surd, or uncharitable.-All these things weigh nothing with the insane person. He is not troubled about exactness of expression or the observance of ceremonies, but strangely rushes, as it were, upon the main points of the controversy, regardless of all minor considerations.* CHAPTER VII. DISORDERED ACTION OF THE IMAGINATION. § 150. General remarks on the nature of Imagi nation. WE proceed now to a consideration of the defective and disordered exercises of the Imagination. The mental process which is involved in any exercise of the Imagination, is a complex rather than a simple operation. Such a process implies, in particular, the exercise of the power of Association, in furnishing those conceptions which are combined together; also the exercise of the power of Relative Suggestion, by means of which the combination is effected. Hence we may properly propose as a definition of Imagination, that it is a complex exercise of the mind, by means of which various conceptions are combined together so as to form new wholes. The conceptions may very properly be regarded as * See Stewart's Philosophy of the Human Mind, vol. ii., ch. iii. the materials from which the new creations are made; but it is not until the existence of those acts which are implied in every process of the Imagination, such as Association and Relative Suggestion, that they are selected, detained before the mind, and ultimately united in various beautiful combinations. A dry definition will give but little idea of the fruitful and vast results which flow out of the exer cise of this power. Sometimes it is chiefly descriptive, catching the images of things as they exist in nature, subjecting them to the finest analysis, and recombining them in forms of exquisite beauty. So that nature herself, coming from the hands of the infinite and perfect Artist, finds herself rivalled in the productions which man's imagination gives rise to. Sometimes it assumes the suggestive and creative aspect, as in Spenser and Milton, giving existence to things and beings which have no parallel in earthly shapes; creating new worlds, peopling them with new inhabitants; adorning and rendering them happy with arts, and sights, and harmonies unknown before. 151. Great Imagination does not necessarily imply a disordered or insane action of the Mind. Without delaying further upon the general nature of Imagination, we now proceed to some remarks more closely connected with the subject properly before us. And, in doing this, it may be proper to allude to an opinion somewhat prevalent, that great power of imagination implies a tendency to disordered mental action. In regard to this opinion, it may It be remarked, that this is not necessarily the case, although there is some foundation for this view. is undoubtedly true, that there are some men of fertile and vigorous imaginations, whose minds are not well balanced; who discover a lack of judgment; and who would not be wisely trusted in many things where sound judgment is necessary. Perhaps there are many such cases. And it is certain there are some, perhaps many, exceptions, especially in men of the very highest forms of imagination. On If we may judge from their writings, which is almost the only means of judging we have, Homer and Shakspeare, who, by common consent, are placed at the head of poets, could not have been deficient in those qualities of mind which constitute the man of sound judgment. The admirable poems of Virgil discover no such deficiency in him. the contrary, it may be said without hyperbole, that almost every line discovers, not only those powers of language and that exquisite sensibility which are requisite to the higher forms of poetry, but also a judgment sound and well disciplined in the very highest degree. Dante and Milton, without mentioning other names, men who were emphatically kindred geniuses in the powers of the imagination, were also men of such practical tact, men of such discrimination and general capabilities for business, that they were considered suitable persons to hold high stations, and to exercise important influence in the political movements of their times. Great imagination, therefore, does not necessarily imply a tendency to disordered mental action, pro vided there is a suitable division of power; in other words, a corresponding energy in the other faculties. The imagination, in order to be great in the highest sense of the term, must draw nourishment from the other powers. Unquestionably, if the poet is of imagination all compact, in the sense of excluding a due mixture of the other capabilities, he may properly be located, where Shakspeare has placed him, in the same category with the lunatic. But such a man, although he may be a poet, is not to be confounded with a great poet, any more than Phaeton is to be confounded with Apollo. He holds the reins of the horses of the sun, but he has not the strength to guide them. 152. Of cases of marked deficiency of Imagina tion. There may, however, notwithstanding what has been said, be unsoundness of mind arising from excess of imagination. And is not the reverse equally true? Are we to speak of that as a sound mind! where imagination has no place? Can there well be a greater mental defect than this? Certain it is, there are some persons in whom the power of imagination appears to be almost totally extinct. They are matter-of-fact men, in the literal sense of the terms. They seem to have no possible conception of anything beyond the limit and boundary of what actually is. In vain would Sir Philip Sidney, in his beautiful Defence of Poetry, attempt to convince them that the imagination hath profit. They at once apply to all the delightful creations of this wonderful faculty Ezekiel's reed; they measure the walls, and the porches, and the threshold, and the chambers, that they may thereby estimate the utilities, not that they may get a clearer perception of the beautiful. Wonderful to them is the idea, that there may be truth and beauty, standing imperishable and beaming with radiance, and yet without the substantial and literal realization of anything which profiteth the body. What would such men make of Paradise Lost? Would not even the flute of Burns, sounding in its simplicity from his native Ayr, prove a mystery? Awakening no emotion of the heart, giving birth to no conception above this "diurnal sphere." At the same time, it must be acknowledged, that this faculty is more frequently dormant than absent; that it wants cultivation, not existence. In almost all minds, not excepting the peasant who humbly labours among the sods of the earth, there are some feeble twinklings of this inner light. In many cases where neither of the powers exists in a remarkable degree, the power of imagination is more vigorous and active than that of reflection. Often uncultured men catch by the outward eye a glance of the charms of nature, and imagination awakens at the happy moment, and adds to the beauty of her tints. § 153. Disorder of the Imagination as connected with Association and excited Conceptions. As imagination, considered as a whole, implies the exercise of various subordinate powers, we may sometimes more fully understand the nature of the |