PRODUCERS OF INTELLECT. 601 



contribute most of the intellectual laborers of note, and that the pop- 

 ular notion that genius is generally of low origin or derived from ob- 

 scure districts is a mistake. Some " village Hampden," it is true, 

 may adorn the region of politics, but this is an exceptional distinction. 

 It is needless to premise that Mr. Clarke has considered the influence 

 of population, and has not merely enumerated the clever men from 

 given places. He has taken 2,000 names of men of genius or high in- 

 tellectual powers, and sorted them out into districts, and this forms 

 the basis of his calculations. He says : 



The more important matter is to ascertain how far the external influence of 

 the community has affected the hirth or production of men of ability, genius, 

 or celebrity, exemplified in intellectual endowment. . . . On the whole, such 

 men are rather born in towns than in the country, and examples to the con- 

 trary, as those of Newton, Dryden, etc., admit of explanations which neutral- 

 ize their apparent antagonism. 



Speaking of the preeminence of London in the production of such 

 men, he says : 



If we test this for other countries, whether in ancient or modern times, we 

 shall find the same thing. Eome and Athens will assert a metropolitan 

 position, and so will Paris. A map of the geographical distribution of such 

 elements will safely mark out the most famous cities of antiquity. A map of 

 England, of France, of Germany, or Italy, will show the like modern results. 

 The town population being the smaller portion in each country, yet the larger 

 number of names will belong to the town population, and not to the rural pop- 

 ulation ; and, on the whole, the names which can be marked as first and second 

 class will belong in the larger proportion to the town population. 



Of the 2,000 names, three-eighths belong to the country, and five- 

 eiarhths to the town districts. 



The following extracts give the main points in the interesting anal- 

 ysis : 



In regarding the distribution among the town population, again, the unequal 

 distribution gives in most cases a larger pro rata proportion to the large towns 

 over the small. The most striking case is, however, that of London (333), and, 

 as that is supported by the example of other metropolitan cities, ancient and 

 modern, it can be accepted as an authenticated fact that the larger the popula- 

 tion the larger the proportion of distinguished men. Edinburgh gives IS, and 

 Dublin 53. The proportion of those metropolitan cities to the whole number 

 is about 22 per cent. Still, on examining the smaller towns among themselves, 

 this by no means holds good. Many small towns furnish more names than 

 those of larger population, and these will be found to be cathedral and univer- 

 sity towns. What is to be marked is the low position of such great modern 

 centres of industry and population as Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, 

 Sheffield, Leeds, Hull, Bradford, etc. . . . The relation of names may, there- 

 fore, be considered to be, not to the population generally in gross, but rather 

 to the classes engaged in the pursuit of learning, to the educated classes, and 

 those in easy circumstances. This explains best the phenomena of London, 

 and the preponderant towns, and likewise what may be called the intellectual 



