The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-10-27
Colossal coNcgiT OF GENIUS


II Il Is love JhaJ MAKES tbs y.34iu e
round, il Is seit-Iose That keeps Il IRON.
tumoling 10 pieces. Concert = the slds
which aulalgamates mankind into society.
ana vanity The varnish winch preserves
man from being saturated oy despair.
IS the ducks feathers throw on the
water From self-esteen springs the de-
sire 10 rise; many man Would not
strive to excel die he not believe that he
could not perform his particular duty bel
Ter than anybody else. Yet the greatest
men are generally supposed 70 be cirndent
OF their own powers, and genius 70 De
the companion OF humility. Biographies
have ever delighted II recounting the
simplicity and self-cepreciaIion o. their
heroes.
But genius is, as a rule, net combined
with such qualities: the dominance OF
the ego is the very spirit OF genius. cen
Jus Is not the infinite capacity Ior TAX
ing pains, but q profound Sell-reli-nee-
a sort of mere eSoteric selI-containment.
Ii is sublime confidence in power OF sell
which has raised many a man 10 great
ness. Nor have heroes been shy N &c
claring their preteusiOnS, though the very
vastness OF them has produced oasntul-
ness in some. Homer probably kaew
he was singing for all time, and SNAKES
pere must have realized his immortality
OF poets pride there IS al amusing
story about Wordsworth. he, SoutheE,
and Coleridge were one morning ram
bling around Rydal Mount, When TIE sio-
rious weather prompted ColerlcSe 10 eA-
claim that lie day might have been or
aered for the three poets. Three poets,
muttered WORDSWORTH; who sre the
other two?"
Tennyson's shyness was merely the
cloak Of his sensitive vanity. de raVed
at the imppertinent curiosity OF tourists,
but hated public disregard even more
HIS cloak streaming behind him ana ms
wide-awake hat were kind Of advertise
'ment, but he would not part with them
Go away, you rude boy, what are you
staring at?" angriiy demanded Tennyson
OF a small boy who persistently followed
him on one OF his walks about Haslemere
Don't YOU want 10 be stared gtg What
for do you wear those things, them
asked the lad in all innocence, and it is on
record that the poet biushed. Once after
furiousy denouncing the passion for
autographs and anecdotes and records Of
great men as the source Of every crime
and vice in the world, ne plaintively said
that the cost for Two days had brought
him no letters, and that he thought
there was a sort of syncope il the world
as 10 him and his fame IN all serious
ness Walter Savage Lander asked Miss
Martineau if she did not think that he
and the Duke of Wellington We're the first
two men in the world.
Seventy years ago a Jewish STRIPPING
in the most affected OF attire, went TO
hear debate in the House OF Commons
To his sister he wrote; Heard Macau-
lays best speech, Shiel. and Charles
Grant. Macaulay admirable, but between
ourselves l could floor them all That
this assurance was not mere braggdocio
Disraelis course approved but the sub
Unity of it, When a lady asked him TO
recommend an interesting book 10 her
Disraen charmingly answered, When
/ want to read s. good book, | write one
So, too, William Goblet, When l am
asked what book young man OF woman
ought to read, I always answer. Let him
or her read all the books that 1 have writ
ten"
Different only in kind from the buster
ing egOtism Of DR.. Johnson and the sensi-
tive vanity of Goldsmith was the cool
self-cOnfdence Of Macauley. The splendid
audacity Of the opening sentence o. his
History" the History of England from
the accession of King James the Second
down TO a time within the memory OF
men stin living. 1 shall recount this
that, and the other, TO the extent of half
a page of intentions. All this before writ
ing word Of his actual history. Scarce
~ a fifth of his audaciously announced
task did Macaulay accomplish. His vast
stores of knowledge made him a trifle
more magisterial in tone than WhewelI.
1t was into Jewetts mouth that an I'M
dergraduate put the couplet-
Il am the master OF this College;
What 1 don't know Is not knowledge"
To the same famous Head was attributed
the dictum. Il am the Master OF Bal!iol
College; Balliol is the first college in Ok
ford; oxford is the first city in England;
= A..
Delightfully."- frank is Bjornstjerne
Bjornson's. the Swedish poet and drama
fist, opinion OF himself. During his recent
stay in Paris he declared, There are two
men in Europe who possess genius, my
self and Isben-admitting that lshen has
it." Isben himself has no doubt Of the
matter. Every afternoon he sits for a
couple of houre in cafe in Christiania
to be seen and admired by the people
navian buries his face in his hat. This
proceeding is not due to a sudden inspir-
alton; in the great dTamatists hat is
fixed a small mirror. and It is into this
he peeps constantly. arranging his hair
with pocket-cOmbl Such, at least is
the story told by his admirers. There are
other living men OF letters. belonging 10
our own country, TO whom the most child
ish vanity is recorded. But nobody thinks
the worse of them for a falling that seems
to bring them nearer to the common level
of everyday humanity.
Concerning the vanity Of genius.
pretty story is told of the famous diva
On the eve OF an engagement at Buchar-
est, the prima donna declared she would
not go: there was snow everywhere and
IL was too cold for the journey. Every
the representations OF the manager were
useless 10 alter the determination OF the
cantatrice. Where reason failed guile
succeeded Within an hour the manager
handed Madame Patti a telegram from
Bucharest, announcing the preparations
for her reception by the Rumanian no.
bility, with bands and torchlight process
sion. Declaring II was impossible ~ dis
appoint SO generous a people. the singer
reversed her decision and went 70 BuCh-
Arrest. There she was received by sixty
gentlemen IN evening dress in the name
Of the mobiles OF Roumania. and escorted
TO her hotel amidst the glare Of torches,
waving of flags. scattering OF flowers.
and the strains OF two bands But the
was an elaborate device, executed
b. the managers orders. IN order 20 lure
the lady into keeping her engag cement
IN which Il was successful
But on occasion genius does not scruDic
to sc0rn any honor u Il involve unwei-
come trouble. Portsmouth VIII not read
ily forget its treatment 81 Tire hzHcs % a
great foreign actress she wss playing
in a matinee. after which eiab1rate prep
aratious had been made by The mayer %
receive her al the toNn h1IL B1t when
she reached the building ard saa TIRE
long righs q steus Leading q its entrance
she declined TO get down and mount the
toilsorne way. though gi1Ty awaited ner
AZ the summit Represeutations n 1he
made and the diHappQintuent
consequent on her appearance sere 4
regaily waved aside; the day vas hot