The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1878-04-25
How Great Men Work.

now GreaL men WORK
The methods OF authors in the cours,
Of composition have been singular. and
though no two OF them have worked
alike, they have, most OF them illus
trated the old proverb that genius H. labor
and that few great works have been pro
duced which have not been the result n
unwearied perseverance, a. well as n
brilliant natural powers. Some men have
undoubtedly possessed astonishing iacili
~ and readiness both Of conception and
expression. ~ we shall presently s-e. but
~ rule. the writings Of such men. ex
cept in the case Of Shakespeare. are not
-o valuable ~ they m ght hsve been. and
are mnrred by cruditi.s which might OF n.
erwi-e have been finished beauties. by
driormities which should have been era
| c-s First among ths. snns nf literary toll
-isnd- Virgil. lie used. we are tnld, Ia
/ pour out n large number Of verses in the
morning. and To spend the rest OF the day
IN pruning them down he hiss humor
nusly compared himself tn n rhehear who
licks her culs into shape IL took him
three years To compose his ten short
@clogurs; seven years to elaborate his
"G-orgcs, which comprise little mor-
than two thousand verses aud he sm
{
ing his Eueid." being even then "a dis
satisfied with IL. that he wished before
his death To commit il To the n ,mes -
Horace was equally ind.fatieahls. and
there are single od.s in his wor-s which
must have cost him months of laior.
LucretIu-s one POEM represents The toll
oi "a whole life; aud so careful was FlHto
In the niceties of verbal collocstion. that
the first sentence in his .R-public' wa-
turned in nine different wAys. IL must
have taken Tbucydidez upwards of tw~n
~ years to write bis history which j.
comprised IN one octave volume Gibbon
wrote the fret chapter OF his work three
times before he could please himself and
John Foster. the essayist. would some
times spend a week over one sentence -
Addison was so particular that he would
stop the press 10 insert an epithet. ot
even a comma and Montesqui-u, allud
ing in letter TO one of his works. say
TO a correspondent. You will read Il in
few hours. but the labor expended on IL
has wbitenrd my hair" The great French
critic, Ste.-Bruye. expended incredible
pains on every word, and two or three |
octave pages often represented a whole /
weeks incessant effort. Gray would |
spend months over a short copy OF verse-; /
ler's works which, be has himself inform /
I'd US took him a whole summer TO form 4
ulate. Miss Austen. Charlotte Bronte. /
Hume and Fox have all recorded the
trouble they took. Tasso was unwpared /
in correcting; 80 were Pope and Boileau
Even Macaulay. with all his aurncy did
not disdain the application OF the file
md there are certain passages in the fret
chapter OF his history winch Represent
months Of patient revision. There is n
good tale told OF Malherb-. the French
poet. which illustrates very amusinRly thu
Elaborate care be took with his porms
CERTAIN nobleman OF his acquaintance
iad lost his wife. and was anxious that
Mslberbe should dedicate an ode TO her
memory. and cond"le with him in verse
IN the loss he bad sustained. Malherbe
complied. but was so iastidious in his
that is was three years hs-.
ore the elrgy was completed Just be-
ore be sent II in. he was intensely cha.
,rined to fiud that bis noble fri-nd had
olac-d himself with new bride and
vas. consequently, i'm no humor To b..
,e.trred with AN eleRy on his old one
Th- unfortunate poet. therefore. lost both
AZ pains and his lee. SO morbidly aux
Ou- was Cardinal B-uibo about verbal
Ot rrctnrss, that every porn h- comps,
a T. SAID to have pa-el succ-rsiy"h |
hr"ugh forty portfolios. which r-pr-s-nt
a the various stages towards cOnplrts. |
,r.s Th, great Pascal affords another
Instance OF similar literary CONSCIENTIOUS
.r-s What he especially aimed at wa
,rryity. lie once HpOlogizrd To- a iIi.nd
',r writing him long letter on the
.touud that h,- had had no timr a. maxi |
{ shOrt-r-and the result = that hi-
Pfuvincisl Letters" scarc-ly yield To .
.ac.tu-, CT tu the "L-ttrrs uT Juutus." o.
uncisr, -. grammatic brillsncy
some au b"rs have rnp'dly sketched
h,. I,lau uf their int+nded work fret
nd nave reserved their pains ior fiiiui I
Iut Ih- details. The great French nov
li-t. B'ztc, followed this method III
mt III to the printer the rkrl.ton OF
hr intended romance, leaving pages ui
.lauk paper brtwr~n tor conversations
descriptions. etc; aud a. soon a. that w.. |
truck off he shut himself up ia his study.
.tr aud drank nothing but bread and
water till he had filled up the blauk spa
.s, aud in 'hi, way laJOriou-ly cOmpirt-
d his book Goodwin wrote his "Cai-b .
" illiams' MISUNDERSTANDING, that is {
u say, with the last chapter, aud working /
IN To the first. Richard-oI produc-d h,s
tondeTOus novels 10y painfully elabornt-
ny ditfrrrnt portions at ditl-rrnt time
Burton. the author OF the Anatomy Of
Melancholy; the great scholars Bartbius
,ud Tutnebu-; Butler, the author OF
n Hudibras; Locke; Fuller, the witty"
lIyine Bishop Horup, Warburton. Hurd,
md many Others kept commonplace
looks, which may account for the copi
,us aud opposite illustrations which -
.ich their volumes Sheridan aud Hook
we're always on the alert Tor bits Of bril-
liant conversation and stray jokes. which
hey took good care 10 jot down in their
pocket books Tor future use The great
Bentley always bought editions OF elias
.ical authors with very broid margins.
aud put down the observations which
might occur To him in the course Of his
= the secret OF his lavish
erudit Ons Pope scribblrd down STRAY
thoughts for future use whenever they
struck him-at a dinner table. in an open
carriage. at his toilet. and in b-d llu-
garth would sketch any face that struck
him ou his hBg-r nail. hrnc. mary~l.,u-
diversity oi feature in his infinite CALLER