The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1897-01-12
% 1FScuSylRTTls or oENiU5.
Its Relations TO Madness In Eos'd
People.

the Slittering pearl in the oyster-a
splcndid disease" Seneca, much to the
same effect, says that In every great
genius there is a mixture Of insanity.
However this may be, the fact ie-
mains That the majority OF tho most
highly gifted and the specially talent
cd have not only been moro rsmnrK-
nlble ir their whims and cccontricities
than the average mankind; but In 100
many instances have their luminous
in.ellec,s been ultimately oiouded oy
madness.
Tho connection between poetry ana
insanity has often been OF an intimate
kind. Tas5o. the Italian poet nho
C3drsocns. the Portuguese, both dieu
mad. BURNS suffered from oe'iriun;
~ ~ hns heon s,h thot SheNo-- """'d
not have been pronounced entirely
sane,
...aper was subject to iunacy, and
poor Collins is said to have run through
the a!slcs OF Chichester Cathedral "A
horyllrg madmsn." Chatter,on, tho
marvellous boy.poet, committed SUI
eide in a fit OF mental arrangement at
the early age OF seventeen; and even
Pore suffered as hypochondrian.
The charge of insanity was brought
acairst Sophoclcs, the great Greek
poet Though his works we're produced
as an evidence of soundness Of mind.
byron once remarked of htmeeH. X
see mvson terminating my days like
Swift, Erlnning idiot" and he actual
Nv enumerated several of his maternal
relatives who had died By their own
hands.
Lee. the dramatist, while an inmate
c.. Bcdlam, probably with a view to
proving that he was fit and proper
person to belong to such an institution.
wrote tragery in no fewer than TWEEN
ty-five acts!
Rousseau was, like Lamb, eubject to
fits Of lunacy, and Cerval ltcs himself
more mad than his own hero. Don
Quixote. 1t has oven been caid by
Father Prout that the great Newton
was mad when he commented on Tho
Revelations. Baron Napier, the In
ventor OF logarltffms which have since
probably contributed to send others
crazy. himself became ultimately mad
also.
Southey outlived his intellectual facul-
ties. as did also Dean Swift, whe. prob
clbly in anticipation OF approaching
madness, devoted his last remaining
eanity to the founding of an asylum
for idiots.
Even among the highly talented who
have not exhibited traits OF positive In
sanity. their peculiar whims and crage5
have been sufficiently pronounced to
mark them as greatly different to ordi-
nary mortals. These crazes and idio-
syncracies in great men have often
taken very queer forms.
The famous DR.. Watts, who was ply
sically but very little man, INDUCED
In the extra ordinary notion just be-
fore he died that his swelling propor-
ticns were becoming q matter Of In
convenience to him, and that there wae
no door in his house which was sudi-
c!cntly large to allow him to pass
through without squeezing.
An illusion OF still more wonderful
nature was entertained by DIR. Simon
Browne. q preacher and controversi-
mist of some note in his own day. who
for long held tho belief that he mad
annihiloted in him the thinking Sub
stance" and that he was utterly divest-
cd OF consciousness. He was perpetu-
ally haunted by this curious Illusion.
even while furnishing tho completest
rcfutation OF 1t in the active vtgor Of
his mind. and by writing most able
tracts and producing most iaborious
compilations.
Thomas Gainsborough, tho painter.
eeems to have been haunted by ra< h, r
grim delusion for some years before
his death, and was under the impress
sion that he had not long to live. On
one occasion he took Sheridan by the
hand. and exacted from him q solemn
promise that he would attend his fu-
neral; on the required promise being
given, he Immediately became as toviai
as ever.
But one OF the most remarkable In
stances of genius being united to queer
fdiosyncracy was that OF william
Blake. He not only believed that he
had lived before. but his mind was ono
mass of weird and CURIOUS fancies. He
believer that he could, by an effort Of
the will. summon into his presence
those who had been dead thousands OF
years: and he would produce most
striking portraits from these imaginary
sitters.
Among other curious productions
from his encil was The magnificd Cos
OF a flea. which he averred had appear
cd to him In q vision. On one occasion.
this extraordinary man positively de-
clared that he had witnessed a fairy's
funeral in his garden, and he described
the dead fairy being laid on single
rose-leai. and buried amid sweet songs
from the tiny followers,
Mosart. the great composer, hablt-
ually exhibited eccontricities which In
eny locser mortal without his wonder
ful genius. would have caused him to
be regarded as fit candidate for an
asylum. 1t Is more than probable that
his facous Requiem would never havo
been produced but for the morbid fancy
which possessed him that the myster-
ious patron who ordered It was an
omiesary from the o'her world.
Men o. genius and talent have often
shown ON Inconsistency whrsi may be
described rs little short OF insanity.
The poet Dante was wanderer from
wife and children, yet pa ssscd the whole
Of a reckless life In morbid brooding
over and nursing his dream OF ideal
love.
In the same manner. Petrarch. who
would not suffor his only daughter 10
live with him. spent thlrtyAwo years
on his monomaniacal passion for Lou a
who was already wife and the mother
of several children. and who moreover
treated his insane love with proper dis
dain.
Laurence S'erno las tee1 repr a H.
ed for preferrlng to whine over do I'd
ass to relieving the wants OF dE-