The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-07-20
INTELLECT SIRIrGGIE.

Nineteenth Century.
INTEILECT's STRUGGLE.
When the bold innovator comes, who
il there to determine whether he is "A
profound thinker and true prophet. or
a half crazed enthusiast Z asks tho
Arena. HIS zeal and sincerity are no
evidence. for the deluded are jealous
and sincere. Society is incompetent TO
determine. Only men Of the same ca
pacity for profound thought can ap.
preciate the original philosopher, ~
Liszt appreciated and supported the de-
spalrlng Wagner f; as Hunt appreciated
the gifted but obscure Millet. whose
smallest picture now commands thous-
ands of dollars, though he worked
once, with all his genius, on the borders
of starvation. And as the original phil
osopher seldom meets his peer. as Wag-
ncr and Millet did, he must be content
to struggle and to wait the slow pro-
gress of the race wait for the applaud
ing voice of profound thought and gen
erous sympathy, or the slow process of
scientific experiments that one by one
verify his conclusions rs they did for
Dr. Thomas Young.
The German scientist. Margraaf. made
the discoveries which became the foun-
dation of the beet-sugar industry. worth
hundred millions year to Europe;
but. alas he met with the usual blind
ness and stupidity (as did John Fitch
III endeayoring to introduce steam
nayigation), aud the ccflin had long
,losed upon his remains. when
another chemist, Archard, by tho
order Of Napoleon. took up the sub.
jet and introduced the process which
now employs 1000 coo. Even then the
truth might have been crushed again il
Archard had yielded 20 the large bribo
offered him 10 behalf of the caue-sugar
interests. 10 report against Margraaf's
discovery. Trauscendent genius always
fails Of popular recognition. The dis
lance is too vast between il and what
Douglas Jerrold calls 1.-THE average stu
pidity of mankind Wagner. in lsi9.
said at Paris: TO sell my wares
in this market is impossible to me"
He would have been glad to sell
his services for 1928 year, aud might
have ended his life in despair had not
List lifted him out OF Ob,curity and
peuniless poverty Washington Irving.
after he bad given the public some OF
his best writings. could only hope that
IN the future he might. and he express
ed, "get this great stupid public by tho
ears. Carlyle aud Hugo could find
no booksellers to publish their first
works. Milton, Brougham, Macaulay,
jeffrey and many others could testify
as TO the difficulty OF procuring any re-
cOgutiOn of "A great author 3 first works,
a difficulty still greater among great
scientists. Calico. Kepler, Harvey.
Galyani, Columbus, Sweden org. Cab,
Fourier, Priestly and Fulton could give
some strong testimony rs 10 the stupid
ty OF the educated classes % whom
they appealed, aud Hawthorne once
said that he had enjoyed for twenty
years the distinction Of being the most
obscure literary man IN America. Tho
prOfOunder aud more original the think
er, the greater the barrier between
himself and the learned aud unlearned
multitude whom he would approach.
Every advanced thinker must meet
his obstacles. One might suppose that
simple mechanical inventions would
escape the hostility of fools. but they
don {. So simple au invention as tho
percussion lock. which has superseded
the old flint lock, was invented in 1907,
but it was thirty years before it could
be introduced into the English army.
How difficult was il to INTRODUCES
coal. Or even to introduce gas; the
candle still survives in England.
When the fret oil well was sunk in
Pennsy lvania by Colonel Drake, 1t was
considered so crazy an affair. that no
had great difficulty in getting men To
do the work. When anthracite was
discovered in Pennsy lyanla by Nicholas
Allen, near POttstown, he tried TO sell
a load, but got discouraged, dumped IL
in the river and emigrated westward.
When Robert Morris and others secured
large tract of coal lands, expecting To
make fortune, they failed To intro
duce it, and gave up their scheme.
When coal was first introduced in
London (early, | believe, in the four
teenIh century 1t produced a great out
cry, and q law was passed against IL,
ma ling the burning OF coal "a capital
Otfense. Il is said that one man was
executed, but this is hard TO believe.
! Come persons We're 50 hostile 10 coal
that they refused to eat any food cooked
by coal fire Tho opposition was NOS
quite a great as 10 the introduction Of
eas. The first cargo OF ice sent TO New
Orleans was driven away by mob. IL
was imported something like seventy
years ago by Judah Touro, and being
| put .nto an ice house ia Congo Square.
before it was completed. mob rushed
| 10, drove of tho workmeD. demolished
the building and ordered the captain To
leave the port. The ice was sent TO the
West Indies. and the newspapers next
I day were fierce against the importation
of loe.-New York Star.