Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-06-17
MEN OF GENIUS.
THE CITIES INTELLECTUAL GIANTS
COUNTRY BORN AND BRED.


COUNTRY BORN AND BRED.
Leading Men and Leading Ideas Not Pro
duced by the Cisy-Easiiy Exp;zined
by Natural CausesTalsnts Friftered
Away in ExcitementS.
Experience teaches us" saws Mr. Re
menyi, that the great eenters of popu-
latior are marked by a lansrtable ster-
nity 10 the production of men OF genius.
Precisely as the city. with its 100, 600 in
hahitants would have 70 sts-ve If it did
not receive its regular supplies OF food
from the country, so il would suffer inter
tellectusl starvation II its mental supplies
were not, in all essential points. provided
from the country. Sometimes We Ind
miserable. obscure country town pro-
ducing more men OF original power than
half dozen large cities. Everything on
which ourcentury pTides itself. everything
that has made the age what it IS, has
como from the country. The statesmen
and the soldiers, the artists and the in
vessors, the men OF learning and the
men Of enterprise, have all migrated
from some obscure corner OF the
land 10 take possession Of the
cities, as their barharous ancestors mi
grated from savage wildernesses 70 take
possession Of the seats of civilization. In
Paris. Berlin and Vienna the natives are
largely in the minority. and the immi-
grants I'LL all the streets and houses aoe
occupy all the public places. So il is with
the leading men and the leading ideas,
they all come from the country"
REASONABLE EXPLANATION.
Wen, this seems a remarkable state
| ment 70 make; but think the suthor is
right, and that his proposition will hold
| good, not only in Europe, 10 which his
article seems chiefly 10 refer bnt in this
country Make out a lis. of eminent
Americans and you VIII find that very
| few of them WERE born in the cities. How
can this be explaineds Mr.. Remenyi has
| no explanation 20 offer. he has no theory
regarding il. at has always been SO, F."
| he says, and Will always be so; the city
governs the fashions, but the village gov
ems the nation ! think, however, il
| can be explained BY natural causes.
In the first place, there are in every ma
| ton about six times as many people in the
country and in the country towns as there
ara n be large cities. This IL a very
! striking fact, OF which everybody is not
aware Many city dwellers imagine that
! the majority Of the population OF the Ia
| ton live in the cities, like themselves: for
! when they go To the country they see 80
| few people there it seems hardly popu
lated at all. In the next place, the ten
dency of talent in every country is toward
the CITY, because, like the cabbages and
potatoes, it finds the best market there.
| The young painter, poet, sculptor, orator
| or writer naturally gravstates toward
| those centers where his talents are most
valued and command the highest reward.
| IL the city jewellers are themselves not so
richly endowed with genius they know
| best how 10 appreciate 1t, and they pay
the best price for it.
ExCTTEMESTs AND sCgAMpLEs.
| In the next place, the inhabitants OF
! cities are so absorbed in muitltudinous
! occupations, In ambitious pursuits and
| extravagant pleasures; SO crazy ia The
| pursuit OF wealth and so cranky in the
! spending of il; 50 full Of newspaper ~
| elements, and SO fond of outside show
| and glitter; 50 bent upon picking Cp a
| little of everything and much Of nothing,
| that il il impossible they should have the
| same chance for study for large mental
! growth, as those whS enjoy the slow,
| steady, quiet, leisurelv life of the country
| Their talents are frittered away in the eK-
| elements and scrambles OF the hour and
| seldom does one II them think OF becoyn-
| ing anything more than "a clever fellow"
| or "a good fellow" IL is the old story
of the slow but steady going tortoise beat
| ing the smart but superficial hare. L
| know from my own experience thAs
| when / WINS in Paris | found nearly
] every position Of any Importance or re-
| sponsibility filed, not by Parisians, who
| had too much amour and plsisir in their
heads for business, but by young Ger
| mans OF good education. whose superior
abilities commanded good pay and po-
sitions in spite Of the prstndices Of tho
| French Genius needs time, pains, pa
tience, To develop. many Of the richest
| fruits grow in the shade; and the finest
| talents mature IN ohscurity.
Lastly, the proposition il not nniver-
| sally true. for there are many men II
| genius, especially among the poets, who
| were born and bred ia cities Dante was
born and bred In Florence, Lope de Vega
| in Madrid, Milton and Spencer ia Lon
| don. Voltaire and Moliere in Paris, and
| as 10 Homer, Three cities claimed him
dead" The city seems indeed more
! favorable TO poetic genius than 20 any
/ other, for II affords the best Seld for the
4 observation Of man IN all ranks and con
| dltionS.-Robcrt Walters IN New York
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