Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1828-1831, 1829-08-07
THE ELOQUENT MUsT STUDY-

Inc labors requisite to form the nubiic
speaker are by no means duly appreciated
among us. There is nothing like the ancient
esiiination OF this work. An absurd idea pre-
vaiis among our scholars, that the finest pro-
uucuohs oil the mind are the fruits Of hasty
!, the unfoldings of a sudden thought
the bret visltations of fortunate hour or
evening, the Hastings of intuition. or the
gieamings of fancy. Genius is often COM
pared to lightning from the cloud or the sud-
uen bursting out of secret fountain: and
eioquence IS regarded as If it were kind
oi When a man has made a
happy eHoft, he is next possessed with an
absurd ambition TO have it thought that il
cost HIM nothing. He will say. perhaps.
mat IL was three hours work. Now it is
not enough to maintain that nothing could
DE more injurious to our youth than this
way OF thinking: for the truth is, that moth
ing can be more false. The mistake lies in
confounding with the-lnere arrangement of
thoughts, or Tire manual labour OF putting
them on paper, the long previous preparation
OF mind, the settled habits of thought. It
mas taken but three hours, perhaps, to com
pose an admirable piece of poetry or q fine
speech; out the reflections of three wears, or
of thirty, may have been tending to that re-
su!t. 1t IS good rule, no doubt, '.to write
with fury, and correct with phIegm;" but
a man cannot write with fury and write with
sense too, without much previous thought.
lie may write with folly, and that is often
done.--He may imagine that he is writing
hnely, because ne is writing fast, and that
his sounding pen flies over AN inspired pare:
and that Is likely to result from the absurd
application Of the maxim. that happy efforts
are hasty ones. Genius is thought, is study,
Is application. The two simple, but magi,;
words which contain the secret of Newton's
greatness, according TO bis own explanation,
are patient thought" There is not more
Indispensable characteristic of genius, than
good sense. Ii is that has given 10 the
true works of genius, universal reception
and immortal fame. And here too. is indica-
TED the rock on,whch thousands have split.
Many men have powerful imagination
but thcy nave not the "pa1leDt thought, - the.
good sense requisite To control H. They
have not learnt, IN ''the very torrent tempest
and whiriwind of passion, to acquire and
beget the temperance that may give II smooth
ness We wish that We could see an anal
ysis OF genius on those principles: that we
could see untolded all the previous thought,
the patent study; the thorough reflection,
the me discrimination, that are necessary
10 produce even page of really fine wri-
ting. itwOuld be useful lesson 1t would
teach our aspiring youth, that they never
can succeed without labour; that il never
viii do to trust to irregular, hasty efforts; that
they might as well expect literally to com
mand the lIghtnings Of the tempest without
philosophy, as without philosophy to WELD
the lIghtnIngs of eloquencc They ought
not to have tins good without labouring for
IT, without waiting patiently at the shrine OF
that divinity,-the Industry which alone can
give II. The gift is too great, too high, to
cost them little.--.North american Reviezp.