SECTION V. Continuation of the same subject.—Inconveniences resulting from an ill-regulated It was undoubtedly the intention of Nature, that the objects of perception should produce much stronger impressions on the mind than its own operations. And, accordingly, they always do so, when proper care has been taken in early life, to exercise the different principles of our constitution. But it is possible, by long habits of solitary reflection, to reverse this order of things, and to weaken the attention to sensible objects to so great a degree, as to leave the conduct almost wholly under the influence of imagination. Removed to a distance from society, and from the pursuits of life, when we have been long accustomed to converse with our own thoughts, and have found our activity gratified by intellectual exertions, which afford scope to all our powers and affections, without exposing us to the inconveniences resulting from the bustle of the world, we are apt to contract an unnatural predilection for meditation, and to lose all interest in external occurrences. In such a situation too, the mind gradually loses that com mand which education, when properly conducted, gives it over the train of its ideas; till at length the most extravagant dreams of imagination acquire as powerful an influence in exciting all its passions, as if they were realities. A wild and mountainous country, which presents but a limited variety of objects, and these only of such a sort as "awake "to solemn thought," has a remarkable effect in cherishing this enthusiasm. When such disorders of the imagination have been long confirmed by habit, the evil may perhaps be beyond a remedy; but in their inferiour degrees, much may be expected from our own efforts; in particular, from mingling gradu 1 ally in the business and amusements of the world; or, if we have sufficient force of mind for the exertion, from resolutely plunging into those active and interesting and hazardous scenes, which, by compelling us to attend to external circumstances, may weaken the impressions of imagination, and strengthen those produced by realities. The advice of the poet, in these cases, is equally beautiful and just: "Go, soft enthusiast! quit the cypress, groves, "Your sad complaint. Go, seek the cheerful haunts "Of men, and mingle with the bustling crowd; "Or join the caravan in quest of scenes "New to your eyes, and shifting every hour, "Beyond the Alps, beyond the Appenines. "Or, more adventurous, rush into the field "Where war grows hot; and raging through the sky, "The lofty trumpet swells the madd'ning soul; "And in the hardy camp and toilsome march, The disordered state of mind to which these observafions refer is the more interesting, that it is chiefly incident to men of uncommon sensibility and genius. It has been often remarked, that there is a connection between genius and melancholy; and there is one sense of the word melancholy, in which the remark is undoubtedly true; a sense which it may be difficult to define, but in which it implies nothing either gloomy or malevolent.† This, I think, is not only confirmed by facts, but may be inferred from some principles which were formerly stated on the subject of invention; for as the disposition now alluded to has a ten * Armstrong. * Δια τι παντες όσος αοριστοι γεγονασιν ανδρες, η κατα φιλοσοφίαν, η πολιτικής η ποίησιν, η τεχνας, φαίνονται μελαγχολικοι αυτές. ARISTOT. Problem. sect. xxx. dency to retard the current of thought, and to collect the attention of the mind, it is peculiarly favourable to the dis covery of those profound conclusions which result from an accurate examination of the less obvious relations among our ideas. From the same principles too may be traced some of the effects which situation and early education produce on the intellectual character. Among the natives of wild and solitary countries we may expect to meet with sublime exertions of poetical imagination and of philosophical research; while those men whose attention has been dissipated from infancy amidst the bustle of the world, and whose current of thought has been trained to yield and accommodate itself, every moment, to the rapid succession of trifles which diversify fashionable life, acquire without any effort on their part the intellectual habits which are favourable to gayety, vivacity, and wit. When a man, under the habitual influence of a warm imagination, is obliged to mingle occasionally in the scenes of real business, he is perpetually in danger of being misled by his own enthusiasm. What we call good sense in the conduct of life, consists chiefly in that temper of mind which enables its possessor to view, at all times, with perfect coolness and accuracy, all the various circumstances of his situation; so that each of them may produce its due impression on him, without any exaggeration arising from his own peculiar habits. But to a man of an ill-regulated imagination, external circumstances only serve as hints to excite his own thoughts, and the conduct he pursues has, in general, far less reference to his real situation, than to some imaginary one, in which he conceives himself to be placed in consequence of which, while he appears to himself to be acting with the most perfect wisdom and consistency, he may frequently exhibit to others all the appearances of folly. Such, pretty nearly, seems to be the idea which the Author of the "Reflections on the Character "and Writings of Rousseau," has formed of that extraordinary man. "His faculties," we are told, “ were slow "in their operation, but his heart was ardent: it was in CC consequence of his own meditations, that he became im"passioned: he discovered no sudden eLotions but all "his feelings grew upon reflection. It has, perhaps, hap"pened to him to fall in love gradually with a-woman, "by dwelling on the idea of her during her absence. Some"times he would part with you with all his former affection; "but if an expression had escaped you, which might bear "an unfavourable construction, he would recollect it, ex"amine it, exaggerate it, perhaps dwell upon it for a month, "and conclude by a total breach with you. Hence it was, "that there was scarce a possibility of undeceiving him; "for the light which broke in upon him at once was not "sufficient to efface the wrong impressions which had taken 'place so gradually in his mind. It was extremely diffi"cult, too, to continue long on an intimate footing with him. "A word, a gesture, furnished him with matter of pro"found meditation: he connected the most trifling circum"stances like so many mathematical propositions, and "conceived his conclusions to be supported by the evi"dence of demonstration. I believe," continues this ingenious writer, "that imagination was the strongest of his "faculties, and that it had almost absorbed all the rest. "He dreamed rather than existed, and the events of his life might be said, more properly, to have passed in his mind, "than without him: a mode of being, one should have "thought, that ought to have secured him from distrust, as "it prevented him from observation; but the truth was, it "did not hinder him from attempting to observe; it only "rendered his observations erroneous. That his soul was *Madame de STAEL. "tender, no one can doubt, after having read his works; "but his imagination sometimes interposed between his "reason and his affections, and destroyed their influence: "he appeared sometimes void of sensibility; but it was "because he did not perceive objects such as they were. "Had he seen them with our eyes, his heart would have "been more affected than ours. In this very striking description we see the melancholy ⚫ picture of sensibility and genius approaching to insanity. It is a case, probably, that but rarely occurs, in the extent here described: but, I believe, there is no man who has lived much in the world, who will not trace many resembling features to it, in the circle of his own acquaintances: perhaps there are few, who have not been occasionally conscious of some resemblance to it in themselves. To these observations we may add, that by an excessive indulgence in the pleasures of imagination, the taste may acquire a fastidious refinement unsuitable to the present situation of human nature; and those intellectual and moral habits, which ought to be formed by actual experience of the world, may be gradually so accommodated to the dreams of poetry and romance, as to disqualify us for the scene in which we are destined to act. Such a distempered state of the mind is an endless source of errour; more particularly when we are placed in those critical situations, in which our conduct determines our future happiness or misery; and which, on account of this extensive influence on human life, form the principal ground-work of fictitious composition. The effect of novels, in misleading the passions of youth, with respect to the most interesting and important of all relations, is one of the many instances of the inconveniences resulting from an ill-regulated imagination. The passion of love has been, in every age, the favourite subject of the poets, and has given birth to the finest pro |