Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1854-01-02
The Sons of Great Fathers.

There very few of the great in English
| literature who have any descendants. As gen
eral rule, great man is the last of his immediate
| line. He makes his name famous and then be-
queatheS it to nobody 1t seems to be too much
glory or family to be able 10 connect Itself line
ally with any one Of those maSterSp,uts in the
| world OF mind that have conferred glory ma
ton. Were there a descendant OF Shakespeare
| alive he would be curiouSly inspected by many
| admirers of the great bard in order to ascertain
whether there vas not some marks about him
which distinguished him from other men. But it
| SO happens that nature seems inimcal 10 II pro-
pagaflOn Cf great names, although it sometimes &C.
| ours that great man has family OF childIen who
survive him and who multiply and spread his
name. But generally the cI ildren Of great men
short lived and the family dies out i'll the
| OF generation or two.
W hat have become of the names of the creates;
| of Engishmen? or our twelve Presidents who
have been elected 10 that Office but three four
have left any descendants, and what is true of
our Presidents i'll tins respect is also true of our
most distinguished men<lh other departments of
life. Where are tie descendants Of Shakespeare
aud Ben JOnSun? Shakespeare had children but
the family IS lung since extinct. So also had Mil
ton children but his name has long since ceased to
hcIMyG H. the. Lying, 10Y 8 IRI; u02 D0TydeMS. no
nor JohnSUnS, nor GlbbonSeS, nor BuTkeS, nor
ReynOdse$, not to mention hundred other nnmes
of distinction i'll science, art, literature, statesman
Sh p, and war. Their offspring are OF the brain
and live on tie shelves of Libraries and in the
hearts of tie lovers of genius and of song.
a recent writer from Germany speaks OF the son
Of Schiller, the greatest Of the German poets, who
is still living. Of course lie object OF Curl
osty al who love the father on account OF the
beauty and brilliamcy of his genius have the de-
sire 10 see the son Of such man. Well they see
him and when they do see him they very or
binary man. They ieel very much disappointed.
We suppose that it is thought t:at such
Schiller could not have son who would not rise
far above The stature OF ordinary men. Men seem
think that genius must SSarlly give birth TO
genius, whereas the truth is that mind is not trans
mlSShe and it is mind that makes the glory OF the
man. They, who hunt out Schiller's son in the
expectation OF finding prodigy IN intellect the
father was, laugh at the n, whereas they them
selves deserve be laughed at for their folly. He
is very respectable man Who acts his part in life
with pTopriety and but for his connection with the
great bard of Germany, would be regarded in all
respects a most paSSable and pleasant man.
But he is the Of Schiller and the people will
not permit the son of Schiller to be common. To
accommodate their tastes, he ought 10 be made out
of porcelain and not cut of the common clay from
which men and women are made. As nature and
rot they had the making of him, he came into this
world undistinguished by any OF the extraordinary
powers of mind Tor which his great father is so IA.
NOUS Poor fellow, it is his misfortune and not
his fault that he is the son of great man. People
laugh at him bec0uSe he is not q genius, and de-
ride him because he is the son Of Schiller without
the mind of Schl er. He (, els keenly the disad-
vantage of having had famous father, for people
are continually contrasting him with thai father
greatly TO his hIsPaTagement. There seems to be
u strong tendency in The minds of people to LOOK
for superiority III all those who spring from men
Of superior mind Notwithstanding III. worlds full
of evidence going to Shew that great men either
have no children al all, Or if they have any, such
as are not d StirguiShable from the children of
common NELL They may inherit tue physical or
CARNATIONS and liDeaments OF their fathers, but
genius is a gift from heaven which may not be in
berited.-LOu. Jour.