396 On Genius. 
man soul, they must still be capable of inter- 
est and delight in what is great and beautiful 
and wonderful, they must still be capable of 
pursuing it with ardour and enthusiasm ;—or 
they do not seem to possess a single particle 
of that etherial spirit, which we call Genius. 
What are the passages in their works, from 
which we infer their Genius? Are they not 
those, in which some appeal is made to the 
generous and benevolent sympathies of the 
uncorrupted heart?—those, which discover 
an acquaintance with the secret springs of 
human happiness and misery ?—which unfold 
original and striking views of the ceconomy 
of providence and the destinies of the human 
race?—which throw a new light upon the 
world in which we are placed, and seem to 
bring us a step nearer to the immediate agency 
of God ?—those passages in fine, which search 
the depths of the heart, glowing with the love 
of our species, and eloquently asserting the 
eternal interests of truth, justice and freedom ? 
Every one will recollect passages such as 
these, in the works of his favourite authors. 
It matters not to what age or country or 
party they belong; where their Genius pro- 
duces its finest efforts, it appeals to those 
universal sympathies—those inextinguishable 
charities of the human heart, which must be 
