The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1859-07-22
THE MOTHERS OF GREAT MEN.

The only TWO satisfactory instances Civ!
Ell 10y Mrs. Ellis Of a mother whose son WAS
really great, and direct and tracealie
Influence on that greatness, are the in
stances OF :he mother of ST. Augustine and
the mother Of Napoleon. Not only was ST..
Augustine n very remarkable man and
Monica very remarkable woman, but the
son owed TO the other the direction Of his
thoughts. the purpose Of his life. and the
SQUIRE Of his greatest enjoyment. In those
moments when St. Augustine was conscious
that he reached the highest pitch of spir,u-
al exaltation. he was also conscious that h is
! mother scared as high ms he did. 7, would
! he an abuse of language to term Monica n
! great woman in the same wav we term St.
! Augustine n great ,nan. for lie added to the
! piety and snhlimu feeling of his mother
! remarkable degree Of literary power and
| great range of Thought. We must also
Judge Of AL greatness hv the test Of sucress:
and st. Augustine is principally to be called
great because he. as matter of fact, gave
so mnch of its peculiar color to Western
Christianity.
But ih- basis Of his thoughts and feelings
his mode nf viewing the relations between
himself God anal the world had hcen .lrrv-
! ed from his mother. Tn similar wav we can
trace clear affinity between the character
and mental constitution Of Napoleon and
those Of his mother. There was the stub
hnrnncsS. the same larcencss Of thought, the
life, the same rcsolute determination TO
enforce the burden Of their own personal
asrendancy on all around them.
There was in the mothera Corsican finessc
which dvgenerated into the enormous living
Of the son-the grandcst liar, probably. that
the world has ever seen. Napoleon himself
attributed many of his notions of govern
men' to the family system in which he had
hecn brought up; and the plan of helping.
| bullying. and snulhing his brothers, accord
| ing 10 the fancies or the cxigencies Of the
moment, was fnnnled on traditions that
| dated from his infancy. In fact, tie whole
inquiry as to the influence of mothers on
sons. "a conducted 10y Mrs. Ellis, is utterly
| pnrposel"ss. For what is the exact question
that is to he solved? That mothers exer-
else an influence over their sons is Obvious:
but there is no reason to suppose that the
qualities which make a man great are more
dependent on this influence than any other
Sc; Of qualities. IfMrS. Elis's book proves
| anything, it proves that there is no rule
whalcv>r on the 'ahiect, and no lesson
whatever TO be learn. from il. II does not
need an octave volume TO establish that
| man of extraordinary gifts is likely to
render those gifts more profitable to himself
and others il he has 81 very pious. wise.
strict, loving, charming woman to guide
him in infancy and youth. But no one can
say that great men have. as n rule, had such
good fortune. Greatness depends on quail
tes that are entirely personal to the inlivd-
ual, which defy analysis, and cannot be
traced TO any distinct source. They are
affected in their development by an endless
variety Of circumstances, and mott i,npor-
tant circumstance is the sort Of mother who
has the control Of them in their earliest
sfage.-But they are quite inlepen dent Of
her. jerome and Joseph Bonapar,e had
the same mother as Napoleon. What
male him great was that which he had
besides what they had; aud the Ultimate
result Of all inquiries of this sort is to con-
vince us that it is hopeless to ask why one
individual differs from another. Physical
science is utterly at a loss to account for
this difference. There is no percrptible
variation i'll the size or quality Of the brain,
| or ofthe nervous sys'cla, that will in the
least account for the superior activity Of the
mind or the gfeater Gr,nffess of the wlll.-
Saturday Reriew.
Too strong n light in slerpins.room is
bad, especially it the bed is opposite The
window for to wake suddenly ont of sleep,
with strong c'aring light en- the eyes, cam
Nit but eyentualv ininra tho etronn,et ,,l