Genius
U
Is not generally knowni When tl)cno are,
rudely transplanted to ,a nowhijl they
ofien become very Inappropriate )u their
new application.' When a vjllagejjn the
midst of a broad prairie, br in tljp Great
Basin of Utah, is called J'alcrjio, thu
name becomes a great misuouier, as the
meaning ol' tho wordis "convenient bar
bor." This wholesale repetition of for
eign names Is an inconvenience, as well
as n 'disfigurement of our individuality as
u nation and a country. ,
Goniutt.
.v.
jKnowlcdge, and the skill necessary to
obtain it and follow it outMn all its maul
fold ramifications, was never intended to
be wholly wilhin the reach of a .single in
dividual. Man was not created omnia
uient, and very early in his history we
ore told that a Jabal was an agriculturist,
a Jubal a intisician and a Tubal Cain a me
chanic. Jabals, Jub.Ms and Tubal Cains
jucreased and populated , the earth, and
mankind became classed oil as agricultur
ists, artists, mechanics, warriors and so
all tlic vurious departments of knowledge
and Industry in which t human activity
finds cxprcssion'.werc filled. '
Now avc WTU not presume to assert.
thatamau has 'hot the capacity for fol
lowing out o one or all of these branch
es of knowledge and Industry to some ex
tent; but, as in one man's head flic bump
of memory, wit or combatlvcuess may be
larger than tlVe corresponding bump In
anotlicr man's head, so likewise may the
capacity for following outsome particular
branch of knowledge, be greater in one
mau than in another. If this capacity b.
very large, It will rear up men of peculiar
ability geniuses, who shine in their own
horizon of knowledge like brilllaut stars,
and around whom, too, cluster a host o1
satellites who shine from the light which
they have borrowed from tho great self
luminaries. But nil men cannot be such distinguished-geniuses.
And why ? Becnuso all
men are not, endowed with such distinct
Individuality. They are not naturaWy.
fitted to. follow out. to such perfection a
single branch-pf knowledge as the? genius. .
They have no), that pooujhir penetration of
miiul, that natural iuslglit -into, a thing,
arousing !tui insatiable desire to know,.,
more, which characterizes the man of,
great genius. , . ,,,.
The. genius, may have no more, nor
better avcrngo faculties than the. avcrago
man. But .in the former sono one. ,or.
more of these faculties are more highly
cultured .than the rest, nioro highly, fi-
vorcd and fostered by Mother Nature,.,
than others, while jn th,o. latter ,te facul,.. ,
ties which arc required, in the tnanifoJUl. ,
departments of knowledge are more nearly .
equal, ao that while the average uan
has a wider field from which to choose.,
his avocation, he has less Incentive to rise
to perfection in that avocation.
But what peculiar turn do these .facul- .
ties par excellence take in the mind .of tho
genius that they do not in the avcrago
mind? It is this: they rear up fqr him a,,
model of excellence, which is more nearly
perfect than iu tho, average mind. The
genius tees defects where another would
not see them. He recognizes beauty nnd
harmony, where another would not be
lieve these qualities to exist. For exam
ple, all men have the faculty for appreciat
ing the beautiful to somo extent, but iu few
is this .faculty as keen and perfect as in
the 4artist. ,Tho sculptor, for Instuncc,
fashions fronj the rough, jagged rock" a
figure of lifc-U.ko beauty with every linea
ment and expression, of tho organized
being perfectly. represented. This figure
was first an ideal, a model imprinted in
the mind, thep given material existence
by the labor f the artists hand. It was
the perfect Ideal which led to the perfect
expression. , Tho average mind has mi
8uc)i perfect ideal, und consequently can
hardly appreciate , the perfections and
beauties of the artist's design. It is the
Ideal which makes the genius, and not
tho skillful labor of tho hand. Indefcd