seen." Occurrences like these have led some to conjecture that the soul may become independent of organs, and be able, even while in the body, to perceive objects without the intervention of the senses. This view is not warranted by necessity. The theory of an ecstatic state of the powers of sense is to be preferred.

Hallucinations.

2. The part which fantasy plays in producing those hallucinations and apparitions which sometimes substitute themselves for realities, is to be distinguished from the operation of this power in connection with the delusions of dreaming. In the latter, deception results from a reduction of the energies of the soul, and the absence of the corrective influence of external perception; but the hallucinations of sense mingle themselves with our veritable cognitions, and take place in spite of the exercise of a sound judgment and of our condemnation of them as fanciful. In this they resemble those errors of perception which spring from our instinctive habits of judgment. The principal cause of these hallucinations is a morbid condition of the organs of sense.

When these organs become unnaturally susceptible, it is possible for the sensations appropriate to some object to be produced in them while the object itself is absent. This happens for the most part, we believe, through the influence of the fantasy, though it may result also from the stimulation of a reproductive tendency in the organ itself, under some physical excitement. In either case the sensible impression of the organ combines with the action of the intellect, and produces a phantasm, or image, which closely resembles an object of perception. Sometimes this phantasm is indistinct and transitory, as when, waking from feverish sleep, one may fancy that he sees and hears, when no real perceptions take place. These hallucinations are easily rejected, and are soon forgotten; but when, through the strength of disease, apparitions become vivid and stable, sober discrimination is needed to perceive that they are merely mental images,

"False creations,

Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain."

When the power of discrimination is wholly lost, as it is in delirium and insanity, the deception becomes complete and prolonged. We remember the conduct of a poor lieutenant whom we visited in his hut during the late war, and who was suffering from delirium tremens. These, sir," he said, pointing here and there about him, "are the reptiles that are going to devour me." Then, springing up, he rushed out into the company street, seized whatever missiles came to hand, and flung them, with all his force, at the doors, corners, and chimneys of the huts of his comrades, and wherever else he could spy his imaginary tormentors.

The fact that sense-hallucinations attack those who are addicted to the habitual use of spirituous liquors, or of opium, Cannabis Indica, or some other narcotic stimulant, shows that this phenomenon has its principal origin in a disorder of the nerves. Generally the beginning and the ending of every experience of hallucinations can be connected with some physical cause. Two cases, chiefly remarkable for being scientifically recorded, may illustrate the origin of hallucinations.

The first, which is reported in the "Edinburgh Medical Illustrations. Journal," is that of a citizen of Kingston-on-Hull. This man had a quarrel with a drunken soldier who attempted to enter his house, during which the soldier drew his bayonet and struck him across the temples, dividing the temporal artery. He had scarcely recovered from the effects of a great loss of blood on this occasion, when he undertook to accompany a friend in his walking-match against time, during which he went forty-two miles in nine hours. Elated by his success, he spent the whole of the following day in drinking. The result of these things was an affection, probably an inflammation, of the brain; and the consequence of this was the existence of those vivid states of mind which are termed apparitions. Accordingly, our shop-keeper (for that was his calling) is reported to have seen articles of sale upon the floor, and to have beheld an armed soldier entering his shop, when there was nothing seen by other persons present. In a word, he was for some time constantly haunted by a variety of spectres, or imaginary appearances; so much so, that he even found it difficult to determine which were real customers and which were mere phantasms of his own mind."

The other case that of Nicolai, a distinguished Prussian bookseller — is preserved in a memoir read by himself before the Royal Society of Berlin, on the 28th of February, 1799. Mr. Nicolai was a person of unusual intelligence and of vivid imagination, and at the time of the occurrence of the hallucinations, had been agitated by a great trouble. "My wife," he says, "came into my apartment in the morning to console me, but I was too much agitated to be capable of attending to her. On a sudden I perceived, at about the distance of ten steps, a form like that of a deceased person. I pointed at it, asking my wife if she did not see it. My question alarmed her very much, and she immediately sent for a physician. The phantom continued about eight minutes. I grew more calm, and, being extremely exhausted, fell into a restless sleep, which lasted half an hour. At four in the afternoon, the form which I had seen in the morning reappeared. I was by myself when this happened, and, being uneasy at the incident, went to my wife's apartment; there, likewise, I was persecuted by the apparition, which, however, at intervals disappeared, and always presented itself in a standing posture. About six o'clock there appeared, also, several walking figures, which had no connection with the first.

"After the first day the form of the deceased person no more appeared, but its place was supplied with many other phantoms, sometimes representing acquaintances, but mostly strangers; those whom I knew were composed of living and deceased persons, but the number of the latter was comparatively small. The persons with whom I daily conversed did not appear as phantoms. These appearances were equally

clear and distinct at all times and under all circumstances, both when I was by myself and when I was in company, as well in the day as in the night, and in my own house as well as abroad. They were less frequent when I was in the house of a friend, and rarely appeared to me in the street. When I shut my eyes they would sometimes vanish entirely, though there were instances when I beheld them with my eyes closed; yet when they disappeared on such occasions, they generally returned when I opened my eyes. All these phantasms appeared to

me in their natural size, and as distinct as if alive, exhibiting different shades of carnation in the uncovered parts, as well as different colors and fashions in their dresses, though the colors seemed somewhat paler than in real Nature. The longer they visited me, the more frequently did they return; and they increased in number about four weeks after they first appeared.

I also began to hear them talk; they sometimes conversed among themselves, but more frequently addressed their discourse to me. Sometimes I was accosted by these consoling friends while I was in company, and not unfrequently while real persons were speaking to me.

In both the foregoing cases it is to be remarked that although the hallucinations were involuntary, and could neither be banished nor recalled at pleasure, their true character became speedily and perfectly known to the persons who suffered from them. In both cases bloodletting was found an effectual remedy.

The exercise of fantasy is a prominent feature in most forms of insanity, as those know who have listened to the amazing claims and wild vagaries of madmen. This is the natural result of that distraction and dissipation of energy, and that loss of the power of attentive judgment, which are the essential elements of mental derangement. The false beliefs of madness arise from the distraction and dissipation, just as the delusions of dreaming result from the suspension or reduction, of our mental vigor.

CHAPTER XLV.

THE POETIC IMAGINATION.

1. IMAGINATION is distinguishable from mere fantasy by reason of that special exercise of judgment which it involves. In imagination the mind always aims to form for itself objects in the contemplation of which some end of pleasure, knowledge, useful direction, or practical influence may be promoted. The elements of those conceptions which are presented by the suggestive power are chosen or rejected according to their fitness to serve the end. Hence the faculty of imagination, like that of reasoning, involves a voluntary control of our thinking powers. Dr. Brown imperfectly expresses this truth by saying that the higher imagination is a combination of association or suggestion with intention or desire.

The comparatively insignificant place which has been granted to imagination, in most metaphysical writings, is to be accounted for partly because philosophers have been mainly interested in those operations by which truth and knowledge are secured, and partly because there is not much in the theory of the imagination to exercise philosophical acumen and subtilty.

This faculty, nevertheless, is an essential part of the constitution of the mind. Were man's thoughts confined exclusively to memories of the past and cognitions of the present, together with such views of the future as can be obtained from accurate inference, life would be a dull affair indeed. But now bright hopes animate our efforts, lofty ideals present themselves for our realization, and gentle fancies soften the rough realities with which they mingle; thus we are solaced in the midst of cares, and are beckoned onward in the pursuit of noble ends.

Although imagination belongs to all men, it is a Possessed by all men, but gift granted to some in vastly more abundant measure pre-eminent- than to others. For men differ more as to their menly by some. tal than as to their bodily endowments. The distance between a stupid clown and a cultured, educated genius is greater than that between a feeble gentleman and a practised athlete. Persons remarkable for imagination commonly possess quick and lively sensibilities. This partly results from the vividness of their conceptions, but it also stimulates and increases their ability to form such conceptions; for this reason the natural difference of persons in imaginative power becomes greatly increased as their minds and characters develop.

The faculty of imagination sometimes works on its own account; that is, it creates scenes and objects simply for the satisfaction of surveying them. At other times its operations are subservient to purposes more remote than any included in this satisfaction. We cannot do better than to consider it, first in the one, and then in the other, of these relations.

The poetic

2. That development of imagination which elaborimagination. ates mental objects for the satisfaction of surveying The fancy. them, may be distinguished as the poetic imagination. When exercised with little rational control, without any attempt at a serious and systematic work, and simply for the purpose of providing pleasing images, it is often called the fancy, a name which implies that this is a mode of thought not far removed from simple fantasy.

The poetic imagination, again, with reference to two wellknown developments of genius that depend upon it, may be subdivided into the poetic imagination proper and the artistic imagination.

Poetry and art are pursuits of a kindred nature, yet easily contrasted with one another. The thought of the former expresses itself in language; that of the latter is embodied in painting, music, statuary, and whatever other material things may be made to exhibit the pleasing and the impressive.

The sphere of poetry is vastly more extensive than that of art.

Language can utter, with wonderful exactness, whatever the mind conceives: every change and turn of events, every motive and thought, affection and desire, of the heart, can be made known in befitting words. But the productions of art, however skilfully constructed, set forth only the outer side of things, and leave more unsaid than they express. At the same time works of art, in appealing to our senses, and not to our minds alone, are better calculated than poetry to produce a strong immediate effect.

The objects which the poet and the artist endeavor to prepare for our contemplation are, in the first place, the beautiful and the sublime; the former comprising whatever may be pleasant to contemplate either in itself or both in itself and its associations, and the latter being that which conveys the suggestion of power and greatness. In addition to these objects, whatever may move and interest the heart is delineated. For, to use a phrase of Hamilton's, the productions of both art and poetry are exclusively calculated on effect."

External

of poetry and art.

The external conditions favorable for the developconditions ment of one of these pursuits differ from those in which the other flourishes. Both require a time of comparative peacefulness, when the minds of men are not occupied with wars and civil commotions. But poetry delights in an age characterized by simplicity of life and manners, in which the spirit of men is unconventional and easily impressed, and in which the memory of great achievements and the desire to emulate them are fresh and vigorous. The poet then gives shape and expression to the sentiments which burn within his own breast and those of others. Art, on the other hand, waits for times of greater repose, and is roused to exertion when the extension of a cultivated taste, the facilities for artistic work, and the accumulation of wealth create the demand for meritorious productions, and encourage those whose genius can supply the demand. As a rule, the great poets in every country precede the great artists. We allow that the power of genius is wonderful in every age and in every condition of society; but without opportunity, even genius can accomplish nothing of value, and, in general, favorable times are needed for any grand achievement.

Versification,

It is noticeable that the poetry of every language reason for. employs versification, or rather is composed in lines Poetic labor. of a length and accentuation more or less regular. This may have been adopted at first to assist memorization, but must be chiefly ascribed to a natural fitness of rhythmical language to be the instrument of poetical expression. The ear