Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-10-16

IHlIIl nN All iHtuTaDie itiiii vi ittNi1'ii-
ehoiia." The poet Schiller during a
spell of melancholia was once suspect
cd of being insane. George Sand suf-
| fered streaksS of melancholy which
| nearly drove her to suicide.
Suspicion is another characteristic OF
| genius. Men of genius often misinter-
/ pref the acts of others and think that
| they are being prosecuted. They are
| often timid and backward. They have a
/ tendency to doubt themselves. They
/ have no confidence in themselves. Many
| things which to the ordinary man are
| trfles appear to the genius as insur-
| mountable difficulties. He fumes and
| frets over them. Thomas Carlyle was
| invariably put out by the idea of order
| ing coat or buying gloves. Ernest
Renan had his irritability aroused by
omnbuses. He was under. the delusion
that conductors refused to regard him
seriously and that on trains he was al
ways given the worst place.
Pride is "A we'll known characteristic of
genius. In almost every circle there is
a person who is frequently made fun of
because he is considered stuck up"
The chances are that the unpleasant
characteristic which is labeled stuck
up" is in reality mesalomania-de
of graudeur--with which genius is often
afflicted. The great poet Dante was de-
spised by his contemporaries because he
considered himself superior to them.
Victor Hugo was dominated by a fixed
idea to become the greatest poet and
the greatest man of all ages. The philo-
sopher Hegel believed he was divine.
There are many physical Characters
tics by which genius, even though pre-
vented by Ill fortune and want OF opper=
tunity from bossoming forth, can be
discovered According to Lombrosso
smailness of the body characterized
great many men of genius.
Horace was extremely small of stature.
Alexander the Great was great only as
a conqueror. Physically he was puny.
The philosophers Plato. Aristotle and
Epictetus were all small in body. Among
modern men the philosopher Spnoza,
the composer Mozart Browning and Ib
sen are noted for their small statares.
The poet William Blake was scarcely
five feet in height.
There are diseases that seem TO be
characteristic of genius. The most com
mon of these is ricketts, Scott, Byron.
Ibpt anu 1t ifoSl VI ttiiti itiiious hiSH SUI
fered from this disease. Genius has a col
or all its own. Pallor has been called the
color of great men. Many men of gen
ius are extremely thin--in fact, emaciat-
ed Voltaire is an instance. Aristotle,
Cicero and Napoleon We're thin in their
younger years Many men of genius
have been sickly all during their child
hood. In this class fall the philosophers
Newton, Descartes and Locke. the his
torian Renan, the economist Adam
Smith. Many great men had LESSONS of
the brain. Many men who did not mani
fest any special apttudes became gen.
fuses after their brains had been injured
by an accident
A common characteristic of men of
genius is stammering. Virgil, Erasmus,
Malherbe. Lamb. Darwin and many
other giants of thought have been sram
merers.
When your little son eight or nine
years of age goes of into a corner by
himself and sits silently medtating or
perhaps seribbling something do not
seod or punish him. Better watch him,
study him. He may have the spark OF
genius in him. Precocity is one of the
characteristics of greatness. When nine
years of age Dante wrote sonnets. Tas-
so wrote poetry at 10. Pascal and Comte
were great thinkers at the age of l.. a
story in seven languages was written
by Goethe when he was not yet To- The
German poet Wieland meditated an epic
poem at 49, Byron wrote verses at u.
Similarly when the boy of II or is
shows signs of restlessness when he
fails IN stick to his work-WOfk often
prescribed for him by others-he should
not be termed indoent. He should not
be branded as a good-for- nothing, The
young boys desire to travel. to go out
into the world, may be a symptom of
genius. Vagabondage is characteristic
of great men. Men of genius love to
wander This love for wandering In the
case of the German poet Heinrich IIene
has given to the world his remarkable
book Die Harzreise" Oliver Goldsmith
was vagabond. And it is to this spirit
Of Vasabondage that English literature
is indebted to him for 1.-The Traveller"
and 1.-The Deserted Village" Byron was
IA restless soul 1t is his restlessness
| which makes his poetry so diversified
| and fascinating The great German
composer Meyerbeer travelled for 80
years and composed his operas on the
train Richard Wagner Travelled on foot
from Riga to Paris.-Chicago Tribune.