The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1865-10-06
Genius and Industry.

After Cauoya's death, a stolid English.
man called at his studio and inquired of
Canova's brother ifhe intended 10 car
ry ON the business How far he was
wrong in supposing the thing could be
done is matter OF speculation. Eminent
names are not wanting 10 support the
theory that all men have an equal apti-
lude Tor genius, amongst whom we may
name Locke, Helvetius' and DidePoi.-.
They maintained that what some are
able TO effect under the influence of the
fundamental laws which regulate intel |
lcct may be reached by others, who, in |
the came circumstances, apply them |
selves 20 like pursuits. Button said ol |
genius, at IL patience" John Foster
held 1t TO be the power of Lighting one's |
own fire. 1t has received many defini- |
tons, laconic and otherwise but ii IL
apparent that the greatest men-those
to whom the world has been most will
Ing 10 accord the honoIs OF extraordinary
gcnius-haye believed little in It's power,
and have achieved those great results bV
which their fame has been acquired
through years of patient and earnes'
! toll, Tho men whom We call geniuSeS
have been interchangeable workers. New
! toms mind was unquestionably one al
| the highest order, and yet, when asked
,
| extraordinary discoveries, he modestly
answered, "By always thinking about
! them
| There is no royal road to learning.
The brain full acknowledge whose activ-
ity sends CLEANS of light over our daily
pathway has been acquired by hard and
constant study. Every book and news
paper which the careful OF careless read
er picks up, Is filled with the results al
laborious Investigation. Take the single.
issue of daily paper, aud SEQ in its selec-
tons of news, i'll its editorial leaders. IT.
| financial articles, its book reviews, its
| mere drudgery OF daily facts, its uuips,
and quiddit!es. its philosophy and fun,
how much care and labor musthave been
bestowed to furnish it all with the reg,I.
larity OF ones morning meal. 1t makes
no prctenson. 1t is furnished to eyery
man for a fraction of what his ice or AMI
one of the simple Injuries of his house.
hold costs him, and yet it is teemiuz
| with thoughts which are constantly i'm.
| tluencing his actions, md forming Che
! opinions of his children to govern thcil
| after lives. Into the columns OF tho dail e
press come to the matured opinions 6i
| the greatest thinkers and statesmen al
| the Old World and the New.
! The greatest poets, orators, statesmen,
historians and cditor5-men of the most
brillantand imposing talents have ioand
| il necessary to labor as hard as the COPY
ist ola catalogue, or the maker of q die
tionary. The reason for the acknowl-
edged superiority of some men is that
| they have taken more pains than other
men. Cibbon was in his study every
morning, winter and summer at six
o'clock. Burke was the most laborious
and interchangeable o. human beings
l4iebwitz was never out of his library
Pascal killed himself by study; Cicero
narrowly escaped death by the same
cause Milton was at his books with ae
much regularity as a merchant or attof-
ney. Thesgreatest mind that ever lived
cannot exist upon its own thoughts. He
who does not study that which other
minds have produced will soon exhaust
his own and be reduced TO mere barren
ness. Hard labor is tho only method
known whereby men may attain that en-
cellence which Is worthy of the world'a
gratitude. We know that hard study will
not suffice to bestOw genius upon men OF |
ordinary mould such as was possessed y |
Shakespeare or Michael Angelo. There I
was In them combination OF large brain
and delicate fibre, the bestownent OF
Providence. Such Organizations cannot |
fail TO excel through. industry; bui
they were happily so constituted as 10!
only 70 possess the faculty of excellence,
but the industry to deyelop4it =,
The press furnishes the. means whore
by many Of the foremost men in Europe
and America live. 1t Is the. vehicle OF !
communicating TO the public the results /
OF their learning and their thoughts.
Nothing is more unfortunate for |
young persons than to mistake an apti-' |
tude for rhyme as genius. There IL q
sort OF cleverncss which enable. some
people, with little labor, TO acquire &
suattering of whatever is being Studied,
around them. The possession OF thls
cleverness is often their bane. If il
should fasten upon them tho charactc,
OF genius, they are sure to callapse into
failures, IL is part of the faith in canl,r,
that work IN degrading. Henceforil
they are TO live IN nu5ibas--to feed i,rpnI,
their own stock of cSaited thoughts--io
read nothing new, and, as d conse.
quence, forget what they have already
acquired. For q while thew ,,Iav oil
Their afiectations of knowledge i'm fbe
niue circle or admirers which surround
them in social life, but little attritiou
OF the practical world soon brings them
Gown rom the ''hiialutinp to hard facts.
~ IS impossible for an idle man to
Keep together his certain stock of know
ledge, Every day destroys the remem-
efapce OF fact, q relation or ain infer
ehGe. He must, by constant study, add |
10 ms Pile, Grit will melt away like ice |
before the meridian sun.
While it Is true that no man can hols
to appropriate 60 himself the niche "a
the temple of fame which by the com,
mon verdict of mankind is appropriated
to the Bard Of Avon, yet it is gratifying
to know that the men whose names wii
be handed down in The annals OF science,
in history, politics and art, attribute their
success to industry and application
''Alas.r said widow, speaking OF her
brilliant but careless son, The has not
the gilt of continuance" Wanting in
perseverance, such volatile. natures are
outsfripped in the race of life by the dill
ipent and even the dull. M
The men who have most moved the |
world have not been those of the most |
brilliant parts; but the earnest, the. pa
tteDt. the labOrious, the self-reliant, the |
interchangeable, the industrious.