The Winchester weekly appeal. [volume] (Winchester, Tenn.) 1856-1856, 1856-09-26
THE SONS or GREAT MEN.

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guished sons of great meli Calhoun,
Webster and Clay have alllcft sons, but
none that seem, to take their fathers Rla'
ces as orators or as statesmen. Lord
Bhalham, indeed, might boast Of an ex'
ception in William Pitt, but where shall
VIC find another? The younger Pitt,
Fox, Sheridan. Brougham, where are their
sons? The present Sir Robert Peel,
is, indeed, Of The third generation OF men
who have attained to some degree OF dis,
tincton in Great Britain, and have sat
in the English House Of Commons. But
then, none Of these men have been persons
of genius--they were good business men,
and able tocticians, but nothing more.
Distinction in the exact sciences would
seem most aptto reproduce itself Her
schel, father and son, have been great as
tronomers, and the whole family Of Ma.
piers has been distinguished for two or
three generations. In the line Of mill.
tary men, such as Napoleon, Washington
and Jackson, where are their descendants?
Lord Wellington has sons, but they have
added little honor TO his name thus far,
are not likely to add much more. Oil
yer Cromwell had o son, who had indeed
the good sense to resign his Protectorate,
but it was because he felt he had no; the
ability to keep it. In the history of po'
etry we have no instance Of two great
poets, father and son. Milton and
Shakespeare left no sons. Sir Walter
SCOTS sons are all dead, and were of'no
account" Byron's only surviving child
cannot bear, it said, to hear her fathers
name mentioned, and boasts that she has
never read his works. In fact, account
for it as we may, the descendants Of men
Of great genius have been, as a general
thing, few and undistingbished. On
what principle. then, is this fact to be ex.
planned? Is il simply that as the acorn
cannot grow under the shadow Of the
fullgrown, oyerspreadmg oak, so youth.
full genius in the second generation is per.
petually depressed by sense Of inleri.
orty in the presence of the first? Or is
it that the standard of attainment becomes
elevated so high, that from the very first
these men never hope to realize anything
at all equal to their own ideas, and will
therefore attempt nothing? This may be
the cause in part.
But there are other causes. The sam G
immediate necessity is not laid upon the
second generation, as produced the no.
blcst efforts of their fathers. DR.. John.
son would never have written the finest
pages Of the Rambler, had he not wanted
a guinea to pay for his dinner, and it was
Constable's liberal advances for the
building of AbbotsIord that stimulated
Scott to write the Wavery Novels. Tom
Moorc's truest inspiration was the prom.
Use of three thousand ghineas for pc.
EN-. Even Lord Byron wrote some Of the
most brilliant passages Of his Don Juan
as much under the influence Of Murray's
check book as his ravorite gin and wa.
ter. But the sons Of successful men of
genius are often too much protected, and
pettcd and spoiled. They either have
plenty Of money, or learn to live with.
out it. They are not efficiently thrown
by stern necessity on their own resources.
Even this would fail adequately to &C.
count for the facts Of the case. The truth
is, that the productions of real genius in
any direction are AM exhaustng crop,
and the soil that produces it has to lie lal.
low for generation or two at least, if it
ever regains its fertility. 1t is principally
as an exhibition Of the folly Of heredita-
distinctions that this subject is worth trac~
ing. All over Europe, the suppostion is
that the sons Of great men so generally
inherit their parents abilities as tomoke
it the safest method for the State to give
them voice in the government Of the
country. Yet the reverse is The fact
! The hereditary mobiles Of any country
SEEM TO be the least progressive Of all
classes. The House Of Lords greatly
lost its power in England, and only re.
tans what Influence it has by means Of
new creations constantly taking place. .
A DEAD Loss.-When the democra.
cy were getting up their grand torch
light procession they appropriated three