The Production of Ability. 39 



and the result was the first steam engine. Millions of men 

 before Newton saw apples fall from the tree to the ground, but 

 his imagination took it up, his great intellect worked out the 

 problem, and the result was his discovery of the law of 

 gravitation. Imagination in its proper place was the greatest 

 blessing to humanity, but misplaced it became a curse. 

 Tremendous injury was the result of work done by imagination, 

 which ought properly to be performed by intellect, education, 

 and experience. How were great men produced ? The answer 

 was very simple — by well-assorted marriages. The old Jewish 

 Rabbi was right when he said — " Give me the arrangement of 

 the marriages, and I will change and ennoble the whole human 

 life." The lecturer illustrated his argument by quoting the 

 cases of great men who were celebrated in arms, literature, and 

 politics, and showed that an examination of the characters of 

 the parents of those men proved that ability, greatness, and 

 even genius were the result of the union on the one side of 

 intellect, imagination, and feeling with strong energy and force 

 of character on the other. Nearly all the qualities that had 

 made England a great nation were derived from the old 

 Scandinavian pirates, and the blending of the Celtic and English 

 races invariably resulted in the production of distinguished 

 ability. In a country where marriage was a mere barter for 

 wealth, station, and titles such a country would soon cease to 

 produce a large crop of ability. 



Dr. Sheldon thought that the members of the Society 

 might congratulate themselves on the fact that the essayist was 

 one of their number. He might remark that, while he 

 considered the basis of the lecture correct, the lecturer had 

 driven the theory to the far end, and he thought they might set 

 to work and have a companion paper on those great men who 

 did not owe their greatness to their parents, and endeavour to 

 ascertain if the converse of the picture would hold good. They 

 owed a debt of gratitude to Mr. Scott for his admirable and 

 interesting essay. 



