The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-08-21
YOUTHFUL GENIUS.

mouL5 III Tie uuT6tTy anu Tie sCuOOlTOOu,
but the majority of them do. The great
est poets, musicians and painters have,
with very rare exception, poetized, played
and painted long before they reached
their teens. In his article on "Genius
and Precocity," in the Nineteenth Centu-
RI, Mr.. Sully has brought together a
striking collection of examples, and the
number might easily have been added to.
Several of the italian poets began to
write verses very early in life Metastasio
translated the Had into the vernacular
Of his country at twelve. The Spanish
dramatist Calderon wrote his first play
at fourteen. Goethe had begun to write
before he was ten, and Victor Hugo, as
we have been somewhat wearisomely re-
minded of late, was poet from his era
die. Among our English poets, Beau
mont wrote tragedies at twelve, Cowley
had become celebrated at fifteen, and
both Byron and Coleridge had distin-
guished themselves as versitiers before
they had reached that age. Mrs. Brown
ing wrote better than readable poetry at
eight, und Felicia Hemans began her
career at the same age Mozart is we'll
known instance of precocity in the devel-
opment of musical genius. He is said
to have been able to play respectfully at
four, and long before he was ten he had
begun to compose. At eleven he wrote
an opera buffa. Mendelssohn and Beetho-
ven were celebrated almost equally early.
Schubert played the violin in church
when he was eleven, and Spohr was allow
ed to perform in public on that instrument
at about the same age. And to come to
notable musicians.one still living, the pre-
cocity of List and Rubinstein is known
TO every one. The same may be eaid OF
painters. Mantegna, Michael Angelo
Andrea del Sarto, Tintoretto and whole
host Of other names might be cited in
proof.
Edwin Landseer exhibited at the Roy.
al Academy when he WAS only thirteen,
and Turner when he was but three years
older. Wilkie exhibited pictures at four
teen and Fiaxman busts at fifteen. Oh
Gustave Dore's performances as a child
some very striking stories are told in
Miss Roosevelt's biography. Among
novelists, scholars, men of science ano
philosophers, examples are good dea
less numerous and less striking. Macau
lay, no doubt gave early promise of his
celebrity as historian by putting to
gether compendium of universal histo
ry before he was eight. 1t is not SO vel
known that the late Bishop Thirlwal
was classical scholar before he had lef
the nursery. He is said to have read
Greek at the age of four with huenc.
which astonished his family, and he hat
learned Latin year earlier. These feat
of memory for of course they wer'
chiefly feats of memory were really
however, less remarkable than his powe
of writing letters in Latin when boy o
twelve at the Charterhouse, which show
ed not only great reading, but that pro
found critical ability for which he wa
so distinguished in later life. In view o
these instances and the many more whicl
not very wide acquaintance with biog
raphy would supply, it is a little Difficult
to uphold the educational superstition
that very early cleverness means dull
ness in later years; or, as it has been put
that the man of five will be the fool of fiji
teen. If the cleverness is only clevernesl
this may well happen, does happen otter
perhaps. But it is not the rule. Chi
dren, like men, may be divided int
those who "can" and those who cannot.