Page:The Hunterian Oration 1832.djvu/26

 genium est, ut possit emergere, nisi illi materia, occasio. fautor etiam. commendatorque contingat."

It is true, that many works of genius and learning have been performed in states of life, that appear very little favourable to thought, or inquiry;—so many, that he who considers them is inclined to think, that "he sees enterprize and perseverance predominating over all external agency, and bidding help and hinderance vanish before them." Thus, as Johnson has remarked, the genius of Shakespeare was not to be depressed by the weight of poverty, nor limited by the narrow conversation, to which men in want are inevitably condemned; the incumbrances of his fortune were shaken from his mind, as " dew drops from a lion's mane." But, it is to be remembered, that one vast difference exists between the case of the immortal bard, and that of John Hunter. The eye of the poet might


 * "glance from Heav'n to Earth,
 * From Earth to Heav'n,"

without his being called upon to pay a single fee; all nature was expanded to his view, and