, 1873-11-23

upon his dignity. .Fow mon aro froo enough
from snobbiBhncBs to rosist tho dattory Of a
King who condoBconds to meet thom On oqual
tornlH and it IL NJ eyon moro delicate piece OF
flattery whom thinker, honorcd throughout
Europe, condeBcondg to talso your opinion as
worthy Of comparison with bis own. The
urally attribute 1t to tho great mon Of old.
Wo contrivo to givo ourselves kind Of hy-
pothotical aattcry by fancying Shakespeare iu-
dulging in tho giyo-and.tako Of ordinary conver-
solves, and porfoctly unoonAcious Of his own
rightful supremacy. It raiBoa III in our own
opinion to think that If NC Ind liyod two or
threo hundred yeara ago. wo might hayo boon
tho biographora and critics Of mon OF first-rate
gonins have beon generally given to excessive
admiration, this grace which ought to havo been
eharaot toristic, has therefore boen represented ns
aetualy claracterlHtc, Of all tho groatost mon in
tho world. Tho PORTRAITS having reilly boon
colorod by this bolief, thoy aro, according to our
ordinary logic, adduced na conclusive proof
tlat tho belief mnst 10 sound ono; md moral
iatB Alye youturod to lay down Eouora1 pri1l-
ciplo tho doctrine TINT true gcnius IL FREQ from
self-conHoiouHnons.
II wo ouleavor to tost tho doctrine by faots,
however, VIC aro worry soon brought into difficulty.
Wo may say that modcBty, 80 far as it rofors to
an intellectual condition, means that = mans
ositnato of his own talents il not excessive. III
ts respect tho nlnn OF genius certainly differs
widely from his inforiors Thoro nro, wo should
Of universal philosophy propouuled evory year
with tho utmost gravity by mon who havo really
learnt nothing but tho art Of using long worts.
The authors aro just rs pretontiouS nj l1cgol Or
tho one key to tho everlasting onigmn. In
noaely MI thoao caaes VIC should DO inclined TO
Bay tint o mans vanity was porpoBtcrous, except
il, so fur ns Ills utter ignorance might conceal
from him tho true nature Of his rresensions. In
one caso, however, in century, tho philosopher
though ho Las not Holyed everything hos rcvo-
lutionzca the whole system Of thought. II 80,
wo do not Gull him vain ; ,vo simply admire Ills
iuati{ablo aelf-conhdonco. Tho nnety-nuo hum
bugs groBaly oyer-estimntcd their powors where
aa llo waa roally as great q man, or nearly 40
grcat man. al he supposed. Tie fact is undo
niablci but the argument is not really conclus-
iyo. Goncoit docs not naturally depona on tic
relation between mana truo value and hiR ostt-
lnato Of his value. II 30. it would bo scarcely
possible for aonlo great mon to bo conceited at
I'll; II shakspearo. for example, had guessed
only onc-half Of tho truth about huasolf, it lo
had known that tile minutoat detan OF lis lfo
and :,:g wlitings ,s,,oS wore to bo discussed in
litoraturos centuries aftor his death, and that
Bon Jonson md Fletcher would appear to Ills
posterity aa nero pigmiea by Ills side, 1e would
havo been throwa of his balance by sheer aston
iphmont. Such incenao would have beon too
strong for any mortal brain. Aud in this aenae
1t ia almost impossible for my man Of genius to
10 ooncotod.. Nobody, however brilliant his
promise. can DO confident that he will draw one
Of tho stupondoue prizes In tho vast lottery Of
lifo. A Young man who should say, will bo a
| Shakespeare or o Dantoor aIlomor, would oithor
bo. or bo in the way Of becoming. /! fool Gonius
| must 80 far bo unconscious that i car scarcely
dare to rocognizo itB own suporlatiye norit, and
yet man may concoivab1y be overpowored oven
| by q revelation OF only part of his own glory.
| Iu another sonse, gonius must DO necessarily
more or leaa unconscious. ne, Newton ,s supposed
WAS due to nothing but to his having labored
moro persoyoringly than others. And tie theory
| las boen packed into a formula that genius is
nothing but az inlipito capacity for taking
trouble. In spite Of tho great names which may
be adduced IN behalf Of this doctrine, wo vo1i-
| turo to think that tho source OF the fallaoy ia
transparent. Wo will not dwell upon the fact,
which ia sufficiently obvious TINT a capacity for
endurance is just as rare al,d valuable IN ell-
dowuent us II capacity for Immediate insight;
| and that q man, for example, who can
koop bis mind fixed upon mathematical prob
lem for many hours together, aa Newton
powers. But tho argunont is moro vitality do.
{ootiyo. Newton saw TINT. by allowing bis i1linl
| to dwell upon certain problems. they gradually
became clcar to Linn, and that tho longer ho
| could attond to them tho clearor Ills mild be-
| came. In othor words, sinco his SUCCESS in
| mathematical operations varied as tho amount
Of lnbor bestowed OIL them, ho assumed that the
| labor was the ono essential clement Of SUCCESS.
but obviously 1t docs nut follow that The Same
| amount Of labor from q fooblo brain would pro-
duco equal ofrecla. Tho length Of tilno during
| which problem was oxp0aod to tho action of hia
intellectual dgoation WAS ono condition Of his
digestion for glycn time. In ahort
Newton could compare lis own lnonlai
operations, and pronounce tlloso to baye boell
most fruitful which wero most laborioue: but llo
could not look into tho mind OF another 1nan,
aud 500 by comparison how slow and blunlering
was hia reasouing machinery ii, comparison viii,
Lis own: Wo arc MI liable to make mstakos Of
this kind, IN one way or tho other. We fancy
that man OF genius has accomplished Bucccss
| by lucky Lit, because wo cannot at iii realize
tho facility with which he Gun nj given moment
command all the RESOURCES Of his mind. And,
in reyongo tho man OF gon!na attributes to OBJ
stiuaoy or idlonosB what IL tue 1oaslt Of good,
plain, honoat stupidity. Each Of rn eau only
| Layo direct experience Of tho working OF QUO
mind and wo naturally asaumo, till the contrary
Inns boon, forced upon us, that all othor minds
be as vol if, for q briof period Of his life,
everybody was condemned to bo q aeloolmnstor
| or crn1llnor, in ordpr that Ao might moro OF
| lens tnthom the eturondouB abyHHes OF human
stupidity. Meanwhile 1t III easy to understand
how Newton Or e rlatGnl. "a, to whom propositions
laton appoar to be self-evidont truthB, muy DO
unconscious Of tho difference botwoon hi,s,solf
and hls follows. It docs not ocour to thom that
mon eau DO 80 blind M not 10 sec III broad day.
| light, and it ID oasy to imagine that thoy aro
| Mluconceptiona liowoyor, Of this ltind.
though perAapA favorable to humanity aro
certainly compatible uvon with oxtrayngant
vanity. Tie entt1nato which uo form OF
our own talont Inns but au Indirect relation
to what Is really q question Of character. a
man may bo intolerabiy conceited on the strength
OF quality wloll. eyon on his own showing, IL
to a trino. We haYo known a Clergyman, other
wiaeof apostolic humility, who could not con-