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Maps, plates, charts, vstc, may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper loft hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, p!anches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmds d des taux de r6duction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clich6, 11 est film6 A partir de Tangle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche k droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 in .' ■'♦ V ^OVASCOTM PROVINCE HOUSE ' t k, ^ ^ '„ 1 u |;.ji( <^/4^ J /;(■ ^' i*. ORIOINAI.ITY. A. X,33CTXJ2*.:B, BY PftOFESSOR J. D. EVERETT, M. A. 4 ':, -1 I 1- I J In lirw tali >iiu^,;' iiw J^-i- tmmmmm i 5.. 1 \ - ( H r <^ , '■ ■■' r' ■' " '-'"'/ ■»T| ■ '' ) f' ■■ . ■ 1 t MNH I mmrntmiml^amMmmmmm ORIGINALITY: .A. i^sicrrTjRs DELIVERED BEFORE THE h i kWh^ §m^ lleu's Christian %ssmtm, u m u' ON TUESDAY EVENING. JANUARY 15th, 1861. BT PROFESSOR J. D. EVERETT, E A., OF KiNS'S COLLEGE, WINOSOIL i. !V/ ( >li.i. HALIFAX, N. S. PRINTED AT THE CONFERENCE OFFICB, 186K C •w v^S ~!, \i\ . I V ^ \ 1' J ■», Xo*^ ORIGINALITY. ■», TiiK wonl wliieh forms the title of tliis oven"n;i;'H lecture, iixpressL'S a q-nlity which universally coniiiiands atlniiiation, and even ji ceriain mysterious reverence. There is s(Mneth;ng divine and heroic about the man who, un'au!j;ht by living voice or j)rinte(l page, spins the weh of trutii from his own ^ ' — ,r through the dense clouds of ignorance v.'h:ch Jie v' ion of ordinary mortals, sends his piercing ga/.c ver:. ^ , orbs of beauty that glitter in the vault of -or 1. i '-onjetheus, pitying po()r mortals in their R^ip. 1 i„ -. '-'0, brings them aid fron: heaven, in the i-hape of inventions that will minister to their daily wants. Stand- ing botweev; the coiiunon herd of mankind and those hij^her Intel ligniees who people the angelic world, he occupies a positi«)n which seems to elevate him above the sympathy of his frllovv-men into a world of his own, where he tci'ds his miglity thoughts upon things too hard to be understat which shall be; and that » which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. — Is there anything wliereof it may • be said. See this is newV — It hath been already of old titne, • which was before us." Nevertheless it has been the conatant ambition of rising geniuses, from Solomon's day to this, to do and discover new f things. That which is old is put down as " weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable," and the new is regai-ded as tl»e germ of man's hope and happiness. It is the natural tendency of man- • kind — at all events of the European races — to be continually • pressing forward in progress to ultimate perfectio»,— to make • every day better than the last — to build up every year upoD ■ those which have gone before it, and never to rest till heaven ' itself is scaled What a gloora will be thrown over tlie appi- j mtmttm mm>'^''*m v^m/miM-jmimim'mr-^v ■Ml I land that he mighty ows, SOIIIO ividual of — that hi» ih it never m, or uj«e» r, a book- (partinent, of power • iiriosity in • ist-ion will ' ■ practical ' 5 ws with ' litj,"— at •. of old.— i ; and that « sere is no of it may • old timCy • of rising jover new f i5tale, flat, I germ of )y of man- » )ntinually -to make • ear upon ■ II heaven ' ■ tli6 appi- J CRIOINALITY. *> rations of the aiuhitious, the schemes of the wise, and th« exptinding hopes of every v/ell-wisher to his species, if we are coij|)^lled to accept tlie dictum — that there 18 no progress jK>a- jilble for man except in a circle— that fret and fume us he may ho cannot escape from hia prison walls, I'ut must pace and .epace the same weary round which bygone generations of prsmers have lieattn before b m. ^^^iny departments of enquiry furnish a remarkable confir- mation of the wise nian's dictum. Many of the great contro- versies in Religion and rhilo.-ophy have sprung into existence again and again among different nations, and in different stages of the world'a history. Questions wiiieh naturally arise from njan's constitution and circumstances have obtruded themselves upon his notice in every thoughtful epoch, and have received the same contradictory solutions froni different classes of minds ; while a third class, founding on the inter- minable controversic;. thus evoked, have cut the (iordian knot by declaring that true knowledge is impossible fur man, and that nothing but doubt remains for him upon all the [joints which he is most anxious to know. Thus tliere has been progress from mot to stem, from s-tem to leaf and flower, IVom flower to seGd, and the seed has remained buried in the earth to go through the sa:ne changes again in due season. Each step appeared at the time to bo an advuncj} upon that which preceded it, but in truth there was only a cycle of cliange, the phases recurring every time in the same order of succession. " One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh : but the earth abideth forever. The sun also ariseth, and.the sun gocth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. The wind goeth toward the South, an|)in"on v;o may entertain r<\";iiniin;j; ihiH department, of iMiilo.s»j)hy, we eanjiot Imt admit when wa turn our contiider:ition tt) the Material Scienees, that /tere at least tljero has oeen progre;s and (liwjovery, to an extent which would prohahly astonish even Solomon himself. Yet even here it is remarkable how much difliculfy is gone- rally found in traein>]; any important invention to its cviain- ator. In nearly every ease eompetitord ;ire to be tound wl o person diy or through their biographers dispute the claim. Akkwuigut, «vho is called thj inventor of the spinning i jenny, and who made his fortune out of the invention, is said to have borrowed the design from another man who ia comparatively unknown. The steam engine was brouglit into being by a nund>er of inventors, successively improving on one another, though the most important improvements wtre made by Jamks Watt; and several forms of the locomotive had been constructed before Gkougk Stkpiilnson rendered it available for profit{»ble use. There are several claimants for the invention of steam navigation, and the rejnUed inventor of the "screw " has not been allowed to hohl his'claim with- out dispute. No single name stands before the public as tho inventor of the Electric Telegraph. The safety lamp was i))- vented independently by Daw and Stephenson. Tho sextant was invented independently by Newton and IIa^ley. The invention of the stereoscope is sharply contested to this day by Brewster and Wheatstone. Dagueuke, whose nan»e is almost a synonym for photography, was not the inventor of that art. Three great names. Cavendish, Watt, and Lavoi- 8IBU, have been put forward as the discoverers of the compo- HMMHuu invc jnisi iu in til*; iMi, upon itunii ad' lin;j; this IV I If II wc : /tere at u extent r. y is gene- ts (viain- )\m liiini. spinning f entJon, i» n vlui is mglit into 'oviii«j on ents wtro Dconiotivo iiidered it ;m:mts for I inventor laini with- jlic as tho lip was in- !io sextant .EY. The this (lay ie nan>e is iventor of [id Lavoi- le compo- • ORIGINAUTir. • •ition of water, antl it i? only witliin this last year or two lha» the controvoisy has been decidet' in favour of Cavendish. To go further back, the invention of printing is stontly contested by two or three claimants in different countrioa of Europe. Tho con^position of gunpowder, which is gencraMy ascribed to Schwartz, a Monk of Cologne, is said to have been known bcf(»ro his time—indeed Roger Bacon tells xif that a mi :ture of nitre, sulphur, ant' churcoal was in coniirjon use among boys in his own day to produce exploriions. Thero are two claimants for the invention of the teicbcopo; but long before cither of them the same Roger Bacon had pub- lishcd an account of the manner •" which such an instrument might be constructed. , It would bo easy to adduce other illustrations ; but tb^se are sufficient to exhibit iho un'^ertainty which fr-jquontly fttr tends the origin of important inventions, rendering it difficult to distinguish between a true inventor and one who has grown rich on o.her men's ideas. How is this uncertainty to k)e accounted for ? One would have thought that the admiration and gratitude of mankind would have assuredly marked the individuals who entriled such benefits upon their race, and that their names would have been enshrined in everlasting remembrance. Is ic that rot^uea are so nurnerous that an honest man is not allowed to retain an undisputed claim to his own ideas? Or is ft not rather that invention is generally a gradual work, which requires the labor of many minds tc elaborate it. Stone upon stone the edifice ^s reared by successive workers; *and it is difficult to pron.. mce at what precise stage in its erection it first deserves tho name of a houLse. Often too the labours of the thinker and the worker are 4istinct, and yet both are nerceived. For instance. Bookbinders had been in the habit of stamping titles upon book covers by a process which was virtually printing, long before printing was applied to books themselves. » r-i D \ rid. OKIOINALITr. 9 tw^ f Soinetlnies a discovery seems to be evolved from the gra- dujl progress of human knowledge, which has advanced so neir to its ooniors that it cannot long escape detection ; and thouoii in such cases the men of keenest intellect miv; be the first to detect it, the merit of the discovery belongs in greal measure to the age' in which they live. Hence it ofien happens that the same discovery is made contemporaneously by dilT-rent persons, and suspicions rf piracy are entertained without any foundation in fact. Thus it was with the calcu- lus which has proved so mighty an instrument in the hands of modern mathematicians, and respecting whoso discovery a fierce war of words was curried on between English and Con- tinental savans, the method having been elaborated indepen- dently and contemporaneously by Newton, under the name of Fluxions, and by Leibnitz, under that of the DifFMcnriul Calculus. In like manner (excepting the disputes) our own age has witnessed the discovery of the planet Neptune by calculations* ccmducted independently by Adams in England, and lifciVERKiER in Paris, their numerical results agreeing closely, and being obtained within a few months of the same date. On the principle that '* to him who hath shall be given," tradition has ever been prone to ascribe to heroes more than their due ; and y^^f^*ii 1 Y- ..i" OKIGINALITY. 11 Tlioy arc, of ccufpc, not loth true in the same scnye of the tcnns. Ill what senses they are respectively true we ^liall now proceed to explain. The enejnies of a great man sometimes endcf.vour to ilccry hi« genius and deny his inventive faculty, hy showing that he has only re-eonstructed old niaterials— that he has in- vented no new power, but has only brought old powers to serve his u^es— that he has discovered no new princple, but has only applied an old and well known principle to the attainniei:t of a new end— that the wisdom which he puts forth as new. is only a colL'ction of scattered fragments from the wisdom of the ancients— that he is merely an editor and compiler, who selects, arranges, and puts togeihor— not an original thinker or worker. Now, the fnvt proposition which I wish to establish is, that ifsucholjectionsasthefcearetobe allowed validity— if the true meaning of the word Originality be that which these ob- jection-^ imply— then no man is, has been, or can be, orig"nal. Man cannot create, like the Almighty ; he can only buihl with the materials which God has given him. The most ong.nal man that ever lived did no more than put together single things wliich God has given to mankind in c(.mnion. TMie Poet borrows his images from the broad page of nature which lies open to the view of all. The iMechaniciun c: n only produce adaptations and new combinations of old and well known mechanical appliances. The Novelist composes his plots of incident.; which have occurred /mgly in real life Most of the plays of Shakespeare the most original of Dramatists, are founded either up«jn real history, or upon stories which had been worked up into plays by other poets before him ; and if you analyze any one of his characters, even those which belong to the fab; world and the regions of imagina- tion, you will find that though the character as a whole may strike you as unique, there is no single feature of it that is so. ■,m^mim>'- iilk ir 12 ORiaiNALITT. In fact, as it is impossible for one born bllnJ to hu/e a concoption of colour, just so it is impossible foi any Ijuman gtniu.s to conceive of the impressions of a new sente ; and when we attempt to conceive of supernatural forms and mani- festations, the figures, luovements, and voices-, — in short all the phenomena which constitute the conception, are borrowed from the natuial w.irld. You may imagine a spiritual body to be light as air, or altogether destitute of wei^^ht, like a >-ha- dow, — ^you may a'tribute to it the pure transparency of glass, or the nKjfO imperfect transparency of vapour, — you may con- ceive its eyes as glowing with a pale etherial light, like the trace left by a match rubbed in the dark — you may fancy you hoar its voice, hollow as the wind sighing among the a.spens, — you may even conceive of it as ' anishi'ig suddenly from view like a falling star, or melting gradually away, like a mist beneath the rising sun ; but all those forms of your thought are borrowed from the world of mortals in whicli you dwell. It has often been remarked by writers on mental philoso- phy, that tiie faculty which is called " creative imagination," and wliich is moit conspicuously displayed in the woiks of the greatest Painters and Poets, is really not eieatlve but constructive. The genius of the artist or author is shown in 80 selecting and combining his images as to give a unity to the whole which they compose. He intuiti\eiy seizes upon the eleuK'nts which are requisite for producing the desired effjct, and brings them together like the dry bones in the valley of vision, bone to his bone, till order is brought out of confusion, and the dead limbs become instinct with life. He works as nature works in building up animal and vegetable life. The flowers whose gaudy hues adorn our gardens, — the hendocka and pines whose graceful tresses wave in the forest, have all been elaborated by her wondrous chemistry, out of the vile earth beneath our feet, and the universal air that 4 V, ft .j>mmii ORIGINALITY. 13 Mows over our heads. The vital forces which she bestows, have drawn from these common materials the elements of nutriment which they require, and have disposed the borrow- ed particles in root, stem, leaf, and flower, every particle to its own place in the organic structure. Tlie elements which unite to form a tree are very various in their ohaiacter and composition ; but there is a fitness of part to part which stamps a unity upon the whole ; and we regard the tree not PS an airsretrat'jn of atoms but as one living thing. And such must be the characteristics of every true work of art. When a man without genius tries to compose, he produces patch- ^vork— you might remove any piece and replace it by anotlier without marring the design ; but the compositions of genius ire living wholes, — you cannot remove a limb or alter a fea- ture, without mutilating. The foregoing considerations will serve to correct an error into whioli inexperienced thinkers ere apt to fall, with regard to the means necessary for preserving and cultivating origi- nality. For since invention consists in the re-combining of old materials, it is evident that an extension of our know- ledge must increase our means of invention. In order, then, that a man, should be original, it is not necessary that he should shut himself up alone, or refuse to work with tools which others have used before him. Such stubborn isolation would be affectation and conceit, not genius. The best aid to invention is to familiarize yourself with all that has been done by your predecessors— to put yourself in the humble position of a learner who is anxious, like the bee, to gather honey from every flower. Make yourself master of all the means and appliances which have already been devised for the attainment of the end which you propose ; then watch- fully select the best among these, and where you find a deficiency, exercise your own ingenuity to supply it. It ig thus that the greatest men have ever proceeded, not wilfully "— _*'.ii*- 14 ORIGINALITY. departing; from the beaten track to obtain the emp'y boast of noveUy.lnU doing the best thing that offored ilselF, whether new or <.ld ; -fur the highest genius forgets iUelf, wrapped tip ill tlie all absorbing pursuit of the object in view. (J..'l h,H liiilced the ages together, bidling oayh genoiation reao tlie fruits which have been sown by their uncesiois, and scatter fret^h seed that shall bear fruit for posterity ; as TjiNNYSON sings " Yot I t not through tJic nges one incrcasinpr purpose runs, And the thoughts of niou uro widoutd with the proucsd of the buns." Life is short, but art is long— each generation c;tn carry it only a certain distance, where they must leave it to be con- tinued by their successors and bn)Ught to a consunnnation in due time. W" must build up on the foundations of tho^e who have gone before us, as the coral insect builds its house over the deserted abodes of its progenitors. That such has been the growth of all the arts and sciences, is a fact too well known to need any instances for illustration. S[.ontaneou8 thought is often stimulated by contact with the thou-lUs (»f others. Listening to other people^s thoughts helps you to produce fresh thoughts of your own ;* and while some writers have recourse to books for the purpose of plagiarising, others read for the sake of furnishing material to the°su.j5gestive faculty, that they may be assisted to produce thoughts which are not to be found in the books. So much, then, for our first proposition— that thera is no such thing as absolute Originality— that ii is not in man's power to make a beginning, but only to elaborate materids which he finds prepared to his hand. But there is another sense— in fact several senses— of the word, in wl»ich Originality is possible. And, to begin at the lowest step, there is a sense in which every one can be I '■^zmtit^^ •^^mmitm OKIQINALITY. u or'glntil. Every one who has a character of his own, and does not live by copying other people, is original. Many of tho customs of »>cie^y are observed mechanically; and tliore are some persons wlio^e only rule of action is indi- cated by the quistions — What is usually dune V What wil pc 7»'3 s:iy t The first j^tep tt) practical knowledge is lo bo gen,.iiie--to seek the truth, and act the truth— to live intelli- gant y, not mechanically— to inquire seriously, Wh.t ought I to do? and thjn to set to work in good earnest to do it. feume wr tcra are fond of telling us that this is an a-^i of «ha!ns. Di-ubtlcss thj tendency of that refinement wli'ch acornjanies thj pn»gress of civilization is to hide rude feeliiio' unler a .^mo.th exterior, and to make the conventions of politeness supersede the genuine expression of feeling. And whatever be the character of this age as compared with tliose wbicli have gona before, it must at least be admitted that there are many shi^ms abroad — shams which from their pre- valence, and the tolerijtiori they meet with, may be in danger of absoib.ng us. Of all pests to society the hypocrite is the least original, the most despiouble, anil the most pesfiferoua.. It wore well, then, to shake oneself free of the sliglitest vestige of the characler, and if we cannot be great, to be at least honcftt — tru. hful — genuine. Young men who possess any ambition — and those who have none miglit be wiped from the page of existence wiilrmt much loss to those who would be left behind — are geneially anxious to be original. Here then is a very simple and etfjc- tual way of attaining the character. What is Uriginaiity, if it be not acting from tliC reason that is in you, as distinguish- ed from a blind unreasoning compliance with the forms and habits by which you find yourself surrounded : — to shine like a star with your own light, and not to glow with a radiance bwrowjd fr»m an external source? jlow many there are who have no depth of character, but according to the position 1 16 OniOINALITT. in which they nro placed, and the fleeting circumstances of the moment, will cry one day *' Hosanna to the Son of David," and the next, '•Crucify him, crucify him." A simple, upright, consistent man, who will act conscientiouwly whether in fashion or out af fashion, is nobler, stronger, more original, and everyway more respectable, than the most brilliant of those who l»«^k this element of greatness. To adopt this courso is simply to act in accordance ivith the fact; for, ignore it as we may, it is nevertheless an inevi- table necessity that "every man must bear his own burden." Companionship may do much t> lead us out of our-ulves — sympatliy may come very near us, and penetrate deep into the recesses of our being ; uut there is always an inner depth into T»,hich our dearest friend cannot enter — there is always a corner of the heart where we are friendless and alone. No man completely understands his most intimate acquaintance ; there are no two characters exactly alike, and though you may unbosom yourself to a certain extent to those with *hom you take sweet c^ ^nsel, you cannot tell all — language has iti limits — perhaps you would not tell all if you could — and for these reasons, if for no others, there must always be in every heart depths which are secret to human ken — which God only can see — there is a void in every human heart which God alone can fill. Since, then, the Creator has given you a character of your own, distinct from that of any other person, where is the use of your trying to shape your course without reference to your individuality ? And not only so, but every n.an is responsiule for himself; and however closely his nature and position may resemble those of other persons, he is at least entrusted with his own keeping, and must answer for the manner in which he dis- poses of himself. It is not self-conceit, but self-respect that is implied in regarding this change as a weighty one j aod *:P3WW!R;i«W ORIGINALITY. 17 until an inflividual has awoke to the sense of that dignified responsibility which has been conferred upon him in making him his own master, he is still in the land of slumber— the realms of dreams— which will turn out to be, aa Bunyan calls it, the City of Destruction. I would appeal, then, to the ambition, the laudable ambi- tion, of every young man before me, and would call upon him to be original— to act as one who has the gift of reason t( guide his own conduct— to act intelligently, not mechan- ically—to be genuine— to be a man, and not the ghost and shadow of a man. Rising now a step higher, we find that many men have attained a commanding position in human affairs, and r-.rned for themselves, par excellence, the credit of Originality by carrying out to a remarkable degree this same principle of action. Luther, the Reformer, Howard, the Philanthropist, Clarkson, the first and leading opponent of the Slave-trade what was it that distinguished these men from the common herd, and made their names famous ir history ? Chiefly that moral characteristic called earnestness of purpose. In the cases of the two last, there was no remarkable intellectual power; but evils were glaring conspicuously before their eyes, which no one else volunteered to overthrow, so they offered themselves for the work, and carried it on to comple- tion. An intense realization of the evils, and a resolute pur- pose to put them down, were the characters which distin- guished these men from their fellows ; and so you will often find that men of marked character and original design are simply those who try to realize what others dream of, and who act while others content themselves with talking. The heroes of the world have been men of faith— men whose be- liefs and purposes did not sit lightly upon the surface of their minds, but worked within them as all-pervading, pH- - »MIHH^>MiWi :y-':ti ^^ , 18 ORIOINALITY. powerful principles. It is by faith that men have subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, ()})tiiincd promises, stopped the°mouths of lions, quenched the violence of tire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made Etrong, waxed valiant in Hght, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Such intense realizing faith, I call one of the sublimest kinds of Originality. The men who possess it may not bo the first to think, but they are the first to act ; and other men will bow before them, take the impress of their purposes, and submit to their leadership as master minds. Our remarks under the last two heads have had reference to what may be called m(yral Originality ; but intellectual Originality is also to a certain extent within the power of every person, as I shall now attempt to show. There are two senses in which the word original is employ- ed with respect to inventions. Sometimes it is used to denote that the invention was never made before— sometimes to de- note merely that the inventor did not learn it from other per- sons, but found it out for himself. In this latter sense an invention may bo made several times over, and nevertheless be original in very case. In this sense every person who thinks out a conclusion for himself must be admitted to the honour of Originality— everyone who can put ideas together, and not confine himself to borrowing his reasonings from other people. Inasmuch, then, as we are all gifted with the faculty of reasoning, we have all the opportunity of exercising original thought ; and I may further observe that any person who accustoms himself to look at things as they are, and set down in plain terms his own genuine thoughts, will, in the natural course of things, acquire a style marked by freshness and raciness. I OUiQlNALITY. 19 Tho kind of Orijrlnality which is most requisite for preachers, lecturers, and teachers of all names, is clear apprehension and vigorous mast^^rly grasp of tho sublets they treat of. It matters not to tho hearer where or how the teacher obtained his ideas— whether he invented them himself or learned then, from others, but only how he prcsenta them. Tliere is a vigour and raciness about the manner m which a man states those ideas which ho has hit upon and discovered in the course of his own thoughts, which strongly contrasts with the tamenoss and pedantry of one who retads at second hand the thougbts of other men which he only half understands. But anyone who can express himself m such a manner as to show that he enters into the spirit of his own discourse, will confer as much benefit upon his hearers as if the matter of his discourse were his own discovery. Such a man will generally obtain credit for more Originality than he possesses; and the credit is not altogether undeserved, if measured by the benefit which he confers upon the public. Some of the deepest thinkers have written in a style which renders their works useless for popular reading. They re- quire an interpreter who can amplify, iUustrate and explain ; and the interpreter, though not original in the highest sense, desorfes the credit of a masterly thinker, whose office is honourable both in itself and in its uses to the public. The greater part of what passes for Originality in popular books and popular discourses, is only the popular presentation of thoughts which are trite and familiar to the initiated m the particular department to which the writer or speaker belongs. A preacher who rhould take a few paragraphs from that mas- terpiece of reasoning, Butler's Analogy, and state their contents in such a man'.er as to render them intelligible and interesting to a popular audience, would receive credit for a profound °and original sermon; and the credit so obtained would be well earned, the only mistake being that it is given 7^ I \\ w 20 ORIOINALlTir. for the wrong tliinfr — for new thoiijiihts, instead of for teach- ing power. So it is with sclcneo and leurnin;; in {^tineral,— that mode of statement wliich !s most convenient for tho learned between themselves, is not tlie Ijest ada[)ted for popu- lar discourse. Just as tho raw material raised by tho jTroducer goes through the hands of the manufacturer before it is available to the public, so there are two distinct kinds of labour requi- site for jMipular instruction. It is one man's work to inves- tigate and discover, and another's to present the discoveries to tlio public. Tiio qualities of mind required for these two kinds of work are very different, and it seldom happens that they combine in the same individual. The successful prose* cution of discovery generally demands such compleLe tlevo- tion to one pursuit as tn isolate a man from ordinary moues of thought. He becomes so finniliar with the more difficult parts of his own subject that he cannot sympathise with those who are ignorant of its elements ; and he becomes so habitu- ated to the use of technical terms that he is unable to convey his meaning in tie language of common life. In order to attain to a high position in learning or science, a man must submit to a large amount of toilsome and patient plodding, and must acquire the habit of fixing his attention for a length of time on dry details. The consequence gen- erally is that while acquiring strength he loses suppleness, You cannot expect from tlie same class of persons, tiie endur- ance of the navvy, and the gracefulness of the accomplished dancer. Let us then give honour to .-'hom honour is due — to tho great thinkers for dititovcrln- the materials of our knowledge, and to the great teachers for rendering these materials available for our use. There is one cliaracter who stands alone in history for the combination of the highest degree of intuitive discernment with the fullest power of public teaching. As it is the attri- mmmtum mmmm .r^ ORIGINALITY. 21 bute of Omnipotenco to })e present 0(iually in the greatest things and in the leant — in the ciuivering of an insecfw wing, anr] in tl>o motion of tiio worlds through space , so He who represented (Mnnipotenoe under tlie veil of flesli and blood, was able, from his perfect etyiiipathy with human weakness, to bo the instrueter of tho ignorant — the guide of th(»se who wore groping in darkness ; and while He spake as one having authority, the common people heard Him gladly, and wonder- ed at the gracious words which proceeded out of His njouth. While acknowledging, then, as unquestitmalde, that the highest Originality is that which not only sees for itself, but seeing in advance of its age and predecessors, grasps truths which have never been attained before — t distinction which from its very nature can only be possessed by minds of the most gifted order — T nevertheless claim for every person who thoroughly understands a subject, the merit of sol a degree of Originality. And I .support the ilaira by this considera- tion — that, as one man can lead a horse to water, but ten men cannot raake him drink ; the act of drinking being the spon- taneous effort of the horse ; so, while the vehicle of thought may be presented from without, either in print or orally, no amount of reading or listening can make a man think unless he spontaneously exerts himself. Moreover, from the imper- fection of language it generally happens that however care- fully a truth may be staled there are loopholes through which errors and misconceptions may creep in, so that a correct conception of the truth cannot be formed without a little independent thinking. With re^^ard to that higher kind of Originality which con- sists in the "'■^ovory of things not found before, it may con- veniently b. -vided into two species according to the depart- ment in which it is exercised ;— ^including under the first boad->^ 22 ORIGTNAMTY. 1 Useful inventions and discoveries in matters of fact. Under the second- Original conceptions of the beautiful— in poetry, rhetoric, and the fine arts. Inventions of the former kind require strong intellect j those of the latter kind require vivid imagination and a keen sense of the beautiful. We have already devoted so much space to the former class of inventions that we need not resume their considera- tion now ; but to the second class — those which are 'iroduced by the poet and the artist — we have scarcely alluded, except to shew that what is called creativs imagination in these arts is merely constructive — that all the forms|and characters which are conjured up are merely new combinations of old ideas derived from the senses and from the experience of real life. But here the question arises — How is it that these elo- mentaiy conceptions are put together so as to form those harmonious and natural designs for which the great poets and artists are celebrated ? How is it that out of universal nature a man of genius will succeed in selecting those forms and images which when combined will produce a beautiful and perfect picture ? Are we to suppose that he makes all kinds of trials, and selects those which are most successful ? This is the course which would suggest itself to an unimaginative person, but it can never lead to anything better than patchwork. A man of fine imagination will find his conceptions taking the required form, the parts falling into their proper places, and a gorge- ous structure arising before his mind's eye spontaneously, like a dream, or a revelation from some higher powei*. Such, at least, must be the case with the leading features of his de- sign, though the details may admit of further elaboration. "wr ORIGINALITY. 23 There is something mysterious in the connection between the artist's will and the creations (as they are called) of his genius, which has in all ages led men to speak of his work as divinely inspired. With regard to the obligations of poets to their predecessors, it will be allowed without dispute that those of modern times have learned much from this source. Even those who may not have borrowed phrases and images, have caught some- thing of spirit and manner from their predecessors. And with regard to the poets of Classic Antiquity, it can scarcely be doubted by anyone who surveys the general history of lite- rature, that the same thing is true, even of the most ancient of them — that even old Homer, the oldest of them all, has not only taken the main features of his story from prevailing tradi' tions, but has borrowed from preceding poets a great number of epithets similes, and happy turns of thought and expres- sion, which had been so often bandied about as to become the common literary stock of the bards of his day. There is a great deal in poetry, as well as in every other department of human work, that is conventional, and follows the fashion of the time. Every great master in literature is sure to be followed by a host of imitators — whose productions will be caricatures of his, exhibiting his mannerisms without his excellences. Young writers, whose st3de is not yet formed, should avoid excessive devotion to any one author, as such devotion will inevitably lead them to imitate, perhaps unconsciously, the peculiarities of his style, thus sacrificing their own individu- ality, and borrowing another man's aspect instead of their own. It is not possible to set up any one model as a pattern for all writers, inasmuch as every man's individual bent of mind fits him for a certain style of his own, which being na- tural to him, will sit with greater ease, and be more effective than any other which he could adopt, for the expression of his thouc^hts. • '«w>aMMHMeiMftMl 24 ORIGINALITY. !i It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that the proper style will show itself in the first attempts of a young com- poser. It requires development, and this will be favourably assisted by the observant perusal of the works of good writers —the more various their styles the better. He should read, not for the purpose of imitating, but to obtain command of language, so that he may the more easily find such phrases, or adopt such a construction for his sentences, as the particu- lar septiment which he desires to convey may require. There will necessarily be a certain amount of imitation taking placo involuntarily ; but if he avoids affectation and studies nature, he will be led to adopt from each author, those characteristics which best harmonise with his own turn of mind ; and the re- result will be to draw him out, and enable him with greater freedom and force to give expression ^o his own natural cha- racter. Study of one model, whether in literature, bculpture, or painting, is calculated to bias the taste, and weaken the power of Originality— indeed this effect will be produced by every kind of narrowness in education. But the study of many models, sufficiently diversified in their characteristics, will tend, like liberal education of every kind, to enlarge the mind, give susceptibility to the taste, produce activity in the man's ideas, and strengthen and mature whatever Originality he may possess. The scales of custom and prejudice often blind men to the distinction between intrinsic beauties and those which rest entirely upon fashions and fleeting conventions. It was once thought necessary to begin every great poem with an invoca- tion of the Muses— heathen goddesses who, according to the Greek Mythology, presided over literature and gave inspira- tion to poets. The custom contirmed long after the Mytho- logy on which it was founded had ceased to be believed ; and its ghost appears to have haunted Milton when he inditecj OltlGlNALlTY. 25 that grand opening sentence of liis Paradise Lost, vhieh, with all its eloquence and rotundity, borders closely on the blas- phemous, being something between a playful imitation of the old Greek invocations, and a solemn prayer to the Almighty. Indeed, it may be said of Milton generally,, that while his classical knowledge furnished him with abundance of orna- ment and elegant allusion, it often ran into pedantry, so that we find liim looking at the facts and doctrines of the Christian religion through the spectacles of an old Heathen. In like manner the great epic poet of the Romans, Virgil, often goes out of his way to imitate Homer, translating whole lines from him word for word, copying his exclamations and reproducing his similes, in a way which to a modern reader appears slavish, and not only uncalled for, but sometimes forced and inconvenient. A reaction against fictitious tastes has set in among our modern poets, beginning with Wordsworth, based upon the axiom that a healthy mind will find a sufficient store of beau- ties in Nature as she presents herself to modern eyes, without pretending to look at her with the eyes of bygone generations —yea more, that Nature herself presents aspects more beau* tiful than the distorted likenesses of an Art which tries to flatter her. It is charged against Wordsworth that in avoiding one evil he rushed into the opposite, and in his aversion to the unna- tural and exaggerated, fell into the error of being weak and childish. This charge, however, cannot be brought against Tennyson, who is in some respects a follower of Wordsworth, and who, whatever may be his faults, has certainly the merit of rendering genuine modern sentiments into vigorous and elegant verse. Wordsworth was the leader of a school who avowedly sought to depose false and conventional beauties, and restore Nature to the throne which they had usurped ; but before 26 ORIGINALITY. Wordsworth there was a Scottish Poet, the Bard of the Scottish people, who of all men deserves the title of a natural Poet. No critic can charge I^rns either with affectation or with twaddling : and no one has described more sweetly than he the beauties of nature's meanest works. In drawing to a conclusion, let me now, by way of warn- ing to all whom it may concern, mention some spurious kinds of Originality. And first there is Self-will which, ignoring the mutual de- pendence of the human race, and 'uie limits which must exist to the knowledge of any individual, asserts an independence that is essentially impossible. A wise man will not be unwil- ling to avail himself of the advice and instruction of others, but will be swift to learn, even, it may be, from an inferior ; and when he is obliged to turn a deaf ear and go in the teeth of his advisers it will be from duty and necessity-— not in the spirit of boasting. True firmness waits for the day of trial and does not parade itself needlessly. There are times when a conscientious man ^ 11 feel himself compelled to pursue a course that appears he dstrong, and in the spirit of Job wfcen he said " miserable comforters are ye all," will seek better sources of guidance than his friends afford ; but to act from a mere spirit of opposition, and a desire to show one's own importance, is weakness and silly conceit. Before we strike out new ways of our own, let us make ourselves acquainted with those which already exist. Before honour is humility ; and he who wi'l not condescend to learn will remain ignorant as well as proud. Secondly. Eccentricity is sometimes confounded with Ori- ginality ; and many a young man affects singular habits, be- cause he has persuaded himself that he is a genius, and he thinks eccentricity necessary to kee^ ip the character. De- pend upon it, a genius which requires such means to make f^: r^~ ORIUINALITY. 27 itself rccoc^niRed is of a very questionable order. Inilced the mark sometimes attaches to those who are underwittcd as well as to those who are overburdened with sense ; and while the excp^ '-e development of certain faculties out of propor- tion to . rs may make a clever man appear awkward, it must be borne in mind that an under-development may pro- duce a very similar deformity— ju'^t as a man may limp m his gait either from having one leg too long, or from havmg the other log too short ; and it is a deformity, not an orna- ment, in any case. And there is yet another mistake, more fatal than any— the mistake of supposing that Originality requires a departure from ordinary modes of morality— that genius is allied to licentiousness, and that regular habits, steady perseverance, and a sober, industrious life, are incongruous with the posses- sion of great abilities. The man of abandoned character sometimes thinks himself entitled to despise those steady- goin*^ people who submit to be ruled by the moral law. He flattens himself that it is the brilliancy of his parts-the rest- less enero-y of his spirit, that spur him on to break through the trammels of law and order— that he is of too noble a na- ture to be bound down to regular work ;— just as warriors m semi-barbarous countries despise those who are engaged m trade. Idleness is ever ready to prop itself with adventitious supports ; but, reason it as you will, there is no nobleness, no superiority of mind, in folding one's hands and lazily submit- tina to be carried whithersoever the stream of passion and the bre°ath of excitement may happen to waft you. The might- iest minds, the most original geniuses, have been distinguish- ed by the intensest application. Newton, whose name fills the world, said that genius seemed to him to be nothing more than the power of application. Certain it is that men of geniuo have always been distinguished for the intense zest with which they engaged in their work ; they have gone on ■ ^ri«iAii 28 OUKJlNALITy. the principle "whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." And tliough it may sometimes happen that the violence of their impulses may lead them into habits of irre- gularity or excess, it is not the excesses that mark or consti- tute their superiority. For one man who goes astray from the intensity of passion that genius gives there are a thousand who go astray from meaner causes ; and so far from disorder and excess fanning the flame and brightening the lustre of genius, they have in too many instances dimmed its light and quenclied its flame, amid reeking and noisome exhala- tions. And now, lest any one should be discouraged, let me, in conclusion, address a word to patient workers, who cannot boast of discoveries or novelties. Think not that you are useless members of :,ociety — drag-weights upon the advanc- ing car of human progress. There is work to be done in strengthening and keeping in repair the fabric that exists, as well as in adding thereto. If you liken mankind to one vast living creature, there is not only growth in stature, but also the continual replacing of daily waste ; and this latter opera- tion is the more important of the two, both as being more essential to the preservation of life, and as requiring by far the larger share of labour and material. All things are in incessant change, and if the hands of the labourers were to stop their working, all would go to confusion and ruin. Let us then be content to perform diligently our portion of la- bour, whether it consist in maintaining the old, or in building up the new. II V. MM MH m^ fl lIL ^mM \