GENIUS AND TALENT. 313 



thinking, condensing, and arranging. George 

 Eliot took years to elaborate the i)lot and charac- 

 ters of each of her novels; and a great living 

 philosopher is known to employ a whole morning 

 in marshalling and dictating the matter already 

 prepared for a single paragraph. 



That is how genius, real and recognized genius, 

 always goes to work at its own vocation. We do 

 not say that much does not depend upon natural 

 gifts — that would indeed be grossly untrue ; but 

 the most important of these natural gifts, we main- 

 tain, is, after all, the gift of application. Indeed 

 we are not sure that we might not with greater 

 truth exactly reverse the ordinary estimate, and 

 say that genius is really talent backed up by 

 application. The man of talent too often relies 

 upon his natural abilities ; he is too ready to think 

 that his mere cleverness will stand him in good 

 stead of hard work, profound study, constant care, 

 the ceaseless exercise of intelligent attention. 

 The consequence is that he frequently turns out a 

 brilliant failure. The true genius, on the other 

 hand, is born with an unquenchable desire to do 

 his best, and to perfect himself by all the means 

 in his power for his own special and chosen func- 

 tion. Gibson, the great English sculptor, was a 

 born genius in the artistic way, and he was 

 ai)prenticed at first to a wood-carver and then to 

 a stone-cutter. The lad of mere talent, in such 



