, 1875-07-25

aecret causes of what to you wesfs tn1a
h1y deafness forces me To live al In exile -
Snowest that it u accompanied with lore Of my fellow.
1s :ba ana 1esd think tSat "
me- And let the child Of ashiction take comfort IN
dndsng one like hissn, who, in spite Of al Obstacles
ala everything In his power to gam &on1stance "n
Tie rank Of worthy artists and men,
Mich Of the surliness and sharpness OF
| gamuel Johnson's temper we're Qua 20 tne
malady that consumed him. From hia pirsn ne
WAS infected with scrofula, and all the ailments
which that dire dieease can generate
fastened upon him during ooe period
or smother OF mis- life Splnoza, the
great modern philosopher, was endowed with the
fatal heritage OF consumption wh!ch uanl1 esteo
itself aArly in his youth and carried him to tha
grave Ut the age Of a. And yet 1t Ii sa'a OF Nun:
Throughout his life Of study, Of abstemiousness, Of
bodily mental suderiug,-for hts constitution was
undermined no less by consumption and oTer"oEx'
than his sensitive mind was wrought upon pf the slo
lent severance Of MI natural ties Of nnecdou 70 say
nothing of the iaery Of occasional want ana OF
petual persecution, no complaint eyez passed biz
lips.
In consequence Of debauched life. scarron,
the French satirist WAS Heized with permanent
paralysis Of lhe lower limbs while be was yet under
so years Of age. Ho WAS withered and helpless
cripple when be married tho beautiful Francois
d'Aubigne, who afterward became the mistress
OF Louis XIV, and took tho name OF Madame
Maiutepon. Heine was struck with an iucurable
disease of the spine in February l548. and for
tho remaining nine years OF bis life Was for tho
greater part bf the time bed-ridden. lie en-
dured the most acuta pain, and almost total loas
OF eyesight, With extraordinary equantmt1s,
throwing OF some of his most exquisite songs
In the intervals between the Bpasms Of ansueh
that convulsed his frame.
Cowper was from the first delicate and ner-
vous child aud, placed at school at the age OF 6,
the wretched circumstances that surrounded him
confirmed his tendency to disease. aud made
I Fn~ k,1hJe IN a1Al Ia
of distressing despondency that occasionally de-
veloped into delirinm- The final years OF his
life were passed in utter detection.
Malebrauche Was doformod and sick1y from
his childhood. Mrs Browning WAS for several
Years during her maiden life confined, by illness,
to darkeued room, aud after her marriage Was
compelled to reside in Italy on account OF her
delicate health Herbert Spencer shattered his
constitution By oyerwork several years ago. and
now is concluding his great System Of philosophy
in invalidem and poverty. George Macdonald
MAS supposed to be dying Of consumption when
but little over 20, and his wife married him in
tho sorrowful fear OF burying him within three
months OF their wedding-day. ALI his novels
have been dictated to an ananuonsis sitting by
the sick couch on which be lies at lehst half the
and eminent naturalist, has very inferior health,
and pursues his diligent, exacting Investigations
while suffering from debility that would diBcour-
age ordinary men from activlty.
Descartes. the French philosopher. and How
ard, the English philanthropist, had naturally
extremely delicata constitutions, Which they
were obliged constantly to fortlfy and favor.
Pascal, the magnificent but irregular genius,
early became an Invalid, and Was scarcely ever
after free from rnin. He furnished" says
Aleer in 1.-The Genius Of Solitude, " another
examp1ification OF the truth that great men, un-
less blessed with heath, arc more unhappy than
others, because their transcendcnt powers nre
intrinsical}v less harInoniZed with their earthly
conditions" Before ho had reached the age Of
81, Pascal had suffered tuo attacks OF paralysis
in his limbs While thus weakened he was driV-
ing across one OF the bridges over the Seine, the
horses took fright, plunged aud leaped of, leav-
ing the carriage poised on the edge. The shock
was 80 great that, during the eight years left of
his life, Pascal WAS frequently troubled with the
haliucinat,on Of an abyss yawning at bis side.
Kepler, the astronomer, was d puny, ailing
child. aud through lie suffered from periodical
attacks of fever and other maladies. Among
famous men who, in the dawn OF life, had a hard
struggle to maintain existence, WAS Sir Isaac
Newton, who could have been entirely hid under
= quart cup when first born Voltaire and Fon-
tanelle, who were SO feeble during infancy that
their survival was scarcely hoped for; Goethe.
who says in his autobiography, - came into the
world as dead, and ouly after various efforts WAS
l enabled to SEQ the light; d'Alembert, the
distinguished mathematician, who, an uhgiti-
mate son, WAS exposed by his mother on the
steps Of the Church OF St. JeAn-le-Rond. in
Paris, until rescued IN nearly dying condition BY
passing policeman Charles sumner, who
weighed but three aud half pounds at birth
and Washington Irving, who was extremely
feeble in infancy.