Evening star., 1929-06-30

writes: my grandfather died
when I was years old. During
his last illness he would have me read to
him the first chapter of the Gospel OF
! John. / could do very well
until I came to the word 'compre-
hended.'"
That a 6-year-old child should be
able intelligently to read the Gospel
according to st. John is regarded by
most people as a mark of unusual pre-
cocity, and, to be sure, 1t is. Mr..
Coolidge's statement has stimulated
anew the ever fascinating subject OF
child precocity While 1t is far from
being q unique attribute, 1t Is most
certainly rare when the whole number
of mankind is taken into consideration
Men are created so unequal that 1t Is
impossible to lay down any rules con-
cerning development and, what is more
baffling, it is difficult to discover reasons
why one child should be precocious and
another dull. The Journal of Heredtty
is a publication. which studies these
matters in all departments OF life
human, animal and vegetable-end yet
it can find but the most general rules
and every one of these subject to the
most violent exceptions. 1t has found,
for example, that big nose Is tndica-
tive of great brain power-but not In
that the man with the strong. jutting
chin is what the Western novelists call
a he-man, while the chap with q re-
treating almost vanishing chin Is q
sissy. Both rules are subject to the
most annihilating exceptions. One
simply cannot tell.
Lord MacauIay was a bright boy. At
the age of 4 he was at tea party. One
of the guests upset a cup OF hot tea on
~ xr,Ia, trN6
among the peoples knees. The guest,
a kindly lady, was much concerned and
kept returning to young Macaulay to
ask him If it still hurt. In few MIN
utes he replied: Madam, the agony
has abated."
Flame Often Dies Out.
But here is the catch II these mat
ters Lord Macaulay kept on being
precocious. He had bitter ngnC
against poverty, but won to a high place
in literature. to a high place in politics
and Jurisprudence, and eventually was
raised to the peerage. On the otner
hand. the precocious child should not
| ordinarily be looked upon with salts
faction by its parents. Experience goes
to show that very brilliant children 40
not continue their development. There
is a sudden flare of brilliance at the
| beginning, DuL IL OlcC Oub AAnC O. AAAS
cracker whereas the slow beginners
seem more likely to continue their up
ward path. There is an old saying
among people that "or1e sees a great
MANY bright children, but not so many
bright grown-ups" It seems the flame
burns out soon when it burns too
| quickly.
Prococity is more usual apparently
among musicians than in any other
field. It is difficult to account for TINS
unless the fact be accepted that music
is a primitive instinct and that the
child musical prodigy is not displaying
real mental precocity at all, but actually
| is a more primitive creature than his
playmates. We have learned to regard
great musicians as rather more prlm..
| tive so far as emotions are concerned
than ordinary mortals. Their violences
are proverbial and are attributed to
that vague quality called temperament.
The most extraordinary outbreaks may
! be expected for them. Handel was
nutting ON an opera one evening. He
had a distinguished audience. In the