The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1890-03-06
GENIUS AND LABOR.
Only by Hard Work Can Great Results
BE ACCOMPLISHED.

Alexander Hamilton, writes George n.
LovejOy in the Philadelphia Press, on GER
tain occasion remarked to an intimate
friend People are accustomed to speak
of me as man of genius. Now. call it
genius if you wish; it is. in fact, only the
exerton to do well whatever l take in hand
to perform" And the correctness of Ham
iltOns definition is fully sustained in the
example of scores of eminent iDtelectS
whom the world takes pleasure in referring
to as linen of genius" The great Plato,
whose thoughts seemed to come SO easily,
is said to have tOiled over his manuscripts,
working with slow and tedious elaboration.
The opening sentences of The Republic"
on the authors tablets was found to be
written in no less than thirteen different
versions When death called him from his
work the great philosopher was engaged at
his desk 'cOmbing and curling and weaving
and unweaving his writings after variety
of fashions" Coming to the gifted Addison,
whose dictiOn is characterized by such
grace and simplicity-sO much as to create
envy. indeed. in the minds of i'll writers
who have fOuriSLed since his time-We find
that the great author wrote, in fact, with
the most painful deliberatOn. 1t is mat
ter of history that the press was stopped
again and again after whole edition of
the Spectator had been thrown off in order
that its author might make a slight change
in sentence. Al the time Addison &C
cupied the position OF under secretary, it
George. OF Hanover. OF the demise OF Queen
Anne. and SO make known to his royal
highless that the throne of England was
vacant. But the fasldlOuS secretary was
in such dilemma with respect to the choice
of expression in which to convey the sad in
formation. it was found at the last moment
that the duty of writing the Prince would
have to be delegated to all humble clerk
who afterwards boasted OF DONG what his
superior found it imposs. bic to perform.
The historian GibbOn. in referring to the
manner in which lie wrote The Decline
and Fall of the Roman EMPIRE" said:
''Many experiments were made before |
could hit the happy middle between a dull
tone and rhetorical defamation. Three
times did l compose the first chapter, and
twice the second and third before l was
tOlerabIy satisfied with their effect" Charles
Lamb toiled most laboriOusly over his es
says. These papers. which long ago became
classics in the Engsh language. and are
repete with the most delicate fancieS as well
as richest philosophy. were composed with
the most eXacting nicely. And yet the
author is regarded the world over AS pos
sessed of the highest order of genius; and
50 he was. but he had to labor quite as hard
as many another mortal to accomplish the
end in view.
La RochefOucauld was occupied for the
space of fifteen years in preparing for pub
LEGATION his little work entitled "MaXimS."
rewriting many of them more than thirty
times. The celebrated French critic SAINT
Beuve was in the habit of devoting six days
to the preparation of single one OF his
weekly articles. A large portion of his
time was spent in the retirement of his
chamber. which. when he was occupied
with his pen. 10 person whatever, with the
single exception of his favOrite servant. was
allowed to enter under any circumstances.
Here he wrote those critique papers VIII CHI
carried captive the hearts of France, and
filled with wonder the cultivated mind
everywhere. 1t took Button fifty years to
prepare his ''StudieS OF Nature" After the
first draft was made he would rewrie it
often as many as eighteen times before he
considered It in condition for the printer.
his manuscript Was peculiar. lie employed
large sized letter paper, on which he ruled
five distinct columns. In the first he jotted
down his first ideas; in the second he en-
larged upon and pruned that which he had
previously written; and SO on to the fifth
column, in which he would write the per-
fected result of his labor. And yet it is re-
lated of HIM that after all this excessive toll
he would Oftentimes rewrite a passage to
the extent of twenty times. on one occasion
spending fourteen hours in discovering the
proper word with which to finish a sen
tence. Bulwer found in his early career as
an author that seventeen lines a day were
all he was able to write. AS he became
more experienced, however, he acquired