The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-03-25
WHEN Genius OUTCR0PS
The Development Of Greatness Often
Manifested at Fourteen.
SOME INSTANCES IN QUESTION
Incidents In the Lives OF Great Men john
Marshall and Charles Dickens.
The Case OF Spurscon-Other
Famous Youngsters.


L
| the after lie. rs Euizac SAYS, 1t il Il
| luminous point. Ii is here that the
| boy munir-sts the man. Some prodi-
| giouS Youngsters assert themselves be-
| fore this. but hot many of them do II
an exception is To be found with any
| particular class of minds, IL Is with
musicians. They are very quick to
show ensalves-M Mozart. for In
| stance, writing concerto when he
was 3 years old, ana Rossini compose
| ing "Tancred' at X. which made him
| famous.
John Marshall, on the frontier of
| Virginia. and Charles Dickens in the
city of London. separated by CEN
tury of time. are two splendid spaci-
mems of boys starting at II in the
race of celebrity. Marshall, we know.
! had the distinction of being one of the
! best lawyers and scholars Of the revo-
! lutionary epoch. while Dickens at
| tained a popular eminence in novel
writing unsurpassed. When John
Marshall was II years old he was
placed under the tutelage of q clergy
man named Campbell. He received
but two years of instruction. His own
| genius and application did the rest
The number II is conspicuous in Mar
shall's life. At this age he began his
lature. and at thre times this age ne
was sent envoy to France. Dickens
had no more instructions than Mar
shall, nor was it of the best He quit
| the old Wellington school at II, and
| this put him In the way of 4 grand
career. 1t was his pivotal period
when he began his intimate acquaint-
ance with life in London, and ut oS.
twice this age, he made his mark as II
| professional author.
CHARLES SPuRGEON.
1t Is doubtful if the career of any
man has been more clearly indicated
at any time of life than was Charles
Surgeons at II. He was then going
to school at Colchester, and preached
Il, sermon OF such excellence as to
MALE his teachers suspect he had the
| Gift of oratory. The sermon Is re-
ported to have been delivered with
great enthusiasm, but none of that
simple majesty which made Spurgeon
famous. At IA. too, we see Bossuet,
the most gifted priest the Catholic
church has known, while at the col
| iege Of Navarro. delivering an eXtem-
pore sermon before Nine. Ramboullet
and q circle of friends. He was then
| the brightest hope of the church. a
| year before he had been appointed
| canon of Metz. and now his father,
dean of the parliament of Metz, re-
calls him to that city from Dijon that
he may benefit by his appointment as
| canon and complete his theological
| studies. This same year he was sent
to Paris. and while there saw the
| grand entrance to the city of the
| emaciated and almost dead Cardinal
oh nj,
l-amartine and Sainte-Beuve. The
glory of a prelate who had been given
| the highest dignity of the church save
that of pope. and the highest OF the
state save that of king. captivated his
ina gination and filled him with ambi-
| tiOn: and this lad of IA, with the face
of Il child and the head of q man, sees
himself a cardinal in the church and
| prime minister to q king. The vision
was never realized. though his genius
was ample.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON.
/ Emerson's fourteenth year seems to
bear rather indirectly on the best part
of his life, that OF thinker and writer.
but is the starting point of his career.
He then entered Harvard with little
taste for it's curriculum and laws of
lyle at Edinburgh, he rummaged the
library and learned literature. Here
he was under the tutelage of Edward
Everett, Caleb Cushing and George
Ticknor. His taste for oratory was
| confirmed by Everett and Cushing,
though TicknOrs mind. that vast store
house of literary knowledge. was real
ly Emerson's controlling force at that
time. if it might be said that he was
controlled by anybody. From this in
fluence. with some intervening time,
he came under that of Ellery Chan
ming. another eloquent and learned
man. lie soon took up lecturing and
writing as Il vocation. the preparation
Tor which dated from his fourteenth
year.
Cervantes as a boy had more of the
spirit of rebellion than Emerson.
When IA he was put to school at Mad
rid under Lopez de Hogos to learn
theology, law or medicine. He was
not good student, never was until
lie became man. Law he couldn't
understand. and theology he wouldn't
understands: medicine lie learned lit
tie. AT this time Cervantss wanted
to be a poet, and was Il prolific writer
of verses. Those done at II were mer-
itorious but those written at % were
no better and altogether unworthy
one of his ability. for fourteen years
he gave much or his time to expert
mental writing, mostly poetry. At %
he abondoned 1t. but few years later
again took totwriting, nNd at 35 fin
ished his first prose work. "calatea."
In Cervantes' life the number II is
particularly noticeable. At this age
he was put to school. where he gave
hn ~ nf n i'm.
in which department. though not as Il
poet. he was destined to almost rival
Shakespeare. At twice II he drifted
from poetry to prose to become the
glory of Spain. a. BalEac 30 years
later became the first novelist of
France. Now add the half of II to
this age and We see Ccrvartcs an au-
thor at 81. At four times "A. 56, he
had written himself In letters that will
never fade; IL was then that he had
finished the frs, part of Don Qu-
Xote." Fourteen years after this he
died
GEORGE BUCHANAN.
George Buchanan. the Scotch poet
and scholar, was born foIty-one years
after Cervantcs. in 1906. Like Ger
vantes. he was put to school at II.
Their records. however. in their re-
spective institutions of learning are
widely different Young buchanan
lived with his uncle, James Herriot,
who watched the boy and discovered
his mental inclination. He predicted
fer him eminence in scholarship, and
told him he had arrived at an age
which he could not afford to let pass
without some decisive step touching
his future George instinctively spe-
cialiZed the study Of Latin. and that
he might become quickly proficient in
1t he was sent to the University of
Paris. the best school in Europe for
Instruction In this language. He en-
tered ut II. and never abandoned the
studies which he then took up. His
growth was clearly manifest at this
age. buchanan considered that his
intellectual life dated from his four
teenih year mud ut tho ~ Of ,,.i,iai,