But these little geniuses—did they live their lives in vain because they are forgotten now? Was all their music meaningless, and did the world never miss it when their harps were silent? They fulfilled their mission; their songs went home to human hearts and quickened them with feeling. They sang as sang the birds—brief, tender songs that made the world glad for a day; and tho their names are now unknown, their graves unmarked, their work has not been unrewarded. So let the little geniuses be of good cheer; their footsteps may not go echoing down the ages, but they may sound very pleasantly in the pathways of to-day. If they feel that they must sing, let no man say them nay; there will be ears to listen, voices to applaud, and hearts to feel. The world needs the low, soft notes of the humble singer, the homely harpings of the little poet, as a rest from the deep bass of the bards sublime.—Atlanta Constitution.
(1206)
GENIUS SHOULD BE FAVORED
A man of genius is so valuable a product
that he ought to be secured at all cost; to be
kept like a queen-bee in a hothouse, fed
upon happiness and stimulated in every way
to the greatest possible activity. To expose
him to the same harsh treatment which is
good for the hod-carrier and the brick-*layer
is to indulge in a reckless waste of
the means of a country's greatness. The
waste of water-power at Niagara is as nothing
compared with the waste of brain-power
which results from compelling a man of exceptional
qualifications to earn his own
living.—Joel Benton, Lippincott's.
(1207)
See Great Men Should be Provided For.
GENIUS THE GIFT OF GOD
Let Raffael take a crayon in his hand and
sweep a curve; let an engineer take tracing
paper and all other appliances necessary to
accurate reproduction, and let him copy that
curve—his line will not be the line of
Raffael. Rules and principles are profitable
and necessary for the guidance of the
growing artist and for the artist full grown;
but rules and principles, I take it, just as
little as geology and botany, can create the
artist. Guidance and rule imply something
to be guided and ruled. And that indefinable
something which baffles all analysis, and
which when wisely guided and ruled emerges
in supreme excellence, is individual genius,
which, to use familiar language, is "the gift
of God."—John Tyndall.
(1208)
GENIUS VERSUS TOOLS
A young Italian knocked one day at the
door of an artist's studio in Rome, and,
when it was opened, exclaimed: "Please,
madam, will you give me the master's
brush?" The painter was dead, and the boy,
filled with a longing to be an artist, wished
for the great master's brush. The lady
placed the brush in the boy's hand, saying:
"This is his brush; try it, my boy." With a
flush of earnestness on his face he tried,
but found he could paint no better than with
his own. The lady then said to him: "You
can not paint like the great master unless
you have his spirit."
The same great lesson was taught once in a museum of old-time armor. When a visitor was shown the sword of Wallace, he said: "I do not see how it could win such victories." "Ah, sir," said the guide, "you don't see the arm that wielded it."
We need all the grace and tact we can
acquire through studying the best models
and imitating their example; but if
we are mere imitators, our lives will be
void of real power. (Text.)
(1209)
GENTILITY, FALSE STANDARDS OF
The story about Chief Justice Marshall
has been told a good many times, but will
bear telling again. As he was taking a
morning walk, plainly drest, he encountered
a young man who was standing at a market
stall, evidently in great perplexity. A basket
of moderate size was before him and he
was saying to the market-man: "I wonder
where all the niggers are this morning. I
can't find any one to carry my basket home."
The Chief Justice said: "Where do you
live?" "No. 200 Avenue A," was the reply.
"Well," he said, "as I am going your way,
I will carry your basket for you." They
started, the judge carrying the basket. The
young man noticed that the people they met
all bowed very politely to his volunteer
porter, and wondered who he could be. The
basket was deposited at the door. Pay was
offered, but refused. What did it mean?
The next day, while walking with a friend,
this young man saw his volunteer porter
in a group of lawyers. He asked: "Who
is that plain old fellow that they are all listening
to?" "John Marshall, Chief Justice
of the United States." "He carried my
