Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-02-05
ON THE BORDER LINE.
Men of Genius Often Near a condi
tion of Insanity.

Men of Genius Often Near condi-
ton of Insanity.
For hundreds Of years past the ex-
tent Of the borderline between lnsan.
ity and genius has been a matter OF
dispute with doctors, scientists and
deep thinkers, says an exchange.
The lives of famous men, and even
women. of the last two centuries,
however, seem to furnish striking
evidence that there Is q very strong
link between genius and insanity. And
even in cases where actual insanity
was not apparent there are many In
stances of geniuses who suffered from
a variety of ills and disorders which
in reality were symptoms OF brain
disease.
Charles Dickens, 1t is well known,
as he advanced in years, suffered
from sleeplessness, gout, incipient pa
ralysis and loss of memory, and ulti-
mately died at So from effusion OF
blood upon the brain. Wilkie Collins
was such q sufferer from nerves that
he was accustomed to take laudanum
in. immense doses. Thackeray died
suddenly at So and for the last four
teen years Of his life was continually
ailing and subject to certain painful
spasms.
Charles Lamb was confined to lu-
matte asylum for six weeks about ms
twentieth year, the period at which
he wrote most Of his sonnets, ana all
his life was subject to stammering'
violent headaches and was constitu-
tionally nervous and tmid.
Edgar Allen Poe more than once
ATTEMPTED or threatened to commit
suicide while under delusions Of per-
secution. and George Sand confessed
that she also at times felt tempted to
take her own life.
George Elliott, too, suffered greatly
from fits Of depression, While Sir wal
ter Scott complained of certain ha!lu-
cinations and thought he saw the i'm
age Of his friend Byron after the lat
ter's death, the image, after examl-
nation, proving to be nothing put the
folds Of some drapery.
Sir Edward Landseer, toward the
close of his life, showed signs of in
sanity, while the eccentricites OF Tur-
ner were quite Of the insane order:
Among other eminent artists 1t might
be mentioned that Sir Thomas Law.
renee suffered from a symptom or
brain disorder; David Wilkie lost the
power of attention and ultimately had
a nervous seizure which made MS
speech incoherent, while Romney SUI
fered so much from the hallucina-
ton that his talent would desert him
that at the height OF his fame ne
thought OF rel1nqulsnlns art aito
gether.
Referring to famous poets, 1t might
be mentioned that Cowper tried to
commit suicide on several occasions,
was an inmate Of lunatic asylum
for eighteen months, and died insane
Southey sank into state OF 1mbecll-
ity, in which he died; Shelley was
known as Mad Shelley" at Elton,
while it was a curious fact that the
maddest of all poets, Mad Jack By
ron," who led such a wild, dissolute
life, always dreaded insanity.
Several famous men, by the way,
have lived in dread Of insanity. Swift
who. before he became celebrity,
was called the Mad Parson" and who
died an imbecile, was always haunt
ed by the dread of going out of his
mind.
Doctor Johnson declared that he
had been mad all his life, or, at least
not SOBER" and so great was his rear
of insanity that at times he must have
been on the brink Of mental derange-
ment.
The lives of famous musicians like
Wagner, Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beeth-
oven and Mendelssohn, all tenu 10
bear out the contention that insanity
and genius are closely allied.
Then again the whims and fads OF
that famous French author Balzac
were such that they could only. nave
originated from a disordered mind.
He would live in garret under an
assumed name, sleep from In the
evening until midnight and then work
from twelve to twenty hours at
stretch, dressed in white robe OF a
Dominican friar, with a black Skull
cap on his head and surrounded py
dozen candles.
The stage, too, furnishes examples
of insane genius-notably, Edmund
Kean, whose mind became unhinged
at As years of age. julius Brutus
Booth, the father Of Wilkes Booth,
who murdered President Lincoln, dis
played insanity at the age Of 50.
It was while playing tragic part
in Boston that he suddenly dropped
into a colloquial tone and apropos OF
nothing, said, upon my word, don't
know" To the murmurs Of the mouse
he responded with a ringing laugh.
The manager then rushed on from
behind the scenes and led him ON,
while he shouted, II can't read am
a charity boy-I can't read! Take
me to a lunatic asylum"
For some time after this Booth was
an undoubted maniac.