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INAUGURAL ESSAY 
 
 oisHiwrs m^id ires m9HA8188§ 
 
 SUBMITTED TO THE EXAMINATION 
 
 SAMUEL BARD, M. D. L. L. D. PRESIDENT, AND THE TRUS- 
 TEES AND PROFESSORS 
 
 OF THE 
 
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 ON THE SIXTH DAY OF APRIL, 1819. 
 
 BY THOMAS MIDDLETON STUART, A. M. 
 
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 PROFESSOR OP THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF PHYSIC, AND 
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 IN THE 
 
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JAMES STUART, M. D. 
 
 AS A TRIBUTE OF GRATITUDE, 
 
 AND AN EXPRESSION OF FRATERNAL AFFECTION, 
 
 THIS ESSAY IS DEDICATED BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
AH XSSJtfT 
 
 ON 
 
 GEMUS AND ITS DISEASES. 
 
 MAN is so constituted, that what is general- 
 ly esteemed his greatest blessing, may become 
 his greatest curse. He has no endowment of 
 body or of mind which may not prove destruc- 
 tive of his happiness. Strength, beauty, wit, 
 all that can render life desirable or useful, of- 
 ten, through the frailty of human nature, become 
 sources of misery. — We may then, with pro- 
 priety, in the following essay, whilst we at- 
 tempt to speak of Genius, treat also of some of 
 the diseases to which its possessors seem pe- 
 culiarly liable. 
 
 Before entering directly upon this subject, 
 we beg leave to premise a few things. The dis- 
 eases of Genius have their seat, sometimes in 
 the mind, sometimes in the body ; and often 
 affect both body and mind. In treating of these, 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 we may speak of the mind acting upon the 
 body and disordering its functions, and of the 
 body disordering the faculties of the mind : in 
 doing so, many expressions in regard to the 
 mind, through the poverty of language and the 
 imperfection of knowledge, may be used, 
 which are strictly applicable only to what is 
 material. But we utterly disclaim any senti- 
 ment favorable to the doctrine of the materiali- 
 ty of the mind — though a Priestley has graced 
 it with his approbation. It would be too dis- 
 tant from our purpose here to attempt a regu- 
 lar refutation of this doctrine, and, concerning 
 it, we would only observe, that if the mind be 
 materia! it must form a part of the body or the 
 whole body — in other words, every part of the 
 body together must form the mind, or some par- 
 ticular part must form it, as the brain, or heart, 
 ^c. ; for if this be not allowed, the immateriality 
 of the mind must be allowed. The first sup- 
 position, viz, that every part of the body toge- 
 ther forms the mind, needs no refutation — the 
 second, that some particular part forms it, has 
 more plausibility but as little truth. We will 
 only notice what Priestley says in favor of the 
 brain and mind being one and the same — for if 
 it were reasonable to fix on any part of the 
 body, as the mind, that part ought to be the 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 brain. Priestley is pursuaded of the truth of 
 his doctrine, " because," as he says, " as far as 
 we can judge, the faculty of thinking, and a 
 certain state of the brain, always accompany 
 and correspond to one another." And again, 
 " There is no instance of any man retaining 
 the faculty of thinking when his brain was de- 
 stroyed. Moreover as the faculty of thinking 
 in general ripens and comes to maturity with 
 the body, it is also observed to decay with it ; 
 and if, in some cases, the mental faculties con- 
 tinue vigorous, when the body in general is en- 
 feebled, it is evidently because in those parti- 
 cular cases, the brain is not much affected by 
 the general cause of weakness. Likewise as 
 the mind is affected in consequence of the af- 
 fections of the body and brain, so the body is 
 liable to be reciprocally affected by the affec- 
 tions of the mind, as is evident in the visible 
 effects of all strong passions. These are cer- 
 tainly irrefragable arguments that it is no other 
 than one and the same thing that is subject to 
 these affections." 
 
 In answer to these irrefragable arguments, 
 we oppose facts to assertions, " The history 
 of dissections proves that the texture of every 
 part of the brain may be morbidly altered from 
 
( io ) 
 
 its natural state, and yet all the faculties of the 
 mind remain entire.' 5 To this the writings of 
 Morgagni, Ronetus, and Haller, bear testi- 
 mony.* "Portions of the brain have been 
 forcibly detached ; excavations have been 
 formed in it by abscesses ; fungous tumours 
 have arisen from its surface ; all its arteries 
 have been ossified ; its coats have been va- 
 riously diseased ; the interior part of the cere- 
 brum, and of the cerebellum, the basis of the 
 cerebrum, the pituitary gland, the pineal gland, 
 the plexus choroides, have all been found ex- 
 hibiting morbid changes of structure in people 
 who were in full possession of their internal 
 senses."! Instances occurred in Dr. Hunter's 
 dissecting room, where the brain was found 
 almost entirely converted into pus, and yet 
 the persons in whom the brain was thus found 
 diseased had suffered no mental derange- 
 ment.J How then stands the assertion that 
 -there is no instance of any man retain- 
 ing the faculty of thinking when his brain 
 was destroyed ?" When the body is affected 
 
 * See Morgagni de causis et sedibus, Epist. xi. xv. xx. and the first vol. 
 of the * Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester.' 
 
 f Crichton on Mental Derangement, vol. i. p. 341. 
 
 % Fordyce on Fevers, vol. a, p. ioa» 
 
( 11 ) 
 
 with palsy, and yet the faculties of the mind 
 remain entire — and when, on examination 
 after death, disorder of the brain is discovered 
 to have been the cause of the palsy, shall we 
 say that the faculties of the mind were not in- 
 jured because the brain was not much affected by 
 the general cause of weakness ? There is scarce- 
 ly a disease that can affect the body, by which the 
 brain from its extensive connections must not 
 be more or less affected : — but who that has 
 walked much in the paths of sickness and death, 
 has not occasionally seen, where the powers of 
 life were fast sinking and just ready to fail, the 
 mind acquiring fresh strength as if already part- 
 ly relieved from its clay ? While many of the 
 phenomena of disease show that there is gene- 
 rally an intimate connexion between a healthy 
 state of the brain and a proper exercise of the 
 mind — the facts we have adduced prove that 
 the brain and mind are not " one and the 
 same," and that occasionally the mind acts 
 independently of the brain. In proof that the 
 faculties of the mind do not necessarily decay 
 with the body, we might mention the venerable 
 names of Plato, Isocrates, Newton, Johnson, 
 Burnet, Burke, and many others, who exhibited 
 to the world the splendid and interesting spec- 
 tacle of bodies shattered by age and worn out 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 by disease — with minds retaining all their 
 greatness, and uninjured amidst the ruins that 
 surrounded them. We ask those from whom 
 we may differ, if any instance can be adduced, 
 in which the faculties of the mind have decayed, 
 while the mind has been cultivated with the 
 same assiduity in old age as formerly? In old 
 age stimulants to exertion are wanting, there- 
 fore the mental faculties are too often allowed 
 to remain inactive ; then indeed they do decay; 
 but we conclude with Cicero, " manent ingenia 
 senibus,modopermaneat studium et industrial 
 It is time to turn to our proper subject. 
 
 An inquiry into the nature of Genius is in- 
 teresting, inasmuch as it is an inquiry concern- 
 ing that which is productive of the greatest 
 benefit, as well as of the greatest ill to mankind. 
 Its effects are felt in every department of life ; 
 whether it reside with the rustic, making him 
 the counsellor of his hamlet ; with the philoso- 
 pher, placing him in the van of the march of 
 science 5 or with the statesman, constituting 
 him the shield of his country ; whether it glow 
 upon the lips of oratory, or encircle with its 
 halo the visions of poetry. They are exhibit- 
 ed in the prosperity of nations and in their 
 ruin. It clothes its possessor with that mental 
 
( m ) 
 
 majesty, which extorts from envy, obedience 
 and admiration ; to which the weak look for 
 protection and the brave for guidance. 
 
 Thus is Genius exhibited in its effects :— 
 but what is it ? Borrowing partly from Dr. 
 Johnson, we define it " a mind of superior ge- 
 neral powers." We cannot suppose that 
 Genius consists in the superiority of any one 
 power of the mind, or in the combination of 
 any particular powers \ and think that a brief 
 survey of the subject will show, that as the 
 beauty of a palace does not consist in the eler 
 gance of one pillar, but in the proportions 
 and skill exhibited in all its parts, so Genius 
 does not depend on the excellence of any one 
 power of the mind, but on the vigour and com- 
 bination of all its powers. 
 
 Invention is the criterion of Genius. This 
 seems to be allowed by common consent ; for 
 all whose characters are established in the 
 world as men of Genius, are those who have 
 invented something unknown before, or invent- 
 ed improvements in what was already known. 
 Horner, without a model, constructed one of the 
 noblest poems the world possesses ; Socrates 
 invented Moral Philosophy ; the names of 
 
( 1 ) 
 
 Newton and Franklin are illustrious by their 
 discoveries in Physics ; the memory of Fulton 
 is immortal by his application of the powers of 
 steam to the purposes of navigation ; and Sir 
 Humphrey Davy has placed himself in the fore- 
 most rank among philosophers by his im- 
 provements in chemical science. That inven- 
 tion is the criterion of Genius being granted, 
 it is incumbent on us to show, how the vigor- 
 ous exercise of all the powers of the mind are 
 necessary to the act of invention. 
 
 The intellectual powers we will consider, 
 adopting Gerard's division, as consisting of 
 Sense, Memory, Imagination, and Judgment. 
 * Sense perceives those objects which are real- 
 ly existent, and actually exhibited to the mind.' ? 
 Memory revises "past perceptions with a 
 view to experience of them and to their rea- 
 lity. Imagination considers the notion or 
 thought present in the mind, simply as it is in 
 itself, without any view to real existence or 
 past experience,"* and, by association, leads 
 from the idea present in the mind to others 
 connected with it. Judgment compares ideas 
 presented to the mind, discovers their relations, 
 and draws conclusions concerning them. 
 
 * Sec Gerard on Genius, and Beattie on the Imagination. 
 
( 15 ) 
 
 In the act of invention, it is Imagination 
 which ranges through the regions of thought, 
 conducted by association from one idea present- 
 ed to the mind, to the various others connected 
 with it, separating notions or parts of notions 
 from those with which they were formerly as- 
 sociated ; again combining these into new 
 forms, with a semblance of creative power ; 
 like the Bee, collecting honey from every flow- 
 er on which it rests, however various be the 
 tint, or dissimilar the general qualities. But 
 to possess that superiority which will lead to 
 invention, imagination must be attended by 
 enthusiastic activity, which constantly stimu- 
 lates it to new excursions, quickly presents it 
 with new views of objects, rapidly separates 
 old connexions of ideas, and as rapidly re- 
 combines them into every form of which they 
 are susceptible ; which so absorbs it in the con* 
 temptation of its object as to prevent any in- 
 terruption of attention, and so fires it in its 
 pursuit as to render it careless of every fatigue 
 and labour it may undergo. It was this enthu- 
 siastic activity which with Archimedes merged, 
 the noise of battle and the terrors of death 
 in his mathematical speculations ; which trim- 
 med the midnight lamp — and dug the early 
 grave of Henry Kirkc White. Without activity 
 
( 16 ) 
 
 of imagination, the mind soon tires in the in- 
 vestigation of a subject, and, however excellent 
 and new may be the associations which are 
 formed, their excellence and novelty rarely 
 compensate for the tardiness with which they 
 arise ; and without enthusiasm, as the exercise 
 of imagination, however active, is still attended 
 by much fatiguing exertion, the mind will soon 
 relax in its endeavours, and consider that un- 
 attainable which merely has not yet been at- 
 tained. It is the observation of common life, 
 that enthusiasm in the pursuit of any object, is 
 one of the surest tokens of ultimate success. 
 
 Imagination, however active, can do little 
 towards invention, unless it be comprehensive. 
 It may elicit a spark which will dazzle for a 
 moment, but can never produce that steady 
 lustre which leads to useful results. It is 
 comprehensiveness of imagination, which gives 
 to the productions of Genius, that richness 
 which appears to be formed by a happy selec- 
 tion from a vast collection of materials sub- 
 mitted to its choice ; which unfolds to the 
 mind the view of its subject in all its parts, and 
 in all its connections ; which enables the asso- 
 ciating principle to traverse every region and 
 explore every recess in quest of its treasures? 
 
( 17 ) 
 
 and to pass from one idea to another, and 
 through all their modifications, with seemingly 
 unlimited bounds. It was by a comprehensive 
 imagination that the great poets and philoso- 
 phers of ancient and modern times, have col- 
 lected in their works materials from every re- 
 gion of nature and art \ and have seemed to 
 hold within their reach the universe of ideas, 
 from which to draw all that was conducive to 
 their purpose. 
 
 In a work of genius, Imagination, active and 
 comprehensive as we have described, surrounds 
 itself with a lustre, which from hasty observa- 
 tion conceals the operation of other powers. — 
 But for the perfection of Invention, the aid of 
 other agents is essentially necessary. Indeed, 
 without Sense and Memory,* Imagination itself 
 cannot act ; for it must be from some one ob- 
 ject perceived by Sense, that association be- 
 gins, and it must be by the help afforded by 
 Memory, that it continues its exercise. Sense 
 is the fountain, from which association springs ; 
 Memory the tributary streams, by which it is 
 enabled to roll on its fertilizing course. The 
 
 • cc Memory," says the author of the ■ Literary Character,' " is the founda- 
 tion of Genius ; for this faculty, with men of genius, is associated with imagi- 
 nation and passion : it is a chronology, not merely of events, but of emotions." 
 Lit. Character, p. 127. 
 
 C 
 
( 13 ) 
 
 objects of Imagination are all confined within 
 the limits of acquired knowledge : these it may 
 variously modify, but cannot go beyond them, 
 It is impossible for it to act on those things 
 with which it has no acquaintance by expe- 
 rience or information. When the fervid ima- 
 gination of Milton mounts to heaven, is con- 
 versant with' cherubim, is immersed in the 
 splendour of the Supreme, and seems to leave, 
 far below, earth and its grossness, still we find 
 it adorning heaven with the materials of this 
 world, giving to archangels human forms, and, 
 by what appears glorious among men, describ- 
 ing the glories of the Creator of worlds. 
 
 By a hasty sketch we have shown how far 
 Imagination, with the aid of Sense and Memo- 
 rv, can proceed in the act of invention. Ima- 
 gination collects the materials — but the choice 
 and arrangement is the work of Judgment ; 
 which compares ideas presented to the mind, 
 discovers their relations, and draws conclusions 
 concerning them. Not only is Judgment 
 called into exercise when the collected trea- 
 sures of Imagination are presented to the 
 mind, but the Imagination of Genius, even in 
 its most free and independent excursions, 
 must still be attended by that power, which de- 
 
c i ) 
 
 taches it from improper and useless associa- 
 tions, directs it to the track most conducive to 
 the end in view, and calls it off from chasing 
 the cheating shadow of a cloud. And when 
 Imagination has collected its various materials, 
 Judgment is the spirit moving over the rich 
 but confused mass, educing order and useful- 
 ness. A writer of much Imagination, not 
 tempered by Judgment, will produce extrava- 
 gance and folly : but where sound Judgment is 
 connected with an active, comprehensive Ima- 
 gination, the happiest results are to be antici- 
 pated — the production not only of what is 
 new, but what is congruous, useful, great : for 
 there is not a flower that strews the path of 
 Genius, nor a column in the proud structure 
 that it rears, in which the influence of Judgment 
 is not concerned. The continual influence of 
 Judgment on Imagination, does by no means 
 injure the exercise of the latter, only renders it 
 more efficient: the ship does not less, feel the 
 useful influence of the breeze on account of 
 the directing helm and rudder. 
 
 We thus conclude that Genius consists in a 
 combination of all the powers of the mind. It 
 is this combination which gives intellectual 
 strength, which enables one mind to influence 
 
( 20 ) 
 
 thousands. In proportion as these powers are 
 fully possessed and properly combined, so far 
 does Genius exist. 
 
 Whether superiority of Genius be natural or 
 acquired, we will not stop here to examine, nor 
 pretend positively to determine. The power 
 of education daily shows itself to be so great 5 
 that we know not how to limit its effects ; while 
 the records of men of Genius exhibit such pecu- 
 liarities of character, as almost persuade, that 
 
 " from heaven descends 
 v The flame of Genius to the chosen breasi" 
 
 One thing must be allowed, that the circum- 
 stances of life, and especially of early life, tend 
 much to determine the characters of men. — ■ 
 but the same circumstances produce different 
 effects on different minds : a peculiar concur- 
 rence of circumstances whilst it elevates one 
 mind, may degrade another. We often see 
 men labouring under circumstances apparently 
 the most adverse, and still exhibiting splendid 
 marks of Genius — but it is probable, that what 
 appear adverse are the very causes of the dis- 
 play of Genius; and that the same persons in 
 situations seemingly much better adapted for 
 the exercise of talent would fall into obscurity. 
 Had Newton been a printer's boy, or Frank- 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 lin been educated at an university, possibly 
 neither of their names would have been ren- 
 dered immortal by their discoveries in Natural 
 Philosophy. 
 
 According to our description, there is a 
 complex operation of the mind, in every ex- 
 ertion of Genius ; it may therefore readily be 
 supposed to be liable to disorder. This may 
 arise, 1st. from inactivity, Sd. from imper- 
 fection, 3d. from artificial means of excitement* 
 4th. from excessive exercise. 
 
 1st. In some respects, the mind appears to 
 be governed by laws analagous to those which 
 govern the body ; for as continued inaction de- 
 prives the body of the power of moving, so 
 inactivity of Genius deprives it gradually of the 
 power of acting. To this, in a great measure. 
 is to be ascribed that loss of mental vigour, 
 which so often attends declining age : at this 
 period, fame ceases her allurements — ambition 
 begins to lose its power — life has little more 
 to promise — the animal spirits are languid — ■ 
 infirmity unfits the body for the support of the 
 exercise of mind — and the individual gradually 
 and unconsciously remits that exercise, and at 
 last falls into dotage. But not only in old age 
 
( 22 ) 
 
 does inactivity show its deleterious effects on 
 Genius. We often see or hear, of men who in 
 early life gave the fairest promise of future 
 eminence, who when they have reached their 
 prime, not merely have made no progress in 
 mental improvement, but have gone backwards, 
 and together with the loss of acquired know- 
 ledge, have lost the thirst for it, exhibiting the 
 pitiable sight of the waste of talents and the 
 wreck of mind. This may sometimes be oc- 
 casioned by their having been placed in cir- 
 cumstances unfavourable to their peculiar turn 
 of mind, 
 
 " Many a soul sublime 
 " Has felt the influence of malignant star." 
 
 But often another cause is very evident — elated 
 with the praise bestowed upon their early ta- 
 lents, they conceive that without regular exer- 
 tion, which is the pabulum of the mind, they 
 can, by their superior powers, attain any ob- 
 ject : depending on this, they allow inactivity. 
 like a canker, to eat out the soul and strength 
 of Genius. 
 
 2d. Although we have described Genius, 
 as formed of a proper combination of all the 
 powers of the mind, yet as the mind of man is 
 never perfect, we are compelled to denomi- 
 
( 23 ) 
 
 nate that Genius, in which, however, there are 
 some imperfections — some disproportion in 
 the parts which compose it. Its occasion- 
 ally great atchievements, when circumstan- 
 ces have conspired to repress that power whose 
 action is inordinate, or stimulate that which is 
 languid, establish its claim to this distinction. 
 These imperfections are sometimes causes of 
 disease. We may consider them as circum- 
 stantial or essential. Circumstantial imper- 
 fections, are those arising from a peculiar con- 
 stitution of the man of genius, but not implying 
 any deficiency or disproportion in the powers 
 of mind which constitute Genius. Essential 
 imperfections, are those which imply some de- 
 ficiency or disproportion in those powers, as 
 when the action of Judgment is not able always 
 to control that of Imagination. 
 
 Among the Circumstantial imperfections of 
 Genius, we notice Timidity and Want of Per- 
 severance. In attempting any work, Genius 
 will generally have an extensive view of the 
 difficulties to be encountered : it will measure 
 the region to be explored, will mark what rocks 
 are to be levelled, what vallies are to be raised, 
 what wilds are to be explored. After such a view, 
 constitutional Timidity, alarmed by the obsta- 
 
( 24 ) 
 
 cles which present themselves, too often dis- 
 suades Genius from attempting what it is well 
 able to perform. As Timidity oft prevents the 
 attempt, want of Perseverance oft prevents the 
 accomplishment of great undertakings. Both 
 are productive of very deleterious consequen- 
 ces. Timidity, by infusing into the mind, ca- 
 pable of forming great designs, groundless 
 fear of inability for the accomplishment, throws 
 it into a state nearly allied to despair : Genius, 
 parched with thirst, sees the cooling stream roll 
 before it, without the hope of ever tasting its 
 refreshment : and shackled by Want of Perse- 
 verance, must be the prey of grief and chagrin, 
 by seeing that honourable distinction gained 
 by others, which it failed to secure when al- 
 most within its grasp. That the feelings of a 
 man of Genius, in such circumstances, will be 
 exquisitely afflicting, the history of Genius gives 
 strong ground for concluding. Honorable 
 fame is dear to Genius, and few will censure 
 the mournful exclamation of Kirke White, 
 when he saw the grave opening to receive his 
 body. and. as he thought, his dearly earned re- 
 putation, from the world — "My years hence 
 and who will hear of Hcnrv!" We find those, 
 who had no cause to reproach themselves with 
 want of exertion, and who had accomplished 
 
( 25 ) 
 
 great designs, yet sinking into despondency on 
 seeing themselves surpassed by others. He 
 is rare who can comfort himself with the re- 
 flection that " Sparta has many a worthier son 
 than he."— "When some of Morillo's paintings 
 were shown to Castillo, the great painter of 
 Seville, he stood in meek astonishment before 
 them, and when he recovered his voice, turning 
 away, he exclaimed with a sigh, Ya murio 
 Castillo /—Castillo is no more! Returning 
 home, the stricken genius relinquished his 
 pencil and pined away in hopelessness." If 
 such be the anguish of those who, though ex- 
 celled, were true to their inspiration, what 
 must be his sorrow, who sees that crown grace 
 the head of another, which, but for want of ex- 
 ertion or perseverance, might have bloomed 
 upon his own ! Settled melancholy must 
 often be the effect of such sorrow. Observa- 
 tion shows the effects of grief to be debilitating 
 to the whole corporeal system : hence the tor- 
 pidity, the pale countenance, the cold extremi- 
 ties, the disinclination for muscular motion or 
 mental exertion which attend its victims. From 
 the diminished circulation in the extremities 
 and surface, arises the painful sense of fulness, 
 which is attendant on deep sorrow, as the 
 larger vessels of the body must thus necessari- 
 
 D 
 
( 26 ) 
 
 ly be over-distended with blood. That there 
 is an intimate connexion between the skin and 
 stomach, is a principle well established in me- 
 dicine : the action of the vessels of the skin 
 being diminished, the stomach is affected, pro- 
 bably through the connexion of nerves, while, 
 at the same time, the internal vessels receiving 
 an inordinate quantity of blood, expose that or- 
 gan to still greater disorder : and hence arises 
 that acute pain in the pit of the stomach, which 
 grief so often produces, especially in nervous 
 temperaments. That the over-distension of the 
 internal vessels is concerned in this affection^ 
 receives much probability from the observation 
 of Crichton,* who says, that he has seen this 
 kind of Gastrodynia, in two instances, followed 
 by haemorrhage from the stomach, lungs, and 
 uterus. The same causes will produce pletho- 
 ra of the vessels of the liver and consequent 
 disease of that viscus. These disorders thus 
 produced by grief, re-act upon it, and aggravate 
 that dejection of mind from which they at first 
 originated: for, produced by any cause, depres- 
 sion of mind is one of their invariable conse- 
 cjiiences. When added to original grief, they 
 act with a force which few minds can withstand, 
 
 * Crichton on Mental Derangement, vol. 2. p. ioo« 
 
( W ) 
 
 Deep sorrow will take so firm a hold upon its 
 victim, as to preclude from his thoughts every 
 subject not connected with his unhappiness. — 
 Life has its shade and its light ; but his mental 
 vision is active only in its darkness ; he be- 
 comes so enamoured with misery, as to flee 
 from the comforts of friendship, and the calls 
 of business or pleasure, that he may indulge 
 his gloomy meditations ; — the sand of life ebbs 
 in its glass, the flame of Genius quivers in its 
 socket — he dies! — the pity, if not the contempt, 
 of his acquaintance ! This is the melancholy 
 effect which may follow Timidity, in not at- 
 tempting, and Want of Perseverance, in not 
 executing the designs of Genius. 
 
 T«e only Essential imperfection of Genius, 
 ^wKIch we will now cursorily notice, is that in 
 which the Imagination is disproportionate in 
 its action, to the Judgment. In our description 
 of Genius, we mentioned that the speculations 
 of one with a great disproportion of this kind in 
 the powers of the mind, would end in folly — 
 it has often ended in insanity, as the records of 
 every lunatic asylum testify:* but even when 
 existing in a smaller degree it is often produc- 
 
 * See Rush on the Mind, p. 38. 
 
( 28 ) 
 
 twe of baneful consequences. While it con- 
 stantly exposes its possessor to errors and im- 
 prudencies in conduct, which, in a well propor- 
 tioned mind, Judgment w T ould have prevented, 
 it makes him liable also to the most cruel dis- 
 appointments. By a morbidly active Imagina- 
 tion, hypotheses, which have but the semblance 
 of probability, are embraced as truths ; it sees 
 a friend in every smile, and hears the promise 
 of success in every whisper of hope ; it never 
 supposes that the day which is bright at the 
 dawn can blacken with clouds ; and concludes 
 that the attainment of its object of pursuit will 
 be as easy as its desires are ardent. Thus act- 
 ing beyond the control of Judgment, if that 
 power is not altogether dispossessed of its seat 
 in the mind, the consequence, at least, must be 
 disappointment. The best concerted schemes 
 are often thwarted, well-founded hope is often 
 deceived, then how frequent must be his failure 
 and dissatisfaction, who begins to build without 
 counting the cost-— who has never considered 
 that deception smiles, or that friends can be- 
 tray-— that hope can be illusive, or merit en- 
 vied. Chagrin often occurring, as it will, in 
 the paths of such an one, is apt to drive him 
 to a contrary extreme; some having deceived, 
 he supposes himself the object of the deception 
 
( 29 ) 
 
 of all; the world seems his enemy ; every mis- 
 fortune is exaggerated; falsehood having be- 
 trayed him, he now suspects every kindness, 
 and mistrusts every promise ; having failed of 
 obtaining his objects by not employing proper 
 im-ans, those objects he conceives by some 
 malignant fatality are placed beyond his reach: 
 disappointment preys upon him, and too often 
 produces that gloomy melancholy, with its 
 direful consequences on mind and body whicli 
 we have already described. 
 
 3d. In a state exposed to vicissitude and 
 vexation, encumbered with a body liable to 
 lassitude, sickness, and pain, Genius is often 
 chained in its exertions ; no wonder that it hails 
 with pleasure what can set it free : shut out 
 from the paradise of its meditations, it readily 
 yields to any influence that can open the gates 
 of lost happiness. With the powers of his mind 
 languid or ruffled, the man of Genius, to restore 
 their activity and soothe their commotion, too 
 often resorts to artificial means: alcohol and 
 opium are both subservient to his purpose. — 
 We will now only notice opium, as thus used, 
 and some of its hurtful effects. The effects of 
 this drug in exciting the mind to action, is pe- 
 culiarly enticing, especially to those who revel 
 
( so ) 
 
 ill the regions of fancy ; under its influence, 
 tlie storm of passions is hushed to a calm — the 
 clouds of despondency dissolve away — and the 
 mental faculties seem to acquire new strength 
 and splendor. But this state of enjoyment 
 does not last long — the charm is soon broken, 
 and more than in proportion to former elation 
 and enjoyment is the depression and misery 
 that follow. This is according to the experience 
 of all who have observed the effects of opium 
 on themselves or others. The depressing 
 consequences of each dose taken is a new in- 
 ducement to repeat it, and at the repetition of 
 each dose habit calls for a larger portion. The 
 deleterious effects of indulgence in it, on mind 
 and body, are various. The effects on the 
 body are dyspepsia, and all the consequences 
 of diminished secretions. "Probat, ab usu 
 hujus remedii (opii) diuturniore, organa chy- 
 lopoiesi et sanguificationi inservientia, adeo 
 debilitari posse, ut officiis suis imparia reddan- 
 tur." "Experimenta Alstoni opium circuitum 
 in vasis minimis, priusquam in majoribus, cohi- 
 bere probant" "Secretiones cohibet." "Alvum 
 constipate — Bard clevirihiis opii. 
 
 Under the effects of opium, the body is 
 rendered less susceptible of external impres- 
 
i 31 ) 
 
 sions on account of the diminished circulation 
 in the smaller vessels, and this perhaps con- 
 duces to produce increased vigour of mind, by 
 preventing interruption of thought When 
 those effects have ceased, the circulation re- 
 turning to the smaller vessels, will render the 
 nerves connected with them morbidly sensible 
 and hence more liable to violent impressions. 
 We now perceive how the continued use of 
 opium may produce disorder of mind : — the 
 viscera of the body are diseased, which, as we 
 before observed, produces a depressing affec- 
 tion of the mind; the nervous system is irrita- 
 ble, and the mind often sympathizes in its ir- 
 ritations ; the mind is often at the height of joy, 
 or in the depth of misery, through the excite- 
 ment of opium or the want of it ; and Rush ob- 
 serves that frequent and rapid transitions from 
 one subject to another is a cause of intellectual 
 derangement. These combined consequen- 
 ces, if they do not produce Mania, often pro- 
 duce that modification of it, generally called 
 Hypochondriasis, or as we think more proper- 
 ly styled by Rush, Tristimania. Perhaps it is 
 scarcely affirming too much when we say, that 
 after a person has long indulged in the use of 
 opium, whenever he is not under its inebriating 
 influence, that is, whenever he is himself, his 
 
( 32 ) 
 
 mind is more or less deranged, for it is then 
 deprived of its powers of action, and sees ob- 
 jects in a false light. 
 
 4th. We will next attend to the diseases of 
 Genius, arising from excessive exercise. The 
 mind as well as the body, is rendered by pro- 
 per exercise more strong and healthy; but is 
 liable to much harm, from exertion very violent 
 or too long continued. As the mind is affected 
 by fatigue of body, so is the body by fatigue of 
 mind. Men of Genius, who, aided by industry, 
 are enabled to make deep researches and take 
 comprehensive views in science ; to range 
 among objects which inferior minds dare not 
 attempt, are too apt to exert the mind to excess. 
 Bodily feeling is lost in the ardor and intensity 
 of intellectual exertion, and it is not till the 
 mind has in some measure attained its end, 
 and has begun to rest from its labour, that the 
 hurtful effects on the body are perceived : then 
 is felt langour, depression, anxiety and restless- 
 ness, in proportion as the mind has been labo- 
 riously employed. Excessive exertion of mind, 
 long continued or often repeated, soon affects 
 the organs of digestion ; and hence frequently 
 originates that distressing mental complaint 
 well denominated Tristimania. 
 
( S3 ) 
 
 In any great exertion of the mental faculties, 
 there appears to be a considerable flow of blood 
 to the head, occasioning there some degree of 
 congestion,* as is evident from the head-ache, 
 vertigo, redness of the face and eyes, which 
 occur in debilitated persons from a very slight 
 exertion of mind, and in healthy persons, when 
 the exertion has been uncommonly great. — 
 This flow of blood to the head, acting as a pre- 
 ternatural stimulus to the blood-vessels of the 
 brain, is followed by indirect debility of th© 
 brain. Through the connexion that exists be- 
 tween the different parts of the body, its other 
 organs will sympathize in this debility : which 
 also is partly the cause of that mental depres- 
 sion and anxiety which attends disease of the 
 body from too great exertion of mind; for as 
 the perceptions of external objects are convey. 
 ed to the mind, through the medium of the 
 nerves and brain, these being in a disordered 
 state, must generally affect the functions of the 
 mind. 
 
 Moreover, debility of body from mental ex- 
 ertion, seems also to arise from this, that while 
 there is a preternatural flow of blood to the 
 
 * Crichton on Mental Derangement, vol. a. p. 29. 
 E 
 
{ 34 ) 
 
 brain, the secretions of the body in general are 
 lessened; the organs of digestion and chylifi- 
 cation are deprived of their proper action, as 
 the diseases of studious men plainly evince ; 
 the intestinal canal loses its due irritability, for 
 it is found that cathartic medicines are much 
 slower in their operation on one who is enga- 
 ged in study, than on another whose mind is 
 unoccupied. 
 
 The body is also weakened by loss of sleep, 
 which is often the effect of intense application 
 of mind to any subject ; for it is found, that 
 when the attention has been very much enga- 
 ged on any particular object, the associations 
 thereby excited, continue to act, long after all 
 voluntary exertions of attention have ceased : 
 every one must have observed this. Boerhaave 
 mentions, that having been exercised with in- 
 tense thought during a whole night on a serious 
 subject, he did not sleep for two weeks, and 
 during that time was perfectly indifferent to 
 every thing around him. Zimmerman in his 
 work on Experience in Physic, mentions the 
 case of a young man, which strongly exempli- 
 fies the hurtful effects of intense study. This 
 person engaged very ardently in the study of 
 Metaphysics, and after combatting by increased 
 
( 35 ) 
 
 exertion, an inertness of mind, which he per- 
 ceived coming upon him, lost at last the exer- 
 cise of every mental faculty while his bodily 
 health was much injured ; after sometime, his 
 body recovered its wonted health, but his men- 
 tal disease continued for a year; "without 
 being deaf he seemed not to hear, without being 
 blind he appeared not to see, without being 
 dumb he did not speak." He became after- 
 wards an eminent philosopher. Many instan- 
 ces might be adduced, in which intellectual ex- 
 ertion has proved destructive of life. Too fre- 
 quent is the melancholy record of Genius snatch- 
 ed from the hopes of friends and the world, 
 when its budding flower just began to give pro- 
 mise of the rich fruit that would be produced. 
 Were bodily disease the only evil resulting from 
 over-exercise of Genius, it might admit of 
 question, whether, as life is short and uncertain 
 at best, it were not better, in order to make 
 greater improvement in a shorter time, even 
 like Kirke White — to die : but sad experience 
 shows that not only the body but the mind also 
 is diseased by its own exertions. 
 
 One disease of the mind thus arising and 
 intimately connected with the corporeal affec- 
 tions already noticed, is Tristimania. This dis- 
 
( 36 ) 
 
 ease of the mind, often, perhaps it is better to 
 say generally, arises from disease of the diges- 
 tive organs. Why disorder of those organs so 
 generally produces this distressing complaint, 
 may be explained in the following manner : — 
 The nerves of the stomach and parts connect- 
 ed with it, are subject to impressions of a pecu- 
 liar kind, but which are never so powerful as 
 to attract any particular attention of the mind 
 to them ; but when these organs are diseased, 
 unaccustomed impressions are made upon their 
 nerves, both by the disease of the parts them- 
 selves, and by the aliment taken into the sto- 
 mach not having undergone the proper process 
 of digestion. Moreover, while new impressions 
 are thus made on the nerves of the digestive 
 organs, these new impressions are transmitted 
 to the brain with more force than the old ones 
 were wont to be, on account of the excitability 
 produced in the brain, from the preternatural 
 stimulus applied to it, by the inordinate flow of 
 blood thereto, which we before remarked as a 
 consequence of intense study. The mind being 
 acted upon by these impressions, which are 
 new, from the unnatural state of the digestive 
 organs and of the stimuli applied to them, 
 which are strong, from the peculiarly irritable 
 condition of the brain, and which are often 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 painful ; is alarmed, and not guided by expe- 
 rience in referring them to their proper cause, 
 is often led to assign the most absurd. Hence 
 the numerous anecdotes which are related of 
 persons supposing they had living animals with- 
 in them, that they had been changed into wood, 
 glass, #)C. that they had been poisoned, or 
 changed into animals of a different species. — 
 We will not intrude a repetition of these. From 
 no disease does man suffer more than from 
 that whose cause we have just endeavoured to 
 explain. During its paroxysms (for it is ob- 
 served to have paroxysms)* all the faculties of 
 the mind cease their useful action and are ex- 
 ercised with the most severe suffering ; Genius 
 loses its pre-eminence, and the torment of the 
 patient is such, that he often wishes for, and 
 often seeks death as a relief. Tristimania, as 
 well as that other form of mental disease which 
 we shall presently mention, often terminates 
 in general intellectual derangement, which per- 
 haps always precedes suicide. 
 
 The next disease which we notice, as aris- 
 ing from excessive exercise of the mental fa- 
 culties, is that which is caused by intense study 
 
 * See Rush on the Mind, p. 38. 
 
( 38 ) 
 
 upon a particular subject, the fall comprehen- 
 of which may be within the scope of human in- 
 tellect, but is oftener beyond it. Mental per- 
 ceptions appear to have corresponding senso- 
 sorial impressions, which are transmitted to the 
 extremities of different nerves with a force pro- 
 portioned to the vividness of the mental per- 
 ceptions. When the extremities of nerves are 
 strongly impressed, we are liable to ascribe the 
 impression to external objects, through the 
 dictates of experience; so a person of full ha- 
 bit stooping down, and thereby occasioning 
 some congestion of blood in the vessels of the 
 head, which produces an unusual impression 
 upon the optic nerve, is led to believe the spots 
 Sjc. which he sees, to be objects without him, 
 until better informed. Now the brain being 
 in a state of excitement from intense study, and 
 receiving repeated impressions from ^)ne par- 
 ticular set of notions, indulged by the mind, it 
 is easy to conceive that these impressions may 
 at last, acquire a vividness unnatural to any 
 but those received from external objects ; and 
 hence the subject of such impressions, is led 
 to believe in the real existence of that which 
 has a being only in his own thoughts. Parti- 
 cularly is this apt to be the case, when the 
 subject of study is one beyond the reach of hu- 
 
{ 39 ) 
 
 man capacity. The exertion of the mind must 
 be in proportion to the difficulty of the subject ; 
 but when that is incomprehensible, the mind 
 violently exerted enjoys little rest from that ex- 
 ertion ; once ardently engaged in the pursuit of 
 any object, it rarely ceases pursuit till, in some 
 measure, it has attained its end : when that end 
 is unattainable, its strenuous, constant, and vain 
 endeavours must produce a state of brain, pe- 
 culiarly liable to mental illusion. Crichton, 
 vol. 2. p. 65, after having adduced a number 
 of examples illustrative of delirium produced 
 by intense application to subjects of study 
 which give an extraordinary degree of force to 
 imagination, observes, "the examples which 
 have been brought forward are surely quite 
 sufficient to prove the melancholy truth of the 
 hypothesis laid down, that representations of 
 the mind, when frequently renewed by acts of 
 the imagination, at last acquire a degree of 
 vividness which surpassess those derived from 
 external objects ; and as the principal quality 
 of a mental perception, or representation, 
 which makes us believe in the reality of the ob- 
 ject or objects which it represents, is the clear- 
 ness of its parts, it is not wonderful that men of 
 Genius, who often confine their attention to 
 one branch of study, should be more exposed 
 
( 40 ) 
 
 V. 
 
 to such illusions than any other class of people. 
 Hence we find persons who have engaged in 
 the study of the Trinity, with a desire of com- 
 prehending the manner of the union of three 
 persons in one Godhead (a doctrine which 
 though written with a sun-beam in scripture, 
 still we cannot hope to comprehend) have fre- 
 quently supposed themselves to be one of the 
 Trinity. The intense study of other subjects 
 connected with the Christian religion, which 
 are given us as objects of faith, which have 
 testimony of their divine origin, but which 
 while the mind is veiled by its clay, must re- 
 main mysterious, have produced a similar effect. 
 More than one person by vainly endeavouring 
 to ascertain the precise time when the Mille- 
 nium should arrive, have had all the faculties of 
 mind so absorbed in its contemplation as to be 
 applied to nothing else ; and have had those 
 faculties so deranged, as with a presumption of 
 prescience to fix the date of its arrival or de- 
 clare that it was already at hand. The Rev. 
 John Mason, of Water Stratford, near Bucking- 
 ham, Eng. died fully persuaded that, as the 
 Elias, he had a divine mission from Jesus, to 
 announce the approach of the Millenium, which 
 w r as to begin in his neighbourhood. Professor 
 Gruner, of Jena, mentions the case of a student 
 
( 41 } 
 
 of Theology, at Leipsic, who from intense study 
 of the Revelations of St. John, had his intellects 
 so disordered as to consider himself divinely 
 inspired, and who at last became so deranged 
 as to murder his father. From the same source 
 are to be derived the dreams of Baron Sweden- 
 borg, and of the amiable St. Theresa of Spain. 
 The Christian religion stands unreproached by 
 any of these consequences ; it never produced 
 them. They were the result of an attempt to 
 learn that which it never taught. Its doctrines 
 sincerely and humbly received are the surest 
 guards against mental disease : the subject of 
 them is enabled to stand unchanged amid the 
 changes of the world — amid its convulsions 
 unshaken ; to bear prosperity with equanimity, 
 and adversity with fortitude ; to bound joy 
 within its due limits, and to restrain grief from 
 excess; to fix hope on its proper object, and to 
 lose fear in the confidence of mercy. 
 
 In the study of all arts and sciences, the spe- 
 cies of mental disease of which we have spoken, 
 has been produced by similar causes ; by at- 
 tempts to discover that which is not discover- 
 able, to know what cannot be known. Perpe- 
 tual motion, the Quadrature of the Circle, and 
 
( 42 ) 
 
 the Philosopher's Stone, have destroyed more 
 than one mind. 
 
 For interesting cases illustrative of Tristima- 
 nia, and of the last-mentioned mental disease, 
 which falls under Rush's description of Ame- 
 nomania — we refer to the writings of that 
 great man, and to Crichton on Mental Derange- 
 ment. 
 
 In closing our subject we would mention a 
 few means which appear useful in preventing 
 diseases of Genius. As in the body, so in the 
 mind, different persons are so differently con- 
 stituted, that what would be excessive exercise 
 in one, would be moderate in another : we 
 cannot establish any standard in this respect. 
 It is evident that to prevent disease from ex- 
 ertion of genius, we must prevent too great ex- 
 ertion. Our feelings must be our guide in this ; 
 and a sense of bodily fatigue, weariness, a kind 
 of fulness and tension of the forehead, often 
 producing severe head-ache, are faithful moni- 
 tors that the mind needs rest and relaxation. 
 When Buffon was absorbed on a subject which 
 presented great objections to his opinions, he 
 felt his head burn, and his countenance became 
 
( 43 ) 
 
 flushed ; and this was a warning to him to sus- 
 pend his attention. A person deeply engaged 
 in study may not attend to these feelings ; but 
 this inattention arises from no idea of danger 
 having been associated with them. Once as- 
 sociate strongly with them the idea of danger, 
 and that too of the most awful kind, and he 
 will easily cease mental exertion on their ap- 
 proach. Studious men, when they are con- 
 scious of the feelings we have mentioned, often 
 consider them as the effects of indolence and 
 endeavour to shake them off by increased ex- 
 ertion: but let them remember that they thus 
 endanger not only bodily health, but also the 
 proper exercise of every useful faculty of mind. 
 This weariness and sense of fatigue is widely 
 different from that sluggishness and unwilling- 
 ness for exertion which attend the gross and 
 sensual — those whose aim is fixed on nothing 
 great in attempt, or noble in accomplishment. 
 Their fatigue is weariness before labour : like 
 some domestic fowl, unwarily raised into air, 
 which Haps its heavy pinions for a moment 
 and then drops to its accustomed level — they 
 require constant incentive to keep them on 
 the wing : while those to whom we recom- 
 mend caution, are like some noble bird of 
 
( 44 ) 
 
 heaven, stretching its flight towards ethe- 
 real regions, which soars and soars, uncon- 
 scious of fatigue and reckless of danger, till 
 it dies in the clouds. 
 
 Another means of preventing disease from 
 over-exercise of mind, is to have several ob- 
 jects of study, which, if they do not become 
 main objects, may serve for amusement as 
 well as instruction, for. as Crichton seems well 
 to have observed, -when the objects of study 
 are numerous and do not belong to one sub- 
 ject only, the habit of easily passing from one 
 association of ideas to another increases ; and 
 thus all the faculties of the mind have a more 
 equal degree of exercise. 5 ' Change of em- 
 ployment of either mind or body relieves fa- 
 tigue. 
 
 The studious man of Genius should often in- 
 dulge in social company ; this tends to divert 
 the mind from its austere pursuits, and breaks 
 in upon those strong associations which else 
 might lead to evil consequences. The sage 
 in Ra.-selas. says. - If I am accidentally lefV 
 alone for a few hours, my inveterate persua- 
 sion rushes upon my soul : and my thoughts 
 
( 45 ) 
 
 are chained down by an irresistable violence : 
 but they are soon disentangled by the Prince's 
 conversation ; and are instantaneously releas- 
 ed at the entrance of Pekuah." 
 
 Another preventive means, is never to en- 
 gage in study just before retiring to rest, for 
 besides the corporeal effects produced by loss 
 of sleep, from the associations thus excited, con- 
 tinuing to act after the voluntary exertion of 
 attention has ceased, these associations make 
 a much deeper impression on the mind in the 
 darkness and silence of night than during the 
 interruptions and variety of the day. 
 
 With the means enumerated, must be used 
 exercise of body, which preserves it as a ma- 
 chine in proper order to be acted on by the 
 friind. 
 
 For the cure of the Diseases of Genius, we 
 refer to the writings of Rush, whose compre- 
 hensive mind was much applied to this subject : 
 and gladly ought w T e to receive the instructions 
 of such a man on any subject. The powers of 
 his Genius were so guided as to be productive 
 oflastinggoodto his country and to mankind. 
 
( 46 ) 
 
 His enemies, whilst they prowl around his 
 grave and vainly endeavour to tear thence the 
 laurel which will ever be green over it, still 
 profit by his labours. When the ephemeral 
 fame of such men is withered, and their names 
 are repeated by no tongue, — Rush must be 
 remembered as one than whom the Medical 
 Profession can boast none greater — none 
 better ! 
 
 FINIS. 
 
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