Page:Cyclopedia of illustrations for public speakers, containing facts, incidents, stories, experiences, anecdotes, selections, etc., for illustrative purposes, with cross-references; (IA cyclopediaofillu00scotrich).pdf/294



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.—, Lippincott's.

(1207)

See.

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."—

(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