Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1876-05-03
LITERA TURE AS AN OUT
GROWTH OF HUMAN LIFE

Questered vale" of human existence
may be allowed TO take pardonable
If not justifiablc, interest in inquirint
into tho personal and private sur
roundings of those who stand upon il
heights. II is but natural, after being
edited, entertained, or amused by th'
words of one whom we have never be
held or known, that VIC should dcsir,
some knowledge Of tho circumstances
which have given birth, not only u
an immortal masterpiece, but to that
which has served as heartfelt enjoy
ment for the passing hour. And, sc
far from this passions being shared
merely by the curious and illitcrate
none have bestowed more labor and
pains in acquainting both themselves
and the world with apparently the
most trifing minutie in the lives ol
the famous, than those who have trod
in their footsteps and emulated thcir
renown.
We may have faith in the creed Of
the poets sine frenzy the divine
spark and sacred fire which accompa-
ny and enkindle genius; but modern
autobiography, as well as care and re-
search in the study Of individual his
tory, cannot fail to subduc and modify
such belief Literature, as a profes-
sion, has enrolled sons and daughters
Of such widely diverse parentage, life,
circumstance, and character, that il
would be task, indeed, to endcavor
to classify them systematically.
Side by side with those whom we
know TO be the possessors of inborn
greatness, stand others who, by the
gigantic exercise of personal excrtion,
have attained greatness, and still Others
who, as has been well said, have had
greatness thrust upon them" The
lpracticality Of the nineteenth century
would inquire, If it dared, the why and
wherefore OF the production OF genius
and il is certainly with no manner Of
scrupulosity that it demands reason
oi the aggression Of the multitudinou,
forms Of literature which appear from
every nook and corner in the present
age. But as few authors have either
thought or cared to account for o.
specify the motives, incidents, ant
events that have occasioned their ere
alton, in order TO obtain the desired
knowledge, we must resort TO the bi
ographical details of their lives anC
the incidental evidences of their works
With care and study we may trac,
to their source and fountain-head th,
origin OF the majority of literary
works; and by so doing we obtain
speaking commentary upon the worl
under consideration. We find the in
fiuenee of circumstance to have beer
at work here, and to have made i'm
mense inroads upon the realm Of liter
ature. The productions which excite
our most ardent admiration arc found
to be the effects OF definite and defina
bic causes and the outgrowth of dispo
sition, propensities, and even weak
nesses, which are common to mankind
Particularly do we find this to be the
case in the departments Of reason and
philosophy. In the recently published
autobiography Of John Stuart Mill. we
have an instance of the result of severe
and sustained mental discipline on one
who declares himself to have been
"rather below than above par" The
palm which the world awarded him
the greatest philosopher Of the nine
teenth century--bcing the consequence
of an amount of exertion sufficient to
bestow on it's possessor the advantage
of quarter of a century over his con-
temporaries. From his earliest wears
the career of a philosopher was placed
before him as an embodiment of all
that could mako existence worth en-.
during; every circumstance of his life
was moulded in this form. and shaped
itself according TO this end. 5
Was not such an end a natural
sequence of such a beginning ? Hum.
boidt studied. Travelled wrote. and
Thought for fifty years with one idea
constantly in yiew--tbat of beouoatb-
ing such a work as the Cosmos to
the world. And as the common ex.
pcriencc of mankind testifics TO the
fact that we delight in that over which
we have labored' this in itself is suffi.
cient TO explain such zeal and subse.
qucnt success. Button, the world.re-
nowned naturalist, wrote his celebrated
work, entitled aEpoques de Ia Nature" {"
eighteen times before publishing IL. IL
is not strange that he defined genius
as synonymous with patience. Other
writers have called il "intense purpose
and again others have surnamed il
"hard work :" and upon examination
we can scarcely meet with instance of
literary fame which does not ,csf unon