Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1875-11-18


tist once said TO him: when I N
painting . portrait Of Dickens, it va
arranged that should sit in his room
while he was ut work. He was q mos
painstaking, industrious, and method
cal man, and nothing would divert him
from the regularity Of his habits.
was there for hours, and he wrote, a Il
seemed to me, almost with anguish.
looked into his face, and watched th<
anxiety and the care. / NV the blot.
ting and the rewriting Of his work, and
was astonished to find how much he
owed to his indomitable perseverance.
To the same effect wrote Mr.. Arthur
Helps, in Macmillan, June, 1870: Those
who have seen his manuscripts win re-
, collect what elaborate notes, and CON-
ments, and plans, (some adopted, many
rejected went to form the basis of his
works. To see those manuscripts would
cure anybody of the idle and presump-
tuous notion that men of genius require
no forethought or preparation for their
greatest efforts; but that these are
dashed off by the aid of q mysterious
something which is comprehended in
the word genius It was one Of Mr..
Dickens's theories-and believe true
one-that men differ hardly in anything
50 much as in their power Of attention.
Lord Lytton-himsef an indefatigable
worker-was of the same OPINION
What men want he wrote, is not tai
ent; it is purpose. In other words, not
the power to achieve, but the will to
labor And Lord Chesterfield had OBJ
served before him The power of ap-
plying our attention steady and undis-
sipated, to a single object, is the sure
mark Of superior genius.
Take the testimony of two school
masters of the highest class. DR.. Ar
mold, Of Rugby, wrote as the result of
his greatest experience The differ
ence between one boy and another con-
sists not so much in talent as in ener-
gy;' and his successor, DR.. Temple, in
one of his sermons (third seriss) saws ::
Nothing can be greater mistake than
to suppose that genius dispenses with
labor. What genius does is to inspire
the soul with a power to persevere in
the labor that is needed. But the great
est geniuses in every art invariably Ia
Dor at their art far more than all 9TH
ers, because their genius shows them
the value of such patient labor, and aids
them to persist in it.
Lord Maealilay.s indnstry xas nntir.
ing. He would spend hours in the IL
brary of the British Museum, hunting
up what many would think an unim-
portant fact; and those who read his
well-rounded periods little knew with
what labor they were produced. His
thrilling narrative Of the Western re-
bellion was not written in his own
study, but in cottage on the Somer-
set marshes, in which he spent weeks,
so that no detail to be gained from the
spot might be wanting in his descrip-
tion. To this quality, more than to any
other. he was indebted for his fame.
Jeffrey, the original editor of the Ed
inhurgh Rerieic, was an indefatigable
worker If he had not been, it is pro-
bable that the Rerier would have died
in its infancy. That he had great diff
ficulty in keep his team in order, ap-
pears from the following extract from
letter to Hornor, asking for his con.
tribution
Il have some right to dun, too-not
merely because I am the master to
whom your service 10 due, but because
l have myself sent fifty pages to the
press before l ask you for one. Hear
now our state, and consider Brown
has been dying with influenza, and is
forbidden to write for his chests sake.
Brougham is roaming the streets or
correcting his colonial proofs, and is
trusting everything to the exertions of
the last week and the contributions of
the unfledged goslings who gable un-
der his wings. Elmsley-even the sage
and staid Elmsley-bas solicited to be set
free from his engagements. And Tim
9th Y refuses to come under any engage
ments with the greatest candor and good
nature in the world
Byron said that Sheridan had writ
ten the best comedy, the best opera,
the best farce, and had delivered the
best speech known. He appeared to
his friends as brilliant wit and wri-
ter. producing bonmot, speech, or play,
without effort. But when Moore pub
lished his manuscripts after his death,
it was discovered that all was the pro-
duct of toll and elaboration. The wit
he had been coming over in the morn
ing he would wait patiently to intro
duce in such manner that it appeared
an inspiration; and his speeches were
often written several times over and
committed to memory. Such a sen.
tence as the following would be written
many times before he was satisfied with
it:
His TBonaparte's7 are no ordinary
Notifications. His martello towers ar,
thrones sceptres, tipped with crowns
are the PALISADES of bis intrenchments
and kings are his sentinels.'
The dialogues in his plays were elab
GRATED in like manner.
Moore spent nearly eighteen months
reading up Greek and Persian work
for .Ialla Rookh.' The result was
that it exhibited such fidelity to Orien
toll manners, customs, and scenery
: that its popularity even in the Eas
was extraordinary, and people found
difficult to believe that its scenes wer
! not penned on the spot The circum
. stance of this poem, with its gorgeou
i. Oriental scenery and sentiment, bein
written during the depth of wintel