The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1874-04-23

eucnaN1S ana Ql6enchautS. Where are
those heroes of the playground, thoee
geniuses Of the school-room, whom we
knew in our youth? Are they not now,
for the most pant, private soldiers in
"the worlds great field Of battle, f"
whilst others, in whom no germs Of
power were suspected to exist, have
proven our proneness to overlook as
we'll as to overrate? II seems that 10
present knows itself or thoroughly
understands its own. There are oharac-
tiers whose grandeur and symmetry of
proportion do not rise into full view ut
less than cen,ury's distance; and there
are pigmy creatures, who, clothed in
magnliyiDg mists Of adventitious cir.
cumstance, excite for awhile the worlds
awe AZ beings of gigantic mould. DR..
Johnson thought he could discover IL
mans intellectual calibre by ten mi.
nutes' casual conversation; but it is
doubtful whether he succeeded in form.
ing perfectly just estimate Of his own
intimate acquaiDtances. How are we to
lind out our Shakspeares and Homers
before they die? What is the test Of
greatness? Human nature. like the
earth, is built up in strata. 1t has its
superficial crust, its sub-strnta nnd It's
deep primordial foundations. AS we
penetrate below The surface, we ap.
proach constantly older and more en-
during formations. We find above ali
the mutable laminu Of fashion. There
are those whose supreme endeavor it is
to maintain an existence Il Ia mode; there
is world the subject matter Of whose
highest law is only tints and tones and
pos.nres. III the realm of fashion, what
ever is is right, for q little while, and
then it iapses into error. There are lite
rary aud artistic motlistzs s-ephemera
people, who illustrate this or that purti-
cular fashion. and pass away with it.
The love-songs our grand-mothers sang
are not the delight Of lovers now; every
year, new melody is popular on the
streets.
There is the young lady of the period
and her companion picture, the young
man of the period, und their loves and
sorrows create demand, which is sup
piled by the production of the novelist
mud the poet of the period. They oil
pass away together. Now and then, u
deeper chord of harmony is sounded,
and n song is born with longer tenure
of life; now and then, some seer's eye
penetrates the costumes and manners of
heart of map, aud book is written
which becomes standard.
Below this fashion stratum is one
traits. There are entire centuries
fl,r ~i, f,t< -
thought and mode of life. In one age
we fud the feudAl baron. lonely and
lordly parsonage. violent. brave and ho.
the baron doffs his battle harness and
goes to see his king attired in silks and
laces, garb more suited to the stately
and refined ceremonies OF palatial eti-
quette. But each period has its end,
and its characteristics disappear with
lapse of time. Yet deeper aud more
enduring is the national stratum.
Through all the mutations of fashion
and the passage of ages, the Englishmau
remains an Englishman still. Every
nation has its own recognized type. We
all know the naughty and chivalric Hi
dalgo. the phlegmatic and persistent
Dutchman. the German. profoundly
speculative and sentimental; the French
man. theatrical and tickle. but brilliant
and brave, the beau of the ball room
and the hero of the barricade.
Passing from fashions to cras of his.
tory, aud thence to the whole term of
nations existence, and finding ia each
characteristics of growing Importance,
we reach at last the broad, common
level OF hnman nature, and find traits
that belong not alone to any fashion.
age or nation, traits that are universal
and unchanging.
Now, then, he is the greatest man
whose work illustrates the deepest and
broadcast formation. The painter or
tho novelist who depicts tbs national
character is greater man than he
whose description is applicable to only
one age; but he is greater still whose
dramatis persona are not only French or
German, but simply human. As in art
aud literature, 30 in action-the patriot
is greater than the mere egotist; but the
philanthropist is greater than the pa
triot. The world was not made for
C;usar. or Rome-it was made for man.
That statesman's g work will endure whose
policy has not been decided by merely
local and temporary considerations, but
who has kept in view the good OF all
men for all time.
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