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KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



nouneing the eulogy of the Czar, said,-— 

 " Neither does good education make the great 

 character, nor does bad education destroy it. 

 Heroes, of all classes, come ready formed from 

 the hands of nature, and with uncontrollable 

 qualities." 



Almost all great men have either been edu- 

 cated by inferior masters, or have received no 

 education whatever. Homer, Petrarch, Tasso, 

 Dante, Raphael, Michael Angelo, Racine, Mo- 

 Here, Corneille, Titian, Rubens, Poussin. &c, 

 are instances. 



It is rare that great masters form great men. 

 What, then, must we think of the public, that 

 honestly consider it the best choice of a physi- 

 cian, when the individual selected is the pupil 

 of some celebrated professor? But geniuses of 

 all kinds, say the antagonists of innate propen- 

 sities, make an exception, and form a separate 

 class; we cannot from them conclude, that the 

 qualities and faculties are innate. 



I answer, that genius is only the energetic ac- 

 tivity of some quality or some faculty. If, then, 

 in cases where the faculties have the greatest en- 

 ergy, the cause which produces it, and which is 

 most striking, is inherent in the organization, we 

 must naturally conclude that the cause of their 

 ordinary activity is equally founded in the or- 

 ganisation. Difference of more and less proves 

 nothing against the common origin of obscure 

 and decided faculties. Otherwise it would be 

 correct to conclude, from the piercing sight of 

 the eagle, and the delicate scent of the dog, that 

 the sight of the mole, and the sense of smell in 

 man, do not likewise depend on their organisa- 

 tion. 



If by a concurrence of circumstances, a man 

 endowed with certain very active faculties, has 

 been prevented from following his inclination, 

 this dominant faculty or propensity determines 

 the enjoyments and the favorite occupations of 

 his life. Kings devote themselves to the occu- 

 pations of artists and of artisans; peasants, cord- 

 wainers, weavers, shepherds, become astronomers, 

 poets, philosophers, actors, sculptors. The czar 

 Peter I. exercised the mechanical arts from in- 

 clination. Louis XIV. turned locksmith for 

 amusement. The shepherd Halm made watches; 

 and Haller, in the midst of his anatomical and 

 physiological works, became likewise celebrated 

 for poetry. 



Will it be pretended, that precocious genius, 

 or any other genius, is the result of education 

 and of surrounding objects? I would then be in- 

 formed why certain children, who, in regard to 

 their faculties exhibit extraordinary genius, in 

 other respects do not raise themselves above their 

 companions ? And why men who excel in 

 one point, are so indifferent in everything 

 else ? The celebrated Betty, who at the age 

 of thirteen, was already regarded a first-rate 

 actor, used to play in the street with his com- 

 panions, up to the moment of his appearance on 

 the stage. William Crotch, celebrated at the 

 age of six years, for his musical talents, was, in 

 other respects, a child of only moderate abilities. 



I have made the same observation on a boy of 

 five years, who gave evidence of complete virili- 

 ty and the most decided affection for women ; 

 he had nothing to distinguish him from children 



of his age, in all his other inclinations. The 

 same contrast is remarkable in adults. _ The 

 most extraordinary faculties prove nothing in fa- 

 vor of qualities of a different order. Nothing 

 could have made a Horace of Csesar, or a Homer 

 of Alexander. Helvetius, himself, is forced to 

 confess that education would never have 

 changed Newton into a poet, or Milton into 

 an astronomer. Michael Angelo would never 

 have been able to compose the tables of Albanus, 

 nor Albanus those of Julius Romanus. We can 

 only explain these various phenomena by say- 

 ing, that certain organs perfect themselves soon- 

 er, and others later; that, in certain individuals, 

 some organs remain always in arrear, while 

 others acquire the greatest energy. But this ex- 

 planation shows again, that all the moral qualities 

 and intellectual faculties are innate. 



HGTES VmiS HOTES. 



Dear Mm Editor,— I have at length, after 

 an unwilling silence, the pleasure of acknow- 

 ledging myself to be greatly your debtor. You 

 have been too generous, in according me valuable 

 space which might have been so much better 

 filled; but finding that with regard to me, the 

 old proverb stands in its full integrity — how can 

 I regret it? Assuredly not! 



The crowds of women round the Monkeys' 

 summer habitation at the Zoological Gardens, 

 (see vol. ii, page 168), had attracted my surprise, 

 unmingled with sympathy. It now only re- 

 mains for me to resign, with unquestioning faith, 

 all offenders to their "peine forte et dure]" and 

 to offer my excuses. One moment's reflection 

 would have sufficed to convince me that you 

 would not have been severe yourself, or approved 

 of severity in others, without just cause; although 

 at the time, this was not palpable to my near- 

 sighted optics. 



That was an excellent idea of your correspond- 

 ent, "Emily P.," to inquire the "secret of 

 attaining the cheerfulness and uniformity of 

 temper which shine with so conspicuous and 

 steady a lustre in Our Journal." Yet, like 

 the art of taming animals, I fear it is " a gift" — 

 not in all cases to be acquired. Had your " Code 

 of Health" appeared previously to October 2nd, 

 its aid would have been invaluable to me, under 

 the " trying " circumstances attending a trip to 

 a watering place. 



Finding "Bradshaw" about as serviceable to 

 me as Euclid, and no information being obtain- 

 able from any official, the result was— four hours' 

 and a /^//"detention at an intermediate station— 

 a charge of seven shillings for a fly (whence came 

 that name?)— time, one hour and about three 

 seconds — no change to be had at the hotel, for a 

 sovereign — dignified independence of waiter, who 

 did not even dream of sending for it elsewhere 

 — no shrimps /— extortion on one side, expostu- 

 lation on the other. On returning, all the pas- 

 sengers in a full carriage— most likely all in the 

 train— had grounds of complaint. We instituted 

 comparisons between the comfort of Continental 

 railway-carriages, and fixed charges at hotels. 

 These comparisons were not at all favorable to 

 arrangements on this side the water.. The con- 



