The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1852-01-26
sMEDIoCRACY.r

aMEDIOCRACY.u
The reader win find in another column, an
article upon this subject, from Chambers Edn-
burgh Magazine, as full Of truth, as il 10 Of
energy and spirit.
/, is mediocrity that governs the world, that
has always governed il heretofore, that will
always govern il hereafter. The man who
does not sacrifice to this omnipotent monarch.
is doomed man. He may possess all the
genius of Shakespeare, all the scieuce OF New
ton, all the learning of all the learned men
that have ever existed, and unless he bows be-
fore her throne, he can no more make his way
through the world than vessel can cross the
Atlantic without sail, steam, oar or Fudder.-
Look around, and see how commonplace every
thing is-lsten to the conversation which best
pleases the masses, of this every day world
observe the amusements in which they most
delight, the books which pleases them best
and some ideu may be formed of the depth,
length. breadth and consistency of that huge
mass which the writer of this article has chosen
to designate as the mediocracy. We hear Of
men renowned for the extent of their acquire
ments. and the brightness of their genius, dying
notwithstanding beneath the oppression of
hearts broken by disappointed hopes-expiring
from mere exhaustion produced by the mental
labor. necessary to earn a bare pittance. 1t is
because such men belong not to the mediocra-
cy-to the great power that governs the world.
They know not how to shape their course so
of this
mighty Government.
To be we'll with the medocracy, a man must
be one of them. If he have, really, any thoughts
of more elevated character than theirs, he
must keep them to himself. To give utterance
to them, is to sign the death-warrant of all his
his eye, the fate Of all the mighty men of ge-
MUS who have gone ahead of their age, and
have reaped their reward in the coldness and
neglect of their contemporaries, hut poorly re
deemed by Immortality after they are no longer
capable of approaching it. Let them not for
get the inevitable fate of those great inventors.
who to man, were sneered at by their age.
and whose inventions afterwards produced a
revolution in the affairs of the world. With
these striking examples before their eyes, let
them, if they write, never venture beyond the
realms of absolute platitude, no matter what
their genius, or the promptpgs which it in
fiicts. Let them recollect that the Trial of
Bishop Onderdonk," brought in its thousands,
while the Novum Organum brought nothing
that Paradise Lost can sustain with the me-
diocracy, no competition with Poems by Cor
nelius Mathews"-and that the Tempest, or
draw, when "A Glance at New York; or
"Mose 10 California would crowd the house
from pit to gallery. The Great Mediocracy
hates anything but common place, from its
very nature, and nothing but common place
can go down with it.
The Chancellor Oxenstiern advised his son
to so forth and see with how little wisdom the
world was governed. The old gentleman had
found, in his day, no doubt, that medocrity was
the best passport to public favor. And SO it is
to this day. If man wish to go to Congress,
or the Senate, mediocrity is his best passport,
and if any man doubt it, let him spend winter
in Washington and see the solid column of me-
diocrity that stands forth every day in the
Capitol. Genius may live on the future a
very airy and unsatisfactory sort of diet by the
bye-but mediocrity feeds upon the fat of the
land. Stewed terrapns, and canvass back
ducks, washed down by Sherry or Madeira of
the last centlry's vintage, are the portion OF
mediocrity. Genius may thank his stars if he
car manage to dane at ALL
We have read the Lives Of many men of
genius, and we have come to the conclusion
that we had rather be anything else that ever
existed. Some of them strike in with the pecu-
liar whims of the medocracy, and they thrive.
But for one that does this, how many are there
that fail Give US, we say. medocrity-suc-
cessfu mediocfity, for even mediocrity cannot
always ensure success, and the men of genius
may pass by UNDECIDED and unenvied by u.s.
Give US the thousand good things that nedoc-
rity is heir to-the warm houses, the good din
ners, the plentiful supplies, and genius may go
to the ID. Did not old Newcastle, and North,
and Rockingham, and dozen others rule
England, while Burke was in Parliament -
And did Burke have anything TO recommend
MIN except tHe idCt vi Ills bcihS Tue greatest
man Of the age? And could any of his friends
have been so sanguine as to suppose that mere
greatness of genius could prevail over the thou
sand aud one appendages OF mediocrity True,
Burke stands out now, like gigantic statue,
amid set of Liliputian images-his speeches
are read as miracles almost of Inspiration
But what good does that do him now Me.
diocrity would not listen to them when deliver
ed, and mediocrity is all powerful.
The Mails and Ice in The Bay.
The Norfolk Beacon of Saturday says:
"our communication with Baltimore city
is again cut off. The steamer Georgia, which
left here at Up. Nj. on Thursday, returned yes
terday about p. III. She succeeded in get
ting within 40 miles of Annapolis, when She
encountered ice 10 10 Ia inches thick, which