Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1851-06-13
:. GENIUS AND TNTEnpERAkcE


So many of our greatest men, those of bright
natural powers and high ~attainments, 20 many
gifted sons of genius, worship at the shrine Of
Bacehus, that the aspirant for fame can almost
assume a position in favor of intemperance.-l
Among our W statesman not a few are addic-
ted to the frequent use ofardent spirits. Many
who fill exalted stations, who rank first as Ar
fists, Historians, Poets, and Orators, who are en-
gagged in the noblest works in which man loves
to excel, have arrived at eminenee, while indul
seemed to help Them on. Is the only essential
to success frequent application to the bOttlel-I
oris there hope on close scrutiny, Of finding, that
the law Of nature is still true to itself; and that
a sin affecting any faculty is really injurious;
that those who attain success in its pursuit sue
coed in spite Of it; and that the only matter Of
exclamation is what might not such men be,
but for their d~issipated counsel
But it is not alone the man, who stimulates
his mental energies with wine, that exeels in his
particular occupation. Those who lead ~virtuous
lives rise, on the average, to still greater emf
nenee. And when the natural abilities are con-
trusted, as might often be the case, the dispro-
portion is increased. The man Of small capacity,
who begins q life Of dissipation, often aceompa-
MED with physical debilities and peeuniary mis-
fortunes, is nearly always doomed to fhlure.-
Besides it is rare that incorporate men attain
distinction in those occupations, a respectable
station in which depends more on the improve
ments of after life thar on any particular turn
of the mind in be5hood. And when we reflect
that eminence attained by them is almost uni
versally confined to one pursuit, or the exercise
of some one faculty, it is almost demonstrated,
that the high position of some dissipated men is
due to exalted genius, and to genius alone
Mark, too that in very many of these apparent
" anomalous instances, the love of chat ~particu-
lar occupation, that direction Of the powers to
which genius or taste adapt each man, is often
sufficient to enrapture the mind when not re-
Taxed by eonvibiality. Who can say how many
with equal genius, but with taste not yet ripen-
ed into love, have been overcome by this relax
alton, and the wine cup instead Of their profess.
ion has become their idoll The history Of litera-
ry men shows, not that al. but that a very
great portion of men of genius seek in the wine
cup that release from assiduous labor which tn,
mind demands. Without examining into tn,
reason of this proneness to mental excitement
with its baneful effects, it viii occur to theread
er, that precisely at this stage the youth VIII
seemed devoted to a science or an art, who wa
consuming the light of his life in efforts to queneI
4 his thirst for knowledge, or to perfect that cres
4 tive skill of whose existence he was scareelp.
ware, instead of becoming like the immortl
Henry Kirk White, a martyr to his fret Low
= mingling a sinful recreation with his devotion
at the altar of science, begins to be equaled.
,e length surpassed, ~ those who started far b
Is hind him Although we may forgive the faul
of mighty in~teIlects, it is only the perseyerir
e Adams, who by a life of virtue, mastered ever
1T department of knowledge. But it is a ByroI
Of who commenced life with equal application
e the same pursuits, and with a power of mir
10 far superior to that of our great statesmen
V who, when a boy, amassed the wisdom of sage
and was even then gifted with the highest ere
at alive faculties possessing in an eminent degre
skin to win the hearts of men and Of nation
ne instead of being. as he might have been, Il
.es greatest benefaetor to his race, enrolling as
an might have ennobled the souls of his fellow
GU and uniting freedom into a bright and univt
10 sal existence; was by the indulgence of his a
10 petitcs and passions, narrowed up into an Gee
lg, of self love, and cOmmuned with US only throuI
ese a beautiful, indeed, but corrupting poesy.
he One word more. The exuberanf fancy bs
Sc liant wit and humour, that unrestrained yet
are tellectual style of conversation, known as
feast Of reason and the flow Of soul" even
ach eentricity itSelf, all displayed under the exc
IOd ment of wine, impose themselves on many as
md the essence Of genius They are too often led
md initiate all the f%oIIies, at least mfirmities Of