404 On Genius. 
To his possesing’ this power in a very high 
degree, Sir Isaac Newton ascribed his sole 
pre-eminence above other men. That faculty 
of long and continuous attention, what the 
French call atlention suivie, which is the foun- 
dation of proficiency in the sciences, is rather 
the result of education and habit than the gift 
of nature: but attention, asa Jittle enquiry 
may satisfy us, is, in the first instance, most 
readily bestowed, where the most lively in- 
terest is awakened; and interest will always 
be most intense, where the associations of plea- 
sure and pain are the strongest. ‘The habit of 
attention, I admit, must be acquired; but we 
must excite it in the infant mind at first, by 
presenting some object, which awakens a 
lively sensation of delight. The capacity of 
attention, whether the habit has been promoted 
or neglected by education, will, L apprehend, 
in all cases, be proportioned to the liveliness 
of the original susceptibility of pleasure and 
pain, 
Perhaps it may be thought, that, even if 
this theory be deemed to furnish a plausible 
account of the nature of Genius, as displayed 
in the inventions of poetry, eloquence and the 
arts ; it is totally inadequate to explain that 
development of it, which is seen in the cul- 
tivation of the exact sciences and philosophy. 
