240 INDOOE STUDIES 



hausting his own possibilities fancied he had ex- 

 hausted the possibilities of nature. 



Probably literary fame is no more difficult of 

 achievement at one time than at another, just as 

 easy to Thackeray as it was to Goldsmith; and this 

 notwithstanding an achievement that would have 

 given a measure of fame a century ago would attract 

 far less attention to-day. Is it at all likely that if 

 the " Spectator " essays were written to-day they 

 would attract any considerable notice, or that "The 

 Idler " and " Adventurer " would find any readers ? 

 But the writer of to-day has all this past to stand 

 upon, he profits by all these accumulated achieve- 

 ments. A man is largely the creature of his times; 

 he is strong by the strength of the age in which he 

 lives. An invention that would have seemed mar- 

 velous a century ago might be a very tame affair 

 to-day; and yet the same genius, the same power in 

 achieving a noteworthy result to-day, would prob- 

 ably have no more obstacles to overcome, or mys- 

 teries to solve, than one hundred years ago. He has 

 a great fund to work with; he sees farther because 

 he stands higher. If the achievement is measured 

 by the standard of to-day, it is to be remembered 

 that the achiever is strong by the strength of to-day. 

 The same in science. Now the quarry is so thor- 

 oughly opened, larger and more valuable results 

 ought to be easier than ever before. Of course the 

 poet or literary man cannot avail himself of the 

 results of the labor of others in the same way 

 the man of science can and does, but he cannot 



