A1O On Genius. 
find the sensibilities most acute and the ima- 
gination most exalted; it is in these warm 
and sunny climes, that 
Bright-eyed Fancy, hovering o’er, 
Scatters from her pictured urn, 
Thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.(r) 
There is another general consideration, 
which tends to the same effect as the pre- 
ceding. If Genius depend on some cir- 
cumstance connected with the bodily organ- 
ization, we should expect to find it occasion- 
ally, to a certain extent, hereditary; an ex- 
pectation justified, as we shall discover upon 
enquiry, by the matter of fact, It isa col- 
loguial remark, not less true than frequent, 
that talent runs in certain families. Nor can 
this be set down to the benefit of example 
or superior instruction; we often find the 
constitutional complexion of mind transmitted 
from father to son. One reason, why we are 
less aware of the fact, may be, that in the 
case of very distinguished individuals, the 
splendour of their name quite eclipses the 
merits of their descendants, though they may 
retain a considerable portion of their genius. 
The world has generally agreed to stigma- 
tize Marcus Cicero as a blockhead, because 
(1) Gray’s Progress of Poesy, I11. 3. 
