Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-02-11
GENIUS AND SUCCESS,
5ENlUS IN ART IS NO BETTER PA!G
THAN IN OLD DAYS.

Literature as IL Profession the M">i prnfi-
able of All Arts Fame and Wealth the
Goal Authors Desire to Reach WHY
Writers Have Harder Time Than
other Professional People.
Formerly it was an opinion generally
accepted that genius could NOT exist long
with II turn of affairs. TO "ynaW i
rust in a garrct WAS looked up III as
he natural and fitting thing for il poet
o do while spinning the golden cocoon
# art. Times have changed, and We
tave changed with them to such II de-
rec that nowadays the muses. arr rN-
pcctcd to endoW IL genius with the
snack of turning II shilling as adroitIv
- he Is expected TO turn the .stvlus or
lrId the plrctrum. Art, and especially
nCrlry art. is at this moment of all arts
he surcst i'll financial footing in other
'F"r'ls, the literary genius is better paid
than amy other worker in purely arts
= vocation. and yet it is not ii hun
lrcd years since the days of his stary-
ttlOn.
We hear good deal about the unrr-
'abllltv of literature as a profession. but
lie bottom fact i'll the matter is that the
profession is us reliable as any other tu
hose who can master it rs Il business.
In the business of letters there is no vav
)f avoiding scrutiny and exposure All
.hc world is the writer's critic. 1t is
not so with the physician ; he can look
wise, pour out three drops of sweetcucd
water, feel his patients pulse, and %
his way. Even the lawyer has many a
short cut by which he can escape detcc,
lion when he bunders, but the writer
must meet every demand or he must
fall.
\ moment or two of careful think
ing will disclose to any mind the Gle.
mcnt which distinguishes literary and
art life from every other field of human
experience and aspiration. 70 succeed
N the best sense of any calling Won
must have genius, but success t" dav
Is measured by money, and we may u,
we'll for the moment take the best pos
S1ble view of this cliterion-the golden
yardStick. We may take it as gen.
nral rule that every person entering
il''i' tlr ploItSSlOll VI literature mas III
view two things-fame and money,
with heavy balance of preference to
the credit of the latter.
In this view of the case can we safely
say that genius succeeds better than
mere agile and clever talent Take
tn" successful novels, for example, pub
IlNh"d during the year, and what will
b" the impression ? With one cxccp-
h"n, the most popular and paving nov
2IN of recent issue have been of poor
kmanship and have appealed 10 hui
man sympathy through other channels
'lan art but they have been written
hN men and women of genius who were
Wiling t" cater to II vulgar taste for the
sake of success. The reader who runs
Is not apt to make note of this clever,
II debaslnG, trick of the literary pro.
teSsl"n, nor is it our purpose to aualvZe
1t. What we have III mind is to point
ont why it is that writer's have IL harder
time of it than other professional peo.
pie.
Some one has said that genius is pa.
ticncc, but the saying will not hold
when applied to the irritable. restless,
unsuitable knights of the pen. The
time has passed when the poet, the nov
elIst or the essayist was content to delve
for the applause of posterity. Success
must be immediate OF some other string
must be pulled fame and money forth.
with is the demand but if fame can
not be had, then notoriety and money,
money at all events.
We called attention not long ago to
the system of literary" booming which
is but part of the general scheme IN
which literary effort has involved itself
Of late. Even genius has been "hustlcI
into it to such an extent that one re.
CARDS askance every sudden apparitirn
above the literary horizon.
10 set our own opinion in pIaiu
words, we seriously doubt whether gen.
ius IN art Is better paid to-day than it
was III the time of the garrct and the
crust, save where it trucklcs to NOR,
popular demand. Tho monev-makinu
genius watches the weathervane of cur
rent taste as broker watches he move
ments of financial weathercocks. and
strikes for the lucky lead. He deals in
i'cidis lltlSlnS, lie DullS OF bears the
market, he takes n chance on every
change of the wind. Perhaps this j.
why there are so few genuine creations
in literature at present.
The poet writes TO suit the needs Of
the magazine editors, so likewise does
the prose writer, and in this way Jour
nalism is shaping both men and litcra,
ture. Genius is no longer Proud and
fond ofsavage liberty. or, if it is thccX
lgencies oi life overprcssrl with the
weight Of artificial needs and daIIlr hv
the glare Of gold Shut out the possibility
of entertaining lofty ambitious. The
French, the English and the American
authors seem TO he in mad chn~,. after
great incomes, rather than in search 81
the muses.. Genius succeeds, but at II
loss. no matter what are its receipts ia
bills and checks. -Chautauquau
Ine stick licorice imported from
Europe is rarely pure. Most of it
comes from Spain, where it is adultcr-
ated to an almost incredible degree.
The chief adulterant is common and
cheap gum obtained from acacia. which
grows in great abundance in Morocco
aud along the west coast of Sahara and
is called Barbara gum. But this j, not
the only substance used, for starch,