles Lamb; Ma
dame de Stacl, Burns, Savage, Alfred
de Musset, klcist, Caracci, Jan Steen,
Morland Turner (rhe painter), Gerard
de Nerval, Hartley Colcridge, Dussek,
Handel, Gluck, Praga, Rovani aud the
poet Somerville. This list is by no
means complete, as the well-informed
reader may SEQ at glance, yet it serves
to show, however, how very often this
form Of degeneration makes its appear
ance in men of genius. In men Of
genius the moral sense is sometimes
obtunded, if not altogether absent
Sallust, Seneca and Bacon were sus>
pected felons. Rousseau, Byron, Eos
colo and Carcsa were grossly immoral,
while Casanova, the gifted mathemati-
cian, was a common swindler. Murat,
ltousseau, Wagner, Clement, Diderot
and praga were sexual pcrvcrts. Gen
lus, like insanity, lives in a world Of its
own, hence We fluid few, if any, evil
dences Of humln affection in men Of
genius.
DIR. johnson, who was sufferer from
loiie du doutc, had to touch every post
he passed. If he missed one, he had to
retracc his steps and touch it. Again
il he started ou. Of door on the wrong
foot, he would return and make another
attempt, starting out on the foot which
no considered tho correct one to uso.
Napoleon counted and added up the
rows of windows in every street through
which he passed. A celebrated states.
man, who is personal friend of the
writer, can never bear to place his feet
on crack in the pavement or floor.
When walking, he will carefully stop
over and beyond al cracks or crevices.
This idiosyncrasy annoys him greatly,
but the impulse is imperative, and he
cannot resist it. Those who have been
intimately associated with men of genius
have notice that they arc very frequent
ly amnesic or "abscut- minded" Newton
once tried to. Nuff his nieces finger into
thn bowl of hiA pipe, and Rovellc would
Lecture on somG subject Tor hours at a
tir'e, aud then conclude by saying
"But this is one Of my arcana which |
tell - no one" One Of his students
would then whisper what he had just
said INTO his car, aud Rovcllo would be
Eovc tnat his pupil "had discovered the
arcanum by his own saSacity, and would
be- him not to dlvul &c what he himself
had just told to two hundred persons" 3"
We must not confouud genius aud
IS ont-thc two arc widely different
Genius is essentially original and spon-
tancous, while talent is to some extent
acquired. Genius is an abnormaity,
but one for Which the world should be
dcvoutly grateful. Psychos, in the case
ol genius, is not uniformly developed,
one part. being more favored than the
others, absorb, and uses more than its
share Of that element, whatsoever it be,
which goes t. make up intellectually
heacc less favored or less acquisitivc
parts show degeneration. Why genius