The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-09-11
the MADNESS OF GENIUS

There Is an Intimate relationship be-
tween insanity and genius. How fine and
fragile is that line that separates the
sane from the insane, the babbling, driv-
ling IDIOT from the man of transcendent
genius. Such line of demarkation it is
not easy to define; on the one side
highly wrought and gifted mind, on the
other an intellect distracted and faint
ed.
1t is also an admirably difficult thing to
draw distinction between the creations of
genius and the wanderings of insanity.
Aristotle, when he said that it is es-
sential for poet that he be not mad,
made rather an alarming statement; but
there is much truth in the assertion, for
the development Of the brain and nerv-
GUS system on which the poetical insp.ra-
ton depends is more nearly allied to that
cerebral condition SO frequently assOcia-
ted with insanity, and this is more often
SO than is generally believed. Excessive
expansion of brain matter great sensibili-
ty, acute sensitiveness, Quickness of ap-
prehension and vividness of Imagination,
are all indications of state of brain bora
derlng closely on the confines of disease.
In the majority of studious men there
already exists a predisposition to cere-
bral disease, which may have actually ex-
isted This is manifested in many ways.
In Scott and Byron the malformation of
the foot and leg, talipes, of which they
were the subject, indicated that nevr-
GUS attack occurred during intra-uterine
life OF paralytic or a spasmodic charac
ter. Such an occurrence It has been
proved beyond all possible doubt, is liza
BILE to be accompanied by modification of
the mental characteristics, and in some
instances by downright idiocy, and this
is especially so when the spasmodic at
tack has been severe and the deformity
great. In others it is followed by &C.
centricity, impetuosity of tembper, way
wardneSs or genius, even when there is
only small deformity such as slight
strab1smus or twist of the foot. Byron
had-17S4-as mere child, temper sui
lenly passionate. The irregular action of
his nervous system and the popularity of
his temper were Inherited from his
parents. His paternal ancestors were re-
markable for their ececntricities, irregu
lar passions and daring recklessness. His
mother was liable to outbursts of ungov
ernable temper and feeling. With such
parentage, and SO constituted, it is not
remarkable that Byronfell so early. The
perusal of Byron's last moments so de-
picted by Moore, must produce a feeling
ographer himself became, subsequently.
the victim of his ardor, and his own glo-
rious faculties were extinguished by men
tai, though not corporeal death.
Moore, writing of Byron, says: "The
capricious course which he at all times
pursued respecting diet, his long Hastings,
his expedients for the allaying of hunger,
his occasional excuses in the most I'M
wholesome food, and during the latter
part Of his residence in Italy his indulg
ence in the use of spir:tuous beverages, all
these could not be otherwise than hurtful
and undermining to his health" To feed
the flame of his genius, the whole powers
of his nature, physical as we'll as moral
were sacrificed to present the grand and
costly conflagration to the worlds eyes,
in which
Glittering like palace set on fire,
HIS glory, while it shOne, but ruined
him.
All attempts to define insanity have up
to the present time failed That there
is a want Of balance between the rep
resentative faculty and the judgment it
is quite clear, and in such a way have
the visions in dreams been accounted for,
which may be said to differ from insanity
only in degree. The children of genius,
whose thoughts and expressions some
times are essentially eccentric in the
truest sense of the word, have their de-
voted admirers and worshipers. They
are often contemplated with alteration,
and sometimes with pity; they are con-
Sidered strange by some, marvellous by
others. ~
Some think them wondrous wise, and
some believe them mad.
The very infancy of genius is often
marked by eccentric behavior. Samuel
Johnson said: Madness itself merely
discovers itself by unnecessary deviations
from the uual modes of the world" En-
thusiasm has often been styled insanity
Michael Angelo was called by Richardson
'The Divine Mailman" whilst Oliver Gold
smith was designated An Inspired Idiot"
Turner, whose works, strange as they may
appear at first sight, as a number of in
ccngruous masses of paint used indiscrim-
inately, but who produced such wonder
full results with gamboge, vermillion,
white lead and verdigris, was considered
by many at the time to be hardly respon-
sible for his actions. The mind is often
too absorbed with the intensity of it's Gre
atiOnS, that the impressions of a sense
does not impart such impressions upon
the SensOrium Genius is often fatal gift,
like beauty, and burst into blossom when
the organism is still in its bloom. Gen
ius, as is often seen, is seldom combined
with common sene. The irritability of
genius which is so common is the first
link in that chain of psychical maladies so
when melancholy marks the martyr of
thought and genius as it's own.
The stories relating to Pliny, Arclli-
modes, Marine and Sir Isaac Newton. are
illustrations of passive eccentricity, the
reverie of genius They were, it is we'll
known, conspicuous for the absence of the
common modes and courtesies of life, but
this forgotten in those whose works will
live in glory, long after their eccentrici-
ties are obliterated. Many brilliant scars
of literature are endowed with the so often
fatal gift of genius, in whom intellect not
only begins to grow, but to burst forth
into blossom while yet its organ is still
in the bud. So many geniuses are devel-
oped often in infancy, and frequently the
so-called infant prodigy who does not I'LL
timately become genius, will stop half
way becoming insane. Insanity is good
half way house, and the precocious youth,
having well passedaits confines, will in all
probability develop into a genius but,
alas, many fail to pass this barrier, and,
consequently our institutions are full of
brilliant intellects cut short in the pre-
cocity of their youth, especially if any un-
due excitement be administered or en-
couraged in the Inflated subject of pre-
cocity. The genius of Sir Walter Scott
ended in imbecility. He first became con-
scious of his own condition by partial loss
of memory, and want of recognition,
even Of his own sonnets. The early COM
position of Scott was wonderful, but in
plancing at the later efforts there was