MEMOIR OF DAXIEL TREADWELL. 463 



saw them so thorouglily analyzed. There is a tendency of the human mind, which is almost 

 universal, to exalt the inJividuul and overlook the time and the race. Writers love to embody 

 glory, and magnify their heroes at tiie expense of the species. The great improvements of the 

 arts have been the gradual result of the improvable nature of mankind. At different periods of 

 social progress men advance to a certain point, which necessarily includes or leads to the next 

 stage in the advancement of the arts, which will unavoidably be reached. At this point some 

 fortunate individual, whose thoughts have ripened and been at work, lights upon some master 

 thought, which gives expansion and freedom to the flood which was behind him, Viy which he 

 himself was driven to tlie iiappy occurring thought, the merit of whicli is liis own, but no more. 

 The real glory belongs to the time and the race, not to the individual. Contemporaries in obituary 

 notices, biographies, and eulogies make everything of and attribute everything to the author of the 

 lucky thouglit, and overlook the many and the period which gave liim the power and aided him 

 in attaining it. Experiment is the great schoolmaster, and he is and always has liccn abroad 

 instructing the masses and instructed by them. The lucky individual who has first seized upon 

 the master thought, like the general of an army, receives the whole glory of the victory, when in 

 truth the common soldiers are the real conquerors. Among the causes which gave the impetus 

 to the great improvements by which this nineteenth century has been distinguished, the principal 

 has been, in my judgment, the American Revolution. The common mind of the time was set 

 free to think, particularly in the United States, where the mind was not hampered by the preju- 

 dices and unwieldy habits of former ages. An example and a rivalry was communicated to 

 Europe, the race thought and advanced together under a common sense of the value of experi- 

 ment as the only path to advancement. An open field and fair competition have been the causes 

 of the singular success in improving the useful arts which has distinguished the period. 



But I must ask your pardon for the long yarn which I have unintentionally spun ; but you 

 must thank yourself, for you put my hand upon the distaff, I dare say without retlectiug the 

 aptitude of old men to be prosy and tedious. 



Wishing you a long and happy life, with every element of inorganic matter to fill your sails, 

 light your fires, and set your steam in motion, I am, as ever, truly yours. 



JOSIAH QUINCY. 



The following letters of Mr. Treadwell to various personal friends will be found 

 interestinc?. 



To Dn. William Sweetser. 



CAMiminoE. October 10. 11*40. 



Dear Sweetser, — I licard through Dr. Parkmnn, a few days ago, that you were at Castleton. 

 Indeed, I had concluded from my recollection of your engagements that you must be there at 

 this time, and so I forward this to that jjlace. in the hope that it will find you comfortaMe. How 

 much does that word express, — all indeed that we can reasonalily hope to obtain in life 1 We 

 may now and then have a few hours of positive joyousness, counterbalanced by corresponding 

 hours of absolute misery. But none ought to lay out for more than easy comfort, and this may 

 be enjoyed without the risk which attends striving for a higher state of pleasurable sensations. 



I have been in expectation of receiving a letter from you for some time. The last which I 

 had was in .Tulv. Yon were then unwell, but recovering. You would, of course, have informed 

 me if anvthing unusual had occurred, or if your health had not been re-established. I am 

 desirous, however, of having evidence under your own hand that the world goes well with you, 



