Smyrna times., 1869-03-24
The FOIIies of Great Men.

Elihu, though greatly misjudging the char
acter OF job, was not mistaken when he SAID |
that great men are not always WISE" Like |
all other men, they have their weak spots, and
sometimes very bad ones. They are very far
from being above criticism.
Good cOntntOn-sense-whic by the way, is |
always the best kind of sense, because most fre
quenty used-dOes not always mark men of
high position, or, III some respects great intel
lectual superiority. Their judgment in Ordina
ry matters Is not necessarily a safe directory to
practice. Fine scholars, splendid lhetOricians,
brilliant poets, and charming takers they may
be; and yet they may not be at all the men
whom one would consult for discreet opinion
in the sphere of common life, or on whose
judgment he would rely with any degree of con
fdence. These men are often exc9edingl rash,
imprudent, and f0oliSh-the victims of their
own fancy, vely poor judges of sound expcden-
cy-as to what is best to be done, and the best
way Of doing it, knowing vastly less than many
a plain man who makes no pretGnSlOns The
world has been favored with some very distin-
guished fools and will, doubtless, have more
of the same kind Of honor in time to come.
We presume that the great fools are not, as yet,
all born.
The intellectual processes and speculations of
great men, even in that which is specifically
their sphere, are not always those of true wis
dom. Most of the errors in theOry-whether
| in matters OF state, government, science morals,
or relgiOn-with the errors of practice result
ing thcretrom, have had their seat and source
in the brains Of great men. The false princi
! piles which lead large masses astray, and some
times shipwreck whole communities, usually
begin here The darkness Of the Dark Ages
was the darkness of wild spectators. The doc
trihdHeS of the tranScendental school Of phio-
sophy are wonderfully acute in their way. They
can split metaphysical hairs by moonlight, and
then keep on splitting till they fully illustrate
the infinite divisibility of ideas; yet the more
Of this kind of philosophy one has the greater
fool he becomes. Bishop Bcrkley was an ideal-
tSt in his study, sagely denying the objective
reality of matter; and yet this same Berkley
at the dinner,table was amaterialist, eating his
food Just as other men do. John Locke the
profound thinker, in finding the genesis of all
human knowledge in our animal senses com
mtted one Of the most signal blunders of any
age. The intellectual a>cendcncy of David
Hume ended in the sublime discovery that uni
verSal skeptciSm Is the true philosophy, that
neither himself nor anybody else was able to
know anything to positive certainty.
Great men often start wrong in what they
assume or deny, and quite as often do not
know where to stop when once set in motion.
Indeed, if all the false ideas, proftless efforts
/, |
and mental halucinationS which history place,
to the account of great men were tickcted anC
collected together, the aggregate would make
one of the strangest cabinets of human folly
upon which any mortal eye ever gaZed Look
ing at the spectacle, common man might al
most be tempted to thank his stars that it haC
not fallen to his lot to be great man.
Considered ethicaIiy, even at the low level o
earthly things, these men are often justl!
! amenable to the severcSt cenSure. OF Lore
Bacon it is said that he was the greatest an(
the meanest of mankind. Voltaire, though
= wonderful genius, was monster in morals, an,
: did more to corrupt the heart of France tha
] any other writer Of his age. COleridge, th
a splendid thinker, the fine scholar, and beautiful
. poet, was one of the greatest opium eaters tha
= the world has ever known. Byron, that chill
> of song, one of England $ most gifted and i'll
% fatcd bards, was characterized by brutal habit
= and debauched heart. Alexander, the might
i conqueror OfnatiOns, diedin comparative youth
the victim of drunken revcl Napoleon BOn9
q partG perpetrated Il most wantOn act OF cruelt
= :, and perfidy in divorcing the lovely Josephine
i Our own illustriOus Webster the great cor
4 stitutiOnal eXpoundcr, was too fond Of his cups
y and doubtless shortened his days, thereby
IeI Even Solomon, that man of rare endowment
II and signal tokens from Heaven, gave himse
!, up to vanity, and gratiied his animal lusts
II the expense OF reason and to the serious damag
- Of his soul.
- Disloyalty to moral principle, intense selfsl
ness the want of genuine sympathy with mai
u falsehood, treachery, injustice, debaucher
= gluttony, drunkenness, and excessive luXur!
~ often dim the luster Of splendid talents Som
~ of the greatest criminals in history belong
, the class of great men. Alas that it shOu
y. be so.-REv. S. L. SPEAR, IN N. T. Indepe
. dent.