concerning the issue. (Plin. Maj. LIB. VII. SECT. 7.) But the following instances are more express. Valerius Maximus tells us that Sophocles the tragic Writer, in a contest of honour, died in consequence of a decision being pronounced in his favour. "Sophocles "ultimæ jam senectutis, cum in certamine tragædiam "dixisset, ancipiti sententiarum eventu diu solicitus, "aliquando tamen unâ sententiâ victor, causam mortis gaudium habuit." (Val. Max. LIB. IX. CAP. 12.) Aulius Gellius mentions a remarkable instance of what may be termed, accumulated joy, in Diagoras, whose three sons were crowned in the same day as victors; the one as a pugilist, the other as a wrestler, and the third in both capacities. "Diagoras, tres filios habuit, unum 66 pugilem, alterum lutorem, tertium Pancrastiasten ; 66 eosque omnes videt vincere coronarique eodem Olym "piæ die; et cum coronis suis in caput patris positis "suaviarentur; cumque populus gratulabundus flores ❝ undique in eum jaceret, ibi in stadio, inspectante "populo, in osculis, atque in manibus filiorum animam "efflavit." (Aul. Gell. noct. Attic. LIB. III. CAP. 15.) Livy also mentions the instance of an aged Matron, who while she was in the depth of distress, from the tid ings of her son's having been slain in battle, died in his arms in the excess of joy upon his safe return. (Liv. Lib. XXII. Cap. 7.) Not to enumerate more instances; we are told by the Italian historian Guicciardini, that Leo the Tenth died of a fever, occasioned by the agitation of his spirits, on his receiving the joyful news of the capture of Milan, concerning which he had entertained much anxiety. (Istoria de Guicciardini, Lib. XIV.) In all these instances the previous state of mind, with its pathological effects upon the body, made the impulse of joy the stronger, and contributed to render it fatal. NOTE U. After" will contribute to explain the rest." DR. Haygarth, in his late Publication on the Imagination as a Cause, and as a Cure of the Disorders of the Body, has presented us with many curious and interesting facts relative to its influence; to which I beg leave to refer the Reader. Such incontestible proofs of the power of the imagination in medical cases, may vindicate some of the strenuous advocates for Animal Magnetism, from the charge of intentional fraud, brought against them by the totally incredulous; while they demonstrate the absurdity of all their theories. I have, in the text, attributed the power of the imagination to produce certain changes in the corporeal system, to the Passions or strong Affections, which in such cases always accompany it; and the experiments made by Doctor Haygarth and his medical friends, abundantly corroborate the sentiment. In some of the Patients, the salutary influence of hope, and afterwards of joy, was evidently very great: in others, the mind was obviously in a state of surprise and astonishment, at the mysterious powers supposed to be seated in the instruments ;-in others, it was agitated by alternate hopes and fears;-and in others, it was under the strong impressions of terror. The directions given to the Tractors served to point out as it were, the influence of this pre-disposition of mind to the parts particularly affected, by a law not more inexplicable, though more uncommon, than the operation of the will in producing voluntary motion. Nor is the process dissimilar to that of conveying the electric fluid to various parts of the body, as practised in medical electricity. Since every passion is frequently excited by the Imagination alone, without any real or just cause, and since these passions are in their appearances and effects, perfectly the same as those produced by realities, the medical influence of the Imagination is obviously reduced to the same principle. The remaining difficulties therefore, attending the subject, are not greater than those which belong to the influence of the passions in general. When it shall be explained in what manner each Passion instantaneously produces its own specific change, whether it be of an exhilarating, irritating, depressive, or languid nature, we shall be able to explain the medical Power of the Imagination, which is able to excite passions and affections, from ideal causes. NOTE W. After "where the sole object is to establish indisputable facts." Page 310. THE Section to which this Note refers is an abridged translation of some parts of the Author's Inaugural Dissertation, De Animi pathamatum vi, et modo agendi in inducendis et curandis Morbis ; published at Leydon in the year 1767. In which his professed object was to theorize; and by adducing numerous proofs of the influence of the passions, both in inducing and removing disorders, to demonstrate the fallacy of the Boerhaavian system, which attributes the proximate causes of diseases to certain changes in the fluids. He attempted in that Dissertation to explain the modus operandi of the passions and affections, upon principles equally adapted to the influence of every other cause of morbid or salutary change. It was his intention to have considered. the subject more amply; and to have presented it to the world in another form; but in the earlier part of life he was deprived of the requisite leisure; and in subsequent years the gradual rejection of the Boerhaavian doctrine, and the very learned dissertation of Dr. Falconer on the same subject, to which the Fothergillian Medal was adjudged, conspired to render the execution of his design the less necessary. The Reader will find in the Doctor's Treatise, numerous instances given illustrative of the doctrine and principles now advanced, and such authorities quoted as will remove every doubt. See also Sir George Baker's Observations, in the Medical Transactions. T. III. XI. NOTE X. After "The other compounds partake of mixed effects." Page 320. THESE Observations on the influence of the passions and affections upon thought and language, united with those repeatedly advanced on the power of sympathy, point out to us the reason of an axiom universally admitted, that the orator must feel his subject to insure his power over the feeling of others. As the warm feelings of a mind duly cultivated, will always suggest a train of ideas and expressions, correspondent with its peculiar state, thus in some degree of feeling highly necessary for a successful imitation. If the rhetorician or orator be totally destitute of sensibility, there will be such an artifice in his style and manner, as can alone deceive those who are ignorant that artifice exists. It is, however, acknowledged, that by constant practice, or in other words, by being hackneyed in their profession, both language and manner may become the result of habit, and may be employed with effect, when the Feelings which gave them their original energy are obtunded. Veteran actors have been known to imitate various emotions, in a just and forcible manner, long after they had lost their sensibility. The retained Counsellor has been known to imitate that pathos in a bad cause, which a good cause alone could have at first inspired and the corrupt Senator may, in his degenerate state, counterfeit all that zeal and energy, which was genuine at the commencement of his political career. But so true is nature to itself, that it absolutely demands the passions and emotions to be perfectly represented. Defect diffuses a languor, excess produces disgust. The eloquence dictated by an unfeeling heart, mistakes bombast for sublimity, rant for strong feelings, the cant and whine of a mendicant for the pathetic. It confounds or misapplies every trope and figure which it has collected from systems of rhetoric. It is loquacious where it ought to |