Qui ratione corporis non habent, sed cogunt mortalem immor- PLUTARCH, DE SANIT. TUEND. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. PHILADELPHIA: CAREY, LEA, AND BLANCHARD. THE INFIRMITIES OF GENIUS. CHAPTER I. THE EFFECTS OF LITERARY HABITS. It is generally admitted that literary men are an irritable race, subject to many infirmities, both of mind and body; that worldly prosperity and domestic happiness are not very often the result of their pursuits. Eccentricity is the "badge of all their tribe;" and so many errors accompany their career, that fame and frailty would almost seem to be inseparable companions. Perhaps it is wisely ordained that such should be the case, to check the pride of human intellect, and to render those of humbler capacities contented with their lot, to whom nature has denied the noblest of her gifts. It is the unfortunate tendency of literary habits, to enamour the studious of the seclusion of the closet, and to render them more conversant with |