Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1857-03-25
Genius ana Fa4lasrsnoe.

= Geniusa and Tzeelfpsrance.
So many of our greatest men, those oe
bright natural powers and high attachments
SO many gifted sons of genius, worship at
the shrine of Bacchus, that the aspirant for
fame can almost assume q position in favor
Contemporaries, Among our own statesman
not a few are addicted to the frequent use of
ardent spirits. Many who fill exalted stations,
who rank first as Artists, Historians, Poets.
and Orators, who are engaged in the noblest
works in which man loves to excel. have
arrived at eminence, while indulging in a
systematic debauchery which really seemed
to help them on. Is the only essential to
success frequent application to the bottle ?
Or is 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 excess in its
pursuit succeed in spite of it and that the
only matter of exclamation is, what might
not such men be, but for their d~issipated
~course
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 eminence. And when the nat
ural abilities are cOntrasted, as might otter
b. the case, the disproportion is increased
The man of small capacity, who begins a
life of dissipation, often accompanied with
physical debilities and pecuniary misfor
tunes, is nearly always doomed to failure
Besides, it is rare that Incorporate men att
tain distinction in those occupations, a re
spectacle station in which depends more or
the Improvements of after life than on any
particular turn of the mind il boyhood.-
And when we reflect, that emine, ce attained
by them is almost universally confined tc
one pursuit, or the exercise of some one fac
ulty, it is almost demonstrated, that the high
PosiSon of some dis ateS menss due tc
exalted genius, an tdsgenius alone. Mark
too, that in very many of these apparently
anomalous instances, the love of that par
tlcular occupation, that direction Of tn,
PN"SAo "hlSh SOnIuo " Il tdSl6 dudDG Hdcl
man, is often sufficient to enrapture tn,
mind when not relaxed by conviviality. WI,
can say how many with equal genius, bu
with taste not yet ripened into lore, hav
been overcome by this relaxation and tn
wine cup instead of their profession has be
come their idol? The history of literar
men shows, not that all, but that a YER
great portion of men Of genius, seek in tn
wine cup that release from assiduous labo
which the mind demands. Without examir
ing into the reason Of this proneness to mer
tai excitement, with its baneful effects.
will occur to the reader, that precisely {
this stage, the youth who seemed devoted
q science or an art, who was consuming tn
light of his life in efforts toquench his thir,
for knowledge, Or to perfect that creati,
skill Of whose existence he was >carcel
aware, instead of becoming like the immor
Henry Kirk White, a martyr to his first low
mingling a sinful recreation with his devotion
at the altar of science, begins to be equalle'
at length surpassed, by those who starte
far behind him. Although we may torgi,
the faults of mighty intellects, it is only tt
persevering Adams, who by a life of virtu'
mastered every department of knowledg,
But it is a Byron, who commenced life wit
equal application to the same pursuits, an
with a power of mind far superior to that {
our great statesmen; who, when a boy
amassed the wisdom of sages. and was eve
then gifted with the highest creative faculties
possessing in an eminent degree, skill to wi
the hearts of men and of nations instead q
being, as he might have been, the creates
benefactor to his race, ennobling as be Nigh
have ennobled the ~souisyof his fellows an
uniting freedom into a bright and universe
existence was by the indulgence of b
appetltes and passions, narrowed up into a
ocean of self love, and communed with U
only through a beautiful, indeed, but CORFU,
ting poesy.
Oae word more. The exuberant fame
brilliant wit and humour, that unrestrain4
yet intellectual style of conversation, know
as the feast of reason and the flow of soul.
even eccentricity itself, all displayed und,
the excitement of wine, impose themselv,
on mAny as of the essence of genius. The
are too often led to initiate all the follies,
least infrmities of the great-to mock ii
IONS tail and not his name. In the man
intellect such qualities are the least parts
his superior nature. It is only when In,
briated he descends to such sports, as schoc
boys play at leap frog during hours Of recr,
alton. Surely it adds nothing to the grea
ness of him, who can paint On canvass tn
fash of the human eye, who can stir the soul
Of men with poetry CT eloquenee, who ca
trace philosophy of matter and Of mind to il
depths profound, to tell a tale or joke excitin
laughter, or even Familiarity to explain tn
surface of those of natures facts into which
far ia the center, he alone has looked-tha
he should be led by inGrmity to spend al
hour in play which might have unravelle,
q mystery or impressed his own image Of
ever living monuments.