THE EAGLE AND THE CANARY ~ 



ONE week-day morning, following a crowd of well- 

 dressed people, I presently found myself in a large 

 church or chapel, where I spent an hour very pleas- 

 antly, listening to a great man's pulpit eloquence* 

 He preached about genius* The subject was not 

 suggested by the text, nor did it have any close 

 relation with the other parts of his discourse ; it 

 was simply a digression, and, to my mind, a very 

 delightful one. He began about the restrictions to 

 which we are all more or less subject, the aspirations 

 that are never destined to be fulfilled, but are mocked 

 by life's brevity* And it was at this point that 

 probably thinking of his own case he branched off 

 into the subject of genius ; and proceeded to show 

 that a man possessing that divine quality finds 

 existence a much sadder affair than the ordinary 

 man ; the reason being that his aspirations are so 



much loftier than those of other minds, the difference 



173 



