A408 On Genius. 
effect onthe development of Genius Of these 
circumstances climate is one of the most im- 
portant. In the delicious countries of the 
South of Europe, in Etaly and in Greece, 
the frame of man, endued with an exquisite 
susceptibility and an uncommon delicacy of 
sense, supplies the imagination and the feel- 
ings with continual excitement. These re- 
gions have accordingly been the cradle of the 
fine arts and the cherished haunts of the muses. 
remarkable behaviour, when taken to the theatre. Some of the most 
remarkable examples of a precocious development of Genius occur in the 
annals of Music, For early proficiency in this art, nature must have pro- 
vided an exquisite delicacy and sensibility in the organ of hearing; it is 
this which constitutes the determining citcumstance of the Genius, and 
‘draws the whole power of the nascent intellect to the office of noting and 
recording and associating the most latent and delicate relations of harmo- 
‘ny. The auditory nerves of Mozart, as we areinformed by his biogra- 
pher, (Life of Mozart p. 345) were so exquititely susceptible, that, in 
early childhood, the sound of a trumpet nearly threw him into convul- 
sions, and every false note was a perfect torture to him. From this 
organization of the ear result those strong associations of delight with 
the art of music, which fix the taste, and mark out the sphere in which 
the imagination and sensibility are to operate. The passion may some- 
times, as seems to have been the case with Handel, be excited and con- 
firmed by unseasonable opposition ; sometimes, as in the instances of 
Haydn and Mozart, encouraged by early intercourse with musical men. 
But that exclusive devotion of the attention, which seems indispensible to 
attaining the highest excellence of musical composition, is purchased most- 
ly by a corresponding imperfection in the development of the reasoning 
powers. I believe no instances are to be met with of distinguished 
nmusical genius, associated with great general talent. In many cases, it 
is accompanied by a deficiency of intellect. Mozart was little better 
than an ideot, except at the harpsichord. 
