GENIUS GENLIS. 



387 



supposed to be a class of intermediate being's, be- 

 Iveen angels and men, of a grosser fabric tlian the 

 former, and more active and powerful than the lat- 

 ter. Some of them are good, others bad ; and they 

 are, like men, capable of future salvation or con- 

 demnation. Their existence as superhuman beings 

 is indeed maintained by the Mussulman doctors, but 

 that has little connexion with their character and 

 functions as delineated by the poets. In poetry, they 

 are described as the children and subjects of Jan ibn 

 Jan, under whom, as their sole monarch, they pos- 

 sessed the world for 2000 years, till their disobe- 

 dience called down the wrath of the Most High, and 

 the angel Iblis, or Eblis, was sent to chastise and 

 govern them. After completely routing Jan ibn 

 Jan, Iblis succeeded to his dignity ; but, turning 

 rebel himself, he was afterwards dethroned, and con- 

 demned to eternal punishment. The Afrits and 

 Ghouls, hideous spectres, assuming various forms, 

 frequenting ruins, woods, and wild, desolate places, 

 and making men, and other living beings, their prey, 

 are often confounded with the Jinns, or Divs, of 

 Persian romance, though probably they are of Ara- 

 bian origin, and only engrafted in later times on the 

 mythological system of Persia and India. 



Genius is something in human nature, so mysteri- 

 ous, that it with difficulty admits of a precise defini- 

 tion. It takes its name from the Latin word genius. 

 (See the preceding article.) Genius combines oppo- 

 site intellectual qualities ; the deepest penetration 

 with the liveliest fancy; the greatest quickness with 

 the most indefatigable diligence, and the most reso- 

 lute perseverance ; the boldest enterprise with the 

 soundest discretion. It discovers itself, by affecting, 

 in any department of human action, something ex- 

 traordinary. To what is old it gives a new form ; 

 or it invents the new ; and its own productions are 

 altogether original. Hence originality is a necessary 

 consequence of genius ; and there is a pleonasm in 

 the phrase "original genius." The quality of genius 

 determines beforehand, that the man in whom it 

 is found possesses ability superior to that of others 

 of his race ; ability which opens new paths for itself. 

 It is, therefore, a particular modification of the com- 

 mon nature. In a word, genius pertains to indivi- 

 duality, and as this is incomprehensible, so that can- 

 not be defined, but must be considered as something 

 innate. We estimate it higher than talent, in the 

 common acceptation of that term, which, in the ca- 

 pacity for originating in extent and energy, is infe- 

 rior to genius. Where ordinary powers advance by 

 slow degrees, genius soars on rapid wing. But ge- 

 nius does not assume its distinctive character in every 

 exercise of its powers. A gifted poet, for instance, 

 is not, therefore, an ingenious philosopher, nor does 

 the statesman's genius include that of the soldier. 

 We distinguish this genius, therefore, into various 

 kinds, as military, poetical, musical, mathematical 

 genius, &c. ; thus, for example, Mozart possessed a 

 genius for music, Goethe for poetry, Rapliael for 

 painting, Newton for mathematics, Kant for philoso- 

 phy, &c. &c. A universal genius, in the true sense 

 of the phrase, is wliat never has been, and never will 

 be seen, if we suppose this to signify one who can 

 excel in every walk of science and art ; for this is 

 inconsistent with the circumstances and conditions 

 required for attaining perfection in each. But if this 

 phrase be limited to the capacity of excelling in any 

 or every art or science to which a man of genius 

 should devote himself, we must acknowledge, that 

 the happy constitution of mind possessed by such a 

 man, does capacitate him so to excel, the necessary 

 application of his mind to the subject being supposed. 

 And, although celebrated artists have seldom excelled 

 in the walks of science, yet there have been men, 



who have laboured witli equal success in various 

 branches of art and science ; thus Michael Angelo 

 was equally celebrated as a statuary, architect, and 

 painter ; Leibnitz, as a philosopher, mathematician, 

 and jurisprudent. 



GENLIS (STEPHANIE FELICITE DCCREST DE Sr 

 AUBIN, marquise de Sillery), countess de. This pro- 

 lific and popular authoress was born near Autun, in 

 1746. Mile, de St Aubin was celebrated for her 

 beauty and musical talents, and favourably received 

 in the most distinguished families, where she had an 

 opportunity to cultivate her mind, and improve her 

 knowledge of the world. Count Genlis, who had 

 never seen her, but had read a letter of hers, was so 

 enraptured with the style in which it was written, 

 that he offered her his hand, notwithstanding her 

 want of fortune. The countess, now become the 

 niece of madamede Montesson, gained access to the 

 house of Orleans, and, in 1782, was made governess 

 of the duke's children. Her new duties induced her 

 to write the Theatre d 'Education (1779), Adele et 

 Theodore (1782), the J'eillees du Chateau (1784), and 

 the Annales de la Vertu (1783) works on education, 

 to which the reputation and station of the authoress 

 attracted general attention. She conducted the edu- 

 cation of the children entirely herself, taking part, at 

 the same time, in the other affairs of the house of 

 Orleans. It appears, from her writings, that she 

 was favourably disposed towards the revolution ; 

 that she had received Petion and Barrere in her 

 house, and had been present in the sessions of the 

 Jacobins. She, however, left France as early as 

 1791. She relates herself, in her Precis de ma Con- 

 duite, that Potion conducted her to London, that she 

 might meet with no obstructions to her journey. 

 About the time of the September massacres (1792), 

 the duke of Orleans recalled her to Paris. As the 

 governess of the young duchess of Orleans, and the 

 friend and confidant of the father, she had became 

 suspected. She therefore retired, with the princess, to 

 Tournay, where she married her adoptive daughter, 

 the beautiful Pamela, to lord Fitzgerald. Here she 

 saw general Dumouriez, and followed him to St 

 Amand. Not approving of the plan of the general 

 (who had the sons of the duke of Orleans with him), 

 to march to Paris and overthrow the republic, she 

 retired with the princess to Switzerland, in April, 

 1793, where she lived in a convent at Bremgarten, 

 a few miles from Zurich. The daughter of the duke 

 of Orleans having then gone to join her aunt, the 

 princess of Conde, at Friburg, madame de Genlis 

 retired with her foster-daughter, Henriette Sercy, 

 who was now alone left to her, to Altona, in 1794, 

 where, in monastic solitude, she devoted herself en- 

 tirely to literature. At a country seat in the territory 

 of Holstein, she wrote the Chevaliers du Cygne (Ham- 

 burg, 1795)- a novel which contains many republican 

 expressions, and very free descriptions. It appeared 

 in 1805, in Paris, with many alterations. In 1795, she 

 published Precis de la Conduite de Madame de Gen- 

 lis. At the end of this work there is a letter to her 

 eldest pupil subjoined, in which she exhorts him not 

 to accept the crown if ever it should be offered to 

 him, because the French republic seemed to rest upon 

 moral and just foundations. When Bonaparte was 

 placed at the head of the government, she returned 

 to France, and received from him a house, and, in 

 1805, a pension of 6000 francs. Her numerous works 

 (upwards of ninety volumes), among which the Th&- 

 dtre d' Education, Mademoiselle de Clermont, and 

 Madame de la f'alliere, appear to be the best, are 

 distinguished by their pleasing style and noble senti- 

 ments. Most of the works of madame de Genlis 

 belong to the class of historical novels. She died in 

 December, 1830. For further information see the A/r- 



