They have lost liberty, and even life, on account of their
works. The cherished offspring of their brains have, like unnatural
children, turned against their parents, causing them to be put to death._
_Fools many of them--nay, it is surprising how many of this illustrious
family have peopled the world, and they can boast of many authors' names
which figure on their genealogical tree--men who might have lived happy,
contented, and useful lives were it not for their insane _cacoethes
scribendi_. And hereby they show their folly. If only they had been
content to write plain and ordinary commonplaces which every one believed,
and which caused every honest fellow who had a grain of sense in his head
to exclaim, "How true that is!" all would have been well. But they must
needs write something original, something different from other men's
thoughts; and immediately the censors and critics began to spy out heresy,
or laxity of morals, and the fools were dealt with according to their
folly. There used to be special houses of correction in those days, mad-
houses built upon an approved system, for the special treatment of cases
of this kind; mediaeval dungeons, an occasional application of the rack,
and other gentle instruments of torture of an inventive age, were
wonderfully efficacious in curing a man of his folly. Nor was there any
special limit to the time during which the treatment lasted.
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